October 29th, 2023, 10:00

  The West Manchuria state, 115km North of Yodong (Sun-Yang) (the Yodong Highway (G1 road))

  The 7th mobile corps’ 20th armored division was in formation and ready to move out from their encampment at Chul-ryung city 55km north of Yodong after DEFCON 2 was issued on the 20th. The division was ordered to move out to Kang-myung at 08:00 am this morning.

  The G1 Highway was expanded to five lanes after the reunification, and it went through Jung-chun, Kang-myung, and Yodong. Tanks, armored vehicles, and other vehicles had filled up all five lanes and were now moving down the G1 Highway to head towards Kang-myung.

  Vroooooooooo~

  The 20th armored division’s tanks formed an unending convoy at the road. Some of the tanks from the 60th brigade’s 26th battalion 7th company that fought the East Asian War were on the lead as well.

  “Sir! Isn’t this a magnificent sight to behold? I’m always impressed every time I see it. Right?” Staff Sergeant Yeom Hoon-gi, who had been the 1st platoon’s 712 tank’s driver, was now at the gunner’s seat and smiled while looking at all the tanks moving in formation.

  Staff Sergeant Yeom Hoon-gi had been promoted during the war and was going to request for a discharge, but when the salary and the benefits of a soldier surpassed most positions in major corporations, he instead signed up to be an N.C.O. Now, he was the 712 tank’s gunner.

  “Hey! So what? If things go south, there could be another war. God! Times like this make me feel envious of Master Sergeant Oh, who got discharged and married.”


  Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo, who was now seated at the vehicle commander’s seat, seemed envious of Master Sergeant Oh Young-taek who married a young lady 8 years younger than him a few months ago. Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo had also been promoted a rank for his performance in battle. After the war was over, Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo took the vehicle commander Master Sergeant Oh Young-taek’s place by putting in a request to headquarters.

  “Come on, sir! You’re only in your 20s, what have you got to be jealous about?”


  “Hey! Do you think it’s him getting married I’m envious about? Have you already forgotten about the atrocities of war? Huh?”


  “Sir! How could I forget? Where was it? Yes. Sun-yang. No! The incident at the great plains in south Yodong…… Ugh! I don’t even want to think about it.”


  The Ministry of National Defense had put every soldier that fought in the war through a 1-month long psychology treatment program. Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo had also gone through the program and regained some peace of mind, but his expression was not bright due to the thought of being put back into psychological trauma once again.

  “Sergeant First Class Kim, sir! Don’t worry too much. If we were really going to go into war, would we mobilize like this? According to my cohort at the battalion headquarters, this was meant to be an operation to just pressure the Russians.”


  “We can only tell if that’s true after we see things through.”


  “God! I wonder what happened to Sergeant First Class Kim, the 20th division’s top gun who could blow through Chinese tanks like a sniper?”


  “Hey! Shut up and keep an eye out for what’s in front of you!”


  “Yes, sir!”


  * * *

  October 29th, 2023, 11:00

  The South State, Seoul, Yongsan-ku, B2 bunker (ROK military joint command center, the operation room)

  Every military commander was now sleeping and eating at the joint command center’s underground bunker once DEFCON 2 was declared and now prepared for war. The commanders were also planning out strategies for every possible scenario.

  First, the army had the 5th sentry military command’s subordinate forces – the 11th corps, 12th corps, and 13th corps near the border of Russia go into a 24-hour watch.

  The forces in charge of guarding northern Manchuria, central Manchuria, and the rest of the north state under the 1st military force were now all placed at their forward positions. The 7th mobile corps, Corea’s most powerful force in its military, had now left their original encampment in Yodong and was now mobilizing towards Kang-myung.

  First, the federal military within the Mongolian state and three Manchurian states were ordered to mobilize and now, each state had 4-5 divisions organized and ready to go.

  Then, the navy’s 1st fleet (East Sea fleet) destroyers and 11th submarine fleet’s Hocula submarines all moved 250km south of the Vladivostok Port to seal off the sea.

  Finally, the air force and aerospace force’s fighter wings were ready to take off 24 hours a day.

  One strange aspect was how the army, navy, and air force moved their forces in large groups and in an obvious manner rather than doing it covertly as if they wanted to be spotted by the Russian military. The Russian military was able to survey every single move the Corean military was making with their reconnaissance satellites.

  This was intentionally done by the joint chief of staff.

  The reason was to show how the letter sent to the Russian government protesting the assassination attempt on Minister Kang Kyung-hee was not an empty threat.

  It seemed the Corean military’s intent worked, for Russia felt the threat of the Corean military and responded by mobilizing their own forces at the border.

  “I think our first strategy will be complete by tomorrow afternoon at 2. We will begin the briefing about the Russian military’s activities.”


  Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun, who started the briefing next to the large screen, glanced at the N.C.O. controlling it. The screen then changed to a map of the border along northern Manchuria and the movement of the Russian military in detail.

  “As you can see on the screen, the Russian military has moved four of its forces from the eastern military and the 7th and 50th rail brigades to make a temporary encampment. The central military’s strategic rocket force 92nd brigade and 119th brigade’s launch vehicles left their encampments. Both brigades’ launch vehicles are being tracked by our four Apollo reconnaissance satellites.”


  “What about the status of Russia’s Pacific fleet?” Deputy Chairman Choi Ho-il from North Korea and General Youn Gi-youn, who was newly promoted to chairman, asked.

  “Yes, the Russian Pacific fleet from Vladivostok has moved 100km south from the port and are standing off against our navy 150km away.”


  “Well, our fleet wouldn’t be overpowered, would it?”


  When General Youn Gi-youn asked again, General Lee Gi-hyung, the navy’s chief of staff, answered him instead of Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun. “Based on the organization of our 1st fleet, it can win against Russia’s Pacific fleet, but it is no longer under the same organization from the war against Japan, therefore it would sustain heavy damages as well. Therefore, we have sent in the 7th maritime flotilla from Jeju Island, and now they are moving towards the naval base in Ullung Island, sir.”


  “What will we do if our forces have to battle against Russia’s fleet before the 7th maritime flotilla arrives?”


  “Well, we could say the goal of our operation is to put military pressure on Russia, isn’t it, general? If Russia attempts to take direct military action, then the 1st fleet will retreat to the rear, while the 11th submarine fleet’s Hocula submarines will take defensive measures until the 7th maritime flotilla arrives to push forward.”


  After General Lee Gi-hyung finished his explanation, he wondered if he was interrupting too much and signaled to Lieutenant General Yan Min-chun to continue before falling silent.

  Lieutenant General Yan Min-chun continued his briefing. “Yes, that’s correct. If we planned to battle against the Pacific fleet, then we would have the 11th submarine fleet and the 7th maritime flotilla sail forward with the 1st fleet.”


  “I see, I understand.”


  “Up next is the briefing about the Iranian military.”


  When General Yang Min-chun finished speaking, a map of the center of Iran came up on the screen.

  “Iran has placed its revolutionary guard along the western border of the Republic of Kurdistan……”


  (Two hours later.)

  “Finally, there was one problem about Iran that we did not expect. This afternoon, the Iranian government will host a military council in Cairo for the Arab league. If over 2/3 of the military council votes for the Iranian government, then the entire league would take military action against us, and that could cause major headaches for us. Therefore, we must establish additional strategies for Iran.”


  The military commanders started to murmur when they heard Lieutenant General Yang Min-chun’s words. Considering how the Islamic nations were more influenced by religion than politics, if the Iranian government played the religion card, then they would be able to get the votes out of sympathy within the league.

  Deputy Chairman Shin Sung-young who had been silent during the entire briefing looked at the military commanders and spoke, “Well, it’s not like we didn’t expect that, is it?”


  “That’s true, sir. However, if that leads to military conflict against all nations within the Middle East, that could also cause huge problems……”


  When General Kim Yong-hyun, the commander of the South State’s federal army, answered with a concerned tone, Deputy Chairman Shin Sung-yong scolded him, “How will we protect our nation if we sit here and worry about every little thing? We are soldiers. It is our job to solve every problem to protect our country! Let’s come up with additional plans to deal with the issues about Iran after the briefing.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  * * *

  October 29th, 2023, 13:00

  The North State, Pyeong-yang, a building at Shinmi-dong at Hyongjesan-ku.

  The second-floor basement was more spacious than expected and was full of exercise equipment. There were large and fit-looking men busy working out and sweating.

  These agents were the elite veterans from the general reconnaissance bureau, and they had been in the same boat as Jo Myung-rok – abandoned by unified Corea.

  The agents from the general reconnaissance bureau were only guilty of staying loyal and working hard for their nation, but they had been laid off in an instant. The agents had had to live out their lives through manual labor or farming until they were contacted by Jo Myung-rok a month ago. Their hearts were full of hatred and anger against Corea.

  Click!

  The doors opened, and when Jo Myung-rok emerged, all the general reconnaissance bureau’s agents stopped working out and stood still.

  “It seems you are all hard at work! Comrades, just be a bit more patient! We will soon go into action. Understood?”


  When Jo Myung-rok spoke to the agents, all of them answered loudly while standing still.

  “Yes, sir!”


  “Great! Keep working out, and Agent Jo Won-jin, come here!”


  When Jo Myung-rok called for one of the agents, a man full of small and large scars shot out like a lightning bolt and stood in front of him.

  “Yes, comrade director!”


  “Did you get a good look at the men who came down yesterday?”


  “Yes, they are all at the safe house near the Potong River-ku.”


  “What do you think?”


  “Yes, they were all full of fire, but I don’t think they were being suspicious.”


  “Is that so? All right. We don’t have much time left before the plan goes into motion, so bring each unit’s leader to the 3rd-floor meeting room.”


  “Yes. Understood. I will call all the unit’s leaders for the meeting this afternoon.”