21st century Goguryeo - Chapter 310
Chapter 310: Book 12 Chapter 8-3 A New Era: Japan’s Collapse
February 27th, 2021, 21:10
The coastguard’s office at Muroran Port, Hokkaido, Japan
“How did it go?” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro, who had been waiting for Minister Ochi Hurume at the coastguard’s office, immediately questioned him.
“Apologies, sir. The Corean government was adamant and will only accept our nation’s complete and unconditional surrender.”
“Minister! You should have done everything within your power to convince them. How could you give up so easily?”
“I apologize again, sir. This is due to my lack of diplomatic capabilities… What’s important is Corea will commence the second wave of missile strikes in 30 minutes. They will target the smaller cities and suburban areas next.”
“Another wave of missile strikes?”
“Yes, deputy prime minister! Since this is the case, wouldn’t it be wise to accept the Corean government’s offer to surrender? If we suffer any more damages, our nation may not be able to recover from them.”
“Hmm, we need the emperor’s approval to surrender. This is something that I cannot decide on my own.”
“Isn’t the emperor’s whereabouts unknown, sir? If we are to surrender, we must do it before Corea launches its missiles.”
“Wait just a moment. I am trying to figure out where the emperor evacuated to.”
“Ah! Sir, we have no time to waste.”
“Didn’t I say I need the emperor’s approval, Minister Hurume?”
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro wanted to avoid any political backlash from his decision to surrender, and to do so, he needed Japan’s emperor at his side. While the deputy prime minister was being hesitant, the Corean military at the peninsula launched Hyunmu 3E2-A and Hyunmu 3E2-B cruise missiles each with a range of 1000km and 2500km from its launch vehicles and they started to fly towards cities across Japan. There were also twelve CB-30P Blue Dragon bombers flying towards their targeted locations from the east sea’s atmosphere.
Japan had no choice but to take the hundreds of cruise missiles and air-bombings since its atmosphere was completely open and unable to detect even commercial planes from the defensive radar systems being destroyed.
* * *
February 27th, 2021, 21:35
Downtown Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, Honshu, Japan
One CB-30P Blue Dragon bomber was flying above the Kawaguchi city (population of 560,000) and slowly started to lower its altitude.
When the bomber was 5km above the surface, it opened up its internal weapons hatch and dropped 80 C-PSB plasma cluster bombs.
The 80 C-PSB plasma cluster bombs would free fall and had an error range of 50cm; they started to use their thrusters and the spins of the fins to alter their trajectory towards their targets.
Once the C-PSB plasma cluster bombs reached a certain altitude, all 80 rounds exploded and released their bomblets to cover the entire Kawaguchi city’s skies like a hailstorm.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The thousands of bomblets landed on the city and turned it into a burning wreck. The powerful explosions caused vehicles parked on the roads to fly off or burn. The outer walls of buildings also started to crack open and soon collapse.
The flames rising from the city made it seem as if the city had turned into hell itself. The explosions continued and rang across Kawaguchi.
The low-rise buildings all exploded, and the high-rise buildings ended up collapsing after their foundations gave out. Apartments were no exception and the civilian casualties were rising from the citizens who did not evacuate and hid inside buildings.
Kawaguchi city was attacked by the Blue Dragon bombers without any warnings from air-raid sirens. The city lost its power from the bombings. Only flames lit up the dark city.
Once again, Japan was full of dancing flames except for Kyushu.
* * *
February 27th, 2021, 21:35
The Maizuru Port, Kyoto, Honshu, Japan
The 30 Hyunmu 3E2-A cruise missiles from the Corean mainland started to fall on numerous areas of the port and exploded. The Maizuru Port was the naval base for the 3rd escorting fleet and the Maizuru local fleets which had been the outpost for the Japanese Navy whenever they threatened Corea’s east sea and Dok-do Island.
The joint chief of staff had attacked the outpost base intermittently, but it decided to wipe the entire port off the map during the second missile strikes. Ten more cruise missiles were allocated for this location and they destroyed the port and the surrounding cities.
The coastguard ships and civilian ships docked at the port were covered by the falling shrapnel and started to sink slowly into the ocean while burning.
The buildings near the port were also engulfed by the firestorm and started to collapse one by one. Some of the fishermen who had just returned from the sea were caught in the heatwave as well and became vaporized.
Boom! Booooom! Boooom~
The commercial freighters that had been confined to the port for two months due to the war were hit by the shrapnel of the Hyunmu 3E2-A cruise missile’s shrapnel and the small and large explosions created dark red flames and black smoke to rise.
Other commercial ships next to them caught on fire as well. The ships floating on the sea and the inner port also started to catch fire and the port was now turning into a large forge.
* * *
February 27th, 2021, 21:40
The Muroran Port Coastguard’s office at Hokkaido, Japan
Boom!
An enormous explosion shook the surface and the coastguard’s office building. Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro rushed under the desk and plugged his ears.
Colonel Yamatou Inou, the navy’s operations director, came up to him and shouted, “Sir! We must evacuate to the bunker. It’s the Corean military’s missile strikes.”
“What? How did the Corean military know where we are?”
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro winced from the continued explosions. When he thought of how the Corean military was attempting to kill him with missile strikes like America did to Bin Laden, his face turned blue from fear.
The Corean military was unaware of the deputy prime minister’s location. It was a coincidence that Muroran Port was included in the list of targets for the second missile strikes.
“No! No! I cannot die here!”
“Deputy prime minister! That’s why we must evacuate to the bunker…”
“Ah, yes. Take-take the lead.”
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro crawled out from under the table and left the office after taking the operation director’s arm.
After exiting the office, Muroran city was in chaos as could be seen through the window. When the missiles exploded in the sky like fireworks, the bomblets had destroyed an area within a 100m radius. The low-rise buildings and homes made out of wood all collapsed from the explosions and started to burn.
Boom! Boooooom~ Bang! Bang!
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro, the other members of the prime minister’s cabinet, and the military commanders were struck by the flying shrapnel as they ran towards the bunker. Some of them fell from being hit while others lost their heads completely.
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro was hit on the right side of his chest by a small rock and fell forward.
“Argh!”
“Sir! Are you all right? What are you doing? Pick him up and start moving towards the bunker!”
“Yes, sir!”
When Colonel Yamato Inoue shouted, the other military commanders got the limp deputy prime minister back on his feet. Then, one of the commanders carried him on his back and ran with his last breath towards the bunker.
The group managed to avoid the bomblets’ shrapnel falling like hail from the sky and laid Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro on a cot. Doctor Hiseto Shimizu, the prime minister’s personal medical staff, checked his condition.
“How is he?” The navy’s chief of staff Murakawa asked.
Dr. Hiseto Shimizu checked Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro’s chest and other areas and answered, “His chest has been severely bruised, but it is not fatal. It will be fine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, looks like he was struck by a rock flying from the explosion rather than metal shrapnel from the bombs. We must conduct an X-Ray or MRI as quickly as possible to be sure, but I believe he has a fractured rib.”
“Go and see if there are any medical supplies that could be used to aid his condition with the other aides-de-camp.”
“Yes, understood.”
Lieutenant Ochoji Hatse, the commander of the coastguard, reported in after checking the perimeter of the bunker.
“It’s bad out there, sir. Muroran Port and the entire city are in ruins due to the aerial strikes. This bunker could also be dangerous as well. How about we move to another location deeper underground, commander?”
“How bad is it out there exactly?”
“There is no sound building within the entire city. Every single one of them has collapsed and now the city is in ruins.”
“Damn it! Are there any medical facilities in here?”
“We don’t have any, but we do have medical supplies available.”
“Please inform our aides-de-camp where they are.”
“Yes, commander.”
* * *
February 27th, 2021, 23:00
The Muroran Port underground bunker in Hokkaido, Japan
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro regained his consciousness after receiving first-aid an hour ago and started to move feebly. Commander Murakawa came up and spoke to him.
“Sir, how do you feel?”
“Where are we?”
“We are inside a bunker, sir.”
“Ugh!” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro felt a sharp pain in his right chest and moaned in pain while clutching it. “Argh~”
“Don’t move, sir. The doctor says your right rib is most likely fractured. You must rest and try not to move as much as possible to recover and stabilize your condition.”
Chief of Navy’s staff Murakawa braced Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro and laid him back down on the cot.
“What’s going on out there?”
“It seems the city of Muroran has suffered greatly from the Corean military’s missile strikes, sir.”
“Have you heard about the damages done to other locations as well?”
“Apologies, sir. All communication lines are down, so there is no way for us to check…”
Commander Murakawa could not continue and expressed his regret by lowering his head. Vice-prime minister Aso Taro started to speak slowly after taking deep breaths as he endured the pain, his hands gripping his chest.
“Commander Murakawa! Get me the minister of foreign affairs.”
“The thing is… He was struck by the shrapnel while evacuating to the bunker and passed away.”
“Argh!”
“What about the other ministers?”
“Yes, they are being treated and resting in the other rooms. Which one should I call?”
“No, that’s fine. I would like you to contact the Corean ministry of foreign affairs and tell them we accept their offer to surrender unconditionally.”
“What? Are you sure? Deputy prime minister!”
“We have no other choice… argh!” Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro grasped his chest again mid-speech and waited for the pain to pass. After a while, he continued, “Can’t you see the city of Muroran has been turned into ruins while I hesitated? As the Corean minister of foreign affairs has said, other smaller cities have met the same fate as here. If we hold out any longer, Japan will be wiped off the map, don’t you understand?”
Deputy Prime Minister Aso Taro’s tone and expression lacked any shred of earnest hope.
“Yes, understood, deputy prime minister! I will deliver the message to surrender to Corea.”
“Please hurry. If we delay any longer, the Corean military might begin its 3rd airstrike.”
“Yes, sir.”
The Corean military’s second missile attacks had caused smaller cities in Japan with a population of 600,000 to turn to ruins along with numerous civilian casualties. The two terrifying attacks occurring in a span of a day had caused many Japanese citizens to become traumatized and fearful.
