Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 335



Only Krnovel

#335. The Greatest War in Asia Has Begun

2:00 p.m., June 24, 1966.

The Blue House.

-Are you really sure about tomorrow?

“Yes, tomorrow morning, the Chinese Joint Forces, the allied forces of North and South China, will launch an invasion on all fronts.”

– Ha, you guys are really crazy. What kind of nerve do you have to do that?

Lee Kang-chul was on a video call with Kennedy, who still seemed to be having difficulty understanding China.

“Well, I guess they think they can win. The side that starts a war always invades because they think they’re winning.”

– What are you going to do with just 15 million troops? Don’t you know how to look at yourself objectively?

“I said that was the original law. And is 15 million troops any joke? That’s more than the population of most countries. If you’ve gathered that many troops, you should be confident.”

– What does Harold say? He says it’s all down to one division and two brigades?

Harold refers to the current British Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

“You know? The situation in Britain is not good these days. With one division and two brigades, Britain is doing enough. Even if the ground forces are like that, they sent quite a few navy units.”

―That’s true. Ireland is one of them, and they’re also worried about Rhodesia and the Republic of Africa. But Hong Kong is their territory, right? It’s different from Africa, right? It’s a valuable territory that you gave them. We can’t rely on South Korea like this.

“Stop it, Joseph. Prime Minister Wilson is already dying of pity. It’s not like we have more troops to spare.”

-Hey, you really don’t know where all that past British Empire majesty has gone?

“They said they would send us another Gurkha brigade. Let’s really stop this.”

-all right.

As Kennedy said, Britain’s status these days is abysmal.

But what can we do?

Britain really had no army.

In the 1960s, the conscription system was abolished as it had been in history and a volunteer system was adopted.

Moreover, a sense of helplessness that would later be referred to as the ‘British disease’ has already swept through society.

In this situation, the total number of British land, sea, and air forces has already been drastically reduced to around 250,000, and as an island nation, it had no choice but to focus on the navy, so the army was barely able to maintain 100,000 personnel.

This is why the decision to send an additional division, two brigades, and ultimately a Gurkha brigade in addition to the existing two brigades in Hong Kong is a truly squeezing force.

Ultimately, Prime Minister Harold Wilson went so far as to tell Lee Kang-chul that Britain might need to reconsider its management of Hong Kong once the war was over.

Given Britain’s current and future circumstances, it would be difficult to maintain British control in East Asia.

-What does President de Gaulle say?

“What does France have to say about this war? They don’t even have a single piece of land in Asia. Even Vanuatu in the Pacific is jointly operated with Britain. They owe me a debt of gratitude, so I declined their offer to send a navy or something. Even if they did come, it wouldn’t help.”

-That’s true, sir.

“why?”

– Are you sure it’s okay? Should we dispatch the Marines right now?

“Heh heh! Why? Do you think we’ll lose?”

-Is that possible?

“Okay, that’s enough. I’ll just accept it with gratitude. Just getting support from the Navy is enough.”

The role of the US military in this war ends here.

It seems that Kennedy felt bad for just standing by and supporting South Korea, which is recognized by all as the best blood ally of the United States, but South Korea had no intention of clumsily involving the United States in order to increase its voice.

No matter what anyone says, the current leader in Asia is South Korea.

If the leader wanted to maintain his status as the leader, it was best to overcome the crisis on his own if possible.

―Anyway, I hope the Republic of Korea prospers. If you need anything, please let me know.

“Hahaha! Okay, thanks.”

Lee Kang-cheol hung up the phone and headed straight to Yongsan.

From now on, it was like an exhibition, so there was no time to rest.

Yongsan Ministry of National Defense Command and Control Center.

This is the integrated command and control situation room in the underground bunker of the Blue House, and the integrated situation room of the government complex, where the future technology of the 2020s is unlimitedly utilized.

In this place, where even the most basic security clearance would be insufficient to enter, all the top government officials, including President Lee Kang-cheol, Prime Minister Koh Seok-man, and National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-hyun, as well as key officials from the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were gathered.

This is because, a day before the war, the Ministry of National Defense Command and Control Center in Yongsan was decided to be the war command and control center.

There was also an opinion to use the Blue House bunker for President Lee Kang-cheol, but Lee Kang-cheol decided to use it here because the facilities at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan were better.

“Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

“What is the situation on our front lines?”

“Well, let’s call it the calm before the storm? I’ve prepared enough, so I’m just waiting quietly for tomorrow.”

“What is the situation in the Northern Army?”

“Commander Lee Jae-ha is doing well. He is waiting about 50km away from the border.”

South Korea made some changes to its organization as war became more apparent.

First, the individual field army systems were reorganized, and the Northern Front, which was certain to be the main attack, was created by merging three field armies into the Northern Operations Command, and 1st Army Commander Lee Jae-ha was appointed as its commander.

And starting from the rear area, the Central Operations Command was established, including the defense of the capital, and General Kim Won-sik was appointed as the commander, who was in charge of the water defense command and the hometown divisions in all regions.

Finally, the Southern Operations Command was assigned to South Korean forces west of Hong Kong, including Hainan Island and the Noizhou Peninsula, and was assigned to General Choi Chung-heon, the EATO commander, concurrently.

Of these, the command that received the most attention was the Northern Operations Command, which was to fight the enemy’s main attack.

This was because it had a large army of one million soldiers, including three field armies that were elite in terms of military size, and it was the vanguard unit that would advance westward after blocking the eastward advance of the People’s Republic of China.

“What about the enemies?”

“They are all crowded around the Shanhaiguan area. Well, there are over 6 million of them.”

“Is that even possible to supply to the rear? How on earth are you going to supply 6 million?”

“How can this possibly work? The information seems to be causing quite a stir. Distribution is not the issue right now.”

“Distribution isn’t important?”

“They say that with so many troops concentrated in one place, infectious diseases such as dysentery and typhoid are spreading at a massive rate.”

“Huh! What the? It looks like that before we even start?”

“Six million people are gathered in a front line about 130km from Shanhaiguan to Chengde City. There is no infrastructure at all. It’s strange that there are no problems. And it’s the end of June, the perfect time for problems to occur.”

“Tell Jaeha to be careful too. If we do something wrong, we might catch the disease.”

“Yes, that’s why we’ve already issued quarantine guidelines. Commander Lee Jae-ha is fully aware of the severity of the situation, so he has ordered people to drink only boiled water, and has also requested additional water purification units.”

“Please support whatever you request.”

“All right.”

Lee Kang-cheol had no choice but to continue to worry about the Northern Army, which was blocking the main attack and effectively leading the war.

Even though the weapons and equipment of the South Korean military are overwhelmingly superior, the troop ratio is a whopping 6 to 1.

They say that the odds are 6 to 1, but there are 2 million rear units that can defend Beijing and supply additional troops.

This was evidence that the People’s Liberation Army had sent most of its current forces to the northern front, and that the People’s Republic of China was also risking its life on the northern front.

That is why the South Korean government also tried to concentrate as many elite troops as possible on the northern front, but the maximum number of troops that could be concentrated in the Northern Operations Command was 1 million.

The current total military strength of the Republic of Korea is about 2.8 million, of which 1 million are reservists mobilized several months ago.

Although the reservists are said to be veterans who have been through a lot, their fighting ability is bound to be lower than that of the active-duty soldiers.

So, among them, only 400,000 of those in their second year or less were deployed to the front lines, and the remaining 600,000 were deployed to hometown divisions or mobilization divisions and served in reserve units or regional defense units.

South Korea is not like it used to be; its territory has expanded so much that it cannot neglect border defense even in times of war.

The relationship between the Soviet Union and the US has improved to the point where we can practically be called allies, but that is one thing and this is another.

“Then, what about the central army?”

“Under the command of General Kim Won-sik, we concentrated our troops mainly on the western coast. Some were also assigned to support the Northern Army from behind, so we deployed a total of 150,000 troops from Jinzhou (Jinzhou) to Dalian and Sinuiju, and then another 150,000 from Sinuiju to Mokpo. The inland areas were to be defended entirely by hometown divisions.”

“There won’t be any problems in the central army.”

“Yes, I guess it’s because it’s in the rear.”

“Still, don’t let your guard down. You never know what Chiang Kai-shek might do, especially in the southern industrial zone.”

“Yes, we are paying special attention to the southern industrial zone.”

So, as the territory expands, there are more places to worry about.

Of course, it is nothing compared to China, which has enemies on all sides.

“Southern Operations Command?”

“Some have already entered Hong Kong and formed an allied force with the British, while the rest have been deployed from Hong Kong to Zhaoqing City with the Vietnamese army. Our national army alone has a total of 250,000 deployed from Hainan Island. Of course, this includes the Marine Corps.”

“Then what about our total combined forces?”

“The Vietnamese army is 600,000, the White House army is also 600,000, and the Philippine army is 200,000, making a total of 1.4 million. If we combine our army with the British and Australian armies, the total will be 1.7 million.”

“What about Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang army?”

“Almost all of our troops have been concentrated here. A total of 2 million troops have been deployed from eastern Hong Kong and Guangzhou to Qingyuan City.”

“So they’re practically emptying the west and the inland?”

“About 700,000 troops, including 500,000 reserve troops, are waiting in the rear, guarding the south and west. They have also been deployed mainly to coastal cities in preparation for our landing operation.”

“That won’t stop us, will it?”

“Hehehe! I guess they don’t think so.”

“Anyway, I understand. It’s a hot area over there, so you should put more effort into quarantine.”

“All right.”

It is the evening of June 24th.

The whole of South Korea was strangely quiet.

The streets were deserted on a Saturday evening, as the government had already announced that war would soon break out.

05:00 Seoul Standard Time, June 25, 1966.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

On both the northern and southern fronts, all enemy guns opened fire simultaneously.

The greatest war in Asia, later called the East Asian War, began.