[jivemi]

Fortunately less sanguinary progress has been made elsewhere. F Company has secured three buildings, pinning down enemy units with dismounted mech infantry before faster wheeled APCs loaded with engineers from Z Platoon move in for the kill. Meanwhile H and I Platoons have knocked enemy infantry out of their positions in orchards immediately south of the buildings to establish contact with L Company.

They in turn have flushed out or destroyed enemy units—including a 107mm recoilless rifle and a cleverly concealed RPG team—with much help from E Platoon’s tanks, which were able to pin them down and inflict casualties from elevated positions well out of RPG range on the southern hill’s western rim. After being held up for ten or fifteen minutes, some following squads remount to prepare for the next bound forward.

1125 hours. Terrible news: SGT Chun’s tank from D Platoon, maneuvering to get a better shot on a dug-in Ch’onma-Ho II tank, has been hit and destroyed instead. But where did the shot come from? D Platoon’s commander, 2LT Kang, insisted that smoke blocked unassisted view to the target, and the enemy tank could surely not have had thermal sights, since none of that type had yet been discovered with any. At any rate SGT Chun survived in one piece and another tank dispatched the Ch’onma-Ho, but one crewman was dead and two others seriously wounded. Park received the news with dismay, but left it to his XO, Major Lee Syung Moon, to remind his men against performing unnecessary “heroic” actions when the war was all but won.

He watched several airstrikes come in shortly afterwards. It was always risky to call them in; not only did it endanger the pilots, your own men might become targets for inexperienced or glory-hungry pilots. There had already been several incidents with other units, and it was always a demoralizing tragedy when it happened. He saw flak and some missiles greet them as they approached, and follow them as they pulled up and away. He heard later that two had been hit, none seriously, and that a mortar battery had been destroyed. Not much return for so much risk. He radioed SGT Lee to call off the “flyboys,” as the Americans called them, and to reserve the 203mm sections for counter-battery fire if he hadn’t already, just to make sure. So far his men hadn’t been hit with anything that heavy, but you never knew what those insane Northern “cousins” might come up with in their desperation.

Another flurry of reports comes in: tanks from D Platoon spot T-55As coming in from the upper western road about 1100 meters away and brew up all three. As F Company clears the buildings and advances along the central road to the next objective they spot another dug-in Ch’onma, directing a tank to neutralize it, which it does with grim efficiency. They also spot the 85mm ATG which apparently destroyed Chun’s tank, dug in among some trees a couple hundred meters beyond the intersection. Another D Platoon tank swings its turret in that direction, detects it through the smoke with its thermal sight, and blows it away with a single shot. A 100mm SP Gun kills a tracked APC from I Platoon, but is immediately blasted in return by 2LT Kang’s “steel panther.”

1155 hours. Dismounted infantry have overrun the three remaining road junctions, the main Fruit Factory buildings, and close in on the last objective, an outbuilding north of the core complex. One more Ch’onma is discovered and destroyed. Opposition now consists of suicidal attacks by fanatics who come boiling out of their dug-in positions in a vain attempt reverse the tide of battle. MGs from J Platoon advancing slowly into the northern orchards spot them closing in on the eastern junction and engage. Some enemy squads are pinned, but heavy return fire inflicts casualties; two MG squads break and disperse as more desperadoes keep coming in a virtual human wave. Some squads from F Company are hastily remounted and head for the disputed junction, along with several D Platoon M48s. Attacks continue as the last objective is taken but are now easily beaten off.

1205 hours. Silence envelopes the battlefield as remaining enemy units finally accept defeat and break contact. Park receives the congratulations of his staff, but a “butcher’s bill” he is handed from an initial collation of reports is sobering: In addition to 4 APCs and Chun’s tank, his battalion has lost 81 men, including 17 killed in action. Sadly, Chun himself is among them; apparently his remorse over losing his own men led him to disobey orders and participate in the defensive action at the first junction, thus forfeiting his life. Victory didn’t come cheap, and steel panthers didn’t live forever. An awareness of such unpleasant facts was enough to bring anyone down to earth.

Writer’s Note: OK, so the story’s a bit far-fetched and long-winded but I needed something to jazz up a rather one-sided scenario while using the protagonist as an alter ego to express my devotion to this game. Of course yours truly was to blame for losing two APCs and a tank around the first junction, not 2LT Lee or SGT Chun. Also I was responsible for Chun’s ultimate sacrifice, since I used him as a spotter when no infantry were available.

Mr. Lundstrom’s Second Korean War scenarios are fun to play, and this one was no exception. It was also the first “unblemished” DV I obtained from any of them, since I got into the nasty habit of reloading and playing on after losing a valuable unit, or simply suffering any loss from a mis-click. Better just to accept misfortune as a learning experience and play on. You’ll be a better player for it and get more out of the game.

BTW the saves aren’t terribly interesting since they come at relatively quiet periods in the battle. That’s ‘cuz critical moments tend to absorb so much attention that the need to make a save is forgotten. Sorry about that.

That’s about it. Thanks for reading and happy gaming!