Chapter 278: Book 11 Chapter 3-6 A Time for Decisive Action 2: A Series of Attacks

February 22nd, 2021, 13:45

Eight kilometers southwest of Okagi, Aichi Prefecture, Honshu, Japan

The tanks on both sides were approximately 5km away from each other. Luckily no villages or homes were blocking the Corean tanks’ field of view. The 5th company’s commander ordered his tanks to fire.

“Each platoon is to engage the enemy once they have a clear visual.”

Once the orders from the company commander came in, the 14 White Tiger tanks at the front simultaneously fired their photon cannons.

Many black tanks headed towards the 5th company collapsed on the ground after catching fire, but the surviving ones launched their own metal rounds as well. The black tanks’ turrets did not have a barrel that matched the conventional shape of a pillar but had one which consisted of two long rectangles. The projectile was being launched from the space between the two instead.

The rounds swarmed the 5th company’s White Tiger tanks only after 2 seconds after launch. Despite the SECM jamming waves being active, many of the mysterious metal rounds struck the White Tiger tanks.

The rounds did not cause an internal explosion, but the powerful shock being delivered into the interior had caused some of the White Tiger tanks to lose balance and some immediately turned around.

10 additional enemy cannon rounds were falling towards the 5th company’s tanks at a straight angle. The official name of these rounds was the XM982-B Excalibur rounds, also known as the GPS-guided smart rounds. The early XM982 Excalibur rounds would fly towards their targets after coordinates were set by a computer system. Once the rounds reached a certain altitude, it would be guided by a satellite to start flying towards the enemy.

After launch, fins would pop out from the head and tail of the Excalibur rounds. When the rounds rose into the air, the fins at the tail would spin at high speeds to reach the maximum altitude. When the rounds started to fall, the fins from the head would automatically guide the altitude and direction to strike the target. The maximum range was 50km, but it had an error rate of 10m.

After the latest 155mm self-propelled gun the M-2001 Crusader was developed, the XM982-B was developed for it. It was refurbished from the XM982 rounds to be exclusively used for the Crusader. The rounds were upgraded to reduce errors in both land and sea, and for moving targets as well. The rounds traveled at 100km/h and now only had an error rate of 2m with high accuracy.

The XM982-B Excalibur had three modes that could be switched on depending on the battle. First was the height-of-burst mode. It would explode above the enemy’s heads and spray shrapnel across a wide area to strike the enemy.

The second was a delay mode. The Excalibur round would pierce through and enter a bunker or a building and explode afterward. Through multiple experiments, the Excalibur round boasted its ability as the “bunker buster.”

The final one was the point-detonate, which made the high-powered explosive go off on contact and turn armored vehicles and tanks into scrap.

The XM982-B Excalibur rounds falling towards the 5th company’s White Tiger tanks were set to point-detonate mode.

Each XM982-B round cost 80,000 dollars, about double the price of the original 39,000 dollars, but if a 7-million-dollar tank could be taken out by an 80,000-dollar projectile, then that would more than cover the cost.

The K-30A2 Flying Tiger and KSMA-1A2 Sky Horse armored vehicles under the 5th company detected the XM982-B Excalibur rounds falling towards their company’s White Tiger tanks and retaliated by launching their S-LAM-60 Sky Dragon and S-LAM-100 Light Dragon missiles.

The XM982-B Excalibur rounds were able to make evasive maneuvers to avoid the missiles attempting to intercept them. They started to scatter and change directions to avoid the Sky Dragon and Light Dragon missiles rising towards them.

While the fierce armored battle was occurring on the surface, red flashes of light flickered in the skies with explosions.

One of the surviving XM982-B Excalibur rounds landed on the 5th company’s 533 tank at the upper section of its turret.

Boom!

Even though the upper turret of a tank had the weakest plating, the C-3 White Tiger tank’s armored plating was capable of withstanding most 155mm rounds. However, the XM982-B Excalibur round’s power was on par with the exhausted uranium rounds.

A powerful blast that could take off the turret shook the 533 tank. The explosion had caused the tank to stop in its tracks and emit red and black flames.

-This is Hippo 1! The platoon commander. Hippo 3, Hippo 3, do you copy?

The platoon’s commander, who saw the 533 tank being struck by the Excalibur round, spoke on the communication line.

-Answer me if you can hear me. Hippo 3, Staff Sergeant Oh! Can you hear me?

A quiet moan came through the communication line from the 533 tank.

-Argh…

-Hippo 3, is your tank operational?

-This is Hippo 3, Staff Sergeant Oh Hyuck-min, the vehicle commander.

-What are the damages? Are they severe?

The 531 tank continued to engage the enemy while communicating with tank 533.

-There wasn’t an internal explosion, sir. All three crewmen are safe. The external optical equipment is damaged. The sights for the cannon and the periscope are both broken.

-Can you still move?

-Yes, sir.

-Great! Tank 533, leave the battlefield, and retreat to the rear. Over!

-Yes, sir. Over and out.

No matter how powerful the XM982-B Excalibur round that had struck the upper turret of the White Tiger tank was, it was unable to completely pierce the hydronium alloy plating. However, it was more than enough to render the tanks incapable of battle. The 533 tank moved back and left the battlefield.

The remaining tanks were facing off against the M4 Warthog tanks for the second time and struggling against the 16MJ class rail gun’s X-16 metal rounds, and XM982-B Excalibur rounds.

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Out of the eight MEAB forces (Marine Expeditionary Armored Brigade), six were deployed to defend Tokyo, but the whereabouts of the remaining two were a mystery to Corea’s Joint Chief of Staff. They had worked day and night to find the location of the two MEABs. Based on the battle right now, one MEAB was deployed to defend Osaka while the other was sent to defend Nagoya and Chukyo.

The MEABs were the U.S. Marine’s elite force. They were only the size of a brigade, but their equipment and size matched that of a division, and they had considerable firepower as well.

When the number of M4 Warthog tanks started to increase to surpass the size of a company, the 5th company’s commander reported it to his battalion commander. The 18th armored battalion all turned right to aid the 5th company facing off against the enemy Warthog tanks. The capital artillery brigade started to join in as well.

Now, the artillery forces of both sides were involved. The battle at Chukyo now had more casualties than the capital armored division expected, and it was rising.

“Sir! I think we need aerial support.”

Brigadier General Park Jeon-il, the operations director of the capital armored division, spoke to the division commander while checking the status of the battle from the rear.

The area was where the 18th armored division was facing off against America’s MEAB force’s M4 Warthog tanks.

“We are providing artillery support to them, yes?”

“Two artillery battalions are providing support after the 18th battalion’s commander requested for aid.”

“Wouldn’t that be enough?”

“I am a bit concerned due to the intelligence coming in from the Joint Chief of Staff this morning, sir.”

“Are you talking about that M4 Warthog tank being operated by the MEABs?”

The Joint Chief of Staff was alerted about the specifications of the M4 Warthog tanks from the urban battle in Osaka. It promptly alerted the forces operating within Japan.

“Yes, sir. I can’t help but think the enemy tanks the 18th armored battalion is facing off against are those we heard about.”

“Zoom in on the recorded footage of the battle.”

The aide-de-camp, who was listening to the conversation between the operations director and division commander, contacted the forces operating the spider drones. Soon the screen showed zoomed-in footage of the battle.

The footage showed numerous black M4 tanks hiding at the battlefield and emerge to engage the tanks of the 18th armored battalion with their railguns.

“These match the photos the Joint Chief of Staff sent out.”

“That’s a shame. If we still had the 1st brigade’s 101st battalion…,” Major General Hwang Tae-won lamented the loss of his 101st battalion and its tanks and armored vehicles. They sunk into the sea due to the tsunami before they could land in Japan.

“I believe we need additional support, sir.”

“It wouldn’t be optimal to move an armored force already engaged in battle, so contact the 172nd aerial forces to send in 4 choppers.”

“Yes, sir.”

The 17th aerial forces under the 7th mobile corps had joined in the war effort with the second expeditionary forces. The 171st aerial force was tasked with aiding the 20th armored division while the 172nd was tasked with aiding the capital armored division.

The 172nd aerial force’s 4 FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon choppers were tasked with guarding the skies above the artillery forces of the capital armored division. They flew south to aid the 18th armored battalion.

* * *

February 22nd, 2021, 14:00 (U.S.T February 21st, 23:00)

The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, U.S.A. (Joint Chief of Staff’s meeting room)

The Pentagon’s meeting room was full of loud voices due to a heated argument. It was about the approval of the Navy’s Chief of Staff General John Richards’ request to deploy more forces at the second meeting yesterday afternoon.

Chief of Staff of the Army Andre Drummond and his support for the moderate side all claimed that they should exit the war between Corea and Japan after negotiating with Corea since it was not profitable.

General John Richards and his supporters claimed they must send out additional forces, not only to cull the protests about the Pacific fleet’s defeat but also to win the war against Corea. To do this, he and his supporters wanted to request additional deployment by confiding to the president.

In truth, General John Richards’ plans were already established before the U.S. got involved in the war. However, after having five whole aircraft carrier strike groups taken out without making any progress, the plans were ruined. Now, the U.S. military had to rethink its strategy. That was when General Richards suggested a plan with a single amendment from the previous one.

The only amendment was that the U.S. abandon Japan and focus on the offensive against Corea.

“We still have seven carrier strike groups remaining. Also, we have 30,000 men standing by ready to be deployed. Corea now has to defend not only its original territory but also its new ones: Shandong and Manchuria. Its increased size will be our advantage,” General John Richards spoke in a confident tone.

Rock, a member of the USSC council’s National Defense department, glanced at the Secretary of Defense and sent a signal. He was in attendance as a strategist for the Department of Defense.

“I also agree with General Richards. The president is also leaning towards approving the requests that he made,” the Secretary of Defense’s statement almost rendered the heated argument that took place in the meeting useless.

“Sir! If that was the case, why are we even having this meeting?” The Army’s Chief of Staff General Andre Drummond who was opposing the idea had a flabbergasted look on his face.

Chairman of the Joint Staff DeMarcus Dunford raised his hand to silence him and chimed in, “General Drummond, we need to hold a meeting no matter what the president decides.”

In truth, Chairman Demarcus Dunford, Secretary John Wayne, and USSC’s Rocky had already decided on the matter after the first meeting was over yesterday. They were only using General John Richards of the Navy to set the stage.

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