February 3, 2021, 23:00

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

  While the roughly 50 support staff of the Joint Chiefs along with Chairman Kang I-shik were gathered and waited in the Operations Briefing Room, they exchanged some light jokes.

  “Now that it’s been all of four months since I arrived here… it really does feel like I’m dreaming sometimes.”
“Haha, what do you mean by that, Deputy Chief Choi?”
“Because, you know… Seeing as there are quite a few others here who rose from the ranks of the People’s Army, they all know the feeling, too. Just the fact that the countries that had their weapons drawn and pointed at each other for 70 years are now gathered in one place and fighting a war against those goddamn Japanese bastards together. Don’t you think so, Lieutenant General Yoon?”
Deputy Chief Choi Ho-il lived most of his life in the bunker since he had come down to Seoul with his family in November last year before the unification, seeing his family once a week as they lived in the apartment provided for them by the defense ministry. Truthfully, Deputy Chief Choi and his family had long enjoyed a lavish lifestyle as part of the top one percent of the establishment.

  However, no matter how richly they had lived, it couldn’t compare to life in South Korea where freedoms were guaranteed. The most important thing was that if he fell victim to a purge, his future, and of course, the livelihood of his family couldn’t be guaranteed, and in that event, they likely wouldn’t even survive. For now, they were enjoying their freedom in Seoul and could live meaningful lives.

  “Yes, it’s true.”
The Commander of the 620th Artillery Wing Lieutenant General Yoon Ki-yoon, who had come to Seoul together with Deputy Chief Choi, answered with a smile on his face.

  Just then, an alarm sounded on Chairman Kang I-shik’s smartphone. It was the call from the president that they had been waiting so eagerly for.

  A moment later, after concluding the brief phone call, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs set his phone down on the table of the meeting room and looked around slowly at the fifty or so participants gathered there.

  Deputy Chief Choi Ho-il asked first.

  “What did the president say?”
“It appears that the president has given us a bit of homework to do.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
The attention of every staff member in the room, including Deputy Chief Choi, was all on Chairman Kang’s mouth.

  “It appears that the talks with the US haven’t unfolded as the president had wanted them to. Therefore, the president has given the order to use all our available powers and bring an end to this war within ten days.”
“Did you say ten days?”
The Head of the Office of Strategic Planning, Lieutenant General Na Tae-yoon asked, his mouth gaping open as if he was unable to close it.

  “Yes, ten days. It appears we’ll have to modify our current ‘RJ to 1945’ operation.”
“And one additional thing! There was an order to launch attacks against US and Japanese satellites in the sky above the Korean peninsula.”
“The US satellites?”
At Lieutenant General Na’s repeated question, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs simply nodded his head in response.

  “So then, our president has really made a big decision about this. Well, good! When there’s something to push through, you need to really put the effort in and push through it. Whether it’s the US empire or those Japanese bastards, right?”
Chief Deputy Choi brandished his right hand in the air and made a decisive motion with it, and as he did so, a few generals who had been members of the People’s Army laughed slightly. However, the other generals didn’t even smile, but their faces were clouded with anxiety.

  “Hey, look at this! Why do your faces all look like that? Have some confidence, come on! Hahaha.”
Deputy Chief Choi looked at the nervous generals from the Korean Army, showing a valiant smile on his face. Deputy Chief Shin Seong-yong, who had recently been promoted from Chief of Staff of the Army to Deputy Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answered.

  “This isn’t something we can think lightly of, Deputy Chief Choi!”
“I know that. But does that mean we need to be so gloomy about it? Isn’t that right, Mr. Chairman?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Chairman Kang I-shik then rose from his seat, looked around at the staff members present in the meeting room, and fixed his gaze on the Head of Strategic Planning Lieutenant, General Na Tae-yoon.

  “Lieutenant General Na! As soldiers, all we can do is give this our all. Let’s begin the adjustment of the plan for our ‘RJ to 1945’ operation, and also draw up a proposal for an assault on US and Japanese satellites in the sky above the peninsula.”
“Yes, Mr. Chairman!”
Lieutenant General Na rose from his seat as he answered, and moved toward the dais.

  * * *

  February 4, 2021, 10:00

  Deep in the ocean, 55 kilometers off the northeastern edge of Ulsan

  The crew of the KC-1 Yi Sun-shin (CG-1101) that had been victorious in the battle of Dok-do had of course taken a few days to rest as it replenished its supplies in the Ulleung Island Naval Base, and now they had come down to the waters around Ulsan to take on the operation of maintaining an anti-submarine, antiaircraft, and anti-ship line.

  “Captain, sir! There’s a secure communication from the Naval Command Center.”
“Set up the connection!”
Captain An Yoon-joon sat down in his personal chair, looked at the strategic monitor, and spoke as he flicked his finger.

  “Fidelity! This is Colonel An Yoon-joon.”
“You look well, Colonel. This is the Operations Commander. What is the current status of arms on the Yi Sun-shin destroyer?”
“Yes sir, the arms are completely supplied except for a few munitions on the base at Ulleung Island.”
“Hm, that’s good! Now I’m going to tell you about the plan for the upcoming operation that’s been drawn up by the Joint Chiefs.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Operations Commander!”
“At 10:00 AM on Friday, the Yi Sun-shin destroyer will go along with the combined fleet and approach the waters 80 miles off of Daema Island (Tsushima Island), then begin an air raid on the island. The command for this assault will be handled by Major General Kil Un-seok, high command of the first fleet.”
“Yes, I understand, sir.”
“If they see that Daema Island is under attack, the Japanese Self-Defense naval forces will obviously mobilize their 12th Convoy and maybe even their 4th Convoy, too. And they will engage in response. They will probably call their forces from the 9th Submarine Carrier Strike Group.”
“If we aren’t careful, there’s a threat of damage to the civilian infrastructure on Daema Island.”
“We’ll have to bear with that.”
“I understand, sir.”
His aide-de-camp arrived just as he finished the electronic transmission, and handed him the printout of the electronic transmission from the commander. There was detailed information on it about the locations of the assault on Daema Island (Tsushima Island), as well as about the tugboats that belonged to the 13th Convoy of Japan’s navy.

  “It looks like the pace of this war is gradually increasing, my second-in-command!”
“Yes sir, Captain!”
“Trade out the crew members every two hours for now, and let the rest of them take leave.”
“Yes sir, I will.”
* * *

  February 4, 2021, 11:00,

  The Air Base of the 23rd Air Wing, Kimhae, Kyeongnam Province

  The Red Phoenix and Dark Phoenix fighter planes of the Southern Strategic Command’s 23rd Air Wing, as well as the Phoenix ground attack fighters, were gathered closely in the Igloo of the airbase, and the armament officers were moving about, busily loading them with all kinds of missiles.

  “Private Kim! Be careful bringing those over!”
Chief Petty Officer Oh Young-joo, who was in charge of arms for the Red Phoenix fighters, yelled this at Private Kim Un-ho when he saw him driving a small transport vehicle loaded with many different missiles.

  “No need to worry, sir. I’ve been doing nothing but this for over a year now.”
“Do you know how much each of those are? If even one tips over, this whole place is gone!”
“Alright, sir, I’ll drive carefully.”
The petty armament officers and privates were working so urgently because of the sudden orders from the Air Command Center to make sure all aircraft had their weapons fully stocked.

  The situation was the same everywhere, including the First Air Wing in Gwangju, the 11th Air Wing in Daegu, the 38th Air Wing in Gunsan, and the 17th Air Wing in Cheongju.

  This was all because the assignment had come down from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to make an air attack on Kyushu, Japan on Friday morning. The plan for this large-scale air attack called for some 200 fighter planes to be deployed, the largest force that could be marshaled, and even included mobilizing the Blue Dragon strategic bombers. This was partially a retaliatory attack for the strikes on Jeju Island, but it was also because the plan of attack had to be pulled forward following the president’s order to bring the war to a swift end.

  When the plans for the “RJ to 1945” operation were first drawn up, the items of the operation looked like this:

  Step 1: Attack Japan’s very high-altitude antiaircraft net with the Samjoko space fighter planes.

  Step 2: Neutralize the Japanese Self-Defense Force’s antiaircraft barrier through continuous surface-to-surface and cruise missile attacks over a period of ten days.

  Step 3: Destroy Japan’s navy through the force of the combined fleet and submarine carrier strike group.

  Step 4: An all-out assault on the country’s defense industry facilities.

  Step 5: Deploy almost 50,000 special forces troops throughout Japan’s territory and undertake an operation to recover cultural assets.

  Step 6: Attempt an invasion of Kyushu and other territories.

  Step 7: Invasion of Tokyo – conclusion of the war.

  A significant number of the items on the operations scheduled above are modified as of the previous night. In short, the plan had now been changed to end Step 2 as quickly as possible and to attempt Steps 3 and 4 simultaneously tonight.

  In truth, the “RJ to 1945” operation’s most important part was Step 2. And of course, to attack the enemy’s airspace with fighters without first methodically neutralizing its antiaircraft systems would make casualties a necessity. However, as the president had given the order to end the conflict earlier, and the antiaircraft battalions were all gathered in the US stationing bases, they had no choice but to end Step 2 early and move on to the next items.

  * * *

  February 4, 2021, 13:00

  The Operations Briefing Room in the Air Force Base of the 38th Air Wing in the Gunsan, Jeonbuk Prefecture

  A group of about seventy pilots was focused on the briefing about the operation that would be taking place on Friday night.

  “The target of our air wing is the naval port in Sasebo and the industrial complexes in that area. The specific complexes we’ll be targeting are the Omuta Techno Park and the Arao Industrial Complex.”
As the deputy head of operations, Colonel An Hyoung-ho gave this explanation, he used a laser pointer to point to a digital map that showed the entire area of Kyushu.

  “Alright, for now, I’ll be telling you the information about which formations are taking which targets. First, the 110th Fighter Wing will take the 11th Air Wing fighters that will depart from the Kanoya Air Base. Next, the group that will attack the Sasebo Naval Base will include the first, second, third, and fourth squadrons of the 122nd Fighter Wing, and the first, second, and third squadrons of the 111th Fighter Wing will provide air support.”
Each time Colonel An’s explanations moved ahead, the list of target names as well as the pilots’ names appeared on the screen behind him.

  “The second strike group will be the fifth and sixth squadrons of the 122nd Fighter Wing, and the fourth and fifth squadrons of the 111th Fighter Wing will cover them. Lastly, the third strike group will consist of the seventh and eighth squadrons of the 122nd Fighter Wing, with the sixth and seventh squadrons of the 111th Fighter Wing providing air support. As the eighth squadron of the 111th Fighter Wing is equipped for ground assault, they will engage the ground attack along with the third strike group.”
After finishing his clear and simple briefing, the colonel folded his arms behind his back and looked directly at the fighters seated in front of him as he spoke.

  “Are there any questions?”
He waited briefly to see if there were any inquiries, and then spoke again.

  “I guess not! The time of the operation is 22:10 on Friday, so prepare and get some rest until then. That is all!”
* * *

  February 4, 2021, 20:00 (05:00 Senegal time)

  ,000 kilometers in the sky above Senegal

  On the opposite side of the world from the Korean peninsula, a lone Samjoko space plane was flying at a speed approaching Mach 30 in the airspace 1,000 kilometers above Senegal. The four crew members riding in the CFS/A-31SP Samjoko plane were orbiting the earth at the edge of the atmosphere and were basically in a vacuum state. A moment later, word came over the headset from the radar operator soldier.

  “Distance to target secured! Currently moving at azimuth 3-1-0, at a speed of Mach 24, distance remaining is 720, that is all!”
“Okay, copy that!”
After receiving confirmation of its secured target, the space plane turned its nose downward at an angle of 45 degrees and plummeted down to an altitude of 600. As it entered the atmosphere, the front part of the plane and its wings soon heated up and were turning scarlet red.

  “Target confirmed! Aiming point secured! Entering intercept protocol. Over!”
The armament officer said this as he checked the firing monitor.

  And as soon as the distance from the target reached 400 kilometers, the 50-millimeter high-output laser beam extended outward like a clothesline.

  Phewwww~

  The white beam flew out at the speed of light and exactly penetrated a shadowy object that was also moving around the earth at a speed of Mach 24. As it did this, the first explosion was triggered, and debris scattered in all directions, as a dark object fell out of its orbit with bright red flames, and soon fell to earth, melting and oxidizing with the ferocious heat.

  “Target intercept successful! Mission complete!”
The dark object that had fallen to earth and exploded was Japan’s low-orbiting military satellite, the IGS 6B radar satellite. And in many other places, the four Samjoko space planes turned Japan’s other low-orbiting military surveillance satellites to dust in the sky.

  * * *

  February 4, 2021, 20:30

  CC Tanker, Yongsan-ku, Seoul (Control Room of the Zeus 1 Strategic Intercept Satellite)

  The main screen of the Zeus 1 control room showed a glowing blue map of the world that was centered around the Korean peninsula. There were hundreds of lines drawn on the map, and these represented the orbits of the many satellites that existed in the skies around the world.

  On the opposite side from this map, as the Samjoko space planes were attacking Japanese satellites, the Zeus 1 was detecting satellites that were moving past the peninsula and entering attack protocols.

  “Just confirmed, sir, a total of four satellites have entered the critical interception point.”
“Check the list of target coordinates!”
“Checking the list of target coordinates now.”
The four satellites appeared and blinked on the screen as they circled the earth, forming a square.

  “Check plasma capacity.”
“Plasma is currently 100% free of abnormalities.”
“Then, fire at target #1.”
“Fire!”
As the order to fire was given, a bluish beam of light shot out of the laser cannon of Zeus 1.

  Pheeew!

  Booom! Clank, clank, clank~

  As the blue beam shot out at the speed of light, the dark object that was target #1 was hit with a huge explosion and disappeared from the main screen. The object that had just disappeared with a flash of light was the astronomical satellite IGS 5A, which Japan had launched into space in November 2009.

  “Target successfully intercepted! Aiming for target #2.”
“Completed targeting for target #2!”
“Fire at target #2!”
“Fire!”
Booom!

  “Target number two hit!”
And so, the four Japanese satellites that had just been moving towards the peninsula disappeared forever with one small explosion.