Suddenly, Kevin saw smoke trails rising up from the north-northeast — a lot of them. “Holy shit!” he yelled. Rhee looked up and watched as hundreds of rockets sailed skyward. The secure radio then abruptly squawked to life. “Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One, this is Gulf Niner Tango Six Two, incoming artillery rockets. I repeat, incoming artillery rockets.”
General Tae watched with satisfaction as the initial barrage of over one thousand rockets spewed out from Yanggakdo Stadium. Located on Yanggak Island, in the middle of the Taedong River, the large stadium concealed four battalions of BM-11 and BM-24 rocket launchers in its tunnels and sheltered parking areas. Now completely covered in smoke from the rocket motors, Tae hoped the crews had abandoned their launchers quickly. They wouldn’t have time to reload.
The rockets began exploding around the South Korean armor units, throwing columns of flame and smoke skyward. He briefly allowed himself a moment of smug pride. No doubt the imperialists would be wondering how his battered army could pull off such an attack without the aid of an active sensor or radio. He savored the irony of the low-tech method used by Captain Ro and his special forces team. The commandos had dug themselves into the hills to the northeast of the invader’s position, patiently waiting until their lead elements were aligned with a preselected landmark, marking their location. Ro then signaled it was time to begin the attack with a simple mirror and sunlight.
“Major, order the Seventeenth Armor Brigade to advance on the flanks. Antitank missile crews are to follow behind. Artillery, stand by to engage the follow-on units!”
The staccato of exploding rockets sounded like popcorn in a pan. The heat and smoke from the detonations blocked both visual and infrared sensors; Rhee couldn’t see a thing for the interference. Behind him he heard the rapid firing of howitzers — ROK and US Army 155mm self-propelled artillery were about to rain steel on the KPA’s parade. One didn’t need a counter-battery radar to see where the massive barrage had originated.
Lieutenant Guk waved excitedly for his commander, and both Rhee and Kevin hurried over to the communications tent. Guk didn’t even bother to explain; he just hit the mike key and said, “Gulf Niner Tango Seven Four, this is Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One, repeat your last.”
“Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One, this is Gulf Niner Tango Seven Four. I have hostile movers, Papa Hotel, company strength, on the left flank.”
Rhee shook his head; things were getting ugly. Then Guk pointed to the notepad where he had scribbled the first message and held up six, then two fingers — team Six Two was making a similar report. Damn it! cursed Rhee silently.
Grabbing the radio mike, he switched to the main attack frequency and barked, “All units, this is Gulf Niner Hotel Zero One. Hold hostile movers, Papa Hotel, company strength, on both flanks. I repeat hostile movers, Papa Hotel, company strength, on both flanks.”
The radio net burst into furious activity as the advancing armor units started looking for the enemy tanks. Kevin saw the worry on Rhee’s face; the earlier bravado had long been erased. “Pokpung-ho main battle tanks?” he asked.
“Yes, Colonel Little. We’ve walked right into a hornet’s nest,” remarked Rhee. Then turning to his ISR team he shouted, “Get a UAV in there. Now! I need to see what’s going on!”
Running across Pyongyang’s ruined outskirts, the K2 tanks had formed defensive wedges, while the K21 IFVs stayed in two parallel columns, their guns trained outward. The K1A2 tanks branched out along the flanks, keeping a sharp eye out for the KPA tanks reportedly coming their way — behind them lay eighteen disabled or destroyed armored vehicles. The wall of smoke was thick, with fires raging all around them from both sides’ artillery barrages. But at the far ends of the wall, several streams of white smoke flew out from the dense haze. The smoke grenades billowed a thick cloud, obscuring what was behind from both visual and infrared sensors. The Pokpung-ho tanks were making their entry.
Streaking out of the white curtain came fifteen tanks, seven on the left flank, eight on the right. They immediately adjusted their turrets to line up with their targets and opened fire. The 125mm smoothbore guns fired armor-piercing sabot rounds that had little chance of penetrating the front glacis armor of a South Korean tank, but the tungsten darts easily pierced the sides. Six ROK tanks were killed almost immediately, but not before they had returned fire. South Korean AH-1F helicopter gunships had also joined the fray, firing TOW antitank missiles. In less than a minute, all fifteen of the KPA vehicles, their best tanks, were obliterated. But it was just enough time.
While the ROK armor concentrated on the Pokpung-ho tanks, two dozen Reconnaissance Bureau antitank missile teams ran out of the smoke curtains, dropped to the ground, aimed their missiles, and fired. Their Soviet AT-4 Spigot missiles would have little chance of hurting the tanks that were now rushing toward them head-on. Instead, they targeted the far more vulnerable IFVs. Holding their ground while .50-cal machine guns bullets and 40mm cannon rounds kicked dirt and rubble into the air around them, the teams focused solely on guiding their missiles, hitting eight K21 armored personnel carriers. The missiles’ HEAT warheads shot hot molten metal through the hulls, killing the vehicles and many of their occupants. Still more in each vehicle were wounded. The North Korean missile teams had no chance to celebrate their success, as they were ferociously beaten back with heavy casualties.
Moments later, the lead Black Panther tanks plunged through the thick smoke. As soon as they emerged on the other side, North Korean Type 69 and Type 88 tanks began firing. Their efforts were futile. As the solid shot bounced off the ROK tanks, they began firing self-sharpening armor-piercing sabot rounds that sliced through their older foes even after passing through sandbags and broken concrete. The Chinese-made tanks quickly burst into flames once hit, often exploding their ammunition and blowing their turrets high into the air.
Some of the hidden ATGM teams attempted shots at the speeding K2s, but the tank’s active protection system intercepted any missile that managed to get close. With the origin of the missile tracked by the millimeter wave radar, a high-explosive round would follow immediately thereafter, eliminating the missile launcher’s crew.
As the other vehicles popped out into the clear, the IFVs deployed, putting down a withering fire while dismounting the onboard infantry. Some of the North Korean AT-3 Sagger missile crews managed to hit a ROK armored vehicle, but these were few. Fewer still were the number of vehicles disabled or killed. Helicopter gunships flew low along the North Korean line, launching high-velocity rockets and strafing with 20mm Gatling guns. The intense barrage forced the North Korean soldiers to keep their heads down, suppressing their fire. This allowed the ROK infantry to storm the now-exposed positions and destroy them one after another. The KPA front line was collapsing rapidly.
Even though Tae intellectually understood that the enemy’s assault would quickly overrun his first defensive line, watching it happen was entirely different. His troops were completely outclassed, and yet they had succeeded in bloodying one of the imperialist puppet’s best units. He could see ghostly images of the vaunted Black Panther tanks burning through the haze. Tae nodded his approval; his men had done well. Now it was time to pull back.
“Major Ryeon, have the mortar batteries lay down suppression fire on the lead imperialist forces. Order all frontline units to fall back to the second defensive line.” Tae paused and quietly rebuked himself, he had to stop thinking like this. The old propaganda won’t help him achieve his goals. And while shedding the habits of decades wouldn’t come easily, he had to start setting the example for the rest of his men.