At Chairman Shin Sung-yong’s remark, Director Kang Ki-won spoke, his tone showing his firm will. “The National Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will try to take aggressive action on that part.”


  “Yes, I would appreciate it if you could do that.” Chairman Shin Sung-yong nodded toward Director Kang in thanks. He then turned his head toward the staff, continuing to speak.

  “Anyway, as Lieutenant General Lee has said, the NATO case doesn’t seem to be a big concern if our military can prepare well in advance. But for that, I think it is necessary to advance the dispatch date for the 3rd Marine Mobile Division. How is the preparation for the dispatch going?”


  At the Chairman’s question, Lieutenant General Lim Kyung-soo politely answered, “Currently, the 3rd Marine Mobile Division, up to the front line troops, has completed their dispatch preparation. War supplies are scheduled to be loaded into the prepared transport aircraft starting tomorrow afternoon.”


  “You said the decided dispatch date is on the 14th, at 11 p.m.?”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “Mm, who’s in charge of the 3rd Marine Mobile Division transport operation?”


  “It’s Major General Min Jun-seok, the Litigation Officer of the Air Force Transportation Command,” answered the Deputy Chief of the Air Force, Lieutenant General Min Hyung-guk.

  “Is it possible to connect to him now?”


  “Yes, it’s possible. Please wait for just a moment.”


  Soon after, Major General Min Jun-seok, the Litigation Officer at the Air Force Transportation Command, appeared on the screen.

  “Salute! This is Min Jun-seok, the Air Force Transportation Officer.”


  “Thank you for your work. I have a rather difficult request to ask of you, Major General Min…”


  “Yes, sir. Please go ahead.”


  “I’m trying to expedite the dispatch of the 3rd Marine Mobile Division to tomorrow night. Will it be possible?”


  Major General Min Jun-seok’s expression wavered slightly.

  “Tomorrow is difficult. And along with the existing transportation schedule…” Major General Min hung his head slightly as if he was apologetic.

  The Air Force Transport Command, which was in charge of transporting various war supplies, was as busy as it could be in the current situation with battles occurring in various places. Major General Min Jun-seok, in charge of managing the transportation schedule, was especially busy.

  In the past, the transportation of war materials for the Korean Peninsula could be covered via land transportation. But now that the Republic of Korea had expanded to ten times the territory of the Korean Peninsula, it meant that the transport distance from the front line, where the current fighting was taking place, was much larger than before.

  If you were to take a look at the history of every war, the ability to quickly supply necessary war materials to the front line was a crucial factor in deciding victory or defeat. Moreover, in modern warfare, transporting war materials has become even more important. Along with the diversity of weapons used, the amount of ammunition consumed per day due to the more advanced technology of the weapons was unimaginable. To quickly re-supply such rapid consumption of ammunitions, fast air transport was an absolute necessity over slow land transport.

  As a result, the Air Force Transport Command had to, throughout all hours of the day, mobilize all transport aircraft to transport war materials to each combat unit. There was absolutely no time to spare, even for just a moment. Under these circumstances, the dispatch of the 3rd Marine Mobile Division, which required as many as 150 large-scale military transport aircraft, was a dispatch that Major General Min, as well as all the staff of the Transport Command, had worked so hard together to plan into their packed schedule. In addition to this, the aircraft had to be prepared at least 24 hours ahead of time in order to transport around 700 tanks, armored cars, and more.

  “Mm, is that so? It seems that I asked for too much.”


  “That’s not so, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff! But it might not be entirely impossible.”


  The Chairman’s eyes lit up slightly just after he had been discouraged. “Is that so? Are there any other options?”


  “Please wait for a moment.”


  Major General Min Jun-seok talked for a moment with a staff beyond the screen, then looked at his tablet, and continued speaking to the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Well, if the schedule is adjusted except for the most urgent transport aircraft, around 50 percent of the 3rd Marine Mobile Division can be transported tomorrow night.”


  At the favorable response, Chairman Shin Sung-yong looked around at the Marine Corps commander as well as the other generals that were involved. They nodded as one, showing that this was good to go on their ends as well.

  “Great! Then, coordinate with the commander of the 3rd Marine Mobile Division and start preparing right away.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “If the dispatch of the 3rd Marine Mobile Division is faster by two days than the original plan, it looks like the results of the Ukraine civil war and the attack operation in south Russia will be accelerated.”


  Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Youn Gi-youn looked satisfied as well.

  “Head of Operations, as soon as the meeting is over, contact the commander of the Peace Corps and explain the current situation.”


  “Yes, sir. I will relay the news to them.”


  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff relaxed slightly and moved on to the next topic of the meeting. “Now! Since it looks like the NATO forces case has mostly been handled, let’s move on to the last case regarding New China!”


  “Yes, sir. The New China Army is currently engaging in battle with us while using its own people as human shields on all fronts. Due to this, the progress of the invasion is slower than expected, as our forces are fatigued and are unable to aggressively attack the New China Army. The damage to our troops is considerable.” As Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon, the Head of the Operations Division, started explaining, a digital map of all the fronts, where the current fighting was taking place, was projected on the big screen. Various tactical notations showed the current situation in detail.

  Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn slammed the long table with all his strength. At this, all eyes turned to Vice Chairman Youn. Regardless of everyone looking at him, Vice Chairman Youn began to curse and swear. “Won’t these b*stards do worse than that? Shouldn’t you, as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, officially give orders to disregard whatever gets in the way of war—civilians or not—and fight?”


  Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn didn’t hesitate to blurt out slightly dangerous remarks. He raised his voice even higher and continued to yell. “How much longer must we go to war thinking about this and that? We’re soldiers who should be killing the enemy. Human rights and whatnot—those are things we should be thinking about after our victory.”


  Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn’s voice roared throughout the operation meeting room. At this, the voices of the few who agreed with Vice Chairman Youn also spoke out. Most of them were generals whose backgrounds were from the Northern Zhou.

  As the atmosphere in the operation meeting room suddenly got heated, another Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Captain Kim Yong-hyun, spoke out cautiously. “It seems you’re a bit too excited, Captain Youn. Please refrain from being too excited. I’m sure that everyone here is feeling the same way as you. However, isn’t it also part of our duty, as soldiers, to care about things that may become a major problem in the international society after the war comes to an end?”


  “But what are we going to do if the damage to our troops becomes greater while caring about that kind of stuff? Are you saying there’s more to think about even after we’ve bombed the large cities with strategic-class weapons? Are you still saying this after looking at the report we received from each unit last night? For example, just look at the 6th division. They were the only division out of all the units on all fronts that went into battle without approval from higher-ups to attack despite the enemy using civilians as human shields. They came out victorious in the end but suffered great damage. How would the other units be faring if the 6th division ended up like this? They’re all having to retreat or suffer great damage. In such situations, the commanders need to make bold decisions. If not, we won’t be able to get results.” Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn’s statement didn’t have a single wrong word in it.

  “Ha…yes,” Vice Chairman Kim Yong-hyun was about to rebut after taking a deep breath but paused when he saw Chairman Shin Sung-yong gesturing him to stop.

  “Yes, I fully agree with what Captain Youn has said, but Captain Kim is not wrong. I believe that both of your opinions are sincere opinions for the sake of the Republic of Korea. But anyway, as General Youn has said, I will have to come up with some kind of decision as the highest commander in the military.”


  Chairman Shin Sung-yong slowly looked around at the commanders of each army who were seated on either side of him, and those that were on the video screen. He continued in a slightly rigid tone, seeming as if he had made a decision. “It was expected that the subordinate units of the New China Army would use this kind of tactic. This is why, during the ‘flattening operation,’ the President of New China and his general staff were kept alive, despite the requests of several commanders, including Captain Youn.”


  “What does that mean?”


  At Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn’s question, the head of operations interjected cautiously. “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff! May I explain this part?”


  “Go ahead, Lieutenant General Yang.”


  “Yes, as the Chairman said, during the ‘flattening operation,’ we were more than capable of eliminating the President of New China and his general staff. The reason why we kept them alive, despite the requests of several commanders, is as such. We predicted that, even if the leadership of the New China Army was removed, the commanders of subordinate units will choose to fight over surrendering in order to live and use civilians as a defense tactic as well. This is why we’ve kept them alive.”


  “So what does that have to do with the reason you kept him alive?”


  “Haha, let me explain the rest.”


  Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon smiled slightly at the impatient questions of Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn, and continued with his explanation. “If all the subordinate units of the New China Army continue to use defensive tactics of using civilians as human shields—against the intentions of the leadership—the people’s anger will be directed toward President Wang Jing-wi and his general staff. What if President Wang Jing-wi and his general staff, where all the anger is directed, were to be suddenly removed by our strategic-class weapons and disappear? That anger will be directed towards our troops and our government, and the pressure from the international society will also worsen.”


  “Mm, I see the bigger picture now. You’re saying that you’re going to keep the thing that they’re angry at alive so that they can self-destruct?”


  “Yes, that’s right. President Wang Jing-wi and the General Staff, who have lost the people’s trust, will collapse on their own due to internal factors. It is clear that the general staff will abolish such defensive tactics of using civilians as a human shield for all subordinate units to quell the anger of the people. From then, we, on all fronts, can enter into the second full offensive operation against New China.”


  “Haha, I see that we’re keeping President Wang Jing-wi and his general staff alive so that they’ll have no other option.”


  “Yes, that is correct, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff!”


  “Hahaha, it’s an excellent tactic. Why didn’t you explain that to me then? You don’t know how much I’ve cursed at you.”


  “I apologize for the lack of explanation back then.”


  “No. It’s a really cool tactic. Hahaha.”


  Like Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn’s laughter, the tension in the operation meeting room eased.

  “Now! It seems that things have been sorted out to some extent in regards to New China. Commander of the 1st Field Army responsible for the war with the New China Army, go ahead and authorize all front-line units to stay in their current locations and allow intermittent engagements. Once we’re done observing the situation afterward, we’ll start the second full offensive operation.”


  “Yes, sir,” answered 1st Field Commander Lee Min-ho on the screen.

  On that day, the operation meeting room of the Joint Chiefs of Staff held a meeting with three main topics on the agenda. After the three topics had been discussed, the meeting ended only after receiving a briefing on the battlefield situation from the commanders of every location of battle, including the Peace Corps.

  January 10, 2024, 15:00 (Russian time: 09:00)

  35 kilometers south of Mahachikala, Dagestan Oblast, Russia

  The 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which had arrived near the border of Dagestan’s eastern coast on the 6th, took two days to rest and perform maintenance so that it could match its invasion speed with the 35th Mechanized Infantry Brigade and the 11th Marine Mobility Brigade. At midnight on the 8th, it began its operation to occupy the state of Dagestan, located in the south of Russia. The so-called ‘Smashing Operation’ had begun.

  The 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade that had started its invasion across the border easily broke through the defenses of the Autonomous Republic of Dagestan. It moved to the north on the M29 road, and in the afternoon of that day, occupied the first eastern coastal city near the Caspian Sea, Derbent. The next day, on the 9th, it moved further north on the M29 road and occupied small and large villages along the way. It was a very fast, rapid, and unstoppable invasion. It seemed that the experience of fighting in real-life battles for several months for the independence of the Kurdistan Republic was evident in this invasion.

  And on the 10th, today, was an important day—it was to invade both Makhachkala, the second eastern coastal city near the Caspian Sea, and Buynaksk, the capital of both the Autonomous Republic of Dagestan and the Dagestan province. The commanders of the 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade decided to send the 75th Mechanized Infantry Battalion to the occupation operation of Makhachkala, and send the 76th and 79th Mechanized Infantry Battalion to the occupation operation of Buynaksk. The 75th Mechanized Infantry Battalion was to be supported by the brigade’s direct control units.

  The 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which had camped a little behind the mountain range, got ready to move at 9:00 a.m. The engine sounds of tanks and armored cars simultaneously roared to life. Soon after, the brigade commander gave the order to move. The 75th Mechanized Infantry Battalion started moving first, and soon, a long line of around 200 vehicles moved forward on the M29 road……