November 5th, 2023, 16:20 (Iran Standard Time 11:50)

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

  The battle had been raging on for 20 minutes. The farmlands at the south of Koi seemed to reflect the battle’s intensity and had marks and craters everywhere.

  The black and red flames started to glow and numerous Tiam tanks were immobile and collapsed on the ground while smoking and burning. Armored vehicles that had been severely damaged to the point beyond recognition accompanied the tanks. Burning bodies could be seen in the holes and craters as well.

  Vroooooom! Crack!

  The C-2A1 Black Tiger tanks drove over the destroyed Iranian tanks through the appalling scene of the southern fields of Koi and continued to fire their guns.

  Boom! Boom!

  Bang! Baaaaang!

  Two Rakhsh armored vehicles that had been hiding behind collapsed tanks were hit by the plasma rounds at their flanks and blew up into pieces.

  The 79th armored battalion’s tanks had broken through the enemy’s artillery fire and used their technological superiority to break through the Iranian armored forces. The 2nd revolutionary guard’s vehicle division’s sole Tiam tank battalion had now been annihilated and only a few Tosan and Rakhsh armored vehicles were left.

  The 79th armored battalion’s two armored companies had flaked the Iranian armored forces, and the assault was a success. The Eagle-I drones that had replaced their plasma battery packs, wiping out the Iranian artillery, also played a major role in their success as well.

  The 79th armored battalion that had managed to wipe out an entire regiment’s worth of armored tanks and infantry 30 minutes ago slowed down and decided to use that time to conduct maintenance before engaging in the urban battle. As the scattered tanks started to gather at a single location, new Iranian armored forces started coming towards them from the 6 and 9 o’clock directions.

  “9 o’clock! New Iranian armored forces are approaching us!”


  “Armored forces are coming from our 6 as well.”


  The first armored company’s commander and the headquarter company’s commander’s urgent reports came in.

  “Where the hell did they come from?” Lieutenant Colonel Moon Gi-chul asked through the communication line. However, no one seemed to be aware of where the enemy forces that were now surrounding them came from.

  A short silence lingered through the communication line before the battalion commander called the headquarter company’s captain. “HQ company!”
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  Yes, sir! This is Captain Kim Jin-bang.

  “Send out the drones in both directions and figure out how large the enemy forces are!”
-

  Yes, sir.

  “Company! Maintain your position and we go on the defense. Company 2 will move to the 6 to protect the HQ, and company 1 will guard our 9 o’clock, while company 3 will guard our 12.”


  Lieutenant Colonel Moon Gi-chul could have panicked, but he kept his composure and gave out optimal orders to each company.

  New and never-before-seen armored forces started to emerge from the city of Koi. These were the revolutionary guard’s 6th armored division 31st armored brigade’s tanks which received equipment from Russia.

  The 31st revolutionary armored brigade that had been equipped with Russia’s latest weapons from the 6th revolutionary armored division had rushed in from Hadishahr to help defend the city.

  The Iranian armored forces that emerged from the 6 and 9 o’clock directions were under the 2nd revolutionary guard’s vehicle division and had been hiding inside the Rahal and Chaboshiro underground bunkers.

  During the war between Iran and Iraq from 1980 to 1988, Iran had built underground bases along every village near the border. These bases were 20m deep underground and were capable of sheltering civilians and store numerous types of military supplies. They were now outdated, but more than enough to house a battalion worth of troops and equipment. These bunkers were the reason the Eagle-I drones, which had inverter vision to see through buildings, could not detect the Iranian forces hiding dozens of meters below the surface.

  When the Corean peacekeeping forces began their march five days ago, Iran’s military command decided to scatter and hide its forces throughout the cities and villages along Koi and use a siege strategy to defend the strategic point of Koi.

  As a result, the 79th armored battalion had fallen for the Iranian military’s trap. It had first attempted to just defend the city of Koi with a battalion’s worth of armored forces, but when the defending forces were nearly annihilated, they commenced the pincer attack.

  Right now, two battalions consisting of light armored vehicles from the 6 o’clock were coming from Rahal, and the forces coming from Chaboshiro consisting of tanks were approaching from the 9 o’clock direction-

  This is Captain Kim Hyun-joon from the 3rd company. New armored forces are emerging from our 12 o’clock!

  The commander of the 3rd armored company, who had been watching the battalion’s 12 o’clock, reported in.

  “Can you determine the tanks’ type and numbers?”
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  There are over 20 tanks so far. We are checking their type right now.

  The company’s headquarters started informing the battalion commander of the intel that the drones had sent in-

  33 Tosan armored vehicles at our 6, 38 Sarir armored vehicles mounting up to two battalions! 33 Sabaran tanks at our 9.

  “Captain Kim!”
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  Yes, commander!

  “Check the forces ahead of us!”
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  Yes, one moment, sir. We are sending in two drones now.

  While they were waiting for the HQ company commander’s reports, anxiety was high within the C-22 commander vehicle.

  The operations director who was next to the battalion commander asked again from anxiety, “Have you determined the enemy’s numbers yet?”
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  Yes, sir. We have. There are at least two battalion’s worth of tanks and they are……

  “They are what? Hurry up!”
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  The tanks are Russian T-14 Armata tanks!

  Lieutenant Colonel Moon Gi-chul slammed his fist on the console after hearing they were T-14 Armata tanks. The armored forces coming from their 6 and 9 could be dealt with. However, the T-14 Armata tanks coming from their 12 were another issue. The T-14 Armata tanks were classified to be 4.5th generation tanks and they were not lacking in tech compared to the C-2A1 Black Tiger tanks. The issue was their superiority in numbers. Based on the numbers so far, there were at least 70 tanks headed towards them.

  “Commander! How about we retreat to our 3 o’clock direction?’


  The only direction the 79th armored battalion could retreat to was their 3 o’clock.

  “Hmm, we shouldn’t have moved through Rahal like that……”


  The operations director lowered his head and spoke after hearing the battalion commander’s words, “It’s my fault, sir. I apologize.”


  “No. I made the decision. I should be responsible. How far are our reserve forces at?”


  “Yes, sir. The 301st defensive forces are mobilizing 15km east from Rahal.”


  The 301st defensive forces were a mechanized infantry force from the Republic of Kurdistan. However, they were only a mechanized infantry force in name and were an infantry force that moved around with a transport truck.

  “Communication operator!”


  “Yes! Commander!”


  “Alert the 301st defensive forces. Stop mobilizing and guard their location.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “Major Kang!”


  “Yes, commander!”


  “Can we break through the enemy lines?”


  “I think we will face severe damages, but it will be possible, sir.”


  “That would be the case I suppose. The thing is, I think it’s suspicious that they have left our 3 o’clock wide open. I have a bad feeling in my gut.”


  A tactic involving surrounding the enemy and wiping them out would usually involve attacking the enemy from all directions. However, it seemed as if the Iranian military had intentionally left the Corean forces’ 3 o’clock open to lead them there. Lieutenant Colonel Moon Gi-chul strongly felt that the Iranian military was trying to guide them into a trap and decided to face the enemy head-on.

  He was right. There was a large number of anti-tank mines buried in the area. If they had started to retreat to their 3 o’clock, then the battalion would have faced severe damages to the point where they could not move anywhere and suffer more casualties.

  “That’s right, sir. Have you made up your mind, commander?”


  “Yes! We face them head-on! Contact the brigade headquarters and request for artillery or air support.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  While Major Kang Ho-jun was speaking to the brigade headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Moon Gi-chul checked his monitor. The monitor showed the footage from the Spider drones.

  “Great! We will ignore the forces from the 6 and 9 o’clock and face the enemy at our 12 o’clock.” Lieutenant Colonel Moon Gi-chul made up his mind and gave his order in a confident tone through the battalion communication line, “Company 1 and 3 will engage the armored forces at our 12 o’clock. Two platoons from Company 3 will guard our rear while the other platoons will move with the HQ company.”


  The tanks from each company started to move according to the battalion commander’s orders.

  “Maintain your formation and start moving! Company commanders, begin engaging the enemy! Over.”
-

  Company 1, confirmed. Over!-

  Company 2, confirmed. Over!-

  Company 3, confirmed. Over!-

  HQ company, confirmed. Over!

  Meanwhile, the 70 T-14 Armata tanks that had emerged from the suburb of Koi started to form a horizontal formation and the Eagle-I drones started to fly towards them at low altitudes.

  Peeeeeew~ Peeeeeeeeew~

  The Eagle-I drones started to lower their altitude and spray their 8mm lasers. The laser beams started falling from the sky like rain and caused small and large sparks after hitting the T-14 Armata tanks. The 8mm lasers were not enough to pierce through the armored plating of the tanks, but they were enough to take their optical equipment.

  Many T-14 Armata with destroyed optical equipment started to leave the formation. However, the surviving tanks started to raise their speed to begin the battle.

  The T-14 Armata tanks launched their 3UBK21 Sprinter anti-tank missiles with a range of 11.4km equipped on the sides of their turrets. The C-2A1 Black Tiger tanks responded with their GTGS-60 Earth Dragon anti-tank missiles.

  The 4.5th generation tanks from both sides used their Active Protection System (APS) to detect and destroy the missiles flying towards them. Unfortunately, one of the T-14 Armata tanks did not manage to intercept the missile flying towards it and the explosion had caused its turret to fall off.

  The tanks from both sides exchanged anti-tank missiles before firing their guns at each other after they were in range of each other.

  Boom! Booooooooom! Bang!

  Dozens of projectiles started to fly towards each other.

  Boom! Bang! Boooom! Bang!

  The explosions could be heard 10km away from the battlefield. The battle was so fierce and tight that the outcome could not be predicted.

  * * *

  November 6th, 2023, 00:20

  The North State, a building at Pyeong-yang, Yongsung-ku (the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1’s hideout)

  The agents from the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1 finally finished their meeting at 22:00 and went to bed after eating a small meal. Someone was still awake and moving despite two hours had passed.

  “Comrade Deputy Nam, are you awake?” Goo Sang-sik hobbled through the dark room and woke Nam Sang-won up.

  “What?”


  “He he, we got our advance so, how about we go out and grab a drink?”


  Nam Sang-won raised his eyebrow. “Are you nuts? We’re not supposed to move a single inch from here before we finish the mission.”


  “Couldn’t we just sneak out and come back? Aren’t you gonna go? The others are waiting for you.”


  “If Captain Oh or Team Leader Kang finds out, you are all as good as dead. Go back to bed and stop being so stupid. Understood?”


  “Ah, come on, we might not even get a chance to spend our money and die!”


  “Damn it! Go away, will you? Just go back to sleep.” Nam Sang-won put his blanket back on as if he was being annoyed.

  “Fine, all right, sir.” Goo Sang-sik frowned and left the room. Oh Gil-soo and Nam Gyu-tae who had been waiting in the living room walked up to him.

  “What did he say?”


  Goo Sang-sik shook his head and answered Nam Gyu-tae, “He just yelled at me, damn it!”


  “Hey, I told you Deputy Nam is too high-strung and he wouldn’t go, didn’t I?” Oh Gil-soo, who had his arms crossed and leaning on the wall, spoke with a look that said, “I told you so.”


  “So what are we gonna do?” Nam Gyu-tae asked once again.

  “What do you mean what are we gonna do? Let’s go already.”


  “You sure we won’t get caught?”


  “Hey, man! If you’re that scared, stay here. We’re gonna go!”


  “Come on, don’t be like that.”


  “Let’s go already.”


  Goo Sang-sik smiled at the two men arguing.