Chapter 3

Under Artillery Fire

North Korea's asymmetric capabilities.

Simply put, asymmetric capabilities refer to weapons that only you possess. For North Korea, the most representative asymmetric capabilities are nuclear and chemical weapons.

Nuclear weapons are already well known. People in South Korea instinctively feel fear at the mere mention of the word 'nuclear.' That is only natural, considering they have lived under North Korea's nuclear threats for decades since the division of the peninsula.

Surprisingly, however, people are not particularly alert to the dangers of chemical weapons.

Even though, if the Republic of Korea were to engage in an all-out war, chemical weapons would actually be far more likely to be encountered before nuclear weapons.

Among the many types of chemical weapons, the one that fell on the Twins unit was the nerve agent 'sarin.'

“Get your gas masks out!”

At Bong-tae's shout, the soldiers snapped to their senses and tore open the fastenings on the gas mask bags hanging beside their thighs.

There was no time to verify whether what he said was true. Even if the artillery shells did not contain chemical weapons, military regulations required soldiers to put on their gas masks immediately after shells landed.

“F-fuck!”

“Hurry! Hurry!”

How a gas mask is packed away under normal circumstances is extremely important. In a gas attack, just a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death.

That was why soldiers folded and packed their gas masks in a prescribed manner. The moment they opened their bags, they had to be able to grab the facepiece and pull it out, with the head straps untangled so they could pull it over their faces and tighten it immediately.

There might have been soldiers who found that troublesome and simply stuffed their masks into their bags, but such behavior was unacceptable among the members of the Twins unit.

Ever since his days as a squad leader, Bong-tae had been particularly obsessive about the condition of gas masks.

Whenever he found a reason to pick on someone, the first thing he inspected was that soldier's gas mask. If the head straps were even slightly twisted or the mask was folded in the wrong direction, he made them repeat the process endlessly until they got it right.

Of all the devilish things Bong-tae had done, this was what the soldiers hated most. But today, all that harassment was proving useful.

Most of the Twins unit soldiers quickly pulled their gas masks over their faces. It took less than ten seconds.

“Gas! Gas! Gas!”

“Hurry! Hurry!”

“Fuck! It won't go on! The straps are tangled!”

Bong-tae was the first to put on his gas mask, and he looked around. He spotted a soldier who was still fumbling around, unable to put his mask on properly.

The soldier was breathing heavily with his mouth wide open, his face contorted in terror.

“···Hik. Hiiik···.”

He was having a panic attack. His jaw trembled uncontrollably like a fish pulled out of water.

Bong-tae threw himself toward the soldier. He grabbed the gas mask lying near the soldier's feet and forcibly pulled it over his face.

“Uwaaaaaagh!”

With his vision suddenly blocked while he was already panicking, the soldier began thrashing wildly. He flailed his arms frantically, trying to pull off the gas mask. Bong-tae immediately seized both of his hands and pinned them to the ground.

“Stay still! Hey! Somebody help me!”

“Haaah···!”

“Breathe! I said breathe!”

“Haaah! Haaah! Haaah!”

Two soldiers quickly rushed over and tightened the gas mask straps. Harsh, ragged breathing leaked from inside the mask. The soldier couldn't breathe properly and was only gulping down air as though his lungs were about to burst.

Bong-tae looked into the soldier's wildly shifting eyes through the gas mask.

“Jin-gu! Lee Jin-gu! It's me, Bong-tae! Bong-tae hyung!”

Only when he heard his name did the soldier's eyes finally regain their focus.

“H-hah···. Hah···.”

“That's it, you bastard. Breathe. Breathe. Inhale, then exhale. That's right.”

“···Fuck. ···Fuck.”

“Yeah. Fuck is right, you bastard.”

Bong-tae examined the size of Jin-gu's pupils. If he had inhaled a nerve agent, he should have been showing symptoms other than hyperventilation. Fortunately, Jin-gu showed no such symptoms. Bong-tae let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew···. Hey, stay low and keep your head down.”

“···Yes. Yes.”

“Officers and NCOs! Assemble! Get over here, quickly!”

The company commander shouted loudly. He was crouching low, using the two-and-a-half-ton truck as cover. The officers and NCOs who had been lying prone among the soldiers quickly moved toward him.

There were currently eight officers and NCOs in Headquarters Company, including both commissioned officers and noncommissioned officers.

As it happened, today was Saturday, so the remaining officers and NCOs, including the battalion commander, were urgently returning to the base.

Therefore, among the officers and NCOs currently present, the highest-ranking commanding officer was Captain Choi Cheol-jung, the Headquarters Company commander.

‘Was switching duty with the operations officer today a mistake···? No, maybe it's actually a good thing I switched.’

All the officers and NCOs gathered around the company commander, panting heavily.

“C-Company Commander!”

“For now, all the soldiers have their gas masks on.”

“What should we do?”

Choi Cheol-jung immediately issued his orders.

“We're moving out right now! We can't wait to finish loading anymore, and we can't keep loading either! Administrative Supply Sergeant, how much have we loaded?”

“Not even a quarter! Even if we reach the assembly point, we won't be able to establish the command post!”

The ammunition and combat rations, which had been prioritized for loading, were already on the trucks, but the tents, desks, chairs, and other equipment needed to establish the command post were still scattered around the two-and-a-half-ton trucks.

“We still have to go! It looks like they're targeting our unit specifically! We need to move as soon as possible!”

“Yes, sir! We'll depart immediately!”

Captain Choi Cheol-jung looked over the faces of the officers and NCOs remaining there. Headquarters Company consisted of four platoons.

The Fourth Platoon leader was currently beside him, but the other platoon leaders were absent. He quickly assigned temporary platoon leaders.

“The command sergeant major will lead First Platoon, the administrative supply sergeant will lead Second Platoon, and the intelligence officer will lead Third Platoon! Board the vehicles quickly and evacuate the base!”

“Yes! Company Commander! Underst—”

The administrative supply sergeant couldn't finish speaking.

Whoooooosh—!

Everyone's head turned toward the sky. A sound far louder than the whistling of the artillery shells that had been falling moments earlier tore through the air.

Far off in the sky, a single black dot appeared. The dot gradually grew larger···.

Captain Choi Cheol-jung's face instantly turned deathly pale.

“Get do—!”

KABOOOOOM—!

The world flashed white.

A massive shock wave tore through the ground. A tremendous explosion erupted around the two-and-a-half-ton truck where the officers and NCOs had gathered. Everything within a fifty-meter radius was hurled into the sky.

Dirt, rocks, vehicle wreckage, and even things that looked like parts of human bodies.

KABOOOOOM—!

At the same time, another explosion erupted near the place where the soldiers had gathered. Bong-tae didn't even know what had struck him. His body, weighing well over a hundred kilograms with all his combat gear, was lifted into the air.

“Uh···?”

He saw the sky, then the ground, then the sky again.

After repeating this about twice, Bong-tae fell into a patch of tall grass near the parade ground. The breath was knocked out of him, and at the same moment, he lost consciousness.

#

How much time had passed?

Riiiiiiiiing—

A strange sound echoed inside Bong-tae's ears. It was similar to the static heard when a television lost its signal after being left on in the early morning.

“···.”

Bong-tae slowly opened his eyes. At first, he couldn't see anything. His vision was blurry, as though something had gotten into his eyes.

He slowly moved his arms and legs. Fortunately, all four limbs were still intact.

“···Cough.”

After a few seconds, his surroundings began to come into view. Tall weeds surrounded him on every side.

If he had landed on asphalt or bare ground, every bone in his body would have been crushed. But the place where he'd landed was an empty lot behind the base where the grass-cutting work had not yet been completed.

The weeds that had been left unattended for several months had formed a thick layer, acting as a natural cushion.

Even so, his entire body ached as though someone had mercilessly beaten him with a baseball bat. His back burned as if it had been scorched by fire, and a sharp, tingling pain shot through his left arm every time he moved it.

Bong-tae gritted his teeth and pushed his upper body upright. At that moment, he noticed something strange. His face felt far too light.

“···Huh?”

Instinctively, he felt his face with his hands. The rubber gas mask that should have been beneath his fingertips was gone. A chill ran down his spine.

Bong-tae frantically searched his surroundings. But no matter where he looked, he couldn't see his gas mask. It seemed to have been torn off by the force of the explosion and sent flying somewhere.

“Fuck···.”

He quickly checked his physical condition. He could see properly, and neither saliva nor tears were flowing uncontrollably. There were no convulsions either.

“For now···. For now, I'm okay.”

The Headquarters Company assembly area where he'd been just moments earlier had been destroyed beyond recognition.

Of the four two-and-a-half-ton trucks, three had disappeared without a trace, and the remaining one was burning with half its body torn away.

The sky was bright red. It was clearly still morning, yet the sky glowed orange. The two-story Headquarters Company building was engulfed in flames, belching thick black smoke.

“Guys! Headquarters Company!”

Bong-tae ran through the black smoke, shouting until his throat felt ready to tear apart.

“Headquarters Company! Anyone alive! Hey! Answer me!”

He kept calling out names through the air thick with smoke, dust, and the smell of gunpowder.

“S-Sergeant Kim!”

At that moment, about ten soldiers emerged from behind a collapsed wall. Their faces were already blackened with soot.

As soon as they spotted Bong-tae, they ran toward him frantically. They were members of First Platoon who had shared the barracks room with him.

“Hey! Are you okay?”

“Sergeant Kim!”

“Fuck! Hyung! Are you okay?”

Relief and terror were mixed on the soldiers' faces. Without even catching his breath, Bong-tae asked.

“What about the others?”

“I-I don't know!”

“When we came to, we were the only ones left! Fuck! We can't see anyone else!”

Bong-tae clenched his teeth.

“For now, run outside through the main gate. There's an intersection once you get out, right? Let's meet there.”

“What? Outside the base?”

“If we stay here, we don't know what else might come flying at us!”

“What about you, hyung?”

“I'll find anyone who's still alive and bring them with me! Hurry and run!”

“Yes! Yes, sir!”

The soldiers nodded frantically. Bong-tae turned around again. His steps carried him toward the place where the two-and-a-half-ton trucks had been.

The place where Captain Choi Cheol-jung and the other officers and NCOs had last gathered just moments earlier.

“Company Commander!”

There was no answer.

“Administrative Supply Sergeant!”

Again, there was no response. Bong-tae's voice had practically turned into a howl.

“Fuuuck! Anyone alive! Somebody answer me!

There was no sound. Only the occasional crackling of something burning inside the base and the distant explosions of artillery shells falling somewhere far away could be heard.

Bong-tae ran frantically around the base until he spotted something and stopped dead in his tracks.

At first, he couldn't tell what it was. He simply thought it was the burned remains of combat supplies that hadn't been loaded onto the trucks.

But those shapes were human. Dozens of charred corpses lay tangled together on the ground. Faint smoke was still rising from the bodies.

The explosion and flames had been so powerful that it was impossible to distinguish one person from another. Bong-tae even forgot to breathe.

“···Fuck.”

Bong-tae's legs nearly gave way beneath him. But he quickly came to his senses. It was obvious that if he stayed here, he would end up just like them.

The attacks, which appeared to have come from artillery shells and missiles, had landed precisely inside the base. They had been so accurate that it was as though the enemy had deliberately aimed at the trucks and the places where the soldiers were gathered.

There was no guarantee that they wouldn't launch another attack against the remaining survivors.

Bong-tae was about to turn away when he suddenly noticed something lying at his feet. It was a gas mask. Although it lay beside a corpse, it was surprisingly intact.

He quickly picked it up. A small name tag was attached to the inside of the blackened protective hood of the gas mask.

[ Captain Choi Cheol-jung ]

Bong-tae's hand stopped for a moment.

“···Company Commander.”

After a brief silence, Bong-tae pulled the gas mask over his face. Then he tightened the straps firmly.

Click.

© Jungle Pocket #22844