Dear Comrade

＜ Chapter 24. Baghdad Race (3) ＞

Chapter 24. Baghdad Race (3)

“Comrade Lieutenant General! Comrade Lieutenant General Baek Seung-cheol! We have an urgent call!”

“What? Who dares to stand in the HQ tent without raising a hand…”

“Hey, that’s… our tech comrades have been located! They say that US intelligence has just confirmed that our engineers and comrades are being detained in an oil field located on the border!”

At those words, Baek Seung-cheol and the officers under his command, who had been depressed just before, suddenly turned red.

Finally, a golden opportunity, a life-threatening opportunity, to demonstrate their abilities without anyone’s assistance, fell in front of them.

However, the problem was Hosadama, and it seemed that such an opportunity came with a misdeed.

“Where? Where is the location? Come on tell me!”

“No, listen to that, comrade! The location is only a half-day away from here, but now, at the U.S. Military Headquarters, it is said that when the sun comes up tomorrow, the South Korean Airborne Brigade will be assigned a mission to rescue our technicians and comrades!”

“…what, what is it!”

It goes without saying that Baek Seung-cheol, Kim Cheol-gyu, and Ri Jong-soo, who were blushing after hearing the news like this, ran to the command tent with Norman Schwarzkopf in one month.

Schwarzkopf, who was paying close attention to whether there would be any setbacks in the execution of the next operation while exhorting his staff members excited by the victories coming from all over the place, the first expression he made when he saw Baek Seung-cheol running excitedly was ‘annoyance’.

I’m dying of trouble anyway, but what kind of burden is this again?

However, Schwarzkopf, who quickly erased his inner feelings and returned to the attitude of dealing with the commander of the Allied Forces, calmly opened his mouth with an expression similar to his usual one.

“Come here, Lieutenant General Baek Seung-cheol. What’s going on?”

“What happened and what… Is it true that the general comrade has now sent the rescue mission of our technicians and comrades to the South Korean Airborne Brigade?”

Seeing Baek Seung-cheol raising his voice to Schwarzkopf, who was ten years older than him, as well as his rank, all the staff around him became upset.

Among the dogs, I looked at them with an expression of ‘You’re a bitch again, that one’, but I still kept the last line and didn’t stop him.

And Schwarzkopf, who was serving Baek Seung-cheol, also nodded with an expressionless face like a rock.

“exactly. Oh, of course, I understand the politically sensitive relationship between South Korea and your country, but please understand that it was an inevitable decision as they were the only units in the nearest location and spoke the same language as the civilians involved.”

“No, why the hell didn’t you tell us? If it was this street, we would have run to the rescue and rescue our people!”

“Calm down and listen to me, Lieutenant General Baek. It’s a fact that our intelligence department just found out. And no matter how fast we go from now on, by the time we reach the oil field at the border, it will already be after the sun has set, but it would be suicide for the army to start a rescue operation, almost unprepared for a night battle.”

“Then we can sortie tomorrow morning!”

For the first time, there was a faint hint of annoyance on Schwarzkopf’s face as he faced Seungcheol Baek, who still protested (to save his life) with an angry expression on his face.

But his voice was still cold and cold.

“It’s hard. If you leave after the sun is out tomorrow, it will be late.”

“…Why is that?”

“The Republican garrison is already retreating across the Kuwait border under the wave of our multinational forces. And based on information, it’s almost certain that they’ll launch a devastating operation to buy time for their retreat, as we initially expected. Got it? As soon as the sun comes up, they will burn the oil field and run away. Of course, civilians returning home as well.”

“…………”

“In other words, considering all these requirements, the ROK paratroopers closest to the location are best suited for the rescue operation. I hope you understand.”

Of course, Baek Seung-cheol could not understand.

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No, even if I could understand it, I couldn’t accept it.

For Baek Seung-cheol, his life was at stake.

Even if he rescued the engineers safely and returned to the republic, the moment the general secretary heard the information that the engineers were rescued by another army, not by them, by the South Korean special forces, he was certain to be executed by firing squad.

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No, considering the history between the general secretary and himself, who was looking for an opportunity to get rid of him (Baek Seung-cheol was so sure), it could be decomposed into something like an anti-aircraft gun, rather than just a gunshot.

Aside from failing in the mission entrusted to him, he was even robbed of the sacred mission of rescuing the people by the South Korean puppet army, so even if he died, there was nothing to say.

There is a way to beg Schwarzkopf to rescue engineers from the U.S. Special Forces, which have excellent nighttime operations, rather than South Korea, because they are really, really conceding. Baek Seung-cheol was well aware that he couldn’t afford it at all.

“…can you lend me your direct plane (helicopter)? If we just load our brigade warriors and drop them there, the rest…”

“I’m sorry, General Baek Seung-cheol, we are at the most important juncture in our ground operations. Just push for another 12 hours and Hussein will surrender. To increase the risk by unexpectedly withdrawing air force reserve is putting my men at risk. And as a general, that is unacceptable.”

In a word, you just suck your fingers and wait for me to shine.

The staff of the other multinational forces in the vicinity also had no knowledge of the internal affairs of North Korea, so they just watched with the expression ‘Why is it so chaotic?

In the end, Baek Seung-cheol clenched his teeth and made a decision.

“…it’s fine. Then our Republic Army will take care of this. Please tell the South Korean military commander not to come because there is no work.”

“Lieutenant Baek! I understand it’s very embarrassing as a soldier, but now the border area will be teeming with retreating Iraqi troops and the remnants of their retreat. No matter how defeated they are, it is very dangerous to jump into that level of armored power even at night.”

“…it doesn’t matter. That’s what our general secretary said. Do you think it makes sense for the People’s Army to just watch the people put to death? The punishment for disobeying orders and not cooperating with operations has been sweetly received!”

After leaving only those words, Baek Seung-cheol and the soldiers of the People’s Volunteer Brigade disappeared like the wind.

As soon as they disappeared, the American officers, who had been watching all these spectacles from the side, shook their heads and exchanged words one by one.

“Crazy Commie bastards. The CIA said they were crazier than the Soviets, so it must be true. Isn’t that right, General?”

“……”

“…… General?”

Schwarzkopf did not respond to those words and just looked at the place where Baek Seung-cheol had disappeared with a subtle expression.

The desert night was literally a land of darkness.

Fortunately, the People’s Support Brigade reconnaissance battalion was able to head to the border area with full speed thanks to the military maps of the operational area distributed to all the troops belonging to the multinational army and the night vision goggles that were urgently supplied just before the launch.

And, of course, Baek Seung-cheol was riding in the commanding armored car that took the lead.

But soon they ran into the danger Schwarzkopf foresaw.

“Ahead, 300 meters ahead, I see a unit presumed to be the enemy! Please give me instructions, Comrade Lieutenant General!”

“How is the enemy armed?”

“About three companies, I see a car and two armored vehicles, but they are not moving! They look pretty chaotic, so they look like remnants, would you like to go back to the other side?”

“……Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Baek Seung-cheol clenched his teeth and pulled out a Type 68 automatic rifle.

It is best to avoid such a risk when the enemy’s size and armament are unknown, but this is an armored vehicle squad, not just infantry.

It takes quite a while to go back unnoticed due to the noise of the movement, but considering the time now, there is a high probability that the technicians will not be able to reach the place before dawn if the time is delayed.

“A surprise attack. Aim the gunner. Strike from both sides under cannon cover. Drivers, pass the night vision goggles to the sniper gunners and move fast!”

“I got it!”

With tense expressions, they shut off their engines and surrounded their enemies as quietly as possible.

For a moment, the sound of drooling in the desert wind and the meaningless promise mumbled in my mouth.

and.

“Start shooting!”

Tatata tatata!!!!!

Wiiee!!!!

The cannon mounted on the BTR rotated and blew fire.

An Arab, believed to be the commander, fell to the ground after firing a Type 78 sniper rifle.

And the moment the flares fired brightly lit the desert night, they recognized the identity of the ‘immobile armored car’.

“Yemiral, I hope you’re okay…”

“Oh man.. this son is dying today… please stay safe…”

The identity of the ‘armored car’ was the T-72 that fell out of the caterpillar and sat down.

As I learned later, one of the Iraqi tanks, which had been in a hurry to retreat after losing the battle with the multinational army’s armored units, broke down due to poor maintenance and was left behind.

Afterwards, in order to somehow preserve the few remaining armored forces, the remaining infantry of the Republic Guards brought a maintenance team and struggled with the identity of the forces that the unit led by Baek Seung-cheol encountered that day.

Taking advantage of surprise and training, many of the infantry were killed on the first shot.

However, the difference in power between the two units revealed by the flares had a result that made the Iraqi army, which was still full of poison, a hundredfold more courageous.

“Fire the gun! Repel the invaders in the name of Allah!”

“Launcher! Where’s the launcher shooter? Blow that tank away right now!”

“Hey, I came over there in a hurry, so I didn’t bring any spare ammunition….

Aww!!!!

When the T 72’s 125mm smoothbore gun fired fire, it pierced one of the North Korean armored vehicles and stopped moving.

With six units including the Suya command armored car, this one has the upper hand, but this one has a 30mm cannon and one high-speed grenade launcher welded to one by the U.S. Army (still called the Allied Forces).

In general, when a tank and a wheeled armored vehicle equipped for infantry transport fight under the same conditions, of course, the tank overwhelmingly slaughters the former.

However, for a brief moment, the North Korean and Iraqi forces were able to face each other on an equal footing thanks to the superior skills and training of the infantry on the North Korean side, and their commander was Baek Seung-cheol, who was trained in the Soviet Union, the hometown of the T 72, at night.

“Pour out everything you have! 3 units will fire suppression here, and the other 2 units will turn around and subdue the infantry first! Hit the rear ammo and we win! The armor on the rear side of the turret is weak, so aim for the turret! Let’s all fight for the pride of the Republic’s warriors!”

shhh

Whoa whoa!!!!

One of the launcher shooters who risked their lives fell and the RPG fired by hitting the turret of one of the T72s, destroying one.

Unfortunately, the Iraqi tankers, who were all set on fire, crawled out of their tanks, rolled over the floor, and then went straight to the Nether Road by a North Korean sniper.

However, in the meantime, the smoothbore gun again blew up two more BTRs.

Phishung

Aaan!!!

“Ahhh!!!!”

“Aaah! Oh man!!”

‘Ah… I’m going to die here like this… No, it might be better than going back to the Republic and dying at the hands of the general secretary. Jong-su Ri and Cheol-gyu Kim, comrades. You met a frog in a well like me, and you die like this in another country without any profit. sorry…’

A shadow of death fell on Baek Seung-cheol’s eyes as he looked at the half-destroyed armored vehicles.

Since he is a general, he might be able to save himself and the lives of his subordinates if he surrenders and asks for his life to be spared.

But even after saving his life, will the general secretary really let himself, his men, and their families, who have been shamefully taken hostage, stand still?

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No, even if he survived, Baek Seung-cheol did not want to think about what kind of miserable life he would have left in the Republic.

While Baek Seung-cheol was thinking the last thoughts of his life, an attack plane was approaching the airspace of the battle area from above.

– Command, this is the Call Sign Arclight. Approached the airspace of the operating area. If you specify a target, you are fully prepared to open the lid of the Iraqi bastards.

– Arclight, this is HQ. According to a Close Air Support (CAS) request received nearby, there is no process controller at the scene. So, give priority to on-the-spot judgment and let them carry out their duties.

The A10 attack aircraft, the official name of which is ‘Thunderbolt’, but more often referred to as Warthog or Warthog, deserved to be called the best tank grim reaper of the US Air Force along with the Apache attack helicopter.

When the attached GAU-8 rotary cannon spit fire while diving from the sky, the cavalry that tormented the infantry would be annihilated in a shower of steel falling.

That’s been a rule that hasn’t changed since the Vietnam War, and that’s why the A10 has always been, and probably will continue to be, one of the top candidates for the throne of close air support.

– Ummm… No process controllers? It’s nighttime now… Besides, the distance between the two fighting forces seems to be less than 250m. A Danger Close is almost certain.

– Repeat, giving priority to on-site judgment. More than that.

‘What do you mean by looking at me, damn it!’

The pilot of the A10 attack plane swears inwardly at the command, which gives no information about the two factions fighting down there.

He was the celestial reaper who had ever given death to countless tanks and infantry, but he did not have the hawk’s eye to discern objects thousands of meters below.

In addition, both seemingly possessed the BTR and T72, the Soviet-smelling equipment that I saw a lot in my aptitude equipment training class.

‘I don’t know, let’s take a picture .’