Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 120



Only Krnovel

#120. I have to stop it now

March 14, 1949, 04:50.

The 200 F6F Hellcat fighter jets that took off from three aircraft carriers ignored the Vladivostok port and flew straight to the inland area of ​​Vladivostok.

Here was their goal.

The 393rd Rifle Division, 386th Rifle Division, and 258th Rifle Division were Hellcat prey.

In original history, these three divisions were the ones who defeated the Kwantung Army in the southern Far East of Manchuria, crossed the Duman River, and moved down the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.

However, this time, they did not even dream of crossing the Duman River and invading, and were left behind to guard against a possible northward advance by the Republic of Korea Army or an invasion of Vladivostok by the Navy.

In particular, as the Soviet Union was expelled from the Allied Forces, it did not receive support for ships from the United States or Britain until the end of the war, and naturally did not receive compensation for ships owned by the Axis powers after the end of the war.

Even so, the Soviet Union was a powerhouse with a weak navy, and in this situation, the Soviet Navy’s Pacific Fleet was extremely weak.

Speaking of ships, there are 10 fully loaded 2,400-ton Tacoma Class Frigates that Roosevelt received before his death, the 1,200-ton Wicks class, which was also built by the U.S. Navy in the 1910s and handed over to the British Navy, and then given to the British for use, and PT boats. That was all.

On the other hand, the Republic of Korea Navy had a huge number of ships stolen from the United States under various pretexts.

There were as many as four Essex-class aircraft carriers, as well as numerous Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, Cleveland-class light cruisers, Gearing-class destroyers, Allen M. Sumner-class destroyers, and Fletcher-class destroyers.

And because the Soviet military leaders were aware of this situation to some extent, they did not even dare to think about doing anything with the navy. Instead, they had to leave three divisions near Vladivostok due to concerns about a maritime invasion by the Korean Navy.

They said they were coping in their own way, but it was a tragedy for the Soviet military that the Republic of Korea Navy was much stronger than the Soviet military leadership expected, and even the Chief of Staff of the Korean Navy was a very capable person, although he was quite crooked.

And then the tragedy began.

Wooooow!

The hell cats soon divided into three raiding parties and each went out to find their own food.

This mission was to devour one Soviet rifle division per air raid unit, and their locations were already known through Albatross and drones, so finding them was no problem.

The first to strike were about 60 Hellcats belonging to Carrier Strike Group One, which took off from the aircraft carrier CV-1 Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin.

Shuuuk!

Kwaaaaang!

An ammunition depot of the 393rd Rifle Division stationed near Artyom, 37km north of Vladivostok Port, exploded.

“Aaaah!”

“The ammunition depot exploded! “How did this happen!”

“Isn’t there some guy who drank vodka and smoked cigarettes?”

“Holy shit!”

Since it was hit by a KGGB that flew 60km, no one knew why the ammunition depot exploded.

I couldn’t hear any gunfire, and I couldn’t even hear the sound of the air raid unit’s propellers, which should have been heard gradually due to the constant roar of the bombs.

Kwaaaaang!

Immediately after the second KGGB flew in and directly hit the oil storage facility, causing a massive explosion, all troops of the 393rd Rifle Division finally realized that the explosion earlier was not an accident.

“They are enemies!”

“shit! Where is it coming from? “I didn’t even hear a gunshot!”

Quang! Quack!

Wooooow!

“Ha, it’s heaven! Air defense! Air defense!”

Quang!

“Kaaaaak!”

“Turn off the lights! “I mean, turn off the lights!”

But the disaster begins now.

While the entire division was in a hurry, the cats from hell attacked.

Shuaaaaaa! Shuaaaaaa!

bang! bang! bang!

Dozens of HVAR rockets began raining down on their heads, destroying and slaughtering everything.

“Ugh!”

“It’s a rocket!”

The problem was that the division’s troops were too dense.

Vladivostok is a city that developed from the southern tip of the Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula to the west of the peninsula along the Amur Bay, with a length of 30 km and a width of 12 km.

As a result, when the enemy’s powerful naval fleet attacked, the entire peninsula and the entire coast leading to the inside of the Amur Gulf were within the range of naval guns.

Therefore, the divisions stationed to protect Vladivostok, especially the 393rd Rifle Division, which had the task of being the first to provide support in the event of an enemy invasion, had no choice but to be concentrated in a narrow area in front of Artyom, and this increased anger.

Shuaaaaaa! Sigh!

Quang! bang!

HVAR rockets continued to pour in, causing explosions.

“Aaaah!”

“help me!”

“스탈린 개새끼!”

Screams erupted from everywhere.

and.

Piyoyoyo! Kwaaaaang!

A 500-pound napalm bomb was dropped, creating an inferno.

And then the 20mm machine gun and 12.7mm machine gun fire.

Ta-da-da-da-da! Ta-da-da-da-da!

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!”

While the Soviets could not even lift a finger, Yi Sun-sin’s carrier air group consumed all of its ammunition and moved away, as if navigating a no-man’s land.

“Ugh! Unbelievable!”

Solovyov, the commander of the 393rd Rifle Division, looked at his unit, which had become a sea of ​​fire.

His soldiers were burning to death, but there wasn’t much he could do.

Since those who were consumed by the fire were as good as dead, it was better to choose to save at least one more soldier and one more piece of equipment.

Obviously, this air strike wasn’t going to be everything.

“Stop relief efforts! “Just leave the fire alone!”

“Yes, comrade division commander!”

“Collect your troops and weapons! Those guys are from the sea! “Then this air strike is not everything!”

“then… … .”

“Sokka! The naval gunfire will soon pour down! “Hurry up and get your weapons and troops!”

“All right!”

Division Commander Solovyov’s orders may be seen as extremely inhumane, but in fact, his judgment was correct.

However, the problem was that the enemy commander had a bad temper and was not a person who would give him a chance to do that.

* * *

05:20.

25km south of Vladivostok Port.

Republic of Korea Navy 7th Mobile Fleet Flagship CV-1 Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin Command and Control Room.

“You’re riding well!”

“Well, they even sprayed napalm.”

President Kim Jong-woo exclaimed that the ride was going well while watching the video being broadcast in real time on the monitor.

Like he said, he was riding really well.

Not only Artyom’s 393rd Rifle Division, but also the 386th Rifle Division and 258th Rifle Division stationed in the northwest and west of the Amur Gulf were reduced to a sea of ​​fire after receiving air strikes.

“Okay then, should we continue? The Gearing-class destroyers and Cleveland light cruisers of the 1st Carrier Strike Group continued to advance into the Amur Bay and bombarded the 393rd Division. The light cruisers and destroyers of the 2nd Carrier Strike Group serve the 386th Rifle Division, and the ships of the 3rd Carrier Strike Group serve the 258th Rifle Division. Of course, we will quickly deal with the Pacific Fleet and support other assault groups.”

“Commander, wouldn’t it be a bit dangerous for the assault group ships to go too far into the Amur Gulf?”

“What are you talking about? “You have to row when the water comes in, right?”

“Still, going into the bay is a bit… … .”

The fleet chief of staff was reluctant to send the fleet into a narrow bay, so he initially dissuaded Kim Jong-woo.

“The Navy must get rid of its habit of being reluctant to enter the bay. In times like this, you have to go in boldly. “There’s nothing that can threaten us, so why worry?”

“That’s true.”

“And we need to completely destroy them before we land the landing force, and to do that, naval gunfire is the best. Since you only see a sea of ​​fire in the video, you may be mistaken that they have been neutralized, but if there are three rifle divisions, an air strike alone will not be enough to disintegrate them. Marines are our children too, and I don’t want to see them get hurt even slightly. Especially in the operation I command!”

“All right.”

05:45.

Three heavy cruisers, including the 1st Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, CA-991 Lee Hoe-young, took up position 15km offshore south of Vladivostok Port and formed a straight formation to fire all guns.

and.

“Fire guns!”

Quang! Quang! Quang!

As the Baltimore-class 203mm main gun began to fire, its secondary 5-inch 127mm guns also began pouring out shells.

The 203mm Mk 12 guns were capable of firing a whopping 118kg of shells over 27km based on regular high explosive (HE) shells, and the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers had 9 such guns per ship.

In addition, due to the nature of the naval guns, the rate of fire was high, so each gun fired at a rate of four rounds per minute. In conclusion, one Baltimore-class ship could fire 36 high explosive bombs weighing 118 kg per minute.

However, since there are three ships, the combined rate is 106 rounds per minute.

In short, the value of a cruiser or battleship lies in this enormous firepower.

Is that it?

Since there were as many as 12 secondary 5-inch twin guns, even if the two opposite side turrets could not be used, eight 5-inch guns per ship could fire at a rate of fire of 22 rounds per minute.

If one ship fires, it fires 176 rounds per minute, and if three ships fire together, it fires 528 rounds.

Since this is the firepower of three Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, it is nothing short of a disaster for the Soviet Pacific Fleet, which is now struggling to escape with its boilers turned on in port.

Quang! bang! bang! Kuaang!

Within a few minutes after the three Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, including Lee Hoe-young, began firing, the Soviet Union’s Pacific Fleet, as well as its bases, began to burn.

And almost simultaneously, the light cruisers and destroyers of the three carrier strike groups that had entered deep into the Amur Gulf also began shelling the rifle division they were in charge of.

One assault group consisted of two Cleveland-class light cruisers and four Gearing-class destroyers.

Cleveland’s main guns were 6 inches and 155 mm, with 12 guns per ship, and it also had six 5-inch dual-purpose guns in twin turrets.

This terrifying firepower was applied to a division already struggling in hell.

To put it bluntly, they did not build underground fortresses in advance and prepare for them like the Japanese army in the Pacific during World War II.

In a completely exposed situation, the bombardment of the fleet, controlled by drones and control computers, and boasting frightening accuracy, inflicted unbearable damage on the Soviet rifle division on the ground.

Quaaaang! bang! bang!

“Aaaah!”

“Kwaaaak!”

“What kind of bastard’s artillery fire is so accurate!”

Even if I threw away my weapons and everything and ran away, the artillery fire chased me.

As if a ghost is chasing you.

Just like that, the three rifle divisions that protected the Soviet Union’s Pacific Fleet and Vladivostok were melting down.

06:20.

CV-1 Yi Sun-sin.

Fleet command and control room.

“Oh oh! Good ride! okay! Keep shooting! Hahaha!”

Chief of Staff Kim Jong-woo’s eyes were flashing and madness was flowing, and the Fleet Chief of Staff looked at Kim Jong-woo with worried eyes.

It seems like the president has started to go on a rampage again, and if that happens, it’s in trouble.

The Chief of Staff sighed as he had received instructions from Go Seok-man in advance to stop General Kim if he went out of his way.

Now we have to stop.

At least the three heavy cruisers’ artillery fire had long since left nowhere to hit.

Of course, we only fired rapidly at first, and after that we took turns firing at low speeds while resting.

Finally, the fleet chief of staff spoke.

“Commander!”

“Hahaha… … . huh? why?”

“You must stop shooting the three Lee Hoi-young class ships now. “If we hit more, the damage to civilians will get worse.”

“Innocent civilians in war… … .”

“Does that look like Japan right now? Commander, Lemay is not that crazy guy.”

In fact, it seemed similarly crazy, but the Chief of Staff swallowed his words.

“… … .”

“This is a facility we will use when we land, and it may become our territory. So please stop.”

“Oh, I guess I got a little excited. Stop for now and prepare to send out the landing force.”

“All right.”

“Ask the aircraft to rest for a bit and then take turns escorting the landing force.”

“All right.”

07:00 sharp.

30 LST ships rushed to the beach near Vladivostok Port and began pouring out marines.