“Comrade Chairman, it is obvious our predecessors underestimated the abilities of our enemies and their ability to respond to our forces. As a result our military has lost over half of its assets. With the exception of the underground bunkers, we have lost almost all our inventories. Our air force has lost 87 percent of its planes and helicopters. All of the airfields have been damaged severely. The Navy has a few missile patrol boats. Fortunately the enemy has not hit the underground pens for our submarines. We have been able to protect the remaining units there. We still have ten submarines available. The rest have never returned from their missions. The Army lost two-thirds of our tanks during the initial invasion and during current operations. From the information we have from our force commanders, there have been over 400,000 casualties among the services. Our antiaircraft missile systems have been nearly totally demolished. Our gun systems are reduced by 40 percent, but they are nearly useless against high flying jet aircraft. Artillery systems are faring better. We have lost only half of our artillery pieces; however, we have to transfer many of these pieces across the former dividing line to replace what we have lost in combat,” the new Defense Minister reported. The man was shaking as he spoke. He knew full well what had happened to people reporting bad news before.
Kim watched the man and held his emotions tightly. Kim was seething with rage that his military had failed him, but this was not the time for reprisals. The men in front of him had not had a hand in any of the things leading up to this. The new Defense Minister was his cousin, and more used to business than a military organization. He would not show his wrath here. “Please continue, Comrade,” he said calmly.
“One area that is still fully capable is our defense cruise missile systems. Although the radars have been destroyed, the missiles and their replacements have been relocated and are fully operational. One of the things I have directed is to set up listening posts near the coasts so that we can use our direction finders to locate enemy ships using radars and radios. We will be able to triangulate the positions of these vessels and when in range, launch our missiles for greatest effect,” he reported.
Kim nodded. “Very good, Comrade. Are there any other ways to strike at the enemy far at sea?”
“Yes, Comrade Chairman. Our tactical ballistic missiles are still intact. As you know, we reserved twelve of our nuclear missiles for possible use if things turned against us. I am happy to report the missiles are still operational and well protected. We do not have the capability to launch from shore, but the ship they are on is still safely in port. However, the technicians for the missiles were killed when their shelter was struck by bombs. We have more technicians and I have ordered them to the area so that we can have them ready. I am told there is one problem. These missiles are all programmed to go off at high altitude. Each warhead would have to be individually reworked for them to be used to strike a fleet or a shore target. I have ordered that the procedures be drawn up to do just that. I do not yet have a timeframe when they might be ready, but we are getting things in place to be able to respond to your orders,” he said.
“What about the army in the field?”
“Our current positions are all still in the former South Korea.” He used a pointer to outline the different positions. “Our units are fighting along a line from here, to here. With the loss of our tunnels, our supplies are being driven across the former dividing line at the old crossing points. I have ordered that crews begin removing the mines from the line so that we may have better access. Our largest problem is trucks to move the supplies. Because the enemy has air superiority, we cannot move things on the open road during daylight. Our supply trucks must move only at night. This severely curtails our abilities to resupply our troops. The transportation Minister can address this better than I can,” he said.
“The Defense Minister is correct. We have lost many of our trucks in the conflict and the rest can only travel at night for fear of being targeted. Our train systems were hit on the first day, then repeatedly each day since. The trains have been cut off from our neighbors to the north and disrupted all along all the main corridors. As we make repairs, they are hit again the next day. I have ordered camouflage nets above the main line from China to Pyongyang and between Pyongyang and Wonsan. I am hoping this will prevent the enemy from accurately locating the lines and knowing when repairs are made. This will take time. I have people working around the clock. As far as the trucks are concerned, until we can travel in daylight, we will be restricted in our supply efforts,” said the Transportation Minister.
“I want those trucks moving twenty-four hours a day. Can we place antiaircraft units on some of the trucks or some machine guns?” asked the Chairman.
“We could, Comrade Chairman,” replied the Transportation Minister. “However, against the fast moving aircraft they would have little chance of getting a hit. We are procuring some larger guns to do just that; however, they have not yet arrived from China. Our trucking capacity is greatly reduced already. Any more and I could not guarantee our resupply efforts. I have made arrangement for a transfer of some military trucks from our Communist neighbors to increase capacity so that when we do run, we can deliver more.
Kim felt the frustration of the men around him. They wanted to do more, but if they did, it could get much worse. He plowed ahead. “What about ammunition?”
The Defense Minister answered again. “We lost our above-ground production facilities and four of our underground facilities. We are now getting our ammunition from our underground stockpiles and from the Chinese government. They have been very supportive in supplying munitions from their own stockpiles. Replacement antiaircraft missiles are being sent along with some radar units. However, we have been notified that because of the proximity of the Americans they are not able to provide everything from their own supplies because of the need to possibly counteract any American incursion. It is quite understandable. I have instructed our commanders to make sure we are not wasting what supplies we have. We have also placed our supplies in underground bunkers prior to dispersal so that they are impervious to bombing.”
“Very good. Agriculture, how about food deliveries?”
“Our food imports have increased by fifty percent. This is ten percent above our estimates. Much of this is due to the losses in the field. Most of our farm workers are now in the military. The older farmers are working, but cannot produce as much as the younger farmers. Since we allowed people to plant smaller gardens in parks and around apartment buildings, there has been a reduction in some needs in the cities. This has helped. As with my comrades, the transportation issues are of concern, but there are also problems obtaining fuel for farming. If we can solve these problems, the crops will be harvested on time.”
“What about the fuel situation for the military?”
“We are down to 40 percent of our normal stockpiles. We still have fourteen million gallons in our strategic stockpile. China is providing more fuel, but we have had to repair the pipelines twice. We currently have enough for operations, but not much for anything else unless we start using the reserves,” said another Minister. We are burying what pipeline is exposed. This should ensure continued flow. Most of our normal stockpile was lost on the first night. The supplies we get should increase what is available for both agriculture and the military.”