21st Century Goguryeo

"Well, then. Shall we move on to the next item on the agenda?" Now that the matter regarding the northwest front had concluded, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff shifted his attention to a different monitor.

The monitor his gaze rested upon displayed the confidence-inspiring figure of Lieutenant General Kim Sung-ho, the peacekeeping force commander who oversaw all facets of the war currently taking place in the south of Ukraine and Russia.

"May I be permitted to omit the contents of the report I made this morning and focus on a piece of newly-uncovered special information?"

"Yes, please go ahead!"

"Thank you. The battle situation on all fronts is proceeding smoothly according to plan. However, several unidentified armored units were spotted east of the Volga River, and our scouts are monitoring them as we speak. We suspect they are a unified combat force consisting of various Southern Front forces rallying under one umbrella. Their size currently exceeds at least one division. After performing a thorough recon, we'll proceed with the plan to cross the Volga."

"I see! Proceed according to what you think is best! Honestly, I owe you an apology for not paying much attention to your side, Lieutenant General!"

"No, sir. That's not necessary, Chairman! Instead, I should be thanking you for providing timely support whenever we ask for it."

"Well, we've been neglecting your side, so at the very least, we should try to give you all the material you need! Hahaha!"

"Aha, so that was your intention, sir? Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

Vice Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Kim Yong-hyun's reply instantly turned the operation briefing room into a sea of laughter. However, within the festive atmosphere, only the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Shin Sung-yong, remained composed and serious as he called out to Lieutenant General Kim Sung-ho. "Lieutenant General Kim!"

"Yes, Chairman!"

"In two days, the full-scale offensive will commence on the northwest front. Heavy snowfall will slow down our marching speed, but we still believe we can push back the Russian forces to the west of Lake Baikal and occupy the city of Irkutsk before the end of January at the latest."

"On the other hand, the southern front you're in charge of covers much wider ground compared to the scale of our deployed forces. And when the American-led NATO forces join in, we anticipate the war effort to become that much trickier for you. However, we'd like you to persevere and, just as we planned, occupy the southern region of Russia and the frontlines that will become our borders in the future. We will leave this task in your capable hands, Lieutenant General."

"Yes, Chairman! I shall do my best not to disappoint you, sir."

"Thank you. Well, then. Is there anything else, Lieutenant General?"

"No, sir. The situation has remained largely the same since the morning's report."

"Very good! Well, then. Let us conclude the briefing on the southern Russian front. Until the reports are finalized, commanders and officers of various forces are free to speak what they have on their minds."

Shin Sung-yong, Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, announced the start of the free-form discussion, prompting many of the field-grade officers to raise their hands and voice their opinions. The previously rigid command structure of the army was changing considerably through the efforts of the Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Shin Sung-yong.

* * *

January 23rd, 2024, 19:00 (American time: January 22nd, 06:00)

The U.S. State Department, Harry S. Truman Building, Washington D.C.

The Pacific Fleet's naval battle against Korea's combined fleet ended in a virtual defeat. It resulted in the current President, Donald Trump, visiting the Pentagon in the early hours of the morning. He called for a short briefing session, attended by the White House advisers and top management at the Pentagon.

The large screen in the conference chamber currently displayed various vessels belonging to the United States Pacific Fleet in full retreat toward Saipan.

The Pacific Fleet once boasted a combined scale of three fleets and one assault fleet, but it had shrunk to less than half of its former glory, with a current scale of one fleet and one assault fleet. Its previous triumphant atmosphere was long gone by now. If the cost of all the destroyed vessels and deployed weapons were to be counted, it should be over $200 billion. $200 billion had gone down the drain, like dust being blown around in the wind.

However, the problem lay beyond the money, as nearly 3,800 were thought to have died. KIAs alone numbered 1,900, while the remains of 1,239 sailors couldn't even be recovered anymore. A situation like this would easily be the most fatal for any politician that lived or died from the continued support of the voting public.

If the anti-war media gained momentum via reporting on the families of the KIA, it wouldn't take a genius to imagine how the arrows of criticism would fall on President Donald Trump for ordering the preemptive strike on the Korean navy for the sake of an allied nation's 'declaration of sovereignty'. The situation could devolve into one where he'd face impeachment from the office with only one more year left in his term.

However, this was only one of the reasons why he chose to leave the White House to personally visit the Pentagon.

"Regardless of how, we need to recover the bodies of those killed in action, gentlemen!"

Those were the first words to come out of President Trump's mouth after Operations Chief of Staff Nick Leeman finished his briefing.

"Sir, we've urgently deployed rescue teams consisting of civilian vessels to the relevant part of the ocean to rescue and recover the remains of our sailors. We should recover the remains adrift on the surface and those trapped within the sunken vessels given enough time, but those damaged by fire and explosions are..." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Austin Berry, replied to his president instead of the Operations Chief. But the end of his sentence gradually trailed off as he knew this wasn't the answer President Trump wanted to hear.

"Chairman! I don't care what method you use. Just find them all! Do you understand me?! It is an executive order!" President Trump scowled and put the Chairman under undue pressure.

Unfortunately, the reality wasn't that simple. Chairman Austin Berry was only too aware of this and could not readily say yes. Next to him, Secretary of Defense Duke Williams stepped in just then. "Mister President! We'll do our utmost best to recover every one of our sailors no matter how long it takes."

"Are you giving me your word, Secretary?"

"Yes, sir. I'll take full responsibility," said Duke Williams, as he nodded slightly.

"Very well. I'll leave this matter to you."

"Thank you, sir."

Then, the Political Adviser, George Cameron, cautiously butted in. "Mr. President, with the entirety of Japan, bombed to hell and back by Korea; I believe there's no more merit in supporting Japan now that its industrial facilities have been destroyed."

"George, what are you trying to say?" President Trump furrowed the brow on one eye in frustration and cut his adviser off in the middle when he tried to beat around the bush.

"Mr. President, how about... cutting our losses and moving on, sir?"

"Move on? Did you say I should move on? After suffering such huge losses?" President Trump looked taken aback just then.

"Mr. President, as you said earlier, our current priority is to recover our sailors. We're still at the beginning stage and have managed to keep the media quiet about this, but sooner rather than later, the reports on this naval battle will trend in the news, sir. First, of course, we need to recover the bodies as quickly as possible, but that task will be harder if we are still at war with Korea. Don't you agree, Mr. President?"

"Even if that's the case, I cannot let this end like that!"

President Trump's loud yell prompted George Cameron to speak much quieter than before while keeping an eye on his boss's mood. "Sir... is it because of 'that'?"

"Uh-huh, watch what you say, George! That's enough from you. I fully understand what you're trying to say, but don't bring this up again. Japan is no longer a factor in this war. This war with Korea is about determining who the real hegemony of the world is." President Trump finally revealed his true intentions with these words.

Indeed, the true intention of this war with Korea that began with the Pacific Fleet was to avenge the humiliation of three years ago and reclaim the position as a global superpower. And as a bonus, it was also to hide the USSC (the United States Supreme Security Council) within the chaos of the conflict, which could be seen as President Trump's weakness.

As such, he simply could not stop this war at this point. To ensure his safety after leaving office, he needed to end the war favorably as President.

"Mm, Mr. President! There's an old Korean proverb about trying too hard to catch a bed bug only to burn down the house, sir."

"I told you to stop, didn't I!"

Political Adviser George Cameron tried to give his boss counsel from the heart but was forced to stop when President Trump got angry.

Once the adviser closed his eyes and stopped talking, President Trump shifted his attention to the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and began roaring. "The Pacific Fleet will not participate in the recovery of the lost sailors. Instead, it'll join with the Fifth Fleet as soon as its reorganization is complete. So forget about Japan, and come up with a plan for an all-out assault on the Korean peninsula! Also, deploy all available assets of the United States Air Force and redirect tactical nuke-carrying submarines over there! If necessary, you can even consider deploying the Atlantic Fleet, too!"

President Trump was ruthless and driven enough to permit the use of tactical-grade weapons ahead of time. His unhesitant orders were accepted by the generals and the White House advisers, making various expressions.

Notably, a faint smile spread across the face of Secretary Maine Johnson while deep worries dominated George Cameron's expression.

The Pacific Fleet's previous attack was like an early-round jab to keep the opponent in check. In that case, the Americans' current action would be akin to readying a counterattack aimed at the opponent's chin.

* * *

January 24th, 2024, 09:00 (Russian time: 09:00)

11 kilometers southwest of the town of Baley, Zabaykalsky, Russia. (Temporary base for the 26th Tank Battalion of the 60th Armored Brigade, 20th Armored Division.)

The military personnel of the 20th Division started yet another day by hurling all sorts of abuse at the sky for trapping them there for a week with unexpected heavy snowfall. But, even though their major offensive had ground to a halt, at least they had gotten enough time to rest and maintain their equipment.

It was all the fault of white trash, a.k.a. snow—falling non-stop as if there were big holes in the heavens. If the war had yet to commence and this location had been the regular operations base, the army could have mobilized civilian contractors to start a large-scale snow removal operation, but alas. It was supposed to be a war, but the soldiers had to roll their sleeves up and wage another kind of war with the snow that kept piling up no matter how much they shoveled away.

Immediately after the end of the first Northeast Asian War, the Ministry of National Defense chose to delegate the winter-time snow removal as well as the spring and autumn weeding and base-building operations to civilian companies. This decision came about because there simply wasn't enough time to improve the military personnel's combat ability and proficiency with the highly-advanced equipment at hand.

"Aaaargh! Sir, this is bulls*it!" Staff Sergeant Yeom Hoon-gi, the 712th gunner of the 7th Company, 26th Tank Battalion, grumbled unhappily as he stepped on the layer of snow high enough to reach his knees. He was mobilized again for the snow removal operation around the temporary base, with the shovel distributed by the division slung around his back.

Following behind him, Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo retorted, "Still, the snow stopped falling, right? And I hear the higher-ups are bringing in civilian snowplows later in the afternoon. So, stop pouting and let's do our best with this, and hopefully, this will be the last snow shoveling job!"

"If they were going to hire somebody, they should've done that earlier! So what's the point of mobilizing them now, sir? How many days has it been since we had to do this nonsense?"

"Come now, Sergeant Yeom! At least they are coming, so that's something, sir." Even Corporal Kim Il-soo decided to join the conversation.

"Shut up, dude! How dare a lowly corporal butt in when the officers are talking!"

"Wow, seriously?! I'll be promoted to sergeant next month, you know! Besides, sir! Since you're an officer that rose through the ranks, shouldn't you be more understanding of your fellow enlisted soldiers compared to other officers? Aren't you being too much when you call us lowly and whatever, sir!"

"What the hell?! You dare get smart with me?!"

"No, sir. I'm just saying, please be more understanding of us enlisted folks since you also rose through the ranks, sir!"

"Hey, you two! Both of you are too damn noisy! Mm, now that I think about it, why does Corporal Kim sound exactly like you, Staff Sergeant?"

"Eeeehk? Sergeant First Class Kim! What a terrible thing to say, sir!"

"Yes, that's such a scary sentiment..."

Both Yeom Hoon-gi and Kim Il-soo made dumbfounded faces and threw retorts at Kim Young-joo at the same time. While they were bantering, they spotted the figure of the administrative quartermaster in the distance, shoveling snow away. This man was First Sergeant Park Gwang-tae, who was in his mid-thirties but cursed with the face of a forty-year-old. He was transferred from another battalion after the previous quartermaster, First Sergeant Oh Young-taek, was discharged.

"You two are exactly the same in my eyes! But, in any case, look, the quartermaster is here!"

"Oh! Loyalty!"

"Loyalty can't even feed the dogs, fellas. Besides, why are you all so late?" Quartermaster Park Gwang-tae, ranked First Sergeant, stood before Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo's group. Even though it was still early in the morning, he began grilling the trio with a deeply crumpled face, his hands by the waist.

"But, sir! We came exactly on time," Kim Young-joo replied while pointing at his wristwatch, his expression a bit flabbergasted.

"What was that?! When I say you're late, you are late! How dare a lowly sergeant first class talk back to me?!"

"I'm sorry? Urgh!"

"Kekeke!"

Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo made an even more confused face, while Yeom Hoon-gi and Kim Il-soo behind him turned around to cackle away. Kim Young-joo shot a sharp glare at the two of them right away!

"If you have time to waste by talking back, hurry the hell up to your assigned positions now!" The quartermaster scolded the trio with an accent that no one could tell where he had come from.

Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo sneaked up, covered his mouth slightly, and whispered to the quartermaster, "Argh, First Sergeant, please listen! This is why others call you a boomer, sir!"

"What was that?! You punk!"

"H-hey, run! Run away!" Kim Young-joo picked up his snow removal equipment lightning-fast when First Sergeant's clenched fist rose in the air, then hurriedly dashed across the snow.

"Ah! Commander, wait for us! Oh, right. Loyalty! Thank you for your hard work, First Sergeant!"

Staff Sergeant Yeom Hoon-gi and Corporal Kim Il-soo sloppily saluted and hurriedly ran after Sergeant First Class Kim Young-joo. The soldiers from their company were already waiting with their equipment at the destination. Surrounding them was a considerable amount of white trash, gleefully welcoming them.