Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 340



Only Krnovel

#340. There must be a republic for there to be a future!

07:10, June 26, 1966.

Zhongnanhai, the official residence of the President of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing.

“… … .”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Top Communist Party officials, including Liu Shaoqi, were gathered there.

Even Peng Dehuai, who was supposed to be at the Chinese Army Joint Command in Nanjing, took a plane at dawn and rushed to Beijing to attend the meeting.

But the atmosphere was like a funeral, and no one was able to open their mouths.

Breaking the silence, Liu Shaoqi opened his mouth.

“If someone saw this, they’d think we’d surrendered. The situation isn’t very good, but it’s only been a day since the war started. Everyone, please lighten up a bit.”

“Ugh!”

“ha…….”

“Okay! Let’s find out the exact situation first. Comrade Feng, please tell us.”

“Okay! Got it.”

Feng Dehuai, with a dark expression, sighed and opened his mouth.

“I’m sure what you’re most curious about is the Northeastern Army front, so I’ll talk about that first.”

“Please do so.”

“As you all know, the situation is very serious. Since the battle began at dawn yesterday, the Northeast Army’s losses have been about 500,000 killed or wounded, about 3,000 tanks, and about 9,000 armored vehicles and trucks destroyed or disabled.”

“… … .”

“In addition, 80% of anti-aircraft gun positions and 80% of large-caliber howitzers over 122mm were destroyed by enemy nighttime air raids, and 60% of oil and over 50% of ammunition and supplies were lost. In addition, all radars operated by the Northeast Army in the field were destroyed.”

“Ugh! This can’t be happening!”

“How in just one day!”

Although sighs and groans came out here and there, Peng Dehuai continued speaking with a stern expression.

“The front line had initially advanced 30 to 50 kilometers, but has since retreated and is now pushed back to the old border.”

“This is incredible… … .”

“This is a rough estimate of the damage. The exact damage situation is unknown even to those on the field.”

“So? Are you saying there could be worse reports here?”

“That may be the case, but it wouldn’t be too far off from what I just said.”

“Haa, this is it… … .”

“… … .”

“… … .”

No one was able to open their mouths in this shocking situation.

Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, as well as almost all of the top Communist Party officials, were basically commanders of the Red Army during the Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.

Even economic expert Tian Yun was no exception.

That is, the Communist Party leadership is basically a group of Communist Party members who are soldiers or were soldiers, and who are also administrators.

Although it was divided when the civil war ended.

So, there was no one present who didn’t know how bad the situation was.

Because they have at least minimal military knowledge.

Then someone shouted in an excited voice from the last seat.

“Isn’t this Lin Biao’s negligence? That’s why I said not to appoint that gray element as commander!”

“That’s not true. Comrade Lin Biao has shown some ambiguity in the past, but he is still one of the best soldiers of our People’s Republic of China. Let’s not make groundless slander.”

“No, then how can this be possible! We have 6 million troops! 6 million! The known troop ratio is 6 to 1! And yet we are defeated so unilaterally in just one day? This must be… … .”

“hey!”

Peng Dehuai, who had been explaining quietly and politely, could no longer stand it any longer and shouted.

“Yes, yes?”

“I said no, but why are you talking so much! No matter how different our political stances may be, it’s still the same! Lin Biao is also a citizen of our People’s Republic! He also made great contributions in the last war! Where is that rat bastard who wouldn’t have been able to make eye contact if Lin Biao were here?”

“Ugh! Sorry, I’m sorry.”

As Peng Dehuai said, if I were here, I wouldn’t have even made eye contact with more than half of them.

Lin Biao was such a great soldier, and he was not someone who could be said to have been defeated early on.

Liu Shaoqi also frowned and said:

“Comrade Feng is right. I was the one who trusted Lin Biao and approved him as commander. If any comrade makes a similar remark again, I will regard it as an attempt to instigate division.”

“sorry.”

“Anyway, Comrade Feng, I admit that there are some points that need explaining. What exactly happened? Was there a strategic mistake?”

“That’s not it. I also think Comrade Lin Biao’s strategy was sound.”

“Please explain further.”

“Even though we have an overwhelming advantage in terms of quantity, our opponent is South Korea. If we want to seize the opportunity to win the war against a country with the most advanced military in the world, along with the United States, the best way is to sweep away an overwhelming force and break through the front line like Lin Biao did. Otherwise, if we send in 1 or 2 million troops like the Soviet Union did in the past, it is obvious that we will only be gradually attrited.”

I don’t know why it’s 1 or 2 million, but it’s true that the Soviet Union invaded in a similar way and was destroyed to the point of threatening the survival of the country, and lost vast territories east of the Ural Mountains.

“This is an operation that not only I but also all of our command staff have agreed to.”

“So then what the hell was the problem?”

“Lin Biao said that the first major reason was that the enemy had accurately predicted the date of our invasion.”

“The South Koreans predicted the exact date of our invasion? No, of course the current atmosphere was tense, but how did they know the date? And what is the basis for that?”

“I don’t know how they knew. But since they were such goblins, they must have done something. And the reason for that is that they survived the massive artillery fire we unleashed when we began our invasion early yesterday morning without a single fingertip being harmed.”

“Yes? No, how?”

“Because they withdrew their troops from the entire border just before the invasion began.”

“Oh my God! So, all our Northeast Army’s artillery fire was in vain?”

“Yes.”

“… … .”

Liu Shaoqi and the cadres opened their mouths but said nothing more.

That massive bombardment was actually only hitting the ground.

“No, how could you not have known that? Their army numbered a million men. How could you not have known that so many troops were retreating?”

“It seems like they were very secretive. It also seems like they did a great job of covering it up.”

“Wow! This is incredible! What, you’re saying you didn’t even do any reconnaissance?”

“What do you do for reconnaissance? Flying a plane? It’s obvious that they’ll fall down as soon as they get close to the border, and it’ll only heighten their alertness? Or do we have satellites like they do? Do we have an information source near the border? Unlike us, they don’t allow people to live within a certain distance of the border, so spies can’t approach them.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

There was nothing wrong with what Peng Dehuai said.

As with everything else, it was extremely difficult to obtain information from beyond the borders of South Korea.

The agreement prevented planes from even coming close.

No, we tried several times, but if we got close enough, a radio warning would fly in and shoot us down with a guided missile, so we never even thought about trying aerial reconnaissance in the first place.

The only way to obtain information about South Korea was to recruit Chinese Koreans who had lived in the Manchurian region in the past to obtain a general idea of ​​the situation, but as the war approached, even that was cut off.

This is because all humanitarian travel and communication that had been allowed in South Korea up until then was blocked and cut off.

“And I heard that their artillery firepower was much stronger than expected. I knew full well that their artillery could fire from a much longer range and with greater accuracy than ours.”

“No, how powerful was it?”

“He said that it was absolutely not the firepower that could come from a million troops. He said that it literally poured down like rain. He said that we were overwhelmingly superior in quantity, but at least in artillery firepower, we were overwhelmingly inferior… … .”

“No, are those guys really crazy about artillery?”

“It is said that artillery played a decisive role in the last war with the Soviet Union, but I think we underestimated it. No, we did not underestimate it, but they probably did more than we expected.”

“Ha, damn artillery… … .”

I expected it.

So I thought there would be significant troop losses.

But the South Korean artillery showed more than what was imagined, and all preparations were in vain.

“Also, as we experienced last night, there was overwhelming air power. Especially, despite it being a night air raid, they trampled the rear of our Northeastern Army with surprising accuracy and an enormous amount of bombs.”

“Damn it! Then what’s the solution? Is there a solution?”

“First of all, we must replenish as much of the equipment and supplies lost in the enemy air raid last night as possible.”

“No, it’s a supplement. If we send the supplies we had in reserve, it might be possible to some extent, but if there’s another air raid, it’ll all be ruined again, right?”

“So, Comrade Deng.”

“Go ahead, Comrade Feng.”

“We need anti-aircraft missiles too.”

“That’s something we all know, so why are you telling me that?”

“Comrade Deng, meet Chiang Ching-kuo again and talk to him.”

“Are you thinking of the Ten-Kung missile?”

“That’s right. It’s the only way we can get anti-aircraft missiles. The Soviets won’t eat a thing.”

“… … .”

The People’s Republic of China has also made every effort to develop anti-aircraft missiles, but it is still not enough.

However, the Republic of China had already succeeded in developing it and deployed it in large quantities.

When the United States refused to export the Nike Hercules missile, he bribed the developer’s researcher to steal the blueprints, which he then successfully copied at the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology.

Of course, compared to the original, its range and accuracy were inferior, but it was still a fairly usable anti-aircraft missile.

“I won’t give it up easily.”

“So aren’t you talking to Comrade Deng? And we’re all in the same boat anyway. The watershed of this war is the Northeast Front, no matter what anyone says. If we lose here, the South will be finished too. If they have any ideas, they’ll give it to us.”

“Okay, I’ll do my best.”

“We can’t just have the best. We have to get it. If we can’t stop the air raid, we’re going to be in a really difficult position.”

“Whew! I understand. I will bring it by any means necessary.”

If the air raids could not be stopped, replenishing equipment and supplies would be of no use.

We had to tear out the Republic of China’s air defense missiles at any cost.

“And finally, we need to create more reserve forces.”

“What? That won’t do! We’ve already created an army of over 10 million people, so there aren’t any young people on the streets.”

Tian Yun, who was in charge of the economy, strongly opposed it.

Even though I honestly thought it was impossible at the time, I stayed still because I thought that I would have a chance of winning if I had this many troops.

But what if we create more troops here?

No matter how populous the People’s Republic of China was, it would be difficult to hold out any longer.

“Tsk tsk! Comrade Chen Yun. Do you think I’m the one who wants to recruit more troops? The front line is only 250 kilometers away from here! Don’t you know that if Lin Biao’s Northeast Army can’t stop the enemy, our republic is basically finished? The republic has to exist for its future to exist!”

“… … .”

“Comrade Chen, this time I think Comrade Feng is right.”

“after…….”

“How much more do you need?”

“We’ll need to prepare 10 million more. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Haha! So, the number of troops mobilized by our republic is 20 million?”

“… … .”

“If this war goes wrong, there will be no more men left. Anyway, I understand. I will prepare accordingly.”

“Thank you.”

Peng Dehuai expressed his intention to resign, but he was afraid that if things continued this way, we would end up like the Soviet Union.