Chapter 301
February 26, 2021, 14:00
Central Tokyo, Honshu, Japan
The day before, four Armored Assault Brigades had descended from the sky and deployed throughout downtown Tokyo. So, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, who had been standing by and building camps everywhere to defend Tokyo, fell into great confusion.
The 20th Armored Division (Decisive War), 9th Mechanized Infantry Division (White Horse), and the Capital armored division (Fierce Tiger) quickly infiltrated Tokyo from three directions and activated the Tokyo occupation operation. They succeeded in breaking through the spiderweb-like Tokyo metropolitan area and entered Tokyo’s 23 special wards by about 4 a.m.
Tokyo’s 23 special wards were the size of Seoul. 300,000 troops from both countries collided there. Even more fierce street fighting took place. From dawn to the present, various cannons and bullets had been fired continuously all over the city.
Boom! Pow! Vroom! Vroom! Bang! Bang! Boom!
Amidst various gunshots and gunfire, the smell of gunpowder and blood filled up the air. The cars that the owner had abandoned were just sitting on the street. These cars were crushed flat as tanks passed on.
Also, most of the commercial buildings around the big roads were largely destroyed by the explosion caused by the shelling. They eventually collapsed. Even though some buildings did not collapse, all their windows were broken. Fragments of glass were scattered on the street. Large fires broke out in some buildings, emitting black smoke. The fire gradually spread to the surrounding buildings.
Civilian victims appeared one after another in downtown Tokyo. Although it was the middle of battle, ambulances and fire engines were running through the road with blaring sirens to rescue the casualties.
Anti-tank mines had been buried in the roads by the Ground Self-Defense Forces to prevent the advance of tanks and armored vehicles of the Corean army. However, this caused unexpected incidents. An ambulance that had been dispatched to evacuate patients triggered an anti-tank mine and exploded. Also, an ambulance from the university hospital that had been carrying a burn victim suddenly flew into the air and shattered while on the move.
In the middle of Tokyo which was becoming like hell, the three expeditionary divisions were competing with each other secretly. It was a race to hang the Taegeukgi (Corean flag) and the divisional flag in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.
The battalion commanders of each division’s subordinate units had ordered their subordinates to launch an offensive attack for their respective division’s honor and success. An invisible, excessive competition broke out. Even though the Commander in Chief had ordered to minimize civilian damage during the battle, some ignored it and pushed forward strongly.
As a result, the damage in downtown Tokyo snowballed. The roads were full of tanks, armored vehicles, and armed soldiers. In the meantime, countless ambulances blared their sirens and sped in the middle of Tokyo.
Brigadier General Lee Hun-sang, commander of the Japanese expeditionary force and commander of the Marine Corps, was also informed of this fact. But he ignored it and treated the matter lightly. The worried staff suggested that it could be a problem in the future. He ignored them, too.
***
February 26, 2021, 14:00
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Honshu, Japan (Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building)
The central park was behind the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building. The Heavy Infantry of the 1st Assault Battalion belonging to the 2nd Armored Assault Brigade, a unit directly under the control of the 2nd Corean Operations Command, appeared in the forest. They began a fierce battle against the 1st regiment of the 6th Motorized Infantry Division belonging to the North Eastern Army which defended the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building.
The 1st Assault Battalion that had entered service for the first time at Weihai had made a significant contribution in the last Sino-Corean War. Here in Tokyo, they were again engaged in an operation that would leave a long impression in history.
The night before, they had infiltrated Tokyo. Since then, they had engaged in guerrilla tactics in various places, attacking Tokyo’s defense units. After that, they had taken a break, hiding. Later, they received the order to harass the rear until the Corean armored unit arrived. So, they began the sudden strike again.
It had been a long time since all of the representative buildings in Tokyo had been destroyed by bombs and missiles. Including Fukiage Omiya Palace, the official residence of the Japanese royal family, the Prime Minister’s residence, the Imperial Household Agency, and the Japanese Cabinet Office building had all been destroyed.
Only the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building had survived those attacks. The outer wall had been broken a bit, but the H-shape building still existed. To defend the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building, which was the only remaining symbolic building of the Japanese government in Tokyo, the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces exerted all their effort.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tank was equipped with the 105mm main gun. It was a 26-ton class and an intermediate form that was a cross between armored vehicles and tanks. The Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks of the 6th Motorized Infantry Division belonging to the North Eastern Army operated an emergency maneuver. A total of 64 Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks were in a search-and-destroy mission. They fired from their 105mm guns and hit the Corean Assault Battalion in Central Park.
In the rear, the self-defense foot soldiers got off from the Type 96 Armored Personnel Carriers, hid, and waited for the order to attack to be issued. These were the 1st Vehicle Infantry Regiment, subordinate to the 6th Vehicle Infantry Division.
Boom! Bang!
The shells from the 105mm main guns struck and broke the trees. The red bricks on the floor also shattered and flew in all directions.
If they were a normal infantry, they would not have survived this concentrated fire. However, the Heavy Armor Infantry of the Armored Assault Brigade were wearing heavy armor suits. They endured the attacks while covering behind the trees and park structures as much as possible. And after a while, the commander of the battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Kim Youn-joon gave an order.
– This is the battalion commander. The 1st Company will capture the enemy light tank. Attack them with the air. The 2nd and 3rd Companies, aim at this point and launch a frontal attack. The Heavy Weapons Company, support using 30mm smart bullets during the air maneuvers.
– This is the 1st Company. Copy that!
– This is the 2nd Company. Copy that!
– This is the 3rd Company. Copy that!
– This is the Heavy Weapons Company. Copy that!
Shortly, over 100 people popped up from all over the wrecked Central Park, and numerous beams of light flew toward the tanks.
The 8mm laser Vulcan beams broke the upper turrets of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks and made them impossible to shoot. A few tanks exploded. They were the light tanks, but they were still tanks. However, their armors absurdly were penetrated by Vulcan beams.
Also, the Heavy Weapons Company shot more than 300 rounds of 30mm smart bullets. The bullets flew in an arc and struck the location of the Chi-Ha medium tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers.
Boom! Booom! Bam! Wham!
A 30mm smart bullet had the same explosive power as a normal 155mm high-explosive bomb. Those smart bullets struck a fatal blow to the Chi-Ha medium tanks which already looked like bee-hives from the Vulcan beams. Those tanks became burning scrap metal with dark red flame.
The Self-Defense Forces infantry, who were in cover, were intimidated when they saw the tanks exploded in front of them. Even though they received the order to attack, they could not even conceive the idea to attack, but just tried to hide better.
The 1st Vehicle Infantry Regiment was helplessly beaten by the rapid and accurate attack of the Corean forces. While they were still recovering from the attack, the 2nd and 3rd Armored Assault Brigades began the second counterattack. The six-row Vulcan beams spread 360 degrees. They totally triumphed over the siege build by the 1st Vehicle Infantry Regiment and entered the annihilation operation.
Colonel Nakashima Hojio, the regimental commander, had been watching the situation onboard a commanded armored vehicle from the rear. He quickly picked up a receiver and requested reinforcement from the headquarters of the 6th Motorized Infantry Division.
The first reinforcement to arrive was the assault regiment of the 12th Air Mobile Assault Brigade that departed from the Yokota Base. They arrived in ten minutes.
Four of the 13 AH-64D Apache Longbows that were first introduced by the U.S. appeared in the east, escorting the UH-60J assault helicopter. The AH-64D Apache Longbow was nearly 180 million dollars per unit. It was an enormous price.
Chuff, chuff, chuff, chuff.
It was a huge mistake for them to send an assault regiment that was equivalent to a normal infantry soldier class to fight against the 1st Assault Battalion, which possessed enormous firepower that even destroyed the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks.
Colonel Nakashima Hojio who had been in hurry did not give detailed information about the enemy. He just had hurriedly requested reinforcements. So, Joint Command Office just sent the available troops as soon as possible.
The UH-60J assault helicopter arrived near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building and hovered 10m above the air. The assault infantry came down to the ground using helicopter rappels. The AH-64D Apache Longbows, which were in charge of the escort mission, flew to Central Park. They first aimed at the heavy infantries flying in the sky and fired at the speed of 650 rounds per minute from a 30mm M230 chain gun mounted under the front of the aircraft.
Bratatat! Bratatat!
As a response, the Heavy Armor Infantry that had been shooting the laser Vulcan beams from the air, scattered at high-speed using their own propellants. Two Apache Longbow helicopters flying from the rear fired 70mm Hydra rockets in succession from four launchers mounted on both wings. The Hydra rockets, which blew off flames with a blast of fire and a white trail of smoke, struck heavy infantry moving on the ground.
The 70mm Hydra rockets were fired from two Apache Longbows continuously. They turned the ground into a field of hazy smoke with red flashes. Occasionally, some heavy armored infantrymen lost their balance in the power of the explosions and fell. However, they recovered quickly and got up right away, using the propellants on their backs. They rapidly moved and escaped from the fire net of the Hydra rockets.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Boom! Boom!
Smokescreens surrounded the Central Park due to the burning trees. At that point, two streams of white smoke soared. They were the anti-aircraft missiles. Two AH-64D Apache Longbows were struck and blew up in the air because the anti-aircraft missiles flew so quickly that they did not even have a chance to spray chaff or flare. As a result, fragments of the Apache Longbow helicopters shattered in the air and rained down to the ground.
The remaining two AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, which had shot Hydra rockets toward the ground, rose rapidly, spraying chaffs and flares. They launched several Hydra rockets into the area where the anti-aircraft missiles were previously launched while preparing for further attacks.
Metal fragments of the Hydra rocket and large and small rocks struck a member of the Heavy Weapon Company who had just intercepted the Apache Longbows.
Cling! Clang!
Large and small fragments, like pieces of metal, hit his heavy armor suit and bounced off. The soldiers staggered due to the explosion, but they soon grabbed a posture and escaped the fire of the Hydra rockets quickly.
In the midst of the fierce battle to take the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building, the 1st Armored Division’s 32nd Armored Tank Regiment, which was guarding the west end of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building, was coming urgently to support.
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