Dear Comrade

＜ Chapter 24. Baghdad Race (2) ＞

Chapter 24. Baghdad Race (2)

For the next 36 days, the Gulf War and the Persian Gulf War, in which the B-52s fired flares, could be summarized as one-sided air raids by multinational military air forces.

Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a sea platform destroyed all airfields of the Iraqi Army, preventing fighters from taking off, and the few that took off did not miss a single one to the F-15, F-16, and F-18 fighters of the multinational forces. was shot down

Contrary to the prediction that the war would continue as long and tedious as in Vietnam before the start of the war, and that there would be many casualties on the American side, the multinational air force (written as U.S. Air Force) accurately hit only the planned target, generously demonstrating the power and accuracy of modern weapons.

Within 24 hours of the first air strike, the Iraqi army, the world’s fourth-largest military power with 1 million troops, lost its plating and lost 70% of its total anti-aircraft network.

– LIVE : Baghdad under heavy bombardment

– Destroy the Iraqi Air Force… Carpet bombing of 2,500 fighter-bombers… With charcoal in a factory suspected of producing chemical weapons.

And when air supremacy was safely transferred to their hands, on February 24, the multinational forces began an actual occupation, an advance operation by ground forces.

While the U.S. 1st Marine Expeditionary Force and the Arab Allies blocked the Iraqi army’s evacuation, the US 7th Corps, the main force, launched a mobile battle and began to break through the Iraqi defense lines.

However, the attack on two divisions of the Marine Expeditionary Force was enough to force the Iraqi forces to retreat into Kuwait’s territory rather than remain stuck as the prudent multinational command had expected.

On the night of the 26th and 27th, when the ground forces finally reached their climax, 3 mechanized divisions and 1 cavalry regiment of the multinational army encountered and defeated the elite Tawakalna division, which was escorting the retreating Iraqi forces from the rear. Everyone could see that the victory of the battle was also leaning towards the multinational forces.

And at this time, what was Saddam Hussein, the ‘Arab Hitler’, doing as his kingdom collapsed (mostly due to his own misjudgment)?

– Manager Xu Yong-yu! I’m begging you like this Please connect me with Comrade Yang Sang-kun! I don’t even want military support, so let’s appeal to the international community and ask them to buy some time!

– President Hussein, I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more we can do for you. In the first place, the invasion of Kuwait was not an arbitrary one. So, if we had clearly decided on a side between us and the United States, we, the People’s Republic of China, would have been able to support you more clearly.

– this….! You guys also benefited from both sides of the war between Iran and us! Ayatollah Khomeini, who speaks better than that fanatic, I am the leader of a friendly country befitting communist materialism. They even signed a secret agreement to fight Israel and America together, and where is this law?

In a voice full of anger, Hussein yelled at the other person across the phone line, but the other person was still.

In fact, Hussein’s current counterpart, Xu Yong-yu, director of the Ministry of State Security of China, also couldn’t feel good watching the burning Baghdad broadcast on CNN.

Undoubtedly, most of the equipment used by Hussein’s Republican Guards now were Soviet-designed, Chinese-made, communist weapons. will be.

Xu Yong-yu bit his lip and clenched his fists as a Chinese Type 59 tank, which was on fire after being hit by US depleted uranium shells, passed on the screen.

A few days later, at a meeting of the Central Military Commission, it was already visible that the members of the Prince’s Party, led by President Yang Sang-kun and his son Yang Xiao-ming, would raise their voices.

– Anyway, I express my deepest regret for the seriousness of the situation you are experiencing now. I’m just saying this just in case, but if you’re going to spread rumors that we’re related, I’ll have to tell you first that we have all the holes to get out of.

– What, what!

– The Islamic extremists we are in contact with believe you know a lot not only in Afghanistan but also in Iraq. Whether you are Shia or Sunni, you have beaten a lot over the years, but there is still a lot left. The message of President Yang and Comrade Deng Xiaoping is not to make fun of you, as everyone hates Your Excellency as a corrupt secularist as much as the Jews.

Of course, that’s the story of surviving the US military in this war, but Xu Yong-yu unilaterally hung up the phone, thinking.

The people in power in Beijing, including himself, had a lot to deal with other than recruits from the crumbling, stupid Arab dictator.

A typical example was the confrontation between the reform and opening party and the conservative party, which has gradually surfaced in China since the Tiananmen Square incident.

The former was, of course, led by Deng Xiaoping, and the latter was led by Chen Ying of the Central Advisory Committee of the Communist Party of Korea, a conservative who has a similar influence in the party as Deng Xiaoping, and President Yang Sang-kun, who has a strong influence in the military.

The invisible clash between these two factions has been going on since the opening, but after the tragedy of the last Tiananmen Square incident, it was getting closer to the level of almost open fighting.

The reform and opening party led by Deng Xiaoping emphasized the limitations of a planned economy and insisted on transitioning to a Western-style capitalist system.

However, they were unable to prevent the growing voice of the conservatives, starting with tough sanctions from the West, led by the United States, for the Tiananmen Square incident last year.

– This is a side effect of reform and opening up, fellow Party members. Excessive reform and opening-up and attracting Western companies have increased the instability of our party’s system and have resulted in the United States taking control of our economy. Comrade Deng Xiaoping’s line is generally correct, but we must stop reform and opening up at this point.

There was strong inflation in the aftermath of reform and opening up, and when it became clear that the Soviet Union would fail to maintain its regime and collapse, an ominous foreboding from within the Communist Party began to wander like a ghost among high-ranking party members and bureaucrats.

It was the greatest and worst trauma of the Chinese people, the independence of minorities due to the weakening of the control of the central power, and the anxiety about reproducing the state of anarchy during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

And in time, the conservatives and the People’s Liberation Army under the control of Yang Sang-kun, who took this anxiety as a nutrient, criticized the reform and opening party and were strengthening their influence.

What did Yang Sang-kun say to Deng Xiaoping, who shook his head saying that it would be better to stand by because the Americans have a clear cause for the hand that Hussein reached out to help him overcome the embargo on the US and the West this time?

– Comrade Deng Xiaoping is right, but if we go that way, the United States will wield tremendous influence over oil in the Middle East. The military and the economy eventually run on oil, and we can’t just watch it happen.

Of course, Yang Sang-kun also said that, rather than supporting Hussein believing that he could really defeat the US military, he was saying it as a check against the former enemy Israel and Deng Xiaoping, who is about to retire, but, nonetheless, it is the story of Deng Xiaoping, president of the Central Military Commission, and Yang Sang-kun, president of the state. It was a dizzying situation where there was almost a head-on clash of opinions.

And as Deng Xiaoping retired last year and officially became a member of the party, the tension was getting tighter day by day, like a rubber band that was stretched to the limit.

In the midst of such escalating tensions, Xu Yong-yu and other officials and Party members who simply wished for China’s stability and prosperity were dying to see which side to take.

After a rough phone call with Hussein due to the buildup of stress, Xu Yong-yu’s incensed CNN reporter’s narration made his stress even worse.

– ……..The world has come together under the banner of a multinational army to overthrow dictator Hussein. Among them, Syria, which has taken a pro-Soviet route in the past, and North Korea’s military, known for its fierce and irrational slander against the United States, are also gathering to amaze the world.

‘Why the hell are those Joseon bastards over there? The cause is clear, so I can’t officially say anything in the current diplomatic crisis…’

– Headquarters, Headquarters, this is the Air and Land Brigade of the Korean People’s Army. 2nd Battalion, Reconnaissance Battalion, People’s Support Brigade, North Korea. A large-scale enemy force was found routing. Please give me permission to engage!

– This is the Unified Command, and depending on the judgment of the field, engagement is permitted. And as a request, for quick information exchange, I hope that anyone who can speak English properly remembers the call sign (call sign) and writes it down! out!

“Damn Yemiral… Yankees are so damn picky. Li Jong-su, comrade, what is our call sign?”

“Was it Moscow…”

“You mean, these guys are capitalist people and we are communist people? Yankee radio operator, laughing out loud and seeing what he gave me, I got scolded for wanting to take my throat on the spot.”

The 2nd Battalion of Reconnaissance of the People’s Support Brigade heard from the radio with a smile on the headquarters communication. No, the commander of Moscow 2, Captain Ri Jong-su and 3rd Battalion Commander Cheol-gyu Kim spat on the floor.

In fact, from the radio operator’s point of view, it must have been said that he wanted to make fun of the People’s Army, who stuttered awkward English like a villager who came from the city, rather than having any particular malice, but to those who were overwhelmed by the pressure of not being subdued by the US imperialist army, it had to sound precious. .

Underlying the pressure was the feeling of inferiority that had arisen from seeing Americans who were much taller than they expected at the base, and seeing those Americans casually consuming materials on a scale unimaginable in a republic, but they struggled to deny it. .

After all, feeling bad is bad.

With that thought in mind, Ri Jong-su ordered his troops to engage in a slightly harsher voice than usual.

“The permit has been issued, machine gun and sub-gun gunners, sweep it up!”

“I got it!”

Curl rumble….!!!

Tata ta ta tata tata…..!!!

Soon, the Jeep and BMP armored vehicles they were riding in turned off their engines and protruded like ghosts from the ridge where they were hiding, and attacked with mounted anti-aircraft machine guns and launch tubes (RPGs).

It was a perfect surprise attack, and since they were all special marksmen, from the fighters to the military officers, the enemies who were still running were astonished, so they couldn’t even counterattack properly, and in an instant they turned into corpses and lay on the floor.

“ الله أكبر !!! تحيا الجمهورية ……!!!!”

“It’s easy, Girai,”

“Comrade Li, this is not easy…”

I was just trying to say that it was close to running out of combat capability because it was hit hard by the Americans, but Captain Kim Cheol-gyu kept his mouth shut.

It was because he knew from the dissatisfied expression on Jong-su Ri that he already knew this.

It was the same reason why their superior, Lieutenant General Baek Seung-cheol, did not show any joy in seeing that the search-and-destroy operation that had been initiated for about a day was proceeding in a snap.

On the 26th, two days after the ground operation began, the Korean People’s Army was also very busy carrying out the duties assigned to it by the headquarters.

After organizing a mobile strike force using armored vehicles under his command, Baek Seung-cheol was not concentrating on clearing up the remnants of the Iraqi Republican Guards, which were divided and routed by the British and American armored division attacks.

However, unlike the determined determination before the battle, the battle itself was as refreshing as it had just been before, and it was evident in the conversations of lower-ranking North Korean military officers who returned to the camp after their mission.

– Tttt, this is a million troops, the People’s Army for the first time in the desert, and so on, so it’s frozen, but Arabs say this is pure hot water. It’s completely bulky, and after a few rounds with a machine gun, it surrenders right away…

– No matter how much the U.S. military is struck by lightning first, only chaff is left. This isn’t a dispatch, it’s like an outing from an ordinary middle school. It’s nice to see us outside the Republic.

– Park’s top comrade! Have you guys tried swapping keyboards (dried food) with those U.S. troops? What’s the name of it… Anyway, it’s delicious. How can we make so delicious kwakbap for military service, why can’t our republic be able to make such a thing?

– Top Kim! Be careful not to listen to Comrade Lieutenant General Geo Baek! And that’s not Kwakbab, it’s a ki… that’s called C-ration. Did you fall asleep during the aptitude equipment theory training class? Anyway, you have good talent, comrade Kim. They’re just different, Judy? You guys don’t know how to talk, do you?

– Kkekkuk… Isn’t this all the grace of the general secretary? It’s me, beckoning to Siration and handing out a dollar. So, both of them notice it and say okay, okay, okay. Aren’t you good at it?

– Ttttttt… No matter how outside the republic, ideological education is lacking. But how much did you pay?

– 4 different! No matter what they say, it’s still 4 different! 4 Didn’t you show me the negotiating tactics of the boys of the Republic while shouting only 4 different? They’re as big as the Arabs, they’re pure bullshit. uhh…

Some ignorant fighters and low-ranking military officers were excited to see overseas (albeit in the desert all around), something that ordinary Republican people would never dream of in their lifetime.

However, most of the members of the support brigade who were dispatched in the first place were officers of the reconnaissance brigade (which are treated as special forces in North Korea).

“Girae, you won again?”

“Yes. Lieutenant General Baek. This is all thanks to the ingenious command strategy of the lieutenant-general and the blood and sweat of the people of the Republic, these battle supplies…”

“Pick it up! Now, who doesn’t know that it’s all mouth watering? In fact, the majors were all established by those U.S. soldiers…”

At the sound of Baek Seung-cheol’s growling voice, his subordinates, Kim Cheol-gyu and Ri Jong-su, who had been serving him for a long time, immediately shut their mouths.

Having lived life and death together with Baek Seung-cheol since the days of Frunze, they had experienced both sweet and bitter flavors, and they knew well that the father-in-law who did this would only aggravate their anger.

“Whew…!”

Baek Seung-cheol, who is a cherished junior and rarely sighs in front of his subordinates, was desperately feeling the ‘woe of victory’ that he had never felt before.

For the past month or so, while staying at the staff headquarters of the Saudi Arabian rear base and picking up reports from his side, he felt better than anyone that the US forces he had seen were truly different from those of the Korean People’s Army.

‘Only two days, just two days…. To see that a million Republican Guards have collapsed like this in just two days. I think you know what I wrote. ah! What have I seen and learned at Frunze?’

The ground forces operation, which started at the dawn of the 24th and continued until the evening of the 26th, when the sun was setting slowly, taught him the ability to carry out the operations of the US military, which he, who was educated in the Soviet Union, thought in his heart as a competitor.

– Area 73, 2nd Armored Reconnaissance Regiment destroyed 80 Iraqi tanks! Wow!

– 80’s?!?!? How many tanks did you have?

– 9! Well, you don’t even need a teenager to beat Arab turban heads. haha.

– ……………!!!!

In the republic, an unimaginable scale of maintaining an army of an unimaginable size was transported and supplied from the U.S. mainland at an unimaginable speed, and according to the operation, it cuts the enemy like a surgical knife without any error. Looking at the figure from the very center, Seungcheol Baek felt that the world he had known until now was collapsing in just 36 hours.

But still, there was something left in the corner of my heart that I did not know whether to call it the last remaining pride or Ogi.

‘We just haven’t been given the opportunity to set up a major yet. If only one chance, just once, before the war was over, would come to fight the Arabs in good condition…’

At that moment, someone rushed into the North Korean command camp tent and reported .