21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 100

October 31, 2020, 17:30 (China Standard Time, 16:30)

Skies above the Pan-Jin Province, China.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

The Hong-ku J-20 fighter jet Flight Wing’s RWR (radar warning receiver) alarm started to ring as the jets flew through the skies above the Pan-Jin Province. The Hong-ku flight leader checked the radar monitor, but nothing showed up on the screen. The KJ-2000 air-radar didn’t detect anything, either.

-Launch! Launch! Launch! Arms!

The Hong-ku flight leader swore as he ordered his two flight wings to make evasive maneuvers.

-Hong-ku 1, Hong-ku Flight Wing, Lo Hong-du Flight Wing, music on and emergency break turn!

The eight J-20 stealth fighter jets all sprayed chaffs and flares, then scattered in all directions to make evasive maneuvers.

Wooosh~ Bang! Boom! Bang!

The three J-20 stealth fighter jets were hit by the Rattlesnake missiles flying at Mach 8, and blew up in the sky, causing fragments to fly in all directions. The flight leader of the Hong-ku Flight Wing was the only one who succeeded in evading the missiles. However, his relief at surviving was short-lived, because the RWR alarm began ringing again.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

“What are the KJ-2000 doing? Idiots!”

When the J-20 stealth fighter jets were first deployed to the field, China claimed they rivaled America’s F-22 jets, and paraded them to Western nations. However, in battle, the jets showed limitations in their anti-air radar, which was equivalent to that of a 4th-generation fighter. In fact, if the J-20 stealth fighter jets were fighting against another country other than Korea, they wouldn’t have suffered such a crushing defeat.

-Hong-ku 1, abort and egress.

The Hong-ku flight leader felt the fear of fighting against an invisible enemy and ordered and relayed the retreat. The Lo Hon-du flight leader agreed with his opinion, not wanting to lose his life in a hopeless battle.

-Lo Hong-du 1, abort and immelmann turn! Egress burner on go.

The RWR alarm of the five J-20 stealth fighter jets kept ringing as they turned around using the immelmann evasive turn, and then used their burners to head back to the Jinhzhou air force base.

Ten seconds later, however, a missile hit the Hong-ku flight leader’s engine, causing a fire to erupt in the cockpit and the jet to explode. The four Lo Hong-du Flight Wing jets were also hit by the Phoenix jets’ Rattlesnake missiles and met the same fate.

Unable to complete their mission, the eight J-20 stealth fighter jets could only wait in fear before being blow up in the air.

* * *

October 31, 2020, 17:40 (China Standard Time, 16:40)

39 km from Sun-Yang Province, China.

The 711 and 712 tanks were fighting fiercely against the Chinese tanks advancing towards them in order to protect the 713 tank, which had become immobile.

Woosh~ Woooooo~ Boom, bang!

Pew~ pew~

While under fire, the 712 tank had already destroyed seventeen tanks in their fight against the Chinese Type-96 tanks, which had closed the distance to 800.

The 712 tank’s commander and cannon operator were all busy marking targets and firing away.

From the rear of the Type-96 tanks, at 3 km away, the AFT-10 anti-tank (Hongchun-10) armored vehicle showed up and fired two rounds of HJ-10 anti-tank missiles from its four-rocket launch system. The AFT-10 anti-tank was from the anti-tank armored forces that had survived the Korean artillery’s cannon fire.

The HJ-10 anti-tank missile, which rivaled the 10 km range of America’s AGM-114 Hellfire anti-tank missile, drew a trajectory across the sky with white smoke and flew toward the 1st platoon. The 1st White Tiger Tank Platoon’s anti-tank missile alarm had already begun ringing, but they didn’t have enough time to react.

Sergeant First Class Oh Young-taek, the commander of the 712 tank, gave Staff Sergeant Kim Young-ju the command of the photon cannon, then fired the five remaining Black Dragon missiles to retaliate against the AFT-10 anti-tank missiles. Simultaneously firing the photon cannon and launching the Black Dragon missiles was the best way they could retaliate.

Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!

The three Black Dragon missiles flew off from the 712 tank’s launchpad while emitting blue flames, while one of the HJ-10 anti-tank missiles fired by the AFT-10 armored vehicle fell near the White Tiger tank, causing a large explosion.

Boom!

One of the two HJ-10 anti-tank missiles fell near the White Tiger tank, while the other directly hit its cockpit, causing the tank to shake from the impact.

Corporal Yeom Hoon-gi’s screams rang through the headsets. Sergeant First Class Oh Young-taek, who had grabbed the safety handles in shock, called for Corporal Yeom Hoon-gi via the headset.

“What the? Corproal Yeom, are you hurt?”

“No, no sir. I just hit my head on the upper hatch because of the shock and accidentally screamed.”

“D*mn it, you scared me! We have no problems mobilizing, right?”

“Sorry, sir. We have no issues apart from our 12 o’clock camera being damaged.”

“The 12 o’clock camera? Doesn’t that make it difficult to maneuver?”

“No, I need to see the field myself while I drive. I drove a Black Panther tank when I was a private. No need to worry, sir.”

They were outnumbered, and because the 713 tank was immobile, they were unable to retreat. Suddenly, however, the sound of photo cannons firing rang out from their left side. It was from the 26th Armored Battalion’s 7th Company.

“All right! Our company finally came to give us backup. Yeom, let’s move forward! Let’s stir them up from the front!”

“Yes, sir. We’re moving now.”

The 7th Company, which had been battling the 21st Armored Battalion from China’s 1st Armored Division, had swiftly turned around to back up the 1st Platoon.

-Tank 712, engaging in battle further ahead. Over!

-711, Roger that. Over!

With the other tanks from the 7th Company, the 712 tank charged forward toward enemy lines.

“Let’s defile them with the White Tiger’s high-speed maneuvers! Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood, sir!’

Staff Sergeant Kim Young-joo and Corporal Yeom Hoon-gi confidently answered Sergeant First Class Oh Young-taek.

Vroooooooo.

The 712 tank pierced through the forty Chinese tanks’ formation and used its high-speed maneuverability and evasive movements while repeatedly firing its photon cannon.

Boom! Boom!

Since the battle was being fought at such a close distance, there were a lot more shells flying than before, but the 712 tank didn’t seem to mind. It destroyed the Chinese tanks and armored vehicles.

Thousands of tanks and armored vehicles engaged in a battle on Sun-Yang’s southern great plains, turning the plains into a graveyard. As time passed, the battle became more fierce, but with the 26th Armored Battalion as the lead, the 60th and 61st Armored Brigades charged through the center of China’s 1st Armored Division with its superior defensive capabilities and turned the tide of the battle, despite being outnumbered.

* * *

October 31, 2020, 18:00 (China Standard Time, 17:00)

The 70th Artillery Battalion, 31 km southwest of Bun-Xi, China.

“Deviation angle! Six, one, hundred, angle of launch! Five, two, zero, DP-ICM round with compound fuses!”

The third cannon commander in the Bravo Artillery Unit from the 20th Armored Division’s 70th Artillery Battalion checked the specs coming from the FDP and gave the order. The six K-9A1 Lightning cannons, which were in a W-shaped formation, were reloaded and fired at once under the orders of each cannon commander.

Boom~ woosh~ boom~ woosh~

At the start of the battle, the 7th Mobile Corps and the 65th Army Group artillery were playing a game of hide-and-seek, firing anti-artillery rounds at each other and then moving their positions to fire again. However, the Korean artillery’s superior movement and positioning speed, faster detection of launch sources, and superior firepower, gave them the edge. The Chinese artillery’s attack started to dwindle, and the Korean armored forces were able to free themselves from the artillery attacks.

In addition, the other artillery units from the 7th Mobile Corps, including the 70th Artillery Battalion, imputed the coordinates that were transmitted in real time and focused on target firing and repeated firing. But due to their continuous firing, each artillery battalion ran out of the ammunition they brought with them, and had to receive ammunition from the K-70T armored ammunition transport vehicle.

* * *

October 31, 2020, 18:20

B2 Bunker, Yongsan-ku, Seoul (ROK Military Joint Command Center)

The screens in the Joint Command Center showed the movie-like footage of the battle in the Sun-Yang province, and the largest screens showed a digital map marked with the position of each force, along with various organized information and stats.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kang Ui-sik had received the report that thirty minutes ago the sixteen Peregrine Falcons from the 171st Aviation Brigade had annihilated the 65th Army Group’s command center, and he was now stroking his beard, which had grown from not shaving for four days. Operations Director Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun spoke to the chairman, who was watching the screen.

Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun organized the report from the 7th Mobile Corps and briefed the chairman on its contents. “Now that the battle has gone into the night, we’ll have the advantage. Soon, the 171st Aviation Brigade will move at high-speed to strike the 39th Army Group’s armored brigade. The 61st and 62nd Mechanized Infantry Brigades will take on the 65th Army Group’s mechanized infantry divisions, while the 60th Armored Brigade will march toward the Sun-Yang area.”

“If we push up to the Sun-Yang province, then there’s a high chance the Chinese air force will retaliate, right? What will our response be?”

“At Sun-an base there are six KF-21P Phoenix fighter jet flight wings and six KA-11P Phoenix ground attack jets standing by to take off. If they’re deployed, then the Southern and Eastern fronts will each be aided by three flight wings.”

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff looked at the operations director, then asked the intelligence director beside him a question. “What’s the status on the Chinese ballistic missile bases?”

The Joint Chiefs of Staff had already predicted it would be possible that China would begin ballistic missile attacks if Sun-Yang fell. Therefore, because they had expected the Apollo reconnaissance satellite would be shot down, they had thirty Falconeye unmanned stealth reconnaissance drones fly 20 km above the surface.

“There have been no movements for launch at the Chinese ballistic missile bases, but 45% of the vehicle ballistic missile forces, which makes up 60% of the total Chinese missile forces, have not been identified, so it’s too early to judge.”

“Of course, the vehicle-launched missiles will be a problem, as we expected, so keep a close watch on them too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“The only thing we can trust is the tactical strike satellite Zeus. Tell the Zeus command center to be prepared for ballistic missile launches.”

“Yes, sir,” the operation director answered.

* * *

October 31, 2020, 18:50 (China Standard Time, 17:50)

30 km Southwest of Sun-Yang Province, China.

Night fell three hours after the battle began on Sun-Yang’s southern great plains, and the darkness gave the Korean forces an enormous advantage. The Korean forces’ optical visual equipment allowed them to see their surroundings as bright as day. Using this advantage, the 60th Armored Brigade’s battalions broke through the Chinese forces’ center formation and handed off the scattering mission to the 107th Armored Battalion. Then, the 26th and 32nd Battalions turned toward the Sun-Yang area to strike the 39th Army Group’s last defensive line, which was made up of mechanized infantry divisions and armored brigades.

The 172nd Aviation Brigade’s sixteen FAH-91SP Peregrine Falcon attack choppers were moving through the sky at high speeds. Their targets were the 39th Army Group’s armored brigades and mechanized infantry divisions.

Woosh, Woosh,

The sixteen Peregrine Falcons, neither jets nor helicopters but something in between, roared over the 26th Armored Battalion’s heads. When the 39th Army Group’s defensive line could be seen from 9 km away, the flight leader of the Peregrine Falcons gave the order via the comms line.

-Tango 1, change to helicopter mode!

-Waltz 1, Roger.

-Blues 1, Roger.

-Samba 1, Roger.

The Peregrine Falcon chopper flight wing all began to move their rotors to change back to helicopter mode, and then began to move when the order came again from the flight leader.

-Tango 1, target distance 9000, line Everest! Engage offense, over! action

-Waltz 1, Roger.

-Blues 1, Roger.

-Samba 1, Roger.

-Tango 1, Go!

Dudududududududududududu

The sixteen Peregrine Falcon attack choppers moved in a horizontal formation, their bodies pointing forward, as they approached the 39th Army Group’s armored brigades and mechanized infantry divisions. Then, they fired their Black Dragon missiles. On the ground, the 26th and 32nd Armored Battalions also moved slowly, and began their attack to break through the last line of defense in Sun-Yang.