Chapter 347
November 1st, 2023, 20:40 (Kurdistan Standard Time 14:40)
Iran, West Azerbaijan, Maku (the 3rd mechanized infantry company)
The armored vehicles of the 1st reconnaissance platoon started to fire their 50mm photon rounds against the Iranian infantry’s pick-up trucks.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
The red photon particles, which boasted a high rate of fire, started to land on the pick-up trucks. They exploded and were torn to shreds beyond recognition, and the infantrymen nearby all got swept up in the blast as well.
While small and large explosions continued to litter the area along with dust clouds, the pickup trucks at the rear of the Iranian military’s formation started to fire their railguns.
Cling! Cling! Cling!
The metal rounds that were fired by the two electric barrels flew at 3km/s and started to swarm the 1st reconnaissance platoon’s armored vehicles. However, the rounds being fired by a pickup truck that did not have Semi-Active In-arm Suspension Units like tanks and armored vehicles could not stabilize and ended up missing all of the armored vehicles making evasive maneuvers.
Each time the metal round flew through the air, the crew aboard the armored vehicle had a chill down their spines. The noise sounded like a screaming banshee cutting through the air.
-Company! Support the 1st platoon’s armored vehicles.
The unexpected emergence of railguns made the other armored vehicles guarding the damaged ones at the rear join the battle.
While the Corean armored vehicles focused on taking out the dangerous Iranian pickup trucks, the infantry started their assault as well. The infantry using the buildings and trees for cover started shooting with their personal firearms.
Babababababang! Bang bang!
Numerous rounds of 7.62mm rounds from the Iranian infantry’s AK-47s started to engulf the armored vehicles. However, the Hyun-mu armored vehicle’s armored plating deflected all of them.
“God, there’s so many of them!” Sergeant First Class Go Gi-jun, the vehicle commander of the 312 vehicle, shouted while setting the pickup trucks as targets.
“I will take them all down, sir.”
Sergeant Nam Gang-il, who would usually be anxious during battle, seemed to have gotten used to it and mercilessly fired the photon cannon as soon as the automatic targeting system lined up with his crosshairs.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
The 50mm photon rounds being fired by the 312 armored vehicle hit all of its targets despite making sharp turns from making evasive maneuvers and turned the Iranian pickup trucks to scrap.
Meanwhile, the infantrymen that had gotten off the armored vehicles used their rifles to take down the Iranian infantry heading towards them.
Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan, who had hidden behind a tree near a building, checked and confirmed that the Iranian infantrymen were now 400m away from him. He grasped his squadron firearm and took a deep breath. After looking through his shield glasses, he rechecked the enemy’s positions and started to spray laser beams at them while on his knees.
Peeeeeeew~ Peeeeeeew~
The 8mm laser beams that flew at the speed of light took down the Iranian infantry platoons running towards them. The soldiers all shouted and fell to the ground or rose into the air from the impact before falling back down.
Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan, who had fired his gun multiple times, replaced his 300-round plasma A battery pack swiftly. As he was about to check the location of the new Iranian infantry headed towards him, a sudden fear crept up to him. A tree suddenly split in two and a powerful shock struck him in the back.
Wooooosh! Bang!
The shock that split the tree in two had also flung Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan into the air. To Private Gwak, who was now flying through the air, everything moved in slow motion. The seemingly short or long trip in the air ended, and he landed on the ground.
“Hey! Private Gwak! Are you alright?” Corporal Kim Sung-ho, who had been launching 30mm smart grenades from not too far away, saw Private Gwak flying through the air and shouted.
“Fuck! Private Gwak! Answer me, damn it!”
Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan, who flew about 10m, did not move an inch.
-What is it?! Is Private Gwak injured?
Sergeant Lee Jin-tae, the vice-squad leader’s voice came through the radio.
“Yes, I think a railgun round struck the tree he had been hiding behind and got him.”
-A rail gun? Is he badly hurt?”
“I can’t be certain, sir. I will run over there to check. Please cover for me. ”
-Very well. Squadron 2! Requesting focus fire for cover!
Soon the 2nd squadron started to rain down laser beams to its designated area. Corporal Kim Sung-ho used this chance to rush towards Private Gwak Young-hwan’s direction and drag him back to a half-broken building.
“Huff puff! Huff puff!”
He laid Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan down while gasping for breath.
“Hey! Private Gwak! Wake up!”
He took off Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan’s shield glasses and mask while calling his name, but he did not move. Corporal Kim started to manipulate the X-K02 console on his left arm. After he pressed a few buttons, a diagnostic system for Private Gwak Young-hwan started to kick in.
The console’s display outlined Private First Class Gwak Young-hwan’s body and showed his right shoulder and arm to be broken. It seemed the railgun round had pierced through the tree and grazed him on the right side. Had the metal round directly struck him, then he would have died even though he wore the protective suit.
-Corporal Kim! How’s Private First Class Gwak?
Sergeant Hong Han-ho’s voice came through the radio.
“Based on the diagnostic, he has a broken right shoulder and arm, sir.”
-Is he conscious?
“No, he is unconscious.”
-All right. We will send over a medic, so wait there!
“Yes, sir.”
Pew! Pew!
Dududududu! Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang! Bang bang bang!
Boom! Bang!
As the distance between the two forces got closer, the battle became fierce and loud sounds of engines started to come from the rear. It was the 2nd mechanized infantry company’s armored vehicles that had come from Bazagun to aid them.
Fourteen armored vehicles and 110 infantrymen came in as reinforcements and the tide of the battle seemed to be changing. However, the Iranian military was also being reinforced by the 52nd and 53rd regiments while the 5th revolutionary infantry division’s 33rd artillery battalion started to move.
The 1st revolutionary armored division had sent in the 52nd and 53rd regiments after the 5th armored battalion were defeated by the Corean armored vehicles and ordered the 33rd artillery battalion to attack.
Eighteen self-propelled guns aboard the HM-41 armored vehicles under the 33rd artillery battalion started firing.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The HM-41 self-propelled guns were developed by Iran and it was made by equipping a 155mm HM-41 gun to the IVECO Trakker truck. The HM-41 155mm gun was the upgraded version of the American 155mm M114 with 39 rounds and a maximum range of 30km and a fire rate of 4 rounds per minute.
The 18 guns had formed a W formation and started to rain down artillery rounds at 4 rounds per minute continuously.
Corea’s 3rd mechanized infantry company, who had thought the tide of the battle now favored them from the reinforcements arriving, was now outmatched once again by the 155mm rounds falling on them. Casualties started to mount from the Corean infantry who now had to avoid the falling artillery shells. Two armored vehicles were taken down by the rail guns as well and three had their optical equipment damaged and could no longer fire back.
Despite the mechanized infantry company being equipped with the latest equipment, fighting against an entire division’s worth of forces was too much. The commanding officers of both companies started to speak to each other. Since the battle was not going so well, many of the commanding officers suggested retreating.
However, Captain Huh Sang-won of the 3rd mechanized infantry company, said he will not retreat and ordered his forces to hold their ground. Another railgun’s metal round had struck the 2nd mechanized infantry company’s armored vehicle.
Slam! Crack!
The metal rounds with tremendous momentum had grazed the turret and bounced off. Luckily the Hydronium alloy plating on the side of the turret had a gash and nothing else. It was a miracle. If the round had dug deeper, then the armored vehicle could have suffered an internal explosion.
As time passed and the tide of battle did not favor the Corean forces, their savior arrived from the skies. It was the 77th aerial force’s FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon choppers under the peacekeeping forces.
Dududududududu~ Dududududududu~
Twelve of the sixteen FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon choppers had folded their rotors and flew in from Doubayajut, and now transitioned into chopper mode before firing its weapons at the Iranian forces on the ground.
Woosh~ Woosh~ Woosh~
Boom! Bang! Booom!
The four Peregrine Falcon choppers started to fly west to attack the Iranian 33rd artillery battalion launching its projectiles to the allies.
The remaining 12 Peregrine Falcon choppers all flew at an angle towards the battlefield and fired their 50mm cluster rounds and 30mm laser Vulcans. The battlefield had turned into a living hell.
* * *
November 1st, 2023, 22:30
The North State, Pyeong-yang, Yongsung-ku, Haksan-dong
It was late at night, and two men were seated across from each other at a table inside the second floor of a building 100m away from the main street.
It was Captain Oh Ji-wan from the Foreign Intelligence Agency 1, and Jo Won-jin from the General Reconnaissance Bureau.
“Are the preparations going well?” Jo Won-jin crossed his legs, leaned back, and asked in a dry tone.
“What’s there to prepare, really? Shouldn’t we just do as we always have?”
The two men were intelligence agents from different organizations before the reunification and were playing a game of mental chess with each other.
“As you have? I guess you don’t realize the importance of this plan! If you fail, you are all good as dead. Do you understand?” Jo Won-jin seemed to be upset by Oh Ji-wan’s lax attitude and shouted after slamming the table.
The two men standing behind Jo Won-jin flinched and attempted to place their hands in their suits’ breast pocket. They were Jo Won-jin’s bodyguards and were ready to shoot Oh Ji-wan at a moment’s notice.
Oh Ji-wan, who had taken notice, smiled at the two men and spoke, “Haha, if I say the wrong thing, I guess I might end up dead. I am from the Foreign Intelligence Unit 1, and we have gone through hell and back. You don’t need to worry about us failing.”
“Hmpf! We will see about that. What is it that you wanted to see me for?”
Oh Ji-wan, who had been leaning his upper body towards the table with his legs open wide, used his thumb and index finger to make a circle.
“What the hell is that?”
“We would like an advance.”
“Advanced payment?”
“Comrade, didn’t you just say we are good as dead if we fail? With that kind of risk, an advance should be paid, shouldn’t it?”
“How much do you want?”
“Half should be enough, eh?”
“What? You son of a bitch! We took you in while you all lived as beggars in China, and now you’re crossing the line.”
When Jo Won-jin stood up and started to swear, the two bodyguards behind him started to pull out their pistols. However, Oh Ji-wan grabbed the table to block their view and rolled forward before stabbing the bodyguard’s foot with a dagger.
“Argh!” The bodyguard shouted and curled up, and Oh Ji-wan used this chance to stand back up and take the other’s pistol while grabbing him by the arm.
Smack!
In an instant, Oh Ji-wan pointed the pistol to Jo Won-jin while the bodyguard on the right pointed his pistol at him.
Jo Won-jin glared at Oh Ji-wan and shouted, “You motherfucker, what the fuck are you doing?”
A few seconds of silence passed, and Oh Ji-wan spun the pistol in his finger and spoke, “Man, I thought you guys from the General Reconnaissance Bureau would be better than this. I’m disappointed.”
“Huh! What the hell did you just say?”
Oh Ji-wan smiled and handed the pistol back to Jo Won-jin before heading towards the entrance.
“We want half the payment in advance within two days. Also, the map you guys gave us isn’t the latest one. So, get me an updated version. Two days, comrade Jo. Two days!”
Jo Won-jin, who was watching Oh Ji-wan walk away while waving, couldn’t help but smile.
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