22:30, 10th of January, 2024 (Russia time 16:30)

  Russia Moscow bunker state R-13 (Situation Room)

  The head of General Staff Vladimir Beschastnich who had gray hair on his head, who was the top Russian military chief, was looking at several screens in the situation room. As such, the war situation that took place at several locations in a few days had become unfavorable and was showing that he was having a hard time.

  Despite the additional support of military-level forces belonging to the central and western military districts on the northwest front, which is the border between South Korea and Russia, they had not been able to make any significant military achievements. Currently, the number of regular Russian troops alone reached 500,000 on the northwest front, and 700,000 if the number of irregular troops was added too. With such a great force, the Korean military, which only consisted of 150,000 soldiers, gave up on fierce battles after more than two weeks. A few days ago, after allowing the 7th Mobile corps to attack from the side, the front lines collapsed in an instant, and casualties were happening at a rapid rate.

  To judge realistically and objectively, the Northwest Front War was a defeat for the Russian army. However, as many troops were being deployed, they were holding out.

  That is why the General Staff Department needed to make a decision. The question was whether all units should retreat to the rear, reorganize the army lines, set up operations again, and continue their active ones, or should the front line be defended to the end until all units were destroyed.

  The General Staff, who decided to put these critical decisions on hold for a while and watch the situation, had other concerns closing in on them. These concerns were the Second Donetsk-Luhansk War in Ukraine, which was called the Donbas Civil War, the defending of the Crimea Peninsula, and another Korean military force moving northward in earnest to southern Russia.

  Even so, the military strength of the southern district was greatly reduced as even the two counties belonging to the southern district were forced to send support to the northwestern front. However, to leave behind Donetsk, which had already been taken, and to protect the Luhansk Bay, several units that belonged to the Western Military District were dispatched as a temporary measure, but the defense of the Crimea Peninsula and southern defense were very dangerous. However, they were worried since it was not possible to return the two troops sent to the northwest front, which is located far away by a straight line distance of 5,000 kilometers.

  A few days ago, the peace units dispatched to the Republic of Kurdistan were advancing north from the direction of Azerbaijan and Armenia using various reconnaissance forces, but they did not think much of it at first.

  Even if there were three brigades, they were at the level of one division, and if garrisons from various self-governing countries in Russia engage in defensive battles to buy time, and also at the same time plan a defense strategy by the 58th Army in the southern military district, it was because of the judgment that it could be easily destroyed before it even reached Russian territory.

  However, it was a misjudgement. These three brigades were responsible for the independence of the Republic of Kurdistan. Not to mention that they were units that won the war against Iraq as well as Iran. Iran, that provided various advanced weapons in its own country.

  In addition, arrogance played a part in the reason why the General Staff made such a misjudgement. It was analyzed that Iran’s and Iraq’s military power was worse than expected, and the state-of-the-art weapons provided by their own countries were also defeated because the Iranian military’s training and equipment management skills were so far behind that they couldn’t use these weapons properly.

  There was one more thing. The 12th Carrier Strike Group was stationed in the Persian Gulf, 100 kilometers east of Kuwait.

  The power of the 12th Carrier Strike Group was truly great, during the war of independence in Kurdistan, and with the power of one carrier strike group, it had an excellent performance putting down the Iranian and Iraqi command over the sea as well as their command over the international water, in addition to success in the ground attack missions.

  Although the 12th Carrier Strike Group was more than 1,400 kilometers away from southern Russia, the world’s first unmanned fighter CUF/A-22NP Phoenix arrived in about 10 minutes, securing air superiority and unleashing tremendous firepower on the ground.

  And because of these several misjudgements, the three brigades of the Peace Unit, which began their evacuations in earnest, moved northward with crushing power.

  Firstly, present-day Georgia, which was called Gruziya, and shares a border with Russia, was still suffering from territorial disputes with Russia at two locations. Currently, at the northern end of the Black Sea, the 35th Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Peace Corps had taken over many large and small cities, and at the end, it had reached the vicinity of Suhomi, which was considered to be a major city.

  At the second territorial dispute area, which is the northwestern part of Shida Kartli, the 11th Marine Corps Brigade (Gwangryong) was sweeping as fast as lightning and pushing the rebels and the Russian Allying Army out of the border.

  The 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, which moved north alongside the west coast of the third and last Caspian Sea, spread across Derbent, and now they were going to split the brigade’s power into two and was going to occupy the two capitals Buynaksk and Makhachkala, at the same time.

  Thanks to the great firepower support from the unmanned fighter of the 12th Carrier Strike Group, they made more progress than expected. That is why the General Staff decided to actively utilize the special forces that belong to the Southern Military District in urban warfare to slow down one of the sweeps.

  Usually, special forces infiltrating the rear of the enemy had a mission of causing a rear disturbance by assassinating the major people and destroying the important facilities, but this time, they tried to put them in allying cities and stall for as much time as possible using guerrilla tactics.

  Accordingly, the 33rd Search Brigade was deployed at Suhomi, the 100th Search Brigade and the 10th Spetsnaz Brigade were deployed at Buynaksk, and the 22nd Spetsnaz Brigade was deployed at Makhachkala, making the street battles difficult.

  Although it was a temporary measure, unlike other cities that were occupied, it seemed clear that the Peace Corps was having a hard time.

  * * *

  23:00, 10th of January, 2024 (Russia time: 17:00)

  Makhachkala city, Dagestan Oblast, Russia

  Numerous bullets and laser beams passed through the square in front of City Hall, the center of Makhachkala.

  On the southern side of the building, Korean infantry who got off their armored vehicles fired back, while on the opposite side, on the northern side, flames erupted from various fire extinguishers in several buildings, including the City Hall building.

  “Ah, these b*stards aren’t easy.”


  Corporal Kwak Young-hwan, who was leaning closely behind the half-tattered car with holes in it from various bullets, and was trying to take cover, slightly raised his head and was about to check the front using the shield glasses, but he quickly bowed his head at the pouring bullets and spat out swear words.

  The 75th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, which entered the city battle in the afternoon after fighting with one Russian Vehicle Fire Infantry Brigade on the southern plains of Makhachkala in the morning, faced fierce resistance that they have never felt before.

  The 75th Mechanized Battalion thought it would easily occupy Makhachkala when it defeated the Vehicle Fire Infantry Brigade in the morning. However, the movements of enemy infantry facing each other in a street fight were not ordinary. As if flying, their movements were quick, and their shooting skills were excellent.

  It was rare to be killed or injured by the personal weapons of Russian infantrymen, but it was true that they were slightly startled.

  However, C-23P-M Hyeonmoo mobile combat armored vehicles provided firepower support, so there was a neck-and-neck battle between them.

  “Hey! These guys are not ordinary. They’ve got military uniforms too; these guys seem like they’re special forces.”


  Sergeant Kim Seong-ho, who lift the personal firearm CS-2’s muzzle at a 30-degree angle and fired some 30-millimeter smart grenades in a row, immediately flew toward Corporal Kwak Young-hwan and whispered.

  “Ah, these are small. However, why did you come here?”


  “This jerk? I Didn’t come to protect you!”


  At this time, the platoon leader’s voice was transmitted through the platoon communication network.

  “It is the platoon leader. Inside the several buildings in front of us, a lot of snipers appeared! Everyone, be careful when you’re fighting back!

  “Damn! Even snipers? Sergeant Kim! If these are sniper guns, will our protective suits be penetrated?”


  “Try getting hit! See if it will be penetrated or not!”


  “Are you joking?”


  “No? This is no joke?”


  “Oh my!”


  Corporal Kwak Young-hwan had in his eyes a destructive look! However, Sergeant Kim Seong-ho, who was being gazed at, stuck his head out from the top of the car and checked out the front.

  As expected, bullet cases were spread all around the place.

  “Gosh! There are a lot of guys!”


  “What are you so surprised about? Bullets with such calibre won’t penetrate your helmet.”


  “Huh? Ha ha ha! Is that a way to talk? Ha ha!”


  “It’s not.”


  “Corporal Kim! Let’s catch the snipers!”


  “You’re not telling me to be bait, are you?”


  “Man! How can I tell my replacement to be bait?”


  “I’ve just checked, there are five people on the second floor of the second building that is on the left from the City Hall building. And there are eight people on the third floor and two people on the eighth floor.”


  “Woah! You spotted them this well in such a short time?”


  “Am I a sergeant for nothing? Indeed, I couldn’t even impersonate corporal Naburintang.”


  “Yeah! Yes!”


  “Anyway, run over there. I don’t care about the people downstairs, just get rid of the two on the eighth floor! You got it?”


  “Yeah? They’re dangerous.”


  “Don’t make a noise! Get ready!”


  After a while, Sergeant Kim Seong-ho took a few deep breaths and started running towards a new cover point.

  Bullets were fired at Sergeant Kim Sung-ho, who was running in zigzags as if it were showering him, and as the missed bullets hit the ground, sparks splattered.

  Sergeant Kim Sung-ho, who was running when gunfire was shot from the eighth floor, lost his balance. Soon, however, he managed to balance himself with an animal instinct and jumped again, spitting abusive words.

  “Ah, that hurts! F*ck!”


  Sergeant Kim Seong-ho felt the burning pain from his thighs and had a hunch that it was a sniper’s bullet, not a regular bullet, so he raised his middle finger toward the eighth floor and flew himself to a safe cover.

  Meanwhile, Corporal Kwak Young-hwan, who was checking out the eighth floor from behind the car, when a bright figure that looked like a sniper stuck a gun out of the crack in the window, so Corporal Kwak Young-hwan put a CS3 on the roof of the car and pulled the trigger.

  From the squad weapon CS3, an 8-millimeter laser beam was drawn like a line that was sucked into the cracks in the window of the eighth floor. In a short time, numerous red rays that flew in a row swept out a radius of 1 meter. Naturally, both the sniper and the spotter were riddled with laser rays that tore them into pieces so that their shapes could not even be recognized.

  “Oh yeah!”


  Sergeant Kim Seong-ho, who hid in a small cover diagonally from the front, gave a thumbs up and smiled brightly.

  “Hey! Corporal Kwak! The protective suit is fine even with a sniper gun. Haha!”


  “That is really incredible. But if you want to meet your wife after the war, don’t take care of yourself.”


  “Ah! Is this reminding me in case I forget? Damn!”


  “Haha, I mean think about your Sergeant Kim and take care of yourself.”


  “That’s enough! Let’s get rid of the rest of them quickly!”


  “If other squad members come, don’t kill them.”


  “We don’t have time! Let’s just finish up with the two of us! If I keep shooting stray bullets in a row and you know it, try to rain them with bullets! Why don’t we send some guys on the path to death?”


  Sergeant Kim Seong-ho took out several grenades from the grenade shack attached to his waist and loaded them into the grenade launcher.

  Sergeant Kim Seong-ho, who pushed the loading handle with his left hand, sent a signal to Corporal Kwak Young-hwan with his eyes, then took a deep breath and in a quick motion sprayed some smart grenades toward the building.

  The smart grenade, which flew up to 200 meters drawing an arc, exploded immediately after hitting the second and third floors. It wasn’t a huge explosion, but it was an explosion of enough power to turn the infantry on the inside into a beehive.

  With the explosion, thick smoke rose from all directions. Not to miss this moment, Corporal Kwak Young-hwan also pulled the trigger of the CS3 and shot them with a cool laser beam.

  In the building where a cloud of dust was rising, a ray of red light pierced straight forward through most of the walls, so that the inside of the building was crushed onto itself.

  Corporal Kwak Young-hwan, who had used one battery pack in the blink of an eye, took a breath and in a quick motion replaced it with a new battery pack. And then he got into shooting position again. Meanwhile, sergeant Kim Seong-ho was also firing smart grenades at the enemy troops, which was checked out through the shield glasses by sergeant Kim Seong-ho to see if they had reloaded the smart grenades again or not.

  At some point, the two soldiers, who mobilized all the available firepower for several minutes, stopped shooting. Then the thick dust and black smoke slowly subsided.

  “Oh! This seems clear. Haha!”


  Corporal Kwak Young-hwan, who looked all over the building through the shield glass, said with a big smile. And accordingly, Sergeant Kim Seong-ho put the personal weapon CS2 on his shoulder and grabbed the weapon with a grumpy look as if it was natural.

  “This is just the power of a sergeant in the Korean Army!”


  “Oh~ yeah!”


  And for a brief moment, sergeant Kim Seong-ho, who overpowered squad-level troops, and corporal Kwak Young-hwan could no longer detect any more brightly colored figures in the building that has been hideously changed.