Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 290



Only Krnovel

#290. The president had a plan for everything.

What is street fighting?

The term street fighting literally refers to battles that take place in the city streets.

But from the attacker’s perspective, this was quite annoying and confusing.

Since the battlefield was literally a complex urban area, it was difficult to launch a large-scale offensive as if it were a wide open field.

The only way is to invest manpower and occupy each area, which is really driving people crazy.

Since there are so many civilians mixed in, it is easy to confuse them with the enemy, which makes for extremely nerve-racking. Also, the defenders, who are well-versed in the local geography, take advantage of the complex urban terrain to lay ambushes, so the attackers are often left helpless.

Add in all sorts of booby traps and snipers, and the urban battlefield would have become a graveyard for the attacking forces.

In fact, during the First Chechen War, there was a case where an entire brigade was completely annihilated.

After 60 hours of fighting, only 160 men from the brigade survived?

However, it was not possible to allow armored units to enter recklessly.

Most armored vehicles, such as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, have a vulnerable top.

In addition, since the main gun’s elevation angle is limited, it is helpless when attacked by defenders hiding in a three- or four-story building along the road at close range.

In the case of an old tank, even if a Molotov cocktail is thrown from the second floor while passing by, it will just pass by if it hits a vulnerable part.

That’s why all ground commanders think urban combat is a terrible thing, but it’s something they can’t avoid when it’s absolutely necessary.

In such a case, the only effective tactic is to deploy elite infantry trained in CQB (Close Quarters Battle) and take over each area at a time, but this does not mean that they will not suffer losses.

In this situation, there is a very fundamental solution.

All we have to do is get rid of the ‘city’ that forces street fighting.

In fact, the Second Chechen War was a method that the Russian army used with great difficulty to drink water during the First Chechen War.

In the assault on Grozny, all available resources were mobilized, including 152mm self-propelled guns, 120mm mortars, thermobaric bombs, and multiple rocket launchers, to completely reduce Grozny to rubble.

And Kim Jong-woo is trying to use the same method.

“Are you sure you want to do that?”

“Then? Is it fake? This isn’t the first time I’ve used this technique, is it?”

“If you are talking about the Chechen war, I understand that Grozny had a population of no more than 400,000 at the time. It is different from a big city like Jakarta.”

“Of course it’s different. I’m just making a road, but the Lost have turned the entire city into bean powder.”

“… … .”

“Anyway, the decision has been made, so everyone get ready. There’s plenty of ammo, right? No, there’s more than enough? I knew this would happen, so I brought a lot. Hehehe!”

“It’s, it’s cold… … .”

“Really? Why is it so cold?”

When Kim Jong-woo said that he had prepared a lot of ammunition because he knew this would happen, the staff suddenly felt as if a cold air had come over them.

But in reality, there was not enough ammunition; there was an overabundance of it.

The ammunition for the naval guns currently mainly used by the South Korean Navy is 5-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch naval gun ammunition for heavy cruisers.

These ammunition were a headache because the US military produced so many of them during World War II. The South Korean Navy initially received them for free, but later purchased them in bulk for pennies that were less than the price of scrap metal. It may seem like the US military was losing money, but in fact it was a win-win deal.

Ammunition costs more to store than you might think, and after World War II, the US Navy no longer needed much ammunition.

Moreover, as time passes, they have to be disposed of, and the cost of disposing of ammunition is surprisingly expensive.

This is because, unlike what people usually think, ammunition of medium caliber or larger must be individually disassembled and disposed of, rather than digging a hole in the field and detonating it.

So, the US military formally handed over the ammunition to the South Korean Navy for a small fee or on condition that they pay for the transportation costs.

But this amount was so enormous that it surprised even George Marshall, who didn’t blink an eye at ordinary quantities.

“Admiral Kim, we can take a lot, but what are you going to do with all that ammunition? If you use it at normal levels, it can last for over 100 years. Do you know that it all costs money to dispose of it later?”

“Hehehe! There’s no way I’ll ever discard these guys.”

“What are you talking about? Unless World War III breaks out in the near future, it’s impossible.”

“Hehehe! You’ll know when you see it later.”

“… … .”

Now we are going to put the ammunition we brought in to good use.

“Okay! Then let’s look at the map. Where is the road that goes all the way south from the coast?”

“If that’s the case, this road is the best. It’s the widest road, and there aren’t any buildings around it that require special attention.”

“Hmm, I see. Okay! Then let’s widen this road! Maybe the Indonesians will thank us later?”

“… … .”

No matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t seem like that would happen.

“I’ll give you one day, so complete the course to the Bogor Presidential Palace, focusing on this road. Also, check in detail if there are any buildings that need attention.”

“You said it was a building that needed attention… … .”

“What, what’s the big deal? These guys believe in Islam, so don’t touch things like mosques. If you touch religion, you’ll really get into trouble.”

“That is a valid point.”

Fortunately, it didn’t seem like he was completely crazy.

“Should we avoid facilities involving foreigners, such as children’s facilities, schools, historical sites, and embassies?”

“you’re right!”

“Why are these guys suddenly so brave?”

“… … .”

“But it’s not good to bend too much. Okay?”

“Yes, sir!”

“And the bombardment range will be 100 meters on each side centered on the road.”

“Are you talking about 100 meters each?”

“Is that ‘Ssikina’?”

“Ah, no, then you’re going to destroy 53km with a width of 200m on both sides combined? The bombardment area is 10.6 million square meters, and in terms of surface area, it’s over 3.2 million pyeong!”

After thinking about it again, I realized that the president must have been crazy.

This human being is now trying to burn down 3.2 million pyeong.

“you…….”

“yes?”

“The calculation is very fast? That’s right. I did a rough calculation and it’s about that much.”

“It’s too broad, President. Let’s narrow the scope a bit… … .”

“No, that can’t be done. We need to widen the road by 100 meters on both sides so that our 101st Armored Division can advance effectively. I didn’t just do it without thinking.”

“But even for us, we would be short on ammunition in that area.”

“That won’t be the case. First of all, there’s no need to destroy the area up to 10km from here. There are already many buildings that have been destroyed, and we can search and control that area, right? Half of it has already been controlled. And they can’t come inside there, right?”

“Yes, that is a valid point.”

“And the idea is to make a road from here to the Bogor Palace, the Indonesian presidential palace. In reality, if we advance to a 20km radius of the palace, the game is already over. We’ll be within the firing range of the 5th Independent Artillery Brigade before then. And as you can see from the map, there’s no need to destroy the area around the palace because they’ve created green space. Okay! Then let’s calculate again.”

“… … .”

“If you subtract 10km from here and 20km toward the presidential palace, it’s 23km. Even considering the slight bend in the middle due to various circumstances, it’s roughly 30km? Then, it would be about 1.8 million pyeong out of 6 million m2. What do you think? Is my plan still too much?”

“Oh, no.”

This crazy guy isn’t just any crazy guy.

He is a very meticulous crazy guy.

“If you add in the 250-pound and 500-pound bombs from the Naval Air Force and the 155mm ammunition from the 5th Artillery Brigade, you’ll never run out of ammunition. Okay?”

“Yes, okay.”

“And by the way, I know you’re feeling a little burdened, but you don’t have to. We’ll be dropping more leaflets in the area with Air Force transport planes and broadcasting. There’s no need to worry about civilians who aren’t evacuating when we’re doing all that.”

“… … .”

The president had it all planned out.

“I say again, this is war, war!”

“All right.”

“Then, we’ll start beating them from 9:00 AM to sunset tomorrow, so plan your fire control well. Keep the fleet as close to the harbor as possible. We need to increase the range of the cannons. And I estimate it’ll take 6 to 7 days to destroy them all. Make sure the kids get a good night’s sleep and eat properly.”

“Understood, President.”

“Finally, Brigade Commander Seo Jong-cheol.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You know that in this operation, from the cannon range onwards, you are responsible, right?”

“Hahaha! Okay, I’ll break it properly.”

“Okay, let’s stop here. Ah! The name of this operation is… … .”

“?”

“The name of the operation is ‘New Road.’ What do you think? It’s clever, isn’t it?”

“… … .”

09:00, September 19, 1959.

Boom! Boom! Kwaang! Kwaang!

The ships of the expedition fleet began firing their cannons simultaneously.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fire control officers were instructed to fire 5-inch or 6-inch guns first, preferably at close range.

As the distance increases, the 5-inch dual-purpose gun’s range becomes shorter, at about 16 km, so it becomes useless beyond that range.

So at first, only the fleet’s 5-inch 38-caliber dual-purpose guns were fired.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

As a massive amount of 5-inch (127 mm) gun shells pelted both sides of the road now known as Route 1, buildings collapsed and burned helplessly.

Before we knew it, it was lunchtime, so we stopped shooting, had a delicious meal, and started shooting again in the afternoon.

Boom! Boom! Kwaang!

From then on, the 101st Independent Armored Brigade advanced slowly, led by obstacle-clearing tanks equipped with bulldozer blades.

As the obstacle-clearing tanks pushed the rubble and debris of buildings to the side of the road, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles advanced behind them, keeping watch on the left and right. The Indonesian defenders who had been lying in ambush for urban combat were already mostly dead or wounded by the artillery fire, so nothing could impede their advance.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In this way, more than 5km of the ‘new road’ was completed in just one day.

***

September 19th, 2:30 PM.

Bogor Palace, the presidential palace of Indonesia.

“Ouch, we’re in big trouble!”

“What’s the fuss about!”

“The Koreans are advancing.”

“What? How? Didn’t you say that our soldiers were fighting in the streets?”

“Those, those crazy guys are advancing, destroying buildings on both sides of the road.”

“Wh, what are you talking about? How are you going to destroy that many buildings?”

“Advancing while destroying everything with a tremendous amount of cannon fire… … .”

“Hey, are there really such crazy guys!”

Sukarno didn’t know.

Even if they’re crazy, are there really such crazy people?