Chapter 6

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I don’t want to be a mere attendant.

Before the enemy scout noticed, Johann decided to stop the march of the 5th battalion.

Thud!

He just raised his fist, but the 5th battalion almost simultaneously stopped their steps.

"Wait here. I'll be back in a moment. Let the soldiers rest a bit."

Johann ran towards the enemy scout without even listening to Mathus's response.

"How much did you make from looting the village this time?"

"Hehe, I made a whopping ten ryang."

"Wow, that's a lot. I think I made only about seven ryang at most."

"Sir, I really envy you. I didn't make a single penny this time."

"That's because you're a lecher."

"Hehe... I can't help it when I see a woman."

"I can't understand your taste for only married women."

In Nammyeong, these people, known as 'Songgang Army,' were a group of bandits.

And the scouts sent out by the Songgang Army were three in total.

They were more focused on loitering than scouting.

They had not encountered any enemy forces during their journey to the capital of Nammyeong, so they were complacent.

Of course, they were also unaware that they were near the capital of Nammyeong, Fuzhou.

"Wait! A strange guy is approaching?"

They were chatting happily about the spoils they had obtained from looting Daejeon, but they belatedly noticed Johann.

"Is he a Ming soldier?"

"If he were a Ming soldier, why would he be running alone like that?"

"Whatever he is, what does it matter? He's just one guy. Kill him and it's over."

"I'll just take the weapon he's carrying! Hehe."

As they were being casual, a spear suddenly flew.

"Ugh!"

The youngest, who had just turned twenty, was hit by the spear and fell backward.

"Did he throw a spear from that far and hit him?"

"He's a master!"

They didn't care at all that their youngest member was dead.

They were just startled by the fact that their opponent had extraordinary skills.

But while they were stunned, Johann had already run up to them.

Swish!

The sword in Johann's right hand swung in the blink of an eye.

With a chilling sound of flesh being cut, the bandit's head flew into the sky.

When another bandit was killed instantly, the last remaining bandit dropped his weapon without any hesitation.

"Please, spare my life, sir!"

Johann looked down at the scout with cold eyes. Having participated in the Third War as a soldier and killed people before, he felt no particular emotion about killing the scout.

"Name."

"My name is Wonjong!"

"Where is your base?"

"It's in Yugu Mountain to the north. It's about half an hour's walk from here."

Perhaps because he was a born bandit, he had no hesitation in betraying his comrades.

"Are all your troops stationed in Yugu Mountain?"

"Some are staying in Daejeon."

"Hmm, really? How many are there?"

"I, I'm not sure exactly, but probably around two to three hundred."

Hearing this information, Johann's eyes lit up.

If they were all gathered in the mountains, it would have been a bit troublesome.

But since the enemy was divided into two groups, he saw it as an opportunity.

'In this case, I can't help but pick them off one by one, can I?'

***

There was one characteristic of the peasant rebellion army in Ija Province.

The leaders of the rebellion often used names from famous novels as their aliases.

The leader of the bandits who invaded Fuzhou Province of Nammyeong, or rather the Songgang Army, was no different.

The reason the bandits were called the Songgang Army was that their leader's alias was Songjiang from the novel "Water Margin."

"It's time to change my identity now that I've gathered enough money."

On a late night,

Songjiang fanned himself gently, feeling the lingering heat.

By the time this heat ends, his identity will have changed.

From the leader of a bandit gang to a general of Nammyeong.

'I'd like to become a roving general, but with the money I have, it might be difficult.'

In Nammyeong, the practice of buying and selling official positions was still rampant.

With the money he had, he could become a general regardless of his previous identity.

"General."

"What is it?"

"The soldiers I sent to scout the mountain below haven't returned."

"Another desertion?"

Hearing the report from his adjutant, Songjiang clicked his tongue.

Although they were called a bandit gang, his army was not a ragtag group.

They had extensive combat experience, whether against the Ming or the Qing, making them more disciplined than Nammyeong's army.

However, even if they were disciplined, it was meaningless.

The Great Shun had fallen, and their king had disappeared.

Rumors were even circulating that he was already dead.

Having lost their country and king, it was more unusual for their morale to be high.

Songjiang suspected the soldiers' absence was due to desertion for these reasons.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"What, what is it!"

Suddenly, the sound startled Songjiang.

"It's from the direction of Daejeon!"

"Have the Jurchens followed us here?"

Fuzhou Province was part of Nammyeong, so it was natural to suspect it was an attack by Nammyeong.

However, no one was unaware that Nammyeong's army was a mere facade.

Even the Qing focused more on suppressing the remnants of the Great Shun rather than Nammyeong.

Thus, Songjiang first suspected the Qing when he heard the gunfire from the direction of Daejeon.

"What should we do?"

"First, wake up all the soldiers and have them arm themselves."

Since his troops were under attack, he should have provided immediate support.

However, Songjiang couldn't act rashly.

If the attackers were indeed the Qing army, he could end up getting caught in the crossfire by going to help.

'If they are the Qing, I need to prepare to flee.'

He made his decision only after the situation was completely over.

After a survivor from Daejeon, who had barely escaped, reported back, he decided to 'counterattack.'

'They were Ming soldiers. And their numbers were at most a few hundred?'

He felt very ashamed that he had ignored the crisis of his own troops out of fear of a mere Nammyeong.

Songjiang gritted his teeth and gave orders to his soldiers.

"Follow me! Let's avenge our innocent comrades killed by the southern barbarians!"

"Yaaah!"

His adjutant advised waiting until dawn, but he ignored it.

Against the weak Nammyeong army, no preparation was necessary.

***

"Any injuries?"

"No!"

In response to Johann's question, the 5th battalion soldiers answered forcefully.

In fact, it was too dark to see if anyone was injured or dead.

But the 5th battalion just shouted the answer Johann wanted in a voice filled with anger.

'About five are injured. Fortunately, no one died.'

Unlike the 5th battalion soldiers who couldn't see well in the dark, Johann could see clearly in the darkness.

This ability had been very useful during the night raid.

The bandits stationed in Daejeon were in a state of high intoxication, as if to prove they weren't bandits.

Even the sentries outside were drunk.

Johann moved stealthily and subdued the sentries.

Then he set fires in various parts of the town to create confusion and assassinated those who seemed to be commanders.

At this point, the 5th battalion soldiers also moved, and after a few volleys, the situation was quickly resolved.

"Yaaah!"

At that moment, a loud noise came from the direction of Yugu Mountain.

It was the sound of at least a few hundred people.

"Finally, they're here. I was about to go to them if they didn't come."

Johann responded calmly to the appearance of the enemy.

Of course, he was the only one who could remain calm in this situation.

"Swallow."

Even the brave 5th battalion soldiers couldn't help but be tense.

Their numbers were only 100.

Moreover, they were quite exhausted, having just finished a battle not even two hours ago.

On the other hand, the enemy?

There were at least 500 of them.

Facing an enemy five times their number, it would have been more unusual not to be tense.

'They're getting closer.'

Mathus, who was usually calm, also showed a tense expression.

The numerous enemies were approaching with a roar, but their figures were not yet visible.

This made it even more terrifying.

'How can Johann remain calm in this situation?'

He didn't particularly admire Johann.

But watching Johann from close by, he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

At first, he felt awe at Johann's brute strength.

But now, he felt awe at his fearless and bold character.

Whoosh.

A sound of something flying was heard right next to him.

Johann had thrown a spear, and despite the distance of several hundred feet, it hit the enemy accurately.

"Ugh!"

Watching this, Mathus couldn't help but wonder if Johann was human.

'A monster.'

Still, it was reassuring to have such a monster on their side.

"Yaaah!"

"Almost there. Kill them!"

Meanwhile, the enemy started to run.

This meant the distance between the two armies was getting closer.

'How close are they? Should I shoot now?'

Mathus and the 5th battalion soldiers in the first row were more tense than ever.

But in this tense situation, Johann's voice was clearly heard.

"Fire!"

Upon this command, the tension on the 5th battalion's faces disappeared.

Bang!

The soldiers in the first row fired their matchlock guns almost simultaneously, as if one person had fired.

Soon, 25 bullets flew towards the enemy.

"Second row! Fire!"

Following Johann's command, the 25 soldiers in the second row fired their guns simultaneously.

'What's the situation?'

Mathus, standing in the first row, couldn't grasp the situation at all.

The darkness and gunpowder smoke obscured his vision.

"Roar!"

Amid the cacophony, Johann's command was clearly heard.

'Just two shots and then charge?'

Even if they had fired in broad daylight, the enemy's casualties would have been minimal.

Let alone in the pitch-black night.

In other words, the enemy still numbered over 500.

'Charging now is not just reckless, it's insane.'

Mathus thought Johann had made a wrong judgment.

Common sense dictates that the side with fewer numbers shouldn't charge.

Still, Mathus threw away his matchlock gun and drew his sword.

The other black soldiers did the same.

As if Johann's command was a divine order, they followed it without hesitation.

"Yaaah!"

"Yaaah!"

On the other hand, the Songgang Army was in disarray.

Their morale had already been low since they started dying one by one from the spears Johann threw from a distance.

The volleys only made it harder for them to regain their composure.

Still, a few brave ones did not retreat from the 5th battalion's charge.

They bravely prepared to fight with swords and spears.

But when they saw the giants with white teeth charging through the darkness, they screamed.

"They're not human. They're demons!"

"R, Run!"

Fuzhou Province soldiers would be familiar with both white and black people.

Especially the 5th battalion, who had been used as private soldiers by Jeong Jiyong for a long time, found them more familiar.

But this was only because Fuzhou Province soldiers had more interactions with foreigners.

The Songgang Army, who had traveled from the distant north to Fuzhou, saw black people for the first time.

Encountering a large number of black people in the darkness, it was not surprising that the Songgang Army screamed and fled, calling them demons.

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