Ugh!

  Sergeant Na Sang-hoon, the senior and squad leader of the marines, started to shake while being upside down.

  The shock of the crash must have been so severe that many of the marines were light-headed and aching despite wearing helmets and protective suits.

  “Fuck! What the hell was that?”


  Sergeant Na Sang-hoon moved past his fallen subordinates and took the seat of the vehicle commander.

  “Commander, are you alright? Commander!”


  He tried to awaken Sergeant First Class Yang Jung-suk who was unconscious and leaning on the upper part of the turret.

  “Argh~,” Sergeant First Class Yang Jung-suk moaned and opened his eyes.

  “Wha- what the…… What happened?”


  Sergeant first class Yang Jung-suk, who still did not know what was going on, attempted to fix his posture. However, the space within the cabin was narrow and it wasn’t easy.

  “Commander! What do we do, sir?” Sergeant Na Sang-hoon helped Sergeant First Class Yang Jung-suk back up and asked with a look of despair on his face.

  “What else can we do? You check for injuries and wake everyone up! I’m going to contact the platoon.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  Sergeant First Class Yang Jung-suk regained his senses and contacted the platoon through the radio. “This is Pumpkin Flower 2! Come in, Pumpkin Flower 1! Over! This is Pumpkin Flower 2! Come in, Pumpkin Flower 1!”


  The armored vehicle’s PM-1 communicator must have been broken as no one responded. Sergeant First Class Yang Jung-suk put his helmet back on and attempted to contact the platoon with his Turkion-Xm communicator, but another powerful shock struck the vehicle.

  Boom!

  Ta ta ta ta ta ta!

  Dududududu! Dududududu!

  Ting! Ting ting ting! Ting ting ti ting!

  The RPG-7 round launched by the Iranian military did not cause an internal explosion, but the 512 armored vehicle started shaking from the explosion and bullets from firearms that continued to land on the outer armored plating. The marines who had regained consciousness all panicked and started to shout.

  “Argh! Sa, save me!”


  The shock of the shaking armored vehicle and being stuck in a small confined space made the marines aboard feel claustrophobic and panic. They were Corea’s elite marines and had a strong will, but the situation was tense and the worst ever.

  “Hey, shut up, you bastards! I’m trying to talk on the radio!” Sergeant First Class Yang Jung-suk shouted at the marines who were panicking and screaming in fear.

  “This is Pumpkin Flower 2! Pumpkin Flower 2! We have been shot down by the Iranian military. Requesting evacuation. Requesting evac! Over!”


  When the Iranian military’s RPG-7 did not cause many damages, one of the enemy commanders ordered the use of the portable Metis-M anti-tank missile from Russia. The operator of the Metis-M hoisted the missile to his shoulder and aimed.

  The Metis-M anti-tank missile was equally powerful as the Metis-S1 anti-air missile, so if the 512 armored vehicle was to be hit at the rear again, that could lead to an internal explosion-

  Crack! This is Pumpkin Flower 1! Pumpkin Flower 2! Are you alright? We’re here to rescue. Over.”


  When Pumpkin Flower 1 came on the radio, three armored vehicles under the 5th marine mobile company’s 1st platoon emerged above the Iranian military who were aiming their Metis-M missiles at the 512 armored vehicle. The Corean armored vehicles all aimed their 12mm laser Vulcans at the enemy.

  Pew pew pew pew pew pew~ Pew pew pew pew pew pew~

  The three armored vehicles that appeared above the Iranian military started to spray down laser beams.

  Argh! Ugh~

  The gunner of the Metis-M anti-tank missile was the first to be torn to shreds. The 300 Iranian soldiers that had surrounded the 512 armored vehicle started to flee, but they were all killed within a few minutes.

  * * *

  November 1st, 2023, 20:30 (Iran Standard Time 15:00)

  Iran, West Azerbaijan, Qatur (the 7th mechanized infantry brigade’s 79th armored battalion’s location)

  The 12 Eagle-I drones soared across the skies of Qatur to provide intel and also attack the Iranian militia.

  The militia’s numbers started to dwindle since all they had to face off against the tanks were RPG-7s. The 79th armored battalion did not suffer any casualties. The battle at the village of Qatur was becoming more of a slaughter.

  Based on tactics alone, facing off an enemy armored battalion lacking infantry support would have the Qatur militia using guerilla tactics to have the upper hand. However, the Eagle-I drones that flew across the skies sending in locations of the militia in real-time and attacking them nullified their advantage. The RPG-7s that the Iranian militia armed themselves with were incapable of destroying the 4.5th generation C-2A1 Black Tiger tanks. These complex aspects had allowed the 79th armored battalion to face off the Qatur militia’s guerilla warfare easily.

  The militia attempted to fire their rifles and heavy guns at the flying Eagle-I drones flying by, but the auto evasive system equipped on the drones avoided every single shot.

  Pew pew pew pew pew pew~

  One Eagle-I drone flew towards a two-story building and sprayed its 8mm laser Vulcan. The dirt building started to collapse after being hit by the laser beams.

  The Qatur militia that had been fighting against the 79th armored battalion were all trapped under the debris and died.

  “Situation is clear! There is no more armed militia within Qatur!”


  The 79th armored battalion’s commander alerted his men through the communication line. With the militia crushed by the collapsed building, there was no more active militia within Qatur.

  The 79th armored battalion that had wiped out the Qatur militia 20 minutes ago took some time to conduct maintenance. After some time, the 79th armored battalion left the burning village of Qatur behind and headed towards their second destination.

  * * *

  November 1st, 2023, 20:30 (Kurdistan Standard Time 14:30)

  Iran, West Azerbaijan, Maku (the 3rd mechanized infantry company’s location)

  Pew! Pew! Pew!

  The photon cannon rounds that flew in from the 3 o’clock direction landed on the T-14 Armata tank and it exploded.

  This was a historic moment where 14 armored vehicles the size of a company had won the battle against a battalion of T-14 Armata tanks-

  This is Steamer, the company commander. Each platoon is to report damages, over!-

  This is Steamed Corn (1st reconnaissance platoon)! We are clear, over!-

  This is Cucumber Salad (2nd platoon)! One vehicle with wheel damages and the rest is clear, over!-

  This is Pancakes (3rd platoon)! Two vehicles with wheel damages! The rest is clear, over!-

  This is Steamer! Each platoon is to guard the damaged vehicles until the battalion rescue vehicles arrive. Platoon Steamed Corn is to go into sentry duty! Activate TCS mode to draw in the Iranian military as close as possible before we engage them with all of our firepower.

  Meanwhile, the 5th revolutionary infantry division’s 1st regiment that was 2km behind the battle all got off their trucks and started to approach Maku.

  When the company commander ordered each platoon to protect their damaged vehicles, they all got into formation. However, the 1st reconnaissance platoon’s four armored vehicles were unharmed, so they moved through the flaming enemy tanks and went forward.

  A battle between armored vehicles and pure infantry would clearly favor the armored vehicles. For the C-23P-M Hyun-mu armored vehicle that could not be taken down by most anti-tank missiles, they especially had the upper hand.

  The four armored vehicles under the 1st reconnaissance platoon all stopped in a horizontal formation at the part of the valley that was 400m wide and activated the TCS mode (Transparent Cloaking System) before unloading the infantry aboard. The men all looked for cover along the terrain and prepared to engage the oncoming Iranian infantry.

  The 312 armored vehicle’s tactical display started to show numerous red dots heading towards them as the vehicle remained cloaked. A few pick-up trucks were being detected among the infantry.

  “Sir, something’s not right,” Sergeant Nam Gang-il, who was looking at his gunner’s display, spoke while looking at the weapons equipped on the back of the pick-up trucks. The weapons must not have been registered in their database and there was no specific information being displayed on the screen.

  “What do you mean?” Sergeant First Class Go Gi-jun, the vehicle commander, asked.

  “The weapons on the back of their pick-up trucks, sir. I’m not getting any readings from the database. I zoomed in on it and it’s like nothing we have ever seen before.”


  Sergeant First Class Go Gi-jun zoomed in on one of the pick-up trucks and checked for himself after hearing what Sergeant Nam Gang-il said.

  “What the? That looks interesting, doesn’t it?”


  The pick-up truck looked like any other Toyota pickup truck normally seen in the Middle East, but the weapon equipped on the back of the truck was quite new. Sergeant First Class Go Gi-jun, who at first thought they would be equipped with machine guns, felt uneasy.

  The barrel of the gun was flat and split in two and looked as if it was from a movie. Sergeant First Class Go Gi-jun could only think of one thing after seeing it.

  “That, that can’t be. A rail gun?”


  Sergeant Nam Gang-il heard the vehicle commander’s muttering and asked, “Railguns? Sir, would the Russians seriously provide railguns to the Iranians? The tanks we faced off against moments ago did not have rail guns.”


  “I don’t know! If those are really railguns, then things will get complicated for us.”


  Even the C-3 White Tiger tanks boasting their powerful armored plating had been severely damaged by the American tanks with railguns, and Sergeant First Class Go Gi-jun, who had heard the stories before, started sweating.

  “Shouldn’t we attack the pick-up trucks, first, sir?” Sergeant Nam Gang-il, who wasn’t completely aware of the railgun’s power, aimed the photon cannon at the pick-up truck while asking his question.

  “The issue is the number of trucks. I think we might end up in hell if we’re not careful.”


  “God, commander! Can you please not say something so grim?”


  That was when the platoon commander’s urgent voice came through the radio. “As of now, we attack the Iranian military’s pick-up trucks first. Everyone, turn off the TCS mode and attack!”


  The platoon commander must have thought the weapons equipped on the back of the pick-up truck were railguns as well and gave his orders. The four armored vehicles in a horizontal formation under the 1st reconnaissance platoon turned off their TCS mode and started to fire at the Iranian soldiers.

  * * *

  November 1st, 2023, 20:40

  A building at the northern region of Pyeong-yang, Yongsung-ku, Jungyi-dong (the safe house of the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1)

  It had been three days since Oh Ji-wan and his men had arrived at the rundown building, but they did not leave and only did a lot of planning besides eating or sleeping.

  The large room had a laptop connected to a wall-mounted TV and the screen showed a large satellite map.

  “Captain Oh, comrade! It isn’t going to be easy to go through here,” Kang Tae-oong pointed to one location on the TV while speaking to the captain.

  “Nothing is easy, isn’t it? If it were, they wouldn’t have called for us. There must be an opening. We must find it.”


  Oh Ji-wan frowned while sitting on the sofa in the room filled with cigarette smoke.

  “I think we need intel, comrade Captain Oh!”


  “Hmm, all right. I will meet with them in two hours, so I will request the intel we need. So, all of you should work on finding an infiltration route while I do.”