January 23rd, 2024, 07:10

  At sea (battle command center of the Taejong the Great (DDG-996]), 105 kilometers from the east end of Katsuura, Chiba prefecture, Japan

  “It’s been reported that all of the crew of the Wang Geon have abandoned ship,” Operations Commander Hong Seung-tae relayed the report that had come in from the 2nd Carrier Strike Group.

  The Wang Geon had been hit by an anti-warship missile and was rendered immobile 20 minutes ago. Fortunately, it hadn’t been damaged enough to sink,

  so the crew had gone into an ‘abandon ship’ process after retreating to the back.

  “Have the casualties been counted?” asked Admiral Kim Lee-won with a slightly red face. His gaze was fixed on the screen, which displayed various strategic symbols and lines that were drawn like spider webs.

  “The missile got stuck on the side of the ship, so the damage done to the men on deck was quite great. One is dead, three are seriously injured, and five have minor injuries. They’re done recovering the body.”


  “Mm. One dead… huh…” Admiral Kim Lee-won sighed deeply and didn’t say a word.

  Complex thoughts put his mind in chaos. Before the fight started with the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Kim Lee-won had been full of confidence. It was because he had two Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class cruisers, which were the most powerful in the world, as well as the 7th Task Flotilla.

  However, an hour and a half later, the situation was quite different from the tactical situation Admiral Kim Lee-won had imagined.

  Something was off. Even if it wasn’t overwhelming domination over the Pacific Fleet, he had thought that they were fully capable of facing off against the air power of the Pacific Fleet. However, even if he was only considering the dogfights, they weren’t at an absolute advantage, even though the Zhujak and the Black Zhujak fighter jets had come as reinforcements. Even though, according to the simulation they had run beforehand with just the Phoenix fighter jets, they had predicted a result of a win, at a 5:1 ratio.

  The naval warfare should also have been over by now. The SECM (Radio Disruption System) from the two Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class cruisers that were on either side, defending the air, was strong enough to cover the entire combined fleet, but the destroyers of the Pacific Fleet were shooting anti-warship missiles after detecting and aiming accurately with radar.

  In other words, stealth, SECM (Radio Disruption System), and other functions were rendered useless against the Pacific Fleet’s radar.

  “Admiral! Admiral!”


  Suddenly, Admiral Kim Lee-won snapped back to reality from his deep thoughts as a voice called for him.

  “Wh, what is it?”


  “Three frigates have been shot—the Daegu, the Seoul, and the Busan.”


  “How bad is the damage?”


  “The Daegu has been completely destroyed, and the Seoul and the Busan are partially destroyed.”


  “Call for a video.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  The split-screen showed the three frigates. The Daegu (FF-818) had its bridge completely blown off and was leaning far to the left, surrounded by flames. The Seoul and the Busan were covered in dancing flames on the side, but they weren’t in a state to sink.

  Admiral Kim Lee-won hit the armrest of his chair hard and leaped up.

  “Order the crew of the Daegu to abandon ship, and order the Seoul and the Busan to retreat to the back immediately.”


  “Yes, sir. And Admiral!”


  “What is it?”


  “The anti-warship missiles on the ships are running out.”


  The meaning of this statement was a suggestion to retreat from the fight momentarily so that they could reload the anti-warship missiles. Because the naval warfare had been going on for one and a half hours, the anti-warship missiles that had been loaded on the VLS (vertical launching system) were close to being used up completely. Some frigates and destroyers had already used up all the loaded anti-warship missiles and were only defending against air attacks.

  At this, Admiral Kim Lee-won turned his gaze toward the upper part of the large screen.

  The upper part of the screen had all of the combined fleet’s warships’ missile quantities, sorted into types, recorded in detail. Most of them only had anti-aircraft missiles left, and there were only eight ships with a small number of anti-warship missiles left, except for the two Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class Hocula cruisers. It was an amount that they could easily use up in just a few minutes, depending on the situation.

  The air defense capability of the Pacific Fleet was more powerful than expected, a widely different scenario from the naval warfare three years ago. This was what Admiral Kim Lee-won was continually questioning, as well.

  “Admiral! Should we prepare to retreat?”


  “We can’t just retreat recklessly, can we?” Admiral Kim Lee-won thought for a moment about Operations Commander Hong Seung-tae’s repeated requests. He soon gave an order, as if he was determined, his arms crossed.

  “Operations Commander! Call for the captains of the Son Byong-hi and the Cha Yi-suk.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  After just a few moments, both captains appeared on the screen that was used to display the Dae Jo-yeong (DDH-977). “Salute! This is Seo Gil-soo, the captain of the Son Byong-hi.”


  “Salute! This is Ahn Won-suk, the captain of the Cha Yi-suk.”


  “Thank you for your hard work. Our fleet will now retreat 50 kilometers. I’d like to ask your ships to urgently advance toward the enemy fleet and to attack them when you’re in range using the Squitte cannons. If the enemy fleet notices our intentions and retreats, advance to just outside of the anti-warship missile range and return.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “Yes, I will do as you ordered.”


  This was an order for only two ships to drive forward toward the Pacific Fleet, but both captains immediately replied without objecting. This meant that they both had a firm belief in the anti-aircraft defense of the ships they were captains of. Part of the belief was because both ships had the magnetic field barrier, the SSS (Shield Cover System). Even if they were hit with an attack so big that it was over the anti-aircraft defenses of their ships, they were able to utilize SSS to neutralize a large attack once or twice.

  What Admiral Kim Lee-won ordered for the retreat was excellent. If they retreated recklessly, they would be under the threat of indiscriminate attacks from the Pacific Fleet, which could put other additional destroyers in danger of being shot again. But Admiral Kim Lee-won judged that, if the two cruisers, both with attack and defense capabilities that were the most powerful in the world, were to dash toward the Pacific Fleet, the Pacific Fleet would see the intention of the advancement and retreat as well, unless the commander of the Pacific Fleet was dumb.

  The reason for this judgment was that, in the previous fight, the eight Zumwalt-class destroyers had been obliterated by the Extended Squitte C-22 cannon of the Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class cruiser.

  The plasma cohesive bombs that would rain out from the Squitte cannon were smaller than the anti-warship missiles and flew at a speed of Mach 10. The chance that they would be intercepted was very low.

  In addition to this, if the Pacific Fleet didn’t retreat and continued to attack, contrary to the prediction of Admiral Kim Lee-won, then there could be another destroyer shot down on the side of the Pacific Fleet as well.

  Currently, the combined fleet’s number of destroyers is less than that of the Pacific Fleet. However, because of about 300 fighter jets firing anti-warship missiles, the quantity of anti-warship missiles left on the side of the Pacific Fleet was less than the combined fleet’s quantity of missiles.

  If they refused to retreat and continued to attack, they would allow the Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class cruisers to get close enough to use the Squitte guns. If that ever happened, the damage to the Pacific Fleet would be great. The result of either choice, regardless of what the commander of the Pacific Fleet decided on, would be beneficial to the combined fleet.

  Soon after, the two Hocula cruisers that had gotten orders from Admiral Kim Lee-won to advance toward the Pacific Fleet at maximum speed broke out of the formation, splitting blue waves as if they were sprinting.

  The Hocula cruisers were enormous, their length reaching 235.5 meters, but they were able to move at the speed of 70 knots on the sea with the power of the four plasma photon Mod-D-class engines that were equipped on the ships. If that speed was to be calculated in km/h, it would be a speed of 129.64 km/h. This was a speed many times faster than high-speed boats equipped with jet water turbines.

  The current distance from the Pacific Fleet is 280 kilometers. If they were to get 100 kilometers further, they would be out of the range of the anti-warship missiles they had.

  “Check on the status of the abandoned ship for the crew of the Daegu. Order the Seoul and the Busan to decide if they need to abandon ship as well.”


  “Yes, sir. I’ll relay your order.”


  Soon after, Operations Commander Hong Seung-tae, who had relayed orders through the communications officer, returned. “Admiral! The Daegu is continuing to abandon ship, and the Seoul and the Busan say that they’re still able to sail.”


  “Is that so? Then the only thing we need to do is abandon ship on the Daegu quickly.”


  “Yes, sir. I’ve ordered them to hurry.”


  10 minutes later, when the two Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class cruisers had sailed about 20 kilometers ahead of the fleet formation, Kim Lee-won ordered all fleets to retreat.

  *

  *

  *

  January 23rd, 2024, 07:30 (Local time: 08:30)

  At sea (combat command center of the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78]), 385 kilometers from the east end of Katsuura, Chiba prefecture, Japan

  The Pacific Fleet had received information from the report of the Atlas reconnaissance satellite that the Son Byong-hi (CG-1103) and the Cha Yi-suk (CG-1104) had broken away from their original places in the formation and were advancing toward them quickly. In this situation, where they had lost 17 different destroyers, this information was very worrying.

  The main worry was about the intentions of the two cruisers that were advancing at a high speed.

  “Admiral! Why don’t we take this chance to get rid of those two cruisers?” proposed Operations Officer, Jimmy Lopez. It seemed that he thought this was a good chance to get rid of the most powerful cruisers of the Republic of Korea Navy.

  “Do you f*cking think they’re idiots?”


  “Sir? What do you mean?”


  “They have some other intention.”


  “If there’s another intention…”


  “Haha. As the Operations Officer of the Pacific Fleet, you’re asking me about that…” Admiral Rubin Scott clicked his tongue, looking at the operations officer as if he was a bit pathetic.

  “Ah! I apologize, Admiral!”


  “Do you think that we’d be able to sink those cruisers when we only have 20 ships left and with all of the aircraft engaged in dogfights with Korean fighter

  jets?”


  “Even so, if it’s just those two ships…”


  “You’re forgetting that.”


  “What do you mean?”


  “The barrier!”


  “Ah!” Operations Officer Jimmy Lopez exclaimed, slapping his forehead.

  The U.S. had been collecting and analyzing information about all of the weapons that Korea had. They, of course, had general information about the Chungmugong Lee Sun-shin-class cruisers, as well.

  “I apologize. That never crossed my mind.”


  “That’s not all. What were the eight Zumwalt-class destroyers obliterated by?”


  “C-cannons.”


  “Yes. Cannons! The cannons are much more powerful than our 256MJ-class rail guns. Don’t those cruisers look like they’re advancing quickly toward us so that they could put us inside the range of the cannon?”


  Admiral Rubin Scott had seen through to the intent behind the fast advancement of the cruisers.

  “That could be so. Then, what will you be…”


  Just then, a report came in from the Situations Officer.

  “Enemy fleet retreating! The enemy fleet is retreating.”


  “That was it.”


  Admiral Rubin Scott got up from his seat, walked toward the screen, and peered at the combined fleet’s warships.

  “They’ve advanced the two cruisers with powerful defenses to have the main fleet retreat. As a message to us to retreat as well. We’ll do as they want! But we won’t let them go just like that!” Admiral Rubin Scott muttered. He came back to his seat, and after sitting down, gave orders.

  “Operations Officer Lopez!”


  “Yes, Admiral!”


  “We’ll be retreating as well. Relay this to the fleet commander and the flotilla commander, and order each fighter wing commander of each carrier to return as well, depending on the situation.”


  “Yes, sir.”


  “And prepare a security specialist!”


  “Yes, sir.”


  The Pacific Fleet went into retreat following Admiral Rubin Scott’s orders. The naval warfare that both countries had engaged in for almost two hours came to an end.

  The 1st naval warfare could be seen as a victory for the combined fleet of the Republic of Korea Navy, seen from the damage on both sides. However, the naval warfare hadn’t quite ended.

  Deep under the surface of the sea, so deep that sunlight couldn’t reach, three Columbia-class nuclear submarines had never shown themselves until now, crawling along the floor of the sea. Above them, the combined fleet’s destroyers and multipurpose amphibious assault ships were turning wide to

  retreat……