Damn the World, Ride a Submarine - Chapter 213



Only Krnovel

Episode 213 – The Marine Corps

My brief speech on making Yunnan a federal state continued.

“The autonomous state of Yunnan Federation can be formed by merging existing cities and autonomous prefectures or forming them independently. If there are cities or autonomous prefectures that do not want this measure, I will not stop them from becoming independent on their own.”

I was about to end my speech here, but I felt I had to tell them how vain their rights are when they ignore their duties.

“Joining the Federation is also your choice. However, regions that do not join the Federation will lose all support from the OSS. You will also be responsible for your own national defense.”

– Well, then who will be the head of the federal government?

“Until the federal government system is stabilized, Commander Zhang Yuanmin of the OSS Yunnan Army will be the military leader of the federal government.”

– ah ···.

The crowd began to stir. Commander Zhang Weiyuanmin was also surprised. It was an impromptu decision for me as well.

I felt it was necessary to suppress the autonomous prefectures and cities of Yunnan Province by force.

Yunnan Province’s complex political relations had to be suppressed by force, but there was no clear answer as to how to do so.

However, I thought that the somewhat unreasonable behavior shown by Zhang Weiyuanmin might be the only answer. I thought that kind of atmosphere would be useful for the time being.

“The name of the federation will be YFF Yunnan Free Federation. Again, participation in YFF is yours. There will be no coercion.”

* YFF (Yunnan Free Federation)

“And… Commander Jang.”

“Yes, sir. I am waiting.”

“Now, let’s wrap up the meeting.”

“all right.”

Watching the Yunnan Provincial Conference, one thing was clear.

There was no force or person there to fill the leadership vacuum. And Zhang Wei’anmin’s actions seemed more like a strong decision than a sense of recklessness.

It must have been a difficult decision for him to lead his men in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and surrender to us, and his process of becoming an OSS Yunnan Army member must have been no different.

At least I learned that he is a person who knows exactly when his power is at its turning point and acts without hesitation once he has made a decision.

…

YFF summoned Zhang Yuanmin and Vice Minister Li to discuss the formation of the Yunnan Free Federation.

“Commander Jang!”

– Yes, sir.

“I’m sure you can run the federal government well.”

– I am taken aback by the sudden assignment, but I will do my best for the Marshal and the people.

“Good. I hope that Commander Jang, like your name, will not lose his heart for the people.”

– I will follow your will, my lord.

“Commander, what is the political atmosphere in Yunnan Province after the joint meeting?”

– I think I’m starting to realize reality a little now.

“What is this reality you are talking about?”

– The fact that it is meaningless to debate who should be the subject of Yunnan Province’s independence.

– But since the enemy gave us a choice, tens of thousands of different claims and policies were clearly organized.

“Hmm… But I don’t think it would be good to have too many autonomous countries….”

The manager came forward and explained the situation.

– I don’t think you have to worry too much about that part.

“is it so?”

– Yes. The Han-dominated cities of Zhaotong, Qujing, Kunming, and Yuxi are likely to unite as Free China…

– OSSIA is guiding the integration of other minority autonomous prefectures into 4 or 5 to suit the regional characteristics.

“But aren’t there more cities centered around the Han Chinese?”

– Yes, that’s right. There are Lincang, Pu’er, Baoshan, Lijiang, etc., but they are geographically separated from Kunming, the stronghold of Free China.

– And although they are Han Chinese, their identity is different from that of the mainland, so they are trying to integrate with other autonomous regions.

– I also think that it is not good for the Free China, an autonomous Han Chinese state, to become too large.

“First of all, it seems urgent to absorb the scattered armies in each autonomous region and Free China into the federal army.”

– I don’t think that will be too difficult. In the meantime, Free China has only been gathering troops, but has not actually been able to play the role of an army.

“I see. Commander Jang, you will also have to serve as the commander of the Federation Forces.”

When Zhang Yuanmin was called to assume command of the federal forces of Yunnan Federation, he straightened his posture and saluted the camera.

– Your Majesty, are you leaving both the government and the military in my hands?

“That’s right.”

– I am honored that Your Majesty has trusted me with this trust. I will do my best.

“Okay. For any difficult matters, you can discuss them with OSS Southern Army Lieutenant General Kim Jong-oh and Intelligence Service Director Lee.”

– all right.

Commander Jang hesitated for a moment and then continued.

– Your Majesty, I have a suggestion to make.

“Yes. Go ahead.”

– The OSS Southern Forces deployed in Myanmar seem to be geographically too far away to support Yunnan Province in the event of an emergency.

“Well, that makes sense. I will arrange for the Yunnan Federal Army to be stationed in Yunnan Province until they settle down.”

– Thank you, Your Majesty. And what about the Cha Min-soo Award?

“The Northern Army and General Cha Min-soo will continue to maintain military rule in Hainan Province.”

– all right.

This led to the creation of another OSS satellite state, the Yunnan Free Federation, the second after the Far Eastern Republic.

…

As the stifling winter drew to a close, good news arrived: two self-propelled artillery battleships, fully commissioned, were arriving in Kiribati.

From Korea, each ship was loaded with 108 K9-A3 self-propelled howitzers and went to Kiribati while conducting maritime training.

The self-propelled gun battleship was larger than initially planned, with a length of 269 m and a width of 52.5 m.

Equipped with nuclear propulsion and a full load displacement of 105,000 tons, it became a battleship the same size as a super-large aircraft carrier.

Although it was not a battleship for naval battles, it was exciting for me, who had a romantic notion of large ships and large guns. (That doesn’t mean it was a useless weapon system for naval battles, though.)

On the deck, 24 K9-A3 self-propelled howitzers were arranged in four rows, allowing 96 self-propelled howitzers to fire simultaneously.

Below deck, there were facilities for convenience, including a maintenance depot capable of repairing four self-propelled guns at the same time, an ammunition depot, and artillery quarters.

Additionally, the hangar was loaded with 18 spare self-propelled howitzers and about 30 K10 ammunition resupply armored vehicles.

It was literally a floating artillery base on the sea.

Considering that one artillery battalion is equipped with 18 guns, this means that five artillery battalions are deployed on the ship.

It was as if a single self-propelled artillery battleship had more firepower than an artillery group operating on its own.

It was not only designed to be used for coastal bombardment, but also to enable the landing of self-propelled guns on ships and to perform the duties of an artillery headquarters once a landing beachhead was established.

The self-propelled artillery battleship attended the ship entry ceremony into the OSS-LAND main island port.

It was a place to commemorate and celebrate the hard work of the sailors and warships who had sailed 10,000 km through the rough seas from Korea to here.

Those who saw the majesty of the battleship had something to say.

-Wow~

– It’s romantic.

– Romantic?

– Doesn’t it look like a dreadnought or Musashi battleship from the era of large ships and large cannons?

– Ah~ haha. Now that I think about it, it looks modern, yet very retro.

– A battleship that can fire 96 cannons simultaneously…

– They say it can fire 4,800 shells in 5 minutes.

– That’s right. Since the K9-A3 can fire more than 10 rounds per minute…

– But how many ships like that are they going to make?

– Two ships have arrived now, and three more will be commissioned soon. And they say they are building five more ships.

– Wow~ If there are 10 ships, wouldn’t that be 48,000 shells fired in 5 minutes?

– Wow~ It’s literally steel rain. It’s scary. Haha.

– With the Arsenal Ship, it seems like our OSS has surpassed the Korean artillery department. Hahaha.

The sight of the self-propelled gun battleship with its 96 gun barrels pointed toward the sky was worthy of the expression ‘overwhelming.’

It was a new firepower ship that could perfectly complement the artillery power that had previously relied on missiles.

For the price of one missile, thousands of 150mm shells could be fired. The biggest problem with missiles was that they required a considerable amount of time to reload and resupply.

In that respect, it was fortunate that it was deployed at a time when the war was becoming more protracted and routine.

I couldn’t help but think about the name of the new ship. This was because the name Shin Gi Jeon was used for the Arsenal Ship, a joint firepower ship.

Although it was a bit cumbersome, we decided to inherit the names of the Shinki-Jeon. The Arsenal ships were named Daeshin-Jeon 1~5, and the self-propelled gun battleships were named Jungshin-Jeon 1 and 2.

In the process of actually building self-propelled artillery battleships and creating tactical doctrines, an ambiguous situation arose regarding assignment to a specific military branch.

The Navy would be in charge of operating ships at sea, but the Army had to operate the K9 self-propelled howitzer. And the Navy’s technical skills were needed for maritime shooting.

also.

Once they landed, they had to move under the command of the army. However, there was a contradiction in that the headquarters for supply support and command was located on the battleship.

After much deliberation, they decided to create a new military unit called the Marine Corps Artillery. It was the artillery version of the Marine Corps.

When the Air Force secures air supremacy and the Navy secures control of the seas, the naval artillery neutralizes the enemy on the coast.

And once the assault force secured the landing beachhead, they completed a tactical doctrine in which the landing force and artillerymen would land together.

The OSS artillery formed a group to move with self-propelled gun battleships.

The artillery division was assigned three Aegis destroyers for air defense, one CGN air defense cruiser, and two ESB drone carriers for observation, fire command, and anti-submarine operations, enabling independent operations.

It was expected that the artillery would be a force that would fill the 2% gap between the army and the navy.

With this, the OSS armored force began to take shape.

*** OSS Armored Corps Organization ***

* 4 armored divisions

1,200 K2-A3 Black Panther tanks and the same number of TARC (tactical remote command armored vehicles) / 400 support vehicles including ammunition supply armored vehicles / drones and artillery regiments for each division

* Independent brigade, leaflet

Air Support Unit – 100 FA50 unmanned light attack aircraft

2 Marine Artillery Brigades – 4 Heavy Machine Gun Self-Propelled Artillery Battleships (2 ships in a brigade)

Landing Armored Flotilla – 10 100,000-ton landing support ships and supply ships

* * * * * * *

I worked with people who participated in the development of self-propelled battleships and completed tactical doctrine.

“Dr. Kim Beom-jun. If the self-propelled gun is exposed to the sea breeze, there will probably be various problems. How did you solve them?”

…