by Stephen Makk
“I’M ALESSANDRA CRISTOFORETTI and you’re watching NBC’s 40 minutes. The situation on the Korean peninsula gets even more critical with reports that South Korean reservists are being called up. Another sign of the tension being ratcheted up is the deployment of the carrier USS John C Stennis. The carrier will join the USS Abraham Lincoln off Northern Japan. Pacific theatre analyst Clayton Bernard joins me today. Thanks for coming in today, Clayton.
Could you give us your assessment of the current state of affairs regarding North Korea?”
“Thanks, Alessandra. I understand 40,000 reservists are being called up; this is small beer compared to the numbers available. But it is a sign of alarm. The DPRK is also raising its state of alert. All this follows the deployment of two squadrons of F22 Raptors to Japan a couple of days ago.
Of course, it’s set against the background of the launch of the Pukgukson-3 ballistic missile from the submarine Seopung off California. The sinking of the PRKN Corvette, the USS Benfield and the B1-B strikes on North Korea.”
“Clayton. Do you think it’s all building up to a war?”
“It needs to be cooled somewhat or it could end up that way. The President of Chile has offered to mediate and is flying to Pyongyang tomorrow before her visit to Washington. I must admit there doesn’t seem to be much appetite for compromise at the moment.”
“Can they carry out a ballistic missile strike on the US?”
“From their land based missiles; we just don’t know. They say so, but then they would, wouldn’t they? From the Seopung yes. They’ve proved that; but it can’t launch from home port.”
“Thanks Clayton. The situation’s certainly fraught; let’s hope the Chilean President can get the two sides talking.” She turned to the camera. “This is Alessandra Cristoforetti and you’re watching NBC’s 40 minutes.”
TWO DAYS WENT BY. THE Republic of Korea’s operation North Wind started at zero one hundred hours local time with an increase in communications traffic between the Ministry of Defense in Seoul and forward units of the Korean 5th Armoured Brigade; Iron Storm. This was quickly followed by messages to other units, ordering a general stand too. Copies of false orders were placed seemingly by mistake where known DPRK spies would see them.
Several destroyers and other warships were put to sea; the western squadron was led by the Destroyer ROKN Munmu the Great and the eastern squadron by the Destroyer ROKN Sejong the Great. Increased combat air patrols by the Air Force by F15 and F16 fighters took to the sky. The ROK Army’s First Operations Command started moving brigades to positions north of Seoul and north of the border area of Pocheon in the central part of the peninsula. From here they could outflank a DPRK army attack on Seoul.
At Camp Humphreys, south of Incheon, the American Eighth Army commenced full mobilisation.
The Republic of Korea was now on a war footing.
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER Lemineux, handed Commander Nathan Blake a communications slip.
“This just came in from COMSUBPAC Sir.”
“Thanks.” Nathan read it.
PRIORITY RED
R 221345Z JUL 86 ZY11
COMSUBPAC PEARL HARBOR HAWAII//N1//
TO STONEWALL JACKSON
PACFLT// ID S072RQ81//
NAVAL OPS/02
MSGID/PACOPS 6732/COMSUBPAC ACTUAL//
MSG BEGINS://
FIND ATTACHED DOD-SUBPAC-TASKING68-43 DOCUMENT.
ACTION AUTHORISED.
MSG END//
Nathan opened the DOD-SUBPAC-TASKING68-43 file and read it.
He knew it. A first instinct is rarely wrong and when he’d first heard her suggest it, he knew it had the feel of inevitability about it.
Nathan walked over to the navigation station. She looked up at him quizzically. He smirked.
“COMSUBPAC has just confirmed that plan Kaminski has a go ahead. H hour for Bull Run is zero five hundred hours tonight.”
Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Oh shit.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows.
“Oh shit, Sir.”
He grinned. “Weaps, you got that? We’re go for it at zero five hundred.”
The Weapons officer grinned.
“Yes Sir, I’ll take Johansson with me, we’ll check over the VPM tubes.”
THE WEAPONS OFFICER knocked on the Goat Locker door then entered.
“CPO Johansson. Let’s take a check on the VPM tubes.”
“Sir.” The two men walked towards aft; forward of the engine room was the ‘Redwoods room’, called after their namesake giant trees. They were so called as the three vertical tubes were of very large diameters. Johansson checked the current feed lines to the tubes, then opened the pressure hatch on number one. There were seven dispensers, each of these could be ejected to the surface. Once there, the cap would blow off and a Tomahawk BGN-109 cruise missile would be launched. These were normally a mixture of nuclear and conventional missiles. For this operation, the nuclear warheads had been removed. The warhead was a sixteen hundred pound HE-FRAG round, or one hundred and sixty six BLU 97/B bomblets. Tomahawks have a range in excess of one thousand five hundred miles. USS Stonewall Jackson could rain down 21 terrain following missiles on an opponent. Weaps checked the serial numbers on each missile, ensuring they tied up with what his tablet told him was loaded. He ran a diagnostics program on each of them from his handheld, cell phone like instrument.
There were more checks on the arming systems.
“Systems check complete,” said Weaps.
“I concur,” said Johansson.
“I expect we’ll be busy tonight,” said Weaps.
“How many launches, Sir?”
“The whole lot of em.”
HOURS WENT BY, ALL checks were carried out; it was time.
Nathan pulled his sleeve up and checked his Omega Seamaster. Zero four hundred and fifty four hours.
He pulled down his microphone. “All hands.. Battle stations, battle stations.”
“Weaps, six minutes to H hour.”
“I have the plan of Ops loaded. Activating all birds Sir. The Weapons Officer had named the missiles after NFL teams.
“VPM tube one. Seahawks, returns Gyro up, green board, route A, target T1.
Cowboys, returns Gyro up, green board, route B, target T2.
49ers, returns Gyro up, green board, route C, target T3.
Bengals, returns Gyro up, green board, route D, target T4.
Patriots, returns Gyro up, green board, route E, target T5.
Falcons, returns Gyro up, green board, route F, target T6.
Redskins, returns Gyro up, green board, route G, target T7.
VPM tube two. Ravens, returns Gyro up, green board, route H, target T8.....”
The Tomahawks reported their status one by one.
“All birds up and ready, Sir.”
“Open outer doors, VPM one to three.”
“Outer doors open Sir.”
Nathan checked his wristwatch again. He counted the seconds down.
“Weaps, execute Bull Run on my command.”
Fifty seven, fifty eight, fifty nine.
“Go, go, go!” There was a faint whooshing sound from back aft.
“On the surface, Seahawks reports launch, good burn. Motor in, wings deployed, gaining altitude. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a bird.” One by one they reached the surface, ignited their motors and soared into the night. The flock of twenty one cruise missiles flew into the night sky on their way to the east coast of South Korea.
BENGALS WENT FEET DRY north of Donghae, flew down valleys at two hundred feet, pulled hard turns and then made its way north. It crossed into North Korea near Yeoncheon, more valleys, plains. Valleys again, all avoiding known SAM sites. Bengals headed inexorably for Pyongyang. Some twenty four minutes after launch it penetrated Pyongyang’s southern suburbs, reached the Taedong River, and turned to starboard. Bengals followed the river then pulled hard to port before the Chongryu Bridge. It crossed the city to the right of the Arch of the Triumph of
Ideals. The Embassy of China was on its right as it crossed Pipa Street and homed in on a large grey building.
UNDER THE SEA OF JAPAN.
THE CRUISE MISSILE strikes. They’d been called in for several minutes now, Cowboys had been the first, hitting a large ammunition store just north of the border, the secondaries were still cooking off.
The Weapons Officer, an avid football fan, was closely monitoring the attack’s progress.
“Weaps. Bengals is on terminal. Complete. Passed to Jackson. Picked up at the forty-yard line, Jackson throws, it’s complete. Kim tries to stop him but comes up short. Touchdown Bengals. The Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces just swallowed sixteen hundred pounds of HE-FRAG. That must’a hurt. Go Bengals Go.”
Nathan smiled.
“You should be working for the NFL, Weaps.”
The Weapons Officer grinned; it was obvious he was enjoying himself.
“Wait one. It’s the Falcons. Left over the Okryu Bridge, on terminal.”
Nikki raised two fists. The Falcons were her team.
“Jackson throws. Incomplete, but Kim fumbles on the thirty-yard line. Picked up by the Falcons, running in, running in, it must be. Touchdown Falcons. Mansu Hill Grand Monument takes a hell of a battering. No Sir, the Kim il-sung and Kim jong-il statues don’t like it up ‘em.”
SOUTH KOREAN ARMY BRIGADES moved up to their start lines just south of the border.
DPRK spies had seen bogus documents that the USN’s Gator Navy, that is, Landing Ship Docks and Helicopter Carriers, were embarking the American Eighth Army. Their target was the port of Nampo, just thirty miles from Pyongyang. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit would kick in the door for the 8th.
The American forces would do what McArthur had done at Inchon, and outflank the DPRK Army by sea.
The border area was thick with fighter cover. F15 and F16s, both South Korean and USAF, flew CAP.
ALL THIS HAD GONE TOO far for the Government in Pyongyang.
The pink Lady had to speak out.
PYONGYANG’S KCTV NEWS broadcast began. Ri Chun-hee wore her distinctive bright pink Choson-ots.
She looked at the camera in defiance and, in a strident tone, made her speech.
“Today in this year of glory, we have no choice but to threaten our foe with nuclear terror. With this weapon, we can deal out our vengeance to the evil foe. Never will we kneel to these evil and vile street dogs. They are pond scum, the running dogs of capitalism. As long as we have our very capable Korean People's Army and the leadership of Marshal Kim Jong Un, we don't have any enemy we cannot conquer.”
IT WAS ALL TOO MUCH for Kim Jong-un, he’d been pushed too far. The nuclear genie was straining to leave its bottle.
Chapter 8
THE COMMAND TRIGGERED its onboard brain whilst the school bus-sized spacecraft was over Azerbaijan. The Evolved Enhanced CRYSTAL reconnaissance satellite USA-186 received the command to burn its motor, lowering its orbit to a perigee of one hundred and thirty miles over Eastern Korea. The burn occurred over the Gobi desert, forward into the path of its flight, slowing the spacecraft. The longer burn, to correct the orbital inclination of the satellite to pass over the correct north-south position required, followed it. The exposures were taken over the Sinpo naval base, on the North Korean east coast.
Bigbird passed over its target at 17,000mph, shooting images. The motor burned again to return it to a higher apogee. It flew across the Pacific and over CONUS via California, its onboard computer linked up with the NRO via area 58.
The processed files stored and the results passed to COMSUMPAC Pearl Harbor.
NATHAN WAS HANDED THE communication.
PRIORITY RED
R 221345Z JUL 86 ZY15
COMSUBPAC PEARL HARBOR HAWAII//N1//
TO STONEWALL JACKSON
PACFLT// ID S072RQ81//
NAVAL OPS/02
MSGID/PACOPS 6732/COMSUBPAC ACTUAL//
MSG BEGINS://
SEOPUNG MAKING WAY. WILL LEAVE SINPO VIA WEST ENTRANCE.
GOOD HUNTING, REGARDS SOOTY.
MSG END//
He read it, then handed the communication to Nikki Kaminski. She grinned.
“You did it. You got her out to play.” Nathan and Kaminski high fived each other.
Plan Kaminski, as Nathan had called it, or more properly Bull Run, had paid off. It was high stakes poker indeed.
The premise? Convince the North Korean leadership that an invasion was imminent. The cruise missile strikes had all entered North Korea from known South Korean missile battery sites. Kim would be more than ready to wave the nuclear axe in threat. Seopung and her Pukgukson-3 ballistic missiles were an integral part of that threat. She couldn’t launch from her home port, so she’d be impotent unless she put to sea.
It had been, and still was, a very dangerous ruse. The North Korean leader had to be put under pressure, but not too much.
It could have been different, but he’d swallowed it.
Seopung was leaving port. Now came the difficult part.
USS STONEWALL JACKSON.
“ENGINEERING, BATTERY status?”
“Ninety eight percent, Sir.”
“Engineering, rig for snorkel down.”
Within a minute Engineering replied. “Snorkel retracting engine shutdown.”
“Flood one. Open and trim vents fore and aft. Make for depth. Down bubble twenty five, make your depth sixty. Speed six knots. Bearing three forty degrees.”
“Sixty at six knots aye Sir.”
USS Stonewall Jackson slipped deeper down into the dark cold North Pacific, the few surface wavelets, the only trace she left soon disappeared.
USS Stonewall Jackson moved closer to Sinpo, she was only ten miles away now. Nathan calculated their progress, and when they were just three quarters of a mile away he looked up from his conn. “Rig trim to ascend fore and aft. Come to periscope depth.”
“We are at periscope depth, Sir.”
Nathan selected a periscope pop up and scan, forty degree sweep. The scope briefly popped up and did its sweep, before disappearing below the surface.
He examined the view on his monitor. Using his fingers on the screen, he zoomed in on the exit from the base. A large cargo coaster was making its way out, and just visible behind was the sail of the Seopung.
“Weaps. Designate target Seopung as Tango one, bearing three five two degrees. Surface contact.”
“Seopung designated as Tango one, Sir.”
Nathan waited. He selected a periscope pop up and scan, forty degree sweep. The scope briefly rose up and did its sweep, then disappeared below the surface.
The view on his monitor showed Seopung diving. The large cargo coaster was still in the area. He had his first worrisome feeling about the coaster. Why the hell was she there?
His best Sonar operator was on watch, CPO Dan Benson. The crew called him the Virginia Visionary.
“Sonar, she’s diving, you getting a take?”
“I can hear her Sir, just. But there’s a lot of noise and confusion around, that surface vessel is making a mess of things. It doesn’t help that we’re in a bay area. It’ll get better in the open sea.”
“Ok Sonar.”
“What the fuck...” The sonar operator pulled his headset off.
“Sonar. Sir, we have an active ping from the surface vessel. There she goes again. Sir, I think we’ve an aspect change on the surface vessel. Hard to tell.”
He unhooked his microphone and hit the hooter. Whoop, whoop. “Boats Company. Battle stations, battle stations.” Whoop, whoop.
Nathan selected a periscope scan, forty degree sweep. Centered on the surface vessel. The scope briefly popped up and did its sweep, then disappeared below the surface.
He examined the view on his monitor.
“Yep, she’s headed right for us. Picked us up with the active ping.”
He wondered about helicopters. They’d be compromised now, anyway. He set up a three sixty scan. The periscope rose, did a t
hree sixty and then retracted. He looked at the monitor searching the sky. Nathan selected aircraft search from the options. Negative. He knew though, they could be here in minutes.
“Sonar. I’m detecting a plunge entry from the surface vessel. Another and another. Sir, it’s confusion out there. More plunge entries. More props too.
Definite multiple subsurface props. Active ping from a surface vessel. Subsurface prop sounds. More plunge entries. I don’t know what to make of it.” Nathan frowned. What the hell...?
“SIR,” SAID LIEUTENANT Kaminski, “I think I might know what’s going on.”
“Go on.”
“Sir, I attended an underwater warfare seminar at the Naval Academy. A presenter from Lockheed Martin detailed the possibility of swarm submarines. This is where multiple mini-submarines are dispensed in order to swamp an attacking boat or to overwhelm defenses. Each mini-submarine may only carry one torpedo. They’re effectively suicide attacks, of course. Or the submarines may be unmanned. They were calling the dispenser a Sea Cow. That could be what’s happening here. The cargo coaster could be dispensing mini submarines; probably from a moon pool internal to the vessel. That’s why we’ve got multiple submerged props. The Sea Cow’s laying eggs.”
“Yeah, could be. I guess being a Ring Knocker has its advantages.” Nathan smiled. “Only joking. Given their level of their technology, I’d guess they’re not unmanned.”
“Sonar. Fish in the water, Russian type 53. Wait one... second fish in the water also type 53. Heading our way. Also more plunge entries.”
“Nikki, what did the seminar say about defense against a swarm?”
“Run. They’ll be short range vessels.”
“Good advice. In the meantime... Weaps. Snapshot, snapshot. Flood tube one and open outer doors. Let’s stuff a Mk 48 CBASS into that Sea Cow. Launch when ready. Speed fourteen knots. Come about, bearing one fifty. Come to speed twenty one knots when coming to bearing.”