Chapter 112: 112

November 6, 2020, 14:30, 2020, Chungmu Room of the Blue House in Seoul Jong-ro ku

Before Korea’s scheduled summit meeting with Japan at the end of November, President Suh Hyun-woo invited 41 surviving comfort women to the Chungmu Room for dinner. He intended to negotiate with Prime Minister Abe about the Japanese government’s sincere apology regarding the comfort women and the responsible compensation that should follow the apology after hearing the opinions of the grandmothers.

“Mr. President. The Minister of National Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Staff are requesting to see you urgently.”

Chief Secretary Na Sung-tae approached the President and spoke quietly, interrupting the President’s pleasant conversation with the women.

“Is it urgent?” asked the President.

“Yes, Mr. President,” Secretary Na replied.

The President asked the women sitting around the circular table to be excused before heading toward the executive office. Upon entering the executive office on the second floor, the Minister of National Defense Kang Hyun-soo and the Chairman of the Joint Staff Kang Yi-sik, who were already seated, rose from their seats.

“Yes, is this urgent matter about the war?”

President Suh asked, thinking all along of its possibility after he sensed something foreboding from the grim expressions of the Minister of National Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Staff. The two men looked at each other briefly before the Chairman turned to the President and slightly nodded his head before answering.

“Yes, Mr. President,” Chairman Kang said.

“Looking at your expression, it doesn’t seem like good news. Go ahead,” said the President.

The Chairman of the Joint Staff swallowed once, straightened his posture, and began speaking.

“Exactly two hours and thirty minutes ago, there was a tactical nuclear weapon attack from the Chinese Army at the western front.”

Like a paused screen, the President froze but his eyes widened.

“A tactical nuclear weapon! Are you saying a nuclear bomb?” asked the President.

“Yes, it was a tactical nuclear weapon deployed by using a multiple rocket launcher and part ground-to-ground missile. The force was between 10kt and 15kt,” replied the Chairman.

“What was the level of damage?” the President inquired.

Chairman Kang Yi-sik took the report from his bag and handed it to the President. The report was entitled “VII Maneuver Corps and the 3rd Armored Division Tactical Nuclear Weapon Attack Damage Status.”

“The detailed damage status is contained in this report I have just given you. I will first give you a brief summary. At 12 noon today, the Chinese military that had been in hiding in the western front carried out an attack. Over 1,500 multiple rocket launchers, various artilleries, and ground-to-ground short distance missiles were launched, including seven tactical nuclear weapons. They deployed 2 nuclear bombs on the 20th Armored Division stationed in Pan-Jin, 3 on the Capital Mechanized Division stationed in Fuxin, and 2 on the 3rd Armored Division.”

“What is the extent of a 10kt force?” the President inquired.

“Ah! I apologize, Mr. President. A 10kt has a force of about half of the Little Boy nuclear bomb deployed in Japan,” Chairman Kang answered.

“Then are you saying that our army was hit with seven nuclear bombs with that amount of force?” the President asked to confirm.

“Yes, sir.”

The President lowered his head and spoke weakly while leaning his forehead on his right hand.

“For now, give me the general outline of the damage report.”

“Yes, currently the Capital Mechanized Division had the most damage. Thirty-one percent of the Division’s equipment was damaged. As for the troops, there were 251 casualties and 622 injured. Next is the 20th Armored Division, with 16% of the Division’s equipment damaged, 112 soldiers dead, and 291 injured. Finally, the 3rd Armored Division has 8.3% of their equipment damaged, 55 soldiers are dead and 129 injured. In total, 418 soldiers are dead and 1,042 injured. Most of the injured troops have burn injuries,” Chairman Kang reported.

The President took off his glasses and covered his face with both hands. After rubbing his face a few times, he stooped over and, in serious thought, rested his chin on his hands. Just yesterday, the Korean troops had 68 casualties and 181 injured. Today, however, the Korean army lost six times more than the number of casualties in the past eight days.

“Mr. President . . .”

Minister of National Defense Kang Hyun-soo called softly after the President didn’t speak for minutes.

“I apologize. I was lost in my thoughts without realizing it. So what is the situation of each unit? The nuclear bomb would cause a lot of problems relating to radiation,” said the President.

“Yes, currently, all units have escaped the blast zone and have retreated toward the rear,” Minister Kang replied.

After examining the damage status report, the President continued asking questions in an even tired voice.

“What about the concern of radiation exposure?”

“The troops that were inside the tanks or armored vehicles were safe from the radiation due to the overpressure equipment system. However, the troops in other vehicles have been classified as radiation-exposed patients and were all escorted to the Corps hospital,” replied Minister Kang.

“Didn’t you say recently that you have successfully completed the radiation elimination technology for practical use?” asked the President.

“That is correct. Currently, three artillery battalions with radiation elimination technology equipment have been deployed to the western front. They will immediately treat exposed patients to eliminate radiation,” replied Minister Kang.

“Will it be 100% full recovery?” the President wanted to confirm.

“Yes, Mr. President,” said Minister Kang.

“That’s a relief.”

“Mr. President, I have a request for your approval.”

The Chairman of the Joint Staff, Kang Yi-sik, spoke again carefully.

“Approval? What is it for?”

“The second degree of the Chiyou punishments[1].”

“The second degree and not the first?”

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When the slightly surprised President asked, the Chairman of the Joint Staff replied with a stern expression.

“I would have wanted to ask for the third degree.”

The President stood up and moved toward the window after putting down the report. The first snowfall that came earlier than in previous years covered the blue sky was painting the whole world white.

<hr />

November 6, 2020, 18:40, B2 Bunker (Armed Forces Joint Command Control situation room) in Seoul Yongsan-ku

After being a part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1975, Korea and its government were not allowed to possess nuclear missiles. Amidst this situation, China had been increasing their possession of nuclear missiles. Also, there was information that Japan had been autonomously accumulating a considerable amount of plutonium, a component of nuclear missile, and doing so openly. Despite knowing this, the United States had continued to remain quiet.

In a situation where the countries surrounding the Korean peninsula were rivaling in possession of nuclear missiles, Korea, who had its hands tied by the Non-Proliferation Treaty, developed a plasma bomb—a nuclear missile without radiation. To retaliate against the enemy countries’ nuclear bombs, they invented various ways to deploy the plasma bombs.

The first to be deployed was the post-to-surface K-SH Zinog missile used at the start of the war. The second was the gliding guided K-PAB plasma missile deployed from the Vermillion Bird and Black Vermillion Bird aircraft. The third was the surface-to-ground C Heavenly Dragon cruise missile, the surface-to-ground S-CLBM Mjolnir ballistic missile, and the submarine-to-surface S-SLBM Gungnir ballistic missile. Finally, the SD-ICBM Astra missile, the plasma missile with the most force, was equipped on the Army Missile Command’s Hades ground defense satellite silo.

After returning from the Blue House, the Chairman of the Joint Staff, Kang Yi-sik, immediately gathered all executives of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Did the President approve the second degree of the Chiyou punishments?”

The Director of Operation Center, Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun, was the first to ask. To this, Chairman Kang slightly nodded his head instead of replying.

“Then when will you decide to begin the second-degree punishment attack?” asked Lieutenant General Kim.

Looking around at the 30 or so executives who were looking at him, Chairman Kang slowly opened his mouth.

“It has been decided that it will be this Sunday, the eighth, at 3 p.m.”

“I think that we should inflict the retaliation attack right now.”

The Director of Operation Planning, Lieutenant General Na Tae-yoon, the most angry because of the tactical nuclear weapon attack, expressed his sentiment while grinding his teeth.

“Lieutenant General Na! The President has requested for something while approving the second degree of the Chiyou punishments. It was the request to minimize damage to the Chinese civilians. For this reason, we have decided to launch it on Sunday, so please contain your anger,” Chairman Kang reminded him.

Upon hearing the Chairman, each and every expression of the executives gathered in the strategy conference room showed their huge disappointment, revealing that the rage of the leaders of the Korean Army was reaching the extreme.

“Since the date and time of the strategy has been decided, the troop follow-up on the western front is a very pressing matter. What is the current situation?”

The Director of Operation Center continued while passing a few pages of documents to the Chairman of the Joint Staff.

“Currently, we have surveyed the entire region, from Beijing to Shenyang, by mobilizing three Apollo reconnaissance satellites and all of the Corps unmanned reconnaissance aircraft. Results have confirmed that the 20th Army Group and the 54th Army Group of the Central Theater Command are evacuating to Lingyuan, and the 21st Army Group of the Western Theater Command is evacuating to Qinhuagdao along the coast of the West Sea.”

“Has the Chinese Army strategic intent been analyzed?”

“It has been analyzed that all forces will concentrate on attacking Shenyang, the center body of the western front, by breaking off the two wings above and below the center.”

After thoroughly reading through the documents handed to him, the Chairman of the Joint Staff put down the documents and spoke.

“Hm. I think this is a rather accurate analysis, gentlemen! We have been attacked by the Chinese Army by deploying an unexpected tactical nuclear bomb. Using a tactical nuclear weapon on their own territory tells us that China is desperate. Although you are feeling rage in its fullness, my rage is every bit as strong as yours.”

Chairman Kang continued in a stronger voice.

“Establish countermeasures on the analyzed intent of the Chinese Army. Especially the logistics command, do your best in quickly transporting first-line troops after analyzing the war materials needed from the VII Maneuver Corps damages. I also request that the missile command be fully prepared before the strategy enforcement date,” Chairman Kang ordered.

<hr />

November 6, 2020, 19:10 (CST 18:10), G91 Highway 12 km southeast from Liaozhong district, China

Two days ago, the 60th Armored Brigade, the 20th Armored Division’s (Decisive Battle) subordinate unit, while departing from Shenyang and occupying Liaozhong and Tai’an luckily survived the nuclear bomb attack without any casualties. Due to the Division dividing its forces into two regions, the allocated number of nuclear bombs was small and, thus, no nuclear bombs fell after escaping interception.

After China’s nuclear bomb attack, the Joint Forces Headquarters urgently ordered the first-line unit in the western front to retreat to the rear while scattering into battalions. Hence, the 26th Tank Battalion, a subordinate unit of the 60th Armored Division, moved quickly on G91 Highway to leave Liaozhong and head toward Raoyang in a tandem formation.

Vrooooom!

Tank 712 Sergeant Oh Young-taek, recalling the flash of the nuclear bomb he saw that day, spoke to Staff Sergeant Kimg Young-joo and Corporal Yeom Hoon-gi through a headset.

“Did you see the flash from the nuclear explosion earlier today?”

“It was the first time I’ve seen a light that bright.”

Staff Sergeant Kim replied after vividly remembering the tremendous flash and mushroom cloud he saw in Pan-Jin seven hours ago.

“Sergeant Oh! I heard what the platoon leader was saying shortly before we left—that the 61st Armored Brigade has considerable damages from the Chinese nuclear bomb attack. He said that hundreds of our troops had died.”

“You can say that again. Sons of b*ches, how can they drop a nuclear bomb in their own territory?”

“Sergeant Oh! But my worry is how will we fight them from now on if there’s a nuclear bomb attack?”

“That I don’t know. But wouldn’t the people above think about all that? An extensive retaliation attack or . . . we attack with nuclear bombs.”

“Where is the nuclear bomb in our country, Sergeant Oh?”

“We don’t have any? I guess we can’t retaliate then.”

“What the . . .”

[1]: Chiyou is regarded as the God of War in ancient China. He has been credited by some to develop the Five Punishments, ranging from being tattooed on the face to death.

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