George Bush’S Great America [EN]: Chapter 226

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“What the Fuck?”

There was a time when there was nothing. Truly nothing in that country. Just prairies and fields, rugged mountains, and more fields and paddies. A veteran of World War II, clutching a greasy, new M1 Garand rifle, found himself deployed across the Pacific to a place called the Korean Peninsula.

All he knew was that it was a small country just north of the Japanese archipelago, where they had fought so fiercely in the last war. Yet, a strong belief in freedom and a desire to crush communism burned within him.

He had been a sharpshooter, taking down as many as five “commies” while others barely dared to peek over the trench to get one. Now, he was an old man who couldn’t find his glasses without them. But even with failing eyesight, his hunting instincts remained sharp.

Revisiting the country after 50 years came as a shock. Despite the ongoing war, he had come to the Korean Peninsula because he wanted to die there, no matter what. Ironically, until the end of the war in his youth, he had vowed never to look back, not even to relieve himself.

He had spent his life forgetting about it, until a week ago when he suddenly got divorced. It was the result of a late-life affair. But the absurdity of it all was that his mistress died of old age, and then his cheating wife died of a heart attack three days later. What kind of *makjang* [over-the-top Korean drama] was this?

The old man had no children, as they had all committed the “unfilial act” of dying before their parents. He had no grandchildren either, thanks to those unfilial children remaining bachelors.

The old man’s guiding principle, free from attachments or regrets, was simple: he decided to go to the place where he was most likely to die. The quickest method was in the drawer (referring to a gun), but he didn’t want to commit suicide. He simply needed a place to die. Rational reasons held little importance for someone with such a complicated mind.

So, the only time the Korean Peninsula had voluntarily entered his thoughts since the end of the war was when he boasted about his skills in taking down communists. Therefore, the shock he experienced upon stepping off the plane at the airport was unimaginable.

However, unlike the shock, his impression was fleeting.

‘My youth was not in vain.’

That was it. His emotions had been completely drained by the recent series of events, so it couldn’t be helped. When emotions are calm, the surroundings tend to be seen more clearly than usual.

“So, it really is in the middle of a war?”

It was indeed in the middle of a war. Considering that, the daily life of the people was surprisingly active compared to other countries. In the early stages of the war, people had crowded the airport due to misinformation. Conversely, it also meant that those who were going to leave had already left.

So, the people who remained were, in a word, ‘anxious, but trusting of the military,’ and continued with their daily lives. Office workers went to work, and students went to school. Some excessively young children or sensitive parents kept their children home from school, but high school students had no choice. In any case, considering the situation, the policy was changed to give students a lot of homework at the teacher’s discretion, but it was very stable for a country where a war had just broken out.

Of course, that stability was merely a visible facade, but considering that only a handful of countries could even maintain a stable facade when a war broke out, this was quite unusual.

The TV at the airport showed Pyongyang with black smoke rising. He didn’t know Korean well, but he could understand the word Pyongyang. The news showed a satellite photo, but he recognized Pyongyang instantly because American news had been talking about it so much.

‘Ah, the Taedong River water was drinkable.’

The fact that you could draw drinking water directly from the river was almost like a new world. Of course, there were such places in the United States, but the fact that such water came out of the entire battlefield was unimaginable. Of course, when compared to the land area, it couldn’t even be compared, but anyway, there was no such ‘battlefield.’

“But I don’t think I can drink it now.”

Recalling the scenery of Seoul that he saw from the airplane window, most of the river water must have become undrinkable, polluted by wastewater due to rapid industrialization.

The news focused on the civil war in Pyongyang and the Korean advance, but there was no way an American old man who had lived his whole life with only English could understand it.

“Then can’t I go to Pyongyang?”

In fact, to go to Pyongyang, you had to go straight to North Korea, not South Korea, but there was no way an old man whose knowledge of the Korean Peninsula was completely stagnant during the Korean War would know that.

It seemed that one out of almost seven shots was guaranteed to hit. The bolt was so stiff that he couldn’t move it with his fingers, so he had to forcibly strike it against the corner of something to load it.

Sometimes he got hurt, or the weapon broke down altogether. There were piles of weapons in the armory, but he couldn’t access it. In fact, he didn’t even know where the armory was. He only knew that it was piled up. How would a private, not an officer, know that? He was just waiting for supplies.

A tremendous sound was heard.

– They blew up all the bridges!

‘It must have been the sound of the Bridge of Loyalty or the Yanggak Bridge exploding.’

The roar of the bridge collapsing was clearly audible even at Pyongyang Station. However, it was difficult to gauge how loud it was because his ears were ringing. The city of Pyongyang was already like hell. Buildings constructed haphazardly were collapsing due to the battle’s aftermath. The Pyongyang Thermal Power Plant, which had already been hit by a stray shell and exploded at the same time as the outbreak of the war, had a black plume rising into the sky, and the defending forces had long since withdrawn from Turu Island and Yanggakdo in the middle of the Taedong River.

Frankly, I don’t know what’s going on except for this southern front. I vaguely heard on the radio that the Arch of Triumph had fallen, but there was a battle going on at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun and the Korean Central Zoo, so I didn’t know whether it had been pushed back and pushed back again, or whether I had just misheard it.

“It’s terribly awful.”

The reason why a mere private had a radio even though he wasn’t a signalman was simple: an officer had died. In North Korea, when an officer died, they were immediately made to carry out the duties that the officer had been performing, but frankly, I didn’t care about that and was fighting with the thought that I just hoped I wouldn’t die.

The members of the squad he belonged to were all dead, and he was the only one left, inheriting and performing all the duties. So, there was nothing wrong with him possessing this old radio, his comrade’s gun, and equipment.

However, what was certain was that the southern front was almost over. This civil war itself was almost coming to a standstill, and the fact that I could still be alive with this junk-like gun was indirectly proving it.

Even though they were fanatics crazy about the old system, they couldn’t all commit suicide until the last one. When blood is visible and brutal scenes come into view, people’s reactions usually split into two: either they get overly excited and completely lose their reason, or they realize the preciousness of life and run away with sweat on their feet.

Perhaps it’s usually the latter. Why did Russia insist on dense infantry in the modern era when line warfare by line infantry was developing a lot due to the development of firepower? It’s because the army runs away when morale drops.

Anyway, whether I come back next time or not, it’s safe to say that it’s over now. I was so happy that I could take a breather without straining my senses anymore that I lost all strength as soon as I sat down.

It was then. An absurd story came from the radio.

– The South Korean bastards are advancing north!

“Damn it.”

The Republic of Korea had a mountain of countermeasures against a war with North Korea, but unfortunately, they couldn’t use them as they were. That’s because, originally, it would have been a war of washing blood with blood. Major cities in South Korea, including Seoul, would have been reduced to powder, and all sorts of biochemical weapons would have made it impossible to breathe properly.

The war would have ended in an instant, leaving only completely shattered infrastructure and economy, and a terrible wound in the hearts of the people. So, this was the ‘most ideal situation if a war were to break out.’ There is no mutual shelling, and there is no biochemical warfare. In fact, if it wasn’t for Pyongyang, I wondered if they would even fight properly.

“Our military has just crossed the North Korean border.”

And that question was confirmed when the Minister of National Defense reported this fact to the President in the President’s office. With this, a war that didn’t seem like a war began.

“Are you saying they crossed the 38th parallel?”

“Yes, that’s right. The top has been adhering to the principle of ‘never engage in combat.’ Many soldiers have naturalized at the border. I don’t know whether to accept this as a surrender or naturalization at this point.”

For now, it was ‘surrender’ because it was wartime. However, the attitude of the Korean army towards them at the front line, or the attitude of the surrendered North Korean soldiers towards the Korean army. If you just watched, it was closer to naturalization than surrender. They were treating them almost like naturalized citizens, not prisoners.

‘No, should I even call this the front line?’

No one had ever imagined such a war, so it was very difficult. But the work to be done has not changed: occupy each area and occupy Pyongyang, although the head of the enemy who had to be killed was gone.

That’s right. Originally, air power would have seized air supremacy, destroyed anti-aircraft weapons, and then immediately deployed airborne troops to occupy Pyongyang via helicopters and transport planes. This was what would happen at the start of the war. But what we’re doing now is just issuing advance orders according to a newly drawn plan, as if issuing an attack order in a real-time strategy game that’s popular these days, without seizing air supremacy or anything.

In fact, some areas were occupied by the existing ‘rice units’ [small, self-sufficient units]. They were thinly spread out like point organizations and took on a guerrilla-like appearance, but they were able to get through it well thanks to local cooperation. It was truly absurd, but what could we do when that was the reality?

Anyway, due to its geopolitical characteristics, the size of the Korean army, which had been growing without military reduction, was too suitable for maintaining the security of completely underdeveloped North Korea.

“It’s going to cost a lot of money. The budget will be broken, and my head will be broken too. If I mess up, I won’t even be able to dream of re-election. Still, it’s better than people dying. How is it going in Pyongyang?”