The Chaebol Returns To The Presidency 1967 [EN]: Chapter 197

재벌총수가 대통령으로 회귀함1967 재벌총수가 대통령으로 회귀함 1967-197화(197/225)

197. The Second Skull Cloud

Gaeseong.

As dusk approached, three jeeps carrying the Chinese special envoy were passing near Seonjuk Bridge.

Boom~

Seonjuk Bridge, National Treasure No. 159 of North Korea, is a historic site where Jeong Mong-ju, a loyal subject of the late Goryeo Dynasty, was assassinated by Jo Young-gyu, who was sent by Yi Bang-won, son of Yi Seong-gye.

The bridge was originally named Seonji Bridge, but it was later renamed Seonjuk Bridge after Jeong Mong-ju was murdered.

“We’re almost there.”

However, a vehicle was blocking the road ahead.

“Why are you blocking the road!”

Honk honk!

“Get out of the way!”

The driver approached.

“The engine stalled.”

“Then why are you stopped in the middle of the center line?”

“I’ll move it right away.”

The driver, after confirming the Chinese special envoy’s vehicle, went to the blocked car and signaled somewhere.

There was a sound of people on both sides of the jeep.

Tat-tat-tat!

Tu-ru-ru-ruk-

Automatic weapons were mercilessly fired.

“Ugh!”

“Cough!”

The Chinese special envoy and the driver in the second jeep were fatally shot, bleeding profusely.

Caught in a surprise attack, unable to retaliate effectively, the dozen or so unidentified men suddenly disappeared, abandoning the wounded.

It was clear that the Chinese special envoy was the target.

The unidentified men retreated to a safe zone and radioed.

“This is Skylark, Jeong Mong-ju has died at Seonjuk Bridge!”

– Mother Bird, received!

The unidentified men were none other than South Korean special forces operating in North Korea.

*

Deng Xiaoping’s office.

“Assassinate the special envoy?”

China concluded that Jang Seong-taek had rejected the negotiations and orchestrated the assassination of the special envoy.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

“This is a declaration of war, Chairman!”

“How dare they attack a special envoy of a great nation! After using a nuclear weapon once, that Jang Seong-taek fellow has become too arrogant. Bomb Gaeseong!”

“Are we canceling the operation to capture Jang Seong-taek alive?”

“No need to capture him alive!”

They had planned to capture Jang Seong-taek alive to warn the US and South Korean forces not to cross the armistice line and to establish a puppet government in North Korea.

If Jang Seong-taek refused, fled south, or died, negotiations with the US to divide North Korea along the Cheongcheon River would be the next best option.

But now, that next best option had become the preferred one.

*

Pyongtaek US Army Base in Korea.

On the US military’s air radar, dozens of spots moving south were flashing.

The radar operator reported to his superiors.

“A formation of more than fifty Chinese fighter jets is heading southeast. Estimating their current route, they appear to be heading to Gaeseong, North Korea.”

*

ROK-US Combined Forces Command.

A heated debate broke out over how to respond.

The commander of the US Forces Korea said to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“The route is Gaeseong, Seoul! Seoul is a given, and even if it’s Gaeseong, it’s targeting Jang Seong-taek’s command! We must sortie immediately!”

“Even if China crosses the armistice line, we can engage, but we must never cross the armistice line first to attack! What they’re aiming for is an international war. We’re falling for their trick.”

“So, we’re just going to stand by and let Jang Seong-taek be bombed?”

“We’ve contacted Jang Seong-taek about the Chinese airstrike, so we have to leave it to them!”

The commander of the US Forces Korea shook his head.

“Oh my God! I never thought Korea would take such a conservative stance. It’s unbelievably surprising!”

“…….”

A strict order had been issued by the South Korean president not to cross the armistice line.

It was strategic patience to capture the continent [a long-term strategy focused on gaining influence and control over the Korean peninsula and potentially beyond].

*

The skies over Gaeseong.

Shoo-shoo-shook-

Chinese bombers and fighter jets filled the sky.

The doors at the bottom of the bombers opened, and bombs began to rain down.

Pyoong~

The bombs fell, making a metallic whistle as they plummeted.

Kwang!

Koong!

With a deafening roar, explosions and smoke billowed into the sky from the downtown buildings.

Unlike Pyongyang, there was no proper air defense network, so they were defenseless against the bombing.

However, Jang Seong-taek and his command had already fled to an underground shelter.

Then, dozens of MiG fighters appeared from the east.

It was a North Korean fighter jet squadron ordered by Jang Seong-taek.

The MiG’s machine guns spat fire.

Tat-tat-tat-

Tu-ru-ru-ruk-

An aerial battle erupted between North Korea and China.

It was a fierce dogfight, with each side shooting down one plane.

However, the Chinese bombers were heavy and at a disadvantage in aerial combat, and the Chinese fighters couldn’t stay in the air for long due to a lack of fuel for the long return flight.

The bombers dropped bombs haphazardly without confirming their targets and turned back towards China.

*

Gaeseong Shelter.

The ground shook, and the lights inside the shelter flickered.

Jang Seong-taek was furious.

“Even the US military is standing still, but the Chinese communists, who are supposed to be our allies, are bombing Gaeseong!”

He ordered.

“Order the missile unit! Launch a nuclear missile at Sinuiju! Quickly!”

“Yes, Comrade Premier!”

*

Sinuiju.

China’s 200,000 troops, along with mountains of food, ammunition, shells, and fuel supplies, were amassed. Armored and infantry units that had received orders to advance south began to move.

Krrr-

The advance party had already reached near the Daedong River, and the main force was slowly moving through the bottleneck.

Then, a flash of light streaked towards Sinuiju from the sky.

The Chinese soldiers, unaware of what it was, were milling about on the road, flaunting the might of the occupying forces.

The nuclear missile detonated at Sinuiju Station, the city’s center.

Koong~!

As the earth-shattering flash expanded, fuel, shells, and ammunition ignited in the intense heat.

Koo-kwang!

Pung! Pung!

Mushroom clouds billowed upwards.

The People’s Liberation Army, still not comprehending the situation, stared blankly at each other.

“Were we hit by a missile?”

“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary missile?”

“Isn’t that a skull mushroom cloud [a mushroom cloud with a skull-like appearance, indicating a nuclear explosion]?”

“Surely it’s not a nuclear missile?”

From the front, trees burned like dominoes, turning black and collapsing one after another, rapidly approaching.

“A fireball is coming!”

“Into the tanks!”

The tank soldiers sealed the hatches and retreated inside.

“Aaaagh!”

However, they became corpses inside the melted tanks.

The shells inside the tanks exploded, and the turrets were blasted into the sky by the secondary explosions.

Hwoo-ook-

After the initial shock wave passed, the aftereffects of the nuclear explosion swept through belatedly.

More than 70,000 Chinese troops, who had gathered like ants, died instantly, and more than 70,000 collapsed from burns and radiation exposure.

The advance party that had already advanced south heard the enormous roar from Sinuiju and received news of the nuclear bombing. They could no longer advance and halted in their tracks.

The advance party command shouted.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

With more than two-thirds of the 200,000 troops casualties and logistics completely destroyed, combat was impossible.

The remaining transport trucks and tanks retreated north towards the Yalu River Railroad Bridge.

*

Jang Seong-taek, after receiving the report that the nuclear attack on Sinuiju was successful, immediately stood before a broadcast camera and read the prepared statement.

“This nuclear attack on Sinuiju is an exercise of the right to self-defense against foreign forces that have invaded our borders! Those who covet our territory will face a firestorm like this at any time! We make it clear that the use of nuclear weapons is not a belligerent territorial expansion, but a right to self-defense to protect our territory. If the enemy makes additional provocations, we will mercilessly launch a nuclear attack on the enemy’s capital!”

*

Deng Xiaoping’s office.

Deng Xiaoping’s lips were parched.

“A nuke in Sinuiju?”

“Yes, more than 150,000 were killed or injured, and the logistics were completely destroyed.”

“Declare war on North Korea! Immediately!”

“Yes, Chairman Deng!”

*

UN.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union – held an emergency meeting due to the nuclear bombing and China’s declaration of war.

The British representative said.

“We must immediately stop China’s declaration of war and use of nuclear weapons!”

The Soviet representative said.

“North Korea launched a nuclear attack on China first. We cannot prevent proportional retaliation.”

The US representative said.

“China invaded North Korea’s border first! North Korea did not use nuclear weapons on Chinese territory, but within its own country. This is not an international war. China’s invasion is unjustified! North Korea has declared that there will be no further nuclear attacks or war if there is no foreign invasion. The responsibility for the provocation lies with China.”

The Korean representative said.

“The essence of the current situation is North Korea’s ‘civil war.’ In the process of suppressing the coup, China intervened by supporting the rebels and invading, so they were punished. Why should other countries be caught up in an international war and risk a nuclear war? If China stops, this situation will end as it is.”

If China were not a permanent member of the Security Council, the UN Security Council’s decision might have been more decisive.

The Soviet representative did not want to risk a third world war over a nuclear bombing in what was essentially a North Korean civil war.

However, from the standpoint of a fellow communist country, he needed a justification to restrain China.

The US representative said.

“China will surely try to frame this as a confrontation between the communist camp and the free world. But now the communist camp is at war with itself. The Soviet Union should not take China’s side but should join in a strong peace mediation plan.”

The Soviet representative said.

“What do you mean by mediation?”

“Because a nuclear war between countries is the trigger for the destruction of mankind, all five permanent members of the Security Council must resolve that China withdraw from the North Korean issue. The five permanent members of the Security Council must unite here to stop China’s irrational expansion!”

In other words, the goal is to isolate China so that it cannot exploit the US-Soviet Cold War.

The Soviet representative said.

“I’ll discuss it with my home country.”

*

The Kremlin.

The supreme ruler of the Soviet Communist Party was currently Brezhnev, who had served as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet since 1964.

His predecessor, Khrushchev, pursued a line of radical reform internally and adventurous US-Soviet confrontation externally, but Brezhnev, who preferred peace to noisy US-Soviet confrontation while suspending system reform, had him ousted.

Brezhnev’s peace was a policy of seeking a balance of power with the United States through a massive arms buildup.

China’s current invasion of North Korea was a move that ran counter to his policy of maintaining peace in the region.

Secretary-General Brezhnev raised his voice.

“Why did China invade North Korea first? The nuke also exploded inside North Korea. There is no justification for the invasion! Participate in the joint statement!”

*

A joint statement agreed to by all permanent members of the UN Security Council was issued.

“China must immediately withdraw from North Korea and stop interfering in North Korea’s civil war and internal affairs! If China declares all-out war, all countries of the UN will regard China as an enemy and engage in international war!”

Following the joint statement of the permanent members of the Security Council, a resolution for peace was also adopted at the UN General Assembly.

A state of emergency was declared in China.