February 26th, 2021, 19:30

  Seoul, Jongro-ku, the Blue House emergency situation center underground bunker (the President’s office)

  Japan’s unexpected use of tactical nukes propelled Chairman Kang Ui-sik from the joint chief of staff to visit the Blue House’s underground bunker after he analyzed the damages done to the 26th armored brigade. Chairman Kang took the hyperloop mothership and immediately headed there.

  President Suh Hyun-woo, the minister of national defense, the national security director, and the chief secretary had been notified of his visit and were already waiting for Chairman Kang’s arrival anxiously.

  Soon, the office doors opened and Chairman Kang’s entourage entered. President Suh Hyun-woo sensed something was wrong by the look on Chairman Kang’s face.

  “I apologize for my sudden visit, Mr. President……”


  “There’s no need. It’s a national emergency so the hour is not an issue. Now, have a seat and please tell us what brings you here.”


  “Yes, Mr. President!”


  Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun had accompanied Chairman Kang. As the operations director, he walked up to the briefing screen, plugged the USB into the computer, and started the briefing.

  President Suh Hyun-woo was hoping the bad feeling in his gut caused by Chairman Kang’s visit near the end of the war would be proven wrong and glanced at the screen.

  Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun started his briefing and a map of Chiba prefecture with Ichihara at the center showed up. There were four red circles marked on it.

  “The 26th armored brigade under the capital armored division was moving to attack the new Yokota bunker hosting the joint military command and prime minister’s cabinet when they were attacked by Japan’s tactical nuke strikes by the Kamikazes at 19:00. These four red circles mark where the bombs went off.”


  “Japan used nuclear weapons? How did the nation own tactical nukes? And they made a Kamikaze attack in the 21st century using suicide bombers……”


  “It really seems that the Japanese have lost their mind,” President Suh said with wide eyes.

  Chief Secretary Na Sung-tae agreed with President Suh.

  “Japan had the technology to create 5-10kt class nuclear bombs with a 40kg warhead within 5 months. They also had enough plutonium to create over 50 bombs within 10 months.”


  “Didn’t the war start 2 months ago? This means Japan had ignored the anti-nuclear weapons pact and created nuclear weapons in secret, doesn’t it?”


  “Yes, Mr. President. I believe that is what we can conclude at this point,” Minister Kang Hyun-soo answered him.

  Chairman Kang spoke up when the conversation had stopped Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun’s briefing. “Mr. President, sir! I think it would be better to discuss matters after we are done with the briefing as we have a lot to report, sir……”


  “Ah, yes. Please continue.”


  “Yes, Mr. President!”


  The briefing continued thanks to Chairman Kang’s intervention.

  “We will now report the damages done to the 26th armored brigade. Please direct your attention to the upper left screen.”


  The detailed information about the damages sustained by the 26th armored brigade showed up on the upper left screen. The 35th armored battalion had taken the largest hit. 70% of its forces had been annihilated since the battalion was the closest to the blast site.

  “As you can see, the 26th armored brigade has lost over 60% of its power. We have concluded that the 26th armored brigade is no longer operational for the time being. They can no longer march towards the Yokota bunker to attack Japan’s military command. We have ordered the 26th armored brigade to retreat to Chiba Prefecture to regroup and perform maintenance on their tanks.”


  When Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun finished speaking, President Suh Hyun-woo spoke in a concerned tone, “184 injured and 240 deaths…… This is the largest casualty we have suffered since the war against Japan started. Whew~”


  “Mr. President! There could be more tactical nuke strikes. Japan is currently using nuclear weapons within its own soil, which means it could commence more attacks like these at other areas across the country.”


  Chairman Kang’s words made the entire office’s mood turn grim.

  “Additional nuclear attacks…… I also agree that could be possible. Do you have any solutions for them?”


  “If Japan’s nuclear strikes involved missiles or rockets, then we could at least attempt an interception, but since its military is using soldiers with backpacks disguised as civilians as they did to the 26th armored brigade, we cannot prevent further attacks. Therefore……,” Chairman Kang stopped speaking and trailed off.

  “Tell us, Chairman Kang!”


  “Yes, Mr. President! Japan continued to fight during the Second World War but only gave up after being hit by two nuclear bombs. The only solution is to annihilate the nation since we can no longer identify friend or foe from the Japanese military disguising themselves as civilians. We must commence an attack that will wipe out the entire nation to make them surrender.”


  “A complete annihilation of Japan?”


  “Yes, sir. It was what the U.S. had planned to do to Japan during World War II. I believe we must attempt to do the same.”


  “Wouldn’t this cause issues with the international community? What justification do we have?”


  Chairman Kang responded to the president in a firm tone when President Suh Hyun-woo spoke with his arms crossed. “As we have reported, a nation that had joined the anti-nuclear weapons pact used tactical nukes and a suicidal bomber force disguised as civilians that makes it difficult to identify the enemy. These two reasons alone would be enough to justify an attack that could wipe out Japan.”


  President Suh Hyun-woo looked around at the other people in the office. “What does everyone else think? Please speak up.”


  “I agree with Chairman Kang. Mr. President!”


  When the Minister of National Defense Kang Hyun-soo spoke after raising his hand, National Security Director Oh Jang-soo also expressed his agreement. “I agree as well. A nation that is a member of the anti-nuclear weapons pact using nuclear weapons after making them in secret is a clear violation. This alone would justify our military for commencing such an attack.”


  “Hmmm……”


  While the two men who were in charge of the nation’s security favored Chairman Kang’s suggestion, the secretary’s office notified them of an urgent report. Soon, the screen connected to a video call.

  “Sir!” Vice-chairman Shin Sung-yong showed up on screen and saluted.

  “What is it, Vice-chairman Shin?” Chairman Kang asked.

  “Three minutes ago, tactical nuke strikes have been made at northern Kogaya and western Nishitokyo. We are analyzing the damages to our own troops. As soon as we are done, we will report in, sir,” Vice-chairman Shin Sung-yong succinctly gave his report with a grim look on his face.

  “Vice-chairman Shin! Tell the expeditionary forces in Tokyo to go under Class 1 emergency and make sure no civilians are present within a 5km radius. Also, they are authorized to take out any civilian that will not comply at their own discretion. We must prevent further losses to our troops.”


  “Yes, sir. I will give the order immediately. I will report again once we have more information.”


  When Vice-chairman Shin Sung-yong disappeared from the screen, the map of Ichihara reappeared. President Suh Hyun-woo seemed to have made up his mind and spoke after standing up from his seat while leaning on the table.

  “Chairman Kang! I will give you full authority to annihilate Japan. You can have command of the operations. Do as you see fit,” President Suh spoke clearly with determination. Chairman Kang Ui-sik was given the authority to start his operation without giving any further reports about the expeditionary forces.

  “Yes, thank you, Mr. President!”


  * * *

  February 26th, 2021, 20:20

  Seoul, Yongsan-ku, B2 bunker (ROK military joint command center)

  Chairman Kang returned from the Blue House and video called every military commander to discuss the operation to wipe out Japan.

  “The president has given me full authority over the operation. Let’s discuss how we will go through with it.”


  The meeting that day was over by 1:00 am the next day.

  Before the operation could begin, every Corean force that was occupying cities within Honshu was ordered to retreat to the suburbs by 5:00 am. The Corean military within Honshu, Nagoya, Osaka, and Hiroshima all started to move out. The 20th armored division, capital armored division, and the 9th mechanized infantry division that had marched up to downtown Tokyo all canceled their mission and started to move to the outer regions of the city as well.

  The 2nd military command’s 2nd heavy armored brigade’s forces that had taken Tokyo’s city hall and were looking forward to flying the Corean flag there, all had no choice but to move away from the city as well.

  * * *

  February 26th, 2021, 23:30

  The Yokota underground bunker at Chiba Prefecture, Honshu, Japan

  “These are the reports from each force at Japan, sir. The Corean military within Tokyo have all moved away from the city. Also, the Corean military and special forces at Nagoya, Osaka, and 20 other cities have all moved to the suburbs as well.”


  For once, the military commanders at the Yokota bunker heard some good news.

  “Ha ha ha, it seems the tactical nukes worked.” The army’s commander Takitayo Ojiro laughed and had a wide grin on his face. However, Joint Commander Masaki Hajime’s face was grim compared to Commander Ojiro.

  “It seems the Corean military backed down way too easily without a fight.”


  “Commander! A nuclear strike is no ordinary attack. The damages done to them must have been so severe that they had no choice but to retreat. We must use this chance to retaliate with the forces we have drafted.”


  “Yes, we can’t lose this opportunity. We need to use it to reclaim our nation.”


  The Kamikaze attack had stopped the Corean military’s march into Tokyo and made them retreat. Joint Commander Masaki Hajime was satisfied by the results but he also couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy.

  * * *

  February 27th, 2021, 05:20

  Seoul, Yongsan-ku, B2 bunker (ROK military joint command center)

  The commanders at the joint chief of staff watched the progress of the Corean forces’ retreat located at cities across Japan all night. When every force from the expeditionary force had finished retreating from the cities, they went into the final confirmation for the operation.

  The operators within the command center started placing dots and icons on the digital map as they were receiving updates about the location of over 100 battalions within Japan.

  “Chairman Kang, sir! As of this moment, every single force in Japan has completed moving away from our targeted locations!” Brigade General Hwang Dae-hoon, the vice-operations director in charge of checking on the progress of the expeditionary forces’ movements, reported in.

  Chairman Kang, who managed to stay awake the whole night by drinking strong coffee, placed his cup on the table and stood up.

  He glanced at his watch before giving his orders, “The time is 05:25, tactical missile command, aerospace command, and air force command are to conduct the mission at 05:30, 5 minutes from now.”


  “Yes, sir. We will relay the orders to each strategic command, now.”


  The communication operators opened up the channels and gave out the chairman’s orders to each military force’s strategic command.

  “My…… It seems bombs more powerful than nuclear weapons will fall on Japanese cities again 76 years after 1945,” Vice-chairman Choi Ho-il smiled and glanced at the screen.

  There were launch vehicles prepared to launch Hyunmu-PIP missiles with a range of 5,000km across Corea. Each vehicle had six rounds of Hyunmu-PIP missiles loaded, and each warhead was a plasma cluster round that matched the power of a 1Mt nuclear bomb.

  The Zeus 2 satellite, 36,000km above Japan’s atmosphere was preparing to launch its C-SH II Zinog missiles from its four-round MLRS launch tubes. Finally, eight CB-30P Blue Dragon bombers from the 15th special forces fighter wing with 40 rounds of C-PAB plasma cluster bombs were flying towards Honshu.