Tyranny of Steel

Within the southern half of the Joseon Kingdom, which was currently occupied by the Japanese Empire, a young boy no older than thirteen stood in his village. This boy's name was Cha Jong-Su, and he was the son of a local rice farmer. However, despite his young age, the boy did not have the slightest look of innocence in his dark eyes.

Instead, a glint of fierce determination unleashed itself upon the nearby Japanese soldiers, who were conducting anti-insurgency operations within the village. Luckily for him, they did not catch a sight of the boy as he hid behind the exterior wall of a small house.

In his hands was a submachine gun of crude manufacturing that had been developed in the borders of the German Empire as a means of armed support for the Joseon Guerillas. This sub-machine gun was modelled after the MP-3008, which was said to be the German variant of the infamous Sten Gun, which was produced as a last ditch effort during the final days of the Second World War within Berengar's past life.

Strapped over the boy's average clothing was a harness that contained six MP-27 magazines which also functioned with his weapon. He was not alone as he gazed across the street and saw grown men armed with similar equipment. The two sides nodded their heads in silence before the boy pointed his weapon beyond his concealment, and aimed down the crude sights.

With the squeeze of a trigger, the loud crackle of gunfire thundered across the skies, immediately alerting the Japanese troops that they were under assault. However, how could they possibly react faster than the speed of sound?

The bullets hit their mark, as the five round burst chugged away into the air, and claimed the life of the officer who led his troops in a thorough search of each house within the village. The moment after Jong-Su fired his shots, the rest of the guerillas hiding behind cover revealed themselves and sprayed lead down range and into the torsos of the Japanese Soldiers.

The Entire squad was eliminated in a matter of seconds as their bodies hit the floor, and their blood spilled onto the land. The moment after the smell of death spread throughout the village, the guerillas moved silently through the streets while the rest of the company chased after them, no longer concerned about the lives of their comrades.

Jong-Su ran through the alleyways desperate to avoid the men who were chasing after him, however he could overhear the gunshots ring throughout the town. The violent cries of Japanese Soldiers, and Joseon villagers alike caused a great sense of dread to fill his heart.

As the boy rounded the corner, he came across a Japanese soldier who gazed upon him with shock. Both men raised their weapons at the same time, but Jong-Su was just a bit quicker, after all his submachine gun was not only lighter weight than the semi-automatic rifle that the enemy was equipped with, but also shorter in length allowing for greater maneuverability.

Firing a controlled burst, the bullets impacted the torso of the Japanese Soldier who appeared no older than eighteen and ripped his chest apart as he fell back onto the ground, groaning as he lie on the brink of death. A single curse escaped the boy who had just recently entered his teenage years, while he aimed his sights at the dying soldier's head and mercilessly pulled the trigger.

"Jap bastard!"

The 9mm projectile tore through the man's steel helmet with ease and splattered his brains on the ground behind him. After killing the Japanese soldier, Jong-Su quickly reloaded his weapon before scurrying back through the alleys until he found the house where his mother and sister hid in fear for their lives.

Upon opening the door, a woman who was far too beautiful for her lowly position gazed in shock as her son slammed the door behind him. Just what was going on in the village, and why was her baby boy armed to the teeth? The mother of two could only scold her son as she saw the fear and panic in his eyes.

"Jong-Su, what have you done?"

Perhaps it was because of his age, or maybe it was because he did not have much time to waste, but Jong-Su ignored his mother's cries of shock, and opened up a small hatch in the floor where he quickly unslung his submachine gun, and unequipped his load bearing harness. He hid them beneath a few blankets before closing the crawlspace and covering it with a fur rug.

It was only after he gazed upon the blood which soaked his clothing that he began to panic. It was not his blood, but that of the soldier he had killed who was merely three feet away from him. Without regard for his mother and sister, who were gazing upon him with extreme panic in his eyes, Jong-Su stripped out of his clothes and tossed them in the crawlspace, before concealing it once more.

Immediately afterwards, he climbed through the laundry and adorned new clothing. Perfectly concealing the fact that he had just engaged in an act of war against the mighty Japanese Empire. It took some time for the boy's mother to collect her thoughts, and just when she was about to scold her disobedient child for his horrific actions, a knock resounded on the door, followed by a Japanese voice. Though the family did not speak the same language of their occupiers, they were experienced enough with raids to know that they had come to search the house.

The mother panicked once more, but Jong-Su quickly opened the door with a calm expression on his face as he gazed upon the Japanese Officer, who had a menacing expression on his scarred face. Jong-Su and his band of rebels had killed a lieutenant, but this man was the Captain of the Infantry Company whose forces occupied this village.

Flanking this Captain's side were a few soldiers who had bloodstains on their uniforms, it was clear that they had killed several of Jong-Su's fellow rebels. However, when they gazed upon the boy, they did not have the slightest expectation that he was a part of the attack, instead the Captain posed a question in the Joseon tongue.

"Little boy, is your father home?"

Jong-Su glared at the Japanese captain with an overwhelming sense of hatred. He merely spat on the officer's foot before responding to his question.

"No, you killed him..."

The Japanese Captain spoke nodded his head in understanding. He had taken the lives of many rebels in his brief time within the Korean Peninsula, and because of this, he could not remember each man he had killed.

However, he did not think for a second that this boy, who stared at him with such hatred, could possibly have been a part of the attack just now. Instead, he ordered his troops in his native tongue to search the house.

The Japanese soldiers pushed Jong-Su aside and barged into the building, where they quickly searched each room. It did not take them long, as it was a small farmhouse, and after finding nothing that pointed to an act of rebellion, they left as quickly as they came. Just when they were about to leave the area, the Japanese Captain's lustful gaze fell upon Jong-Su's mother and older sister.

However, before he could act upon such wicked intentions, he remembered the price that the Generals who previously held a position of great esteem within the Japanese Army had paid for their war crimes. The fear in his heart that he held towards his empress suppressed his evil nature, and instead abruptly left the small home.

It was only after the boy's mother was out of earshot did she violently slap her son across the face and scold him severely.

"Jong-Su, do you realize what you have done? You have brought great danger to our family! Your father never wanted this for you! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Jong-Su gnashed his teeth in disdain before rebuking his mother's words with a gaze that could only be described as wrathful.

"My father is dead, and those Jap bastards murdered him! Who the fuck cares what he wanted?"

Once, a more loud smack resounded in the air as the boy's mother slapped him across the face and chewed him out once more.

"You are not going to step foot outside this house for the next three months. Do you understand me? Now go to your room and reflect on your actions!"

Though the Joseon Guerillas in this particular village may have succeeded in taking out a small echelon of troops, they were ultimately defeated, and it would only be in the coming days where Jong-Su realized he was the sole survivor of his cell.

However, battles like these were a daily occurrence across the southern half of the Joseon Kingdom, and this village was not the only one affected by the ongoing war to resist the Japanese Occupation. Unknowingly, the region had become a proving ground for new troops of the Japanese Army to become battle tested, and this would not end anytime soon.