November 25th, 2023, 01:00

  th Mechanized Guard Division (Geumgang), Bukgang Province, North Manchuria, 30km southwest of the Northeast Border Line GOP 5-13 Sector

  At the point where they retreated 40km to the rear due to an emergency maneuver in response to the retreat order from the superior units, not only the 3rd Platoon of the 5th Company but also the entire 100th Guards Battalion were gathering.

  The place where the 100th Guards Battalion was sent to for guard mission was geographically protruding like a triangular pyramid, and the Bukcheong River (Amur River) was split in all directions and looked like an island. If there was a delay in such a place, it could have been surrounded by Russian forces that had crossed the border from the other self-governed.

  Accordingly, the 27th Watch Regiment Headquarters gave the 100th Watch Battalion an emergency retreat order and gave them a task to stop the 57th Motorized Infantry Division of the Russian 5th Army from vacuuming by switching to battalion defense tactics at the rear point.

  In the initial battle, a total of 51 C-1000 Haitai robots, excluding the robots that were put in the battalion maintenance team due to the failure of various optical sensors, were seated in two semicircular rows with an interval of 20m from each other and were preparing for the large-scale battle to follow.

  The fighting ability of the battalion defense tactical concept, in which all the Haitai robots operated by the battalion were gathered in one place to respond, was incomparably superior when conducting an independent battle between the Haitai robots at a distance of 800m during the alert mission.

  Although it had the disadvantage of lower mobility in combat due to its four legs, it was a C-1000 Haitai robot that possessed anti-aircraft capabilities and firepower beyond imagination in anti-personnel and anti-tank engagements.

  Theoretically, one Haitai robot was said to have more than a company-level force. In other words, the 51 units had 51 company-level troops gathered. In terms of the size of the advanced units, it was a division-level force with 12 battalions.

  Nine C-1100 console armored vehicles and battalion command armored vehicles were lined up nicely behind the semicircular line of Haitai robots. And around them, various armored vehicles belonging to the battalion and company were building the secondary defense line in the form of a four-way boundary.

  Among them, there was an invisible tension in the console armored car of the 3rd Platoon of the 5th Company.

  The six Haitai robot-controlled operators stared at their monitors with all their nerves on edge.

  Meanwhile, in the sky, several Spider-II drones from the 100th Boundary Battalion flew to the border area to thoroughly reconnaissance the ground conditions which were as dark as mud.

  Currently, at the Bukcheong River border, the 233rd Motorized Infantry Regiment, out of the two regiments that did 1st Doha despite the occasional falling shells, opened a tight guard around the surrounding area to support the 12th Tank Regiment’s Doha.

  Due to the artillery engagement with a large Russian artillery unit, it was not possible to open fire on the Russian troops who were actively crossing the border.

  In this situation, the 234th Motorized Infantry Regiment went to action, leaving various caterpillar marks on the vast snowfield.

  At least 10 minutes later, they were close enough to meet the 100th Boundary Regiment.

  The video reconnaissance from the Spider-II drone was displayed on a split-screen inside the command vehicle of the 100th Guards Battalion.

  Numerous luminous objects were crossing the Bukcheong River (Amur River), which was shown in blue.

  “When will the reinforcements arrive?” Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Na Sang-won asked the operation staff.

  “Currently, the 33rd Armored Brigade of the 82nd Panzer Division has reached a point 121km behind.”


  “Um, 121 km. They’ll be here in two hours.”


  “Yes, considering the speed of the 33rd Armored Brigade’s out-of-field maneuvers, it seems that they will indeed arrive within two hours.”


  Lieutenant Colonel Na Sang-won set a stopwatch on his wrist and exclaimed in a confident voice, “Great! We only have to hold out for two hours.”


  However, the faces of the battalion staff, including the operational staff, hardened.

  “Check the leading armored vehicle of the 234 Motorized Infantry Regiment 22 km ahead!”


  A report came from the reconnaissance drone operation operator through the communication network.

  “They are approaching faster than you think!”


  After checking the video on the screen, Lieutenant Colonel Na Sang-won opened the battalion communication network and gave the command directly to the communication receiver. “All troops! Engagement begins at a distance of 10 km. Take responsibility and defend your assigned area! And make sure that the mobile troops are also on standby.”


  November 25th, 2023, 01:10

  Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, GOP 22-3 Sector adjacent to Mongolia

  Due to diplomatic relations with Mongolia, which had a friendly policy, there were no barriers on the border, let alone barbed wire. However, signboards were stating the borderline at intervals of 100m, and the army in charge of the security mission deployed to the border was also the Autonomous Federation Army of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Province.

  Most of the soldiers of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s occupied Federation Army were Korean-Chinese, Chinese, and some Mongolians who were naturalized to Corea after the Northeast Asian War. In the case of officers and non-commissioned officers, they were traditionally Korean, but in terms of the overall ratio, it was 1:20.

  That was why, with the stigma of being the most disgruntled unit in the Corean army, some young people called it the Tang Federation Army. The provided weapons were also the latest.

  While the entire area of the Russian border was in the vortex of war, the Mongolian border was quiet under the twinkling stars.

  In front of the GOP 22-3 Sector Post, there was flat land that was wide enough to be seen up to several kilometers at a glance. Even though it was flat, it was barren. Although the Mongolian tribesmen could live as nomads, it was not a land where they could settle on and live in.

  “Ha-phm, did you hear about it?”


  Korean-Chinese Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol, who was assigned the night guard mission, asked the sergeant.

  “What? What is it?”


  “I heard the news on the radio for a while in the dormitory before I was sent here. They were saying that there’s a war with Russia right now?”


  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol, who enlisted in the military at the age of 30, brought up a story he had heard on the news to share with his younger counterpart, the sergeant.

  “Is that for real?”


  “I’m pretty sure I heard it right.”


  “Isn’t this going to affect us too?”


  Sergeant Kwon Seong-dong, who couldn’t find any loyalty to the country, was concerned about how the war with Russia would affect him.

  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol was the same as he said, “I mean. Come on, don’t you think I should just run home now after hearing that news?”


  “But wouldn’t it be a pain if you deserted? No wonder. Lately, it’s all Defcon, Boundary Reinforcement No. 1! There must have been a reason for everything we were told to do.”


  “I only applied because it was a job placement after being discharged that pays a lot of salaries, but I didn’t know what it was until six months before I was discharged.”


  “Anyway, we should be safe and quiet here.”


  While squatting in the second-floor post of the GOP 22-3 sector and exchanging useless words, suspicious shadows moving through the darkness were approaching from several kilometers ahead.

  Beep! Beep!

  “Come in, come in again, two, two, three! This is two, two dash zero!” A communication came from the company headquarters.

  “Why do they keep on sending communications? It’s annoying.”


  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol, who was already annoyed by the second communication, got up from his seat angrily, picked up the receiver of the communicator, and answered, “This is two, two dash three!”


  “What is the forward situation?”


  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol roughly answered the night watch officer over the communicator, “Good! Good!”


  “Defcon 1 has been dispatched, so please be faithful to the alert mission.”


  “This is two, two dash three! I got it.”


  Even though one of them had to keep an eye on the front with a night vision telescope during the guard post, the two soldiers, who were troubled by the news of the war, squatted down again and continued a meaningless conversation.

  “I’m annoyed, but I need to smoke a cigarette. Corporal Yeom, will you smoke one too?”


  “Yeah, I should smoke one, too.”


  In the end, as if he was even going to smoke inside the post, he put a cigarette in his mouth and blocked the flicker of fire from the lighter with his body in the corner as much as possible to prevent the lighter from being put out by the wind. All of a sudden, the surrounding area lit up.

  “What! What is it?”


  Sergeant Kwon Seong-dong, whose cigarette dropped from his mouth when he opened it in surprise, got up and looked ahead.

  Dozens of flares were illuminating the dark sky like broad daylight.

  “What is this?”


  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol also raised his upper body and looked through the window of the guard post.

  “Is this perhaps the Russian army?”


  At the words of Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol, Sergeant Kwon Seong-dong’s face changed to a fearful expression, and for an instant, a light flashed in front of the outpost and a flash of light exploded.

  Kuang!

  Ahh!

  With a flash of light, a huge explosion struck the second-floor guard post. With a shriek, Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol and Sergeant Kwon Seong-dong were caught up in the explosive power and were flung away by the impact.

  Ouch!

  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol, who was lying on the ground with the remains of the explosion at the checkpoint, felt his body heat up.

  When he checked his body, which looked blurry, red blood gushed out from all over his body as if he had been struck by shards. Then he screamed, shaking his limbs in pain.

  “Ahh! Sa, save me!”


  As Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol struggled in excruciating pain, the faceless body of Sergeant Kwon Seong-dong was lying on the ground about 5 meters away, drooping. At the time of the explosion, his throat seemed to have been cut by sharp shards.

  On the other hand, several kilometers ahead of the GOP 22-3 Sector Post, which had been blown away without a trace, rough tanks and armored vehicles were rapidly approaching with harsh engine sounds.

  They were the 36th Motorized Infantry Division, one of the subordinate units of the 29th Army of the Eastern Military District of Russia.

  According to the pre-invasion plan, the 36th Motorized Infantry Division, which illegally invaded the Mongolian Dornot region and bypassed it, evacuated the Mongolian border area under the jurisdiction of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Prefecture.

  In international relations, this was an illegal military action akin to declaring war on Mongolia. The units belonging to the Eastern Military District of Russia currently detouring to the Dornot region of Mongolia were followed by the 18th Machine Gun Artillery Division and the 305th Artillery Brigade in addition to the 36th Motorized Infantry Division.

  Rumble!

  Shortly thereafter, T-14 Armata tanks of the 551st Armored Brigade of the 36th Motorized Infantry Division, the vanguard unit, conducted a 60km-long maneuver and broke through the border one by one without any restrictions.

  A T-14 Armata tank passing near GOP’s 22-3 Sector Post, which had been blown away without a trace, rolled on the ground and over Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol who was struggling in extreme pain.

  “Ugh!”


  Corporal Yeom Dong-yeol, who was crushed by the tank’s heavy caterpillar, died instantly with a shrill scream. In the place where the T-14 Armata tank had passed, there was no human form, only squashed and bloody bones and flesh. Some of the bloody human flesh were caught on the caterpillar and rolled with the chain.

  Meanwhile, the troops of the 8th Battalion, 33rd Regiment of the 122nd Infantry Division of the Autonomous National Guard Army, responsible for guarding the GOP’s 22-1 to 12 sectors, each started running towards the temporary defensive position with their firearms.

  “Listen carefully! We have to hold out for only 30 minutes. That means that the support units are coming now. If you do what you were trained to, you can survive.”


  Lieutenant Colonel Oh Soong-gil, who was sleeping in his residence and arrived at the battalion headquarters building in a hurry to the sound of an emergency siren, opened all communication networks of the battalion and delivered a message to raise morale, thinking that desertions might occur out of fear.

  Even so, Lieutenant Colonel Oh Soong-gil knew in his heart that the loyalty and discipline of the battalion soldiers were absent.

  At this time, an urgent voice was heard from someone through the communication network.

  “The enemy is coming from Sector 3, Sector 4, and Sector 5. Don’t be swayed, keep everyone in place! Defend your position until the very end! We have to hold out until reinforcements arrive.”


  It was the voice of Captain Nam Gil-won, the 8th company commander who was famous for being upright and fiercely loyal in the 88th Battalion. However, the Russian army that the 88th Battalion is currently dealing with was an armored brigade using T-14 Armata tanks, not regular infantry.

  Although there were anti-tank weapons, dealing with the latest T-14 Armata tank with battalion-level infantry was a suicide mission.

  Boom! Boom!

  The main gun of the T-14 Armata tank, which was operated by an unmanned turret system, emitted a roaring sound and fierce flames.

  The high-explosive bombs of the formidable T-14 Armata tank struck the temporary posts of the soldiers. As a result, the soldiers who were shooting with their heads bowed and their guns held out from their temporary positions flew in all directions.

  The soldiers of the 88th Battalion, armed with C2C1 rifles rather than C2 laser rifles, were massacred like falling leaves.

  Occasionally, Hyeongung anti-tank guided missiles flew and aimed at the T-14 Armata tank, which moved at a frightening speed, but could not penetrate the frontal armor of the T-14 Armata tank coated with reactive armor. On the contrary, the soldiers who fired the Hyeongung anti-tank guided missiles suffered so tremendously that their bodies could not even be found.

  Some soldiers engaged in passive battles out of fear or ran away without looking back, but most of them responded bravely than expected.

  As the 88th Battalion engaged in a difficult battle like throwing eggs on rocks, the 65th Light Armored Infantry Division (sunset) and the 5th Panzer Division (key) of the 6th Corps belonging to the 3rd Field Army, which was stationed in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Prefecture, quickly moved in the direction of the 88th Battalion.