It was Tae’s turn to be astounded. How could the fascists just stroll across the border? Two of the four Forward Army corps was supposed to have remained behind in defensive positions to deter the Americans and South Koreans from even considering crossing the DMZ. The news was disastrous.
“How did this happen?” growled Tae with frustration. “Why didn’t the First and Second Corps engage the enemy?”
Ryeon swallowed hard. He was well aware of his general’s temper. The captain could see he was already on a slow boil. “Sir, apparently all four corps withdrew. Some of the units that Vice Marshal Koh believed were loyal to the General Staff have gone over to the KWP faction. There is heavy fighting at Wonsan.”
Tae rubbed his face with both hands. This was completely unexpected. Koh had repeatedly assured him that they needn’t be concerned about their rear. Now they had imperialist forces climbing up their backside. If they weren’t stopped, they would soon encircle his IV Corps. And while the fascists wouldn’t intentionally side with the Kim forces, he would still have to deploy troops to defend his rear. This would seriously compromise his ability to execute the attack against the Kim faction. Tae suddenly realized he didn’t have a week to secure the city; at best he had three days.
The general took a deep breath, composing himself. They would have to make drastic changes to their plan. “Comrades, we can no longer afford the luxury of a conventional attack against the Kim loyalists. We have to move much faster if we are to secure the city and prepare our defenses against the imperialists. Captain Ryeon, prepare the troops for an assault with special weapons.
“Ensure all personnel have chemical weapons defense gear, and have Major Eun bring special shells to the Thirty-Third Division’s artillery regiment. We’ll lay down a barrage of gas shells on both the Kim faction and the KWP forces, followed up with regular suppression fire as the infantry executes a shock attack. I want this attack to take place as quickly as possible. Now go.”
“Yes, Comrade General!” shouted Ryeon, departing hastily. There was much to do before the attack could begin, and Tae’s patience was already thin.
Tae then turned back to Ro. “Captain, I want you to extract every scrap of information from this prisoner, and then we need to verify if what he is said is true. I need to know if Choe is still alive. Is that clear?”
Chapter 9 — The Murder of Pyongyang
People unfamiliar with the military often thought that since Colonel Kevin Little commanded the headquarters of the Eighth Army in Korea, that meant he was in charge of the entire Eighth Army. They did not understand that although a colonel was a senior officer, a colonel typically commanded a battalion of maybe a thousand to two thousand people. Or they might not understand exactly how big an army is. The Eighth Army consisted of several divisions, which in turn were composed of several brigades, and each brigade contained several battalions, with each battalion commanded by a colonel.
The battalion that Kevin Little commanded was a special one in the Eighth Army’s organization. The headquarters battalion took care of Lieutenant General Robert Tracy’s command group, and all the headquarters’ communications, intelligence, and logistics staff. It provided security personnel, everyone’s transportation, and everything else they needed, from tents to printer paper. Although not a combat command, which was what every colonel wanted, a badly run headquarters battalion could disrupt the entire Eighth Army — not that Kevin would ever let such a horrible thing happen.
Little had seen his share of fighting in the Second Korean War and in Iraq and Afghanistan. He already had command experience as a lieutenant, captain, and major. Being assigned to command the headquarters battalion was not a bad thing. It meant that he was being groomed for larger responsibilities, and higher rank.
Because the headquarters revolved around the general’s schedule, and Kevin helped manage that schedule, he was able to carve out fifteen minutes when he knew the general would listen to his proposal. He just didn’t know if the general would agree.
General Tracy’s first intelligence brief of the day was at 0730, with his entire staff, and by promising to take over part of the usually half-hour presentation from the intelligence officer, Kevin got a chance to make his pitch. He was almost sure that raising the priority of certain supplies meant for the intelligence section wouldn’t get him in trouble with the IG. Probably. Besides, it was for a good cause.
Colonel Muñoz, the G2, or intelligence officer, covered the air and naval situation quickly, and then went on to detail what they knew of the different faction’s troop movements, which wasn’t very much. The only unusual addition was a section on the progress of ROK troops in their advance north.
It was an unusual advance, of rushes forward of ten or more kilometers, then pauses while a KPA unit was scouted, not only on its position and strength, but its allegiance, and whether it intended to fight or surrender. Belligerent Northern attitudes often changed as attack helicopters or fighter-bombers orbited nearby, waiting for the end of negotiations.
“Indeed, General, the real problem is proving to be logistics. Many of the roads are crowded with refugees, and prisoners coming south are taking up transport and security troops that are needed elsewhere.” Colonel Muñoz pointed to the map display, thick with arrows and unit symbols north of the now-moot DMZ. “Although the eastern part of the peninsula is weakly held, the terrain is so mountainous that the drain on the ROK logistics was too much, and they have shifted most of their effort over to the west.”
“That’s the real prize anyway,” General Tracy observed. “All the big fighting is around Pyongyang. The majority of the factions’ remaining strength is concentrated there. I’d encircle the whole area, then see who wanted to deal with me. The trick is to do it quickly, while the Chinese are still deciding what they want to do.”
It was now 0740, and Muñoz knew he was edging into Kevin’s allotted time. He looked over to Kevin Little, sitting to one side in the area usually reserved for briefers. The general followed his gaze, and spotted Kevin. “Colonel Little, are you giving our G2 a hand?” he asked, smiling.
“I’d like to give you a little more detail on the refugee and prisoner situation, sir, and propose something that would speed the ROK advance.” As he spoke, he walked toward the podium, and Muñoz gave him a controller like relay racers passing a baton.
Kevin pressed a button and a bar chart appeared. “These are the figures for the refugees already housed in the six camps the ROK government has established. They’re already overcrowded.” He pressed another control. “This map shows their locations, and the ROK Army units assigned to run them.”
The next slide was another bar chart, labeled “Projected Increase in Refugees.” Little started to speak, but Tracy cut him off. “You don’t have to convince me there’s a problem, Kevin. Give me the short answer. How bad is it going to get?”
“People are going to start dying soon, mostly from diseases they contract in the camps. They’re malnourished to start with, and weak from the trip south, and many are bringing sicknesses we haven’t seen in the South or the US in decades: tuberculosis, diphtheria, dysentery, and malaria. Most haven’t been vaccinated. And it could spread outside the camps, because so many Southerners are coming there looking for relatives.”
“So you want to send US medical units to assist the ROK forces?” Tracy asked. “I don’t see a problem with that. It’s a good idea, Kevin. I’ll make it happen.”