Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 298

“All sails have been unfurled!”

“We’re at maximum speed!”

“Indeed! Well done!”

In response to the reports from his subordinates, Kang Nam-gil, the captain of the challenger-class ship no. 3 ‘Maengjin’ (also known as Brave Advance), clenched his fist and cheered. Beside Nam-gil, who was cheering, the lieutenant directing the marines raised his voice.

“It seems faster than the top speed we reached during training!”

“Good! Good!”

Nam-gil, who had been nodding continuously, raised his voice.

“The name of our ship is Maengjin! Crush those pirates in a manner befitting the ship’s name!”

“Aye!”

The morale of the marines and commanders was sky-high. However, there were two individuals who weren’t.

“Bleurgh!”

“Ugh!”

The ones retching through the open window of the cabin at the stern were the physicians who had boarded this ship for the first time.

The physicians, who had taken the seasickness medicine prepared just in case, sighed.

“The ship and the crew…”

“Even the name was ominous.”

***

After the challenger-class ship no. 1 was named ‘Challenger,’ the subsequent challenger-class warships continued to be given challenging names.

The name of ship no. 2 was ‘Invincible,’ followed by ‘Maengjin’ for ship no. 3, and ‘Jinchwi’ (Taking Initiative) for ship no. 5.

It was the same for the Haeung-class ships. Starting from ship no. 2, they were named after fast raptors or beasts of prey.

As a result, those who had to come up with the ship names and present them to Sejong had to wrestle with dictionaries.

“They could just use place names like before!”

Although there were those who cried out like that, it was difficult to do so because the panokseon had already claimed those names.

***

When the Joseon Navy selected the captains for the challenger-class and Haeung-class warships, there was only one criterion.

“Since they will be experiencing unknown regions they have never encountered before, we should choose those with a strong sense of adventure and excellent adaptability.”

Based on this criterion, the Navy began selecting suitable captains.

“Aren’t they getting ahead of themselves?”

Senior officers from the General Staff and the Army expressed concerns when they saw the Navy’s movements. It was because the Navy had already started selecting commanders when the design plans for the challenger-class ships had just been completed.

However, the Navy scoffed at such concerns.

“Hah! If we select people after the ships are built, it will be too late! We need to screen them leisurely in advance and then choose from among them to select the right ones in a timely manner!”

In the end, this issue was brought to Sejong, and Sejong sided with the Navy.

“The Navy’s argument is reasonable.”

Those chosen through this process were individuals like Oh Ha-seok. The reason Oh Ha-seok’s group accompanied Mansur to Aden was not merely to educate them on the use of firearms. It was for them to see and experience the reality of the open sea, which was different from the familiar coastal waters of Joseon, as future commanders of the ocean-going fleet.

As a side note, as the challenger-class warships were steadily launched, Hyang also had the opportunity to meet the captains. After meeting with the captains, Hyang was inwardly astounded.

‘What, what are these lunatics?’

Hyang was unaware that he himself was also quite a lunatic.

***

In many aspects, Kang Nam-gil was a symbol of such lunatics.

“He will either become a famous general or a notorious bandit.”

This was the assessment of the elders of his family and the village elders who had seen Nam-gil in his childhood.

Although he was from a civil official family, due to his personality, Nam-gil entered the civil service through the military examination.

After becoming a military officer, Nam-gil steadily built his career in the Army and the Navy. He served as a cavalry commander, engaging in pursuits with the Jurchen tribes, and also commanded warships in the Tsushima conquest force led by Yi Jong-mu.

While typical military officers preferred either land or sea assignments, Nam-gil enjoyed both.

On land, he enjoyed galloping on horseback across the plains of Liaodong as a cavalry commander, and after transferring to the Navy, he loved firing the cannons mounted on warships. What Nam-gil disliked was being cooped up in a fortress or camp.

As time passed and the separation of military branches progressed through Sejong’s Reformation Plan, Joseon’s military officers had to decide on their career paths. From then on, those in the Navy would continue to serve in the Navy, and those in the Army would continue to live as Army personnel. Therefore, officers like Nam-gil had to decide on their future paths.

While pondering over this, an interesting rumor reached Nam-gil’s ears.

– The Crown Prince argued before the King and the ministers, “For Joseon to expand, we must gain control of the sea!”

– It is said that the King also acknowledged the validity of the Crown Prince’s words!

Upon hearing the rumor, Nam-gil felt as if the hazy fog in his mind had cleared up.

“That’s right! It has always been said that ‘a man should play in the great waters!’ Isn’t the sea the true great water? Hahaha!”

The colleagues who heard Nam-gil’s words beside him whispered softly.

“Is that the ‘great water’ he’s referring to?”

“Probably not.”

In any case, because Nam-gil’s abilities, experience, and achievements were quite good, he was able to become the captain of a newly constructed challenger-class warship.

“Good! Very good!”

Nam-gil was very satisfied when he saw the new warship. It was fast and had many cannons.

***

Since most of the captains of the new warships were “capable lunatics” similar to Nam-gil, the marines under their command were also not to be taken lightly.

The recruitment of marines for the new warships was based on “volunteers first.”

When the marines saw the recruitment notices posted at the naval bases across Joseon, their initial reaction was negative.

“Why would I join a voyage to an unknown place, not knowing when I’ll return? It’s not like I have a spare life.”

However, the marines who had accompanied Mansur’s merchant ships and traveled to Aden and Alexandria with Oh Ha-seok immediately volunteered to become crew members of the new warships.

The crew members who had been to unfamiliar foreign countries shared their experiences with their colleagues.

“The courtesans in the brothels of Alexandria have hair like flowing gold, and their breasts and buttocks are as large as wooden bowls!”

“Just by taking a common wooden bowl from Joseon and selling it there, you can easily earn several nyang of gold!”

“In that place, they sell spices like pepper as if they were selling rice in the market!”

Influenced by those tales mixed with tremendous exaggeration and a bit of truth, the marines gradually began to waver.

Furthermore, Mansur’s fleet, which regularly visited Joseon, also swayed the hearts of the marines. As the Oeguija (black ghost, referring to black people) sailors, who had distinctly different skin colors and appearances from Joseon, Japanese, or Chinese people, became familiar, curiosity began to overpower fear.

And at the right moment, the court posted a new recruitment notice.

– Additional reward money will be provided.

“Let’s go!”

“Hooray!”

The recruitment notice worked like magic, and the application reception desk was overflowing.

Interestingly, this was not limited to within the Navy. Many young men who heard this rumor knocked on the doors of the naval bases. It was a different situation from the past when people avoided the Navy, saying, “The body is noble, but the work is lowly.”

***

Because the ship was filled with such individuals, the atmosphere on the Maengjin was not one of fear but of excitement.

However, the soldiers and commanders handling the cannons did not lose their last bit of reason.

“Handle them carefully! If you make a mistake, it’s not those pirates who will become fish food, but you!”

“Yes, sir!”

Once the preparations were complete, the gunnery officers commanding the cannons on the first and second decks shouted, gripping the speaking trumpets.

“Preparations complete!”

“The cannons are reported to be ready.”

Upon receiving the lieutenant’s report, Kang Nam-gil checked other aspects.

“What about the deployment of the grapeshot cannons and musketeers on the first deck?”

“Completed, sir!”

“Are the musketeers all positioned in the crow’s nest?”

“Completed, sir!”

After receiving the lieutenant’s report, Kang Nam-gil turned his head back.

The other two sister ships were following the Maengjin he was on, maintaining an appropriate distance and forming a single-column formation.

“Indeed…”

Satisfied with the swift and precise movements of the companion ships, befitting the notorious reputation of the Joseon Navy in the coastal waters of Joseon after the Reformation Plan, Nam-gil took out his telescope, fully extended it, and observed the pirate ships.

“Their size is about the same as the grain transport ships… The number is roughly twenty or so? And they’re clustered together appropriately. How grateful can I be?”

Having assessed the situation, Nam-gil handed the telescope to the lieutenant, opened the door to the wheelhouse, and shouted.

“Proceed straight ahead!”

“Straight ahead!”

After issuing the command, Nam-gil envisioned the upcoming situation while looking at the pirate ships.

The Joseon fleet, forming a single-column formation, would charge into the center of the clustered pirate group and tear the concentrated pirate fleet apart.

“Hah! They’re probably experiencing this kind of battle for the first time.”

The expression on Nam-gil’s face as he gazed at the pirate ships resembled that of a beast of prey facing its prey.

***

If Kang Nam-gil had the expression of a beast of prey facing its prey, Zhao, the leader of the pirate fleet, had a similar expression.

“Single-column formation? They intend to push through?”

Having discerned the formation arranged by the Joseon fleet, Zhao slightly nodded his head.

“With that size, it’s understandable for them to have such thoughts. I don’t know which country made them, but their size is substantial.”

The gray large warships approaching from the front were of considerable size. They were as large as the supply ships he had last seen in Zheng He’s fleet a few years ago. The problem was that he had never seen such ships before. He had never seen similar-looking ships in the Ming, Japan, or even Joseon in the corner.

“However, they have underestimated us too much.”

His own fleet was also composed of individuals who had been pirating for generations on this rough sea. If they were relying solely on their size to penetrate through, it would be a fatal misjudgment.

“And…”

Zhao glanced at the deck of the ship he was on. On the deck were six cannons. They were the Ming army’s cannons he had secretly obtained through contact with a Ming black market dealer not long ago.

***

They were fearsome things that could fire heavy iron balls weighing nearly 30 geun (approx. 18 kg) up to a distance of about 200 bo (approx. 240 m).

The black market dealer who had handed over the cannons boasted confidently.

“These are the best cannons of the Ming army! There’s nothing that can beat them!”

In response to Zhao’s words, the black market dealer shook his head.

“Joseon? Ah, Joseon also uses cannons a lot. But how good can the performance of cannons made by such a small country be? These cannons are made in the Ming, the Ming!”

Pondering the black market dealer’s words, Zhao snapped out of his thoughts and assessed the situation.

“Are the cannons ready?”

“Yes, leader!”

“Are the fire arrows properly prepared as well?”

“Yes, leader!”

“This time, make sure to aim only at the sails. Don’t hit useless spots like last time and make us struggle to put out the fire.”

“Yes, leader!”

Fire arrows were one of the favored attack methods used by pirates. Fire was the greatest enemy of wooden ships. Of course, the hull that had been floating on the sea for a long time and had absorbed moisture did not easily catch fire. However, the moment those fire arrows hit their target, the attention of the crew on the opposing side would be diverted, creating an opening.

In addition to that purpose, fire arrows were also useful because the first thing they aimed at when shooting fire arrows was the sails of the enemy ship. The moment the sails caught fire, the enemy would become like a fish on a cutting board.

Having confirmed the readiness of his subordinate pirates, Zhao surveyed the other pirate ships. As the enemy ships approached in a single-column formation, the companion ships were slowly gathering around.

The moment the enemies in the single-column formation charged into the center, the pirate ships that had gathered around would all pounce on them.

Those unfamiliar ships might intend to rely solely on their size and break through, but the situation would become like a wild boar trapped in a net.

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