21st century Goguryeo

<Kukakakang! Kwakwakang!>

The earth's crust rose, dragging everything that was on the ground to the bottom—just like an enraged wave that devours everything in its path.

After some time, Beijing, where 20 million people had lived, was gone, and only dark red flames could be seen. The area had turned into a wriggling lava zone.

In addition to Beijing, all the big cities, including Tianjin, Baoding, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xi'an, and Wu'an, were on fire as well.

Even the X-15 bunker was affected by the attack.

The ceiling, which was shaking at the time, began to crack, causing dust and debris to fall. Additionally, due to the external pressure, the steel walls curved inward, proving just how powerful the impact had been that it had affected the inside of the bunker as well.

The various high-tech equipment turned off, and the lights in the bunker began to blink on and off repeatedly. Suddenly, the bunker was plunged into complete darkness as the emergency generator, which was needed for situations like these, was not functioning properly.

"What? Turn on the light," yelled President Wang Jing-wi, who had been hiding under the meeting table to avoid being hit by the dirt falling from the ceiling was feeling extremely stressed when the lights went out.

"Mr. President! Please wait a moment," said the bunker officer who was crawling on the floor.

"Turn it on right now! Right now!"

"Yes, I'm going to get it done now."

After about 10 minutes of waiting in the darkness, the emergency red lights began to turn on one at a time, indicating that the emergency generator had begun to function properly. However, none of the high-tech equipment in the situation room turned on.

As soon as the red lights illuminated the operation room, several General Staff commanders began checking the situation in Beijing and other metropolitan cities via various communication methods. However, all modes of communication—from wired to wireless—were down.

"Tell me what happened!" When the shaking in the bunker had subsided, President Wang Jing-wi sat back down and inquired.

"Mr. President, please wait a moment. We are having a lot of communication problems because the situation does not seem to be good."

"Is that all you can say?"

Guo Jingfei, the head of the operation center, shook his head, looking unhappy at Wang Jing-wi's words.

"I don't even want to see you. I'll go to my room, so report it to me as soon as you clear it up!"

"Yes. Please give us a while."

"Wait! Wait! Damn!"

After that, he left the operation room with his secretaries.

"It's not connecting."

While the commanders sighed and chatted with one another, Guo Jingfei, the second in rank after the current Chief of Staff, stepped forward and said, "It seems that communication with the outside world is down for the time being. We'll have to go outside and assess the situation."

At the words of Guo Jingfei, the head of the operation center, the personnel of the General Staff nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'll go out," said the head of the intelligence department, Dai Xiangyu, as he raised his hand.

"Okay. Then please go out and investigate the situation and find a solution to reestablish communication."

"Yes."

"At the moment, all elevators connected to the ground are shut down, so you must use the emergency stairs."

The bunker officer intervened in the conversation. Then Guo Jingfei, the head of the operation center, asked, "The emergency elevator, too?"

"Yes, even though the emergency generator is running, all power is connected to the lighting, so…"

"We will be able to operate the elevator if some lights are turned off."

"Okay! Then, except for the situation room, the president's room, and corridors, turn off all lights and turn on the emergency elevator."

"Yes, I'll do that."

The bunker officer ran with his subordinates to the location of the emergency power generator. And after a while, Director Dai Xiangyu and his staff boarded the emergency elevator to go up to the ground level.

Because the emergency elevator, which was carrying approximately 20 people, lacked sufficient power, its speed was remarkably slow. A few minutes later, the elevator door opened as they arrived at the ground level.

Based on their experience during the war with South Korea three years ago, when they built several X-class bunkers in Beijing, they made all external barriers of emergency elevators of ultra-high-strength armor that can withstand most nuclear bombs.

Dai Xiangyu's group arrived in front of the iron door after exiting the emergency elevator via a stairwell, and several people worked together to manually open the iron door.

The iron door, made of ultra-high-strength armor which had a thickness of one meter, made a strange sound and slowly began to open.

At that moment, immense heat poured in through the open iron door. As a result, everyone screamed and stepped back covering their faces with their palms. People soon began muttering:

"What is it? What the hell?"

"Where am I?"

"Argh! It's hot!"

Simply put, the view outside was horrendous.

Before the attack, the iron gate and the ground were the same level, but now the ground was five meters lower, and it was filled with wriggling flames. There were even flames erupting high in the sky everywhere. In other words, it was like looking down at a furnace from five meters above.

Director Dai Xiangyu covered his face with his clothes and headed back to the emergency elevator, as he could no longer endure the scorching heat.

"What should we do?" A subordinate accompanying him asked with a disappointed look.

"What do we do? It's over!"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Are you still hopeful after seeing this?"

"Do you mean we lost the war to Korea again?"

"It's not just about losing the war, but New China is ruined!"

"Ah!"

"I don't think we'll be able to go outside for a while, so we'll have to go back to the bunker and report it, Colonel Ryu!"

"Yes, intelligence director!"

"First of all, let's try to communicate with the outside world."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll go down first. Come down if you are unable to reestablish communication within an hour."

"Okay, then go down first."

* * *

January 7, 2024, 23:30

Underground bunker of the Blue House National Crisis Center, Jongno-gu, Seoul

President Choo Un-hee and several members of the State Council who were watching the situation in the operation room were taken aback when they saw the horrific scenes on the screen.

It's not that they hadn't seen the destructive power of strategic weapons before, but this was their first time using them on such a large city, so the impact seemed to be greater than they had expected.

As a result, they were unable to speak and silently watched the scenes being transmitted by the reconnaissance satellite.

<Ring! Ring! Ring!>

In the tense atmosphere, someone's cell phone rang.

"Hello." Minister Kang Kyung-hee hurriedly answered the phone, fearful of causing a disturbance.

"This is Vice Minister Oh."

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Currently, protest calls from the U.S. and EU members are pouring in."

"Is it because we attacked New China?"

"Yes, that's right, Minister!"

"Well, it's not something we didn't expect, so as for now, Vice Minister Oh, respond according to the manual."

"Yes, sir."

Minister Kang Kyung-hee, who hung up the phone, sighed and approached president Choo Un-hee and whispered, "They came earlier than I thought."

Upon receiving the information on the protest from Minister Kang Kyung-hee, President Choo Un-hee smiled bitterly while looking at her wristwatch.

In the president's opinion, the U.S. and the EU were waiting for the attack on New China, and therefore, she expected there to be protests.

"Yes, I think it's faster than expected."

"Anyway, it was something we considered, so we have to deal with it well."

"Yes, Mdm. President. I'll go back to the Foreign Ministry building."

"Okay."

"I'll get going now."

When Minister Kang Kyung-hee hurriedly left the situation room, President Choo Un-hee asked Colonel Lee Min-ki, who had been dispatched from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. "Has the damage been counted yet?"

"No, not yet."

Except for Beijing and Tianjin, the 'flattening operation' only targeted industrial complexes and factories in the other major cities. However, since most industrial complexes or factory areas were in or near the city, it was obvious that private residential areas and civilians would suffer damage as well.

After some time, Colonel Lee Min-ki received a report on the status of damage from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and immediately reported it to the president.

"Mdm. President! This is the damage status report."

President Choo Un-hee accepted the report with a nervous expression. Her lower brow muscles trembled shortly after turning the first page.

"Is this a report on the damage?"

"Yes, the precise amount will take another day or so. Consider the report you're reading as a preliminary report. You could estimate it to be around 80 percent accurate."

"Even 80 percent is serious. What does that mean…13 million casualties!"

The total number was enormous. They were not even soldiers; they were civilians. It was a huge number that had never been seen before in the history of the war.

"It was inevitable," said the Chief of Staff in the hopes of comforting President Choo Un-hee, who was disappointed.

"Even so, this…Of the 13 million casualties, 9.5 million died! Isn't it vastly different from the expected damage report I received previously?"

At that time, the expected damage status report listed approximately one million casualties. In response, President Choo Un-hee directed that active evacuation warning broadcasts and publicity for New China citizens be strengthened further to reduce the damage to as little as 300,000 people before the attack.

However, contrary to president Choo Un-hee's wish, there were 13 million casualties and she was in complete shock.

* * *

January 7th, 2024, 23:50 (New China time: 22:50)

X-15 bunkers, Beijing, New China

Director Dai Xiangyu, who returned to the bunker, delivered the shocking report to President Wang Jing-wi and the other General Staff commanders.

"Does that mean we can't go out?"

When asked by President Wang Jing-wi, Director Dai Xiangyu shook his head. "No, I don't think we can get out of here for a while. The surrounding area is like a furnace, so we won't be able to go out."

In response, Guo Jingfei, head of the operation center, asked, "What about a helicopter?"

"It is also impossible for a helicopter to hover at such a low altitude. The rising heat is scorching, and the roaring flames could endanger the helicopter."

"My my…Does that mean we're completely trapped here?"

"I believe the only solution we have now is to wait until the heat subsides and then leave by helicopter or other means of air power."

"What happened to establishing communication with the others?"

"Currently, several technicians from the Ministry of Intelligence are attempting to establish a connection."

While the two generals were talking, President Wang Jing-wi looked at the two generals and said with a pathetic expression, "Things are not looking good."