Chapter 109
November 4, 2020, 10:00 (China Standard Time 09:00), 32 km southwest from Sun-Yang, S102 road, China
After leaving the suburb of Sun-Yang, the 26th Armored Battalion entered the 6-lane S102 road. After 30 minutes, the southern Great Plains could be seen. From the land, it can be seen how fierce and devastating was the armored-tank battle that took place. The seemingly endless fields had thousands of half-burned armored vehicles and tanks that now were merely a pile of scrap. Mangled bodies that were no longer recognizable were strewn across the land. Numerous buildings and homes in the villages were still burning—smoke was coming out of them despite the fact that three days had already passed.
“Sergeant First Class Oh, you’re seeing this too, right?”
Staff Sergeant Kim Young-joo, who was looking at the battlefield from the turret while holding the handle of the 8-mm laser minigun, asked through his headset.
“I can’t believe we were there. I can’t bear to look.”
Sergeant First Class Oh Young-taek, who was surveying the area through his scope monitor, frowned and answered.
“Yeah. I can still see the battlefield clear as day in my head.”
“This is just the beginning! Keep your wits about, and let’s all return home safely.”
The voice of the Company Commander came on the line.
“We will exit the road, starting from the 8th company and turn to our nine o’clock. Over!”
When the 26th Armored Battalion’s first target, Liao-Dung was getting close, the Company Commander gave the order to change to battle formations.
Clank! Clink! Clank! Vroooooo~
The tanks from the 8th Company on the lead began to move toward the frozen rice fields and got into formation.
* * *
November 4, 2020, 13:00, Yongsan-ku B2 bunker (ROK Military Joint command center), Seoul
While the 7th Mobile Corp’s forces were taking their short three-day break to recuperate, the commanders of the Joint Chief of Staff Command Center were busy at work. They were particularly busy with the final stages of transporting supplies for their forces and detailing their next steps.
Joint Chief of Staff Kang Ui-sik just finished his meal. He gathered all the chiefs of staff and the military commanders since the plan to establish a western front encampment was about to begin in full swing. Also, he wanted to check on an additional operation that could tighten their hold on China in lieu of the occupation of the three Northeastern provinces.
“When is the 9th Division able to march toward Da-Ren Province?”
Joint Chief of Staff Kang Ui-sik got straight to the point.
“The 9th Division has entered into occupation of the Zhuang-He and Wang-Fan-Den provinces before their march to Da-Ren. They are undergoing operations to eliminate the guerillas hiding in the cities. The resistance is stronger than we expected, and progress is slow.”
Operations Director Kim Yong-hyun, who was standing on the podium, answered.
“It would be great if the war went as we expected, but I guess we have no choice.”
“Yes, sir! It seems the Chinese military was also aware of the importance of the Da-Ren area and deployed more men than we expected.”
“How many?”
General Shin Sung-yong, the Chief of Army Staff asked.
“According to our intel, the 118th Infantry Division and two reserves divisions under the 40th army group are defending the Da-Ren area. Among the 65th Army Group, the infantry division that did not participate in the Sun-Yang battle had been recruited to form a line of defense in Da-Ren Province. Please take a look at the map.”
When Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun finished speaking, the screen showed an enlarged map of Da-Ren Province and information about the Chinese forces that were stationed there.
“Currently, the Chinese military has established a line of defense that is 32 km long.”
The area that the Lieutenant General pointed to with his laser pointer was the Eastern sealine that was along the way going to Da-Ren Province.
“If four divisions are defending the area that is up to 32 km, then it could be dangerous to only send in the 9th Division.”
Joint Chief of Staff Kang Ui-sik, who was looking at the Da-Ren defensive line, spoke.
“Yes, sir. That is why we revised the operation for the 9th Division to march to Da-Ren and have the navy join forces for a pincer attack.”
“A joint attack, I like it. Please continue.”
“Yes, the 10th Amphibious Fleet is docked at Incheon Port, and the 2nd Marine Division is boarding the ships. Also, to protect the 10th Amphibious Fleet, the 7th Maritime flotilla’s 7 Hocula destroyers, and 4 destroyers from the 2nd fleet are docked there as well. The 9th submarine fleet’s 91st submarines and 6 of the 92nd submarine fleet’s 214 class submarines have infiltrated the area 100 km away from Da-Ren Port and standing by.”
“When will the 10th Amphibious Fleet set sail?”
“The 9th Mechanized Infantry Division will march to Da-Ren by 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, so the 10th Amphibious Fleet will set sail at 7:00 p.m. today.”
Joint Chief of Staff Kang Ui-si turned his gaze toward Ten-Jin Province that was on the left of Da-Ren. The distance between them was about 300 km and it could be reached within 8 hours at a speed of 25 knots. Also, Ten-Jin was only 65 km away from China’s capital Beijing.
“In a way, our revised strategy could be a crucial one that can target China’s weakness.”
“That is correct, sir. If we had to march to Beijing from Sun-Yang with only our ground forces, then the distance in a line would be at least 630 km. Even if we fight our battles swiftly, it would take us at least 30 days to reach Beijing. However, if we use the sea to march to Ten-Jin, then it would only take 8 hours considering the amphibious fleet’s speeds. Thus, the Korean military will be able to have Beijing within its reach within a day instead of having to traverse a distance on land that would take more than 20 days.”
* * *
November 4, 2020, 13:30, 2nd fleet, Incheon shoreline defense command, Incheon
At the Incheon Naval Command Center Port, the 2nd Marine Division’s armored vehicles and tanks were all lined up to board the ships. Likewise, the men of the 2nd Marine Division, in full gear, were waiting in a line to board their ships.
The Korean Marines were among the top five forces in the Korean military. Their morale was high due to the achievements of the 1st Marine Division, which was deployed first into the war. However, the men of the 2nd Marine Division had anxiety on their faces.
“We are the invincible marines!”
“Ahhh!”
The Division Commander, Major General Ahn Kang-joon, called to his men via the megaphone. His men, who were waiting in line to board the ships, all answered at once.
“We are on our way to fight the Chinese. Are you afraid, men?!”
“No, sir!”
“Are you frightened?!”
“No, sir!”
“Are you thrilled?!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good! I will put my faith in you, the invincible marines. Atten-hut!”
When the Division Commander ordered his 10,000 men to sing their anthem, the men began to sing while clapping their hands.
We men of the octagonal hat, ride the black waves and march on.
We go through hellfire to protect my nation, our lands. We are the marines.
We are the Marines, we are the Great Marines!
The anthem of the marines rang out through the harbor. The commander seemed pleased by the sight and raised his arms into the sky. The marines who all showed anxiety at first started to ease their tensions and started to show their will for battle instead.
* * *
November 4, 2020, 14:00, West Sea North 38° 50′ East 122° 55′ Undersea
The 214 Class Sohn Won-il submarine (SS-072) had reached 100 km within Da-Ren Province after setting sail from Incheon Port three days ago. It was moving underwater while maintaining a 60 diving depth and speed of 10 knots. Now they had reached the deep seas, where they can no longer be detected by the underwater defense satellite Posiden 2. The submarine kept a vigilant watch over Chinese submarines that might be active in the area.
In this deep-sea area, there were six submarines present, identical to the Sohn Won-il submarine (SS-072) that had set sail for the same mission. When they all reached the area outside of Posiden 2 satellite’s radar, they severed all communications and sailed silently to accomplish their mission.
Captain Oh Yongh-hyun of the Sohn Won-il (SS-072) submarine must have been bored by the lack of activity. He softly spoke to the sonar operator.
“Are you getting anything?”
“All’s quiet for now, Captain.”
The Captain pondered on this, then gave an order.
“Let’s move in a bit more: 0-1-0 starboard, lower diving angle by 15, and maintain depth at 80, steady speed now.”
“Azimuth 0-1-0 starboard, lower diving angle by 15, depth 80, and steady speed.”
The Sohn Won-il (SS-072) submarine lowered its diving angle and dove deeply into the pitch-black floor of the Western seas.
“There must be submarines around that came from Da-Ren Province. Sonar operator, keep the SLSU sonar active only and continue scanning.”
“Yes, sir.”
* The Korean navy had equipped its self-developed M-SUSL (Ultra Super Sound Wave Light) sonar from the 17th Fighter Wing’s underground research facility to all 214 class submarines. Its scanning range was shorter than the SUSL-01MP sonars installed in the Hocula submarines, but it was able to emit active sonar waves in all directions without being detected by enemy submarines.
Beep~ beep~ beep~
After 20 minutes passed, the Sohn Won-il (SS-072) submarine had reached an 80-km distance from Da-Ren Province. It repeatedly scanned the area with its M-SUSL active sonar. After they scanned the area for 30 minutes, something came on their radar.
“Enemy submarine detected. Azimuth 3-5-0, 20 above and distance at 32,300.”
“What’s the type?”
Captain Oh Yong-hyun instinctively asked the sonar operator when he reported the enemy submarine.
“I can’t determine that yet, sir. Ah! There’s another one. Starboard 0-0-5, distance 33,900.”
“So there are two of them.”
“Yes, sir, both enemy subs are headed toward our position at 15 knots.”
“At this distance, they will not discover us. Set the first and second targets to the two enemy subs!”
“Setting targets 1 and 2.”
“Reduce the speed by half.”
“Reducing speeds.”
Captain Oh Yong-hyun, although a veteran who had boarded a submarine for eight years, often became nervous whenever he was about to engage in an actual battle. “If a Captain feels this nervous, how much more anxiety would the NCOs and new COs feel? It must be worse,” the Captain thought. This thought emboldened the Captain as he gave his next order in a calm tone.
“Inject waters for torpedo 1, 2, 3, and 4’s ram tanks! We wait here and strike them down.”
“Injecting water ram tanks from torpedo 1 to 4.”
The torpedo operator repeated the order and followed through. When the distance was close to 30 km, the sounds of the enemy submarine became clear, and the sonar operator silently spoke to the Captain after his analysis.
“We have identified the enemy sub, sir. Both are Type-039G refurbished Song class submarines.”
The North Sea fleet’s Type-039G Song class submarines were the same type that the Hocula submarine the Lee Bong-chang (SSP-081) had struck down on October 31.
“Good! What’s the distance?”
“Target 1 at 25,500, target 2 at 26,100.”
“Open equalizing doors for torpedo 1 and 2.”
“Opening equalizing doors for torpedo 1 and 2.”
“When the distance closes at 10,000, we attack both targets at once.”
Captain Oh Yong-hyun was envious of the other captains aboard the Hocula submarines at times like this. “If our submarine was equipped with the super cavitating Great White torpedo A (K745), then we would not have to nervously wait and just launch our weapons,” he thought. They waited until they were 10 km away from the enemy subs. After 20 quiet minutes passed, the Chinese submarines were 10 km away from them.
“Captain, target 1 has reached a distance of 10,000.”
“Good! Open muzzle doors of torpedo 1 and 2.”
The torpedo operator repeated the order and opened the muzzle doors of torpedo 1 and 2.
“Muzzle doors of torpedo 1 and 2 are open, sir.”
“Launch torpedo 1 and 2 at high speeds.”
The torpedo operator pressed the launch button when the Captain gave the command. Two rounds of Great White (K-744) torpedoes darted out of the launch tube by compressed air.
Boom! Boom!
The Great White (K-744) that had a range of 30 km was equipped with the latest active sonar. It began to search for the source of the enemy sonar. It marked its path with white bubbles and disappeared into the darkness.
Meanwhile, the Chinese submarines were alerted of the presence of the Sohn Won-il (SS-072) submarine because of the sudden appearance of two torpedoes. Both Chinese submarines emitted jamming signals from their launch tubes to go into hard kill.
“Both targets 1 and 2 are emitting jamming signals.”
“Is that so? They won’t go down without a fight.”
When they started to engage in battle, Captain Oh Yong-hyun’s anxiety weighed down on him. Now, it has been replaced by an adrenaline rush and a firmer resolve to fight.
“Open equalizing doors and muzzles for torpedo 3 and 4.”
“Opening equalizing doors for torpedo 3 and 4. Opening muzzles now.”
“Launch torpedo 3 and 4.”
Boom! Boom!
The number 3 and 4 Great White (K-744) torpedoes darted out of the launch tube by pressurized air and left a trail of white bubbles leading to the Chinese submarines.
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