Black Corporation: Joseon

Episode 971: Everyone is a bastard except me…. (8)

The imperial army’s attack on Gibraltar was an inflection point. The moment the bridgeheads were successfully established at Algeciras and Gibraltar, a battleship of the Imperial Navy sailed towards Italy at full speed. After receiving the urgent report from the Navy, the response department summoned all the Italian military commanders.

“The war situation is very sluggish. We need to move more actively.”

The commanders of the five factions all looked embarrassed at Yu Eung-bu’s words.

“We want to move actively, but we are short on troops and supplies. If only someone would provide us with a little more supplies…”

“Do you think that ‘someone’ did their best to support them?”

“…….”

The commanders of the five factions had no choice but to remain silent at Yu Eung-bu’s words. ‘Supplies are lacking.’ As mentioned, the empire provided sufficient support for most materials except artillery shells. After silencing the commanders of the five factions, the Yueungbu announced its conclusion.

“In two days, the Florentine army and the imperial army will come out. Now, let’s end this boring war. If it goes on any longer, it will only be difficult for the people.”

“…I understand.”

Two days later, at dawn.

The imperial artillery began to move busily. Until now, it was the Imperial Artillery that only appeared occasionally when the front line was in danger of collapse. But this day was a little different. For the first time in a long time, monks ascended to the sky, and light-emitting communicators continued to send light signals from the temporary watchtower.

“Let’s begin.”

“Yes, Captain.”

After a while, the standard guns of the Imperial Artillery that were waiting at the front line began to fire all at once. Each time the shells fired by the standard gun landed, Bigu continued to send signals, and the artillerymen of the battery readjusted the bearing and angle of the guns. Once the adjustment was over, the imperial artillerymen fired shells in unison.

Kwakwakwak!

The shells of the Imperial artillery fell heavily between the French and Spanish armies. It was one of the organs of the Imperial artillery, in which shells fell at an incredible density in one area of the front line, creating a hole or passage that could not be filled.

As a large passage was created in the trench lines of the French and Spanish armies, the assault vehicles of the Imperial Army’s assault corps began running toward the passage. What was interesting was that there were several carts lined up behind the charging assault cars, and the carts were full of Florentine and Swiss soldiers. It was a trick that the Florentine and Swiss armies became accustomed to during the battle.

-In order to properly utilize a hole in the front line, follow-up units must pass through the hole as quickly as possible.

-But the speed is too slow to walk.

-However, it is impossible to replace them all with cavalry.

-then?

The plan that the Florentine military commanders came up with was to attach carts to the back of the assault car.

“An assault car is not an iron horse!”

Although the commanders of the assault brigades strongly resisted, the Florentine commanders dealt with them with typical Italian brutality.

“Isn’t it the same whether it’s an iron horse, an assault car, or a steam engine? Let’s just take a few carts.”

“Isn’t it better for you if the follow-up unit follows quickly anyway?”

“But the speed…”

“With that powerful Imperial artillery, wouldn’t it be okay if the speed was a little slower?”

In this way, the assault vehicles came to charge with carts attached to the back. This was well received by the Florentine and Swiss troops as well as the imperial commanders. However, those in charge of maintenance continued swearing.

“Didn’t you look at the textbook? Why did they set a certain number of students? Are they just pretending they won’t take care of the maintenance?”

* * *

The assault cars arrived at the entrance to the passage dug by the Imperial artillery barrage, separated the carts and passed through the passage. While the assault vehicles equipped with large and medium-sized weapons were blocking the French and Spanish troops crowding around the passage, the assault soldiers jumped out of the assault vehicles that had passed through the passage. The assault soldiers who got off the assault vehicles gradually cleared the surrounding trenches and widened the passage.

“Shingijeon!”

“yes!”

Beep! pop!

As the Shingijeon rose into the sky and created a cloud of smoke, the Florentine and Swiss troops who had been waiting at the entrance of the passage pushed into the passage. In the end, the French and Spanish trench lines collapsed before the sun set that day. The French and Spanish troops, whose trench lines collapsed, eventually retreated to Turin Castle and entered into a sit-in.

The commanders of the French and Spanish armies, who had built a defensive line relying on the Po River passing in front of Turin, had to send a report full of sorrow to their home country. And a few days later, messengers from France and Spain arrived at Turin Castle. The next day, messengers carrying white flags visited the Italian and Imperial Allied camps.

-I want to negotiate an end to the war.

After seeing the document the messenger brought, Yu Eung-bu lightly clenched his fist and muttered.

“at las!”

* * *

Afterwards, a conference center was established in Asti, located southeast of Turin. Various negotiations related to the end of the war took place at the conference hall where high-ranking officials from France, Spain, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Venice, Romagna, Kingdom of Naples, Switzerland, and the Empire gathered.

The negotiation process was a series of vicious struggles. The negotiations were so difficult that Han Myeong-hoe, tired of the negotiations, proposed this to Hyang.

“Your Majesty, since we have already occupied Gibraltar and Algesaris, how about we just move north from there and conquer Spain and France?”

“Do you want to go to the archives?”

“…I will do my best.”

There were two biggest difficulties in negotiations.

-War reparations.

-Return of Gibraltar and Alhesaris.

The first obstacle, war reparations, was a challenge from the start.

“We didn’t lose!”

France and Spain never admitted defeat.

“You didn’t just bet white. Isn’t it true that you lost?”

“I said I didn’t lose! I’m just saying that we should end the war because we’re both causing a lot of damage!”

In a situation where the treadmill continued to spin, the scent had to come out directly.

“Then let’s keep fighting.”

“your majesty!”

“It seems that France and Spain want to increase the stakes in the gambling game of war. If so, I will agree to it. I will risk everything I have, including the survival of the country, to continue the game. Because that is what you want. The Empire will not back down.”

Han Myeong-hoe continued speaking with a serious expression on Hyang’s words.

“As His Majesty the Great Taehyang said, the empire will not back down. Let’s go to the end. Are you ready?”

At the end of the Hanmyeonghoe, the representatives of France and Spain found themselves in a situation where they were unable to do either this or that. Agreeing to war reparations would mean admitting defeat. In that case, the authority of the monarch and the ruling class would fall to the ground. It was certain that the monarch would carry out a massive purge to preserve his power.

Authority and power were not the only issues. The amount to be paid as war reparations was also a problem. If you add up all the compensation demanded by the Empire, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland, it was enough to tighten your belt for at least 10 years in the case of France and 20 years in the case of Spain.

“If we pay this much compensation, our kingdom will speak out!”

“What do we want to know?”

“Look!”

“Then why don’t you keep fighting?”

Ahu Han Myeong-hoe, who had put strong pressure on the representatives of France and Spain to mentally support them, quietly swayed the bait.

“If you hand over control of Gibraltar and the vicinity of Algeciras, the Empire will reduce your compensation by 3/10.”

“Really?”

The representative of Spain looked intrigued by the proposal of Hanmyeonghoe. Han Myeong-hoe, who nodded lightly, presented a similar proposal to the French representative.

“I will reduce France’s share of the Suez Railway by 2/10, and if you sign a tariff-free agreement, I will reduce the war reparations by 4/10.”

At the proposal of the Hanmyeonghoe, the representatives of France and Spain looked serious and fell silent.

‘It’s definitely a good offer. But…’ Because

it was a difficult issue to decide hastily, the representatives of France and Spain could not give an easy answer. But then Swiss and Portuguese representatives also took the bait.

-Recognition of Switzerland as an independent nation.

-Signing of tariff-free agreement with Switzerland.

-Half of Spain’s colonial cities in Africa will be transferred to Portugal.

In the end, the French and Spanish representatives took a step back.

“We do not have the authority to decide this matter. We will report this to the home country and receive an answer.”

“I would like to hear an answer within 15 days.”

“this……!”

The representatives of France and Spain, who were about to get upset about the deadline suggested by Han Myeong-hoe, responded with a long sigh.

“Whoa, I’ll do my best.”

* * *

In the end, France and Spain had no choice but to accept the conditions proposed by the empire. Of course, not everything was accepted as is.

On the contrary, the empire engaged in a fierce war of words and numbers to ‘get as much as possible’. In this way, France received a 45/100 discount on the condition that ’15/100 of the shares held by the Suez Railway and agree to a tariff-free agreement.’

In the case of Spain, it received a 35/100 discount by accepting the condition of ‘officially recognizing Gibraltar and Algeciras as imperial territory.’ In addition, Portugal and Switzerland also used the reduction of war reparations as bait to get what they wanted. Once the negotiations were completed, Hyang presented a new proposal to everyone.

“I think it would be a good idea for you, the leaders of Italy, the kings of France, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland to get together and sign an agreement. How nice it would be to see monarchs get together and agree on peace.”

The monarchs of France and Spain, who received the proposal for incense, accepted it after much deliberation. On the day of the historically historic signing ceremony, at the signing ceremony hall in Turin, not only nobles from various countries who arrived to escort the monarchs, but also renowned artists gathered to sketch the signing ceremony.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo sat in the best seats and diligently sketched the scene.

In the midst of this, there was someone who became an outcast in Western Europe.

It was Habsburg.

“Hapsburg…”

When ‘Hapsburg’ was mentioned at the summit meeting that followed the signing ceremony, the expressions of all attendees turned sour. The leader of Venice, whose city was reduced to ruins by the plunder of the Habsburg army, gritted his teeth with Bonno, and the monarchs of France and Spain did the same.

It was because we asked to move together but didn’t do it properly.

‘If only the Habsburgs had done it right!’

Of course, the Habsburgs had a lot to say about this, but they were completely marginalized. After understanding the situation, Hyang muttered to herself.

‘Maybe it will become another spark.’

* * *

After negotiations with France and Spain, Italy became independent as a unified country. And it got loud again. It was a national issue for a unified Italy. A fierce war of words ensued, but in the end, the ‘Basic Law of Unified Italy’ was created, in which most of the empire’s initial proposals were accepted.

The leaders of the factions who accepted the thick code of laws created with the help of imperial officials expressed their gratitude to Hyang and at the same time sent a subtle congratulatory message.

“You mean Tosa-gu-pin…”

“It must be Gamtan-go-to. They are not trustworthy.”

In response to Seong Sam-moon’s angry words, Hyang and Han Myeong-hoe responded with a grin.

“But we still hold the reins.”

While creating the law code, the empire used a trick.

It simply said, ‘Leaders and representatives of the six Italian states.’ Since the names of the current leaders, such as the Medici family and the Kingdom of Naples, are not listed, these leaders could change at any time. Considering the influence of the empire, it was said that those currently in power and those seeking to take power must have support from the empire.

This ended the war of Italian unification.

Historians later evaluated it as ‘a war in which all participating countries became allies of the empire.’