November 8, 2020, 04:30, Bunker B2 in Yongsan-gu, Seoul (the Situation Room of the Joint Command and Control of Armed Forces)

  The Joint Chiefs of Staff was on high alert. An emergency meeting was ordered after it was reported that nuclear weapons and chemical warfare were mobilized at the battle in Ji-Ling City. Even the Defense Minister attended the meeting.

  “First of all, let me brief you on the current situation.”


  The Director of Operation spoke, walking up to the podium in the operation meeting room.

  “Exactly an hour and a half ago, we expanded our search area to the center of Ji-Ling City. One of our squads was combing through an area when they noticed some unidentified individuals busy with something. Our squad soldiers opened fire at them and thought they were all shot dead. But one soldier survived the shooting. He detonated a grenade and blew up a suspicious object that was nearby. Sarin gas leaked from the object that was blown up. Please direct your eyes to the screen.”


  The screen showed footage taken from a camera mounted on the squad leader’s helmet at the time of the search. When the footage ended, the Director of Operation explained.

  “Sarin gas spread rapidly around the main streets of the city. Currently, the CBR Support Unit under the 7th Division has carried out an emergency decontamination work, but only in some areas.”


  “What’s the damage to our forces?”


  Defense Minister Kang Hyun-soo asked the most important question.

  “A total of 49 soldiers are currently showing symptoms of sarin gas poisoning. Four of the squad soldiers who were shown in the footage were in serious condition and rushed to the division’s medical unit. The rest of the 45 soldiers were given vaccines as an emergency measure, and they are expected to fully recover after a few days’ rest.”


  “How about the four soldiers who were seriously affected? Are they in critical condition?”


  “I cannot tell for sure because we haven’t received yet a detailed diagnostic report from the medical unit of the 7th Division who attended to them. I’ll let you know as soon as the report comes in.”


  “Don’t we have advanced medical technology? Advanced enough to fully treat even cancer and AIDS patients?”


  “The thing is, they’ve been exposed to a large amount of sarin gas in the early stage. They have been seriously poisoned.”


  The Defense Minister closed his eyes with his hand on his forehead. He was deeply troubled at the report that his troops were attacked by biochemical warfare in addition to nuclear weapons. There was no guarantee that the enemies would not go as far as using biological warfare in the future. When he thought of that possibility, he smacked the table with his hand.

  THUD!

  “Damn scumbag Chinese b*stards! Aren’t they going too far? Chemical warfare in the twenty-first century? Chairman! What do you think we should do?”


  When the Defense Minister asked the question, all the attendees’ eyes turned and rested on the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff replied.

  “Nobody in the Joint Chiefs of Staff had expected that the Chinese would go so far as using chemical warfare because China has nuclear power. However, now that the Chinese has gone beyond our expectation and turned to chemical warfare, which is banned by all countries around the world, I’m afraid we are in a situation where we cannot rule out the possibility of them using even biowarfare. As a result, I expect it’ll cost us significantly more time to carry out every operation going forward.

  “Significantly more time?”


  “Yes. When we were drafting the Rise of Goguryeo Operation Plan, we expected that it would take only up to a month before the Chinese military will surrender. But now that we have to consider the possibility of their nuclear attacks in addition to their chemical and even biological warfare attacks, we have to be more careful when carrying out our operation. We might even have to modify some of our planned actions. Eventually, it will mean that we’d have to fight the war longer.”


  “This is a big problem. If the war lasts longer, it would be highly disadvantageous to our military forces, wouldn’t it?”


  “I think the situation calls for a special measure.”


  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, with a serious look on his face.

  “Tell us what you have in mind.”


  “I think we should upgrade the Emperor Chiu punishment from level 2 to level 3 tomorrow.”


  “Level 3?”


  Defense Minister Kang Hyun-soo was stunned to hear it. He remembered how he got the approval earlier from the President to upgrade it to level 2, although he’d thought it would be impossible because level 2 corresponds to retaliation cruel enough to completely destroy a country’s economic power. And now, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was suggesting to increase it further to level 3.

  “Look, Chairman! Don’t you think level 3 is too excessive?”


  “Minister, I’m a soldier. It is my duty to protect the nation and the lives of our people. I believe that I must resort to all means and measures to protect them. That’s the responsibility and duty of a soldier. I’m sure you know that too since you were a soldier yourself.”


  Defense Minister Kang Hyun-soo was also a graduate of the Korea Military Academy, a few years earlier than the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  “That’s true. But level 3 is—”


  SLAM!

  All of a sudden, the door to the Situation Room burst open, and the duty officer of the Situation Room rushed in and said in an urgent voice.

  “I’m sorry, sir. But there’s an emergency!”


  “What is it?”


  The Director of Operation asked.

  “A report just came in and it said one Korean oil tanker and two Korean cargo ships were attacked by missiles and sunk near the Spratly Islands off the coast of the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea). The missiles are suspected to have been fired by the Chinese.”


  This meant the Chinese had blatantly attacked civilian ships in an apparent attempt to disrupt Korea’s foreign trade and undermine Korea’s economic situation after realizing that they were being pushed back in the war.

  “They attacked civilian vessels? Sons of b*tches.”


  Kang Yi-sik, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, rose from his seat, barely managing to control his anger.

  “What’s the current situation? Actually, never mind. I’ll go to the Situation Room to find out myself.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  After the duty officer was gone, the Chairman spoke, looking at Defense Minister Kang Hyun-soo.

  “Minister! We should wrap up the meeting at this point so I can go to the Situation Room.”


  “All right. In the meantime, I’ll go and report to the President myself.”


  “Okay. Thank you.”


  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff left the conference room with his staff and walked toward the Situation Room. A moment later, when the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff entered the Situation Room, Brigadier General Yoo Hwang-joon, who was the duty commander of the day, saluted.

  The Chairman saluted back in response and asked the General.

  “What measures are you taking to address the current situation?”


  As soon as he was saluted, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked about the current situation.

  “Take a look at screen 5.”


  He showed the Chairman footage of the burning ships. The high-resolution footage was taken by the Apollo 3 satellite that was moved to the sky over the Spratly Islands.

  “The rescue ship has been urgently dispatched with the help of the Malaysian Navy. However, I’m afraid we might not be able to save the tanker because the entire ship was engulfed in flames after oil imploded inside the ship.”


  As the command duty officer said, the screen was showing a 260,000-ton tanker owned by CK Oil Co. slowly sinking while being engulfed in flames. There were several rescue boats around, but they could not even approach the doomed tanker because of the wild roaring flames. About 40 crew members of the tanker were trapped in the ship and could not escape because of the suddenness of the attack.

  “What about other ships?”


  “One of the two cargo ships was going down while being titled at about 62 degrees to the right and sinking because it was severely damaged. The damage to the other one is relatively small, and all crew members are on deck waiting to be rescued.”


  Chairman Kang Yi-sik asked again, frowning and his hands tightly clenched in fists.

  “Can we say definitively that it was an attack by the Chinese?”


  “There is no other country other than China that will attack Korean civilian ships around this area.”


  “That’s true. There is no country other than China that will dare to mess with Korean ships. Then do you know what they used to attack?”


  “Yes, I can explain. As of this moment, we are thoroughly investigating this area using the Apollo 3 satellite, but no Chinese destroyers were spotted. Also, the submarine Hocula is currently navigating deep underwater in this area. We haven’t received any intel from them regarding any Chinese submarine yet. That leaves us with only two possibilities. One possibility is that the Chinese had attacked us with surface-to-surface missiles launched from fighters, and the other possibility is that they fired ground-to-surface missiles from the man-made Fiery Cross island on the Spratly Islands.”


  “Fiery Cross? That’s an island artificially made over a rock zone following after the Woody Island.”


  “Yes, we are currently building various military facilities including runways there. I think that’s the reason they set up a surface-to-air missile unit there in Fiery Cross and attacked us instead of attacking us using fighters.”


  “Well, it makes sense. Listen, Director.”


  “Yes, Chairman.”


  “We should have paid more attention and reconnoiter this area closely, but we let our guard down. Ask the governments of neighboring countries, especially the Philippines and Malaysia, for the latest information on Fiery Cross, and closely reconnoiter the artificial island by using the Apollo 3 satellite to see if there are any surface-to-ship missile base.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “And I ask you to oversee this whole situation and keep me updated on it.”


  “At your command, sir.”


  “Come to think of it, I’ve been forgetting about the engagement happening in Sun-Yang.”


  The battle at the Great Plains west of Sun-Yang was going on well over three hours since it began. The battle began with a firefight, but now, armored units of the two countries were firing armor-piercing ammunition and photon cannons at each other.

  * * *

  November 8, 2020, 05:23 (04:23 China time), the Great Plains west of Sun-Yang, China

  Being the elite unit under the 7th Mobile Corps, the 7th Armored Brigade engaged in the battle as an equal match—sometimes even a slightly prevailing opponent—even though they were outnumbered by the Chinese armored units whose size was equivalent to two armored divisions. Over time, they found themselves inching closer toward victory when they had the support of the side attack by the 22nd Armored Brigade under the 3rd Armored Division.

  BAM! BAM!

  One of the latest-model Type-100 A2 tanks that belonged to the Chinese armored unit came out of hiding in a farmhouse and started spewing flames and sparks as they opened fire with 130 mm smooth bore barrels. It just had hit and attacked its first target, a Type-96 MBT (88C) tank, and now their flank attack was targeting the No.611 White Tiger tank, which belonged to the 6th company under the 552nd tank battalion, as it was just about to turn its turret.

  The Type-100 A2 tank was using 130 mm depleted uranium ammunition. The first shot missed the target, but the second shot went straight to hit the targeted Black Dragon missile launch tube of tank no. 322 and blasted it. The blast was not powerful enough to blow up the tank, but the blast of the Black Dragon missile added to the power of the depleted uranium ammunition strong enough to shake tank 322 and make it wildly tilt to the side before losing control and coming to a stop.

  KRRRRR. SCREECH!

  Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Type-100 A2 tank fired an AFT-10 antitank missile from a launch tube that was mounted next to the turret as it was in the White Tower tanks.

  SWIIIISH!

  The attacked White Tiger tank momentarily lost control, but with its gun barrel already aimed at the Chinese tanks, it fired photon cannons toward the targets.

  WHIIZZZ!

  The antitank missile was fired first, but the mineral matter was flying at the speed of light and hit and pierced through precisely between the main turret and the fuselage of the Type-100 A2 tank and exploded it. The impact of the blast sent the entire main turret flying into the air and disappear toward the back of the tank. The tank itself had numerous implosions inside and spewed out red flames through every hole found on the tank. The AFT-10 antitank missile flew higher into the air shortly before it came down toward the White Tiger tank.

  BAM! CLASH!

  The power of the antitank missiles exploding from the top was tremendous. The blast shattered the Tank Commander’s telescope camera and some optical equipment, but it could not pierce through the armored vehicle that was built using hydronium alloy with a protection level of 2,000 mm.

  “Shit! My telescope is shattered. Hey, Staff Sergeant Lee! You do the firing using the sight scope yourself.”


  Having his own telescope damaged due to the attack, First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki, who was Tank Commander of 611 tank and the leader of the first squad, shouted at this subordinate.

  “Yes, sir!”


  Although some optical equipment has been damaged, the White Tiger tanks fearlessly advanced toward the Chinese tanks as if they were the aegis, the shields of God, and completely destroyed the first armored Chinese unit that was equipped with the latest-model tanks. But soon after, the second armored attack unit, which survived the shelling of the Korean artillery, made its appearance about four kilometers ahead.

  KRRRRR

  “Great.”


  When the Chinese army’s second armored unit came into view, First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki cheered excitedly and shook his tightly clenched fists in the air.

  “Sergeant Lee! The 20th Division’s tank no. 712 is currently ranked number 1 with a record of having destroyed 73 tanks, is that right? Let’s destroy about 20 tanks today and break the record ourselves, all right?”


  “Did you say just 20 tanks, sir? I say we should aim for 50, sir!”


  The gunner Staff Sergeant Lee Jin-sung chimed in and replied to First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki in a voice full of confidence.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  As the distance was narrowed to three kilometers, the enemy’s tanks opened fire all at once, creating a thunderclap sound. The sound alone was enough to intimidate anybody around the area.

  BAM! CLASH!

  Columns of dirt shot out between the White Tiger tanks as some tanks bounced off even the armor-piercing bullets as they advanced.

  No. 661 tank was also advancing toward the Chinese tanks while bracing those armor-piercing bullets that flew by.

  “Damn telescope had to be smashed like that at such a critical time!”


  It killed First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki to think about his damaged telescope because if he had it, he could aim at all those advancing tanks and let the gunners just keep firing at them.

  “Oh, shit! We are screwed, sir.”


  “What happened?”


  First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki linked the image data from the sight to his monitor and checked the new development.

  “Do you see the AFT-11 armored vehicles swarming toward us behind the tanks? They are built with 12 roll launch tubes each and carrying 200 mm depleted uranium missiles, sir.”


  Staff Sergeant Lee Jin-sung couldn’t hide his amazement as he read part of the specs found on the identification of friend or foe or IFF data. Just as he was getting over his initial amazement, lights sparked up all at once from behind the Chinese tanks as countless antitank missiles were fired and blasted.

  “Those damn bastards are firing antitank missiles as if they are just ordinary shells.”


  First Lieutenant Ahn was looking at the gunner’s sight when the AFT-11 armored vehicles started shooting missiles. Stunned, he screamed at the driver.

  “Listen! Let’s retreat for now! Retreat at full speed.”


  Tank driver Sergeant Oh Ki-joon quickly pulled back the White Tiger tank at the command of the Tank Commander. In the meantime, Tank Commander First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki manually raised the output of the active SECM disruption system as much as he could.

  CLASH! BOOM! BOOM!

  About over a hundred depleted uranium-based antitank missiles were fired toward the White Tiger tanks, and that meant 23 missiles were fired for each White Tiger tank. No. 611 tank barely avoided the missiles, but no. 713 tank, which was in the direction of nine o’clock, was hit at the top area by two missiles and stopped moving. Numerous other tanks were also attacked and sustained damage. Only then did the soldiers driving the tanks under the 7th Armored Brigade understood the reason the Joint of Chiefs of Staff had warned them to be careful about antitank missiles fired by armored vehicles.

  “This broken telescope is driving me nuts. I wish I could open the hatch and get out, but that’s not even an option.”


  The Tank Commander, First Lieutenant Ahn Hyung-ki, kept grumbling, but the gunner Staff Sergeant Lee Jin-sung paid no attention to the grumpy superior as he kept stepping on the launch pad while choosing targets on his own. Perhaps Staff Sergeant Lee Jin-sung was the busiest person in the entire Korean military at the moment.