Chapter 356 - Book 21 Chapter 9: Go Far Away from Here (1)

“I got it!” Lee Ki-Do yelled.

Hisssss!

Lee Ki-Do launched an AIM-9 Sidewinder.

Boom!

Lee Ki-Do and Park Seung-Yong’s Falcons parted—one ascended, and the other dove down.

At that moment, they heard Unit Three on the radio.

“I’ve got one behind me!”

Swiiiiishhh!

Park Seung-Yong pushed the side stick diagonally to the left.

He felt like his eyes would roll back; it was nearly impossible to think properly when he was plunging downward like this.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled the side stick again. “Unit Three! I’ve got your back!”

Bam! Swiiiiishhh!

Fortunately, they could pay less attention to their enemies’ Phantoms now since the ground forces had gone into hiding.

“Unit Three! Evasive maneuvers on my command!” Park Seong-Yong shouted.

Unit Three quickly twisted to the left.

“Now!”

Boom!

Unit Three abruptly soared toward the right.

Park Seung-Yong couldn’t turn in the same direction. Otherwise, Unit Three’s evasive maneuver would become meaningless.

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

Park Seung-Yong’s Falcon flew to the left. Like moths to a flame, almost all of the enemy planes chased after him. With their pride hurt, they were determined to shoot him down.

Boom!

“Unit One! Please come up!”

Park Seung-Yong’s Falcon was still diving.

Lee Ki-Do kept telling him to change his course, but Park Seung-Yong remained undaunted.

“Now’s our chance! Take out as many of those bastards as you can!” Park Seung-Yong yelled back.

Swiiiiissshhh!

Once close enough to the ground that it looked as if it was the one flying toward him, he finally pulled the side stick up.

Swoosh! Swiiiiishhh!

The Falcon turned and flew between mountains.

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

“Unit One! Get back here already!” Lee Ki-Do yelled.

If their enemies weren’t stupid, they would definitely come down from the sky above Park Seung-Yong to cut off his path.

This situation would have been a lot different had they been up against just a couple of planes. However, their enemies currently numbered close to twenty, only six of which were chasing Park Seung-Yong. The rest were looking down at him from above.

Swiiiiissshhh!

Park Seung-Yong navigated between the sporadic mountains as the enemy planes gained on him. Above, his allies and enemies fought each other, tangling and swerving all over the air.

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep.

Park Seung-Yong couldn’t keep running from their enemies any longer. Hence, while pushing the throttle lever, he pulled the side stick as far back as he could.

Boom!

His Falcon soared toward the sky like a missile.

The sudden movement made Park Seung-Yong blank out. It was as if all of his blood had rushed to his head and he had left his stomach behind.

The clouds now looked divided to him—like an abstract painting.

“Unit One! Change directions!”

Even Lee Ki-Do’s comms now sounded distant.

Park Seung-Yong smiled, looking at the sky. The shining sun and the clouds around it reminded him of the Taegukgi.

“Hey! Park Seung-Yong! Fucking turn already! Please!” Lee Ki-Do shouted in rage and fear.

‘Did you really think I would die in front of the Taegukgi?’

Park Seung-Yong thought.

Beeeeeeep.

Park Seung-Yong heard a signal warning him that their enemy planes’ lock-on feature had caught his Falcon.

They had caught him. Even though he had done his best to avoid them like the plague, he ultimately failed to escape their sights.

Swish!

Park Seung-Yong pulled the throttle lever and pushed the side stick forward.

Boom.

Seemingly having lost its propulsion power, his Falcon began falling to the ground. It was so sudden that no one could predict where it would crash.

Swoosh! Swish! Swiiiiishhh!

The enemy planes tailing Park Seung-Yong urgently scattered. Park Seung-Yong’s aircraft was spinning so fast that he had trouble telling the ground from the sky.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The Falcon quickly warned him that it had lost its balance.

Swish!

At that moment, Park Seung-Yong pushed the throttle lever and pulled the side stick.

Boom! Swiiiiishhh!

The Falcon leveled in the air. At the same time, Park Seung-Yong shouted into the radio, “I can’t believe I was stupid enough to worry about that man!”

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Unfortunately, the Falcon hadn’t stopped beeping. Now, it was telling him that it had run out of fuel.

He had fought as best as he could. All that was left to do was face his death without fear!

I should try to take down at least one more enemy with whatever fuel I have left!

Swiiiiishhh!

Park Seung-Yong’s Falcon turned sharply.

Boom! Swiiiiishhh!

Their enemy planes were simultaneously flying back toward the direction that they had come from.

Park Seung-Yong’s radar now showed about sixty or seventy aircraft. When he looked up, he saw fighter jets densely filling up the sky in the distance.

Are those Vigorous Dragons?

He wasn’t sure whether he was just hallucinating or he was actually looking at a Chinese fighter jet.

Park Seung-Yong tuned in to the public channel on his radio.

“Korean fighters!” the Vigorous Dragon pilot said.

Their pronunciation and the words they used were awkward, but they were definitely speaking in Korean.

“You may now pull back and return to base.”

Park Seung-Yong understood everything they were saying.

“Roger, Dragon. We’re running on empty, so we can’t head back to base anymore,” Park Seung-Yong responded.

Swiiiiishhh!

Close to seventy Chinese fighter jets surrounded his Falcon, seemingly covering for him.

“Korean fighters, please accept your gift,” the Vigorous Dragon pilot replied, again in awkward Korean.

Park Seung-Yong looked past his canopy. Two aerial refueling planes were flying near him, their long oil pipelines hanging in the air.

The Vigorous Dragon pilot continued, “We hope that you like it.”

“Thank you, Dragon. You just made me happier than when I got to meet my wife!”

Park Seung-Yong immediately positioned himself for refueling.

***

The piercing sounds of the fighter jets, which had been rushing into the cave, slowly subsided.

However, it was still too early for them to leave the cave. Honestly, even if they went outside and examined the situation, it would still be difficult for them to see what was happening to the fighter jets since they were too high in the sky.

Hence, Kang Chan and his men just calmly waited.

Soon, someone communicated with them through the radio.

Chk.

“This is Park Seung-Yong. China has refueled our birds. It sucks that this is all we can do for you and the others, but have to go back to base now. I look forward to everyone’s safe return.”

Kang Chan immediately held up his radio.

Chk.

“You fought hard out there. We’ll see you all later.”

Chk.

“Copy that, Captain.”

What? What did he just say?

Everyone quickly looked at Kang Chan. However, even he wasn’t sure why Park Seung-Yong had called him Captain.

“Give me the satellite phone,” Kang Chan ordered.

As instructed, Yoon Sang-Ki handed him the phone.

Kang Chan pressed the button twice. The dial tone rang afterward.

- This is the situation room.

“All of the fighter jets have retreated. What happened?”

- Based on the intel that China, Russia, and Germany’s intelligence bureaus have sent us, I believe South Korea and Iran have chosen to withdraw since their jets are no longer fit for combat.

Kang Chan couldn’t tell if this was good or bad news right now.

“Anything else I should be aware of?”

- Just the testimony of our Egyptian informant. He said that Ivan, the arms trafficker, recently sold a ballistic missile.

Kang Chan cocked his head.

He couldn’t just brush off news about a ballistic missile.

“Give the number of this satellite phone to Russia and China. Tell them what you just told me and that I’m expecting them to call.”

- Yes, sir.

Kang Chan hung up. Afterward, he raised his head and looked at the soldiers near him.

“South Korea and Iran have ordered their fighter jets to withdraw. Daye, send some men to stand guard outside. Let’s eat before we decide what to do next.”

The soldiers quickly executed his orders.

***

Vasili received a call from one of the Russian agents stationed in South Korea to monitor the satellites. After the brief conversation, he hung up and cocked his head.

Glaring at the monitor in front of him, he analyzed the satellite view of Earth that it was displaying. Long lines were drawn on it.

“According to this path, Dmitri should be the most suspicious of them all, yet Ivan’s the one who sold a ballistic missile?”

Vasili frowned. Pursing his lips, he zoomed into the map.

“If Dmitri can’t launch the missile because Monsieur Kang has taken the OTP, then he will definitely look for another way. Is that why the missile was sold to someone else?”

He straightened up, then smiled coldly.

“Now, even Dmitri sees me as a pushover because I’ve been acting as a supporting character for so long.”

Vasili coldly glared at a red triangular dot on the North Pacific.

“I’ll keep watching you until I find out what you’re looking for in the North Pacific.”

***

A starving man had fewer chances to win in combat.

For that reason, despite being in immense pain, Kang Chan sat up and ate C-rations. His wounds throbbed and stung whenever he scooped up bibimbap with a spoon or even just picked up a biscuit.

“We’ll be in danger if we stay here for too long. DMZ team, find a place for us to stay on the upper part of the mountain,” he commanded.

“Alright,” Kang Chul-Gyu answered.

Nam Il-Gyu then took three men with him outside to carry out the order.

“Daye! Take some men back to the barracks and bring over the things we left behind,” Kang Chan said.

“Got it.”

Seok Kang-Ho selected the soldiers who would go with him and then headed to where the barracks were located.

Twenty suffocating minutes later, they heard their radios crackle.

Chk.

“We secured a location,” Nam Il-Gyu reported.

A moment later, a soldier who had gone with him returned to the cave.

Chk.

“Daye, how much longer?” Kang Chan asked.

Chk.

“We’re almost at the cave.”

They had to evenly distribute any luggage among all the soldiers before climbing the mountain.

True to his word, Seok Kang-Ho soon arrived at the cave. They then divided up the bags so that everyone would have an equal load to carry to where Nam Il-Gyu was.

Kang Chan sighed. “

Haaa

…”

With his rifle slung over his shoulder, he looked around their surroundings.

The new location that they had secured wasn’t so bad since it was dense with trees. They could also look down the mountain from every direction. As long as a fighter jet didn’t rush toward them again, a place as perfect as this was rare in the mountains.

“Cha Dong-Gyun! I want three men in the upper part of that area. Send a sniper and two soldiers to our flanks as well,” Kang Chan said.

After assigning the soldiers to strategic positions, Kang Chan looked at the map. At the same time, the satellite phone rang.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Kang Chan answered it and swiftly heard a familiar voice.

- It’s Vasili.

“Go ahead.”

Kang Chan only felt happy when he answered Vasili’s call as curtly as possible.

- We believe Alex, our nuclear-powered submarine, was the one that was supposed to receive the OTP. The captain of that submarine is Dmitri, who’s currently in the North Pacific.

Kang Chan just listened intently.

- The Spetsnaz and GIGN are going to leave in three hours. It’ll take some time before they can reach your position, though.

“Where’s Romain?”

- He has already left Germany. I’ll take care of Josh.

“Did you find the route that the Quds are taking?”

- Considering they scattered from Iran to Afghanistan, they’re likely heading over to your position.

“Is this line secure?” Kang Chan asked, having realized that Vasili had been spouting classified intel carelessly.

He had to make sure that they weren’t being tapped.

- The number you’re using right now can only make and take calls through our satellite. Thanks to Russia’s impressive tech, even if others try to wiretap it, all they’ll hear are loud noises.

Did this fucker really just say that? Is he a propagandist of some communist party?

Kang Chan shook his head. All that mattered was that they had a secure line of communication.

“Vasili, we’ll be moving out soon. I’ll contact you twice every day at eight hundred and twenty hundred our local time. Make sure not to call me outside those hours. ”

- Alright.

After hanging up, Kang Chan looked at the map again.

“Gather around,” Kang Chan said.

Seok Kang-Ho, Gérard, Kang Chul-Gyu, Cha Dong-Gyun, Jeong Won-Min, and Kang Myung-Gu walked over to him.

“I’m designating this place as Point Alpha and this one as Point Beta. No matter how convoluted I word it on the radio, you are to regroup in these respective places if you hear me say Alpha or Beta,” Kang Chan explained.

Afterward, with his index finger, he pointed at their target location and then drew a line across the map.

“DMZ team, I want you to follow this route. Take out all of the snipers you can find while you’re at it,” Kang Chan said.

Kang Chul-Gyu nodded. His gaze sharpened.

“606,” Kang Chan called.

“Sir.”

“Follow the route in between the Panjshir River and the Saricha Road all the way to our target location.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Counter-terrorism team, we’re climbing the mountain up ahead. From there, we’ll head to the target spot.”

“Understood,” Jeong Won-Min answered firmly.

“Jeungpyeong special forces team, I need you to stay here and stop the two hundred Quds hoping to join the enemy ranks,” Kang Chan ordered.

“Copy,” Cha Dong-Gyun replied.

Jeong Won-Min and Kang Myung-Gu looked at him.

Thirty South Korean special forces soldiers against two hundred Quds?

Although it wasn’t that much different from their mission to eliminate one thousand two hundred hostels with only a little over eighty people, they still couldn’t help but be worried.

Kang Chan added, “I was told that the Spetsnaz, the GSG-9, and the White Wolves will be heading over soon, but I wouldn’t count on it.

“Please don’t worry,” Cha Dong-Gyun answered.

Kang Chan also knew that sending their thirty-man army against two hundred Quds was a horrible order. Unfortunately, he had no other choice.

Proceeding with the briefing, he looked at Rukha’s mountainous terrain.

“Currently, we have the OTP required to launch a missile, the coordinates that Director Hwang had left for us, and the information we got from Abibu and the informant Um Ji-Hwan secured. However, we are still missing a lot of information,” Kang Chan said.

The commanders of each team focused on the briefing. Strangely, hearing the army interpreter quickly relayed it in French made them even more nervous.

“Just now, I received word that one of Russia’s submarines was the one supposed to get the OTP that is now in our hands. That same submarine is now in the North Pacific. Our informant also told us that an arms trafficker named Ivan has sold a ballistic missile.”

Something’s wrong!

Everyone now had the same expressions, but none could seem to figure out what was happening yet.

“Russia’s submarine was supposed to be the one carrying the nuclear warhead, but it has since been transported somewhere else. If that’s the reason why our enemies need a ballistic missile, then…” Kang Chan trailed off, then quickly glanced at all of the commanders around him. “They’re likely targeting South Korea.”

After listening to the army interpreter, Gérard nodded.

Kang Chan continued, “Since we’re short on time, I want all teams except for the Jeungpyeong special forces team, which will be covering our rear, to raid the enemy base.”

“When are we moving out?” Kang Chul-Gyu asked.

“In thirty minutes. Rest until then,” Kang Chan answered.

The sun had already gone past its zenith.

Once they had adjourned, Kang Chan sat against the dirt wall. He bent one of his legs and straightened the other.

Gérard sat next to him in a similar posture.

Kang Chan just smirked.

Strangely, looking at the bastard made him smile. It was probably because he had already been reduced to a mess even though the actual battle was yet to begin.

“Are we even alive right now?” Gérard asked.

“Have you gone insane? How else would we be here?” Kang Chan replied.

Afterward, he looked ahead of them again.

As the sunlight warmed them, the wind blew softly, bringing in the scent of wet soil, trees, and grass.

“I could use a smoke right now,” Gérard said.

“I want instant coffee,” Kang Chan remarked.

Seok Kang-Ho glanced at the army interpreter, who the army interpreter quickly relayed what Kang Chan and Gérard had just said in Korean.

Oh, shoot!

Kang Chan turned his head to the army interpreter. Thinking about climbing a rough mountain with him made Kang Chan shake his head.

Noticing Kang Chan’s gaze, the army interpreter quickly turned to Gérard to gauge his mood.

“Without proper training, you won’t be able to follow us up the mountain. You should stay here,” Kang Chan said.

“Pardon?”

The fear in his face made it clear that the army interpreter was remembering the battle in Africa.

“It won’t make sense for you to follow the DMZ team or the 606, will it?” Kang Chan asked.

“That’s true,” the army interpreter answered reluctantly.

“I’ll tell Cha Dong-Gyun about this. Once the battle begins, make sure to hide somewhere.”

The army interpreter swallowed dryly and answered, “Yes, sir.”

Clunk. Clank. Clunk.

The commanders and their respective subordinates soon gathered in front of Kang Chan. The time had come for them to move out.

Kang Chan stood up. Seok Kang-Ho and Gérard followed suit.

“If any team reaches our destination ahead of the others, you are to wait until we have all regrouped. Teams that fail to reach the target location by eight hundred tomorrow are to return here,” Kang Chan said.

Instead of giving a verbal answer, everyone just looked at him with determination.

Kang Chan slowly looked at each of his men.

“I know I have given each of you a difficult role to fulfill. However, our main objective remains the same. We will kill the leadership of the UIS and return to South Korea together.”

Finally, he smirked. “Move out!”

Before he could go, however, Kang Chul-Gyu extended his hand toward him and patted his helmet.

Kang Chan blankly stared back at him.

“Be careful,” Kang Chul-Gyu told Kang Chan.

Afterward, he smirked and patted Cha Dong-Gyun’s helmet.

Touched, Cha Dong-Gyun exclaimed, “I’ll see you later, sunbae-nim!”

Instead of replying, Kang Chul-Gyu simply walked onward. He patted Jeong Won-Min and Kang Myung-Gu’s helmets as well.