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Chapter 361 Air Superiority Achieved

North Korean forces along the DMZ had no idea the counterattack had even begun. The bombing missions had been preceded by wide-spectrum electronic jamming of North Korean communications, and thanks to all the chaos, the people manning the backup landlines had either fled or been targeted in the initial airstrikes. They soon noticed the South Korean incursion and began fighting back, but due to the initial losses and the recent redeployment to the coasts, there was only about half of their initially powerful artillery and rocket capability remaining. They still gave it their all, firing at their prepared targets, but with the South Korean government’s order for their citizens to seek shelter in the underground bunkers, the loss of life was severely limited. Especially taking into account the undegraded South Korean air defense and the capabilities of the American forces, who were well-equipped with things like patriot missile launchers and anti-air guns that could, in a pinch, fill the sky with flak and chaff to intercept artillery rounds and confuse rockets.

Still, alarms blared in the mostly deserted streets of all the cities within reach of the North Korean batteries and every television in the country had emergency broadcasts on every channel repeating one message over and over: evacuate to the bunkers and shelter in place.

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Though they were useless in acquiring firing solutions on the stealth aircraft, the air force had practically burned out their ULF (Ultra Low Frequency) radars tracking every single return, no matter how insignificant, and much the same way that even a blind cat can catch an occasional mouse, they had luckily discovered the trail of a single B2 bomber. The few jets that North Korea had that were still capable of flight and had a runway to take off from had all been ordered to intercept the discovered bomber in the hopes that they could at least take down one thing.

Thus, two North Korean jets were ignoring everything else and flying as fast as they could in the wake of the only remaining bomber in North Korean airspace. The call had gone out that it was being tracked headed toward the Mansu Hill Grand Monument in Pyongyang, and it absolutely had to be taken out before it could destroy the monument.

The monument complex consisted of 229 figures, including two 22-meter-tall bronze statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, which would normally be ignored in a bombing campaign. And it was true; although the monument complex was a target with no value in a bombing campaign, it was still a strategic one. Taking it out would be an emotional blow to citizens and soldiers alike, and wars could be won, or lost, on morale alone.

Just as the two fighters were nearing engagement range on the seemingly unaware bomber, which was already entering Pyongyang’s airspace, their warning systems blared an alarm in their cockpits, alerting them that they had been locked onto by an enemy.

The jets released flares, lighting up the sky behind them as they began evasive maneuvers, but they absolutely could not change direction, which limited the flares’ effectiveness. After all, theirs was the most important mission in the North Korean military right now, and they must not fail.

A resounding explosion and its resulting shockwave washed over the lucky jets as the guaranteed hits turned into near misses thanks to their flares and evasive maneuvering. But unfortunately, the alarms continued blaring in their cockpits and they had yet to even see what was attacking them.

One of the pilots radioed his wingman and said, “Leave this to me.” He broke off and flew in the direction the missiles had come from in a last-ditch attempt to draw all of the attention to himself and allow his wingman to complete their mission.

But despite his determination, massive brass balls and heroic actions could only go so far. A few seconds later, he became a brief sun in the sky as his attempt to evade the incoming missile attack failed, and North Korea had one less jet in the sky.

The remaining pilot couldn’t abort his mission now and took one desperate shot as he ran out of flares and chaff, hoping beyond hope that he would get lucky and take down the bomber. Then he ejected, just in time to see his jet become a fireball.

As he drifted down through the air, his eyes focused on the trail of the missile he had released, he watched the bomber release flares and chaff of its own. His missile impacted one of the flares and prematurely detonated.

He had failed.

Seconds after his failure, four F/A-18 Super Hornets streaked below him and were the only witnesses to his last act: he drew his sidearm and shot himself, leaving his corpse to drift to the ground, still strapped into the ejection seat.

The four jets that had just taken out North Korea’s last hope were just one of the many squadrons now buzzing around North Korean airspace like their namesakes, angry hornets. By this point, nearly the entire complement of the USS Ronald Reagan’s aircraft were in the air, maintaining air superiority and taking out ground targets all over the country. They had just taken out the final North Korean jet, and only a single missile had been fired against them—the one that had just failed to take down the B2 on a mission to devastate the monument complex atop Mansu Hill.

The American air assets weren’t alone, either, but had been joined by South Korea’s own air force. It would be weird, after all, if the ones who had been attacked were to just sit back and allow their allies to do all the work for them.

Not even half an hour after air superiority was achieved, North Korea’s air defense had been completely removed. And along with that came the B-52 Stratofortresses, which swaggered across the DMZ loaded with 500- and 1000-pound bombs on a mission to take out every ground target of any military significance whatsoever.

An indiscriminate bombing campaign began and the ground of North Korea soon looked similar to the surface of the moon as the United States and South Korea dropped the equivalent of the total munition yield of World War I on the beleaguered nation.