99 A.G
Lin received a report shortly before sunrise. She was in the command office reviewing the train schedules when Captain Aiku entered with a sealed message from the airfield. The captain was one of the only ones who did not waste time with unnecessary explanations, which she appreciated.
"General, our flying scouts found General Fong's base. You were correct, patrolling at night made it easy to find lights from above."
Lin took the report and read it while standing over the map table. The base was in the mountains northeast of their current position, hidden between steep ridges and dense forest. Close from the mining village she had been overseeing for the past years.
It was a good position for an Earth Kingdom commander trying to avoid direct engagement, with enough cover to hide men, supplies, and plan raids or sabotage attacks around the area. An area they now controlled, so they were basically behind their own lines.
She realized that they must have been the ones sabotaging the coal mines, and must be the ones who had last tried to contact the water tribe ships. They had been sunk a few years back but they never found who was passing messages to them.
It was as good a place as any to bury them.
"How certain are the scouts?" Lin asked.
"They saw Earth Kingdom buildings, army movement, and white walls. From above it is very easy to spot them. We had intelligence that Fong had hidden in the area but we never expected him to actually have a base there. We were looking for him close to the frontlines or in Ba Sing Se by now."
Lin placed the report on the table. "Then it is him."
Aiku nodded. "The new ammunition and bombs arrived at New Ozai last night. The improved stock is being unloaded now."
"Good. Keep the new stock in reserve."
Aiku paused only for a second. "You want to use the outdated bombs?"
"Yes. We will empty the old stock completely on this base."
"All of them?"
Lin looked at the mountains drawn on the map. General Fong had been allowed to remain a problem for too long because the terrain protected him from ordinary troop movements. Invading the base would be troublesome.
"Yes. The entire mountain position will be our target." she said. "Bomb the ridges, the approaches, the visible entrances, and any forest cover within range. I don't want a base left to capture. I want rubble like in Shen Guan."
Aiku saluted. "Understood."
"Send the order to the airfield in New Ozai. All outdated bombs are to be used. I don't want to see an older model still there when I get back to the city."
"Yes, General."
Lin returned to the rail schedule once he left. The bombing would be the better solution to avoid delays, and that general had been a thorn in their side for a long time. Even if they were mostly boxed in and they couldn't leave the mountains that easily, they could still be a threat from their position.
Besides, the amount of gliders they now had had grown exponentially. So much so that they now had some of them in reserves as they were not able to train enough men in time to fly them.
This was a perfect opportunity to use all of them as a practice run for the Ba Sing Se campaign, training her soldiers and removing stock of old bombs.
----0000----
Aang, Katara and Sokka were flying away from Omashu heading north again. They had plenty of supplies to not even need to stop now. Aang kept playing with the Pai Sho tile, thinking back on Bumi's words.
Aang knew he had to make a decision soon, by what information they could gather the Fire Nation already dominated half the world, with only Ba Sing Se and the Northern Water Tribe as the only strong adversaries, not under their control.
If people like Bumi, who had years of wisdom on them, couldn't see the hope in him ending the war and bringing balance to the world, how could he?
His thoughts were interrupted when Sokka shook him. "Buddy, take us down now! Fire Nation!"
Aang quickly recovered and lowered them to the coast. He looked up to the skies and saw with horror as hundreds of Fire Nation flying machines passed above them, all heading in the direction they were going.
----0000----
By evening of the third day, the reports from New Ozai had started to come in. The bombardment had lasted longer than expected, mostly because Lin had ordered the entire outdated stock used before the new bombs were added to storage.
There was no reason to carry inferior weapons when the improved design had already arrived. It was better to use old ammunition up rather than spend time removing them safely.
Colonel Zhou entered the office while the last flight crews were still returning.
"You called for me, General?"
Lin folded one report and gave him the convoy route. "You will take command of the train convoy and move toward New Ozai as planned. Do not delay."
Zhou took the paper. "You are not traveling with the convoy?"
"No. I will follow by plane after inspecting General Fong's base. If the weather is good we can be there in a few days, landing in the sea a couple of times if needed."
Aiku, who had been standing near the map table, frowned at that. "You intend to land in the mountains?"
"I intend to confirm there are no survivors using what is left of the base and recover intel."
"The terrain may not allow a safe landing…" Aiku said. "The scouts reported steep ridges and forest cover near the target."
"Mmm, somehow the base was operational so I'm sure there is a way for me to head to the coast later and fly back."
"Yes, General, but I may have a better solution. You should take earthbenders with the glider team. The new unit has been training with us and they are good enough. Even if the terrain is harsh, they can make a proper landing path for the gliders."
Lin turned to him, surprised on her face.
"That is sound thinking, Captain." she said. "Select four earthbenders from the training unit. I want the ones who follow instructions fastest, not the ones with the most impressive demonstrations."
Aiku saluted. "Yes, General."
Zhou studied the route for a moment. "My only orders are to escort the convoy?"
"Oh how you know me, Colonel… you are on babysitting duty. Toph is going with you."
"I have no complaints, General. I actually enjoy her company." Zhou smiled.
Lin smiled at him back. "Well, I'm glad. I consider her a good friend of mine, so do take care of her, alright?"
"You got it ma'am!" Zhou saluted.
----0000----
The mountain still burned when they arrived. Lin watched from the front seat of the glider as the formation descended through smoke and warm air. The forest that had covered the ridges had been torn open by hours of bombardment.
She had finally departed with four gliders, a twelve man team that was experienced enough to kill off any remnant of resistance there was, although she didn't think anyone would stay down there now that she could see down below.
Trees lay broken across blackened slopes, and fires moved in lines where dry brush had caught. The base itself was difficult to recognize from above. What had once been walls, courtyards, platforms, and paths had collapsed into ash, broken stone, and dark craters.
It reminded her of Korea. She had seen American planes turn ground into ruin before, again and again, until hills and roads became that sea of grey, filled with ash, holes and death. This was smaller, less organized, and done with cruder bombs, but the result was familiar enough.
Lieutenant Toma brought the glider close near a burned clearing below the main ridge. She gave the signal and the earthbender who had climbed in the middle seat moved up to hook his gear with her straps.
They jumped down, gliding their way through using the parachute. She saw the other teams already doing the same and she guided the parachute and her companion to land in the now broken stone below.
The landing was gentle, and the earthbenders dismounted to get to work as soon as possible. Aiku had chosen well. They began flattening a longer path for the gliders, raising a stone platform in great coordination so that the rest could land safely.
Lin left them to it and walked toward what remained of the base with six soldiers behind her. The first entrance had collapsed inward. Charred beams stuck out from the broken stone, and a cart loaded with cracked armor plates had been thrown onto its side.
There were weird giant stone discs broken and spread around the base. Farther up the slope, they found the remains of a watch post and what looked like the base of a tower.
"We will check beneath this rubble. This was probably their command center." Lin ordered.
Two soldiers moved at once while she continued through the ruins. There were a few bodies and a few body parts, but no survivors. There was evidence that some had survived and seemed to have escaped the first wave, although they had not made it far before the later strikes reached the trees, as she spotted more bodies further toward the forest around.
Lin marked the destroyed sites, then headed back toward the base of the tower to help her soldiers. If General Fong had been here, there was little chance anyone would recognize him without personal effects.
They found papers under a broken writing desk, most of them burned along the edges. Lin took what could still be read and handed them to one of her officers.
"Seal these. Intelligence can sort through them later."
"Yes, General."
The inspection gave them little else. There were no useful weapons left, no prisoners to question, and no hidden plans or maps that survived the bombardment. The base had been destroyed well enough.
The only remaining task was to make sure the aircraft could leave without issues, luckily she had trained extensively with her engineers lately and she knew what to do and what to look for if there were indeed problems with the glider.
By the time Lin returned to the clearing, the earthbenders had flattened a usable runway across the lower slope. The four gliders had already landed, and the crews were securing them against the wind.
She intended to have everything ready as soon as possible to take advantage of the smoke that kept giving them wind directions for their eventual takeoff. Although with the great runway the earthbenders had already built she was sure they would have no problems at all.
Lin was about to tell Toma to prepare the return flight when the sound around her dulled. It was gradual enough that she noticed the loss immediately. The voices of the soldiers became distant, the smoke blurred around the edges of her sight. The ground began moving below her as if getting away from her.
She took one step forward before her vision went black.
----0000----
March 3, 1951
The Taebaek Mountains were a wall of frozen pine and heavy slate. Route 20 was a narrow track of frozen mud that cut across the hillsides, and the morning sun was just beginning to thaw the surface into a thick orange clay.
Where the ridges blocked the sunlight, the snow was still deep and crusted with ice. The muck caught at the men's boots, forcing them to heave their legs forward with every step to keep from losing their footing on the slope.
The regiment moved in a dual file that stretched for over a mile along the curve of the mountain. One line stuck close to the frozen wall of rock on the left, while the other walked along the edge of the steep drop on the right.
The soldiers walked with a heavy, forward-leaning slouch from the hours of constant movement. Their steel helmets sat over heavy winter caps, and the earflaps hung down around their jaws. They wore a mix of green U.S. Army field jackets and wool trousers that had worn thin at the knees.
Canvas gaiters were caked with cold mud. Engineers and support companies walked between the sections of soldiers, carrying wooden ammunition boxes, mortar baseplates, and rations on wooden A-frames. They wore worn straw shoes that slipped on the icy patches, and their heavy breathing mixed with the cold air above the line.
The sounds of the march were repetitive and heavy. Boots dragged and sucked through the clay, bayonets rattled against canteens, and an occasional three-quarter-ton truck groaned as its tires spun in the mud on a steep turn. The air carried the scent of woodsmoke from the valleys below, mixed with wet wool and grease from the vehicles.
The high walls of the Soksa-ri pass crowded the road, hiding the horizon as the column moved deeper into the hills.
Kim Jae-bun walked along with her Rifle Company, Company B, of the second battalion. From the hundred men she commanded, half of them were rookies, only participating in a few battles of Operation Killer, but they seemed animated and the veterans of her unit were helping them move forward.
The equipment was heavy and as infantrymen they had to be able to carry everything they would need to sustain their push. They didn't have enough vehicles, or even armor to help them out lately. She pitied the new ones, their faces looked so innocent yet.
"Lieutenant Jae-bun, sing us a song like you did yesterday. You have a wonderful voice." Sergeant Ji-ho said, distracting Kim from her musing.
"Ji-ho, stop flirting with your commanding officer." Sergeant Eun-woo teased him.
"I'm happy to sing for you boys, but I will trade you a bit of water first, otherwise no song." she replied.
"Oh come on, you know we don't have enough." Ji-ho pouted.
"Well, that's a shame isn't it." Kim said, mockingly.
They continued their banter back and forth, until some of the men began singing a march song, and everyone joined together. She liked those moments, it made the war feel less grim. Of course, that is when all hell broke loose.
The noise of the mortars started from the hidden slopes across the ridge. Heavy Soviet-made 82mm shells launched in rapid succession, and the first rounds hit the middle of the column. One of their few U.S trucks exploded, throwing a wall of heat and metal fragments across the trail.
The blast tore the vehicle apart and pushed several men against the rock wall. The smell of burning rubber and explosive powder filled the narrow pass immediately. Gunfire opened up from the high ground on both sides of the road, and Kim saw no cover for them to get behind. It was clear to her in an instant what just happened.
The North Korean infantry had waited for the main body of the regiment to enter the narrowest part of the valley to ambush them.
Maxim machine guns fired in crossfire from the pine trees and boulders above, sweeping the length of the exposed path. Submachine guns joined in, sending bursts of fire down into the rows of infantry.
The column broke apart in mere moments. The road became a bottleneck of fire and mud, and soldiers dove toward the mountain wall to find cover in the shallow drainage ditches. They packed themselves together as the bullets struck the granite walls above them and sent fragments of stone down onto their helmets.
Kim saw no way to form a cohesive defensive line and started shouting to anyone who could hear.
"Retreat! Retreat now to the west! Scatter, scatter!"
The support companies dropped their heavy wooden frames and ran toward the woods below the road. Officers shouted out commands, but the noise of the weapons and the cries of the wounded men drowned out their voices.
Kim gathered the few she recognized from her rifle company and stormed a position in the hills to the southwest. Attacking made the enemy get into cover, which would buy some time for the rest of them.
"To me company C. Follow me! We are taking their position, otherwise we won't be able to escape." she screamed at the top of her lungs and was happy to see around thirty of her men follow her into the attack.
She unloaded two clips of her M1 Carbine onto what she thought were the enemy and continued moving, trying to open up a way to retreat west from where they came, and finally they were able to climb a bit and find cover behind some trees and rocks in the hills.
Once the intensity of the gunfight lowered, she took a look around her and saw only a few of her men present with her. The rest she could see running for their lives at different distances. She saw Ji-ho's lifeless body up the road and around a dozen of the rookies either wounded or dead on the path to the hill they just climbed into.
It was a disaster, and no matter where you looked, the regiments were defeated before they even had a chance to fight back.
She saw the enemy remain hidden behind the snow and pine branches a few hundred yards up the slope, firing down at a steep angle. She saw a mortar crew trying to set up their weapon in the middle of the track, but automatic fire hit the men before they could secure the bipod.
Soldiers fired their rifles up into the trees toward the flashes of the enemy weapons, their hands cold and unsteady as they pushed new clips into the receivers. The air turned dark with gunsmoke, kicked-up snow, and dust, and the regiment began to scatter down into the ravines to escape the crossfire.
More of her soldiers followed through her path and along with her men she kept laying fire on the enemy positions as much as she could. It worked for a few minutes, the enemy had turned their attention to their small position, giving the opportunity for the rest of the regiment to run away.
But now, Kim Jae-bun's unit was pinned down, with no way to escape. She looked back at the faces of the courageous who had followed her to a certain death. They were scared, but they kept fighting, braving destiny.
"I'm sorry, we will hold this position to the death, our compatriots will be shot in the back otherwise." she shouted to them so that they could hear her.
"Maengho-Bukjin!" she chanted. Fierce Tigers, Advance North!
"Myul-gong! Maeng-ho!" the rest replied. Destruction of the communists! Hooah!
Then like a flood, memories kept interrupting her train of thought. Kim had already lived this, she had already died here. 'What is going on?' she thought.
----0000----
99 A.G
The world around her turned to colors then it disappeared into a blackness fog. Then she was in a jungle of sorts, she looked around her then down to her body and saw she was no longer in her uniform.
Her gun was forgotten and instead of having arms and legs she had metal prosthetics. 'I'm Lin Renshi, I'm no longer Kim. Why did I go back?"
Well… would you look at that, a human who was able to wake up on their own. Fortitude of mind, strange for a killer and destroyer. You were trapped reliving what you regretted the most, but it seems punishing you will be harder than expected.
Lin turned and saw a black and white monster. Staring at her, showing his teeth.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Lin asked.
You are trapped in the spirit world, and you will remain imprisoned until you regret what your people have done. You destroyed my forest, and I will make you pay in years of your time.
"I see, I don't think so." Lin replied, calmly.
Arrogant, I will hold you here until the trees grow back, then we will see if you have repented enough.
Lin was still able to move her arms, so she was still able to channel chi, her inner flame was not responding as she liked and she wasn't able to form a flame but she could still feel it there. If she couldn't firebend then she had to find another way to combat the spirit.
Her weapons were not with her, and although she could try to land a punch to the beast, she wasn't sure that would do it. She needed something better, decisive. Energy was still around her, and her mind was supplied with the information she needed.
She didn't like it one bit, but she wouldn't be allowed to be trapped in here with this beast. It would hurt a lot but she hoped it would work.
She quickly got into stance and separated the negative and positive energies, forcing them to go opposite ways. The spirit saw her moving and moved to bite her but it was too late. She connected both currents again and lightning exploded in all directions through her body, just as the spirit closed in on her.
It sent him flying. But for Lin, the pain was intolerable. As her body suffered a cardiac arrest, she passed out completely, without witnessing her victory.
----0000----
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Jungwon (Lieutenant) Kim Jae-bun (Service Number 0995028). She enlisted on September 1st, 1950, during the absolute madness of the Pusan Perimeter defense, answering an emergency call when the survival of the nation looked dire. Serving later as an infantrywoman in the ROK's 3rd Corp, she was part of the reinforcements to the Capital "Tiger" Division after the offensives on Operation Killer lowered its strength in the last days of February. On March 2nd, two regiments of said division were ordered to march westward from Gangneung (Kangnung) over Route 20, to establish defensive positions above the road for the 7th and 9th Division of the same Corp positioned a few miles south. She was part of the leading regiment on that march; they were ambushed near Soksa-ri on March 3rd, 1951, by North Korean forces (2nd Div. KPA), with catastrophic losses. Over one-third of the regiment was lost in a single afternoon. Following the unit's grueling 25-mile retreat through the snowbound Taebaek Mountains, Jae-bun's status was marked as Missing during the regiment's final reconstruction and muster in Gangneung on March 10th, 1951. 59 soldiers were confirmed killed that day, 119 returned wounded and 802 were declared missing, their fates: either capture or death. May they never be forgotten.