General Bennett looked at the wall clock and saw that it was 0255 in the morning. In five minutes, the Second Korean War would officially kick off with the US and its allies launching a pre-emptive attack on the DPRK. They had chosen to start the war at 0300 in the morning, the darkest possible time of night, and a time when most people would either be asleep or wishing that they were if they were on guard duty.
As John sat in the command bunker, observing the multiple ten-foot by ten-foot computer screen projectors monitoring the disposition of the US and ROK Forces, he saw the aircraft and Tomahawk cruise missiles make the slow and steady march towards the border, then cross it. With that act, the war had officially started. Nearly 600 aircraft were now in the air heading towards their attack points. The B-2s had just crossed into North Korean air space headed towards their designated targets; so far, they appeared to have gone completely undetected. In another minute, the B-52s would begin to launch their ground attack cruise missiles, specifically targeting the enemy radar and air defense systems. This would quickly be followed up by the B-1s, who would begin their bombing runs against the thousands of artillery positions along the border.
On a separate screen, the naval situation began to show a series of attacks underway. Blue aircraft and missile icons were shown on the screen, advancing quickly towards their targets. A confrontation with a North Korean and a Chinese submarine had taken place less than an hour earlier, nearly compromising their pre-emptive strike. Both submarines had been sunk, but not before the Chinese sub was able to send an emergency message and several crew members escaped from the submarine before it finally slipped beneath the waves.
One of his senior officers and a diplomat from the Embassy were talking with the Chinese about the exchange, trying to explain to them what had happened. General Bennett was hoping to keep the Chinese out of any potential conflict. It was unfortunately looking like they were going to enter the war, no matter what the US did to try and keep them out.
One of the naval officers who had been manning a monitor in the room suddenly announced, “We’ve received a FLASH update from the fleet, Sir. They have begun engaging the North Korean Navy; so far, they have destroyed nine submarines with their opening attack. The ships are now engaging their assigned land targets and getting the landing zones prepped for the Marines.”
General Bennet could see the naval front was progressing as predicted. He turned and looked at the display tracking the known Chinese naval and air units. So far, they had not moved towards his forces and appeared to be staying in observation mode, which suited him just fine.
Focusing next on the air map, he could see the missiles from the B-52s were starting to hit their targets along the demilitarized zone (DMZ). They were disabling the enemy’s radar and communications systems for the next wave of bombers, ground attack aircraft, and helicopters to start their attack runs soon. The electronic jamming aircraft were now blanketing the entire country in electronic interference in hopes of jumbling up the North Koreans ability to communicate and properly operate their radar systems.
The B-1s would start their bomb runs shortly. With any luck, they would take out the brunt of the enemy artillery and rocket forces that posed such a significant threat to Seoul. Another screen tracking the flights of B-2s showed the bombers were now hitting their targets throughout the country. Pyongyang was being hit especially hard. They were going after the command and control function of the military and the civilian government.
As he watched the screens, General Bennet couldn’t help but think, “These images of the capital from the B-2 runs are both scary and spectacular.”
Tracer rounds could be seen crisscrossing the night sky, intermixed with aerial explosions from the heavier caliber air defense artillery guns. It was clear the enemy had no idea where the bombers were because there was no discernable pattern to the tracer fire; they were firing blind, hoping for that one magical hit.
There was also a squadron of F-117 Nighthawks that had taken out of cold storage at the beginning of the war with Russia; they were circling above North Korea, ready to pounce on targets of opportunity as they were found. The F-117s were placed on standby in case any of the satellite surveillance groups or Special Forces on the ground identified a mobile launcher being moved or set up. If they did, they would call in a surgical strike by one of the stealth fighters, hopefully before they were able to get their missiles off. In addition to the Nighthawks, the Air Force also had several pairs of F-16s circling off the coastlines of Korea, ready to dart in quickly to take out any additional mobile launchers that the Nighthawks couldn’t get.
“What I wouldn’t give for a couple of wings of F-35s,” moaned Bennet to himself. “Lousy Russian theater needs them all-yeah, right.” The war in Russia had sapped nearly all the reserve forces that would have normally been surged to his theater of operations, and he was not happy about it.
While the air war ramped up, reports were starting to filter in of some sporadic enemy artillery fire hitting US and ROK Forces along the DMZ.
“Sir, a handful of rounds have been fired in the direction of Seoul,” said one of the analysts. “However, the artillery guns were quickly silenced when the B-1s began their bombing run.”
“The high-explosive bombs intermixed with cluster munitions and napalm are having the desired effect,” thought Bennet with a smile. “It looks like the few rounds that did fly towards the metropolis were intercepted by the C-RAM system. It’s still too early in the fight though to know if the B-1s and B-52s have silenced enough of the enemy artillery from pulverizing the city, or if that carnage is still to come.”
One thing that had concerned the military planners was the series of underground tunnel systems the North had built; many of them led directly under the DMZ, with forces ready to blow open a hole behind the American lines. Fortunately, satellite technology had increased immensely, and they had identified what they hoped were all the tunnels. Engineers had drilled some holes a hundred or so meters above the tunnels placing specialized sonic bombs in them. Once the war started, they detonated them, collapsing the tunnels.
By 0310 hours in the morning, nearly everyone in Seoul (and the rest of South Korea) had suddenly been jolted out of their blissful sleep by a loud government announcement to “seek shelter immediately.” All South Korean TV and radio programs began to broadcast the government’s emergency alert message, asking for everyone to head to the various bomb shelters. If they were unable to find one, then they were asked to stay indoors and move away from any windows.
As hundreds of thousands of people began to sleepily crawl out of their beds to see if this was yet another drill, many could see the flashes of bombs going off in the distance from their various high-rise buildings. Many people began to record the events unfolding live with their phones, broadcasting them across Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook, and other social media platforms. The world was getting a firsthand account of the war as it unfolded less than 30 miles away.
The rumble of explosions was slowly building throughout the city. The bombing runs being carried out by the B-1s and B-52s were absolutely deafening and terrifying. Thousands of 500 lbs. and 2,000 lbs. bombs were being dropped on the North Korean positions, intermixed with the thousands of artillery guns and multiple launch rocket systems being fired into the North. It was a cacophony of death being rained down on the enemy, and it was being live streamed to the world.