Chapter 499: Season 2 Book 20 Shadow of War – 3-3 Smashing Operation
January 10, 2024, 11:00
B2 bunker (Operation Briefing Room, Joint Command and Control Center, ROK Ard Forces), Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Namju
In the basent bunker of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Shin Sung-yong, all commanders and staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Minister of National Defense Kang Yi-sik, who had just arrived, were seated in the operation eting room. After the commanders of the 1st Field Army and the 2nd Rapid Reactions Corps had been connected through video call, Director Kang Ki-won of the Foreign Intelligence Service ca up to the podium and began the briefing.
Director of the National Intelligence Service, Lee Young-jin had reported to the president yesterday regarding the Japanese cabinet’s national security eting and the serious situation taking place in the EU. The next morning, he called the high-ranking officials at the director level together for a eting about what should be done in response to what had happened. After the eting was over, a director-level official was dispatched to share this information with the relevant ministries, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Defense.
This was the reason why Director Kang Ki-won of the Foreign Intelligence Departnt was to visit both the Ministry of National Defense and the Joint Chiefs of staff in person for a briefing.
“This is the information collected by the National Intelligence Service so far. This concludes the briefing.”
After finishing, Director Kang Ki-won went back to his seat after coming out to the side of the podium and giving a light bow. Director Yang Min-choon went up to the podium soon after.
“Thank you for your work, Director Kang!” Director Yang Min-choon took the microphone and first said a word of thanks to Director Kang before beginning the full-fledged eting.
“As you all have heard, sothing that we didn’t expect happened in Japan and Europe. In addition, we are currently facing difficulties in battles with New China because they are using their own people as human shields. Therefore, today’s eting will be divided into these three main parts.” Head of Operations Yang Min-choon briefly explained the outline of today’s eting. He turned to look at the screen and continued.
“First, we’ll start with the situation regarding Japan. Currently, Japan has a total of 60,000 security forces that are inferior in power compared to the general infantry. Of these n, 40,000 are in Honshu, and 20,000 are in Tokyo, the location where the Japanese activists will be promoting the Declaration of Independence for Japan.”
“If it’s only 20,000 n, aren’t the 1st Marine Division forces garrisoned in Tokyo enough to suppress them?” Vice Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Youn Gi-youn blurted out with an expression that suggested this wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Yes, as the Vice Chairman has said, even if all 60,000 security forces were to gather in Tokyo, the 1st Marine Division would be sufficient enough to take care of them. But the problem here is Arica. The key here is how big of a force Arica will be providing to Japan.”
“That’s true, but will the Aricans openly support them with a large force?”
“Rather than deciding that they won’t, I believe it’ll be necessary to anticipate and prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
“Mm, I see. Got it,” nodded Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn in agreent.
Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Shin Sung-yong, who had been listening until now, looked over to the right at Lieutenant General Lim Kyung-soo, also the Commander of the Marine Corps, and opened his mouth to speak. “I completely agree with what the head of operations has said. What do you think, Lieutenant General Lim?”
“Currently the 5th Marine Division that was stationed in Osaka, Honshu, and the 3rd Regint of the 1st Marine Division that was garrisoned in Tokyo, has been sent to Hokkaido as supporting forces. Even so, I don’t think there will be any issues in taking care of Japanese security forces, even if there are 100,000 of them. But as the head of operations has said, if the chance of the Arican Army being involved is 100 percent, we must prepare careful counterasures.” Although he was a three-star general, Lieutenant General Lim Kyung-soo replied with a polite and confident manner that could commonly be seen from Marines.
“Great! Then to what extent of intervention of the Arican Army can the current 1st and 5th divisions handle?”
Lieutenant General Lim Kyung-soo took so ti to think before answering the key question of Chairman Shin Sung-yong. “It’s hard to say accurately at this mont, but I believe up to four divisions.”
“What’s the standard?”
“Arican Marine divisions.”
“What if chanized divisions are included?”
“If chanized divisions are included, our two divisions will be overwheld.”
“I see. Thanks for your insight. Lieutenant General Oh!” This ti, Chairman Shin Sung-yong called for the Head of the Intelligence Division.
“Yes, Chairman!”
“Mobilize all forces available and gather information of the movents of the Pacific Fleet, Guam, and Hawaii. Share that information in real-ti with Brigadier General Yang and Lieutenant General Lim.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chairman Shin Sung-yong then turned his head to the left, and this ti looked at Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon, the head of operations, and continued to speak without hesitation. “Lieutenant General Yang and Lieutenant General Lim, establish a defense plan for Honshu together based on the information Lieutenant General Oh collects and provides. As you’ve stated before, take the worst-case scenario into account and prepare additional troops. Above anything else, we’ll need to cooperate secretly with Director Kang. Always keep your communication channels open so you can be in touch at any given mont.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then can we prepare for the situation in Japan in real-ti and move on to the next topic?”
As the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff took the lead in the eting, everyone responded with an agreeing look to their eyes.
“Good! Let’s move on to the EU case then.”
“Yes, sir. We will be moving on to the EU case then. As Director Kang briefed, the EU mber states have proposed the economic sanctions against the Republic of Korea and the involvent of NATO forces. Currently, these cases have been transferred to the Summit Board eting. The date of the Summit Board eting hasn’t been decided yet, but if Arican influence affects it more than we expect, then the date could be as fast as less than 10 days away. If those cases are passed in the Summit Board eting, then we might be looking at a new war with the NATO forces, at least 10 days from now.” Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon summarized the EU case briefly and clearly. For a mont, the operation eting room was silent.
The NATO forces, which were allied forces under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, were not a part of the EU (the European Union). The NATO forces were a multinational army with the largest force and greatest history in the world. The leader of this force, of course, was the United States of Arica. However, most of the NATO nations were EU mber states as well, so the Summit Board eting often decided on policies and important matters regarding the NATO forces.
“If the NATO forces do go to war with the Republic of Korea, the war will be escalated to World War III. No matter how strong Arica’s influence is, would the heads of the EU mber states make such an erroneous decision?” Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Yong-hyun, who had been silent all this ti, opened his mouth.
“I also think that it’s sothing that could never happen.” Chief of Staff of the Aerospace Defence Forces, Captain Choi Jin-gook, also shook his head in denial.
“I also think that it isn’t likely, but I don’t think we should judge so quickly. We should co up with at least so kind of counterasure,” Captain Kim Eun-ho, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, expressed his opinion in a worried voice.
Director Kang Ki-won, who was listening in the back, raised his hand, saying, “May I add sothing?”
“Sure, of course. Please go ahead.”
“Ah, Thank you, Lieutenant General Yang! I didn’t ntion it in the briefing a few monts back, but currently, the U.S. has done a lot of work on the EU mber states behind the scenes, using the power of various intelligence agencies, including the CIA. Just yesterday, three countries turned over to the side of Arica. Our National Intelligence Service is also working on it. They’ve predicted that, but most of the EU mber states, who are friendly towards Arica, will eventually side with Arica.”
“Then are you expecting the proposal to be passed at the Summit Board eting?” asked Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Yong-hyun with a look of disbelief.
“Yes, I am.”
“Heh heh, it’s like everyone’s gone crazy…”
“We don’t need anything else. Regardless of whether it’s the NATO forces or the Arican Army, if they try to attack us unknowing of what they should be afraid of, we need to teach them to be afraid of us. We should take this opportunity to correct international order,” yelled Vice Chairman Youn Gi-youn as he pounded the table.
At this, Chairman Shin Sung-yong, continued with the eting’s topic as if he had made a decision. “Mm, if the National Intelligence Service is predicting that, we need to think about counterasures. Okay, let’s share so of our opinions assuming that NATO forces will intervene in the war.”
“I think there isn’t much to worry about even if NATO forces do intervene in the war against us.”
The current head of the Strategic Planning Division, Lieutenant General Lee Hoon-sang, stood up and opened his mouth. He was previously the commander of the Marine Corps and had been listening silently during the eting.
“What is your rationale?
“The NATO forces have been continuing to undergo disarmant due to the decrease of funds. There are several headquarters in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, but most of them aren’t in operation. In addition, the front lines we’ll have to face against NATO forces will only be a small fraction. NATO isn’t in a situation to form a large fleet to reach our territory. War is money. Who, among the NATO mber states, would spend the astronomical amount of war costs to build that large fleet? For these reasons, we can expect that the area of engagent with NATO forces will be in southern Russia.”
Lieutenant General Lee Hoon-sang continued his explanation without hesitation as if he had prepared what to say beforehand.
“But it won’t be easy to send NATO troops here, as well. If NATO forces do decide to attack southern Russia, there are only three land routes. One is through Ukraine. Ukraine doesn’t have that good of a relationship with the EU, and because they’re currently waging war against Russia with us, they’ll never allow NATO forces to pass through to attack. Another is Turkey. Turkey is our ally. Even though they’re an EU mber state, they’re on the side of the opposition regarding the proposed case of NATO intervening in the war, so they, too, won’t allow NATO forces to attack through this route. The last land route is west Russia. This land route, however, is very close to Russia’s capital, Moscow. Even if, in the Korean-Russian war, NATO forces are there to help Russia, would Russia allow NATO forces to pass under their capital, Moscow? Knowing Putin, he will not allow it. Therefore, there is no land route for NATO forces to pass through. The only option they have is to pass through the Black Sea to place NATO troops in southern Russia.”
All of the commanders and staff in the operating room were surprised by his considerable analytical ability.
“It is very difficult to transport combat troops using just naval power. As a result, even if NATO wants to send a large troop to southern Russia, it’ll be difficult due to the circumstances. Thus, even if we calculate the maximum amount of troops they can send, five divisions would be the limit. And even so, they would be unable to transport those five divisions all at once, and would have to send them over several transporting operations.”
Lieutenant General Lee Hoon-sang paused explaining for a mont, cleared his throat a few tis, and continued with his explanation. “To organize what I’ve explained so far, the ti when NATO forces can be dispatched to southern Russia is after the decision has been made at the Summit Board eting. If counting the 10 days until the eting, plus preparation ti, it’ll take them at least one month. A month is enough ti for us to finish dispatching the 3rd Marine Mobile Division in Ukraine and occupy the entirety of southern Russia together with the three brigades of the Peace Units. If we were to look at it in a more positive light, the ti may even be enough for the Korean-Russian war to end. For these reasons, I believe that we don’t have to worry as much about the intervention of NATO in the war.”
After finishing his explanation, Lieutenant General Lee Hoon-sang sat down in his seat. Applause erupted from everywhere.
“Lieutenant General Lee! That was an in-depth analysis of your own. Thank you for your explanation.” Chairman Shin Sung-yong clapped lightly. He seed to also have enjoyed the explanation.
“Right. I see you in a new light now, Lieutenant General Lee!”
“Haha, it wasn’t much.” Upon receiving praise from his superior, Lieutenant General Lee Hoon-sang rubbed the back of his head, smiling shyly.
“Now! What do all the others think?” Chairman Shin Sung-yong asked, in case there were any other opinions. He looked around at the commanders and staff sitting in the room.
At this, Captain Lee Gi-hyung, the Chief of Naval Operations, expressed his doubt. “I agree with the previous opinion. However, I think it is still an unknown whether Turkey will not allow land routes, as Lieutenant General Lee has said.”
“That is true! We’ll have to make so effort regarding that from our end, as well,” said Chairman Shin Sung-yong with a slightly concerned expression on his face..
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