February 11, 2021, 23:00

  Basement bunker, prime minister’s cabinet building, Adachi prefecture, Tokyo, Japan

  In the sudden assassination of Prime Minister Abe, Deputy Prime Minister, Aso Taro, who was second in the ranks of the Cabinet government, felt as if his head would burst because he took over in the worst situation. He had no idea where to start since Prime Minister Abe had made important decisions personally without the knowledge of the Cabinet government and had dealt with all sorts of unusual and illegal things.

  In this situation, the briefings of the heads of the relevant departments reporting about the damage caused by the last Corean air raid and the current special forces that were running rampant all over Japan were continuing beyond the late evening.

  The major cities where major military facilities and industrial facilities were, including Tokyo, had become like ruins, and civilians suffered casualties due to the 10 hours raid on the fifth. The Joint Chiefs of Staff of Corea had tried to minimize damage to Japanese civilians, but the bomb didn’t have eyes. There was no help for it.

  “The four major industrial zones that support the Japanese industry, Hanshin, Juko, Kitakyushu, and Keishin have suffered tremendous damage similar to those from World War II. Kanto Denka, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsui Chemicals, Asahi Kasei, Hitachi, Toshiba, Yajinomoto, Hodogaya Chemicals, Fuji Electric, Ishihara Industries, and Ishida, Shin Nittentsu, Tokuyama, Furukawa, Ibiden, NGK Automotive Ceramics, Regal, Nissan, NWK Line, Teikoku, Sumitomo Chemical Agro, Kurare, J Pepe Steel, Yokohama Taai, Gunze, Daicel Safety Systems, Daikin, Toyobo, Mabuchi Co., Yanmar Agricultural Machinery, Mitsubishi Corporation, Panasonic, Astec Co., and Sumitomo Major, the companies listed now are beyond recovery.”


  Okazaki Shinji, Minister of Economic Affairs, pointed to a map across Japan on the screen, listing the names of the companies that were currently affected.

  “The companies listed now have something in common. They were the companies that were actively involved in war crimes during World War II, such as actively providing military supplies or compulsory conscripts of colonial citizens to earn enormous profits, and they had grown based on that. So, they were the companies stigmatized as war criminal companies. In other words, the primary targets of the ROK military’s attack are those classified as war criminals. Evidence of this is the Corean special forces who have infiltrated Japan are currently targeting and bombing the headquarters of the war criminal companies listed before.”


  Special forces, that currently were active in all areas of Japan, had been bombing not only the industrial facilities like factories with production facilities, but also headquarters. Furthermore, they tried to sabotage the companies thoroughly so that they could not recover from the damages after the war.

  “Even today, the brutality of the Corean special forces continues in major industrial complexes in Japan.”


  Minister Okazaki Shinji, who was continuing the explanation, moved his gaze to the officials who attended the meeting and remained silent for a moment. He sighed once and went on.

  “At present, Japanese industrial facilities and businesses took a hit by 65%. It’s pretty severe. The problem is that it is still on-going due to the Corean Special Forces. This could cause a very serious situation as it was in the last World War II defeat.”


  “What are the Japan Self-Defense Forces doing? Why are we suffering unilaterally like this?” Suga Yoshihide, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, looked alternately at Minister of Defense Shibasaki and the Chief of Staff of the Joint Command Office and shouted at them.

  “Minister Suga, please calm down! We will discuss that part when the Minister of Defense does his briefing. Let’s keep listening.” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro tried to calm down the Minister of Cabinet Secretary who was shouting with anger.

  “I lost my temper for a moment. I am sorry.” Suga Yoshihide got up, bowed his head politely, and sat back down.

  “Please continue, Minister Okazaki Shinji.”


  “Then, I’ll continue.” Okazaki Shinji relieved his thirst with water in front of him and continued his briefing.

  “To put together the current situation, Japan, the world’s second-largest economy, has become a distant memory. Now, we are hardly in the Asian top ten. I think we should mobilize the entire Japan Self-Defense Forces and stop this economic damage at least from now on.”


  When Minister Okazaki Shinji finished his speech, all eyes were on the Minister of Defense, Shibasaki. So, he got up and started to speak.

  “I sincerely apologize to the cabinet officials who are here since I have a heavy responsibility for what has happened. However, the war is not over yet. I would like to inform you that the Pacific Fleet of the U.S. Army is currently marching at full speed on the Corean Peninsula to save Japan and punish Corea, a country that illegally invaded Japan.”


  The Minister of Defense Shibasaki, who started with the apology and ended with words of thin hope, nodded his head and gave a sign. Accordingly, Masaki Hajime, the Chief of Staff, got up from his seat, walked to the front, and went up onto the platform. He spoke with emphasis, looking around at the 50 government officials whose gave were focused on him.

  “First, let me give you a comprehensive overview of the damage caused by the Japan-Corea War. Currently, the damage to Sasebo, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Miyazaki, Beppu, Kanoya, Oita, and Yukuhashi of Kyushu is the most serious. Most of them are the area where our Self-Defense Forces are stationed and are densely populated by industrial complexes. In particular, the civilian casualties of Sasebo and Fukuoka, which are close to the Corean peninsula, have reached 500,000. They were complete pandemonium. The police and Western Army of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force have been dispatched, but today all restoration work has actually stopped.” Masaki Hajime continued to explain as he pointed at the Hirado Neshiko coast on the Japanese map on the screen.

  “It is because of the Corean Marine Corps who landed on the coast of Hirado Neshiko early in the morning today. To stop them, the 4th Division of Western Army charged to Hirado after an emergency gathering, but they were almost destroyed due to the enemy’s special forces’ ambush and raid. So, they had to retreat to Fukuoka.”


  All the troops of the 8th Armored Division stationed in Kumamoto were urgently gathered and were moving to Saga of Saga Prefecture to stop the Corean 2nd Marine Division and 6th Marine Brigade.

  “How can one Armored Division be destroyed so easily like that?” Suga Yoshihide, who was impetuous, asked the question again.

  “The entire division was urgently maneuvering without putting out the outposts under the very urgent situation that they had to stop the enemy’s landing. Due to that, they were attacked hopelessly by buried bombs by special forces waiting in ambush and the raid by ground-attack aircraft.”


  The cause of the absurd failure of the 4th Division was the fault of Division Commander of 4th Division, Nakashima Tetsuya who had ignored the importance of forwarding reconnaissance of the outpost, which should have been the priority for long-distance maneuvering. Not receiving the support of the reconnaissance information had been devastating.

  “We are in an overall crisis. Then, can the 8th Armored Division defend from Corean Marine Division and Brigade that landed in Kyushu?” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro who had been listening quietly asked a question.

  “Yes, sir! To defend the Corean Marine Division and Brigade landed on Kyushu, we will take advantage of the 8th Armored Division and build a defense front line on the plain area of Saga, Kurume, and Fukuoka. Then, we will carry out checking the enemy´s advance. The 4th Division, which has retreated to Fukuoka, also plans to complete an emergency reorganization as soon as possible and put into operation to stop it.”


  Masaki Hajime pointed to the plain areas that looked like the reversed “L” with a laser pointer.

  “Are there any additional troops to support?” This time, Ochi Hurme, Minister for Foreign Affairs, asked a question.

  “I will answer that part generally at the end, Minister Ochi.”


  “Alright.”


  “Next is the Honshu area. Currently, Honshu is also under attack by missiles and airstrikes. Not only in large cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Hiroshima but also in the areas where the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force are stationed. Maizuru, Yokosuka, Hamada, Fukushima, Sendai, Higashine, and Aomori are under attack. The destroyed industrial complex and private buildings reached a total of 120,000, and civilian casualties totaled 670,000. Some forces of Ground Self-Defense Force have suffered serious damage of over 50%.”


  As the Joint Command Office, Masaki Hajime continued explaining, the detailed damages showed up on the map.

  “For more information, please take a look at the screen. We will then report the current situation. In Kyushu, the 3rd Corean Marine Mobile Division has completed landing at Hamada Port and the beach. The 4th Division that seems to be special units landed together and moved to Honshu by a team using a Tactical Mobile Vehicle. It seems like they are assigned to the rear strike throughout Japan along with the existing special forces. Like the surprise attack on the museum in Osaka that happened today, they are retrieving all cultural assets considered to be Corean cultural assets in Japan. To prevent the landing, the 8th Tank Regiment that one of the units of the 13th Armored Division stationed in Yonago moved to Hamada. But, they engaged in a gunfight with the 3rd Marine Mobile Division and was defeated.”


  The expression of Masaki Hajime who was talking about a series of defeats in their own territory was very dark. The atmosphere of the meeting was heavy, too. In this atmosphere, Masaki Hajime went on to explain the current situation of Shikoku and Hokkaido, following Honshu. The briefing about the current situation ended in 30 minutes and he moved on to the briefing about counterstrategy.

  “As I mentioned in the briefing earlier, a total of 50,000 Corean Special Forces currently in Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido are moving team-by-team and attempting to disrupt the entire region of Japan. Besides, they are viciously looting the unique cultural heritage of our country, and the damage to the citizens is increasing by inhumane bombings on the corporate headquarters building as well as the production facilities.”


  As Chief of Staff Masaki Hajime went on, his voice became louder.

  “As you all know, among the three forces, the troops of the Ground Self-Defense Force have increased dramatically since 2016, but currently there are only 250,000 left. Also, as a result of this raid, 70,000 Ground Self-Defense Forces have died even before firing a gun. So, the currently available troops are 180,000. Since it was organized under the premise that there was no landing on Japanese territory, it is currently almost impossible to defend the whole of Japan while allowing landing. In particular, it is difficult for the 180,000 Ground Self-Defense Forces to effectively deal with the Corean landing forces in a situation where Corean Special Forces are raging all over the country.”


  “So, what are you saying?” As expected, this time as well, Minister Suga Yoshihide leaned his forward and asked.

  “Actually, before the Corean troops landed in Japan, I wanted to suggest former Prime Minister Abe, but I missed an opportunity due to the sniper incident. I am informing all the bureaucrats including the Deputy Prime Minister here that we are going through an emergency, so it is necessary to switch to emergency conscription for all citizens. It is urgent to quickly recruit troops for not only the Ground Self-Defense Forces, but also the Marine Self-Defense Forces and Air Self-Defense Forces.”


  When the Chairman of the Joint Staffs finished his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro uttered a principled statement about the emergency conscription. “The conscription system must be carried out through the Cabinet assembly as much as the constitution needs to be amended.”


  Minister of Defense Shibasaki immediately replied to him. “We are in a war-time situation, Deputy Prime Minister! In the case of a national emergency, the Prime Minister may issue an emergency conscription order. In the absence of a prime minister like now, the deputy prime minister can issue orders on behalf of the prime minister.”


  Actually, Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro knew what Minister Shibasaki was saying. However, he had a timid personality. So, he was worried that his political life would end after the war due to the fierce aftermath of the emergency conscription orders.

  But the situation was so bad, he thought it could not be helped. He said in a resigned voice, “Okay. Please check the legal proceedings for emergency conscription.”