<h4>Chapter 96</h4>


    October 31, 2020, 02:00 (China Standard Time, 01:00)


    Yen-Ji Airport, China.


    The strongly resisting Chinese battalion were overpowered and began to dwindle slowly. Only those on the third-floor waiting room were left. During the standoff at the stairway connecting the second and third floors, the marines from the 8th Company, who had reached the rooftop, were preparing to rappel down and infiltrate the third-floor waiting room.


    -The 8th Company on the roof will begin its infiltration after receiving the signal. Companies six and seven will wait for my signal, and then will throw grenades and charge in.


    Battalion Commander Lim Nam-ho’s voice came on themunication line.


    “Battalion march~”


    The “ck Bat” Marine Battalion was waiting for the final finale. With themander’s signal, the 6th Company’s weapons toon began to fire its KS6ser machine gun. The six other marine groups, who were standing off to the side, threw shbangs and grenades.


    Pew pew pew pew pew ~ pew pew pew~ Boom!!~ Bang! Boom!


    The Chinese Communist Army hid from theser beams pouring into the building. shbangs and grenades flew in before they could even think of fighting back, and, bloodied, they moaned, their hands covering their eyes.


    The 8th Company Marines rappelled in from the rooftop and infiltrated the third floor, firing their KS2ser rifles.


    The Chinesemunist forces that had survived the grenades and fire from the 6th Company Weapon toon tried to point their guns at the marines, but only for a moment before falling down from theser beams fired by the 6th and 7th Company Marines.


    The third-floor waiting room, which rang with the sound of gunfire andser beams, became silent after a few minutes.


    -Third-floor infiltration isplete!


    Captain Oh Eun-gil from the 6th Company, which had taken over the third-floor waiting room, reported this through the radio.


    -Commander, we’ve captured a Chinesemander wearing a Colonel’s rank


    -A Colonel? That means he’s a regimentalmander! Bring him to the first floor.


    -Yes, sir.


    At 2 p.m. the operation to upy the Yen-Ji province began, and after only three hours, the Colonel of the Chinese army was captured, and the airport upation operation officially came to an end. There were areas downtown that still had to be searched, but with the capturing of the Chinese colonel, the Chinesemand system had fallen, and their strength was obviously weakened. The marine division’smand center determined they would be able topletely upy the Yen-jin province by tomorrow.


    And at various locations in Yen-Ji airport, Korean gs were raised.


    * * *


    October 31, 2020, 07:10


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


    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kang Ui-sik, who after three days finally got some sleep, started his day with the report that came in from the First Marine Divsiontest night. Then, he checked the contents of the report on the tablet and spoke to Operations Director Kim Yong-hyun.


    “upying a city is difficult, just as we expected. Send the order to secure Dan-Dung and Yen-Ji within the day.”


    “Yes, sir.”


    When Chairman Kang Ui-sik checked his watched and saw that he had thirty minutes left before today’s meeting, he said to Lieutenant General Kim Yong-hyun, “Lieutenant General Kim? Did you have breakfast?”


    “Haha. I did, with a cup of coffee.”


    “My, my. Our wives would take care of us if we went back home after work, but I see you and I have both turned temporarily single. There’s some time left before the meeting, so let’s grab a bite to eat.”


    “Hahaha, shall we?”


    After the war broke out, all the generals and soldiers in the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters were provided with lodging and dining in the B2 Bunker whilemanding the war effort. When Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Kang Ui-sik walked into the generals-only dining hall, many of the generals stood up and saluted him.


    “Ah. You all must be busy eating, so no need to salute... From now on, don’t salute each other while eating.”


    The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke with a kind expression on his face, and when he sat down, the cook brought out a tray of warm rice and soup.


    “Sir, I hope you enjoy your meal.”


    “Oh? Thanks. Today’s soup is my favorite. Miso, huh? Thank you.”


    After seeing the bowl of miso soup and four side dishes, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s appetite returned, and he picked up his utensils and began to eat.


    “My my, this is delicious. Isn’t this better than a home-cooked meal?”


    “Hahaha. Be careful, or your wife will hear, sir.”


    “Hey! My man, don’t say such things. Hahaha. Let’s start.”


    “Hahaha. Yes, sir.”


    * * *


    October 31, 2020, 08:00


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


    The Joint Chiefs of Staff Headquarters strategy meeting, which started at 8 o’clock, began with a briefing of the current war situation by Operations Director Kim Yong-hyun. After ten minutes, the briefing was over, and it was time to report the actions of each corps in the field.


    “Thanks to all themanders and soldiers working hard in the field, we are able to hold a meetingfortably in our chairs. When the timees, eachmander here should contact the forces in the field to give them encouragement, identify and meet their needs for supplies, and immediately resolve any difficulties they might have.”


    The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke out before the meeting moved on to the next topic. “No! Let’s move on to the next topic.”


    “Yes, sir. We will now receive reports from themanders out in the field.”


    When the operations director finished speaking, Commander of the 7th Mobile Corps Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon appeared on therge center screen on the wall.


    “Sir! This is Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon,mander of the 7th Mobile Corps. I will now briefly report on the present conditions and future ns for our forces.”


    Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon looked at the prepared documents and began his exnation. “Right now, the 7th Mobile Corps, along with its subordinate forces andmand center, are making an encampment 15 km southwest from the Ben-Xi province. The encampment is 65 km away from Sun-Yang province. The 20th Armored Division, which is our subordinate force, is temporarily stationed 15 km northwest of our advanced base, and the Capital Armored Division, which mobilized immediately yesterday, is now stationed 28 km north of our advanced base.”


    “What about the Chinese military’s movements?” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked.


    “Yes, based on the intelligence from the various reconnaissance nes and the Apollo satellite, the 39th Army Group, which is defending Sun-Yang province, has entered Sun-Yang’s downtown to prepare for urban warfare. The 40th Army Group, which had retreated to Xi-Ping, was mobilizing toward Sun-Yang, but they have changed direction and are now headed south along the S106 road, near Tie-Ling.”


    “We expect they will attack the Capital Armored Division from its 3 o’clock direction. Also, the 65th Army Group, which has moved from the Beijing area to An-san, seems to be in charge of attacking the 20th Armored Division’s rear, and we have confirmed that they have moved into the Liao-Yang area.”


    When Lieutenant General Yang Min-choon’s brief report was over, the other screen showed a digital map, which was marked ording to the contents of the report.


    “I knew it. The Chinese took the bait, just like we nned. Three army groups have gathered into one corps... What do you think? Do you think we can secure a victory against three army groups?”


    “Yes, sir. We are more than capable of taking them on and annihting them.”


    “Good. I like your confidence. But the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff will not leave the mobile divisions to fight alone. We will do everything within our power to provide necessary aid, so please fight well.”


    “Yes, sir. Thank you!”


    “Now what’s the status of the second rear attacking force, the 5th Corps?”


    When Joint Chief of Staff Kang Ui-sik asked about the present condition of the 5th Corps, the 5th Corps’mander appeared on the screen.


    “Sir! This is Lieutenant General Go Yeon-soo,mander of the 5th Corps.”


    “Yes, I heard you’re hard at work.”


    Lieutenant General Go Yeon-soo, who was a typical manly man, stood to attention and saluted the chairman before beginning his exnation.


    “All the subordinate divisions and forces under the 5th Corps have finished handing over sentry duties to the three divisions under the 11th Corps, and started mobilizing at 5:00 p.m. The 3rd Division has passed Tung-Hwa and billeted in Xinbin Manchu Autonomous County. Right now, they are preparing to mobilize toward Sun-Yang. The 6th Mechanized Infantry Division is stationed 35 km Northwest of the Dong-Feng area. The 8th Mechanized Infantry Division is stationed 25 km south of the Tung-Hwa area, and is concentrating its efforts to upy Tung-Hwa.”


    “When can the 3rd Division back up the Capital Armored Division?” the operations director asked.


    “Based on their position and speed, by noon today they will reach a position to back up the Capital Armored Division.”


    Concerned, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said worriedly, “I understand. There are probably many Chinese troops in the Liao-Ning Prince area that we haven’t detected yet. The 1st Army Command and the reconnaissance satellite will provide as much scouting intel as possible, but check the area with the drones and be careful of ambushes.”


    Themander of the 1st Army, General Choi Jin-gook, who was listening from the sidelines, interrupted the conversation. “Hahaha. Lieutenant Go Yeon-soo will make sure things go smoothly. No need to worry, sir.”


    “Hahaha, do you think I underestimate Lieutenant General Go Yeon-soo? Just think of it as an old man’s excessive worrying.”


    “Of course not, sir. I will heed your words and march on without any issues.”


    “Good. Carry on.”


    “Yes, sir!”


    “Up next is the present status of the second corps,” the operations director said, and the 2nd Corps’mander appeared on the screen.


    “Sir! This is Lieutenant General Yoo Gil-won,mander of the 2nd Corps.”


    Lieutenant General Yoo Gil-won, who was quite handsome, considering he was a soldier, saluted.


    “Good work out there, General Yoo.”


    “Thank you, sir. I will begin the report. The 2nd Corps has also handed off sentry duty and is making its march. The 27th Light Armored Mountain Division is 15 km South of the He-Long province, and the 15th Light Armored Mountain Division is now stationed 11 km South of the Fu-Song area. Lastly, the 7th Armored Division has moved 18 km Southwest of the Bai-Shan area and is preparing for upation.”


    [In early 2020, the Ministry of National Defense founded the 5th Army Sentry Command (a.k.a: shield force), which used the K-1000 Haetae auto sentry robots for sentry purposes, and stationed them as subordinate forces for two corps. The 11th Corps was given three auto sentry divisions, and the 12th Corps


    also had three of them organized under their corps.


    Each division would operate 432 of the K-1000 Haetae auto sentry robots and ce them at a distance of 100 m to 500 m, depending on the required distance. When six divisions were deployed, then sentry duty could bepleted from a distance of 200 km to 1,296 km, maximum, with just the auto sentry robots.


    Currently, all the divisions were unable to deploy all of their 432 sentry robots, but the number they had was more than enough to perform sentry duty across the border that connected the Ap-rok and Du-man river.]


    Twenty minutester, the Joint Chief of Staff headquarters briefing room finished receiving reports from the Navy and Air force and restarted the meeting to discuss improvements and changes that needed to be made to operation “Rise of Goguryeo” for the final time. After thirty minutes, the meeting came to its end.


    “Everyone, the northern expedition to the three north-eastern provinces has begun. For the first three days of the war we only had to pay attention to the 7th Mobile Corps, and we’ve done well, but now we have more than nine northern expedition forces, and sentry and search missions have be critical. I would like eachmander to keep this in mind. We are now granting the division-level authority to use the reconnaissance satellites, so if thendscape seems dangerous and suspicious, use the satellite before starting operations. Let’s now bring this meeting to a close.”


    The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had made his closing statements, stood up from his seat and called over the operations director.


    “Yes, sir.”


    “How much has been checked so far?”


    Operations Director Lieutenant General Ahn Gil-won came close and answered quietly, “It’s at around 50%.”


    “50%... We still have a long way to go. We can rx once it reaches 80%.”


    “Yes, I am aware as well, sir.”


    “Then keep an eye on it and immediately report back to me when it reaches 80%.”


    “Yes, sir.”


    The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who carefully and quietly exchanged words with the operations director, left the meeting room, and the other generals followed suit.