"Colonel Kim Sung-joo reports that he's in combat at the Pri Minister's residence. He says he'll stop the Pri Minister's escape at all costs."
Preventing the Pri Minister's escape.
It would co with sacrifices, but it was the best move for now.
"Hm. Given recent developnts, the Pri Minister's residence is more important than the Army Ministry. Deploy so troops in vehicles ahead to the residence.'
The imdiate troop shortage would be resolved once the cavalry regint crossed the river.
"Copy that, sir."
I put down the radio and thought.
Realistically speaking, in this Militaristic Korea, subduing the Army Ministry was more important than capturing the Pri Minister.
But since my n were fighting for their lives, we had no choice but to move to secure the Pri Minister first.
Shhzzz-
Crackle-
"General! We have an urgent transmission! I repeat, urgent transmission!"
The communications officer gave the radio once more.
It was Colonel Kil Tae Hwan, the Chief Of Staff of the 16th Reserve Division.
"General speaking, what is the problem officer?"
"Sir! Just now General Lee Seok-ki arrived at the unit and is attempting to regain command."
Lee Seok-ki?
Ah, wasn't he the 16th Division commander?
Hearing this new piece of information, I calmly issued my next orders.
"Arrest him imdiately."
"Copy that, sir."
It seems that he had rushed back from the Army Ministry to try and take control of the unit, but it was already too late.
How can he hope to seize control when the coup forces have gained montum?
Moreover, the key staff and regintal commanders were all Ilwonhwa mbers.
But I couldn't take his attempt lightly.
It ant that the Army hadn't stopped trying to disrupt our allied units even amidst the chaos.
After a few radio calls, five minutes had already passed.
My throat was a bit dry from all those calls.
I tried to quench my thirst with the only thing that was available here in the car - so candy.
As I was about to open another candy wrapper, the communications officer spoke,
"General. We've got a transmission from the Training unit."
"Patch it through."
There really was no ti to rest.
It was Colonel Baek from the Training Unit, currently commanding the coup forces at the Command Post.
"I'm listening Colonel."
"Sir, the Marine Corps is mobilizing en masse towards the Pri Minister's residence. The Provost Marshal is also heading there."
That...was a rather crucial piece of intel.
The Provost Marshal heading towards the Pri Minister's residence, huh...
"I see."
The reason why Colonel Baek Dong-seok, the operations Staff Officer sitting at the Command Post, could clearly see the Army Ministry's movents was simple.
It was because the rats in the Army Ministry who judged that the 'tide' had turned were establishing connections with us and leaking information.
Ah, the expression 'rats' might be too harsh.
To be precise, I should say that they're 'collaborators' who have been 'persuaded' by my followers.
Anyway, now that things had co to this, today's decisive battle would be at the Pri Minister's residence.
The Provost Marshal, the Defense Security Commander, and the Pri Minister were all there.
In other words, if we subdue just the residence, the Army Ministry's eyes and ears would be rendered useless.
Once they beco blind, there's nothing the Army Ministry can do from that point on.
"Turn the car around. We're going to the Pri Minister's residence too."
"Yes, sir."
Captain Kim Jong-Gil, my aide-de-camp, quickly turned the steering wheel.
We imdiately chased after the chanized infantry of the Tank Regint that was advancing ahead.
*
The battle around the Pri Minister's residence showed no signs of slowing down.
Defense Security Commander, General Lee Jeong-ju bit his nails.
The enemy MP, though fewer in numbers, were relentless.
They wouldn't retreat no matter what.
These crazy rebels.
Lee Jeong-ju felt anxious.
From the last received report, Jeong-Ju knew that the coup's vanguard was less than 5 minutes away.
However, with all the barricades and units blocking the way, they had at least 10 minutes.
Even so, it was clear that they were running out of ti.
Ring ring-.
"This is Defense Security Commander Lee Jeong-ju. Yes. What? The rebels have crossed more of the Taedong River? Yes, I understand."
Initially, Lee Jeong-ju thought it would take ti for the rebel follow-up units to arrive due to the tanks slowly crossing the Taedong River Bridge.
However, the rebels solved this problem by deploying the Training Cavalry Regint instead of the infantry.
With the cavalry regint added, the enemy could afford to aim for new targets.
This isn't good.
The fact that the Pri Minister's Residence and the Army Ministry were being targeted was already problematic, but now this complicated things further.
Lee Jeong-ju made a phone call.
"General Oh. How's the Guard deploynt going?"
"They're moving out as we speak. The Armored Regint and the Artillery Regint are breaching the city center, but it will take a bit more ti till they get there while the infantry regints are moving on foot, so just hold on for 30 minutes."
"Copy that, General Oh."
"You're doing well, General Lee, just hold on for a few more minutes."
Despite the situation being this dire, the Pri Minister didn't seem to have any intention of leaving the residence.
This idiot...Does he really not care if he gets captured by those rebel bastards?
Lee Jeong-ju thought about forcibly putting the Pri Minister in a car, but that was impossible.
"This is the Provost Marshal speaking, how's the situation?"
"DSC Commander Lee Jeong-Ju, speaking. The situation is bad Provost Marshal. Yes, I know. However, the residence won't fall imdiately, but we're in big trouble if the rebel's tanks arrive. Understood. I'll hold on as much as I can."
Fortunately, the Provost Marshal said he was rushing here on a military motorcycle.
Lee Jeong-ju went outside the main building to see the situation from his own perspective.
The gunfight was still raging on the road in front of the residence.
An Won-tae, the head of security who was commanding the battle from a trench dug in the garden, spotted Lee Jeong-ju.
"General Lee! Why are you here sir?!"
The sight of the security chief, nearly 70 years old, wearing a helt over his suit, was almost comical.
But this clown-like appearance was the most apt description of the current situation.
"We need to escort the Pri Minister out, but he won't budge."
"We can't exactly escort him out in this hail of bullets, can we?"
"If we don't leave, we'll be at the rcy of tanks.'
"Fuck."
Security Chief An Won-tae had no intention of ekly surrendering to the rebels.
He too had benefited from Park Han-jin's regi and had no intention of standing by idly as the regi collapsed.
"Chief!"
"Alright! Fine!"
An Won-tae removed his helt and went to the Pri Minister's office with Lee Jeong-ju.
At Lee Jeong-ju's signal, An Won-tae spoke first.
"Your Excellency. The situation has beco critical. If the rebels bring tanks, we cannot guarantee your safety. You must evacuate before that happens. The Capital Defense Command is ready to receive you."
"The Security Chief is right. This Lee Sung Joon who started this rebellion is truly a nace. He's calling his actions a 'Revolution' and has stated his willingness to bloody his hands if necessary. If such a man enters the Pri Minister's residence, how can we ensure your safety?"
"Chief."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"Has the gunfire stopped?"
With those words from Pri Minister Roh Jae-Woo, the Security Chief felt all the prepared words in his head crumble.
The very idea of bringing the Head of the executive branch into a hail of bullets was unreasonable from the start.
"Your Excellency, please!"
"Let be clear, I'm not leaving. If you want to go out, settle the commotion in front of my residence."
Lee Jeong-ju felt his patience wearing thin.
As they left the office, the Security Chief glanced around cautiously and whispered.
"General Lee...Given His Excellency's stubbornness, how about we try sothing different?"
"Go on..."
"It's clear that the Pri Minister cannot judge the situation correctly. In his current state, he can't be trusted with a position of authority. Since it has co to this, why don't we strip him of his authority and appoint an acting Pri Minister?"
This was an unthinkable idea in a typical democratic country.
But this wasn't a normal Nation.
No,
This was the accursed Korean Empire, a nation led by its military.
In this empire, even the Pri Minister could be replaced as a spare part if needed.
Of course, such an act would co with enormous political consequences.
However, they couldn't just sit and lose, could they?
"An acting Pri Minister, huh..."
"Why don't you run this idea with the Army Ministry, General Lee?"
Lee Jeong-ju had been considering this idea himself.
He imdiately dialed the phone.
"Army Ministry. Ah, General Park? It's . Defense Security Commander Lee Jeong-ju. The thing is, the Pri Minister seems to have lost his judgnt, so we may need to appoint an acting Pri Minister. Yes. Please find a suitable candidate from the cabinet."
Lee Jeong-Ju did sothing that Lee Sung Joon, soone who grew up in the Democratic Nation of Korea would never even consider.
Now, even if the Pri Minister is captured, the Army Ministry's control over the governnt won't be compromised.
That also ant the Provost Marshal wouldn't need to co here as well.
Lee Jeong-ju picked up the phone again.
"General Oh? This is the Pri Minister's residence. Yes. We've decided to resolve the issue here differently, so please don't co. No, it's not. Yes. Then I'll see you at the Army Ministry."
As soon as he hung up, Lee Jeong-ju called for his aide-de-camp.
"I'm leaving the residence by car right away. Chief An, what will you do? Would you like to co with in the car?"
"It seems I can't do anything by staying here, so I'll co along."
Even if they had to break through the hail of bullets, it was better than sitting and waiting to die.
The two conspirators created a new variable by abandoning the Pri Minister they were supposed to protect.
Whether this would turn out to be beneficial or detrintal, no one could tell /genesisforsaken
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