Manager Lee Ja-sung put his hand on his forehead without being seen, sighed and said.

  “First of all, Alpha One and Two, check if there are different passages! Watch out for security systems.”


  “Yes, all right.”


  Team 2, listening to the conversations of the two managers, carefully exited the office to see if there was another passage.

  As he leaned against one wall and looked around the office, Manager Namgoong-won checked the fire alarm hanging from the ceiling. At that moment, an idea popped into his mind.

  “Manager Lee!”


  “Huh?”


  “Do you remember the “Operation to Smoke the Rabbit’s Den” in Beijing last time?”


  “Of course, I remember!”


  “Let’s use that strategy here, too!”


  “Oh! If you can’t get in, you’re saying we draw them out?”


  “Right!”


  At this time, Park Gi-oong, the Alpha Two team leader, who was listening to the silent communication, intervened.

  “What about us? Shall we go over there again?”


  “No, if there are a lot of people, the security guards might notice, so we’ll go in first.”


  “Yes, all right.”


  “First of all, everyone, try to take cover under the desk or hide somewhere!”


  They were invisible in TCS mode, but he had the agents retreat from around the drawer, thinking that they might not be found out. He also unplugged the LAN cable of the computer placed under the desk in the blind spot of the CC camera and connected it to his laptop.

  “In a while, the fire alarm will go off. So don’t be surprised.”


  Manager Namgoong-won, who had alerted the agents by silent communication, put away his laptop keyboard with a flashy hand gesture. A few minutes later, Manager Namgoong-won pressed the enter key, with a slight smile on his face.

  In an instant, the fire alarm hanging from the ceiling of the office started to sound.

  “What is it? Is it a fire?”


  In less than a minute, security guards came into the office, each with a fire extinguisher in their hand.

  “What’s the matter? Where is it?”


  “Why isn’t there a fire? Is it broken?”


  The security guards, who looked around the office with fire extinguishers, saw the fire alarm ringing and radioed someone.

  “1-5, there isn’t a fire in the office. Turn off the alarm!”


  “I was just surprised! Damn!”


  When the guards were chatting, a mechanical sound came from the camouflaged drawer, and then it split open in the center.

  When the drawer split open, the iron gate that was identified through the shield glasses began to open slowly as well.

  “What is it?”


  A man with several heavily armed soldiers who were inside the opened iron door asked as he put his hands behind his back.

  “Ah! The smoke alarm seems to be malfunctioning.”


  The security guard reported to the man bewildered.

  “Malfunction? Anything else suspicious?”


  “No, nothing else.”


  “Have you ever encountered this before? Call all the employees and search the factory! Something suspicious is going on here!”


  “Yes, all right. Lieutenant Colonel DuChun.”


  A man called Lieutenant Colonel Duchun was an officer in charge of the security of the secret laboratory.

  “Manager Lee! It’s time. Let’s go in!”


  Manager Namgoong-won, who was holding his breath under the desk, spoke through silent communication.

  “Okay, there are a lot of people, so let’s be careful inside. What about Alpha One and Two?”


  “Why don’t we get in and figure out how to open it and then let them in?”


  “Great! I will go in first. Follow me!”


  When Manager Lee Ja-sung, who was hiding under the desk at the back of the office, began to move carefully so as not to make much noise, the Alpha Zero agents followed.

  Inside the iron gate was a long passageway. It was about 30 meters high and several rotating CC cameras were installed on the ceiling.

  Once inside the iron gate, he put his back to the wall as much as possible and held his breath while observing the situation. Lieutenant Colonel Duchun gave a few more instructions and then entered the gate with his subordinates. With a soft mechanical sound, the iron door closed firmly behind them.

  A few minutes passed, and Lieutenant Colonel Duchun’s gang, who had walked through the other passageway, disappeared.

  “You find a way for Alpha Two and Three to get in! We’ll look for the plasma core technology. Deputy Oh stay with Manager Namgoong-won.”


  “No, there aren’t enough people right now, so I’ll go on my own.”


  “Are you okay being alone?”


  “Hehe, please don’t worry about me and focus on completing the mission.”


  “I get it. Okay. Let’s move!”


  Manager Lee Ja-sung and the agents started moving secretly and quickly along the long passage that Lieutenant Colonel Duchun had walked down. Left alone, Manager Namgoong-won began to find a way to open the iron gate.

  January 01, 2024, 02:30

  B2 bunker, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Namju (Korea Armed Forces Joint Command and Control Center Situation Room)

  The 7th Task Force, which crossed the Jeya River at midnight on the 29th, mobilized the full power of the corps, just as in Operation Bureya River.

  First, the 7th Heavy Armored Assault Brigade, a unit under the direct control of the corps, descended on Blagoveshchensk, a city close to the border, and launched a surprise attack that caused chaos in the city. As a result, the 371st Tank Regiment, 921st Artillery Regiment, and 75th Rocket Brigade belonging to the 35th Army, which was trying to defend their areas of responsibility in various parts of the city, were helpless as they were not prepared for an aerial assault. As they were unable to do much and were thrown into great chaos, the Capital Armored Division (Mengho) quickly succeeded in crossing the Jeya River using the gap and immediately entered the city of Blagoveshchensk.

  There were four reserve divisions in Blagoveshchensk. Except for the 35th Army, most of them were infantry, so they were no match for the 7th Heavy Armored Assault Brigade who were flying 10 meters from the ground and attacking them with laser Vulcan beams. The mobilization reserve division of the infantry organization collapsed without any resistance, and after exactly 28 hours, the Taegeukgi and the Capital Armored Division (Mengho) flags flapped at the City Hall of Blagoveshchensk, where 210,000 people lived. In addition, large and small cities around the area were occupied by the Capital Armored Division (Mengho).

  On the other hand, the 20th Armored Division (Decisive Battle), which had headed in the direction of Svovodni across Serishiva following Belogorsk, received fire support from 32 FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon attack helicopters belonging to the 17th Air Division and began crossing on a large scale. Unlike the Capital Armored Division (Mengho), the 20th Armored Division (Decisive Battle) suffered more than expected.

  Thirty-two FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon attack helicopters continued to go back and forth from the garrison base, pouring firepower towards the wounded, and the division artillery fire from the rear, but the response of the 35th and 36th Army across the Jeya River was also shown. It wasn’t difficult.

  About 100 FAH-91SP Peregrine FAH-91SP C-3A1 White Tiger tanks and C-23P Hyunmoo Infantry Fighting Vehicles and T-14B Armata tanks belonging to the 2nd Guards Tank Regiment crossed the frozen Jeya River. It stopped them from attacking by firing a 16MJ-class railgun without backing down despite the attack from the helicopter above.

  In addition, various armored vehicles belonging to the 192nd Motorized Rifle Division rained down machine guns and anti-tank missiles of various calibres. The 71st Air Defense Brigade and the 164th Air Defense Rocket Regiment also fired surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns against the FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon attack helicopters. In addition, the artillery units belonging to the 192nd Motorized Rifle Division and the 921st Artillery Regiment, which radiated heat from various places 20 kilometers to the rear, and the 153rd Rocket Brigade from 50 kilometers behind fired non-stop surface-to-surface missiles.

  Even when the 20th Armored Division (Decisive Battle) had immediately fired the cannon, they maintained their position according to artillery tactics and did not stop the saturated firepower, which continued to devastate everything it touched as if it was a battle till the end.

  It was probably because of the order issued by the General Staff. The General Staff had given the 35th and 36th Army commanders a special order to defend themselves, saying that the 29th, 41st and 2nd armies, which were preparing for a massive counterattack in the border of the Jabaikal region, could be exposed and defeated in the Korean-Russian War.

  As a result, the commanders of the 35th and 36th Army were ordered to defend with their lives as there was no withdrawal or retreat from the commanders of all subordinate units.

  For this reason, the 77th Mechanized Infantry Division (Gukjin), which subsequently began to cross, also encountered fierce resistance from subordinate units of the 36th Army, and the plan of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which they thought would break through the defense line in one day, went wrong. It was only the afternoon before, the third day, that they occupied everything beyond the northwestern end of the Jeya River.

  It was a large-scale engagement that took two more days than the established operation, but fortunately, the damage to the 7th Mobile Corps was less than expected. With the previous record of completely annihilating two Russian armies, the damage to their allies was 11 killed and 89 wounded. Most of the casualties were from armored personnel carriers that had been under heavy fire by enemy artillery units.

  In this way, the 20th Armored Division (Decisive Battle), the leading unit, formed the M58 to break through the defense line of the Russian army. They had risked their lives and had spent three days attacking the flanks of the three Russian armies that were expanding and increasing their power around the border of the Jabaikal region. It was just passing Novopokarovka along the road.

  “Well, the 20th Division is invading faster than I thought!”


  Kim Yong-hyun, deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who sat in the central seat of the situation room and crossed his arms while watching the central screen displaying the real-time status of the movement of the 20th Armored Division (Decisive Battle), responded as if he was worried, then Lieutenant General Oh Dong-won, the deputy commander of the intelligence division, who served as the deputy commander of the situation room today, responded.

  “It seems to be in a hurry since it has taken two days longer than the original operational plan.”


  “I know that but I was afraid that if they showed such a quick maneuver, they would be harmed by the ambush force.”


  “Haha, I am also worried about our Deputy Chief of Staff. Isn’t the Apollo 7 dedicated reconnaissance in front of the 20th Division? Also, the 20 companies will mobilize all kinds of reconnaissance forces to check every single speck of dust.”


  As stated by Lieutenant General Oh Dong-won, the head of the intelligence division, CS-SS Apollo Reconnaissance Satellite No. 7 was dedicated to the 7th Mobile Corps and provided all reconnaissance information. In addition, the corps headquarters and division headquarters were also using unmanned reconnaissance drones to oversee all situations within a 100-kilometer radius in real-time. In other words, it was more difficult to ambush and attack the 7th Mobile Corps, including the 20th Armored Division, than picking a star in the sky.

  “I am just an old man. The older I get, the more concerned I get as well.”


  “Haha, you’re old! What are you saying…”


  Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Yong-hyun and Lieutenant General Oh Dong-won were exceptionally close because they were seniors and juniors in the 3rd term of the Military Academy and had served together at the Army Headquarters for many years. In the midst of joke-filled conversations, the operators in charge of communication suddenly became busy.

  “What is it? What’s going on?”


  Kim Yong-hyun, deputy chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, looked at the operators in charge of communications and asked, feeling that something was amiss at the sudden rush of communications. The senior operator answered in a loud voice.

  “Currently, it has been reported that the general offensive of the Russian army is continuing even on the northwestern border.”


  “Looks like Russia has finally started a counterattack.”


  “Shall I make an emergency call?”


  “No, didn’t we expect the Russian offensive? Now that the defense line of the Jeya River has been breached, Russia must have counterattacked before it is too late!”


  Kim Yong-hyun, deputy general of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who acted as a gesture, ordered instead to call the commander of the 6th Corps, who was currently defending against a Russian counterattack.

  After a while, while the operator, who had received the command was handling the console, the 6th Corps commander Lieutenant General Choi Bae-geun appeared on screen three, wearing a bulletproof helmet.

  “Salute! This is Choi Bae-geun, 6th Corps commander.”


  “Yes, Lieutenant General Choi! What is the situation?”


  “Yes, the Russian army’s invasion began at the 250-kilometer-long unknown border. The time of the first attack was at 2 a.m. at the local time, and according to the information obtained so far, the 27th Armored Division, the 55th Motorized Infantry Division, and the 11th Armored Division belonging to the 29th Army Independent Corps were identified as the primary attack, and the secondary attack was the Far East Military District. It is a direct attack of the Red Armored Corps.

  “Lieutenant General Choi! Do you need any urgent support?”


  “We do not. First of all, let’s defend according to the strategy we had planned.”


  “Yeah, please block for 12 hours as planned. If the JCS can support in any way, please contact me right away.”


  “Yes, all right. Salute!”


  “Then, I will call you back.”


  “Salute!”


  As soon as the video communication with the 6th Corps commander was over, the operator announced a shocking report.

  “Chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff! It has been reported that a large-scale attack is currently being carried out along the border of New China. Reports are coming from all fronts.”


  “What! New China? Those f

  stards…”