Chapter 44

Hanaro Mart

Six apartment buildings and around twenty commercial buildings.

The entire area had been reduced to ruins so completely that it was hard to believe thousands of people had been walking these streets just a few days ago.

Vehicles still left in the apartment parking lots occasionally produced small explosions as they burned.

"···Phew."

The 33rd Battalion began advancing slowly from the entrance to the ruins.

Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je did not arrange the soldiers in one long line.

Whether they formed a column or a line abreast, entering an urban area in a single formation without caution was practically suicide when enemies could be hiding anywhere.

He surveyed the surroundings, identified large pieces of cover such as collapsed concrete and vehicle wreckage, then divided the platoon into smaller groups and directed each one individually.

"First Platoon, First Squad, move over there."

"Yes!"

"Move."

"Moving!"

First Platoon moved ahead with those brief orders. As soon as the soldiers reached their designated positions, they began watching the surroundings. First Platoon had more than thirty men. Kim Hong-je divided them into three squads.

When the squad leader of First Squad reached the position and raised a clenched fist, Kim Hong-je directed the second team to move a little farther ahead.

Bong-tae's 2nd Platoon was positioned on the far right of the 33rd Battalion.

- Second Platoon. Can you see the laundry shop ahead?

- Yes. I see it. Cleantopia.

- Move.

Bong-tae looked toward the designated position and relayed Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je's order to his platoon members. The distance was about twenty meters. At a full sprint, they could reach it in approximately five seconds.

"Second Platoon, run to the laundry shop at eleven o'clock."

"Yes!"

"Run!"

Bong-tae's 2nd Platoon ran toward the laundry shop, the only commercial building with a sign still dangling from it. The twelve soldiers pressed themselves tightly against the shop's exterior wall.

At the front, Bong-tae and Lee Hwan extended their heads just a few centimeters beyond the corner to check inside. Commercial buildings like laundry shops, with glass walls, were easy to inspect from outside.

"···."

Bong-tae and Lee Hwan repeated the action several more times. A quick glance, then back into cover. Another glance, then back again. When the laundry shop remained deathly quiet, they leaned out a little farther to inspect the corners.

"All clear."

Bong-tae nodded briefly.

Most of the taller commercial buildings had already collapsed under the bombardment. The buildings remaining in the operational area were mostly low, single-story shops.

The 33rd Battalion swept through the ruins at considerable speed. Lieutenant Colonel Choi Pil and Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je both knew perfectly well that most battalion members had never received training in urban search operations.

Their combat instincts had improved greatly through several days of fierce fighting, but defending a fixed position and advancing through a city while checking buildings one by one were entirely different disciplines.

Even special forces soldiers who had undergone years of professional training were frequently wounded or killed during search operations. If missions were ranked by difficulty according to their objectives, urban searches like this would fall among the hardest.

- Sergeant Kim. Remember just one thing. Think about where you'd hide and where you'd have the best position to attack from. Assume the enemy is definitely there.

- Yes. Understood.

- Follow my example.

Rather than simply explaining verbally, Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je demonstrated by personally leading three or four men to inspect small buildings.

Bong-tae watched him carefully. Where he directed his gaze, where he positioned the soldiers, and in what order. Although he didn't understand every reason behind those decisions, he gradually began to grasp what Kim Hong-je considered most dangerous.

The close-quarters combat practiced by police tactical units or counterterrorism teams was completely different from the close-quarters combat the 33rd Battalion needed to conduct during this full-scale war.

The biggest difference was that there were no hostages or objectives inside the buildings that needed to be preserved. The 33rd Battalion was the only 8th Division unit operating in this area. Anyone inside the buildings was an enemy.

Therefore, considering the current circumstances and the battalion members' level of training, Kim Hong-je began using the most effective building-search method available. Its central principle was simple. Throw in a grenade first.

Kim Hong-je knew better than anyone that this wasn't how it was normally supposed to be done. If the interior layout was complicated, enemies could avoid the grenade. The building might collapse, and friendly soldiers could also be injured by the explosion. Nevertheless, in their current situation, this was the most effective approach.

Kim Hong-je checked the entrance and its surroundings. He avoided placing two or more soldiers in the same position, ensuring their lines of fire wouldn't overlap.

- Check the entrance. Check the windows.

Kim Hong-je first confirmed whether the building's entrance door could be opened. If it could, he immediately threw a grenade inside.

- Throw in the grenade. Then listen.

The 33rd Battalion didn't possess equipment such as flashbang grenades. They had no particular need for them in the first place. The only throwable weapons the soldiers currently carried were three fragmentation grenades each.

During the early stages of the war, grenades had initially been issued only to corporals and above because of concerns about accidental detonations. Now, however, every member of the 33rd Battalion had received the same allocation.

- If it's quiet, go in. If you're suspicious, throw in another.

KABOOM!

The grenade Kim Hong-je had thrown inside exploded. Until shortly before the explosion, he had held his ear almost against the wall, then withdrawn well away just before it detonated.

Kim Hong-je was the first to enter. The soldiers following closely behind alternated between checking left and right as they searched the entire building.

Their unfamiliarity with the task was evident. Sometimes their feet overlapped as they passed through a doorway, forcing them to stop. At other times, two soldiers looked in the same direction.

Nevertheless, the soldiers had some understanding of which spaces were likely to be most dangerous.

Their eyes naturally went first to blind spots in room corners, concealed angles, and the ends of corridors—places where anyone with common sense and basic instincts would think, 'That's where I'd hide.'

After rapidly searching several more buildings, the members of the 33rd Battalion's 1st Platoon were becoming quite competent at this clumsy form of close-quarters combat. Bong-tae nodded.

- Second Platoon will begin searching as well.

- Acknowledged.

They moved to a small barbecue restaurant immediately beside the laundry shop. Its walls were concrete, making it difficult to see inside from outside.

Six men positioned themselves tightly against the building entrance. The remaining soldiers watched the surrounding roads and building windows.

"···Here we go."

"Yes."

Bong-tae was the first to pull the entrance door wide open. He raised his rifle and checked the areas visible through the doorway. When Bong-tae nodded, Hwang Gi-tae, positioned immediately behind him, pulled the pin from a grenade and threw it inside.

"Grenade!"

"Grenade!"

Hwang Gi-tae shouted briefly toward the rear. Bong-tae strained his ears, desperately hoping he wouldn't hear anything from inside.

KABOOM!

The grenade exploded inside the restaurant, scattering all kinds of objects in every direction. A plastic chair even flew straight out through the open doorway.

"Enter!"

Bong-tae entered the restaurant first. Keeping his rifle raised, he checked the left corner. Hwang Gi-tae, entering second, checked the right. Lee Hwan, the third man inside, turned left again. Bong-tae advanced along the restaurant's left wall and shouted.

"Always watch your muzzles! Unless you want to put a hole in a friendly soldier's head! And always be careful around corners!"

"Should we check the second floor too?"

"What, should we leave it unchecked? Lee Hwan, Nam Gi-baek, Lee Jin-gu, Song Min-jae! You four check it!"

"Yes!"

The 33rd Battalion was searching the commercial district at considerable speed. Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je wasn't particularly concerned about the noise they made during the search.

After the attack helicopters' missiles had already devastated the area, there was almost no chance that the North Korean soldiers were unaware that infantry would follow.

Lieutenant Colonel Choi Pil didn't want to give the North Korean soldiers in the area any time to recover. He wasn't referring to the recovery of physical wounds, but to preventing the attacked unit from restoring its combat effectiveness.

Gathering survivors, accounting for personnel, and allowing commanders to decide whether to defend the area or withdraw. In other words, he intended to eliminate as many dangerous positions as possible before the enemy's command structure could function normally again.

"Huff···. Huff···."

"Fuck, I feel like we've barely run anywhere···. Why am I so exhausted today···?"

"This drains your stamina way faster than I expected···."

"Seriously···. Who knew searching a few buildings would be this hard?"

The soldiers were breathing so hard their mouths had gone dry. Thick drops of sweat dripped from beneath Bong-tae's chin as well. They had only just finished searching their second building. They hadn't even covered half the commercial district, and the apartments were still a long way off.

"Phew···. Hey, concentrate. Focus."

"···Yes. Phew···. Phew···."

"Let's go. Move to that wall over there."

The members of 2nd Platoon gathered closely behind Bong-tae. He contacted Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je over the radio.

- We're moving to the wall at three o'clock. Huff, huff.

- Acknowledged. Keep your breathing off the radio.

Just as Bong-tae gripped his rifle and prepared to move across the street, he saw a shadow moving inside a large grocery store on the opposite side of the road.

Something seemed to have passed briefly behind the collapsed exterior wall near the rear entrance. Definitely a person. And anyone here was an enemy.

Bong-tae clenched his fist to halt his platoon. Hwang Gi-tae, immediately behind him, had seen the same thing.

"You saw that···?"

"Yeah. I saw it."

- At our two o'clock, I think one suspicious individual entered the single-story Hanaro Mart.

- Acknowledged. Stand by.

It was a large, spacious, single-story supermarket specializing in groceries. Its exterior walls were also still intact.

From the perspective of a North Korean commander, it looked like a good place to hide and regroup his troops. Behind Bong-tae, Hwang Gi-tae was looking through his observation scope when his shoulders suddenly flinched.

"There. I've got someone."

"How many?"

"I don't know. I've only seen one so far."

- Enemy spotted inside Hanaro Mart. One confirmed.

- Requesting fire support. Wait.

A short while later, replies came through amid radio static.

- The artillery battalion is currently supporting the engagement at Byeollae-dong. Guns are relocating to new firing positions, so immediate fire support is unavailable. Estimated delay is at least eight minutes. Out.

- This is the aviation battalion. We're currently returning to Pocheon for resupply. Immediate support is difficult. Estimated delay is at least fifteen minutes. Out.

Hearing the replies from the fire support units, Bong-tae shrugged. Then Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je's calm voice came over the radio.

- Sergeant Kim. There's no rush. Wait until fire support is available.

- Yes. Understood.

Kim Hong-je's judgment was absolutely correct. Bong-tae didn't disagree with it in the slightest.

The 33rd Battalion's position hadn't been exposed yet. Although they had detonated several grenades around the commercial buildings, the North Korean soldiers inside the supermarket hadn't pinpointed the battalion's location. They could only roughly guess the direction.

They had also spotted the enemy first. If they simply prevented anyone from leaving the supermarket, artillery or aviation forces could strike the building itself and complete the mission without taking any risks.

"Wait a second."

But the North Korean soldiers weren't going to wait for the 33rd Battalion. They began cautiously emerging from the building while watching their surroundings in every direction.

"They're coming out···?"

"···Fuck, couldn't they wait a little?"

"Would you wait if you were them?"

A brief transmission came from Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je.

- Prepare to fire.

The North Korean soldiers appeared to have decided to retreat. Only a few sentries were emerging through the main entrance facing the 33rd Battalion, while the remaining troops were peeking out through an exit on the side of the building.

"Hey, Lee Hwan. Want to give it a try?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Lee Hwan took the M72 LAW from his back. Gripping the plastic cylinder with both hands, he extended it, revealing the metal launch tube inside.

- Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je. We're going to use the M72.

- Acknowledged. We'll coordinate our fire with yours.

Bong-tae raised his head slightly and looked toward the North Korean soldiers. The distance was approximately 150 meters. The moment Lee Hwan stood to fire the M72, the enemy would spot their position. He needed covering fire.

"Hey, tell me when you're ready. We'll open fire immediately."

"Yes. Should I count down?"

"···That's a good idea."

Lee Hwan checked the area behind him. The M72 LAW produced a powerful backblast. There absolutely couldn't be any obstacles within five meters behind it.

And because the backblast could scatter debris up to forty meters away, nobody could stand in that area.

Lee Hwan closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. He recalled the operating instructions Staff Sergeant Kim Hong-je had given him.

It wasn't a difficult weapon to fire, but this was his first time using it in actual combat. He couldn't help feeling nervous. Moreover, a misfire could inflict devastating casualties on friendly soldiers.

Lee Hwan silently recited a brief prayer he'd forgotten about for the past few days. The irony of praying before killing someone made him smile bitterly to himself.

"Three. Two."

"One."

Bong-tae's and Lee Hwan's voices overlapped. The members of 2nd Platoon, including Bong-tae, simultaneously raised their rifles over the wall.

BANG!

Song Min-jae was the first to open fire. Bong-tae was dumbfounded.

He hadn't even managed to bring a target into his sights yet, but Song Min-jae had already fired his first shot and was swinging his muzzle toward his next target.

As always, Song Min-jae's bullet struck the North Korean soldier squarely in the forehead. The man's ballistic helmet flew backward.

Bang-bang! Bang! Bang! Bang-bang!

"Fire!"

A rocket shot out from the front of the M72 resting on Lee Hwan's shoulder.

FWOOOOOSH!

BOOM!

Lee Hwan's rocket struck the concrete rubble where the North Korean soldiers emerging from the supermarket had taken cover. Several North Korean soldiers hiding behind it were thrown backward.

"Hey! That was a fucking great shot!"

"Uh···. I didn't expect to hit it that accurately···."

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