No one knew if the North would try and use their nuclear weapons, or if the missiles would be conventional or possibly chemical in nature. A nuclear missile could just as easily as take out the battle group as a coordinated strike by the Chinese or Russians.
The Unthinkable
Lieutenant General Ghim was furious. The country was under attack, and there was little he could do to stop it. Several of their launch facilities had already been destroyed; now the Americans were hunting down his mobile launchers far more effectively than he believed possible. Within minutes of the first missiles and bombs hitting Pyongyang, he immediately ordered his mobile missile launchers to disperse. He had a brief call with the Supreme Leader, who ordered him to launch his missiles, but the connection was cut off before he could confirm the order. When he tried to call the command bunker back, the line was dead.
For the last three hours, General Ghim had been trying to get through to the military leadership to confirm his order and to find out if he should have the mobile launchers fire their missiles as well. Finally, he was able to reach one of the alternate command bunkers.
“The Supreme Leader has been injured and is currently in surgery,” explained the new Commander of the KPA.
“Should I launch my missiles, Sir?” asked General Ghim.
“Proceed with the launch. Hit the South Korean and American Army and Navy immediately,” came the order. Then the line went dead again.
He looked at the phone for a second, wondering if the line went dead because the bunker had just been destroyed, or if it was a problem on his end. All he knew was the Americans were bombing his country, and his fellow soldiers were dying by the thousands.
“I had better get our missiles airborne,” he realized. “They are the only thing that is going to equalize the situation. If at least one of our missiles can get through, then we may be able to destroy enough of the enemy army to allow our guys to hold the line.”
He turned to several of his officers. “Have the mobile missile crews launch their missiles at their assigned targets,” he instructed, matter-of-fact.
The officers began to contact the nearly two dozen missile crews that had managed to get set up and relayed their orders to them. The missile crews would fire their short and medium range ballistic missiles, which would rain down on the American naval battle group and several troop concentration points along the DMZ. Their hope was to destroy enough of the allied forces to keep them from penetrating the DMZ.
While his officers were handling the mobile launchers, General Ghim walked over to the terminal where the technicians who handled the launch of the Dongfeng 5B ICBM missiles were waiting. They looked at him with grave concern in their eyes about the health of the Dear Leader. Everyone revered Pak Lee like a deity, and to hear that he had been injured by an American bomb infuriated them.
“Begin fueling the missiles and prepare them to launch, ordered Ghim. “Wait until the last minute to open the launch door.”
Snake Eaters
The distant flashes of artillery and explosions were visible in the darkness, followed by the low rumbles of explosions. Despite the sounds of war raging in the distant background, it was quiet in the forested area where the Special Forces operators had set up shop. A few birds chirping could be heard as they began their morning calls to each other. While it was still dark, the pre-dawn light was starting to displace the blackness that enveloped the valley and surrounding area the three Special Forces operators were hiding in.
The air was cool, almost chilly, as Chief Warrant Officer Four (CW4) Charles Lee (call sign “Chucky”) slowly moved to the spotting scope and looked down into the valley below at the possible target Maverick had found (Maverick was the call sign for Sergeant First Class Mark Wilson, one of the soldiers in his Alpha team). Maverick had been using a long range directional microphone to listen for vehicles traveling into the valley below. As they heard any engine sounds, they would switch over to using the night vision and thermal scopes to locate and identify the source of the noise.
CW4 Lee’s twelve-man Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) team had inserted into the valley seven hours ago via a HALO jump. Shortly after parachuting in, they realized that their original observational post (OP) had been compromised when they spotted a company-sized element of enemy soldiers encamped there, forcing them to use an alternate OP.
The observation post (OP) they had established themselves on, while not ideal, still had a commanding view of the lower portion of the valley below them. It also provided them with a view of two winding roads that ran through several large nearby ridgelines and a couple of small villages. This valley and the one nearby were both suspected staging sites for the KPA’s (Korean People’s Army) mobile ballistic missile launchers.
Lee’s team had made it in undetected and successfully set up in various over watch positions on the alternate OP, covering several different potential launch sites. Their mission was to observe enemy troop movements and look for possible missile launchers. If they found a target, they had one Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) with them to call in an airstrike.
As Chucky moved next to Maverick, he whispered, “Do you see the launcher being set up?” Maverick indicated he should move over and look for himself. As he peered through the night vision scope, he could make out several soldiers placing camouflage netting over the mobile missile launcher. He could also see what appeared to be a very menacing looking ballistic missile.
“I wonder if I am looking at a nuclear warhead on that missile,” Chucky thought to himself.
“Yeah, I see it. It looks like they just moved an SA-13 and a ZSU in as well,” he whispered as he panned the scope around the area, looking to see what else was around.
He then turned to look at Technical Sergeant Jordan “Jordy” Mitchel. “How soon can you get us a strike package to hit that launcher?” he asked his TACP. Jordy had been assigned to their ODA team numerous other times, and was a very competent TACP. While deployed in Afghanistan, he had called in a series of air strikes that had saved their lives on more than one occasion. He had the respect of the ODA team (even if he was Air Force).
Jordy looked at his watch, and then the map he had lying on the ground next to him. “Five minutes. We have an F-117 on standby. Let me confirm that’s the target we are looking for,” he said as he scooched over to Chucky to see the launcher with his own eyes.
After confirming that it was indeed a missile launcher with a missile on it, he moved back to his position. “Before I call this in Chief, do we have eyes on any additional launchers? It would be best if we only call in one strike and hit all the launchers we spot at one time,” Jordy said, making sure the team chief knew they were about to give away their presence.
“That’s a good question,” Chucky thought. He gently pushed the talk button on his throat mic, “Team One has eyes on designated target Alpha. Do any other team elements have eyes on any other designated targets?” he asked his teammates.
A voice calmly came over the radio. “This is Team Two. We have eyes on a small cluster of vehicles moving into a tree line. We count one SA-13 and two ZSU’s. We have not seen a mobile launcher just yet, but believe one may be part of the convoy. Out.”
Another voice buzzed in. “This is Team Three. We have what appears to be one platoon’s worth of enemy soldiers moving below our position, roughly 500 meters. How, copy? Over.”