Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 345



Only Krnovel

#345. If you get stuck, just turn around and stop.

Fuzhou, the capital of the Republic of China, is located only about 40km from the southeastern coast, so it is no exaggeration to say that it is in fact a coastal city.

Of course, the government of the Republic of China was also concerned about a seaborne invasion by South Korea and built considerable defensive positions.

Since Bokju was close to Hajungdo Island along the Minjang River, they were especially careful because if they made a mistake, the enemy could invade the capital through the estuary.

However, the main front was formed in the southwest, and the central fleet of nearly 100 ships was expected to provide some defense, even if it could not invade, so not many defensive forces were deployed.

But now, that wasn’t the case.

With the Central Fleet completely destroyed in yesterday’s naval battle, there was no way to stop the South Korean expeditionary fleet at sea.

With most of the Air Force’s F-100 Super Sabre fighters lost, there is no longer any room for reliance on the Air Force.

Now, all that remains is to hold off the enemies on the land coast as much as possible, and to rely on the densely placed Tiangong anti-aircraft missiles surrounding the capital.

2:00 p.m., June 28, 1966.

About 90km off the coast of the southeastern estuary of Bokju.

Republic of Korea Expeditionary Fleet Flagship CVN-11 Republic of Korea.

“Where am I now?”

“It is about 90km off the western estuary of Bokju.”

“Really? All fleets standstill!”

“All fleets standstill!”

When Kim Jong-woo ordered the entire fleet to stop, the ships in the fleet began to slowly reduce their speed.

“If the entire fleet were to stop completely, it would be about 85 km.”

“Yes, since we moved slowly, that should be enough.”

“Let’s see, are these guys out of their minds right now?”

“Hahaha! The Central Fleet was blown away, the capital was in danger, and the Hong Kong front was completely destroyed in the morning. If you’re in your right mind here, that’s strange.”

“That’s right. What about their troop deployment?”

“About 100,000 troops were guarding Fuzhou and the coast, and since last night, we have been urgently moving troops to the Hong Kong front to the coast. The number of troops is about 150,000. And we are also frantically pushing forward the conscription of reserve forces that we have been doing for some time.”

“Tsk tsk! You should have prepared properly a long time ago. How much did you underestimate our navy that you started the war so unprepared?”

“That’s true.”

“I can’t understand it at all.”

“Well, times are what they are, right? There just wasn’t enough information.”

Certainly, the Republic of China had too much confidence in the enormous numbers of the People’s Liberation Army.

The problem was the confidence that if China and the United States worked together there would be no enemy they could not defeat.

Of course, South Korea’s intelligence operations also played a part in making that misjudgment.

“Please show me the video.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Hmm, it looks like those 150,000 people have arrived and are setting up camp?”

“It seems so. The 150,000 reinforcements began arriving this morning.”

“Then should I say hello and say hello?”

“Of course, it would be a shame if it just passed by. Then, would you like to use the carrier-based bomber?”

“That’s why I told you to stop here.”

“It feels a little close, but I think it’s about right.”

“Yes, if it’s 85km, then we should launch an air strike as soon as we reach the operational altitude, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Let’s save some oil. The amount of explosives will also increase.”

“It’s just right because the wind is from the southeast. But the carriers still have to move.”

Catapults alone are not enough to launch heavily armed aircraft from an aircraft carrier.

This is because they need to take off into the wind to gain enough lift, so most aircraft carriers are designed to have a high speed of around 30 knots.

“Tell the aircraft carriers to maneuver as they see fit.”

“All right.”

“Then, let’s sortie starting at 2:30 PM. We plan to conduct a long airstrike, so divide the group into at least four groups and sortie.”

“All right.”

“Oh, you know that first of all, we have to destroy that Tiangong anti-aircraft missile battery and the nearby air force base, right?”

“Of course.”

“Yeah, tell them to be careful.”

“Yes, Commander.”

June 28th, 2:30 PM.

Two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and four Essex-class aircraft carriers began to spit out F-1N and F-3N fighter-bombers.

Shuaaaak! Shuaaaak!

The fighter-bomber formation, which had ascended to operational altitude in an instant, arrived directly over the mouth of the Minjang River, and soon the radar warning sounded like crazy.

Tiangong anti-aircraft missiles began targeting them.

Beep beep beep beep!

As the radar warning sounded, missiles were launched from about 10 F-3N fighter-bombers.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Viper air-to-ground anti-radar missiles are missiles that destroy air-to-ground missile sites by retro-tracking the radio waves emitted by their radars.

In terms of performance, it was much more high-performance than the AGM-78 Standard Arm anti-radiation missile already deployed in the United States, and slightly inferior in performance to the early models of the AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles used in modern times, but boasted more than enough performance at the time.

On the other hand, the Tiangong SAM, like the Nike SAM, took a long time to search, track, and launch, and like all SAMs of the era, it could not even dream of multi-homing.

This is because the missile guidance method requires the tracking radar to track and guide the missile until it hits the target, so whether the launched missile hits or not, another missile can be launched only after the end has been reached.

The Tiangong missile positions surrounding Fuzhou, protecting the capital, managed to launch missiles in a hurry, but soon fell prey to Viper air-to-ground missiles that swooped in at Mach 2.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Kwaaah!”

“Ahhhh!”

In an instant, all eight Tiangong anti-aircraft missile batteries deployed in Fuzhou were annihilated, and the eight missiles fired from the eight batteries were lost as they could not be guided, and either wandered around and exploded in the air or fell into the sea.

Now the only weapons left to defend the skies over Fuzhou were about 100 old F-86 Sabres, the surviving F-100 Super Sabre fighters that had not participated in the air battle yesterday, and 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns and a few 76mm anti-aircraft guns.

Chuck! Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!

A series of 500-pound GPS-guided bombs hit an air force base.

Boom! Kwaang! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, the air force base was engulfed in flames and turned into a sea of ​​fire.

Several fighters attempted to take off, but were soon caught in a firestorm and exploded.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Eww!”

“Turn off the lights! Kwaaak!”

Soldiers who survived the air raid attempted to put out the fire, but were unsuccessful as the aircraft fuel tanks exploded and fell on them.

Now, the skies over Bokju have become entirely the world of carrier-based aircraft taking off from aircraft carriers belonging to the Republic of Korea Expeditionary Fleet.

All that remained were 40mm and 76mm anti-aircraft guns, and it was virtually impossible to hit the high-altitude, high-speed jet bombers using only the optical sight.

As the situation developed, the expeditionary fleet’s carrier-based aircraft took turns regularly flying in and striking high-value targets of the reinforcements who were now beginning to build up their positions.

Ammunition and various military supplies were reduced to ashes, and the 155mm howitzer batteries that were in possession were also destroyed one after another.

* * *

June 28, 1966, 9:20 p.m.

30km west of Tangshan.

Northeast Military Command of the People’s Liberation Army of the People’s Republic of China.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeng!

“It’s an air raid!”

“Air defense! Air defense!”

Kuuuuung!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“Kwaaaaak!”

“Save me! Please!”

Lin Biao went outside the command post, ignoring his staff’s persuasion, and looked at the friendly positions burning brightly everywhere.

“Here we go again.”

“Yes, Comrade Commander.”

“… … .”

This is the fourth day of air raids and shelling since the war began on June 25th.

The situation was extremely bad.

The South Koreans continued to advance with the support of their powerful air force and artillery, and before we knew it, they had advanced more than 150 km from the border.

In the end, their armored units advanced all the way to Tangshan today, and it was certain that it would fall by tomorrow.

And in the meantime, the number of troops lost had already reached 2.5 million, and more than 8,000 tanks were lost.

We lost so many armored vehicles and trucks that we couldn’t even count them.

I had no idea how many more troops I would lose after tonight.

“ha…….”

I had a strong feeling that this war would end sooner or later.

Because the South Korean people have far surpassed their imagination.

There was no way backing out now.

Because they retreated to a point just 100km from Beijing.

The capital must be defended by any means necessary.

Then it was clear what he had to do.

It is clear that the 2 million men kept in reserve in the rear are not enough, so they are conscripting reserve forces from the day after the outbreak of war.

We have to somehow buy time until they are ready.

Even if you replace all of the remaining 3.5 million.

“What happened to the anti-aircraft missiles that were supposed to support the Kuomintang?”

“I am currently traveling north by train and will arrive in Beijing by dawn tomorrow. Please wait a moment.”

“Damn, we can’t even see it.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Beijing is already right in front of us, so where are we going to place it?”

“That, that’s it… … .”

“Of course the higher-ups will want to protect Beijing. Well, we have nothing to say either, because protecting Beijing is now the same as protecting ourselves.”

“… … .”

The chief of staff was unable to answer.

Because what Lin Biao said was true.

“Chief of Staff.”

“Yes, Comrade Commander.”

“How much of Tangshan was occupied?”

“We lost about 30% of the eastern part before it got dark. After darkness fell, they stopped fighting, perhaps because they were burdened by street fighting.”

“Push 300,000 into Tangshan.”

“Yes? Comrade Commander! Tangshan has already fallen to them. Why send troops to such a place… … .”

“Do you know what their only weakness is?”

“What is that?”

“They are extremely afraid of losing troops. I’ve been watching them closely for a few days, and it’s clear that these madmen don’t want to suffer even a small loss of troops in a war of this magnitude.”

“Now that I think about it, it seems like that.”

“Then? What they fear most is urban combat. In urban combat, no matter how superior your power is, you will be forced to make sacrifices.”

“Well, that’s true.”

“What we need now is time, time! Time to prepare to defend Beijing!”

“… … .”

“Whether it’s 300,000 or 500,000, we continue to push our troops into Tangshan. If we can kill one of them by killing ten of them, we can stop their advance.”

“… … .”

It was such a cruel and ruthless calculation, but the Chief of Staff could not refute it.

Because it seemed to him that this was the only way to buy time to defend Beijing.

“Implement immediately.”

“All right.”

* * *

23:00, June 28, 1966.

Northern Army Command and Control Center.

“Commander, are they pushing their troops into Tangshan?”

“What? Are you trying to tie us up with street fighting?”

“It certainly seems that way.”

“You little brats. Do you think we have honey in Tangshan?”

“That’s right. Hehehe!”

“Surround them appropriately and then go back!”

“Yes, Commander!”

I didn’t even care about Tangsan in the first place.

If you get stuck, just turn back.