Chapter 2

Headquarters Company

[ April 4, 10:45 ]

[ Present ]

“Hey! Hey! Don't panic! Move just like we practiced!”

Captain Choi Cheol-jung, the Headquarters Company commander, shouted at the top of his lungs, but his own heart was pounding like crazy.

Wasn't this exactly what they had trained for, rain or snow?

The 33rd Infantry Battalion, under the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division, stationed in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. The primary objective of the unit known as the 'Twins' was to move into position and hold a strategic strongpoint.

They were to secure National Route 75, which ran between Mount Hwaak and Mount Myeongji County Park, and establish a defensive strongpoint around Myeongji Valley.

Captain Choi Cheol-jung's Headquarters Company was responsible for constructing the command post that would serve as its core.

Right now, every member of Headquarters Company was loading wartime supplies onto 2½-ton trucks, commonly called 'two-and-a-half-tonners.'

The soldiers had been issued live ammunition. Five magazines, each containing thirty 5.56mm rounds, were tucked into their combat vests.

All of Headquarters Company's wartime plans were written in the operational plan, or OPLAN, stored in the unit's classified documents warehouse.

It was a thick book containing plans made in anticipation of everything that would happen if war broke out, from which units would move where to which roads they would secure and which positions they would defend.

But reading about war in a book and experiencing a real war were entirely different. A book contained none of the emotions people felt.

How could Captain Choi Cheol-jung, who had only recently turned thirty, not be afraid of a real war?

He did his best to act calm and encourage his soldiers, but he couldn't hide the slight trembling of his hands.

‘According to the operational plan, loading the supplies and getting moving should take about an hour···. But it looks like it'll take longer than expected. What should I do···?’

Despite performing the very simple task of sorting wartime supplies and loading them onto trucks, the soldiers were moving extremely slowly.

The company's atmosphere was already chaotic. Their minds were elsewhere. Several soldiers grabbed hold of the officers and NCOs and bombarded them with questions.

“I-is this really a war?”

“Did North Korea really come down? I heard Kim Jong-un died. Who's Kim Myeong-seong?”

“Is Seoul all right?”

“C-Company Commander. Could we have our phones···? Can't we call our families for just five minutes? I'm so worried···.”

“Me too! Company Commander! Can't you give us our phones?”

Choi Cheol-jung bit his lip tightly as he looked at his soldiers.

If someone asked what the biggest change in the South Korean military had been since 2019, officers and NCOs might mention modernization, mechanization, or AI command systems.

But from the soldiers' perspective, the biggest change was undoubtedly being allowed to use smartphones.

Soldiers these days contacted their families every day, talked with their girlfriends, and watched YouTube and Instagram. The military was no longer completely cut off from civilian society.

But this was now a wartime situation. Especially in the early stages of a war, allowing soldiers to use smartphones was even more dangerous.

For the moment, he couldn't return the soldiers' personal smartphones, which were being kept in storage, without authorization from higher command.

‘But···.’

Choi Cheol-jung understood perfectly well. With a war having just broken out, how could he not understand their desire to hear their families' voices, even if only for five minutes?

The commotion grew louder. Even the administrative supply NCO and command sergeant major, who had been checking supplies in front of the two-and-a-half-ton truck, stepped in to control the soldiers, but it wasn't easy.

“As soon as we receive instructions from higher command, we'll hand them out···. For now, let's hurry up and get the supplies—”

“No, shouldn't we at least be allowed to make a phone call?”

“My parents probably don't even know there's a war going on! They don't normally watch TV!”

“Please give us just five minutes, Company Commander!”

Some of the soldiers were openly agitated, shouting with bloodshot eyes.

The Twins unit was known for its fairly strict military discipline. It was almost unimaginable for soldiers to raise their voices and argue with officers and NCOs the way they were doing now.

Normally, a single shout from an officer would have brought the situation under control, but now everyone was saying whatever they wanted without listening to anyone else.

That was how violently the word 'war' was shaking people's emotions.

Just then, a soldier slowly approached the company commander. It was Sergeant Kim Bong-tae.

The soldier who had completed his discharge report earlier that morning.

He was once again wearing all the equipment he'd returned to the administrative office. His combat vest, ballistic helmet, and even his gas mask bag were all in place, leaving him fully equipped for combat.

He looked so much like a perfect soldier that it was hard to believe he'd been about to become a civilian just moments ago.

Bong-tae silently swept his gaze across the soldiers. That gaze alone made the unit members grow a little quieter.

“S-Sergeant Kim···.”

One of his juniors cautiously spoke up. He was the one who had been standing at the front, shouting the loudest.

Bong-tae let out a short sigh.

“Guys, let's get back to work.”

“Sergeant Kim, just, just five minutes···. Surely we can at least do th—”

“I know.”

His right hand came down lightly on his junior's shoulder.

“I understand how you feel, but now isn't the time. Can't you see that it's not just us? The officers and NCOs are overwhelmed right now too. Let's follow orders for now.”

“No, but if we don't do it now, then when—”

“You fucking bastard.”

The atmosphere froze instantly. His voice was extremely low, but every member of Headquarters Company gathered there heard it clearly.

Bong-tae glared at his junior through clenched teeth.

“Who the hell here doesn't want to make a phone call right now?”

“···.”

“Shut up and get back in there.”

“···Yes, Sergeant Kim.”

Bong-tae shouted at the soldiers.

“Hey! Squad leaders! You fucking bastards! Can't you control your squads?”

The soldiers' heated expressions stiffened in an instant. They knew this sight all too well. The devil of a senior who used to work his juniors to the bone, Kim Bong-tae, was slowly emerging again.

What made it even more chilling was that his expression resembled the one he'd worn when he had reached the peak of his strictness, around the latter half of his time as a corporal.

The space between his eyebrows. His brow. Everyone there knew that when it was furrowed deeply enough to hold a 500-won coin, messing with him meant serious trouble.

“Y-yes, yes! Understood!”

“Second Squad! Assemble in front of the two-and-a-half-ton truck again!”

“Third Squad! Where's Third Squad!”

Under their squad leaders' orders, the soldiers moved back to the work area. They didn't say another word.

But they hadn't fallen silent simply because Bong-tae was the devil of the unit and they were afraid of him. It was because every soldier there knew something.

The person who wanted to go home more than anyone else was Bong-tae.

Just an hour earlier, he'd been supposed to receive his discharge certificate and walk out of the unit. Yet here he was, standing before them in full combat gear. When someone in that situation spoke like that, they couldn't bring themselves to keep making demands.

After confirming that the soldiers were backing down, Bong-tae suddenly approached the company commander, grabbed his shoulder tightly, and began kneading it.

“Hey, hey, hey! That hurts!”

“If you're nervous, Company Commander, we'll get even more nervous.”

For a moment, Choi Cheol-jung stared blankly at Bong-tae. It felt as though he could understand what Bong-tae was trying to say through his hand.

“···Right.”

“We're putting our trust in you, Company Commander.”

Choi Cheol-jung grinned. The company's ace really was an ace after all.

Strangely, those few words from Bong-tae seemed to help him regain his composure. But at the same time, Choi Cheol-jung noticed something.

The hand gripping his shoulder was trembling too. Choi Cheol-jung nodded with a determined expression.

“Right. Just trust me.”

“Yes, sir. I'll get back to work too.”

Choi Cheol-jung looked at the soldiers who had resumed their tasks. Only now did it truly sink in that the lives of these sixty young soldiers rested in his hands.

‘Fuck···. I'm nervous as hell.’

The officers and NCOs, including the company commander, felt no differently from the soldiers. Who among them had ever experienced actual combat? They had trained countless times, but for every one of them, this was their first war with artillery shells falling overhead.

Choi Cheol-jung slapped himself across the cheek. He had to be the calmest person here. Yet he'd just been comforted by Bong-tae, who was much younger than him. He felt a little ashamed.

“All right! Headquarters Company! Let's move a little faster!”

Choi Cheol-jung shouted as he lifted some supplies himself. The soldiers' eyes widened when they saw him effortlessly pick up an ammunition crate that was too heavy for one person to carry alone.

“Wow···. What the···?”

“Company Commander, you'll hurt your back. Let me help—”

Wheeeeeee—

At that moment, the soldiers heard a sound unlike anything they'd ever heard in their lives.

Wheeeeeeeee—

Wheeeeeeeee—

“What is that sound?”

A high-pitched noise continued, sounding almost like a whistle or the cry of a bird. One thing was certain: the moment they heard it, its unpleasant tone seemed to scrape against their nerves.

“Wh-what is that?”

“Hey, just hurry up and load the—”

Before anyone could finish speaking, a sound hundreds of times louder than a human voice engulfed the soldiers.

BOOM—!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With a tremendous explosion, part of the Headquarters Company building blew apart. Every window in the barracks shattered, sending glass flying in all directions. The ground shook, and the shock waves from the explosions slammed into the soldiers.

“···Uh! Uh! Uh!”

“A-artillery fire!”

“Get down! Everyone, get down!”

Hundreds of artillery shells were raining down inside the base.

BOOM!

One of the parked vehicles shot into the air in an explosion. Dust and concrete fragments poured down like torrential rain. A soldier screamed as he rolled across the ground.

“Aaaaaagh!”

But even the soldier beside him couldn't hear his scream. The consecutive explosions left the soldiers' ears ringing so badly that they could barely hear anything.

“Get down!”

Bong-tae pressed himself flat against the ground. He grabbed the ballistic helmet of a soldier who was still kneeling without properly taking cover and forcibly dragged him down.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

“Aaaagh! Ah! Aaaagh!”

The soldiers all screamed in terror. Experiencing real artillery bombardment for the first time shattered their composure in an instant.

Just twenty seconds. Barely twenty seconds had passed, yet Headquarters Company had already fallen into a state of panic. Even as shells continued to fall, Captain Choi Cheol-jung rolled across the ground and crawled over to the communications soldier.

“The radio!”

“H-here it is!”

“This is Twins Headquarters Company! This is Twins Headquarters Company!”

Crackle—

Only static came through the receiver.

“Respond! This is Twins Headquarters Company! We're under enemy long-range artillery bombardment! We're under attack!”

Crackllllle—

Still nothing but static. Choi Cheol-jung's face hardened. The communications soldier checked the main unit of the TTMR beside him and spoke urgently.

“S-something's wrong! The channel is correct, but we can't transmit or receive!”

“Fuck!”

Wheeeeeeeee—

As the sound of incoming artillery shells rang out again, the soldiers screamed in terror.

“S-save me!”

“Mom! Moooom!”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

BOOOOM——!

KABOOOOOM—!

An artillery shell struck the parade ground, very close to where the Headquarters Company soldiers were. A cloud of dust shot high into the sky.

At that moment.

Bong-tae, who had been staring at the point where the shell had landed, suddenly sprang to his feet. With everyone else pressed flat against the ground, he stood out all too clearly.

“Hey! Get down!”

“Sergeant Kim! What are you doing?! Fuck! Get down!”

“Bong-tae! What are you doing?! Do you want to die?”

Even the officers and NCOs shouted at Bong-tae. But as though he couldn't hear them, Bong-tae began running between the soldiers. The veins in his neck bulged as he kept shouting something.

But the soldiers couldn't properly make out what Bong-tae was shouting. The repeated artillery explosions had seemingly numbed their hearing, making every sound seem distant.

Bong-tae ran toward the barracks and then came rushing back out. This time, he pointed toward the ammunition depot and shouted.

He looked like a complete madman.

A man running around without taking cover while artillery shells were falling.

Those watching Bong-tae's bizarre behavior thought the bastard had finally gone mad with fear. Even the man known as the unit's ace had lost his mind as soon as war broke out on his discharge day.

But during the briefest instant when the bombardment stopped.

In that short silence, Bong-tae's voice finally reached everyone's ears.

“Gas!”

Bong-tae shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Gas! Gas! Gas!”

#

April 4, 2029.

36.5 degrees north latitude.

127.5 degrees east longitude.

The Second Korean War, which had begun once again in a small peninsular nation in East Asia, was only the third most important news story among the events taking place around the world that day.

What every news outlet in the world was racing to report was China's invasion of Taiwan.

At 9:55 AM, the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army began a missile barrage across the entire Taiwan Strait. A massive amphibious landing fleet that had departed from the coasts of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces crossed the strait's median line.

And less than ten minutes later, a second breaking news story erupted in Europe.

Russia had begun deploying large armored formations through Belarus toward Warsaw, Poland. The airspace over the Baltic Sea was immediately closed, and NATO convened an emergency council meeting.

The United States and Japan moved immediately. They redirected all available naval and air forces in East Asia toward the Taiwan Strait.

The world's attention was focused on the Pacific and Europe.

And only after all those breaking news reports had poured in did David, the CNN anchor, look down at the final script he'd received and clutch his head.

“···Additionally, just moments ago, North Korea's new leader, Kim Myeong-seong, announced a declaration of war against the Republic of Korea.”

Every staff member in the studio pressed their lips tightly together. The anchor was briefly unable to continue speaking.

During that short silence, faint shouts from inside the broadcasting station filtered into the microphone.

“North Korean forces have now begun artillery bombardments along the entire Military Demarcation Line, and the Republic of Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff have issued a nationwide emergency alert.”

Today was the day the world faced three new wars.

© Jungle Pocket #22844