February 2, 2021, 23:55

  The skies above the southeastern edge of Jeju Island

  The B-1B Lancer bombers that entered the airspace of Jeju Island at an elevation of 12 kilometers were the latest Block H model, having upgraded their ASQ-184 defense management systems to the ASQ-202 in 2019—their exposure to potential antiaircraft missile attacks was reduced due to the new model’s ability to release super jamming that would disrupt the radar of the enemy’s airborne warning and control system or antiaircraft detection waves.

  A moment later, fairings opened up in three places from the internal armaments of the first B-1B Lancer. As they did, 12 AGM-154A JSOW (Joint Standoff Weapon) guided bombs appeared and were dropped, quickly unfolded their wings, and began to glide. The gliding attack range of the AGM-154A guided bomb was as much as 74 kilometers, and they used their INS (Internal Navigation System) as well as GPS (Global Positioning System) to glide directly to their targets which had been entered in advance.

  Meanwhile, down on the ground, the air raid sirens rang at the base of the 25th Air Wing, as double-barreled Vulcan beam lasers shot up from C-30 Protection A2 armored vehicles to intercept the bombs, spraying beams of light into the night sky. But they had not had sufficient time to intercept this sudden ambush attack, and so these impressive beams of light were only able to stop a few of the AGM-154A guided bombs.

  Crash! Booom!

  As thousands of BLU-97 bomb clusters made impact on earth, endless explosion sounds penetrated the whole area of Jeju Island, which had been quiet up until then. The flashes of light danced in the sky.

  The Igloo (hangar) that could be called the home of the Red Phoenix fighters fell in the pillars of fire that shot up meters high and the heat of the blaze that swirled around like a tornado, as well as the explosive force, and the planes inside of it took heavy damages. Some of them were directly hit by the bombs and completely exploded. As the base of the 25th Air Wing was filled with thousands of bomb clusters like this, it became unable to perform its duties as an air force base for the moment.

  The naval base of the Seventh Fleet was also swept by cluster bombs from the AGM-154A guided bombs dropped on it by the second B-1B Lancer, and as a result, several of the high-speed ships and guard boats that were anchored there sustained damage. Also, the antiaircraft defense battalion inside the base as well as the sailors stationed there took heavy losses.

  In the end, the Republic of Corea, which in the two months of fighting the Sino-Korean War had not even let its enemies into its territory, took heavy damages from this air attack due to the completely unpredictable appearance of the B-1B Lancers.

  * * *

  February 3, 2021, 00:00

  Seoul, Yongsan-ku, Bunker B2 (Situation Room of the Joint Command and Control Center for the Republic of Corea Army)

  The B-1B Lancer planes that had embroidered the quiet night sky above the whole area of Jeju Island with fireworks quickly turned their noses back towards Japan after completing their bombing mission, and it was then that three close-looking Apollo satellite of the Korean aerospace forces all made an emergency deployment in the direction of Jeju Island, and began closely observing the entire area.

  After 10 minutes of being closely observed by these satellites, the B-1B Lancers that had succeeded in their air infiltration through their powerful jamming waves were finally caught. At this, the seven Red Phoenix fighters of the 25th Air Wing that had been in a battle with the EA-18G Growler fighters, minus the one that had been shot down, fired their mid-range Rattlesnake missiles at them—and though they tried all kinds of evasive maneuvers and released chaff and flares, one of the B-1B Lancers ultimately took a direct hit from a missile in the air above the southeastern edge of Jeju Island, breaking into pieces in the explosion.

  A heavy hush surrounded those watching this situation play out from the Situation Room of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  “So, this is the appearance of the B-1B that we couldn’t have expected.”


  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kang I-Shik completely revealed his uncomfortable mood as he spoke, staring at the B-1B that was turning into a scarlet fireball.

  “So, it seems that the US is now openly siding with Japan.”


  The Head of Strategy, Lieutenant General Kim Young-Hyun answered, his face also twisted into a scowl.

  “Can we mobilize the Zeus 1 immediately?”


  “Sir, it’s going to switch to intercepting the cruise missiles after completing its surface-to-surface missile interception, so it would be difficult to deploy at the moment.”


  “How unfortunate, since I really wanted to follow the B-1B Lancer that escaped to the end and shoot it down. How is the battle situation in other places now?”


  “Of the 54 F-35A Lightning II and JX-1 Zero fighters that left from the 11th Air Wing, after battling with 24 of our Red Phoenix fighters, only 13 are left now, and reports say they have broken away from the battle area and turned around to the Kanoya Air Field, sir.”


  “Is there any damage to fighters on our side?”


  “There were zero losses, sir, except for one fighter that had to turn around in battle due to a fuselage abnormality during battle.”


  “How fortunate!”


  * * *

  February 3, 2021, 00:35,

  The Southern Seas of Jeju Island, Latitude 32°21′, Longitude 126° 8′, deep in the ocean

  After pushing through the dark and deep sea to follow the JS Wakashio (SS-601) and the JS Arashio (SS-603), after just 50 minutes, the submarine Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) had caught up to within 20 kilometers of them. Also, its sister ship the Lee Beom-Seok (SS-080) was approaching them from the 9 o’clock direction.

  In the submarine’s battle control room, the air hung heavy, illuminated only by the light of the combat controls. This was because narrowing the distance between themselves and the unidentified submarines without being discovered had not been easy at all.

  Beep~ Beep~ Beep~

  The sonar operating soldier was as careful as he could be as he checked and analyzed the reflection sound that came back in the dial tone of the M-SUNA sonar system.

  “They probably still haven’t figured out our ship’s ID, right?”


  The ship’s captain, Captain Kim Yeon-Ho stood beside the sonar operator, staring at the battle screen as he asked.

  “The enemy subs are currently still moving south at the same speed, with no reaction out of the ordinary, sir.”


  “Too bad, if we just had a White Shark A torpedo, we probably could have already smashed them, I think.”


  After grumbling about the lack of super captivating torpedoes on his own ship, the Captain Kim Yeon-Ho gave his orders to the helmsman.

  “Increase speed to 20 knots! And sonar operator, make sure you carefully confirm the acoustic signature of the enemy subs.”


  “Increasing speed to 20 knots.”


  “I understand, sir.”


  As the aide-de-camp gave his repeat and report, the propellor of the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) began turning even more powerfully, and the ship continued to move forward to grab the tail of the Japanese submarines. Then, after 10 or so minutes, when they had caught up to within 13 kilometers of the enemy, the sonar operator’s voice became loud in an instant.

  “The sound of arming torpedoes is coming from target 1, Mr. Captain sir!”


  “Have they discovered us?”


  “In any case, it seems that due to the small distance between our ship and theirs, and our full speed, they have detected the noise of our propeller, sir.”


  “Since it has already gone this way, there’s nothing else to do! All members of the crew to battle stations!”


  “All members of the crew, man your battle stations!”


  The battle stations alert as well as the alarm bell rang out through the entire submarine. And then, soon after, the captain gave the torpedo attack order.

  “Open torpedo tubes from #1 to #4! Rapidly fire from tubes #1 and #2 at target #1, and tubes #3 and #4 at target #2.”


  “Firing torpedos #1 and #2 at target #1! Launch of torpedos #3 and #4 to target #2 complete!”


  The four K-744 White Shark torpedoes gave off white bubbles as they launched and began diving through the water at a speed of 35 knots using swim out mode*.

  *Swim out mode: This method uses the momentum of the torpedoes themselves to move after being loaded and fired, rather than water pressure, with the benefit of reducing noise when they’re used.

  “They’ve also fired torpedoes from the enemy ships, sir. Two from each ship, four torpedoes in total.”


  “What’s their speed and estimated time until impact?”


  “Speed is nearly 40 knots, and 621 seconds left until impact, sir. Oh! Submarine target #1 has turned and is moving toward our ship.”


  Target #1, the JS Wakashio (SS-601) made a hard turn as fast as it possibly could on its port side, and as it did, formed a wall of bubbles.

  “Alright, they’re saying let’s have it out, then! Dive at the steepest angle possible, do a depth of 150 from our present azimuth, and reduce speed by one half!”


  “Maintaining present azimuth, diving at a downward angle to a maximum depth of 150, speed reduced by half!”


  And just like that, the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) sank at a steep angle down below the deep sea, almost as if it was being sucked down.

  “And tell the crew of the Lee Beom-Seok that they’ll take target #2!”


  “Yes, sir.”


  After 10 minutes passed in the blink of an eye, Captain Kim Yeon-Ho asked the sonar operator.

  “What’s the distance of the enemy torpedoes now?”


  “The distance from the enemy torpedoes to our ship is 1,800, sir.”


  “Maintain current speed!”


  “Maintaining current speed.”


  “Sonar operator! Be sure to tell me if the enemy subs get within 1,000 of us.”


  “Yes sir, their present distance is 1,750!”


  Though they had fired their White Shark torpedoes first, the enemy’s four torpedoes were much faster, and once they reached a distance of 1,000 from the Hong Beom-Do, the sonar operator shouted out.

  “Sir, the current distance of the enemy torpedoes is 1,000.”


  “Launch the Nixie 2 torpedo defense system!”


  “Launching Nixie 2 torpedo defense system.”


  Fwoosh! Fwoosh!

  The Nixie 2 torpedo defense system, a self-propelling distraction device, emitted a weighty noise and the same acoustic signature as the Hong Beom-Do at a 45-degree angle in either direction as it flew forward.

  “Nixie distraction device has been launched normally, sir.”


  “Decelerate speed to 5 knots!”


  “Decelerating speed down to 5 knots, sir.”


  The combat control room of the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) felt as though the breath had been sucked out of it—everyone else in the room kept their eyes on the sonar operator, watching his mouth carefully for even the slightest sound that would come out.

  “Hey! Two of the enemy torpedoes followed the Nixie! The two torpedoes that took the bait are each splitting off in opposite directions. The remaining two are still approaching at the same speed toward our ship, currently at a distance of 1,350.”


  For a single moment, a small cheer sounded in the control room, but it quickly died down.

  “When the enemy torpedoes get to within a distance of 800, fire the decoy from the starboard side.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  The two torpedoes aside from the ones that had been tricked by the Nixie soon arrived at a distance of within 800 of the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079).

  “Enemy torpedoes have reached a distance of 800, sir.”


  “Launching two decoys from the starboard side.”


  “Hard a port! Push the engine to the max!”


  “Turning to the port side! Engines at maximum!”


  The two decoys soon turned after they had been fired, raising a curtain of bubbles, and the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) began to turn rapidly in the opposite direction.

  “Enemy distance is 500, 400, 300.”


  At a moment when extreme anxiety circulated about the entire combat control room, the continuing reports of the enemy torpedoes’ distance brought some good news.

  “Wait! One of the decoys has been hit! The torpedo has exploded!”


  The instant this report came, the whole submarine felt a great shudder. Now there was just one torpedo left.

  “Oh! The last torpedo didn’t fall for the decoy and is still heading towards us.”


  Even while the sonar operator yelled this report, Captain Kim Yeon-Ho continued to calmly and coolly give his orders.

  “Turn hard starboard, release one more Nixie, and then turn hard to port!”


  “Starboard turn, releasing one more Nixie! Turning rapidly to the port side!”


  After another Nixie was launched, it created a curtain of bubbles as it turned, and the submarine now veered extremely to the starboard and changed direction.

  Unfortunately, the enemy torpedo didn’t fall for the Nixie and continued to move straight toward the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079).

  “Enemy torpedo’s distance is 100, 80, 60, 50…… it’s still approaching!”


  The sonar operator’s voice, close to a scream, was mixed with desperation and resonated throughout the entire command control center.

  Ping! Ping! Ping!

  The detection sound of the torpedo grew louder as the gap between it and the ship grew smaller, and the entire crew of the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) began to brace themselves for impact, grabbing on to pillars and things like that. In this situation, it seemed impossible for them to avoid the torpedo. Then, an emergency order came from the captain.

  “Make an emergency surface!”


  “Preparing for emergency surface.”


  At the captain’s orders, the main ballast tank, the negative tank, and the trim tank all opened at once— the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) bounced up towards the surface of the water like a balloon filled to the brim with air, rapidly surfacing, while the torpedo that hadn’t been fooled by the Nixie narrowly whizzed past the lower portion of the submarine.

  As the water exited the submarine at a 45-degree angle, the Hong Beom-Do (SS-079) lunged upward and arrived at the surface. The crew of the ship, which had just literally made an emergency surface while another emergency was taking place, was in a pretty rough shape. Though they had tried to grab onto pillars and other things to brace themselves for the shock, in the process of rocketing up to the surface, the crew members had all lost their balance and were splayed about on the floor here and there.

  Captain Kim Yeon-Ho, who had maintained his balance through the whole thing, once again wiped his brow, and then went to help up his second-in-command, who was spread out on the ground.

  “Now, it’s our turn. Arms man! Report on the current situation of our White Shark torpedoes.”


  The soldier in charge of arms, who had clutched onto a handle and managed to hold out through the whole ordeal, immediately sat in his chair, checked his strategic monitor, and answered the captain.

  “All four of our White Shark torpedoes are flying toward their targets as normal. Currently, they are at a distance of 1,500 from target #1, and 2,150 away from target #2.”


  As the torpedo officer finished his report, the sonar operator’s report picked up soon after.

  “The Lee Beom-Seok also launched two torpedoes towards target #2.”


  “Is that so? The timing is excellent, now we are at an advantage. Pilot! Continue at our present azimuth, diving at a downward angle of 30 degrees to a depth of 80, and push the engines as fast as they can go!”


  “Maintaining present azimuth! Diving downward at 30 degrees to a depth of up to 80, engines at full power!”


  As the submarine had released the seawater from all of its tanks, its crew began to load them up again, starting with the balance tank, to return to diving.