Chapter 24

Counterattack (1)

Two brief but intense engagements.

At least a hundred North Korean soldiers had died at the hands of the 33rd Battalion. Dozens more had been buried under the earth in the landslide Bong-tae had inadvertently caused.

Even considering that they had fought from advantageous high ground, it was an extraordinary achievement. The 33rd Battalion hadn't suffered a single casualty.

"Drink water! Stay hydrated!"

"Eat something whenever you have the chance. Biscuits, chocolate, or gum from your combat rations will do."

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je spoke to the soldiers who were catching their breath. But how could they have any appetite when they'd been in the middle of a battlefield with bullets flying around them just moments earlier? They merely moistened their throats with water from their canteens. Not one of them opened a combat ration.

A short while later.

The North Korean forces attacking Cheonju Mountain completely changed their strategy. Instead of forcing their infantry uphill, they began pounding the summit with mortars and self-propelled artillery from the rear.

BOOM! BOOM!

KABOOOM!

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je positioned his men slightly below the summit. Even with indirect-fire weapons, shells were less likely to land near the point where their trajectories peaked and began descending.

The problem was that if they remained hidden here, they wouldn't be able to see North Korean soldiers climbing toward the summit. Moreover, the explosions were rapidly wearing away at the soldiers' nerves.

"Fuck···. Fuck···."

"S-sob···. Sob···."

The men of 1st Platoon who had joined today were particularly close to breaking down. Some clutched their rifles tightly and eventually burst into tears. Bong-tae clenched his teeth.

"Which bastard's crying over there!"

"I-I'm sorry···."

"I feel like crying too!"

Keeping his body low, Bong-tae hurried over to Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je.

"Staff Sergeant Kim!"

"What! Stay down!"

"If we stay here—"

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je's eyes met Bong-tae's. He let out a long sigh. As though he had already grown accustomed to this, he lightly tapped Bong-tae on the chest.

"You don't want to just sit here and take a beating again, do you?"

"···No, sir."

Bong-tae nodded quickly. Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je thought for a moment. There was something clearly strange about the fact that the North Korean soldiers hadn't immediately pushed their troops uphill after seeing the 33rd Battalion retreat.

Kim Hong-je considered two possibilities.

The first was that the North Korean unit attacking Cheonju Mountain was no longer capable of conducting a proper assault to retake the high ground.

They might have suffered such heavy personnel losses from the Claymores, concentrated gunfire, and landslide that they had no choice but to rely on mortars and fire support from the rear. Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je considered this quite likely.

The second possibility was that they were still capable of fighting but were taking time to recover enough to restore their normal combat effectiveness.

They needed to evacuate the wounded, redistribute ammunition, and calm soldiers who had fallen into a panic. This was also quite likely.

And both interpretations led to the same conclusion. Right now, the North Korean forces down below were at their most vulnerable. It was an ideal moment to launch the surprise attack Bong-tae was proposing.

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je nodded.

"Shall we give it a try?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Have you got a plan?"

Bong-tae quickly explained the surprise attack he had in mind.

"One platoon engages them downhill from the summit, while the other crosses the forest road that collapsed in the landslide and attacks their flank."

The forest road had been so badly damaged by earth and fallen trees that it could no longer function as a road.

But precisely because of that, large mounds of dirt and fallen trees had accumulated irregularly in various places. Natural cover had formed throughout the area, providing more than enough concealment for a single person to move through.

"Not bad."

"Second Platoon will go."

"Good."

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je patted Bong-tae on the shoulder. Bong-tae gave a brief salute and turned away. Just then, Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je called him back.

"Hey! Kim Bong-tae!"

"Yes? What is it, sir···?"

"Have you ever thought about becoming a career soldier after the war?"

"No, sir! Absolutely not!"

Bong-tae fled from Kim Hong-je's side like the wind. As though he'd just heard something truly horrifying, he unnecessarily dug at his ear. Then he shouted toward the members of 2nd Platoon lying prone nearby.

"Second Platoon! Assemble!"

"Y-yes! Sergeant Kim."

The members of 2nd Platoon quickly gathered. Although they were still breathing heavily, their eyes remained sharp and alert. Bong-tae jerked his chin toward the bottom of the mountain.

"To put it simply···."

"You can make it complicated if you want."

"We attack their flank."

"···Right now?"

Lee Jin-gu scratched his chin as he spoke. He was no longer surprised by Bong-tae's plans. At the very least, the words 'attack their flank' sounded far more tactical than driving a car straight into the faces of North Korean soldiers or firing at drones from an armored vehicle.

"Yeah. Not confident? Want to sit this one out?"

"···If I do, you won't give me hell later, right?"

"Of course I will. I'll give you hell until you're on the verge of death."

"Fuck···. Let's do it."

A few chuckles escaped from among the soldiers.

Kang Min-jun wore a bewildered expression, half nervous and half amused.

'We're going to counterattack? Is he out of his mind?'

The Headquarters Company soldiers had lived alongside Bong-tae for anywhere from a few months to more than a year. They all knew that no matter how much he cursed, Bong-tae was ultimately the first person to step forward.

'He's a sergeant···. Right? Not an NCO?'

But Kang Min-jun had met Bong-tae only a few hours ago. He checked Bong-tae's rank insignia again. He was indeed a sergeant.

Yet he was casually proposing an extremely dangerous surprise attack. What was even more astonishing was that not a single platoon member who heard him objected.

Kang Min-jun noticed that he himself was silently checking his remaining ammunition and smiled faintly.

"This really is amazing···."

"What?"

"Ah, n-nothing."

Bong-tae explained the rest of the operation. They would conceal themselves among the obstacles on the forest road and approach as far downhill as possible. If they found North Korean mortars or anything resembling a command post, they would rapidly unleash all their firepower.

Their objective was to create as much confusion as possible before the enemy could respond, then use the obstacles as cover again to withdraw toward the summit.

"It'll be safer than sitting around here."

"That··· doesn't sound quite right."

"Still, those bastards down there won't even dream that we're going to attack them."

"Well, if Bong-tae hyung says we're doing it, then we have to. Fuck."

"Yeah. There's no guarantee we won't get hit by mortar fire if we stay here anyway. This might actually be better."

Bong-tae took a Claymore from his military pack and placed it inside his gas mask pouch. Seeing this, Lee Jin-gu shook his head in disgust.

"That thing again?"

"Aren't you sick of it?"

"It's a new experience every time I use one."

Hwang Gi-tae pointed toward the collapsed cut slope.

"You know we almost died because of that thing, right?"

"Don't you know that a little prickliness makes something more attractive?"

"Says the guy who's never even dated anyone···."

"Enough of the useless chatter. If you're ready, let's go."

"···Yes."

The briefly lighthearted atmosphere quickly faded. The warmth also disappeared from Bong-tae's gaze. Everyone gripped their rifle handles tightly.

When Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je saw Bong-tae's 2nd Platoon begin moving, he headed toward the summit with 1st Platoon. Upon reaching the top, the soldiers concealed themselves among piles of rocks, aimed downhill, and prepared to fire. They couldn't see the North Korean soldiers from the summit.

"Our job is to draw their attention. You don't need to aim precisely."

"Yes, understood."

"Fire!"

Ratatat! Ratatat!

Gunfire erupted from the summit. They deliberately avoided firing in automatic mode, instead shooting single rounds downhill. Before long, the North Korean soldiers below began returning fire.

"Let's go!"

Bong-tae's 2nd Platoon rapidly descended the mountainside. They took as wide a detour as possible around the area from which the North Korean gunfire was coming. After running downhill for about three minutes, they reached the forest road devastated by the landslide.

Bong-tae raised his left hand slightly. All the platoon members following behind him stopped. Bong-tae flattened himself against the ground and began crawling across the forest road.

His elbows and knees moved nimbly, pushing his body forward. His movements were almost a textbook example of a high crawl. Although he should have been exhausted from running quickly down the mountainside moments earlier, Bong-tae reached the other side of the forest road in no time.

"···He's fucking fast."

"Is he a snake?"

"Quiet."

Bong-tae raised only his head slightly and examined the slope below. After confirming that no North Korean soldiers were in sight, he gestured.

"Let's go."

The soldiers of 2nd Platoon also dropped to the ground one by one and crawled forward in the same posture. At the summit, Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je was doing an excellent job of drawing the enemy's attention. From time to time, he raised his M32 and fired downhill.

Rat-tat! Ratatatat! KABOOM!

It was such a natural performance that it looked as though they were being forced to resist from the summit because of the bombardment. The North Korean soldiers' attention remained focused on the mountaintop.

Meanwhile, Bong-tae led the way at the front. Behind him, the members of 2nd Platoon followed in a single file, maintaining their spacing as they crawled. Having safely crossed the forest road, the group descended a little farther.

North Korean gunfire rang out from directly ahead. A small clearing came into Bong-tae's view.

'Is this··· a mineral spring?'

There were several pieces of exercise equipment and a drinking fountain, and beside them stood a small building made from a converted shipping container.

Trees surrounded the clearing on all sides, making it difficult to see from above. The ground was flat enough to set up mortars, and two 60mm mortars were firing from it.

Soldiers were busily carrying ammunition near the mortars. There were roughly thirty of them, and about half appeared to have been wounded in the recent engagement, with many limping.

'Wait a minute···. Those are the problem.'

Two vehicles were parked behind them. Heavy machine guns sat silently on their roofs. Bong-tae remembered how formidable those machine guns had been during the fighting on the forest road.

If those two machine guns opened fire on 2nd Platoon, the difference in firepower would be so great that they could never win a direct firefight. And since they no longer held an advantageous position, some of them could be killed or wounded.

"Phew···."

The members of 2nd Platoon also grew nervous after confirming how many North Korean soldiers were present. They kept fiddling with their fire selectors as they waited for Bong-tae's orders.

Just then, Bong-tae quietly spoke to his platoon members.

"Hold here. Wait a moment."

"Where are you going this time?"

"See those vehicles in the back? They're the problem."

"What are you going to do···?"

Bong-tae took a Claymore from the gas mask pouch hanging against his thigh. The platoon members tilted their heads when they saw it.

"Can you blow up a vehicle with that?"

"Don't know. But I can probably fuck up the machine gunners."

If the North Korean mortar position and infantry came under surprise fire from 2nd Platoon's location, they would most likely move toward the small building in the rear and take cover behind the vehicles.

Anticipating that, Bong-tae checked the Claymore's direction one last time, then pulled out a long length of wire and connected it.

After completing the installation, Bong-tae gestured for the soldiers to gather.

He placed Song Min-jae in the very center. As the most skilled marksman, Song Min-jae needed a wide field of vision to prioritize eliminating the mortar crews and command personnel.

The remaining soldiers spread out widely to the left and right, taking up their respective firing positions. The members of 2nd Platoon lay prone among the trees and bushes. All preparations were complete.

After checking his platoon members' positions one last time, Bong-tae pointed to the grenades attached to his combat vest. The soldiers looked at him and nodded.

'We should start with a bang.'

Bong-tae immediately pulled the safety pin from his grenade. The key to this operation was to create the greatest possible confusion with a single surprise attack.

His arm, drawn back behind him, whipped forward. The grenade flew in an arc and landed near the mortar position.

Thud.

The grenades thrown by his platoon members followed, landing throughout the North Korean position. A few flew off toward empty areas, but two or three rolled into the middle of the area where North Korean soldiers were firing toward the summit.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Ratatatat! Ratatatat!

The members of 2nd Platoon opened fire simultaneously. Even without Bong-tae giving the order to shoot, everyone knew this was the perfect moment. The North Korean position, its flank completely exposed, was devastated by the first volley.

"Wh-what—"

"Uwaaaaagh!"

KABOOM! KABOOM! BOOM!

At the same time, the grenades they had thrown exploded in succession. The exercise equipment scattered around the mineral spring was shattered and hurled into the air.

"A-an ambush!"

"The firing crews have been hit!"

"They're coming down from the front too! We're surrounded!"

"Withdraw! Withdraw!"

Ratatatat! Ratatatat!

Before the dust from the grenades had even settled, gunfire intensified from higher up the mountain. The platoon led by Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je had descended to the position where the first engagement had taken place and begun firing.

First Platoon from above, Second Platoon from the flank.

Caught in concentrated crossfire, the North Korean soldiers fell into complete panic. They threw away even the rifles they were carrying, turned their backs, and began fleeing.

But at that moment, the door of the shipping container was violently thrown open. A man wearing a first lieutenant's rank insignia rushed out and grabbed the collar of a soldier who was fleeing in tears.

Slap!

His palm struck the soldier across the cheek. The soldier tumbled to the ground but tried to flee again, his face contorted with terror.

Bang!

Without hesitation, the officer drew his pistol and shot the soldier in the head. Without even wiping the blood from his face, he raised his pistol toward the sky and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Anyone who turns his back and runs will be executed on the spot! Hold your formation! Take cover by the vehicles and building!"

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