November 4, 2020, 14:30, West Sea north 38° 65′ East 122° 40′ Deep sea

  The Great White (K-744) torpedo took awhile to reach its target as it analyzed the target’s sonar due to the distance. After ten minutes had passed, the Sonar Operator, who was focusing on his passive sonar, took off his headset and spoke.

  “Torpedo 1, at a distance of 50 with the enemy torpedo. Torpedo 2 is at a distance of 120 with the enemy’s.”


  Suddenly, the sound of an explosion rang out in the Sonar Operator’s headset twice in a row.

  “Torpedo 1, stricken down by enemy’s torpedo! Torpedo 2 has been struck down as well.”


  The Sonar Operator frowned as the loud explosion made his ears ring.

  “Those bastards! So they think they can take us on, eh? What’s the distance for Torpedo 3 and 4?”


  The Sonar Operator adjusted his headset when the Captain asked, and began to analyze the sounds coming from the sonar again.

  “Torpedo 3!

  “Torpedo 3 at a distance of 60 from the second target’s torpedo! Torpedo 4 is 150 away from the second target’s other torpedo! Ten . . . nine . . . one second away from contact!”


  Boom! Boom! Bang!

  The torpedoes used by the Chinese for hard-kill purposes blew up when the Korean’s third and fourth torpedoes came close. The torpedoes from the Sohn Won-il also blew up from the explosion. Moments later, the shockwave from the torpedoes exploding shook the Sohn Won-il submarine (SS-072).

  “Third torpedo is still active, the fourth torpedo had been struck down by the enemy.”


  Captain Lee Yong-hyun’s brows furrowed. The fact that the Korean Great White (K-744) torpedo was taken down by hard kill upset him.

  “Arms Operator, inject water to the fifth launch tube! Helmsman! Dive at the deepest angle, full speed!”


  “Diving at the deepest angle! Full speed ahead.”


  “Fifth launch tube undergoing injection.”


  The helmsman began moving the submarine under Captain’s orders. The Sohn Won-il (SS-072) lowered its head and began to plunge into the depths of the sea at full speed. A few minutes had passed since they made their maneuver.

  “Captain! Torpedo 3 is at 1200 from the target! It is 56 seconds away from reaching the target.”


  “What about Target 2?”


  “The second-targeted sub is heading toward us at 18 knots.”


  “Stop overhit! Stop all engines! We are going under covert sailing.”


  The crew all moved at once. The Sohn Won-il (SS-072) dove to the ocean floor, turned off its engines, and then converted to silent sailing like a ghost ship.

  “The third torpedo is reaching the second target! Three . . . two . . . one—”


  Boom! Bang~

  “Torpedo 3 reached Target 1! Torpedo 3 has struck Target 3.”


  The Sonar Operator continued to focus on the sounds coming through the sonar. The cacophony of screams, explosion, and other sounds all came in mixed together, but Sonar Operator Kim Soo-won, identified each sound exactly and spoke again.

  “The first target has been taken out.”


  Captain Lee Yong-hyun came closer to the Sonar Operator and gave an order quietly.

  “All right! We only have one more left. Transition into passive sonar! Check the position for Target 2.”


  Beep~ beep~ beep~

  The passive sonar’s M-SUSL sonar waves spread out in all directions at all three dimensions. Then the Sonar Operator smiled from the sounds reflected from the sonar and spoke.

  “Target 2, azimuth at 0-0-3, 25 above us, distance at 7700.”


  “Good! We maintain our silent sailing.”


  The Captain looked at the crew and then made a gesture with his palms open making a pressing motion.

  “Arms Operator, open our launch pads and report back when the torpedo is ready.”


  “Torpedo 5, launch tube opening.”


  “Torpedo 5, launch tube opened.”


  “Good! We are now at a distance where the enemy subs can fire torpedoes at us. Therefore, we only have one shot. Location on the second target.”


  Beep~ beep~ beep~

  “Target 2 at 0-0-2, 33 degrees above and distance at 5200.”


  When the Sonar Operator’s report came in, the Captain shouted.

  “Open the launch tube for Torpedo 5! Fire.”


  “Opening the launch tube for Torpedo 5. Firing.”


  Woosh!

  The fifth Great White (K-744) torpedo detected the second-targeted submarine. It used its direction rudders to change its trajectory and rose up.

  “Torpedo 5 has been successfully launched to its target.”


  “Azimuth at 0-0-2, starboard angle at 30 degrees, over hit! Moving forward.”


  The Captain’s orders continued.

  “Inject launch tube 6 with water.”


  “Injecting launch tube 6 with water.”


  The Sohn Won-il (SS-072) raised its speed a bit and then rose at a 30-degree angle as if to follow the torpedo it had launched.

  “Ah! I can hear three injection sounds from the enemy sub. They are opening their launch tubes.”


  “Injection for launch tube 6 complete!”


  “Open the launch tube for Torpedo 6.”


  “Opening launch tube 6.”


  “Target 2 has launched two torpedoes toward us.”


  “Launch Torpedo 6.”


  “Launch Torpedo 6 successful.”


  The command room of the Sohn Won-il seemed like a night market, what with all the buzz from the orders and commands being given.

  “Let’s see who has more guts, shall we?”


  Captain Lee Yong-hyun’s resolve for battle gave a fiery look in his eyes.

  “A third torpedo has been launched from Target 2. The first two torpedoes launched by the enemy was for hard kill.”


  “The enemy’s torpedo is wire-guided. We just have to destroy them before they cut the wires.”


  “Captain, but if the torpedo explodes within our vicinity it could be dangerous.”


  The second in command, Captain Na Gil-san spoke in a concerned tone. When he said so, the Captain also seemed to sympathize with his concern and gave another order.

  “That’s right. Prepare the self-propelled decoy Nixie.”


  “Azimuth at 1-6-5, starboard! Diving angle at 0 degrees and maintain speed.”


  “Azimuth at 1-6-5, starboard! Setting the diving angle at 0 degrees and maintaining speed.”


  The Sohn Won-il (SS-072) that was rising from the depths at full speed, turned starboard and then regained its balance.

  “Deploy the Nixie.”


  “Deploying the Nixie.”


  The self-propelled decoy Nixie was launched from the rear of the Sohn Won-il (SS-072) submarine and it started moving away from the submarine. The decoy started to send out sonar waves to throw off the Song class submarine and the torpedo it launched.

  Within two minutes, Captain Lee Yong-hyun gave another order.

  “Azimuth 0-9-0 Starboard! Decrease speed to half! Transition to silent sailing.”


  “Report on the status of the torpedo.”


  “Torpedo 5 is at a distance of 1300 from the enemy submarine. Torpedo 6 is at 1520 from the target. Ah, one of the enemy torpedoes has been lured by the Nixie decoy.”


  “What about the other one?”


  “It was not fooled.”


  “Damn it.”


  Then the sound of two explosions came through the sonar.

  Boom! Bang! Bang!

  “Torpedo 5 has hit the enemy! The third enemy torpedo hit the Nixie decoy.

  The only torpedoes left were one round from each of the subs. The Sohn Won-il turned right from its second target’s position to avoid the torpedo, but it continued to get wire-guidance and gave chase.

  “Prepare the decoy! When the enemy torpedo cuts off the wire-guidance and changes to active sonar, we will send out the decoy.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  The Sonar Operator spoke silently but in an urgent tone.

  “Torpedo 6! It has reached the target distance. Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six seconds away from contact. The enemy torpedo has severed wire-guidance and now transitioning to active sonars.”


  “Arms Operator, deploy the decoy!”


  “Decoy has been deployed.”


  The outer launch tube of the Sohn Won-il (SS-072) deployed a decoy. This decoy had its own thrust and moved toward the enemy torpedo while making a noise similar to a sonar’s.

  “Three . . . two . . . one second away from reaching the target.”


  Boom! Boooom! Bang!

  “Torpedo 6 has hit the second-targeted submarine! It’s been taken down.”


  “What about the Chinese torpedo? Has it been fooled by the decoy?”


  The Senior Sonar Operator was too busy to answer. The Junior Sonar Operator answered instead.

  “It didn’t take the bait, sir.”


  The answer was not the one the Captain wanted.

  “Prepare another decoy! Send it out as soon as it’s ready.”


  Since the enemy submarine was taken out, and they had no need to stay silent, Captain Lee Yong-hyun gave the order in a loud and urgent tone.

  “Ah! The enemy torpedo has reached 250 away from our position! It is 15 seconds away from contact.”


  “The decoy has been deployed, sir.”


  “Set azimuth at 0-8-5, turn portside, and dive at maximum angle! Full speed ahead.”


  The Sohn Won-il (SS-072) turned portside and dove down at full speed as it deployed its decoy.

  “Enemy torpedo at 200! Twelve seconds away from impact.”


  The desperate voice of the Sonar Operator sounded like the voice of the grim reaper to the 27 crewmen of the Sohn Won-il (SS-072), who were being alerted on how many seconds of their lives remained.

  “Helmsman! Maximum speed! Go into overheat!”


  “Captain, we are at 22 knots, sir.”


  The Captain, who was also staring at death in the face, could only scold his subordinates.

  “Enemy torpedo at 160 away from impact. Ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seconds . . . The enemy torpedo has been fooled by the decoy and turning away!”


  “Are you sure?”


  “Yes! It has changed its azimuth to 2-6-5.”


  “The distance of the torpedo from our sub is 120, 130, 140 . . . 220.”


  Boom! Bang!

  The Chinese torpedo that was fooled by the decoy and changed directions crashed into the decoy and blew up.

  “The torpedo has hit the decoy. The torpedo has exploded. We made it, sir!”


  The Sonar Operator, throwing off his headset, leaped on his feet wind hands raised. The Captain finally let go of the periscope handles he held on to brace for impact. He stroked his forehead and then let out a sigh of relief.

  “Whew! We made it. We are alive.”


  The Captain, who muttered shortly, was taken aback when he looked at his own crew. His entire crew, including his second in command, were all sweating and seemed to have aged a few decades from dancing on the line between life and death for the past few minutes. The Captain had looked aged as well.

  “Great work, everyone. Azimuth 2-7-0, full speed ahead! Set diving angle at 10 and silently sail at 5 knots.”


  Captain Lee Yong-hyun gave the order via the communication system to move out and began to give additional orders to the crew.

  “We will go into break indefinitely until further notice. Over.”


  The Sohn Won-il submarine (SS-072) and six other submarines from the Korean 91st Submarine Fleet risked their lives and took down seven Chinese submarines.

  * * *

  November 5, 2020, 16:30, Da-Ren port, China

  The 9th mechanized infantry division that was completing the occupation of the northern Da-Ren area broke through the 32-km long line of defense being held by four divisions. The 9th mechanized infantry division was made up of four armored battalions with K-3 White Tiger tanks and K-21A Black panther tanks. The armored battalions attempted to break through the enemy’s defenses and succeeded. Then the reinforcements from other armored battalions made up of infantry and mechanized infantry wiped out the rest of the Chinese forces.

  Also, the brilliant work from the six 214 class submarines had taken out the threat of Chinese submarines. Therefore, the 10th Amphibious Fleet was able to reach Da-Ren port without any issues under the escort of the 7th Maritime flotilla’s destroyers. The Chinese forces, which defenses toppled over like a domino, began to fall apart. The remaining Chinese military, excluding the 40th Army Group’s 118th Mechanized Infantry Division, had all surrendered to Korea’s 9th Division.

  “Hurry, move faster! My grandmother would be faster than you, maggots!”


  “Yes, sir!”


  “Hey, watch out over there!”


  The noncommissioned officer with a rank of sergeant major was leading the unloading operation while shouting through the megaphone. The Da-Ren port was able to host eight LPD Blue phoenix class ships, three LPH Dok-do class ships, four LPH Kanghwa class ships, and two civilian transport ships, thus befitting its reputation as an international port. The equipment aboard these ships was being unloaded. The men were busy moving additional gears as requested by the artillery brigades and anti-air brigades.

  The Kanghwa class Jindo ship with a load displacement of 60,000t (LHD-5114) had just finished unloading the 2nd Corps’s 2nd Artillery Battalion’s self-propelled guns and MLRS vehicles. The ship was now docked at the bay.

  The 2nd Artillery Brigade consisted of one artillery force and seven battalions. It had an observation battalion, three self-propelled gun battalions equipped with K-9A1 lightning guns, two MLRS battalions equipped with K-137 200mm Firedrake rockets, two MLRS battalions equipped with K270A1 rockets, and finally one battalion equipped with Hyunmu-1E2 land-to-land ballistic missiles. The one battalion among the MLRS battalions had the red radiation symbol marked with an X that resembled the ones escorted under heavy security in the Tao-Xian International Airport.