Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 29



Only Krnovel

#29. July 15th at 12 noon.

July 15, 1944, 9:23 a.m.

Headquarters of the 19th Division of the Japanese Joseon Army in Nanam, North Hamgyong Province.

Quang! Quack! bang!

“Chief of Staff Shinabe! Where on earth is the artillery fire coming from? where!”

“It looks like it’s south, but that’s not correct!”

“Holy shit! “You mean it’s not the Soviet Union?”

“Yes, Excellency Division Commander! “Judging by the loss of communication from Gyeongseong, it must be in the south!”

“Tank corps! Deploy the tank corps! “The 19th Search Regiment is also told to search the surrounding area as widely as possible!”

“under!”

Lieutenant General Yoshiharu Ozaki, commander of the 19th Division, felt like he was going crazy from the bombardment that suddenly started at 9 a.m. sharp.

What is this all of a sudden?

And what is the power of this terrifyingly accurate and ferocious bombardment?

However, it was difficult to even guess where the bombardment was coming from.

I just assumed it was south based on the gunshots and the angle at which they fell.

bang! Coooooo! Quack!

“Ugh!”

“Pagaya! “Hurry up and avoid it!”

“There is no place to escape!”

“Suddenly!”

Even the headquarters building was directly hit, so there was no need to mention other subordinate units.

“What kind of people are these people…”

“dismissal! “You must go underground!”

As the headquarters building began to collapse from a direct hit, Chief of Staff Takaharu Shinabe urgently shouted.

“I will never avoid…”

Quaaaang!

“Ugh!”

“Aaaah!”

Just as division commander Yoshiharu Ozaki was about to reject the chief of staff’s call for refuge, an artillery barrage landed on their heads, and the division command center was instantly thrown into chaos.

July 15th at 9:35 am.

23km south of the 19th Division.

“Tell them to keep pouring”

“All right.”

Brigadier General Lee Jae-ha, commander of the 3rd Brigade, opened his mouth while watching the video transmitted by the Albatross and the unmanned vehicle from the brigade command post located at the rear of the K808 command armored vehicle.

Although the 19th Division gave up the 74th Regiment to the 30th Division and even the 75th Regiment was reduced to a handful of blood in the Kotori area of ​​Jangjin County, the 19th Division was still one of the few elite divisions left in the Japanese army.

I could comfortably hit it with 155mm artillery fire from a distance like this, but I had no intention of approaching unnecessarily close and getting blinded by a bullet or creating an unnecessary variable.

“I’m sorry about this. “Isn’t it exactly like that?”

“What do you mean?”

“That’s it. “Why, when playing with kids, if I hold my head with my hand, I can’t even reach it with my short arms, so I end up just punching in the air.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”

A burst of laughter erupted in the command center.

Because it was exactly as Lee Jae-ha said.

The opponent’s reach was out of reach, but they were in a situation where they were getting beat up with their long reach.

A complete fight between an adult and a child.

“The 19th Division’s tank corps is advancing this way.”

“I see, that’s a tank too…”

“No matter what, he was Lu Bu on the Sino-Japanese front.”

“That’s right. If they escape the bombardment, leave them alone. “Let K21 handle it.”

“All right.”

The 19th Division’s tank corps, composed of the Japanese Army’s main tank, the Type 97 heavy tank Chiha, raced south unconditionally, breaking through fierce artillery fire.

About 30 tanks were destroyed or disabled by artillery fire on the way, and only about 60 tanks remained.

Still, we desperately kept moving forward and moving forward.

It was clear that even if they were near the division garrison, they would become a target for artillery fire, and they thought that if they continued to advance like this and find those who were firing, they would be able to send them all to hell with the 47mm Type 1 tank gun, the main armament of their tank.

Grumbling.

In front of them, 10 K21A1 infantry fighting vehicles appeared, covering the Chiha tank corps as if in a crane-wing formation.

The distance is 2,500m.

“Fire when you approach 2,000m!”

“2,300! 2,200! 2,100! 2,000! “Start shooting!”

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The 40mm main gun of the K21 infantry fighting vehicle began firing at once.

The 40mm APFSDS wing-stabilized armor-piercing shell fired by a 70-caliber 40mm cannon boasts the ability to penetrate up to 200mm of armor even at a distance of 2,000m.

However, the Chi-Ha tank’s frontal armor is only 25mm.

There was no way I could handle it.

thud! thud! thud!

The K21’s flying bullets mercilessly penetrated the thin armor of the Chiha tank, tearing into pieces the bodies of the tank commander and gunner in the narrow turret and destroying the interior.

“Aaaah!”

“Ahh!”

The charging Chi-ha tank corps collapsed from the front.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

bang! Kkjjik!

“Ugh!”

In less than a minute, about 60 Chi-ha tanks were left, and now there are about 20.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

bang! bang!

“You guys! Save your bullets! “What if two guys shoot at the same time?”

Saving artillery shells was now a concern.

And when another minute passed, there were no more moving Chi-ha tanks to be found.

9:48 AM.

The 19th Division garrison was completely devastated.

“Stop shelling and start clearing up. “Advance carefully, with Grandpa Patton leading the way!”

“No dismounting or fighting until instructed!” If I get hit by a blind bullet, will you take responsibility? Repeat over and over through the loudspeaker to surrender! “I will crush you until you raise the white flag!”

Kurrrrr!

The heavy Patton tank took the lead, followed by the K21 and K200 armored vehicles, and without dismounting, they slaughtered the garrison only with their mounted 12.7mm heavy machine guns and 7.6mm machine guns.

Boom boom!

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

“Kwaaaaaak!”

“Aaaahhh!”

10:12 AM.

A bloody person crawled out from the remains of the building where the 19th Division headquarters was located, waving a white flag and shouting.

“surrender! I surrender! Please stop killing me! “Hehehe!”

It was Takaharu Shinabe, Chief of Staff.

“Stop killing! I surrender! “You bastards!”

Bloody tears flowed from Colonel Shinabe’s eyes.

The division commander died from a direct hit earlier.

I tried to surrender a long time ago, but when the headquarters building collapsed, the entrance also collapsed, so there was no way to surrender. Meanwhile, most of my subordinates had already been slaughtered, and my bitterness seemed to reach the sky.

10:50 am.

Brigadier General Lee Jae-ha was clicking his tongue as he looked around the 19th Division garrison.

“Huh! How miserable! “Why on earth didn’t you surrender until this happened?”

“Did you give me a chance to surrender?”

“…”

Lee Jae-ha had no choice but to slightly turn his head as Chief of Staff Shinabe looked at him with resentment.

“Hum hum!”

“Hehehe! “Who the hell are you?”

“We are the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea.”

“korea? No, Joseon was destroyed…”

“It’s back again. And, we are the last.”

“What do you mean?”

“The battle here is the last. “Now the entire Korean Peninsula has been restored by our military.”

“Well, that can’t be…”

“Then I hope you get good treatment. “The road ahead will not be smooth.”

Lee Jae-ha turned around, leaving the devastated Chief of Staff Shinabe alone.

Now it’s time to report.

11:10 a.m. 1944.

Expeditionary Force Headquarters of the Gyeongseong Government General.

“The 3rd Brigade Commander is looking for you, Commander.”

“Boy, it’s over now.”

I know that the 19th Division’s liquidation has ended with Albatross anyway, but an official report needs to be received.

– Commander.

“Say it. 3rd Brigade Commander”

– All battles have ended. Now the Korean Peninsula is completely ours.

“Well, Jeju Island remains, but that can’t be helped for the time being. I get it. “Good job, Jaeha Lee.”

– thank you.

After completing communication with the 3rd Brigade, Lee Kang-cheol immediately opened communication for the entire expeditionary force.

“It’s the commander. The 3rd Brigade defeated the 19th Division. The Korean Peninsula has now been restored.”

– Whoa whoa!

– Hahaha!

– Isn’t this something we should shout out for as well? ha ha ha!

It seemed like the hotteok restaurant was on fire.

Lee Kang-cheol smiled and left it alone for a moment before opening his mouth again.

“But everyone knows that this is just the beginning. Thank you all for your hard work, but keep your subordinates in check so they don’t get excited. “You know if you get into an accident, right?”

– Yes, Commander!

– All right!

– That won’t happen.

“Yes, I believe it. And since the official liberation will be announced on the radio at 12 o’clock, be careful not to be swept away by the locals and thoroughly protect major facilities.”

July 15th at 12 noon.

Suddenly, unfamiliar voices began to flow from all radios on the Korean Peninsula, which had been disabled due to the expeditionary force’s control of radio waves.

“The General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea informs the people. We would like to inform you that as of today, July 15, 1944, the entire Korean Peninsula has been liberated. I’ll say it again. The Republic of Korea Army received the surrender of all Japanese forces on the Korean Peninsula. Now the Korean Peninsula has returned to the arms of our Korean people. “The Republic of Korea is now an independent nation…”

Not only the people but also 720,000 Japanese people were shocked to hear the sound of the radio suddenly coming back.

I thought the world might have changed, but it was something I couldn’t believe.

But liberation?

“Great, South Korea? Liberation?”

“What do you mean liberation? “So, are they really our independence army?”

“It is liberation! Liberation!”

“Hehehe! Long live! hurray! Korea horray!”

“hurray! hurray! Long live Korean independence!”

The entire Korean Peninsula began to boil.

The people who came out into the streets all at once, holding in their hands the Taegeukgi, which was made clumsily and hastily made from somewhere, chanted for national independence.

“hurray! hurray! Long live Korean independence!”

“Korea horray! hurray!”

“It is liberation! Liberation! Liberation!”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Korea horray! hurray!”

The resentment that had built up over decades exploded.

“That’s amazing”

“This is like watching the 2002 World Cup.”

“I think it’s worse than that?”

“That’s right. But shouldn’t there be some control?”

“Leave it alone. These are people who lost their country for decades. You will have to solve it to some extent. Don’t touch him for a few days unless he gets too violent. “Everything that needs to be controlled is under control, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Anyway, why do they keep flocking here?”

“ha ha ha! Isn’t that obvious? “Most people in Gyeongseong know that we are at the Government General?”

“Ouch! Still, there are too many people flocking in.”

As Lee Kang-cheol said, all the citizens of Gyeongseong were flocking to Gwanghwamun-tong in front of the Government General.

At this time, the population of Gyeongseongbu was about 980,000.

Among them, it seemed like everyone who could walk was there.

“Long live Korean independence! Korea horray!”

“hurray! Long live!”

“Long live the Armed Forces of the Republic of Korea!”

“Long live the Armed Forces General Headquarters!”

After 2 p.m., the area in front of the Government-General was filled with so many people that there was no space to step, and the inside of the Government-General was noisy with cheers and cheers.

“This is it! “Are there so many people in Gyeongseong?”

“They say almost a million. “I think everyone came out except for babies who couldn’t walk and people who preserved their seats.”

“I expected it, but…”

“But I think you need to say something?”

“I?”

“Then do I? Look over there. “You desperately want someone to come out and say something, right?”

“Ha, I’m not good at this kind of thing…”

“ha ha ha! From now on, you will have to develop talents that you don’t already have. “Anyway, I will make room at the front.”

“I get it.”

Even if I didn’t want to do it, I couldn’t help it.

After a while, the front window of the Government General’s Office was opened and a microphone was installed.

And when Lee Kang-cheol came out, the shouts grew louder enough to pierce the sky.