The Battle of Seoul

As soon as the news of Paris’ invasion of Rome reached Seoul, a strategy meeting was held.

Chancellor Park and General Yi couldn’t hide their frustration, and Kim was nowhere to be found.

“With all due respect,” Park began, “foreign aid seems to be a foregone conclusion now that half of Kosma is at war. I recommend reevaluating our current situation.”

Yu-jin’s breathing was unsteady. “Any word from Tokyo? Or Kim?”

“Nothing from either.”

Yu-jin bit his finger, a tick that kicked in whenever he was extremely nervous.

Yi cleared his throat. “My lord, it’s likely that Tokyo is readying themselves for war as we speak. I suggest we prepare our defenses immediately.”

“I-I think that’s a good—!”

Yu-jin was violently interrupted with a shake and a crash as an artillery shell hit the Presidential Office.

Ha-eun screamed and fell to the floor as they were hit again, this time even closer.

A deafening alarm began ringing out. They were under attack.

Yi and Park both steadied themselves before getting up. Without another look at their lord and lady, they both immediately left, Yi to organize the city’s defense and Park to direct the evacuation.

This was now war, and as Yu-jin and Ha-eun were soon picked up by Yang and Bari, Yu-jin felt fear, not just at the carnage outside, but also at the fact that he would soon have to fight the Black Knight to the death.

***

Yamashita stayed true to his word, mobilizing the military in under an hour and immediately launching an invasion. Urban warfare was complicated, but his strategy was simple. Use artillery fire to cause chaos and soften their defenses before sending in troops to secure streets and buildings with a focus on strategic locations while being supported with tanks and snipers. While his plan might’ve lacked finesse, it emphasized speed and should thus be sufficient to quickly defeat their unorganized enemy.

On the ground, it was pure chaos. The artillery was not letting up, taking chunks out of buildings and leaving craters in the roads. Civilians desperately scrambled, dodging gunfire and trying to find any safety as soldiers flooded the streets and tanks flattened everything in their path.

Seoul, what was once a world-class city, a beacon of civilization, quickly turned into something that looked almost post-apocalyptic. Cars smashed, windows shattered, buildings collapsed, and dead bodies everywhere.

As a path was cleared, Keitaro and Toko followed. Carried in an APC, they were escorted through the battlefield by their own personal force known as the Kurotai. The Kurotai was the size of a small army and had a plethora of tanks and other special weapons at their disposal. Of course, it wasn’t customary for the heads of state to be on the frontlines, but things were different in Kosma because what would truly decide this war would be the battle of the Knights and Maidens: Keitaro and Toko vs. Yu-jin and Ha-eun. Neither of the siblings felt like they were ready for such a battle, but there was nothing that could be done. It was the time to fight, so they had to fight.

The Japanese army was making great progress, but their advance was starting to slow as Yi took full command, retreating to and fortifying more defensible positions.

“Yamashita, give me an update.” Keitaro called the general on the radio.

“We’ve neutralized most of their forces with minimal casualties, but it’ll be tough from here on out.”

“I see…”

Tokyo had taken about half of Seoul with relative ease, but with Yi in full control, they would now be bleeding for every inch.

“What if we focused our forces on taking the Presidential Office?”

“So you want to cut the head off the snake, huh? I can’t spare any units, but your battalion should be strong enough if you’re willing to risk it."

Keitaro thought about it. If they could kill Yu-jin and Ha-eun, the city would be forced to surrender, but it’d be risky, not only for himself, but his sister and his troops. Still, if the war remained as it is then there would only be more casualties on both sides.

“Let’s do it. Give us time to prepare, I’ll give you a signal when we’re ready.”

“Understood.”

Keitaro deactivated the radio. He looked over at the three others in the APC, Toko, Musashi, and Tomoe. “We’re going to attack the Presidential Office ourselves.”

Musashi sighed. “So it’s come to this? Very well. I’ll start the preparations immediately.”

Tomoe seemed concerned. She looked at Toko who was practically hyperventilating. It was extremely difficult for her to handle all this stress, noise, and danger. Looking back at Keitaro, Tomoe said, “My lord, are you sure about this?”

“Yes. This will be the fastest and the least deadly way to end the war.” He turned to his sister. “Toko, I’m sorry about all this, but…please just push through it. I’ll be with you the whole time. Okay?”

Toko was still a wreck, but her brother’s words did comfort her. “O-o-okay…”

***

Du-han Kim was shocked by the Japanese invasion. He had been in Tokyo preparing another terrorist attack when he started seeing the Japanese mobilize. However, with the military in full force, getting back to Seoul was a nightmare. He finally returned after the invasion had started. While he should’ve gone immediately to Yu-jin, apologizing for his failure, he just couldn’t. And besides, there were more pressing matters anyway.

With the Kkangpae under his control, he commanded a guerilla warfare campaign against the enemy. He had his men crawling through tunnels and dressing as civilians, doing anything they could to catch the Japanese off guard.

Unfortunately, these efforts so far had been mostly fruitless. They managed to score kills, but the Japanese responded brutally thus leading to mass deaths in their already small force.

With his numbers dwindling, Kim gathered his troops, and with the information gathered, began planning one last Hail Mary.

***

The Kurotai had begun their offensive, tearing through enemy lines and quickly cutting through to the Presidential Office thanks to their superior numbers, skill, and firepower.

However, as they started approaching the Presidential Office, enemy resistance became stronger, and it would only get more fierce as they would soon be fighting the Presidential Guard.

But that was currently the least of their worries.

Already locked in a battle, the Kurotai was ambushed. From buildings to their left and right, guerilla fighters had emerged, raining down gunfire and lobbing explosives.

“Damn it!” Keitaro cried out.

A few troops locked up and were immediately gunned down , but the rest of the Kurotai responded quickly, taking defensive positions, but it wasn’t enough. Their troops were getting slowly picked off, and one guerilla had thrown a firebomb, nailing one of their tanks. The chatter over the radio was chaotic, and the captains were frantically demanding orders.

These guys were just small fries, but they couldn’t have come at a worse time. With those pests at their sides and the Korean army at their front, they were surrounded. Heavy casualties would be inevitable now, leaving them too weak to siege the Presidential Office.

Musashi assessed the situation. “Keitaro, we should retreat to a more advantageous position!”

“No! Too slow and we’ll take too many casualties!” Keitaro looked. The guerilla soldiers were in the buildings to their sides. Mostly offices, but there were shops too, an American fast food chain particularly caught his eye, the type that should’ve been filled with hungry patrons around now. But whoever was still in there besides the guerillas became secondary as a terrible thought came to him. It was destructive, dangerous, risky, and would kill some civilians, but it was their best shot. Wincing at his own words, he gave out the order, “Command the tanks to fire at the base of the buildings with their high explosive rounds!”

“What!?”

“Just do it!”

Musashi reluctantly gave out the order. The tanks fired, and as the rounds hit their targets, they exploded, dealing massive damage and causing the buildings to partially crumble, burying the guerilla soldiers.

As the dust settled, they were left mostly unscathed with only the main army to their front.

“All right! Keep pushing!” Keitaro commanded.

The Kurotai continued unimpeded, reaching the Presidential Office.

***

“Goddamn Japanese…” Kim cursed to himself as he ran with a limp, his ears still ringing. He barely managed to escape with his life. He knew how the Japanese were, but not even he could imagine them taking down the entire building. His men, the people who were in there…they were all buried deep under rubble now. Clenching his teeth, he saw red as it kept running through his head. The last faces of his comrades, the screams of the innocents. He cried as hard as he could, “This isn’t over, Keitaro Owari…! You’ll pay for what you’ve done…!” As he stumbled along, he smirked as the Presidential Office entered his view.