Battle Born

call rather than a military port complex, it never had much of a military presence — it was never occupied by the Communists during the war, like Seoul. It was Korea’s largest port and second largest city, with a vibrant international trade, over twenty foreign consulates, mild weather, and friendly, hardworking citizens. Its population was packed in between the sea and the mountains, a relatively small area, which made a nerve agent attack that much more deadly. As much as attacking the capital itself, targeting Pusan was a bloodthirsty blow against the people and an attempt to chop off Korea’s economic lifelines to the rest of the world.

“This is General Kim,” Defense Minister Kim Kun-mo said, cutting into the conversation. “I am sorry, sir, but I asked to be patched in by the communications center. Are you safe, sir? Have you taken shelter?”

“I’m fine for now, General,” Kwon said. They heard his voice and the background noise change, as if he was maneuvering through a crowded room to a more private place — no doubt his secret service agents were clearing a path for him. “General, do you realize we have almost used up all of our Patriot missiles? We still have Hawks to protect against aircraft, but we are defenseless against any more ballistic missiles. We need to find those rebels. We need to locate all the missing ballistic missiles before the capital is in ashes!”

“Sir, we cannot say for certain whether the missiles were launched from inside our country or whether they were launched by Communist rebels,” Kim said. “To me, it appears more likely this is the work of the Chinese. They could have brought mobile ballistic missiles into our country to launch from our own soil, just to confuse us. The threat is from China, sir, not from some ghostly rebels. We should retaliate at once against the Chinese forces arrayed against us.”

“Excuse me, General; I was told the evidence suggests that the missiles did not come from China.”

“Are we positive of this, sir?” Kim asked excitedly. “Are you sure those were not Chinese rockets? How can you explain a launch against Japan? Had you ever heard about the Communists targeting Japan?”

“No,” Kwon admitted. The North did once launch one of its early Nodong-1 rockets over Japan, but there had never been any evidence that the Communists ever seriously considered Japan a threat.

“Sir, I suggest we launch an attack that will deter the Chinese from attempting any more missile attacks on Korea: draw a line back along those missiles’ flight path into China. Pick a military base or airfield, preferably one where we know missiles or attack aircraft are based. Then attack it with several of the captured Communist missiles with conventional warheads.”

“General, this sounds extraordinarily dangerous,” Kwon said. “If China should retaliate, the capital could be destroyed within minutes. Chinese troops could easily swarm across the border and occupy the northern half of the peninsula before we could respond.”

“Sir, elements of the Eleventh Corps have been deployed to Changbai, just north of the border near Hyesan,” Kim said, referring to a map placed before him by his aides. “Approximately thirty thousand troops along a forty- mile front, tank-heavy. Reinforced with air assets from their parent corps at Linjiang, but generally fairly isolated. If they moved south, however, they would be expected to cut off half of Yanggang Do province and all of Hamgyong Pukdo province with ease. The Chinese built a nuclear reactor southwest of Hyesan, and it has long been suspected of being a possible weapons-grade material breeder. This unit lies roughly along the reverse flight path of the rocket aimed at Japan.”

“So? What would be the deterrent factor in such an attack, General?” Kwon asked. “Will killing several thousand Chinese troops make our borders any safer? Do you think that China will not be sending in more reinforcements, every one of them howling mad at us for killing their brothers?”

“Sir, the concept of deterrence says you must demonstrate the willingness to use war to achieve your objectives,” General Kim said. “Having weapons of mass destruction is not enough — we must demonstrate our willingness to use them. This is our opportunity.”

“But against China? If they invaded our territory, perhaps…”

“We are not certain they did not do this!” Kim argued. “It is more likely than not they did launch this attack, as a probe to test our resolve if nothing else. But even aside from that, China is indeed massing troops on our northern border. That is a certainty. These events may be tied together, or they may not. But one thing is certain: we must act. We have a legitimate target. We should act, Mr. President!”

There was a long pause; then: “How do you suggest we respond, Kun-mo?”

“A chemical weapons barrage, sir,” Kim replied immediately. “It should be large enough to do great damage, but not enough to trigger a drastic retaliation or risk spreading to Korean territory. No nuclear weapons, unless the Chinese retaliate — we should not show our entire hand right away.”

“General Kim,” Kwon gasped, “did I hear you say you are recommending a chemical weapons attack… against China?”

“Sir, they have launched a chemical attack on us — we must respond with equal force,” Kim argued. “Besides, they have almost fifty thousand troops poised to attack us right now. There are no other weapons we can use short of nuclear weapons to stop them.”

“Kim, listen to yourself!” Kwon shouted. “You are recommending mass murder! I will never agree to this unless our country is faced with imminent annihilation! Never! Now, give me another recommendation, and do it quickly!”

Kim Kun-mo shook his head in exasperation. “The chances of success are far worse, sir, unless we—”

“General, give me another recommendation now, or turn in your resignation!”

Kim swore under his breath, thought for a moment, then said, “Some of our short-and medium-range missiles are armed with fuel-air explosives, designed to clear minefields with overpressure — it creates a devastating punch in a relatively small area. I suggest we use weapons such as these, augmented with high-explosive or cluster munitions.”

There was silence at the other end of the phone.

“Sir, we can call an emergency meeting of the cabinet,” Kim suggested. “We can do it over the phone, or we can have you transported to the capital. We can wait—”

“We are talking about killing thousands of Chinese troops, General!” Kwon snapped. “Don’t you think this requires a little consideration?”

“Sir, killing a few thousand Chinese troops is nowhere near an adequate punishment for the potential deaths of four million citizens of Pusan,” Kim said.

There was more silence. In the background, Kim could feel the terror permeating the subway station and wondered what it would be like to die by chemical or biological weapons poisoning. Dead was dead, true, but would it not truly be more humane to die quickly, by a nuclear or fuel-air explosive burst, than die slowly, painfully, from the very air you breathe?

“Yes, I want the attack to proceed, on my direct orders,” President Kwon Ki-chae said resolutely. “I take full responsibility for the consequences. The attack will commence against the Chinese forces you outlined immediately.”

* * *

The attack was swift, concentrated, and deadly. A salvo of thirty Scud-A short-range rockets was fired from Kangwon Do province south of the burned-out area of Wonsan, and Hwanghae Pukdo province near Songnim, south of Pyongyang. Each Scud-A rocket carried a small nonnuclear warhead weighing a little over one thousand pounds — but the warhead was one of the most devastating nonnuclear devices in the world.

Called a fuel-air explosive, the weapon was simply three bomblets filled with high-energy rocket fuel with an explosive detonator. As the warheads descended toward their targets, the bomblets were ejected one by one and descended via a small stabilizing parachute. An electronic fuse cracked them open, allowing the fuel to mix with air and disperse into a fine mist, and then the cloud was ignited by a small explosive charge. The resulting explosion was hundreds of times more powerful than its equivalent size in TNT, creating a fireball, a shock wave, and a mushroom cloud similar to a small nuclear detonation.

Anything aboveground within one hundred feet of the explosion was instantly incinerated; any unprotected human within one hundred and fifty feet was killed or suffered massive burns. The explosions devastated the Chinese forces garrisoned or bivouacked in the Changbai area, and fires broke out in the town itself, sending thousands of civilians fleeing their homes.

Of the more than thirty thousand troops in the area, nearly five thousand lost their lives instantly; another eight thousand suffered massive burns and other injuries. Death would come mercifully only to some of them; for