21st Century Goguryeo

January 2nd, 2024, 01:00 (Russian time 00:00)

Over the northwest end of Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia

At a distance of 77 kilometers and an altitude of eight kilometers, the Black Moon squadron's radar detected approximately 100 large and small aircraft.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force Operations Command, and Aerospace Operations Command were able to detect and determine their identities with various reconnaissance satellites ahead of time. However, when the aerial warfare unexpectedly turned into a dogfight, it forced them to make changes to their current operational plan.

According to the current operational plan, the Space Fighter Wing should intercept the Russian tactical bomber, strategic bomber, and various military transport aircraft. However, when the aerial battle unexpectedly devolved into a dogfight, the Three-toed Crow space fighter jets were forced to join the dogfight and leave the military transport aircraft behind.

But as the military transport aircraft were getting closer to Hulunbuir, which was 100 kilometers away, the Joint Chiefs of Staff decided that they could no longer postpone the interception, and issued the order to the Air Force Operations Commands to begin the interception.

"This is Black Moon Two! Contact One! Too many enemy aircraft have been confirmed. They all appear to be new models." Deputy Commander of Black Moon checked the number of enemy fighters escorting the aircraft and sent a concerning communication.

"This is Black Moon One! Contact Black Moon squadron! There's nothing to be afraid of! The fact that we were able to get so close without being attacked indicates that we haven't been detected yet. So, keep it up, and let's do what we usually do!"

"This is Black Moon Two! That's true, but despite their numbers, our armed state is..."

"We won't be the only ones here, right? The other squadrons will support us in a little while, so don't worry too much, okay?"

"Black Moon Two! Roger that!"

"Black Moon Three! Roger that!"

"Black Moon Four! Roger that!"

As Major Oh Gil-sung said, the latest Russian fighters escorting the military transport planes were unable to detect them even though they were only 50 kilometers away.

There was a limit as to how much radar detection information they could receive from the Atlas reconnaissance satellite of the United States. As of now, there were approximately 900 different aircraft engaging in a tangled state within a 200-kilometer radius. Accordingly, it was unable to detect 100 percent of Korean fighters. As a result, it was unable to detect the Black Moon squadron, which is now rushing toward the military transport planes.

"Black Moon One! Contact Black Moon Two! Three! Afterburner On! Buster and enemies, attack! Contact Black Moon three! Engage in the Offense."

"This is Black Moon Two! Will that be okay?" At the order of Major Oh Gil-sung, the deputy manager asked with concern.

"Black Moon One! Contact Black Moon Two! That's all right!"

"Black Moon Two! Roger that!"

As soon as they received the confirmation, the Black Moon Two and the other fighters activated the afterburner at the same time, increasing their speed to Mach 7, breaking through the escorting fighters and approaching the military transport aircraft.

The sudden appearance of the Korean fighter forced the IL-476 Ilyushin transport aircraft to make a sharp turn to the right. However, it was impossible for the heavy aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 195 tons to escape from a fighter jet. So, it was clear that the pilot was only looking for the escorting fighters.

<Jjuung Jjuung Jjuung>

The Black Moon Fighters fired red laser light that swept through the fuselage side of the IL-476 Ilyushin transport aircraft. However, shooting down such a large aircraft with only laser beams was proving to be difficult.

Even though black smoke began to arise, the IL-476 Ilyushin transport aircraft continued its attempt to escape. At the same moment, communication came from the deputy commander,

"This is Black Moon Two! Contact Four! Fire at the control room or engine!"

"Black Moon Four! Roger that!"

Lieutenant Park Min-tae pulled the steering wheel as hard as he could after receiving the order from the deputy commander, made a sharp turn, and fired again toward the aircraft's left engine.

<Jjuung Jjuung Jjuung>

The laser beams hit the two engines on the left.

<Kwang! Kwang!>

The engines exploded simultaneously, erupting in red flames. As a result, the aircraft lost its balance, tilted sharply to the left, and started falling.

Leaving behind the IL-476 Ilyushin transport aircraft that was falling, Lieutenant Park Min-tae headed toward another transport plane.

* * *

January 2nd, 2024, 01:10

B2 bunker in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, Namju (Operation room of the Armed Forces Joint Command Control Center)

The tension in the Joint Command Control Center's operation room was high as usual. Except for the various reports and sounds of operators, everyone kept their mouths shut and watched carefully.

It was clear that the current situation was far worse than anticipated.

"According to the report, fighters from the 38th Fighter Corps' 110th squadron are currently attacking enemy transport aircraft that have crossed the border."

Among several reports, this was the one that caused Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Shin Sung-yong's expression to brighten.

"Can we check it out on the screen?"

The request from the Joint Chiefs of Staff was immediately responded to by Nam Tae-kwon, the head of the operation room. "I'll check."

After a while, Nam Tae-kwon, who was in a discussion with the operator, turned his head and spoke, "Please look at the fifth screen."

"Okay. Thank you."

A minute later, footage from the Apollo reconnaissance satellite appeared on screen five, and small shouts erupted all at once.

The Russian transport aircraft that appeared on the screen had either crashed to the ground, with red flames erupting from the engines mounted on their wings, or they were under laser attacks and were falling one after another.

They were overcome with emotions while watching this scene, with their mouths open, as if they were watching a war movie.

"How many transport aircraft are there left?"

"So far, we have shot down 44 transport aircraft. Because of the enemy's escort, it is taking longer than expected."

"Well, it seems so. As they are only left with the 12-millimeter Vulcan laser, it would be an obstacle for them..."

"Don't worry. Won't our ground forces anti-aircraft unit take care of them as soon as they enter our airspace?"

"It is true but I am worried that Russia might invade them early."

"This, this. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must be very worried."

"What will you do if you find yourself on a battlefield where neither the regular army nor special operations forces are present? Wouldn't at least more bullets be sufficient? No, do I have to call them lasers?"

When Deputy Chief of Staff Youn Gi-youn said it half-jokingly, Deputy Chief of Staff Kim Yong-hyun, who was looking at screen five with his arms folded next to him, interjected, "Still, the Russian Spetsnaz are not easy to deal with."

"I know that they are very skilled. Anyway, they will never be able to do anything like a rear-end disturbance."

"I hope so, too." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Shin Sung-yong answered quietly as he tried not to frown.

A few hours later, the Spetsnaz forces and airlift forces that attempted to penetrate Hulunbuir were mostly devastated with their transport planes in the air. Some attempted an emergency escape, but the location where they had been deployed was in the middle of a fierce battle between the two countries. As a result, they were attacked by various anti-aircraft guns before they even made it to the ground, and those who did make it to the ground were killed by the bombs that rained down on them.

As such Spetsnaz and airlift forces, which were deployed to disrupt the rear, failed to carry out their mission. Furthermore, the Russian army, which lost nearly half of its military transport aircraft, faced a major setback in the future transport of war supplies.

This loss, however, was significant. The 482 Russian fighters that were shot down, accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Russian air force. The remaining air force was only enough to protect Moscow and Eastern European airspace at best. To be precise they were insufficient. Despite the support of the US Atlas reconnaissance satellite, they suffered a great loss.

As a result, Russia could no longer afford to project air power against Korea in the war.

New China's situation was no better—only 12 of the 450 fighters that they had sent, returned after surviving. They only made it because they fled as soon as their commander fighter was intercepted.

The Republic of Korea Air Force, on the other hand, went down in history as having suffered the most during air battles, including the First Northeast Asian War, they lost 1000 fighters in total.

Their loss during this aerial warfare was as follows: 142 fighters were shot down, 32 pilots were killed, 11 went missing, and the remaining 99 were rescued by ground forces and safely returned to the base.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Air Force Operations Command took the war's outcome seriously, even though their loss was not as severe. When compared to Russia's and New China's losses, the majority of the fighters shot down were classified as low-class, such as the F-15k Slam Eagle, CF-35A Lighting, and CF-16Z Fighting Falcon.

The reason was that their stealth performance, which they thought was invincible, was neutralized and detected by the radar, which could lead to some difficulties in future operations in enemy airspace.

Because of this issue, it would be difficult to prevent the Russian military from conducting a large-scale sweep operation along the northwest front. So far, the air force's bombing support had kept the numerical disadvantages at bay. However, if the air force could no longer be deployed, it would be a setback.

As a consequence, the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had been watching the aerial warfare all day long, entered an emergency meeting and were only able to establish the temporary countermeasures at 1 p.m.

* * *

January 2nd, 2024, 13:30 (US time 00:30)

Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, USA (Conference Room of Joint Staff Headquarters)

President Trump and officials from the Ministry of National Defense, who were not parties to the war but had closely watched the second Northeast Asian War, were very pleased with the results, even if they did not show it on the surface.

This was due to several factors. The first of which was that the radar performance of the Atlas reconnaissance satellite was better than expected, and the second was that the Korean Air Force had a significant loss. Finally, their rivals, Russia and New China suffered significant losses as well.

That was the result that the United States wanted the most.

President Trump and the commanders of the Ministry of National Defense, who had been watching the war in real-time for a long time, reconvened in the Joint Chiefs of Staff conference room to discuss the future of the war in Northeast Asia.

This was because the outcome of this war was critical to their desire to reclaim their position as the world's number one. So, for the results to be as desired, they needed to accurately anticipate the aspects of the war and take the necessary measures.

Their consent to apply the Atlas reconnaissance satellite, a class S military secret, seemed to be because of President Putin's threats to use the USSC cases, but in fact, it was to create a war result with no winners and only losers in the second Northeast Asian war.