Republic of Korea in Yeokcheon - Chapter 55



Only Krnovel

#55. Because I will take full responsibility.

March 1, 1945, 08:55.

Expeditionary Force command and control room.

Commander-in-Chief Lee Kang-cheol glanced at his watch and opened his mouth.

“I am the commander. There has been a lot of hardship during this time. We had to accept new troops in a short period of time and turn brigades into divisions, or create new divisions from scratch, and in many ways, we had to adapt to the environment here, which was very different from the world we came from. How can we comfort that hardship with just a few words? Still, I must say something. “I am so proud of you.”

“…”

“Now we are planning to advance towards Manchuria to see the fruits of our hard work. I will not discuss again how much Manchuria is needed for our Republic of Korea. Also, I will not tell you what historical significance this place has for us. “I’ve been talking so much that I’ve probably driven nails into your ears.”

“ha ha ha!”

– Fuhahaha!

– You can do it one more time. Hehehe!

– who is this?

– Let’s stop.

Lee Kang-cheol’s joke made the control room and the communication network connected to the front line division commanders buzz for a moment.

“ha ha ha! After all, doing it one more time would be crossing the line, right? Okay, let’s stop. anyway! Your advance north today is that important and will leave a big mark historically. “I ask you once again, I hope that everyone will engage in operations with a sense of mission.”

“…”

“To say something briefly has become a bit long. In conclusion, I have no doubt that we will win. There is only one last thing I want to ask you today! We ask you to value not only yourself but each and every soldier. Our Armed Forces are not like the Japanese Imperial Army that engages in Banzai assaults. Operations? It’s okay even if it’s a little late. It’s okay to retreat when you’re faced with a force you can’t handle. “Can’t we just get support next time and knock on it again?”

“…”

“Treat yourself and value the lives of our soldiers. “This is what I ask of you as Commander-in-Chief.”

– All right!

– Our army is not one that will be harmed by the Kwantung Army or the Manchurian Army!

– You worry about everything.

The clock showed 09:00 sharp.

“yes? My worries are probably for naught. ruler! It’s time! “Advance to Manchuria!”

– Yes!

– going!

_ It’s an advance!

– I’ll be back!

The historic advance into Manchuria began.

March 1, 1945, 14:30.

Expeditionary Force command and control room.

“As expected, Team 1 is the fastest?”

“Not yet. But sooner or later it will be late. Group 3 will be the fastest.”

“It has to be that way because the enemy density is different.”

The 1st Army consisted of General Lee Jae-ha’s 3rd Division (formerly 3rd Brigade) in Nanam, Kim Won-sik’s 5th Division, which controlled the entire Jeolla-do, and Nam Byeong-woo’s 6th Division, which controlled Gyeongsang-do, followed by the newly established 7th and 9th Divisions. It was supported.

In name and reality, it is the main force in the advance into Manchuria and is currently the strongest corps in the Republic of Korea Army.

This was due to the deployment situation of the Kwantung Army, which had most of its troops positioned on the border with the Soviet Union to deal with the Soviet Union.

Therefore, the 1st Army had to advance north along the railroad and destroy the main force of the Kwantung Army, so its power was strengthened compared to the other two corps.

On the other hand, since the 2nd and 3rd armies were advancing into Manchuria, their strength was inevitably smaller than that of the 1st army.

The 2nd Army was composed of four divisions: Jeong Seon-ho’s 1st Division stationed in Yongsan, the newly established 8th Division, 11th Division, and 15th Division. The goal was to seize Shinjing (now Changchun), where the Kwantung Army headquarters and the capital of Manchukuo were located, and to occupy Harbin as well.

Lastly, the 3rd Army was composed of four newly established divisions, the 20th, 21st, and 25th divisions, centered on Choi Chung-heon’s 2nd division, which controlled the Yalu River. They crossed the Yalu River railroad bridge, took control of the Liaodong Peninsula, where Yeosun and Dalian are located, and moved north. It was written as

“I’m a little disappointed with my medical history. “If we had three to five more divisions, we could advance much more easily.”

“There is no way, right? And you know very well that the Kwantung Army is now nothing more than a shell. Since last summer, we have had over 10 broken divisions. Meanwhile, the security forces within 100km north of the Yalu River and Duman River were cleaned out long ago. “There is no need to feel sorry.”

“That’s not true.”

“The Kwantung Army was cut in half even from its original history. To be honest, the number of people who can fight properly right now is probably around 100,000 to 120,000 at best. “There is no need to look at that trash from Manchukuo.”

The year when the Kwantung Army was strongest was in 1941.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, in order to support its ally Germany, it issued a quasi-war mobilization order on the mainland, temporarily increased the number of troops to 1 million, and conducted large-scale mobile training.

It was the so-called ‘Kwantung Army special exercise’, and the name of the Invincible Kwantung Army was given at this time.

However, with this time as the peak, the Kwantung Army went downhill.

As Japan started the Pacific War, the center of all Japanese forces turned to the South and the Pacific, and the Kwantung Army also continued to have its troops sent to the Southern and Pacific fronts.

According to original history, from 1945 onward, the Kwantung Army would gather all the men it could find in preparation for the Soviet invasion, and would recover to over 700,000 in headcount, but now it has also lost the Korean Peninsula and has no access to the mainland. There was no way to do that because the power supply was cut off.

In addition, the remaining elite troops were all lost after sending several divisions to regain control of the Korean Peninsula, which had lost control.

As Ko Seok-man said, the current Kwantung Army is essentially a shell.

“In addition, the Air Force consisting of a Corsair squadron is also on standby ready to rush in whenever called. In my opinion, it is rather enough power.”

“In a large-scale operation like this, there is no such thing as too much. “You always have to be careful.”

“Well, as long as there are albatross and drones, there is no need to worry about being ambushed. “Anyway, do you mind?”

“what?”

“The ‘order’ given secretly only to Choi Chung-heon of the 3rd Army.”

“That’s it.”

Lee Kang-cheol’s expression hardened at Go Seok-man’s question.

“Why is that?”

“I’m asking because problems may arise later.”

“Do you also think that I am doing something wrong?”

“Is that possible? But isn’t this a very controversial area?”

“That’s why I’m trying to eliminate the ‘controversy’ itself. “There will be differences of opinion about some of them, even among our expeditionary forces.”

“Maybe so.”

“I don’t like the idea of ​​such trouble happening. And what are our principles?”

“You mean we never consider things that won’t happen because of the changed future, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m just disposing of it according to that principle. At least the majority of them have nothing to say even if they are summarily disposed of. “We are just treating them the same as other pro-Japanese and anti-national actors.”

“okay.”

“Anyway, I don’t see conflict breaking out even within the expeditionary force because of those people. That’s why I ordered it that way because I had no intention of handing it over to trial. “I will take full responsibility, so don’t worry.”

“Why are you doing this? Without loyalty?”

“Why does loyalty come out here?”

“If you made a decision, I made a decision too.”

“Is that so? ha ha ha!”

“ha ha ha!”

16:00 on March 1, 1945.

1st Corps train command center.

Nam Byeong-woo, who was temporarily appointed as the commander of the 1st Corps, spoke.

“This is going smoothly.”

“You already sorted out Wang Jeong-hyeon (Wang Ching) a month ago, right? “Nothing much will happen until you reach Mudanjiang.”

3rd Division Commander Lee Jae-ha answered.

The reason Nam Byeong-woo was appointed as the corps commander was because he was the most senior among the divisions of the 1st Army, to the extent that he was scheduled for promotion to brigadier general when he was transferred, and because he had a lot of experience in operations in which large-scale troops were mobilized.

Lee Jae-ha, who was selected by Lee Kang-cheol and quickly promoted from lieutenant colonel, was not a secret Jjambap.

“From Commander Mu, Division Commander Lee Jae-ha will split into the 7th Division and Suifenhe, so prepare.”

“All right.”

“Always be careful”

“yes”

“Anyway, there are so many of our compatriots…”

“They say that more than 70% of the people in this area of ​​East Gando at that time were our compatriots.”

“It is absurd that it has now become Chinese territory.”

“you’re right. “Then, I will prepare separately from the 7th Division Commander.”

“Do it that way”

The 1st Corps was able to move north quickly because it had already crossed the Namyang Railroad Bridge connecting Namyang and Domun.

And the Taegeukgi was waving in the endlessly long procession of the 1st Corps train, and the compatriots along the railroad came out to welcome it all at once.

In particular, they welcomed it even more enthusiastically because they knew that the entire Korean peninsula had already become independent.

“Korea horray!”

“hurray! hurray! Long live Korean independence!!”

Nam Byeong-woo, commander of the 1st Corps, opened the car window and waved when he smiled.

Since the 9th Division was to take charge of the rear, they could move north with confidence because they would move up slowly while clearing the rear.

March 4, 1945, 11:20.

Expeditionary Force command and control room.

“North of Mudanjiang, the 6th and 5th Divisions of the 1st Corps defeated two divisions of the Kwantung Army and are moving north, and Li Jae-ha’s 3rd and 7th Divisions defeated one division and miscellaneous units just before Suifenhe.”

“What is junk?”

“This is a unit that brings together garrison and fortress troops, right? “If there is another appropriate expression, please let me know.”

“Ugh! “Let’s just keep it a bunch of junk.”

“Yes, and the 2nd Corps has encountered resistance from several independent regiments halfway between Meihegu (Meihekou) and Jilin, but is advancing north smoothly.”

“As expected, the 3rd Corps is the fastest? “Is Dalian already in sight?”

“There weren’t many enemy forces here that could resist.”

“Right. “Anything special?”

“The Kwantung Army is preparing fighters and bombers. So, our Air Force’s Corsair fighter jets are scheduled to take off at 12 o’clock.”

“How many fighter planes do they have?”

“These are some fighter planes belonging to the 2nd Air Force and the 5th Air Force. Most of them were transferred to the south or mobilized for continental penetration operations, but some were deployed here, so there are not many. “It was determined that there were approximately 280 units.”

“President Jeong Ji-woon!”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Tell our pilots not to engage in unnecessary dogfighting and to sweep away while they are on the runway.”

“All right.”

An hour later, about 70 F4U Corsair fighter squadrons that were forward-deployed at Ganggye Airfield took off at once and headed north.

March 4th 12:41.

The Japanese Air Force airfield near Shinkyeong was busy, diligently adding aviation fuel and arming the aircraft ahead of the sortie scheduled for a few hours later.

And then disaster struck their sky.