December 13, 2020, 14:10, East sea 46 km southeast of Dok-do Island (Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin cruiser’s location)

  Captain Ahn Youn-joon put down the microphone and laughed.

  “Huh, they cut off the communication without saying anything, did they? So they think our navy is the old one? This is our chance to show them our power! Are we data linked with the Posiden 1?”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “Good! We will take the ships on the surface and tell Posiden 1 to focus on submarines below.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  Captain Ahn Youn-joon glanced at the Captain’s monitor and quietly ordered his first mate.

  “Everyone to battle stations.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  Lieutenant Colonel Oh Hyun-woo sent the signal to the officer on deck. The Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin (CG-1101) was under battle stations.

  All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations!

  The 180 crew members of the Lee Sun-shin (CG-1101) moved to their positions and prepared for battle.

  December 13, 2020, 14:20, Yongsan-ku B2 bunker (ROK Military Joint Command Center), Seoul

  “It’s a call from the VIP, sir!”


  The Communications Operator in the Command Center shouted.

  “Get him on the screen.”


  The President did not use the hotline he had but instead contacted the Joint Chief of Staff headquarters’ Command Center through the official communication channel for a video chat. A moment later, the President came on screen. He had finished the emergency meeting and called the Command Center immediately afterward.

  “Sir! This is Chairman Kang Ui-sik.”


  Chairman Kang saluted since the call was through an official channel.

  “Chairman Kang! We will now relay the decision we have come to through our emergency meeting regarding Russia and Japan. First, we have determined Russia does not have any intent to negotiate through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a response, Korea officially declares war against Russia. As for the Japanese fleet, do not let any of their ships enter our exclusive commercial waters. I approve of battle if it is deemed necessary. This is the decision of the emergency council meeting.”


  “Yes, sir I understand.”


  “I apologize for giving you such a heavy burden.”


  “Mr. President! That is absolutely not the case. Dok-do Island, the three Northeastern provinces, and the Korean peninsula—no matter what nation comes at us, I will protect our country.”


  “Very well. I will put my faith in you, Chairman Kang.”


  “Sir!”


  After the video call was over, Chairman Kang stroked his head then shouted to carry his voice across the entire Command Center.

  “Russia and Japan have now entered the war. We are soldiers. We must do our best to protect our citizens’ safety, and defend the three Northeastern provinces.”


  Chairman Kang’s statement was met with thunderous applause and cheering from the officers and NCOs in the Command Center.

  “Get me the Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin cruiser on the line.”


  December 31, 2020, 14:30, East sea 46 km southwest of Dok-do Island (Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin cruiser’s [CG-1101] location)

  The Japanese 3rd Escort Fleet and 1st Carrier Strike Group sailing toward Dok-do Island had the absolute advantage of greater numbers over the single Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin heavy cruiser.

  However, the crew of Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin (CG-1101) showed no fear. Each crew member was confident in the capabilities of the Korean Navy’s latest heavy cruiser. This trust may have been from the ship’s name that had been taken from Admiral Lee Sun-shin, who was famous for being unbeaten in his 23 battles against the Japanese Navy.

  Five minutes ago, the Lee Sun-shin cruiser had received authorization to engage in battle if the Japanese naval forces were to enter into Korea’s exclusive commercial waters.

  “One of the two P-3 Japanese patrol planes has entered our commercial waters, sir.”


  The Command Center has continued relaying reports.

  “The distance is 31 km, and it is still approaching the area.”


  “Haha! Our submarines must be on edge. If they are approaching us this close, does that mean they haven’t detected us? Very well! Report on the Japanese fleet’s status.”


  When Captain Ahn Hyun-joon gave the order, the Operations Director reported on collective intel.

  “The fleet is 78.3 km away from our ship and heading northwest. They are 47 km away from our exclusive commercial waters. They have the Yuhudachi in the lead with the helicopter carrier Hyuga, 7 destroyers. And 3 km behind them the 1st Carrier Strike Group’s aircraft carrier the Kaga and 8 destroyers are following them, sir.”


  “What about the subs?”


  “There are eight submarines total that were detected by the hypersonic-02MP sonar equipped on this vessel and the Posiden 1. There are two Oyashi class subs, three Soryu class subs, and three other unidentified subs that are navigating near the 1st Carrier Strike Group. They are 70 km away from our ship, sir.”


  “Unidentified sub?”


  “It seems those submarines are Japan’s latest that had not been added into our database.”


  “Hmm. Those bastards deployed their latest submarines in this mission? Contact the Posiden 1 and have them collect the sonar patterns on the three new submarines and have them as their priority targets.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  The Lee Sun-shin cruiser (CG-1101) had known the position of the Japanese fleet like the back of their hand from data they received from the Posiden 1 and its own B.L 2.0 Hocula multi-area quantum AI radar.

  “Now we have confirmed that there are no threats from the submarines. So why don’t we deal with these gnats that came fearlessly into our waters? Command Center, I am assigning you all targets. Set the two patrol planes as targets 1 and 2 have a Haegung missile on the ready.”


  Captain Ahn Youn-joon gave the order without any hesitation.

  “Having a round of Haegung missiles on the ready for each target 1 and 2.”


  The Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin (CG-1101) cruiser was equipped with an AI supercomputer that allowed targeting to be set in seconds once the targets were set. This saved time for attack and defense considerably.

  “Fire the Haegung missiles.”


  “Firing two Haegung missiles.”


  Wooosh! Wooosh!

  The two 48 cell K-VLS-II aboard the Lee Sun-shin (CG-1101) cruiser launched two rounds of Haegung missiles into the sky. The missiles spat out blue flames and rose into the air.

  “Two Haegung missiles launched successfully. Fifteen seconds away from reaching target 1, 19 seconds away from target 2.”


  “My, those Japs are going to have a major wake-up call, aren’t they? At this rate, they won’t even have time to make evasive maneuvers.”


  A moment later, a flash of light appeared in the sky in front of the Lee Sun-shin cruiser twice. The Haegung surface-to-air missiles that flew at the speed of Mach 6 did not give the Japanese patrol planes a chance to emit flares or chaffs and burned in the air.

  “Both targets are hit, sir.”


  December 13, 2020, 14:45, East sea, 122km southeast of Dok-do Island (Japan’s 3rd Escort Fleet’s location)

  “What?!”


  Admiral Kasui Hiroyuki stood up from his seat when he heard about both P-2 patrol planes being shot down. He shouted angrily.

  “Didn’t you report that there were no Korean vessels within the vicinity?”


  Admiral Kasui Hiroyuki, who responded angrily, kicked at the cabinet in front of him and shouted angrily at the microphone connected to the Battle Command Center.

  “I am sorry, sir. Luckily we detected the point of launch.”


  “Where is that?”


  “Approximately 78 km northwest N 36°50.36 E 132°36, sir.”


  “If it’s from there, then that’s the location. What do you mean ‘approximately’?”


  “They are not detected by the radar, sir.”


  “There are five Aegis ships here and they still can’t detect anything?”


  “I am sorry, sir. I will find what the issue is—”


  “Never mind. First mate! Get me the Kaga on the line.”


  December 13, 2020, 14:50, East Sea 46km southeast of Dok-do Island (The Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin cruiser’s location)

  “Let’s take a look at how they make their move, shall we?”


  Captain Ahn Youn-joon seemed to be relaxed despite being outnumbered by 22 to 1. He smiled as he looked at the Captain’s monitor.

  “Multiple jets are moving from the Kaga, sir. Their numbers are increasing, and they have been confirmed to be F-35Bs.”


  Japan had opted for the F-35B Lightning II jets capable of taking off vertically when they took over the Nimitz aircraft carrier instead of the naval F-35C fighter jets. The reason was to have the Kaga (Nimitz) aircraft carrier and other helicopter carriers in the Japanese Navy able to operate the F-35Bs.

  “So they are deploying 16 jets against one ship.”


  Captain Ahn Youn-joon picked up the microphone and gave the order to the Battle Command Center.

  “This is the Captain. Jet or ship, whatever comes into our waters, attack them without any hesitation under the jurisdiction of each Operations Director.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  After the order was given, Captain Ahn checked his monitor. He saw four red dots representing four groups of F-35B jets that had taken off from the Kaga, moving north.

  “Entering the interception process.”


  A report for intercepting the jets came in from the Command Center. A moment later, the K-VSL-II (the Korean vertical launchpad) fired 16 rounds of GTAS-150 Haegung missiles into the air. The 16 F-35B fighter jets had entered into Korea’s waters.

  Woosh~ Woosh~ Woosh~

  Sixteen Haesung missiles drew a rare sight of white trajectory lines across the sky.

  “Since the enemy jets aren’t responding, they must not have detected our location.”


  “They say a barking dog never bites, don’t they, Captain?”


  Under normal circumstances, jets would launch anti-ship missiles from a distance and return when they fight against destroyers. However, the 16 F-35B Lightning IIs only knew the approximate locations of the cruiser and could not accurately detect its location.

  “Ten seconds before contact.”


  The 16 F-35B Lightning IIs realized they had been targeted and began to make evasive maneuvers by banking left or right while spraying chaffs and flares. It seemed they were trying to avoid the inevitable doom of hellfire. However, the speed of Mach 6 would not allow it at such short distances. The Haegung missiles all reached their targets despite chaffs and flares being deployed.

  Boom! Boom! Bang! Booooooom!

  While the Captain checked each flash of light from the bridge, an urgent message came from the Command Center.

  “Four of the F-35B Lightning IIs fired a round of air-to-surface missiles, totaling four. The missiles are ASM-3 air-to-surface missiles. Twenty-eight seconds to contact.”


  The ASM-3 air-to-surface missile was developed by Japan in 2017. It is a supersonic long-range air-to-surface missile with a range of 300 km.

  The Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin (CG-1101) heavy cruiser launched four more GTAS-150 Haegung missiles.

  The Hocula AI supercomputer had calculated the risks for the vessel and automatically launched the missiles.

  “Japan’s anti-ship missiles are five in total. Ah! It’s increasing, sir. It’s eight rounds in total. They are type-90 (SSM-1B) ship-to-ship missiles.”


  *The type-90 ship-to-ship missiles were developed by Japan’s Mitsubishi heavy industries designed to be launched on the ship. The standard type-88 surface-to-ship missile’s design was modified to develop the type-90. It had a range of 200 km, speed of Mach 0.9, and warhead weight class of 225 kg. It was also equipped with an active tracking device based on inertion navigation.

  The surviving F-35B Lightning IIs had detected the Lee Sun-shin(CG-1101) cruiser and sent a data link back to the Japanese fleet. The feel responded with launching missiles of their own. However, the three surviving jets that had data linked to their fleet were also blown to smithereens in the air.

  “All 16 enemy jets taken down, sir.”


  “Yeah!”


  A small cheer rang out from the bridge after news of intercepting all jets came from the Battle Command Center. Then the crew went into secondary interception phases to the eight ship-to-ship missiles headed their way.

  “Two hundred forty-one seconds before the eight missiles make contact.”


  “Launch a Haegung missile for each anti-ship missile!”


  “Launching a Haegung missile for each missile!”


  “Launching a Haegung missile for each missile!”


  Another eight Haegung missiles spat out blue flames and flew across the skies while making an arc.

  “Battle Command Center! Fire two Hae Song A missiles for each ship that launched a missile toward us.”


  “Allotting projectiles to the targets now, sir. The Atago, Hyuzuki, Maya, Chyoka, Kanazawa, and Saki having all six ships targeted with two Hae Song A missiles each.”


  “If targeting is done, fire!”


  “Firing the Hae Song A ship-to-ship missiles.”


  The 12 rounds of Hae Song A ship-to-ship missiles flew out of the 48 cell K-VLS-IV (Korean vertical launchpad) at once.

  *SSM-700S Hae Song A missile: Ship-to-ship supersonic cruise missile, range of 250 km, speed of 3.5 Mach, equipped with inertion navigation and active radar tracking.