Chapter 85
October 28, 2020, 05:21 (China Standard Time, 04:21)
Military Commission Joint Command Center Bunker, Beijing, China.
Vice President Kan Kuichou entered the Joint Command Center and spoke to Chief of the General Staff Fang Feng. “I will take the command from now.”
“Yes, sir.”
After receiving the Chief of General Staff’s answer, Kan Kuichou looked at the large scale X-band radar base, which had detected the paths of the 120 ballistic missiles, then asked the tactical intelligence officer, “Have the targets for the ballistic missiles been confirmed?”
“Yes. Ten ballistic missiles are headed toward twelve targets.”
“Report on the most urgent ones.”
“First, the 1st, 4th, 11th, 21st, and 30th Fighter Wings and their subordinate forces. Also, the Tung hwa, Haulbin, Daren Missile Bases, YJ-26A 309th, 207th, and 303rd Radar Brigades.
As the tactical intelligence officer gave his report, the map was marked with all the targets the ballistic missiles were headed toward.
“Look at these b*stards. They prepared determined for war. Fine, communications officer, have all the fighter jets take off from every available fighter wing. If they fail to intercept, we must reduce the damages as much as possible. Also, give me the interception order for the ballistic missiles for the anti-air forces in the Northern Army.”
“Yes, sir.”
At the swift order of Vice President Kan Kuichou, the ten communications officers relayed the instructions to each force.
A moment later, each anti-air brigade in the Northern Army launched its latest HQ-9C strike missiles based on the mid-ranged S-300 to intercept the Korean ballistic missiles. The missiles rose in the air, spewing white smoke. The 96 HQ-9C missiles, with a range of 200 km, altitude of 30 km, and speed of Mach 4.3, flew up into the sky, and the anti-air brigades also launched two of their HQ-12 missiles with a range of 50 km and altitude of 25 km, for a total of 36 missiles.
* * *
October 28, 2020, 05:22 (China Standard Time, 04:22)
st Fighter Wing Airforce Base, Ansan, China.
At the Ansan base, an air-raid siren rang ear-piercingly loud, and the runway was filled with China’s K-20 stealth fighter jets, which were leaving the hangars to take off. Getting out of the hellfire must have been there priority, as most of the jets were unarmed.
Inside the anti-air bases, the HQ-6 radars, which were illegally copied from Italy’s Aspada air-to-air missile system, were spinning wildly. Six of the HQ-6 launch vehicles all had their launch pads pointed to the sky in preparation for the terminal phase interception of the ballistic missiles.
A few minutes passed, and within the visible atmosphere above the 1st Fighter Wing Ansan base, a spectacular show of flames began.
Then, the HQ-6 radar operator detected six ballistic missiles and screamed, while the missile battalion’s commander ordered the launch of the HQ-6 missiles. The six launch vehicles launched four missiles one after the other, and a total of sixteen missiles flew into the sky for the terminal phase interception. Another battalion within the base also launched its allotted sixteen missiles, and three flew toward the ballistic missiles.
“Target 1 at a distance of 10,200 and altitude of 9,800, target 1 missile interception failed, target 2 interception failed. Target 5 interception successful, target 2 attempting interception. Target 2 distance 9,200, altitude 8,910, target 1 missile interception failed. Ah, target 5 also failed again, target 3 distance 8,200, altitude 7,890, target 1 missile interception failed, target 5, target 5 interception failed.”
The HQ-6 radar operator screamed, looking as if he had see the grim reaper himself, then put his face in his hands and shook his head. The battalion next to them had shown an unbelievable interception rate of zero. Despite the missiles’ design for terminal phase interception, they showed technical limitations, successfully intercepting only 1 out of the 16 ballistic missiles.
Five of Korea’s latest ballistic missiles (Hyunmu-2E2) passed through the interception net and exploded above the 1st and 2nd Fighter Wing’s runway and hangars. The missiles spewed thousands of bombs, turning an area ten times larger than a football field into an inferno. From China’s perspective, the silver lining was that most of the J-20 stealth fighter jets from the 1st Fighter Wing and the J-11 fighter jets from the 3rd Fighter Wing all had gone under emergency takeoff and survived the blast.
However, the other fighter wings only had some of their jets take off, and the other jets and planes left inside the hangers and on the runways had all been hit by the steel showers. The runways were also destroyed by the ballistic missiles’ bombs and were no longer operational, and the jets were forced to fly to another air force base to land.
The four Chinese air force bases that were the first set of targets were all annihilated amidst smoke and flames, and the radar bases China was so proud of, the fixed YJ-26A radar bases and Shang Yang San large X-band radar base stationed in the northern areas, all sustained heavy losses.
Also, the missile bases (Tung hwa, Haulbin, and Daren) that operated the DF-15 and DF-21 ballistic missiles, which posed the greatest threat to Korea, all sustained losses that would render them non-operational for some time.
Lastly, the six ballistic missiles that fell on Chungdo Naval Base, the base for the Northern Fleet, had caused critical damages to the 1st Fleet, destroying five Ruda-class destroyers and other ships.
Even though it was a surprise attack, according to common sense, China should not have been this helpless. But there was a reason why they were. Korea’s ballistic missiles had applied various advanced technology to overcome the limits of the range and weight of the warheads. First, the engines of the ballistic missiles were replaced with Plasma rocket engines, enabling the modern standard Hyunmu missiles to reach Mach 8 speeds, as opposed to their original Mach 4. Additionally, the missiles were equipped with SECM (Super Electronic Counter Measures), which jammed the interception missiles’ ARH (Active Radar Homing Systems), significantly lowering the chances of being intercepted.
* * *
October 28, 2020, 05:50
B2 Bunker, Yongsan-ku, Seoul (ROK Military Joint Command Center)
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kang Ui-sik kept his eyes on the screen as he received a stream of reports about the ballistic missiles reaching their targets. Then, he spoke to Chief of Army Staff Shin Sung-yong, who had just come over from the army’s command center across the room.
“Chief of Army Staff Shin, the improved capabilities of the Hyunmu ballistic missiles are better than expected. I think we hit the targets, as planned.”
“Yes, sir. The results are very satisfactory. I just wish the numbers were a bit higher.”
“What can we do? It’s not like we had a long time to prepare for the war, and we only had enough forces to counter North Korea’s military. It would have been better if we had increased our fighting power against the Chinese and Japanese beforehand.”
“Joint Chief of Staff, don’t you think with our current power, we could still win against any nation in the world?”
Despite fighting a war that put the nation’s fate on the line, Chief of Army Staff Shin Sung-yong smiled brightly, which meant that a victory was guaranteed in this war.
“Communications officer.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Transition into KAMD system!”
“Transitioning to KAMD system.”
At the order, the communication operators all relayed the order to all the military commanders, who then began to operate the missile defense system in preparation for China’s counter-attack. The KSF/A-30SP Three-legged Crow Space, which was part of the second stage interception method, was still under development, so the 4-stage KAMD system was not complete. However, the Chief of Staff judged that the current system would still be enough to defend the nation.
* * *
October 28, 2020, 05:50 (China Standard Time, 04:50)
Central Military Commission Joint Command Center Bunker, Beijing, China.
The atmosphere inside the command center was heavy. The interception rate for the Korean ballistic missiles was embarrassingly low. In truth, the power of the Northern Military had lost 60% of its strength since the start of the war. Korea’s surprise attack was excellent, while China’s anti-air defense was incompetent.
“Despite seeing it myself, I still can’t believe it, Vice President, sir!”
Chief of Staff Fang Feng Hu’s shock must have been great for him to finally speak after being open-mouthed and silent for so long.
“To sustain this much damage from just ballistic missiles...” Vice President Kan Kuichou also expected the interception rate to be at least 80%, and the shock he received at seeing the damage they incurred didn’t leave easily and made him dizzy. The Northern Military’s air-to-air power was at a considerable level, and the fact they were taken out by only 120 ballistic missiles shouldn’t have been possible, but that was the reality, even though he wanted to deny it.
“Did we underestimate the Korean ballistic missiles?” he thought. Kan Kuichou tried to find an answer, but when he couldn’t easily come up with one, he shook his head a couple of times to clear his thoughts. That moment, the operator shouted a report.
“Footage of the Qing dao North Naval Fleet has arrived from the unmanned drone Xiang Lung. It’s on screen number three, sir.”
Several of the numerous drones that had been urgently deployed from the central military had recorded and sent in footage of the nearby Qing dao North Naval fleet.
“D*mn it! It’s better to just not look at it.”
The port had turned into hell itself. The five Ruda-class destroyers must have been hit with the bombs, because the mast radars, weaponry, and the ship itself had all been torn to shreds, and black smoke billowed from the cracks. Some destroyers had been lit aflame and turned black, with smoke coming out of them.
Some of the navy base’s buildings had collapsed from the impact of the bombs. The Qing dao Naval Base was in pandemonium, and flames still danced, engulfing many areas. The surviving sailors were busily dousing the flames.
After the horrific scene came into view, the vice president could imagine just how much damage the other army groups sustained. In fact, he had the sinking feeling that the damages they sustained were worse.
“When can we check on the 38th Army Group and the others?”
“The Xiang Lung drones are moving to each location. We’ll have a visual within ten minutes.”
“All right. Have we detected any signs of another attack by North Korea?”
“No, sir. After the ballistic missile attack, no other Korean fighter jets or missiles have been detected.”
“Can we check the route of Korea’s ground forces?”
“An hour later, the Zhenbing-5 reconnaissance satellite will pass by the Korean peninsula.”
“That’s good. Tell the Zhenbing-5 to scout every corner of Korea!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Chief of Staff Fang Feng Hu Li.”
“Yes, Vice President.”
“Take the command for now. I’m going to make a report to President Xi Jin Ping.”
“Yes, sir.”
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