Chapter 101 - Book 4 Chapter 5-4 Expedition to North For Unification: Large Scale Armored Battle at Man-ju

October 31, 2020, 19:00 (China Standard Time, 18:00)

25 km Southwest from Sun-Yang province, China.

The Peregrine falcon choppers all moved in a horizontal formation while the sounds of their rotors rang out. The sixty S-ALAM Black Dragon missiles equipped on the wings of the Peregrine Falcon choppers all flew towards the 39th Army Group’s armored brigade Type-99G tanks. The dozens of Black Dragon missiles flew at a fast speed of Mach 6 in a straight line and then blew up all the Chinese tanks in order.

The 39th Army Group’s headquarters ordered the camouflaged PLAGF anti-air forces to strike down the choppers. The HQ-16B surface-to-air missiles, which had a range of 70 km, flew toward the sixteen Peregrine Falcon attack choppers.

Woosh~ woosh~ woosh~

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The radar’s target lock-on alarm rang out in the cockpits of the Peregrine Falcon choppers. The flight leader gave the warning and ordered the use of the active SECM jamming system and evasive maneuvers.

-Launch, launch, launch. Each flight wing, music on, and make evasive maneuvers!

The sixteen Peregrine Falcon choppers all emitted jamming signals, chaffs, and flares as they made evasive maneuvers. The Peregrine Falcon choppers, which were neither jets nor choppers, either evaded the HQ-16B missiles before they could reach them, or used powerful jamming signals to cause the missiles to blow up prematurely.

Meanwhile, the 6th Alpha Artillery Unit from the 7th Mobile Corps detected the HQ-16B missile’s launch point and began to launch thirty-six 120km-ranged 270mm plasma cluster bombs from the 12-rocket launch pads on their MRLS K270A1 armored vehicles.

Booooom~ Boom~

The thirty-six rounds of the plasma cluster missiles spat out black smoke and noise, shaking the ground and sky, and all fell toward the 39th Army Group’s PLAGF forces, which were making their second attack.

The plasma cluster bombs were exploding everywhere in the sky, and they scattered across an area a couple of times larger than a football field. The missiles turned the area into an inferno that engulfed the PLAGF anti-air force’s HQ-16B missile forces, radar forces, and targeting radar forces. The area was filled with the smell of gunpowder.

The Peregrine Falcon attack choppers’ attacks allowed the 7th Mobile Corps to locate the Chinese army’s point of launch. Its artillery forces were then able to attack the Chinese anti-air forces and stop the attacks against the Peregrine Falcon choppers.

As a result, the Peregrine Falcon attack choppers were able to avoid the danger of the surface-to-air missile attacks. They continued the attack until they ran out of all of their Black Dragon missiles, along with the plasma packs for their 30mm laser Vulcan guns. When the order to retreat came from the flight leader, the thirteen who were not shot down all turned around to return to base.

Woosh~ Vrooooo~

On the ground were China’s latest Type-99G tanks, which had been turned into scrap from the Peregrine Falcon choppers’ attacks. From the wreckage, the 26th and 32nd Armored Battalions emerged. The White Tiger tanks continued to fire their photon cannons at what was left of the Chinese tanks.

Woosh, Boom!

The turret of the Chinese tank that was firing shells at the 712 tank exploded after being struck by a photon cannon round.

“All right! Next target. Target number 4, distance 880, ready!”

“Commander, we only have one round left. We need to change our photon cannon pack, sir.”

“Already?”

“Yes, we have only one shot left.”

“Fire!”

Woosh, boom!

Sergeant First Class Oh Young-taek spoke after confirming target 4 was shot down. “You see the broken-down tank at our 3 o’clock? We’re going to take cover there for a bit.”

“Yes, sir.”

After ordering Corporal Yeom Hoon-gi, Sergeat Class Oh Young-taek fired a smoke bomb, which blew up 4 m in the sky, billowing smoke.

“What power pack are we on?” Sergeant First Class Oh Young-take asked Staff Sergeant Kim Young-ju while they were taking cover and resting for a moment.

“This is the last photon pack, sir.”

“We’ve already fired 200 rounds?”

“Commander! It’s been three hours since we started battling,” Staff Sergeant Kim Young-ju answered, and swiftly pulled out the used photon pack by opening the loading mechanism. Then, he pulled out a new photon pack in the shape of a pillar, 10 cm in diameter and 60 cm in length, loaded it in the cannon, and then closed it with a lever. Finally, he checked the cannon operator monitor, which showed the newly loaded photon pack’s power level and number of rounds.

“Power pack reloaded! Charge at 100%, with only 50 rounds left, sir.”

Sergeant First Class Oh Young-taek gave the order to move when he heard the power pack had been replaced. “Let’s get moving again! Head to our 1 o’clock.”

“Yes, sir!”

Vroooooooo.

The crew of the 712 tank were exhausted in both spirit and body from the battle, which had lasted three hours so far, but since this battle could determine the outcome of the war, all of the soldiers, including those in the 712 tank, fought with all they had.

An hour later, the anti-artillery fire, air-raids, and the White Tiger tanks’ attacks all overwhelmed the Chinese forces and broke down their last line of defense in Sun-Yang. On Sun-Yang’s eastern front, the Capital Armored Division and the 3rd Armored Division had defeated the 40th Army Group, which had deployed its reserve forces to half its numbers, and pushed 8 km more toward Sun-Yang.

The Chinese military’s attempt to strike down Korea’s leading force with a siege had failed, so they chose another strategy, one which the Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff had predicted. The Chinese mobilized its fighter jets and deployed them.

Due to what happened with the jets that had been attacked by unknown enemies, some of the Chinese military’s air forces had not deployed their jets.

They opposed the deployment, claiming a proper analysis of the Korean jets should be done first, but Vice President Kan Kuichou cited his authority and pushed forward.

First, China would conceal the sic KJ-2000 early air radars in their encampments and would operate their YJ-26B mobile stealth fighter jet radars to maximize their detection of the Korean jets. Then, they would deploy four J-20 stealth fighter jet battalions, three J-30 stealth fighter jet battalions, and two J-11 jet battalions for ground attacks, for a total of 64 jets. A grand total of 176 jets would be deployed to the battlefield.

The nine fighter jet battalions that took off from Jinhzhou, Fu-Xin, and Chao-Yang airbases all increased their speed to Mach 1 and moved toward Sun-Yang. In response, the Korean air force sent out six KF-21P Phoenix Fighter jet flight wings that were standing by at Sun-an air force base, while the KA-11P Phoenix ground attack jet waited to be deployed.

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October 31, 2020, 20:20

B2 Bunker, Yongsan-ku, Seoul (ROK Military Joint Command Center)

Due to the tactical intelligence operator’s shouting, the commander center wasn’t quiet for even a moment.

While the Sun-Yang armored battle was going on, in China’s Liao-Ning province area the 2nd and 5th Corps’ subordinate divisions were conducting an occupation operation in the urban areas, just like the 1st Marine Division did in the Mu-Ju province. To start their occupation, the Korean forces were entering their targeted cities and taking over the governmental buildings and public institutions.

“Forty-eight J-20 jets and sixty-four J-11 jets from Jinzhou, and thirty J-30 jets each from Fu-Xin and Chao-Yang bases, have taken off to Sun-Yang’s skies! They are currently in a tight formation at N 41′ 22 mins, E 122′ 25 mins.

The tactical intelligence operator reported the information gathered from the Apollo reconnaissance satellite and the early air-radars.

Joint Chief of Staff Kang Ui-sik stood up from his seat, crossed his arms, and asked the air force communications operator, “As we’ve expected, what’s the status of our air force’s response?”

“From the Sun-an base, twenty-four Phoenix fighter jets have just taken off and have moved toward the Sun-Yang area, while the Phoenix ground attacker jets are standing by for take off.”

On the large center screen, the hundred or so Chinese jets moving toward the Sun-Yang area showed up as red dots, and the Korean jets that took off from Sun-an base showed up as blue dots moving across the Shin Ui-ju sky.

“This is the largest crisis of the fourth phase of our operation,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kang Ui-sik thought. Fatigued from not being able to sleep for more than three hours at a time, he rubbed the back of his neck, turned around, and gave the order to the operations director. “If we are to seize the chance of victory in the air, we must give the order the Phoenix ground attacker jets to take off immediately. It’s time to deliver the final blow!”

“I will send out the order, sir.”

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October 31, 2020, 20:25

The skies 10 km Northwest from Shin Ui-ju, North Korea.

While maintaining a diamond formation, the KF-21P fighter jets moved at high speed toward the Chinese jets, which were moving at Mach 1.2. The KF-21P jets had all received radar detection data from the E-737 early air radar, Peace Eye 1, and the Apollo 1 reconnaissance satellite in real-time, and were preparing for the first major air battle.

Wooooooosh~

The 103rd Fighter Wing Battalion’s commander, Lt.Colonel Ahn Hyung-il, gave his six flight wings the order via the radio.

-Hummingbird, westpoint, 48 J-20 jets, distance 230 check! Flight wing line Everest!

-Raison, Copy that.

-Sonata, Copy that

-Lowkick, Copy that

-Whiskey, Copy that

-Black pink, Copy that

Each flight leader responded and transitioned into a horizontal formation, then waited for additional orders.

-Hummingbird, enter battle positions! Standby with a Cobra missile for each target.

An internal weapons hatch at the bottom center of each of the twenty-four Phoenix jets opened, and the S-AAM-500 Cobra, a long-range air-to-air missile, emerged.

-Fire Cobra missiles!

When the flight battalion commander gave the order, each flight wing shouted “Fox three” and pressed the launch button. The 500km-range long-range air-to-air Cobra missile detached from the Phoenix jets and then flew past the pilots’ line of sight.

Due to the powerful plasma rockets, the Cobra missiles reached a speed of Mach 20 within five seconds and flew toward their targets like a stream of light.

In a short time of 36 seconds, the Cobra missiles hit 100% of their targets 250 km away and vaporized the twenty-four J-20 fighter jets in the air. The pilots of the J-20 stealth fighter jets were attacked before their LWR alarms could even be heard. The other hundred or so Chinese jets all made evasive maneuvers and desperately waited for the early-air radars and the YJ-26B radars on the ground to detect the enemy planes.