Suwon Bridge.
This was a stone bridge spanning the narrowest section of the Taedong River. According to Goryeo historical records, Suwon Bridge had a long history, dating back three hundred years, as long as the Great Yu Empire’s founding.
And because of the obstruction of this great river, there were only two ways to get from Haigucheng to Suwon City: one was by sea, and the other was this Suwon Bridge.
It could be said that this was the only passage for north and south Goryeo.
Upon receiving Xiao Ming’s order to drive out the Japanese pirates, Ye Qingyun’s first thought was to capture this stone bridge. Otherwise, the army’s southward march would be blocked.
“Army Commander, the stone bridge has been occupied by the Japanese pirates. Look.”
Qu Dong, Division Commander of the Huben 2nd Army, pointed towards Suwon Bridge. Many Japanese soldiers armed with flintlock guns were patrolling the bridge now.
Ye Qingyun picked up his telescope, observed for a moment, and nodded slightly.
“Army Commander, the secret guard’s intelligence is very clear. The firearms used by the Japanese are only equivalent to the smoothbore flintlock guns we used before. They cannot contend with our Conqueror Muskets at all. Moreover, Japan lacks cavalry and is basically all infantry. In terms of artillery, they are even inferior. With such a disparity, we can boldly attack,” Qu Dong analyzed.
“I think so too. Let’s just seize the bridge directly. There’s no need to be polite with the Japanese pirates,” Ye Qingyun agreed with Qu Dong’s words.
He greatly valued this young general, who had graduated from the Qingzhou Army Academy and performed excellently during the attack on Liaozhou.
He was ashamed of his own inferiority in the application of firearms and military tactics.
Qu Dong nodded upon hearing this. They were still eight li from the stone bridge. A normal march would take half an hour to arrive.
Upon receiving Ye Qingyun’s affirmation, he led a thousand vanguards, breaking away from the main force, and sped towards the stone bridge.
When they were five hundred meters from the stone bridge, the Japanese pirates defending Suwon Bridge recognized them as the Great Yu Empire army. They all shouted out, and the Japanese pirates scattered on Suwon Bridge quickly gathered, forming a horizontal formation at the other end of the bridge, aiming their guns at the Great Yu Empire soldiers walking towards them. At the same time, a cavalryman galloped towards Suwon City.
Qu Dong and his soldiers stopped at the other end of Suwon Bridge, maintaining a distance of one hundred and fifty meters from the Japanese pirates.
At this distance, they could defeat the Japanese pirates’ musketeers, while the Japanese pirates’ smoothbore flintlock guns posed little threat to them.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
While the two sides were in a stalemate, a Japanese pirate walked to the middle of the bridge and questioned Qu Dong, acting arrogantly.
In Japan, Yamada Nobunaga had been continuously discrediting the Great Yu Empire, calling the Great Yu Empire people an inferior race and proclaiming that the Great Yu Empire people were not worthy of living in the vast Central Plains, even telling his soldiers that it rightfully belonged to Japan.
Because of this propaganda, the Japanese people greatly despised the Great Yu Empire people. Coupled with the one-sided Goryeo war, they became even more arrogant.
Although they continuously suffered defeats in Ryukyu and at sea, they attributed the failures to individuals rather than the fact that they had been collectively left behind by the Great Yu Empire.
“We are soldiers of the Great Yu Empire. We are here to find our lost soldiers. You are to immediately clear the road. We are going to search Suwon City,” Qu Dong casually made up an excuse.
“Are you mad? How could there be lost Great Yu Empire soldiers here? Get out of here, or we will show you the power of firearms!”
The Japanese soldier shouted. He had once followed pirates to plunder the Great Yu Empire’s coast, so he knew some of the Great Yu Empire’s language.
Qu Dong sneered, “Are you deaf? If we don’t find our soldiers, we won’t return! Have your men clear the road, otherwise I will consider this a declaration of war against the Great Yu Empire!”
The Japanese soldier was startled. Qu Dong’s big statement instantly left him somewhat bewildered. Before the barbarians were driven out of Guandong, they had a war plan for Haigucheng.
However, because the barbarians failed too quickly, they shelved this plan and had been waiting for domestic orders while strengthening their occupation of Goryeo.
Now, the appearance of Great Yu Empire soldiers here gave him an ominous premonition. After a moment of hesitation, he immediately ran to the other end of the bridge. Clearly, they would not yield the road.
“Fire!”
Qu Dong then gave the order. A thousand soldiers, arranged in a horizontal line, began firing at the Japanese pirates across the bridge.
“Bang, bang, bang…” Continuous gunshots rang out. Conqueror Muskets spewed white smoke and flames, and the Japanese pirates opposite immediately fell in a row.
At this distance, the Conqueror Musket showed excellent range and accuracy. Almost a quarter of the bullets hit the enemy.
The Japanese pirate army on the other side of the river was stunned. They were waiting for the Great Yu Empire soldiers to approach them, then they would counterattack according to their formation tactics.
However, the Great Yu Empire soldiers clearly violated their accustomed way of war, launching an attack from outside their firearms’ range.
“Bang, bang, bang…”
Before the Japanese soldiers could react, another volley erupted from across the bridge, followed by a third.
The continuous firepower caused heavy casualties among the Japanese soldiers, who were arranged in dense formations. Over two hundred men fell from a total of five hundred in an instant.
“Charge! Charge!”
The Japanese samurai commanding the musketeers realized something was wrong and immediately shouted for them to charge into close combat, because if they continued fighting this way, they would be completely wiped out without killing a single enemy.
But just as he shouted, he suddenly felt a warmth in his chest. Looking down, he saw blood continuously gushing out.
Across the bridge, a sharpshooter smiled.
Ever since the sharpshooters in Jinzhou City performed excellently, every division was now equipped with a certain number of sharpshooters to specifically target and kill important enemy figures.
Qu Dong had been observing the battle. He found that even after suffering heavy casualties, the Japanese pirates did not retreat. Instead, the remaining soldiers charged towards them as if they had no fear of death.
“Is this the Japanese pirates’ ‘Banzai’ charge?” Qu Dong frowned.
In Haigucheng, they had encountered many Goryeo generals who always feared fighting the Japanese pirates, because the Japanese pirates were not only formidable with firearms, but even when at a disadvantage, they would not surrender. Instead, they would charge as if committing suicide.
Many times, victories in sight were lost due to the Japanese pirates’ charges. And because the Japanese pirates would shout “Banzai” during their charges, the Goryeo people referred to it as a “Banzai charge.”
“Kill! Leave no one alive!” Qu Dong gave the order coldly.
In the battle with the barbarians, he had reached a conclusion: the more barbaric the fighting style, the more barbaric their counterattack had to be, otherwise, there was no way to force the enemy to submit.
This was true for the barbarians, and now it seemed it was also true for the Japanese pirates.
Under the continuous gunfire, one Japanese soldier fell, and another immediately rushed forward. The distance of one hundred and fifty meters was quickly overcome.
At this point, the remaining dozen or so soldiers drew their samurai swords and slashed at the Great Yu Empire soldiers. However, they underestimated the Great Yu Empire soldiers’ hand-to-hand combat ability.
The front-rank Great Yu Empire soldiers raised their bayonets. A swift thrust pierced the Japanese soldier’s heart, and the dozen or so Japanese soldiers fell one by one.