WeTried Translations
Translator: NEET_Romulus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Dropped into the Ending of a Trash Show as an Extra ◈
Chapter 5: Grand Bridge
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Ilsan Bridge.
Jurisdiction over this enormous concrete bridge spanning the Han River was divided between the Army’s 17th Division at the southern end and the 60th Division at the northern end.
The orders issued by division headquarters to the commanders dispatched from both sides to control Ilsan Bridge were exceedingly simple.
‘Completely seal off the bridge until the situation is understood, and immediately stop any troops attempting to cross.’
The problem was that those were the only instructions from above.
The front-line battalion and company officers had no idea what was happening in Seoul, which side was the rebel force, or which side was suppressing it.
In the end, all either side could do was erect layer after layer of barricades from the middle of the bridge and position their weapons forward.
“Hey! 17th Division! Get back, nice and easy! We got orders from the division commander to take control here!”
“Don’t make me laugh! We’re sealing off the whole bridge on orders from higher command too! Take one step over the line and we’ll fire!”
“This is driving me insane! Are we the rebels, or are they?!”
They were locked in a frustrating standoff, neither side knowing what in the world was going on.
Then...
Vrrrrrrm!
“What was that? Armored vehicles?”
[Left side of the southern approach! It’s an armored vehicle unit!]
The 17th Division battalion commander hurriedly grabbed the radio.
Were they allies? Enemies?
“What unit are they from? Stop them, and shoot immediately if they refuse to identify themselves!”
But the observer’s voice sounded less frightened than bewildered.
[Sir, the armored vehicles aren’t heading for the bridge... They’re driving into the river.]
“What? The river?”
The battalion commander hurriedly turned to look down.
Then they saw an unbelievable sight.
Marines were plunging their vehicles into the Han River without hesitation, in the dead of winter.
“...Crazy.”
The 17th Division troops could only stare.
Sure, the Marines never stopped boasting about being an amphibious force, but they were really diving into the Han River without even looking back?
But the Marines meant it.
The armored vehicles in the river soon blasted their water jets and began tearing fiercely through the current.
It was a brutish, overwhelming maneuver, as though the river were no obstacle at all.
Their eyes were fixed on one place.
The 60th Division forces building a defensive line at the northern end of the bridge fell into complete panic.
“Bearing 180 degrees! Multiple unidentified armored vehicles approaching across the river!”
“Switch to combat readiness! Turn the antitank weapons toward the riverbank!”
The 60th Division battalion commander’s voice cracked.
Naturally.
They had only anticipated an advance across the bridge. Who could have expected Marines to suddenly appear and cross the Han River?
“Um... Sir, they aren’t crossing on the bridge. Do we fire?”
“...”
The division’s order had clearly been to shoot anyone crossing Ilsan Bridge.
“Do we fire?!”
“Wait! Identify friend or foe first! What unit do those lunatics belong to?”
The battalion commander pressed binoculars to their face as though trying to crush them into it.
Marines charged across the Han River, spraying water like beasts.
An armored vehicle reached shore with a splash, its heavy tracks crushing the mud along the embankment as it surged onto land.
The 60th Division troops, fingers on their triggers, all swallowed hard.
Were they the rebel vanguard? Was a bloody firefight about to begin?
But what burst from the lead vehicle was not a signal to engage, but a roar through its external loudspeaker.
The figure standing with hands on hips bellowed with enough force to command the world.
[Long live His Imperial Majesty!]
“...???”
Question marks seemed to rise over every 60th Division soldier’s head.
Then savage shouts erupted at once from the other vehicles coming ashore.
[Long live His Imperial Majesty! Long live, long live His Imperial Majesty!]
At those crazed cries, the 60th Division battalion commander forgot to give orders and only muttered blankly.
“...What the hell is wrong with those idiots?”
* * *
History had seen a handful of rebels turn the world upside down more often than one might think.
The reason was simple. In the confusion of a coup, when it was impossible even to distinguish friend from foe, momentum was everything.
On a battlefield where the chain of command had collapsed and intelligence could not be gathered properly, soldiers hesitated instinctively.
For that brief moment, they could not tell where to point their guns or whether the orders coming down were legitimate.
The one who pushed through that hesitation with overwhelming conviction seized control of the battlefield. That was the essence of a coup.
Of course, Captain Kwak Ji-hoon and the Marines under his command were not rebels. If anything, they were the only suppression force escorting the surviving Emperor, and the imperial loyalist forces.
Yet that law of mad momentum applied equally to Kwak Ji-hoon and the Marines.
The Army’s 17th and 60th Divisions had been facing each other in taut tension at the southern and northern ends of Ilsan Bridge.
A coup had broken out in the heart of Seoul.
Marshal Song Haksu’s broadcast had already gone out, but no one knew whether the units facing them were on the rebels’ side or on the Emperor’s side, if an Emperor still existed in this country.
No, they did not even know which side their own unit was on.
The only order they had received was not to let the unit on the other side cross over.
In that nerve-racking standoff, where no one could fire first, a column of heavy armored vehicles burst from the riverbank and appeared behind the 60th Division troops.
After clearing the embankment, they took the road and charged straight for the rear blockade barring the northern approach to Ilsan Bridge.
“Stop! Stop! Come any closer and we will fire immediately!”
The 60th Division officers shouted from behind the defensive wall.
Only when the Marine armored vehicles were nearly upon them did their tracks screech to a brutal stop, as though they would rip up the asphalt.
The lead vehicle rumbled to a halt, and its upper hatch swung open roughly.
“Victory! We are the Mobile Regiment of the 2nd Marine Division, moving to safeguard His Imperial Majesty. His Imperial Majesty has returned. We request that you immediately remove the barricades and open the road.”
Behind it, the machine guns of the armored vehicles were all aimed directly at the defensive wall. That went without saying.
Would they unleash their weapons on fellow soldiers and settle this here?
Or...
“...Eagle, this is Sparrow. An emergency situation has arisen at the forward approach. There is a risk of engagement, so we are maintaining a standoff under fire control. Request immediate instructions.”
Would they avoid a clash until the very end?
* * *
Meanwhile, at the southern end of Ilsan Bridge.
Before the approach controlled by the Army’s 17th Division.
While Kwak Ji-hoon’s vanguard crossed the river, Lee Jin’s main force and Seo Yu-jin, who had arrived later, stopped before the bridge.
The situation at the southern end was no different from the northern end.
The 17th Division troops had completely blocked the bridge entrance under orders to stop the opposing unit from crossing.
“Sir! The 60th Division forces at the northern end are moving aside!”
“What? Why all of a sudden? Are they trying to cross over here?”
“No! From the looks of it... they seem to be opening the way for us.”
“???”
Marine armored vehicles had suddenly appeared, crossed the Han River by force, and now the 60th Division was opening the road.
As the 17th Division, which had received no order to cross, could only watch in confusion...
“Captain Kwak Ji-hoon’s judgment appears to have been correct. The troops themselves seem to be in disarray.”
Seo Yu-jin opened the rear door and stepped out, heels clicking against the ground.
“Whoever is in charge, come forward.”
Seo Yu-jin’s voice was neither loud nor high. Yet it carried a peculiar pressure.
“Cease fire! Everyone, cease fire!”
Someone behind them cried out as though screaming. An officer who recognized Seo Yu-jin ran out, face drained pale.
“Who are you? This area is currently under military operational control.”
“I am Seo Yu-jin, Chief Secretary of the Imperial Household of the Republic of Korea. We are presently escorting His Imperial Majesty through this area. Open the barricades immediately and permit passage.”
Seo Yu-jin produced an official identification card and a badge bearing the Imperial crest.
The battalion commander’s jaw twitched.
“His... Imperial Majesty? The news said every member of the Imperial Family had died...”
“It is true that everyone who attended the imperial wedding ceremony died. However, under the Constitution and the Imperial House Act, a new Emperor has ascended the throne. We are now heading to the broadcasting station for an address to the people.”
“...”
The battalion commander’s mind went blank.
How could a mere front-line battalion commander know the truth behind such massive political upheaval?
All they knew was the emergency alert on their smartphone about a massive bombing attack, and Marshal Song Haksu’s declaration of rebellion watched on mobile television.
Whom should they follow?
Marshal Song Haksu, who had started the rebellion?
Or the division commander who had sent the unit here without giving proper orders?
Or...
As the confused battalion commander took a step back...
Click.
The door of the Imperial security vehicle behind Seo Yu-jin opened.
Lee Jin stepped out and cast an indifferent gaze at the 17th Division commander.
“17th Division?”
In the silence, thick with the sound of swallowed saliva, the battalion commander answered in a daze.
“...Yes.”
Lee Jin’s voice was short, dry, and firm.
“Battalion commander.”
“...Yes.”
“To whom is a soldier loyal?”
“To the state and its people. And to His Imperial Majesty, supreme commander of the armed forces.”
The answer spilled automatically from the battalion commander’s mouth, like stating rank and name.
It was a conditioned reflex ingrained into the minds of Republic of Korea soldiers over decades.
“I am Lee Jin, heir to the imperial throne of the Republic of Korea. Should I take your blocking that bridge as an intention to side with the rebels?”
The battalion commander could barely breathe.
Legitimacy.
To a soldier, legitimacy was life itself. A mere front-line battalion commander could not possibly decide whom to follow, but standing before them now was the living supreme commander of the armed forces, holding the State Seal.
Which choice would keep them from becoming a traitor?
There was no choice to make.
“...No!”
The battalion commander hurriedly snapped to attention and saluted.
“Loyalty! Lieutenant Colonel Lee Bok-geun, commander of the Reconnaissance Battalion, 17th Infantry Division! I pay my respects to Your Majesty! May Your Majesty live for ten thousand years!”
At that salute, the 17th Division infantrymen blocking the barricades lowered their weapons at once and opened the road.
Through the path they opened...
Vrrrrrrm!
The vehicle carrying Lee Jin, the armored vehicles of the following force, and military trucks carrying troops poured onto Ilsan Bridge without hesitation.
On the northern riverbank, Kwak Ji-hoon’s vanguard armored vehicles had already spread into a broad formation, waiting to escort the main force.
The 60th Division troops could only watch the forces crossing the bridge, milling around with blank expressions.
The 17th Division battalion commander, crossing the bridge behind Lee Jin, exchanged an odd look with the 60th Division battalion commander.
“I am going to the broadcasting station. 17th Division, and 60th Division.”
Lee Jin looked at them as he spoke.
“The nation’s army will follow me.”
* * *
“That’s a relief.”
Seo Yu-jin, seated in the front passenger seat, let out a short breath.
Lee Jin sank deep into the rear seat and rubbed a hand over his face.
His heart was pounding madly.
Until moments ago, his legs had nearly given out, and he had only managed to stay upright through sheer force of will.
He had put on as much bravado as possible, making sure never to look intimidated.
After all, in a situation like this, the one who intimidated the other side won.
“Secretary Seo. You took ten years off my life.”
Seo Yu-jin looked at Lee Jin in the rearview mirror and answered firmly.
“You did splendidly. The bearing you showed just now was more kingly than that of any imperial relative.”
“You’re not making fun of me, right?”
Lee Jin asked with a hollow laugh, but Seo Yu-jin remained composed.
“Of course not. I mean it.”
But the greatest obstacle, crossing the Han River, had now vanished completely.
Having passed Ilsan Bridge without bloodshed, the convoy accelerated without the slightest delay.
They had only one goal.
IBS’s Second Broadcasting Station in Ilsan, where they could draw the people’s full attention.
There, they had to announce to the world that the Emperor was alive.
“Let’s push a little harder. Are we close to the station?”
At Lee Jin’s urging, the vehicles sped up further, letting out sharp roars.
Before long...
The brightly lit broadcasting station came into view.
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