With a still distrustful expression, Wan pressed Hyang.
“What exactly happened during the campaign to subjugate the Mexica?”
“To suppress the enemy in close-quarters combat, you have to unleash a large number of bullets at once. But the Byeongsik Hwacha, because of its size, can’t keep up with comrades moving quickly in battle. So the alternative was to use hand grenades.”
“That issue was already pointed out in earlier battles, and measures were taken, weren’t they? One was to carry more hand grenades, and the other was the Gap-style armored cart that His Majesty the Grand Emperor created.”
Hyang nodded at Wan’s words.
“That’s right. But during the street fighting in Tenochtitlan, the Mexica capital, there were still shortcomings.”
Hyang’s explanation could be summarized as follows:
- The siege of Tenochtitlan was obviously street fighting.
- The Mexica capital had narrow alleys packed close together, even narrower than expected.
- The enemy used these characteristics well, launching continuous surprise attacks with small groups against our forces.
- Naturally, our forces had to break into smaller units to respond.
- In the worst cases, they moved in groups as small as a wo (five men).