Red Phoenix Burning (28 page)

IV Corps Command Observation Post

Pyongyang Koryo Hotel

The floor shook violently, and the air became filled with dust from the powerful shock. A large aircraft bomb had gone off right in front of the Pyongyang Koryo Hotel that Tae was using as a forward observation post. Originally a Kim family showpiece for foreign visitors, the twin-tower, high-rise hotel had been heavily damaged during the earlier fighting. Now the rubble provided excellent protection for Tae and his staff as they watched the battle unfold from the vantage point of an eighth-floor suite.

After picking himself off the floor, Tae took a quick look around at his men. None of them appeared injured, but their ears would ring for several more hours. Gathering his binoculars, the general went back to the wall lined with sandbags and stared out to the south—he should be able to see them any moment now. The preparatory bombardment by aircraft and artillery had been impressively intense. Tae was briefly envious of the amazing firepower he had just witnessed. But now that it had slackened off, the ROK Army would begin their assault. Major Ryeon stumbled up beside his general and leaned against the sandbags. He wiped a fresh layer of dust from his face.

“That was uncomfortably close, sir,” he remarked.

“Yes, it was, Major. And no, I won’t move to the bunker,” replied Tae with a smirk.

“Comrade General, we cannot afford to lose you.”

Tae kept grinning, but never took his eyes from the binoculars. “I appreciate your sentiments, Major, but I have to see what is happening myself. The timing of our actions depends on it. I cannot direct a battle from a hole in the ground!”

“Yes, sir,” mumbled Ryeon.

“Stop acting like a
halmeoni
, it’s unbecoming a soldier of your rank.” Tae smiled as he teased his aide, calling him a grandmother. The lightheartedness ended quickly, though, his expression becoming more serious. “Any reports on casualties from the bombardment?” he asked.

“Not yet, General. I can only hope that the imperialists attacked many of the decoy positions.”

Tae grunted his acknowledgment. Then turning to face Ryeon he inquired, “And the special weapons?”

“All special weapons have been removed from the artillery units and placed in secure storage in the rear, per your orders.”

The general sensed the uneasiness in Ryeon’s voice; Tae knew his order had not been popular. “I understand your reluctance to follow that order, Major Ryeon, as well as some of the other unit commanders. But it was essential that there be no possibility of a misunderstanding or error. The use of special weapons would severely complicate our negotiations.”

“There has been some grumbling, Comrade General,” admitted Ryeon. “If I may ask, sir, why don’t you want to use the special weapons? It would make our defense far more robust.”

“We need to push our Southern kinsmen, and their American allies, back through traditional means. This will have a far greater impact on their confidence. And while special weapons would likely kill more of their soldiers, it would also anger them. I want them to be careful, not incensed. Besides, using chemical weapons would only delay the inevitable. Pyongyang cannot be held indefinitely. It’s to everybody’s advantage if we end this without a protracted battle. Ahh . . .” Tae pointed to a wall of smoke forming along the city’s outskirts.

“Our guests are coming. Alert all units. And remind the rocket artillery commanders to fire their rounds quickly and then abandon their launchers. The Americans’ reputation for rapid, accurate counter-battery fire is well justified. Our artillery crews will have precious little time to do their job.”

“Yes, Comrade General, at once!”

Ninth Ghost Brigade Field Headquarters

12 KM South of Pyongyang, North Korea

The heavy smoke from the obscuration fire blocked Rhee’s view of Pyongyang; he could only hope it was having the same effect on the city’s defenders. Looking closely, he could see the lead elements of the 13th Mechanized Infantry Division moving quickly over the open field. So far, there was no response from the unified KPA units.

“Anything from the teams?” he asked impatiently, walking over to the digital map display. Ghost Brigade had inserted four reconnaissance teams inside the city two days earlier, strategically positioned to observe the movements of KPA personnel and vehicles. Well hidden amongst the rubble, they had a commanding view of the southern approaches to Pyongyang, and their reports had provided crucial intelligence that complimented the UAV information.

“No, sir,” answered Lieutenant Guk, staring at the secure data display. “Last report was no further movement detected.”

Kevin scanned the area with his binoculars. K2 Black Panther tanks were in the lead, followed close behind by a second wave with K1A2 tanks and K21 infantry fighting vehicles. Moving at forty kilometers per hour, it would take them only eighteen minutes to reach the city’s outskirts. The K2 tanks were closing fast on the smoke; but the North Koreans remained silent. The American colonel shook his head. “I don’t get it, Rhee. Back in the day, they would have started firing by now. I didn’t think the KPA had changed their battle tactics all that much.”

Rhee shrugged. “Perhaps they are very low on ammunition.”

“I don’t buy that. If you let the enemy get too close, you won’t have time to shoot more than a few rounds before he’s on top of you. It doesn’t make sense to save ammo if you get overrun.”

Suddenly, Kevin saw smoke trails rising up from the north-northeast—a lot of them. “Holy shit!” he yelled. Rhee looked up and watched as hundreds of rockets sailed skyward. The secure radio then abruptly squawked to life. “Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One, this is Gulf Niner Tango Six Two, incoming artillery rockets. I repeat, incoming artillery rockets.”

IV Corps Command Observation Post

Pyongyang Koryo Hotel

General Tae watched with satisfaction as the initial barrage of over one thousand rockets spewed out from Yanggakdo Stadium. Located on Yanggak Island, in the middle of the Taedong River, the large stadium concealed four battalions of BM-11 and BM-24 rocket launchers in its tunnels and sheltered parking areas. Now completely covered in smoke from the rocket motors, Tae hoped the crews had abandoned their launchers quickly. They wouldn’t have time to reload.

The rockets began exploding around the South Korean armor units, throwing columns of flame and smoke skyward. He briefly allowed himself a moment of smug pride. No doubt the imperialists would be wondering how his battered army could pull off such an attack without the aid of an active sensor or radio. He savored the irony of the low-tech method used by Captain Ro and his special forces team. The commandos had dug themselves into the hills to the northeast of the invader’s position, patiently waiting until their lead elements were aligned with a preselected landmark, marking their location. Ro then signaled it was time to begin the attack with a simple mirror and sunlight.

“Major, order the Seventeenth Armor Brigade to advance on the flanks. Antitank missile crews are to follow behind. Artillery, stand by to engage the follow-on units!”

Ninth Ghost Brigade Field Headquarters

The staccato of exploding rockets sounded like popcorn in a pan. The heat and smoke from the detonations blocked both visual and infrared sensors; Rhee couldn’t see a thing for the interference. Behind him he heard the rapid firing of howitzers—ROK and US Army 155mm self-propelled artillery were about to rain steel on the KPA’s parade. One didn’t need a counter-battery radar to see where the massive barrage had originated.

Lieutenant Guk waved excitedly for his commander, and both Rhee and Kevin hurried over to the communications tent. Guk didn’t even bother to explain; he just hit the mike key and said, “Gulf Niner Tango Seven Four, this is Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One, repeat your last.”

“Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One, this is Gulf Niner Tango Seven Four. I have hostile movers, Papa Hotel, company strength, on the left flank.”

Rhee shook his head; things were getting ugly. Then Guk pointed to the notepad where he had scribbled the first message and held up six, then two fingers—team Six Two was making a similar report.
Damn it!
cursed Rhee silently.

Grabbing the radio mike, he switched to the main attack frequency and barked, “All units, this is Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One. Hold hostile movers, Papa Hotel, company strength, on both flanks. I repeat hostile movers, Papa Hotel, company strength, on both flanks.”

The radio net burst into furious activity as the advancing armor units started looking for the enemy tanks. Kevin saw the worry on Rhee’s face; the earlier bravado had long been erased. “Pokpung-ho main battle tanks?” he asked.

“Yes, Colonel Little. We’ve walked right into a hornet’s nest,” remarked Rhee. Then turning to his ISR team he shouted, “Get a UAV in there. Now! I need to see what’s going on!”

Running across Pyongyang’s ruined outskirts, the K2 tanks had formed defensive wedges, while the K21 IFVs stayed in two parallel columns, their guns trained outward. The K1A2 tanks branched out along the flanks, keeping a sharp eye out for the KPA tanks reportedly coming their way—behind them lay eighteen disabled or destroyed armored vehicles. The wall of smoke was thick, with fires raging all around them from both sides’ artillery barrages. But at the far ends of the wall, several streams of white smoke flew out from the dense haze. The smoke grenades billowed a thick cloud, obscuring what was behind from both visual and infrared sensors. The Pokpung-ho tanks were making their entry.

Streaking out of the white curtain came fifteen tanks, seven on the left flank, eight on the right. They immediately adjusted their turrets to line up with their targets and opened fire. The 125mm smoothbore guns fired armor-piercing sabot rounds that had little chance of penetrating the front glacis armor of a South Korean tank, but the tungsten darts easily pierced the sides. Six ROK tanks were killed almost immediately, but not before they had returned fire. South Korean AH-1F helicopter gunships had also joined the fray, firing TOW antitank missiles. In less than a minute, all fifteen of the KPA vehicles, their best tanks, were obliterated. But it was just enough time.

While the ROK armor concentrated on the Pokpung-ho tanks, two dozen Reconnaissance Bureau antitank missile teams ran out of the smoke curtains, dropped to the ground, aimed their missiles, and fired. Their Soviet AT-4 Spigot missiles would have little chance of hurting the tanks that were now rushing toward them head-on. Instead, they targeted the far more vulnerable IFVs. Holding their ground while .50-cal machine guns bullets and 40mm cannon rounds kicked dirt and rubble into the air around them, the teams focused solely on guiding their missiles, hitting eight K21 armored personnel carriers. The missiles’ HEAT warheads shot hot molten metal through the hulls, killing the vehicles and many of their occupants. Still more in each vehicle were wounded. The North Korean missile teams had no chance to celebrate their success, as they were ferociously beaten back with heavy casualties.

Moments later, the lead Black Panther tanks plunged through the thick smoke. As soon as they emerged on the other side, North Korean Type 69 and Type 88 tanks began firing. Their efforts were futile. As the solid shot bounced off the ROK tanks, they began firing self-sharpening armor-piercing sabot rounds that sliced through their older foes even after passing through sandbags and broken concrete. The Chinese-made tanks quickly burst into flames once hit, often exploding their ammunition and blowing their turrets high into the air.

Some of the hidden ATGM teams attempted shots at the speeding K2s, but the tank’s active protection system intercepted any missile that managed to get close. With the origin of the missile tracked by the millimeter wave radar, a high-explosive round would follow immediately thereafter, eliminating the missile launcher’s crew.

As the other vehicles popped out into the clear, the IFVs deployed, putting down a withering fire while dismounting the onboard infantry. Some of the North Korean AT-3 Sagger missile crews managed to hit a ROK armored vehicle, but these were few. Fewer still were the number of vehicles disabled or killed. Helicopter gunships flew low along the North Korean line, launching high-velocity rockets and strafing with 20mm Gatling guns. The intense barrage forced the North Korean soldiers to keep their heads down, suppressing their fire. This allowed the ROK infantry to storm the now-exposed positions and destroy them one after another. The KPA front line was collapsing rapidly.

IV Corps Command Observation Post

Pyongyang Koryo Hotel

Even though Tae intellectually understood that the enemy’s assault would quickly overrun his first defensive line, watching it happen was entirely different. His troops were completely outclassed, and yet they had succeeded in bloodying one of the imperialist puppet’s best units. He could see ghostly images of the vaunted Black Panther tanks burning through the haze. Tae nodded his approval; his men had done well. Now it was time to pull back.

“Major Ryeon, have the mortar batteries lay down suppression fire on the lead imperialist forces. Order all frontline units to fall back to the second defensive line.” Tae paused and quietly rebuked himself, he had to stop thinking like this. The old propaganda won’t help him achieve his goals. And while shedding the habits of decades wouldn’t come easily, he had to start setting the example for the rest of his men.

“And have the Twenty-Third Artillery Brigade fire their barrage on the follow-on ROK units. Start in close and walk the salvoes toward the hills. Four rounds per gun, then have the crews go to their shelters.”

“Yes, sir, at once.”

“Oh, and Major, order the surface-to-air missile troops to engage any helicopter that gets within range. They’ve roamed the skies freely long enough.”

Ninth Ghost Brigade Field Headquarters

Rhee’s jaw tightened with each tank and IFV that was hit. His body was tense with pent-up frustration. Even when he looked through his spotting binoculars, he didn’t seem able to stand still. Kevin noted his friend’s agitation with empathy; he felt it as well. In the last war, he and Rhee were the ones down on the battlefield, fighting on the front lines. This time, their positions and responsibilities pushed them toward the rear, to directing the forces in combat. As if sensing Kevin’s thoughts, Rhee quietly muttered, “I should be down there. I can’t tell what’s going on so far away, and with all the smoke.”