Chapter 34

Urban Warfare (1)

This time, a slightly longer silence followed. Apparently, Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je was having difficulty believing Bong-tae's report.

After all, the claim that just twelve men had neutralized all sixty members of a North Korean reconnaissance unit sounded almost like a joke.

- Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je···?

- Acknowledged. We'll rendezvous near the observation deck. Move out.

- Yes. Understood.

Bong-tae handed the radio back to Nam Gi-baek and stood up.

"Hey, you all heard that, right? Let's go. Move out."

"Let's move."

The soldiers rose one by one. They began gathering the magazines and backpacks scattered across the ground. Perhaps because the tension had eased a little, heavy breathing could be heard here and there.

"Phew···. Almost fucking died again today."

"You do realize it's not even past lunchtime yet, right?"

"···Fuck. You're right."

Lee Jin-gu pointed toward the golf carts parked in front of the underpass.

"Sergeant Kim, should we just take the carts to the observation deck?"

Without saying a word, Bong-tae approached Lee Jin-gu and lightly knocked his ballistic helmet with his fist.

"Ouch! What was that for this time!"

"Hey, act according to common sense. Common sense. Did you forget what Staff Sergeant Kim told us?"

"···Huh?"

Lee Jin-gu stared blankly for a moment. The most unreasonable person here was suddenly talking about common sense?

The other platoon members watching Lee Jin-gu and Bong-tae began laughing, all thinking exactly the same thing.

#

"Well done, Second Platoon."

As soon as Kim Hong-je saw 2nd Platoon running up from below the hill, he offered them sincere praise.

When Bong-tae had said he would directly engage the North Korean light infantry unit on the golf course, Kim Hong-je had secretly been very worried.

Although the 'Lightning' troops carried no heavy equipment and were organized around mobility, their training differed from that of ordinary infantry in both quantity and quality. They were certainly good enough to be considered among the lower ranks of elite troops.

Yet twelve men had managed to defeat a unit of sixty such soldiers. Even more surprising was the time the engagement had taken from beginning to end. Just ten minutes.

It was something they could never have accomplished unless the unit members moved together like a single body. These greenhorns, who had never experienced actual combat before, were producing absurdly impressive results.

Looking at Bong-tae, Kim Hong-je made up his mind.

'It doesn't matter if he doesn't want to. He was born for this.'

Once they returned, he intended to carefully present Lieutenant Colonel Choi Pil with his opinion of Sergeant Kim Bong-tae, along with a proposal.

'Knowing his personality, he'll probably throw a fit···. But what we need right now is for brave men like him to take on greater responsibility.'

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je took out his radio and began contacting the infantry battalions that had headed toward other reconnaissance positions. The 8th Division's infantry units were also occupying the nearby mountains one by one.

Perhaps because they had spent some time together in the tent the previous night, the members of 1st and 2nd Platoons were now resting while chatting with one another.

"Are you guys okay? Those explosions sounded fucking insane."

"Yeah. It wasn't particularly dangerous. The gunfire was pretty intense, though···."

"Good grief, and you don't consider that dangerous?"

"Hehe. Aren't you getting used to it by now?"

"No? I don't think I'll ever get used to it."

Lee Jin-gu looked down over Namyangju and murmured quietly.

"Are they just giving us Namyangju?"

"What···?"

"This place is huge, but I don't think we've heard any major fighting anywhere else. And even from up here, you can't see a single person, can you?"

The soldiers thought Lee Jin-gu was making another childish remark, but Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je nodded several times as though he agreed.

The sixty light infantrymen whom the 33rd Battalion's 2nd Platoon had fought constituted the largest North Korean unit in Namyangju. The North Korean soldiers encountered by other infantry units of the 8th Division had been small formations of squad or platoon strength.

It was a pitifully small force to defend an entire city. Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je issued orders to the platoon members.

"Keep monitoring the surroundings by platoon. First Platoon takes the west and north. Second Platoon takes the east and south. Sergeant Kim, lead your men."

"Yes. Understood."

"Oh, and is Sergeant Hwang Gi-tae the only one who knows how to use the multifunctional observation device?"

Hwang Gi-tae, suddenly becoming the subject of the conversation, was startled. The multifunctional observation device was easy to operate.

However, the reason Hwang Gi-tae had been solely responsible for using it was that nobody else in the platoon had received training on the equipment.

"Sir? Uh···. For now, yes. I'm probably the only one in Second Platoon who can use it."

"It's simple to operate, so everyone should learn. Using an observation scope might look easy, but it's physically exhausting work."

Lee Jin-gu poked Hwang Gi-tae in the side and laughed.

"See that? I told you Staff Sergeant Kim was a gentle man, didn't I?"

"You're getting cocky. Want another kick in the backside?"

"Hehe. Sergeant Hwang, would you like to try it too? It feels surprisingly—"

Thump!

This time, it wasn't Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je but Bong-tae who kicked Lee Jin-gu in the backside.

"Ouch!"

"Hey, stop talking nonsense and learn how to use the observation scope from Hwang Gi-tae."

"···Yeees."

"Se-jin, Gi-baek, Min-su, and Kang Min-jun, watch the south. Lee Hwan, Min-jae, Gi-tae, and Jin-gu, watch the east. I'll watch the golf course. Report immediately if anything happens."

"Yes. Understood, Sergeant Kim."

The 33rd Battalion conducted reconnaissance of the surrounding area from the summit of Mount Baekbong.

#

A short while later.

The 8th Division's main force began moving.

There weren't even any obstacles in downtown Namyangju that required the engineer battalion to take the lead. The North Korean forces hadn't demolished the bridges or installed serious delaying obstacles or mines on the major roads.

It really did look as though they had abandoned the city, just as Jin-gu had suggested.

The armored column, including K2 Black Panthers and infantry fighting vehicles, entered downtown Namyangju without significantly reducing its speed.

The armored troops moved while concealing themselves among large buildings. At the very rear, thirty-six K9 self-propelled howitzers, the friendly forces' primary source of firepower, advanced slowly alongside an infantry battalion.

An entry without bloodshed. But nobody let their guard down. Namyangju was merely a place to pass through. The decisive battlefield envisioned by the 8th Division lay west of Namyangju.

Crossing Mount Buram from here would bring them directly into Seoul's Nowon District. Uijeongbu lay to the north, while Guri lay to the south, making this area a crossroads.

This was the key location. It was like the lifeline leading into Seoul. If the 8th Division could firmly block this area, the North Korean Army would face severe restrictions on troop movements and supplies between Uijeongbu and northern Seoul.

Of course, that also made it an extremely dangerous place. The moment they pushed their armored units too far forward, they would be highly vulnerable to a coordinated attack from forces coming down from Uijeongbu and those advancing north from Seoul.

For that reason, the commander of the 8th Division intended to withdraw his leading forces the moment the North Korean Army gathered troops from both Uijeongbu and Seoul to form an encirclement.

That would naturally draw the North Korean forces, previously spread across two directions, into a single area. That was the moment the division was waiting for.

They would concentrate their withdrawing armored forces and all the firepower waiting in the rear, then confront the North Korean forces reinforced from Uijeongbu, Seoul, and Guri head-on.

It was the field in which the commander of the 8th Division had the greatest confidence. A contest of strength. He believed there was no chance he would lose to the North Korean Army in a direct, face-to-face clash, even if the enemy outnumbered his division.

What remained to be seen was how flexibly and quickly they could make decisions under actual combat conditions, how much of their peacetime training they could put into practice, and which side fortune would favor.

#

VRROOOOM!

A large infantry fighting vehicle swept past the two-and-a-half-ton truck carrying the 33rd Battalion, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. Jin-gu covered his mouth and nose and coughed several times.

"Cough, cough. We're finally fighting on level ground."

"Happy about that?"

Bong-tae turned toward Jin-gu. Lee Jin-gu grinned as though the answer were obvious.

"Of course. You have no idea how refreshing it is not to see so much green everywhere."

"I'll give you that."

"I agree. I'm sick of taking phytoncide showers."

"I want to take an actual shower···."

"There's nobody who doesn't."

This time, Bong-tae strongly agreed with Jin-gu's opinion. The soldiers beside him felt the same. For the three days since the war began, they had fought mostly in the mountains.

In mountain combat, even a little running left them gasping for breath. The ground was sloped and full of rocks, so placing a foot even slightly wrong often resulted in slipping and falling.

During the few battles he had fought, Bong-tae had rolled across the ground dozens of times. There wasn't a single unscathed spot on his arms or knees. His neck was also stiff from constantly having to look upward.

"But how far are we going? Feels like we've already come pretty deep."

"Don't know."

Several K2 Black Panther tanks passed the two-and-a-half-ton truck, following the infantry fighting vehicle that had gone ahead. Jin-gu had never seen such an impressive armored column before, so he leaned so far out of the truck to admire the tanks that he looked ready to fall out.

"Is the entire 8th Division gathering here?"

"Maybe···? But there sure are a fucking lot of them. I think I saw brigade insignia I haven't seen before, too."

The entire main force of the 8th Division had assembled in Namyangju. The 3rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, known as the 'Flame' Unit, which included the 33rd Battalion, formed the vanguard.

Whenever hundreds of vehicles moved simultaneously, the ground rumbled faintly. The engines powering their enormous hulls were so loud that it was difficult to hear one another speaking inside the two-and-a-half-ton truck.

- Beep.

- Second Platoon Leader.

Bong-tae picked up the radio attached to the shoulder of Nam Gi-baek, who was sitting beside him.

- Yes.

- Do not enter any tall buildings under any circumstances.

- Yes. Understood.

Bong-tae immediately answered Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je's transmission without asking any questions. But as he handed the radio back to Nam Gi-baek, he realized that Kim Hong-je's instruction seemed somewhat contrary to his own common sense.

'Why?'

Bong-tae had learned something firsthand through the battles he'd fought. Whoever occupied the high ground had an absolute advantage. They had wider fields of vision, easier access to cover, and more firing angles.

'Is urban warfare different?'

Apartment buildings more than ten stories tall lined the roads nearby. At a glance, it seemed that simply climbing onto one of those rooftops would provide a view extending hundreds of meters. Even for someone less skilled than Song Min-jae, they appeared to offer excellent firing positions.

But contrary to Bong-tae's assumptions, conventional wisdom about urban warfare had gradually been changing.

Especially since the Russia-Ukraine War, one lesson of modern urban warfare had been that tall buildings were among the most dangerous places to remain for extended periods.

Reconnaissance drones were the first to scan rooftops and upper-floor windows during urban combat, and tall buildings were also the first targets of mortars and self-propelled artillery.

If necessary, tank shells or aircraft bombs could bring down the buildings themselves.

Furthermore, this was an axis where the 8th Division and North Korean armored forces were certain to collide head-on. Both sides were likely to deploy not only tanks and self-propelled artillery but also attack helicopters and fighter jets.

Climbing into a high-rise building on a battlefield where such insane firepower was expected was practically the same as volunteering to die first.

"Hey, don't climb into any tall buildings. Under any circumstances."

"Yes. Understood."

Bong-tae passed Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je's instructions on to his platoon members. The soldiers nodded.

- Beep.

- Use low buildings of around one to three stories, walls, and alleyways. We'll be moving together by platoon anyway, but if you get separated, don't remain in one place for too long. Keep changing positions.

- Yes. Understood.

At that moment, the sound of aircraft jet engines, rather than tank diesel engines, passed over the two-and-a-half-ton truck. Several black dots streaked through the faint clouds.

"Are those ours?"

"Don't know. They're too far away to see."

"Wouldn't they be our Air Force? Weren't we supposed to have overwhelming air superiority?"

"Their tanks were the latest models from China and Russia. Couldn't they have gotten fighter jets too?"

"Those fucking bastards."

Wheeeeeee—

The sound of North Korean artillery shells began tearing through the skies over Namyangju. The battle opened with North Korean self-propelled artillery. Everyone inside the two-and-a-half-ton truck grew tense.

Wheeeeeeeee!

Wheeeeeee!

"That fucking sound again!"

"Dismount! Dismount!"

"33rd Battalion, dismount!"

"Just abandon the trucks and get out!"

The soldiers quickly jumped down from the two-and-a-half-ton trucks. Remaining on the road would be suicide.

Without anyone having to issue a separate order, the members of the 33rd Battalion moved toward the buildings. The soldier driving their truck also brought it to a hurried stop and jumped out of the driver's seat.

"Move! Move!"

"Stay on the road and you're dead! Get into that alley!"

KABOOOM! KABOOM!

Artillery shells began landing near the vehicles. Fragments of asphalt burst upward from the road.

"Bong-tae!"

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je's voice rang out. He was pressed against a commercial building beside the road opposite Bong-tae. Behind him, the members of 1st Platoon were divided into groups of four to six, maintaining some distance between groups while watching the area ahead.

"Yes! Staff Sergeant!"

"Anyone injured?"

Bong-tae turned his head and looked over the members of 2nd Platoon. Kang Min-jun, who was at the very rear, formed a circle with his fingers and gave the okay signal.

"No, sir! We're fine!"

- Beep.

- 33rd Battalion, hold your current position. Watch the north.

Lieutenant Colonel Choi Pil, the battalion commander, spoke through the radio. Bong-tae immediately picked it up.

- Yes, sir.

- The armored units that advanced at the front will soon withdraw and fall back along this axis. When they do, we'll join them and withdraw together.

His voice was calm.

- Until then, hold off the infantry and vehicles approaching from the north. We're serving as the connecting link. Do not let them break through under any circumstances.

- Understood.

"They're coming!"

There they were. In the distance.

Armored vehicles and trucks painted in colors different from those of the Republic of Korea Army were rapidly approaching along the edges of the main road.

"Prepare to fire!"

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