Battlefield Korea: Book Two of the Red Storm Series Read online

  Battlefield Korea

  Book Two of the Red Storm Series

  By James Rosone & Miranda Watson

  Disclaimer

  This is a fictional story. All characters in this book are imagined, and any opinions that they express are simply that, fictional thoughts of literary characters. Although policies mentioned in the book may be similar to reality, they are by no means a factual representation of the news. Please enjoy this work as it is, a story to escape the part of life that can sometimes weigh us down in mundaneness or busyness.

  Copyright Information

  ©2017, James Rosone and Miranda Watson. Except as provided by the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Table of Contents

  Forward

  Surrounded - Nuts

  Election Meddling

  Preparations for a New World Power

  Stir Fry

  CMC and Politburo Pow Wow

  Good Morning Vietnam

  Great Day to be a Paratrooper

  Intelligence Gap

  Mongolian Airborne

  War in Europe

  Cancelled Party in the Jungle

  Start of Red Storm

  Basement Dwellers

  Run Pappi, Run

  Enemies Within

  Pacific Pivot

  New Commander, New Strategy

  A Message of Hope

  The Marines are Coming

  Greater China

  Setting the Trap

  Retirement Cancelled

  Hunting in the Atlantic

  More Bad News

  Counter-Attack

  Reinforcements

  Tough Decisions

  Red Storm Update

  Pecking Order

  Trepidation

  I’d Trade my Kingdom for a Horse

  The Second Korean War

  Opening Salvos

  Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War

  No Time to Iron

  Ant Hive

  The Unthinkable

  Snake Eaters

  DEFCON One

  I am Death, the Destroyer of Men

  Retaliation and Retribution

  Pure Shock

  Mourn with Those Who Mourn

  Surprise Attack

  Punched in the Face

  Reinforcements

  Missile Swarm

  Ambushed

  Air Force One Has Landed

  Cyber-Warfare

  A Desperate Fight

  I Just Wanted the GI Bill

  A Marine War

  Beyond the Beachhead

  New Day, New Alliance

  Battle of Hwangsuwon Airbase

  From the Authors

  Acronym Key

  Forward

  “Battlefield Korea” picks up right where “Battlefield Ukraine” ended, so that we can learn about the fate of the U.S. forces stuck in Kiev. However, the next chapter takes a jump back in time, and begins about eighteen months prior to the start of hostilities in Ukraine. The timeline moves forward from there as the story goes on. We took this leap backward so that some of the additional back story to the conflict in Korea could be explained, and so we could focus more of each of these first two books on the battle theater after which they were named. We hope you will enjoy this second book in our Red Storm Series.

  Surrounded - Nuts

  Kiev, Ukraine

  Lieutenant Taylor looked at the remnants of his platoon, sprawled out in the back room of the store, trying to get some sleep. He wished he could join them. He was exhausted, but his presence had been requested by the area commander, a major from one of the 173rd Airborne units that was also trapped in Kiev. The Russians had broken through the Ukrainian and NATO defensive line and rushed units around the city in hopes of trapping the retreating forces before they could escape. Their speed and exceptional air support had allowed them to quickly get behind the retreating NATO forces; they had successfully trapped nearly a third of the Allied forces in the city. A German tank and infantry battalion was trapped in Kiev, along with part of a British armored unit, a battalion from the US 1st Armor division, a battalion of paratroopers from the 173rd, a battalion from the 82nd Airborne, and what was left of the 2nd cavalry regiment.

  Lieutenant Taylor poked his head out of the door in the alleyway, doing a quick check to make sure he didn’t see or hear any Russian helicopters or aircraft, and then walked out into the alley to head to a building not far from where his platoon was sheltering. As he was ambling through alleyway, Taylor looked up and saw that a new storm was rolling in.

  “Great, more rain,” he grumbled to himself. He crossed the alleyway and entered the back door of another building, where he was guided down to the basement where a makeshift headquarters had been set up.

  As he walked into the main room, he saw several soldiers talking on a couple of different radio systems to some group or another.

  “I hope that they are talking to someone outside the city,” he thought. “Maybe we will get lucky and they can figure out how to relieve us before we run out of ammunition.”

  A captain waved to Lt. Taylor getting his attention; they were meeting in a nearby room and he wanted Taylor to join them. As he walked in, he received a warm welcome.

  “Lt. Taylor, I’m glad you were able to make it. For a little while, we thought your platoon might have gotten cut off,” said Major Graham, an Airborne officer from the 173rd who was acting as their battalion commander. Nearly all of the units trapped in the city were at 50% to 60% strength and short on officers and experienced NCOs. Major Graham just happened to be the most senior officer in this sector of the city they were held up in, and he had assumed command of the units operating in his area. The prior evening, Lt. Taylor’s platoon had carried out a dangerous mission to blow up one of the major bridges crossing into the city. They were successful, but they had lost three more soldiers and were nearly cut off by a nearby Russian unit.

  Lt. Taylor just nodded, too tired to say much. All he wanted right now was to get some sleep. He had been running on fumes since they arrived in Kiev. He didn’t know how his platoon sergeant could run on so little sleep; he had to remind himself that he was also a former Ranger. It was probably his Special Forces training that enabled him to be able to operate on so little slumber.

  Turning back to the rest of the officers, Major Graham began the meeting. “OK, here is the situation. We’ve been cut off now for five days. The Russians seem to be more intent on chasing the remaining NATO forces out of Ukraine than they are on finishing us off. Our drones and the intelligence that we are receiving from the outside confirmed that several Russian divisions moved around our positions and began to move throughout the rest of the country. They are not massing for a major attack on us, at least not right now.”

  The room filled with a collective sigh of relief at this news.

  “This morning, General Fenzol received an offer for surrender from the Russian Commander. Well, just like General McAuliffe from the 101st told the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge, he said, ‘Nuts,’ and sent them packing.”

  Everyone started laughing at that reference. During the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans had the 101st Airborne Division surrounded in Bastogne. German General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz issued General McAuliffe an ultimatum to surrender or be destroyed. The American general simply sent back a one worded reply, “Nuts.”

  Returning to a serious tone again, the Major continued, “General
Fenzol is working to organize a breakout. With the Russians placing so much focus on other parts of Ukraine, they have left a few points in their defensive line weak. Tonight, under the cover of darkness, the few armored vehicles and tanks we have will move towards those parts of the line and will attempt to punch a hole for us to go through. Even before that attack though, our group has been tasked with trying to infiltrate the line to see what kind of chaos we can cause. We are specifically going to look for anti-tank guns or other strong points that might cause the armor some problems.”

  A British captain interrupted to ask, “So once we start this ‘chaos,’ is that when our armor attack is going to start?”

  Major Graham looked at him and nodded, “Exactly. Once we start to sow our disorder and confusion, the armored units will make their move while the Russians are distracted with what’s going on behind them. If things go well, they will be able to punch a large enough hole through the enemy positions for the other units to collapse the outer perimeter and escape through the hole in the line we’ll have created.”

  He sighed for a second, taking a drink of some water while everyone appeared to be hanging on to what he might say next. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. If we are not successful, then a lot of us are probably going to die, and everyone will most likely have to surrender at some point. I, for one, would rather try and break ourselves out of this cursed city than have to surrender to the Russians.”

  Major Graham could also see the long, tired looks on their faces. These men were exhausted, and he was about to demand a lot from them tonight. He knew they would need some sleep before the festivities started. “We push off for the attack around 1800, and we’ll cross into the Russian lines around 2100 hours. Right now, I want everyone to go back to your units and get some rest…just have your men moved to this location and ready to push off at 1800 hours, understood?”

  The meeting broke up after a few more orders were handed down. Lt. Taylor walked back to where his platoon was sleeping and planned on joining them. However, upon approaching the alleyway door to where his platoon was sacking out in, he suddenly smelled something amazing. Then, Sergeant Childers walked up to him as he entered the room and handed him a bowl of some piping hot Borscht.

  “Where did you get this?” he asked as he gratefully took the bowl and spoon being offered.

  Smiling, Sergeant Childers replied, “One of the families staying above us came down with a pot full, and even brought some bowls. There is some bread over there, and some beer, if you want it.” He pointed to a table, where several of his soldiers who should have been sleeping were helping themselves to some bread. One of the soldiers held out a beer for him as he walked towards them.

  “I suppose General Order Number One doesn’t really matter if you are surrounded by a division of Russian soldiers, does it?” the lieutenant said jokingly as he took the beer, lifting it to his lips and taking a long drink. Typically, US Forces are not allowed to consume alcohol in a combat zone, but being surrounded and cut off from the world did have its advantages.

  As the soldiers ate their soup, bread and beer, their exhaustion returned. Many of the men who had finished eating now found a spot to curl up on the floor and quickly went to sleep. Soon, Sergeant Childers was the only person left at the table with him.

  Lieutenant Taylor thought back to their conversation a couple of days ago, about why they had joined the Army. “Hey, you never did get to finish telling me why you joined the Army. I told you my story,” he said jokingly as he took another drink of his beer.

  “I suppose it’s only fair. I still can’t believe you went to Yale and here you are, leading a platoon of infantry in Ukraine,” Childers replied in jest.

  Luke sighed before continuing. He stared out one of the windows as he remembered back. “Before September 11th, I was a mess. I was in my sophomore year at the University of Texas A&M. I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I spent most of my time partying, getting drunk, or smoking weed. Then, one day, I got in trouble on campus and it looked like I was going to get expelled. Somehow, I managed to talk my way out of that problem, but I was still unsure of what I really wanted to do. I decided to take a year off school and get a job.”

  “My uncle worked for an oil company, drilling wells. He offered to help get me a job, so I could make some money and figure out if I really wanted to finish college or just work with him. I was making good money too, $35 an hour, but it was backbreaking hard work. I had been working with him for almost three months when the Towers were hit. I couldn’t believe someone had attacked us like that. Watching those people at the top floors jumping out of the windows, falling to their deaths like that…well, it angered me. I made up my mind that I was going to join the Army.”

  Pausing for a second to finish polishing off his beer, Childers continued, “My father had served in Vietnam, and my grandfather had served in World War II, so it wasn’t an uncommon thing for people in my family to volunteer. When I joined, I said I wanted to be a Ranger. My recruiter laughed at me, but signed me up for it anyways. After completing infantry school and jump school, I was sent to try out for the Rangers. After a few grueling months, I made it. I was placed with the 75th Ranger Battalion, just in time to deploy to Iraq for the invasion.”

  Sergeant Childers rubbed his face and eyes for a second, looking out the window again, lost in thought. “Following the invasion of Iraq, my unit deployed to Afghanistan. We lost a couple of guys on that deployment. Then, we were sent back to Iraq again in 2006 and 2007. During the Surge in Iraq, my unit was deployed up in Mosul. We were out on a mission to snatch a high value target, some Al Qaeda leader. When we broke into the guy’s house, I was moving up the stairs to the clear the second floor with a couple of other guys. As I rounded the top of the stairs, I saw several flashes from a muzzle. I felt something hit me in the chest and legs. I went down immediately, before I could get a shot off. The guy following behind me shot the attacker.”

  Childers began to rub his left thigh, which seemed to be having phantom pain from the memory he was talking about. “I was out. The next thing I knew, I woke up at a hospital in Balad. They said I had been shot twice in my left leg, shattering my femur. One round hit me in my right shoulder. The docs told me that were flying me back to Germany to have my leg fixed. I ended up spending the next eighteen months rehabilitating my leg. I wasn’t able to walk on it with any weight for nearly six months while the bone healed. They had to place a rod and a lot of screws in there to hold everything together. Unfortunately, my jump days were over, so I was out of the Rangers.”

  He sighed, and then continued. “After I was released back to active duty again, they sent me to be a drill sergeant. I did that for a couple of years, continuing to strengthen my leg and shoulder, and then I got orders to the 2nd Cav. I couldn’t have been happier. I was going to pin on Master Sergeant in a couple more weeks, before we got sent over here. I suppose my promotion has probably come through,” he said, snickering.

  Lieutenant Taylor let out a soft whistle. “Man, that’s a crazy story Luke. Well, I for one am glad you made it out of Iraq all right; we’d be in rough shape without you here with us.”

  Childers nodded slightly, the left side of his mouth coming up in a half smile. He didn’t really know how to respond to direct praise like that.

  “So, what’s the scoop from the meeting?” the sergeant asked, changing topics.

  Lietenant Taylor pulled out a map and showed Luke the rally point where they would be linking up near the Russian lines. Taylor spent a little bit of time bringing him up to speed on the details of the night mission, and then the two of them joined the rest of their men in getting a few hours of shut eye before the action started.

  *******

  It was nearly 1800 hours as Lt. Taylor’s platoon approached what remained of their company and another American unit that would be going through the tunnel first. When they entered Ukraine, they had started with 128 soldiers in their company, but now they were do
wn to just 39 fighters. All of the others had either been killed or wounded.

  Taylor saw Major Graham walking towards him, and asked “What’s going on, Sir?” He hoped nothing was wrong.

  “I just wanted to make sure your guys are ready. Do you have full loads of ammo and grenades? We have some extra over near that Humvee,” Graham explained, pointing to a vehicle that had a small group of soldiers eagerly collecting additional ammunition for their weapons.

  “No, we loaded up earlier,” Lieutenant Taylor answered. “My guys are ready to go. Do you still want my platoon to lead the way?” He secretly hoped that another unit may have been chosen instead.

  Graham just nodded, “Yeah, I want your group to try and penetrate through that area,” he said, pointing to a spot on the map. “That old guy we talked about earlier said there is a bar there that was run by the Ukrainian mafia that has a tunnel running underneath it. The passageway connects to another bar on the other side of the Russian lines, here,” he said, pointing to the two locations.

  “Once your men get through, I want your group to try and identify if there are any anti-tank guns and take them out. If you are able to, I want your guys to hit those objectives quietly. Once the shooting officially starts, that platoon of German tanks over there is going to try and push through to your location.”

  Major Graham spent another ten minutes going over everything with Lt. Taylor and SFC Childers. Following their platoon would be the rest of their company, and then a British infantry unit would pick up the tail. The one thing that gave them pause was the uncertainty of whether or not the Russians had a quick reaction force (QRF) nearby to rush to that position once the gunfire began.

  Childers looked at the map, and then back up at Major Graham. “We’ll cause some chaos, Sir. Just make sure those tanks press home their attack once the shooting starts. If there is a Russian QRF, we won’t last long without backup.”