Original subtitles

This story is taken from historical records.

In the 11th year of King Sunjo (1811)

Hong Gyeong-rae of Pyeongan Province rebelled against unjust treatment by Joseon’s court.

He and his rebels seized control of the northern area of Chongchon River.

In Songnim, however, they lost a battle against government troops,

and Hong Gyeong-rae was stabbed by a traitor in his ranks.

The remaining rebels have entered Chongjuseong Fortress and are preparing to make their last stand.

Sohn Tae-young [Middle captain in the government’s Pacification Army]

Sir?

[ Left Company camp, Pacification Army ]

Strain your calves and push! Harder!

[ General Park Ki-pung : The Pacification Army’s commander-in-chief and head commander of Pyeongan province ]

What’s that?

What are they dragging out this time?

Damn bandits shot me like ghosts. How dare you!

Hong Chong-gak [Leader of the rebel army’s South Division]

Those sons of bitches stepped on the caltrops!

The enemy’s a hundred paces away.

Wu Gun-chik [Rebel army staff officer]

Halt!

Bring the orderlies.

Yes, sir!

It seems those animals spread caltrops.

Watch your step.

Gunners! Watch out near the battlements.

Gunners!

Gunners!

Return fire!

What did I teach you while hunting deer?

To… to hold my breath.

One.

Two.

That girl there shoots better than you.

Don’t waste your bullets. Just give your gun to her.

That girl has steady hands.

Those fools maneuver just like deer.

Well, deer are good at running, at least.

Don’t stop firing!

Sir, the forward unit has stopped.

Keep marching.

Push!

Don’t be frightened!

Those things can only roll straight. They can’t move side to side. See what I mean?

Fire the flaming arrows!

Return fire!

Tear them to pieces!

Oh, the axle is broken.

The tower has stopped!

Sir, the siege tower fell flat.

Gunners, fire into the sides!

Hey, it’s over. Take your gun.

Heaven helps us!

The gate of Chongjuseong Fortress, shall not be opened today!

Sir?

Set fire to the siege tower.

Pardon me, sir?

Withdraw the troops.

My vow to wipe out the rebels in the fortress, once again, cannot be kept.

Yi Jang-kab, a solider from the capital, and 13 other soldiers died, with 72 injured.

We can see war banners from all over the country here at Chongjuseong Fortress.

Soldiers of the Military Training Academy, the Royal Guards, the Capital Garrison,

provincial Pyeongan troops, and even militia units have joined the battle.

Although we outnumber the rebels, our soldiers lack experience,

and we’re short of skilled commanders.

Although there are many soldiers in officers’ uniforms, true commanders are hard to come by.

Sir, we captured one of the bandits.

A bandit?

You said the rebels ordered you to buy salt with this money?

You naughty boy, how dare you! You can’t tell the truth?

Since we took your tally stick, you can’t go back to the fortress.

Here you go.

Hey, kid! The captain’s giving you the money. Take it, quick!

Two taels should be enough. Go back to your home.

I’ll reward you with this.

I didn’t do it for the reward, but thank you, sir.

Your war is

over.

We can’t forget a drink to celebrate our victory.

It’s cheap stuff, but it’ll keep away the chill.

(By the way, where’s General Hong?)

(Ever since we got to the fortress, we haven’t seen him at all.)

They haven’t heard yet, General Hong Gyeong-rae got stabbed at Songrim and now he’s within an inch of his life.

Hold your tongue.

There are many ears inside this fortress.

Life is complicated down here on the plain, unlike the mountains.

It was a big mistake to burn the siege tower we put so much work into.

You should reprimand the officer who came up with this pitiful plan.

You never know, the bandits could have dug it out and used it against us

You can build another one.

So how do you think we can get over the walls of Chongjuseong Fortress?

About two and half miles south of Chongju, there’s a place where Taejo the Great stayed before taking the throne.

This is surely not a coincidence.

If we hold a religious ceremony for the departed king, wouldn’t his spirit protect our army?

If our soldiers have some ritual food after the ceremony, it’ll boost their morale.

Who’s going to compose the oration for the ceremony?

A ceremonial assistant, Kim Myeong-suk, has decent writing skills.

Many soldiers in our army are too old or sick to bear arms. They’ll be no help in a fight.

It would be better to send them home than to let them waste our rations. At least, then we can win the hearts of the people.

Let’s do that.

And I must repeat,

we need more time to pinpoint the weakness of the rebels, and to train our soldiers for the siege.

Then how do you respond to the court officials who visit us several times a day?

A single day’s delay makes His Majesty’s anxiety grow, inch by inch,

and, inch by inch, our lives grow shorter.

Then we’ll resume the siege, which means a new siege tower needs to be built.

I will assign this task you, captain.

Yes, sir.

If you have nothing else to say, the oration to Taejo the Great…

Sir! As requested, an artillery unit has arrived with new armaments.

Is that so?

Give them orders to prepare their guns!

Yes, sir!

[ Artillery arrives at Chongjuseong Fortress ]

Check if there’s dirt in the muzzle.

[ Yi Jeong-ryang : Drillmaster at Namhansan Fortress ]

Neither our Cheonja guns nor our swivel guns can breach the walls of this fortress.

General Park is preparing in the belief of the capability of your artillery unit.

Although he is free to do that, I recommend for him to change his plans.

Once the fighting spirit is broken, morale wavers,

when morale wavers, troops shatter,

and when troops shatter,

you lose the war.

You still remember that?

This is what I heard most often from you.

Quite so.

So far, our fighting spirit has broken.

We don’t want our morale to waver, too.

Then for the sake of the men’s morale,

I must find a way.

Lighting it, sir!

The firepower’s too weak. Try it with different charcoal.

Yes, sir!

Raise them three inches and aim for the northern command post.

Yes, sir!

Install a swivel gun there.

Make sure to clean inside.

What if those sons of bitches roll out another tower?

If they roll out another one of those,

we’ll put a stop to it.

Considering the enemy has been snooping around our walls, the government will attack here in a few days.

Be thoroughly prepared.

Yes, sir!

Raise it further!

Stop there!

Make sure to clean any holes in the guns.

That iron plate is too thin.

To prevent bullets from passing through, the iron needs to be thicker.

Isn’t that iron plate enough to stop bullets?

Why needlessly waste supplies?

Gunner!

Yes, sir!

Fire.

Pardon, sir?

Fire at the iron plate.

Woah, it punched a hole in it!

Hey! I said don’t put that there!

Even in victory, inside this fortress, there’s only a slow death for us.

We’d be killed outside the fortress, too.

[Pakchon-Gasan area, North Pyeongan Province.]

Killing just one more government soldier, that’s my life’s purpose now.

One more? Say that after you’ve killed your first one.

I almost got one...

Big brother,

I’m going to get one of them.

We’ll carry out this attack at seven different spots simultaneously.

To take the rebels’ attention away from…

(Royal Orders!)

The king has ordered General Park Ki-pung, commander-in-chief of the Pacification Army

and head commander of Pyeongan province, to resign immediately.

As scheduled, the attack shall commence.

Charge!

Fire!

Are they trying to plow the field with their guns?

They’re on a rampage.

Don’t put your heads down! Aim straight at the target!

They’ll never be able to break the walls with those guns.

Ready the mortars!

Fire!

Raise it two inches and add an extra quarter pound of gunpowder.

Return fire!

Don’t panic!

We’re almost there!

Don’t fire, wait for orders.

Here we are. Get ready!

Hold steady…

Those cretins, what are they up to?

We’ll strike first!

Fire quick!

Cut the rope!

Even in victory,

there must be some injured or dead.

Aim at the northern command post.

Yes, sir!

Drillmaster?

What are you doing with those guns at this time of night?

Since our fighting spirit is broken,

shouldn’t we do something to boost our morale?

What?

Those sons of bitches!

Don’t move!

Are you running away like a dog with its tail between its legs?

What would they say if they saw us fleeing like dogs?

What are you doing? Don’t stop the music!

They have a mastermind there, too.

With two and a half pounds of gunpowder, we can only do minor damage.

But with 4,000 pounds of gunpowder, we could break them.

There’s no way to get that much gunpowder.

Even if you cleaned out all bases and the whole military armory, you couldn’t gather that much gunpowder.

[ General Yu Hyo-won : New commander-in-chief of the Pacification Army ]

General!

You must be tired after your journey.

With you, the second chief officer of the police, those rebels surely are in low spirits.

In this army,

Do you have anyone who’s good at flying a kite?

Did you tie up the admonishing paper?

This has to be dropped at once.

That paper won’t make the bandits budge an inch.

What are these?

Shouldn’t you learn to read first?

Bring me the heads of your bosses, Hong Gyeong-rae and Wu Gun-chik,

and you shall receive 1,000 taels as a reward.

In the fortress now, the mood is shifting.

Remember what I told you when we entered this place.

We fight not only the enemy outside, but inside, as well.

Then what’s our next move?

Since they’ve sent us a greeting,

shouldn’t we return the favor?

Have you checked everything’s all right outside the gate?

Yes.

We leave the matchlocks here.

But, why?

With no moonlight, the enemy must be on full alert. They’d love to spot our matches burning in the dark.

Leave the guns here.

Deer don’t have knives and neither do you, huh?

Drillmaster...

Take the gun with you!

Don’t panic. There aren’t many of them.

Yes, sir!

Get them first!

Strike them from behind!

We’ve all made it, right?

Use your fire to distract the enemy’s attention!

He really is as harmless as a deer.

Get down!

Isn’t that sword supposed to be for the enemy?

We have a higher chance now of getting killed by stray bullets.

Tag along with me.

You’re the one who fired on us as we celebrated?

If I spoiled your fun,

I apologize.

Gunfire is an everyday event on the battlefield.

Without your shots, I’d have felt disappointed.

You have extraordinary eyesight.

I heard you’re an expert in physiognomy.

Are you reading my face now?

Yes.

You have bright eyes.

I was brought here against my will.

I never fired a gun, not even once!

Take this and set me free, please.

Are they prisoners of war?

Yes, sir. The general ordered us to behead them.

From now on, I forbid outsiders to enter or leave.

If you move about casually as you were,

I’ll take your heads, too.

No way, how can we survive on this?

We carried so many rice bags on our backs when we entered the fortress.

Please, give me some more.

Every morning we’re getting smaller rations, little by little, aren’t we?

Look here, men die, but does their ration die with them?

Now we have fewer mouths to feed, so what the hell’s going on?

I’m truly sorry.

I’m truly sorry.

200 bags of rice have been reserved for Qing soldiers. We can’t touch the reserves.

Please, forgive me.

No, sir! There’s no need for an apology!

There’s no rice set aside for Qing soldiers, is there?

Are Qing troops seriously coming to our aid?

Men can survive without rice,

but without hope, they’ll drop like flies.

So if there’s no hope,

shouldn’t we give them something to hope for?

The bandits will surely raid us again.

With their spirits raised and stomachs empty, they’ll grow bolder.

Don’t you know that, according to military discipline, spreading rumors is subject to punishment?

As one of your loyal commanders, I offer you a plan.

A plan?

With dwindling supplies and a victory still fresh in their memories, I suspect the rebels will target our food next.

There’s no moon.

Tonight’s ideal for the bandits to take a chance.

Spread piles of pine branches 120 feet around our position.

Be ready to light them when ordered.

In this battle, we’ll seize food and arms for the future.

The vengeful spirits of your family who died as victims of this war

will protect us.

Fight without fear.

Over there!

Quiet!

Sir…

It’s too quiet.

Light the branches!

Fire!

Sir!

You have to get back immediately.

The situation is dire and

admit we’re at the end of our rope.

But the Qing troops I asked for help have arrived at the border region of Chunggang.

On the 18th of next month, they’ll come to save us.

If the Qing soldiers don’t come,

I’ll surrender with my head.

If you can’t wait until next month, then

cut off my head now and leave the fortress.

The rebels are coming out.

What? The bandits…

Those damn bandits!

Sir, some rebels have left the fortress.

But aren’t they all women and old men?

Check their identification, and interrogate every single one of them to figure out the situation inside the fortress.

Take them all to the camp!

The gate is still open.

I still have a job to do.

Hold fire.

According to the people fleeing the fortress,

there’s not even a trace of yeast left inside, let alone rice.

The gate should fall with a single kick.

The enemy paraded a courtesan on the battlements and fired joyfully into the air.

Their morale hasn’t broken, yet.

The bandits can hardly stand from starvation. Not attacking now is negligence!

The enemy might be starving, but they still have walls and guns.

Enough, enough!

Tomorrow, we’ll attack Chongjuseong Fortress.

The lead unit will be

under your charge, secretary commander.

Yes, sir!

I’ll go inform the troops.

The royal court

has hastened our fight.

We’ll lose this battle.

I expect as much.

Our soldiers will suffer heavy casualties.

Figure out a way to reduce the casualties.

I suppose avoiding battle will only raise rebel morale.

It’s all right to let the rebels play their music.

Just save our soldiers.

With 4,000 pounds of gunpowder, we could break them.

There’s no way to get that much gunpowder.

It might take several days, but I have a solution.

Bury gunpowder under the walls to blow them up…

What nonsense is this?

We dig an underground tunnel

while tricking the enemy into thinking we’re building a mound of dirt.

In this way, we can reach the walls. After reaching the walls,

we’ll bury thousands of pounds of gunpowder in a concave pit in order to channel the explosion upward.

How many soldiers do you need?

Ten soldiers from Woonsan and Gwangsan should lead the dig, while, to distract the enemy,

the rest of the soldiers will erect the mound.

I’ll order another mound near the east gate as an added distraction.

Thank you, sir.

Where do you think we should begin digging?

We’re doomed if the bandits find us out.

Crawl forward and watch what you’re doing.

Dig quickly.

Send the dirt to the hill.

I expect they’ll see the tops of our heads in a day or two.

I need to see how they react.

Pardon, sir?

Fire at the men on the mound.

Yes, sir.

All gunners, fire one shot in the direction of the hill.

The color of the dirt is not the same.

What do you mean?

It means those scumbags are digging a tunnel.

Bury that here.

Dig up the dirt close to the walls.

Dig further down.

Is it all right down there?

Listen to the digging noises and report to me where they’re coming from.

Yes, sir.

From here on out, make no noise, not only gunshots, but even shouting, too

Yes, sir!

What should we do if the government army attacks?

By preparing this surprise for us, they can’t carry out a full-fledged attack.

Counterattack with arrows!

We should crack that stone first.

They don’t hide that their target is our northern command post. We can’t play into their hands.

The command group will evacuate the northern command post.

Yes, sir.

Keep firing at the hill to figure out the government army’s movements.

Yes, sir.

Since when is Chongjuseong Fortress as quiet as this?

It’s been silent the whole time I’ve been on guard.

No people can be seen moving about.

I guess the bandits are sleeping, too.

Gunners, grab your firearms and follow me!

Where are they going in the dead of night?

Order them to stop digging the tunnel right now. I mean it, now!

Yes, sir!

Halt!

You there! Stop digging right away.

Understood, sir.

Deliver the message to the men inside.

Go to the main camp and request permission to fire. Also, ask for support from the artillery unit.

Don’t let up!

Because of this all day gunfire, I can’t get a wink of sleep.

Next group, enter quickly.

You guys should also enter quickly after taking a breather.

Are you sure they’re digging an underground tunnel?

Didn’t you see and hear it, too?

Then why’s the government army firing on us from all sides?

So that we can’t figure out where their tunnel is.

Will the walls break?

If the walls break, my solution will be to build another layer of walls.

I don’t know how many soldiers will come up from the tunnel, but

they’ll get stuck between the old and new walls and then we’ll kill them!

Here it is!

We’ve gathered all the gunpowder and it’s about 1,400 pounds.

I told you several times that’s not enough!

The underground tunnel is ready, but we can’t bring down the walls with that amount of gunpowder.

The general has sent an additional 500 pounds, But we have to save some for the battle.

Gather up all the gunpowder the soldiers might have, right away!

Yes, sir.

Hey, give us your gunpowder.

Brush out as much as you can.

You’ve come to see, sir?

We only need an additional thousand pounds.

Even if there’s a disturbance outside, keep piling it up.

Yes, sir.

They’re carrying something to put in the tunnel?

Those cretins are pulling a trick on us?

Everyone except for the guards, come down!

Dig down in the ground, right now!

Go fetch some water.

Quick!

Dig quickly!

Keep firing!

Hey, there!

Fire at the men crawling into the tunnel!

Shields!

Shield the tunnel’s entrance!

We must shield the soldiers working in the tunnel. Whatever the cost!

Keep raining fire on them!

Please,

go to hell, you sons of bitches.

Please!

You’re out of your mind!

Lie down, quick!

Don’t let up!

Target the walls!

Dig down more!

Go fetch more water!

Everyone get out!

Quick!

Sir! Are we charging the enemy?

Sir!

Charge!

Big brother...

Big brother...

When the walls fell, Hong Gyeong-rae was killed by bullets from the government army.

General Yu Hyo-won, the new commander-in-chief of the battle, died the next year.

Captain Sohn Tae-young, who led the battle to take Chongjuseong Fortress, was promoted to secretary army commander.

The government army captured 2,983 rebels in total. Sparing 842 women and children, 1,917 rebels were executed.

Wu Gun-chik managed to escape the fortress and continue fighting.

But he was captured later and sent to the capital, where he was beheaded.

His head, along with that of Hong Chong-gak’s, were placed on a spike in the street.

The Joseon court demoted Anju, Chongju, Gasan and Kwaksan to Petty Prefectures.

Gasan was Wu Gun-chik’s hometown and Kwaksan was Hong Chong-gak’s.