Chapter 566: 90

October 29th, 2020, 11:55 (CST 10:55), Beigou Shangbao mountain, 250 miles northwest of Dandong, China.

“Seventh Company, ignore enemy tanks and move at a high speed to catch the armored vehicles trying to retreat from the rear. Ninth Company, detour at maximum speed to the predicted retreat path at S203 road in the two o’clock direction to stop them from fleeing by shooting from the road. The rest, 8th Company and Headquarters Company, clean up the leftover Chinese tanks and return to base. Dismissed.”

– Yes, sir! Understood.

The 26th Tank Battalion moved swiftly according to the Commander’s orders, and the White Tiger tank roared as if to celebrate the last victory shot as they continued to race forward.

Ignoring the tanks ahead and racing forward to catch the retreating Chinese armored vehicles, 7th Company 1st platoon tank 712 Sergeant Oh shouted at Tank Driver Corporal Yeom Hoon-gi, “Yeom! Step on the accelerator!”

“Sergeant, sir, we are close to a speed of 40 miles per hour. This is crazy for cross-country travel. If the suspension breaks, I’ll be sent to the disciplinary barracks.”

“Do you know how many tanks we just crushed? Seven. Seven! Statistically, we are number one in our battalion, but six of the 3rd platoon’s 733 tanks are following right behind us. We can’t lose to those boneheads! Don’t you agree?”

Third platoon tank 733 Tank Sergeant Lee Suk-kyung was Sergeant Oh’s best friend who had enlisted in the same rank and worked in the same battalion as him for six years. Perhaps because his name had the word Suk [1] in it, Sergeant Oh always referred to Sergeant Lee as ‘bonehead.’

“Yeom? Grant Sergeant Oh his wish.”

Tank Gunner Staff Sergeant Kim Young-joo was also in a good mood and supported Sergeant Oh with the thoughts of wanting to be the number one in the Battalion.

“I don’t know, sir. If the suspension breaks, I’m not going to take the fall for it. I’m serious.”

“Cross country speeding up to 50 miles per hour is a piece of cake for our White Tiger! So don’t worry and just step on it.”

As Corporal Yeom pressed harder with his right foot, White Tiger tank 712 gained speed. The tank was at the front of the 7th Company, and as they passed through the enemy tanks, one Chinese tank concealed in a small hole in the dirt about 165 feet away in the two o’clock direction reversed a little bit and began aiming their gun barrel at the 712 tank.

Beeep—

The LWR (Laser Warning Receiver) rang with the laser detection warning sound, and as the Chinese tank aiming at tank 712 was marked on his monitor by a red dot, Sergeant Oh immediately assigned the target. Right as the target was assigned, White Tiger tank 712’s gun barrel automatically targeted the Chinese tank by rotating clockwise and aimed at its bottom tracks. The moment the target was locked on, the gun barrel of both sides’ tanks spouted fire.

Pop! Pew.

The armor-piercing sabot from the Chinese tank passed above the 712 tank while making a sound that ripped through the thin air, and the White Tiger’s photon cannon particle hit the Chinese tank straight in the side, effectively destroying the caterpillar track and scattering its fragments everywhere. Because the tank could have had a bomb inside, there was a large explosion as it stopped. The White Tiger’s unsurpassed rise time, which was the time it took for the tank to fire after a target was analyzed and assigned, was more than twice as fast as that of the Chinese Type-99 tank, so it was possible for them to fire at the same time despite the White Tiger assigning the target later.

After destroying the eighth Chinese tank, they deployed two ‘multi-wavelength smoke grenades’ from each side following the 7th Sergeant’s orders, then sped up to catch the armored vehicles. Though the White Tiger tank had high defenses from the hydronium alloy armor and an active SECM derangement system, it was dangerous for them to expose the backside of the tank. Thus, they deployed smoke grenades to block all waves, including infrared waves and visible waves, to protect the backside of the tank.

As the retreating Chinese type VN-1 infantry armored vehicles gradually became visible, tank 712’s Laser Warning Receiver began sounding the tank missile laser detection alarm.

Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep!

The anti-tank missile laser transmission point was marked by many red dots on the digital map behind the mountain range 1.37 miles away in the ten o’clock direction. It was an ambush attack from the Chinese anti-tank missile platoon to stop the 7th Company’s pursuit of the Chinese armored vehicles.

Though the electric defense technology of SECM (Super Electronic Counter Measures) made the chances of being shot by third-generation anti-tank missiles less than five percent, remembering the hit from the armor-piercing sabot earlier made them instinctively hit the firing button for the complex anti-tank and anti-aircraft ‘S-LLAM 60 Black Dragon Missile.’

* S-LLAM 60 Black Dragon Missile

A multipurpose complex missile that combined the functions of fifth-generation anti-tank missiles and short-distance anti-air missiles with a hydronium penetration ammunition warhead meant to pierce through armor and a flare that was a cluster bomb that dropped rubble to airplanes and ground forces.

From the two extended missile launchers mounted on both sides of each turret, one Black Dragon missile went 165 feet into the air while fuming blue flames before flying towards the assigned target at a frightening speed. Six streaks of white smoke arose from the Chinese Armor Brigade’s anti-tank platoon as anti-tank missiles flew over.

Bam! Crack crack—

“Aah!”

As the Black Dragon missile exploded 30 feet above the ground, one of the Chinese anti-tank platoon gunners was blown to pieces by the warhead’s penetration when it planted into the vehicle. The cluster bomb from the flare broke into hundreds of metal pieces and relentlessly fell over the anti-tank platoon with a 100-foot radius.

Crack craack crack—

As the anti-tank missiles were no longer guided, they lost direction and either spun around before firing into the air or planted themselves straight into the ground.

“Fly out.” As Sergeant Oh watched this through his monitor, the ends of his lips curled up. He turned to his monitor to input the Chinese infantry armored vehicles, which were running for their lives, in order to the target list.

“Staff Sergeant Kim, beat them up, starting with target one.”

The photon cannon gun barrel aimed perfectly at the back of the armored vehicle according to the assigned targets, and Gunner Staff Sergeant Kim Young-joo excitedly stepped on the pedal without hesitation.

Pew— Pew—

Simultaneously, the photon cannon from tank 712 spouted flames, and the other tanks spouted photon particles towards the Chinese infantry armored vehicles without lagging behind.

Crash! Craaash— Crash!

Every time the photon particle flew out with instantaneous speed, the Chinese infantry armored vehicle it targeted was covered in flames, and they dropped smoke grenades while swerving from side to side to escape the possibility of death.

In the midst of running and chasing, about ten photon particles in the northeast from the Chinese infantry armored vehicle opened their white teeth and consumed them. The 9th Company had shot these from their flank. After being baptized with photons for five minutes from the back and sides, the remaining Chinese Tank Brigade infantry armored vehicles and other vehicles sank in red flames along the long S203 road. The Chinese soldiers that had escaped from the flames crawled with limbs cut off or covering their bloody heads, and there were some that were covered in flames and screaming to be saved. It was a scene that showed the raw cruelty of war.

“Man, I’ve seen something I shouldn’t have.” Even for Sergeant Oh, who had been in the military for eight years, this heart-wrenching scene was very uncomfortable. He, therefore, mumbled to himself and looked away.

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“It’s really fortunate that it wasn’t us.”

“Isn’t this the reality of war?”

Curious about Sergeant Oh and Staff Sergeant Kim’s conversation, tank driver Corporal Yeom interrupted, “What are you talking about, sir?”

“It’s better that you don’t see it.”

Corporal Yeom, preoccupied with driving, looked through the driver’s auxiliary monitor and adjusted the zoom. “Geez! That’s horrifying.”

At this moment, the commander’s voice came from the Battalion Communications Network.

– We are now heading into battlefield cleanup. Seventh and 8th Companies, check the Chinese armored vehicles and other vehicles ahead, and 9th and Headquarters Companies, check the Chinese tanks in your current location. After you finish, regroup and wait for further orders in the open ground under the ridge ahead by 11:30. Dismissed!

After the commander’s simple orders and each sergeant’s additional orders, each tank slowly began moving.

“Let’s go! Slowly start driving!”

“Yes, sir!”

The first armored war between Korea’s 26th Tank Battalion and China’s 3rd Armored Division’s Tank Brigade had lasted for 30 minutes. Though at a disadvantage in numbers, the 26th Tank Battalion led a one-sided massacre of Chinese tanks in their first grand victory.

* * *

October 29th, 2020, 12:25, B2 Bunker (Armed Forces Joint Command Control situation room) in Seoul Yongsan-ku.

As the 32nd hour passed since the war with China was declared, the Joint Command Control room’s main screen displayed the Korean army’s attack route and current locations of the Chinese army in real-time, obtained from various reconnaissance satellites and planes, with various colored marks that were easy to read.

After taking care of lunch with a simple ration pack, Chairman of the Joint Staff Kang Yi-sik sat in his chair and scrutinized the main screen to see if there was any situation that varied even slightly from the ‘Rise of Goguryeo’ plan and discussed opinions with many operations staff members. At this time, they heard from the communications operator.

“There’s a report from the VII maneuver corps. Currently, the vanguard brigade of the VII corps, the 60th Armored Brigade 26th Tank Battalion, met and began engagement with the Chinese Tank Brigade at 11:15, one hour and ten minutes ago! The enemy tank brigade was destroyed with no friendly casualties! They reported that they are currently analyzing the enemy tank brigade casualties and status. I will upload the detailed contents onto the fifth screen.”

The Chairman, looking at the fifth screen from the operator’s report, smiled faintly. The fifth screen displayed the results of the engagement, including the number of enemy tanks shot, the number of infantry armored vehicles, and various other detailed data and statistics. There were also clear video files shot from the sky by the spider drone.

“They massacred them in a fight between a brigade and a battalion against China’s newest grade Type-99G tank. The White Tiger tanks that we had made in Olympus are certainly monsters, just as the rumors state. Hahaha, don’t you think so?” said Chief of Army Staff Shin Sung-yong with triumph and a smug smile.

“With this, we can send the VII maneuver corps to attack faster than we predicted.”

“If the war lasts longer, we’re at a bigger disadvantage, so we will go consecutively.”

* * *

October 29th, 2020, 14:30, Beigou Shangbao mountain, 47 miles northwest of Dandong, China.

“This is all because of Sergeant Oh. What is this?” Staff Sergeant Kim said while looking at Sergeant Oh with resentment.

“Hey! I’m sorry.”

Thirty minutes ago, tank 712’s Sergeant Oh, Staff Sergeant Kim, and Corporal Yeom, while enjoying lunch after regrouping, were called by the commander. Sergeant Oh, believing that they would be praised by the commander for making the greatest contribution to the battle, triumphantly headed to the commander’s barracks. However, the expected praise was nowhere to be found, and they returned after 30 minutes of scolding. This was because they hadn’t listened to the commander’s orders and instead fired the opening shot.

“The commander’s punishment will kill me before the war does.” Corporal Yeom, while wiping off his sweat-covered face with a wet wipe, spoke with resentment in his voice.

“Hey! I said I was sorry! Stop, okay?” Apologetic that his subordinates were being punished because of him, Sergeant Oh scratched his head and continuously repeated that he was sorry. “When the war is over, I’ll treat you guys to good food. Okay? So stop whining!”

Hearing the rumors, 3rd Platoon Sergeant Lee walked over while grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey, Sergeant Oh. I heard you were destroyed by the commander?”

“Get out of here! I don’t have any strength left in me to fight with you. This haeng-nim [2] is very tired, so go away.”

“You must be tired, since you shot like that without following orders.”

“Get out.”

“Don’t get worked up. This is all because of your hasty personality.”

“Man, I need to move out!”

“But to get to my point, there’s a tank commander meeting at three, so come to the company commander’s barracks. I came here to tell you in case you didn’t hear about it because of your punishment earlier.”

Continuing to enjoy the situation, Sergeant Lee looked at Staff Sergeant Kim and Corporal Yeom with a look of sympathy and continued to speak. “You guys have it hard, meeting such a bad sergeant. I’ll leave now. Also, heads up—the company commander is very angry he was disciplined by the battalion commander because of you.”

As Sergeant Lee turned around to leave for his tank after teasing him until the end, Sergeant Oh gave flipped him off and shouted, “You bonehead! Eat this.”

[1]: The Chinese character for the Korean word “suk” means rock.

[2]: “Older brother” in his dialect.

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