Chapter 185.2: I Am Happy (2)
Click.
When the door opened, a man went inside, cut across the extremely large room, and approached the desk. He then bowed to the man behind the desk as he began his report. “We have confirmed the deaths of Minister of Defense Jang Kwang-Taek and deputy commander Ha Deuk-Suh.”
The man behind the desk raised his head as his eyes widened in surprise. “Were the South Korean bastards behind it?”
“Yes.”
“Wow!” The supreme leader sighed softly as he shook his head. “I heard that they were surrounded! The military heads would’ve been keeping a wary eye on the situation while trusting the light infantry soldiers. It seems the South Koreans managed to get out of their encirclement and kill Jang Kwang-Taek even though he deployed his light infantry soldiers and a couple of helicopters. Jang Kwang-Taek is probably turning over in his grave right now. Alright—where are those bastards?”
“According to reports, they have taken the Minister of Defense’s car to make their way back to their surrounded colleagues.”
The supreme leader groaned, which sounded as if it was mixed with a sigh. “Contact the guard posts and tell them to pretend not to notice them. If our soldiers can kill them, then we’ll be hitting two birds with one stone. The chances of this happening are slim, but just in case they manage to wipe out our light infantry soldiers, we’ll punish those who followed and sided with Jang Kwang-Taek.” The supreme leader cocked his head. “Charge Jang Kwang-Taek and Ha Deuk-Suh with an appropriate crime, and make sure that the official reports state that they were shot to death.”
"How should we proceed with the covert operation in South Korea?” the man asked.
“Just announce that they were shot to death for now. We’ll see how things go from there. After all, the answer to your question will change based on who will win this battle between the South Korean bastards and the light infantry soldiers. That aside, how did those useless dogs reach Shinpyeong so quickly?”
“We also find that quite strange.”
“Look into it thoroughly later. Prioritize sending the eight hundred twentieth tank regiment to the Ministry of Defense. They should be on standby right now. Use them to dominate over the military heads and punish everyone who dared followed Jang Kwang-Taek.”
“Understood.”
When the man quickly left the room, the supreme leader looked up and stared blankly at the ceiling.
“I heard that China and Russia have been supporting South Korea lately. I now understand why,” the supreme leader uttered to himself, his voice swiftly dispersing throughout the room.
***
Yoon Sang-Ki held onto Jang Kwang-Taek with eyes burning from tears.
They had successfully eliminated their target, but to anyone looking at them from outside the car, Jang Kwang-Taek would look as if he was just sitting comfortably in the backseat. They even put a fabric hat on him and lowered his head to hide the bullet holes that Kang Chan left on his forehead.
Did North Korea abandon Jang Kwang-Taek?
He found it suspicious that the Ministry of Defense’s security was absurdly weak.
Kang Chan ran out to the building by himself, and now Yoon Sang-Ki was holding Jang Kwang-Taek’s dead body.
Jang Kwang-Taek? Is this really him?
Yoon Sang-Ki couldn’t believe it.
‘You guys just need to survive for a little longer now—stay alive!’ Yoon Sang-Ki shouted in his mind over and over again.
***
Rustle. Pew! Ta-da-da-dang! Ta-dang! Ta-da-dang!
Their enemies were blatantly closing in around them.
South Korea’s special forces team wasn’t going to put their heads against the muzzles of their enemies just because they were closing in on their position. However, the chances of the North Korean soldiers finding an opening to shoot down those crowded in the middle of their encirclement increased the smaller the distance between them.
To make matters worse, all of the South Korean soldiers’ locations were compromised by now. After all, they had been firing back at their opponents nonstop.
Only nine of them were left now, and Kwak Cheol-Ho was one of them.
Of the twenty-four soldiers who joined this operation, four were killed when helicopters attacked them, and another four detached from the main force to kill Jang Kwang-Taek. Seven had been killed in this standoff so far.
Ta-da-dang! Pow-pow-pow! Pow-pow!
Not wanting to see bullets land on the bodies of their fallen comrades, they relentlessly dragged the dead soldiers and hid them inside their formation.
The sun set behind the mountain, causing a shadow to engulf the battlefield.
The battle had entered a lull.
Their enemies had stopped approaching them. Since they were surrounded, it seemed the North Koreans planned to just wait them out. After all, they were bound to grow tired eventually.
Even if their roles were reversed, the South Koreans would still find it difficult to overpower their enemies if they stubbornly resisted.
‘They’re hiding something.’
Kwak Cheol-Ho sharply examined his surroundings.
First, their opponents hadn’t received any support from the regular army. They hadn’t been bombarded by mortars or run over by tanks either. Their enemies also hadn’t used explosive weapons like grenades yet.
Rustle.
Kwak Cheol-Ho watched a soldier take out his water and drink from it.
Their water pouch looked like an IV bag, so they could just put their mouth at the opening and suck out the water from there. It was best to drink this way during a standoff like this.
Rustle.
Kwak Cheol-Ho also took out and drank his water, making him feel much better.
Are they taking a bit of a break because they want to have dinner?
Silent moments like this were the scariest because they didn’t know what could happen while they had their guards down.
Kwak Cheol-Ho rubbed his face with his left hand as if he was washing his face.
They would soon be unable to endure the battle. After all, they were starting to run out of ammo. With about fifty to sixty enemies surrounding them, their nine-man squad was bound to reach its limit soon.
We did good. We held them off long enough.
Kwak Cheol-Ho didn't know if they were going to last until eight this evening, but they deserved to be praised for their perseverance in this long battle.
Rustle! Rustle! Crunch!
At that moment, he heard their enemies moving simultaneously.
‘They’re coming!’
Their enemies seemed to have been planning on closing in on them from under the cover of darkness.
Kwak Cheol-Ho raised his rifle and scanned their surroundings.
Rustle. Rustle. Rustle.
It didn’t take long for him to find one of the enemies’ shadows, but he couldn’t accurately track him with his sights because the enemy was moving.
How come I was still accurate even in the dark during the operation in France?
Ta-da-da-da-dang! Ta-da-da-da-dang! Ta-da-da-da-dang!
About three or four of their enemies shot the area next to Kwak Cheol-Ho all at the same time.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!
Right after they counter-fired…
Ta-da-da-da-dang! Pow-pow-pow-pow! Ta-da-da-dang! Pow-pow-pow-pow!
Chunks of the tree that Kwak Cheol-Ho was leaning on exploded. The North Korean soldiers seemed to have pinpointed his location using the sparks from his gun.
Rustle. Rustle.
Pew! Thud! Ta-da-da-da-dang! Pow-pow-pow-pow-pow! Ta-da-dang! Whoosh!
Kwak Cheol-Ho was sure that their opponents had closed the distance between them by more than just two steps. Right now, it would be best for them to assume that there was an enemy anywhere within fifteen meters of their location.
‘Too bad we can’t listen to the radio.’
Before they all died, Kwak Cheol-Ho was at least hoping to know if Kang Chan managed to kill Jang Kwang-Taek. Unfortunately, everyone would hear any noise they made right now, even if they just took a step.
Rustle. Rustle.
Kwak Cheol-Ho knew that their enemies were approaching them. He couldn’t see them, but he at least knew that they were close enough to make it difficult to use the radio. The mountain was quiet enough for the North Korean soldiers to hear them whisper from fifteen meters away.
Once the enemies were about ten meters away them, the entire South Korean special forces team would certainly die if the North Koreans volley-fired.
Rustle. Rustle. Pew! Pew! Pew!
Their enemies didn’t even bother returning fire anymore.
Rustle. Rustle. Swoosh.
From the way the grass was moving, the North Korean soldiers seemed to be crawling toward them.
Pew! Thud Pew!
Kwak Cheol-Ho couldn’t just recklessly open fire either since he had to conserve his ammo.
Their enemies had moved about twelve meters toward them.
These sons of bitches are using a textbook tactic.
Kwak Cheol-Ho looked back at his men.
‘Thanks.’
‘Thank you for leading us.’
Now surrounded on all sides, the nine remaining South Korean soldiers fought against over fifty North Koreans. No matter what anyone said, expecting them to win was unreasonable.
Everyone looked at each other for only a short moment, but that was enough.
Kwak Cheol-Ho thought of the training they did together and all the intense operations that they had gone through until now.
He didn’t regret or feel disappointed that he became a special forces soldier. If anything, his only regret was that he couldn’t pass all of his experiences to his juniors.
Click.
Kwak Cheol-Ho switched his gun’s fire mode to full-auto.
Pew! Thud Pew! Pew! Thud! Pew-pew! Thud! Thud!
As he did, he heard rifle gunshots from the lower part of the mountain. An enemy fell with each bullet fired.
Ta-da-dang! Pew! Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud!
Those who fired back fell to the ground lifelessly. Those near them met the same fate not long after.
Kang Chan had arrived.
Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud!
How can he do that without hesitation? Why can’t I move an inch?
Their enemies couldn’t do anything but fall back.
Ta-da-da-da-dang!
Kwak Cheol-Ho brought himself back to his senses. With the North Koreans turning toward Kang Chan in surprise, he now had plenty of time to return fire.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Thud! Ta-da-dang! Pew! Thud!
The tide of the battle completely changed.
Gunshots echoed nonstop across the mountain.
Click. Clank!
Kang Chan changed magazines as he crouched down. He then fired at the enemy as he scaled the mountain. Seok Kang-Ho and Yoon Sang-Ki were beside him, bravely covering fire for him.
Pew! Pow! Thud!
The head of the enemy behind Kwak Cheol-Ho snapped back and smashed onto the ground.
If the god of death truly did exist, then they would probably look like Kang Chan.
Rustle!
Finally, Kang Chan reached Kwak Cheol-Ho and the others.
“You guys have gone through a lot,” Kang Chan said.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Kang Chan glared at their front with spite-filled eyes.
Pew! Thud! Pew! Thud!
Before they knew it, their enemies had retreated.
Kwak Cheol-Ho looked at Kang Chan, then to the side. When their eyes met, Yoon Sang-Ki nodded.
‘He killed Jang Kwang-Taek?’
‘Yes!’
Yoon Sang-Ki gave Kwak Cheol-Ho a look that seemed to say, ‘Naturally!’
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