I Will Stage A Coup D’état - Chapter 18



Only Noblemtl

EP.18 12. 8 Military Coup (6)

Initially, the arrest team led by Major Lee Je-dong of the 22nd Military Police Brigade planned to begin the operation at 7:20 p.m. and secure the Prime Minister at his residence.

However, as the emergency was declared sooner than expected, security around the embassy was strengthened, and the operation to capture the Prime Minister could not even be attempted.

It was an unpleasant situation for the coup forces.

Even if he was a puppet prime minister, the fact that he was the head of the executive branch representing the country remained unchanged.

Colonel Kim Seong-ju, the personnel officer of the prison unit who had just rushed to the Prime Minister’s residence after bringing Park Han-jin to Anga, could not hide his bewilderment when he heard about this situation.

“So, are you saying there are two companies of military police around the Prime Minister’s residence right now?”

“yes.”

Even with the plainclothes unit, the arrest unit, which had the strength of one company, could not subdue the force.

At this rate, nothing could be done until the main force of the coup, the Kyodo Armored Regiment, advanced all the way to the Prime Minister’s residence.

Of course, when things got to that point, Prime Minister Noh Jae-woo could not just sit back and do nothing.

“This is a mess.”

As Colonel Kim Sung-joo was biting his lips nervously, a military vehicle with a plaque entered the Prime Minister’s residence.

“Uh, uh.”

One of the officers was startled when he saw the sight.

“Why, yes, Captain Wei.”

“It was a vehicle with a Security Service unit flag.”

“what?”

Everyone’s hair stood on end at the news that the security commander’s military vehicle had appeared.

Why would the security commander show up now?

It is to have a private meeting with the Prime Minister.

“This is driving me crazy.”

Colonel Kim Sung-joo had a feeling that the Prime Minister’s presidency was only a matter of time.

Now that it had come to this, an adventure was needed.

“Listen carefully, Major. The Prime Minister must not leave the Prime Minister’s residence until the General arrives.”

“That is.”

“We have to attack the area around the embassy.”

No matter how urgent the situation, if bullets are flying, even the Prime Minister will not dare to stick his head out of the official residence.

“I guess I’ll have to risk my life for this.”

“Revolution is something you risk your life for. If we can accomplish this, you and I will both be the greatest contributors.”

“yes.”

“Get the soldiers ready.”

Now Dong-i ordered the soldiers waiting in the truck to jump out of the car.

“Huh? Why are those guys like that?”

The soldiers of the 11th Military Police Brigade, who were guarding the area around the Prime Minister’s residence, vaguely identified the arrest team led by Major Lee Je-dong as a group of troops waiting with their feet tied up in a tangled situation with military police, marines, and police.

Many police, marines, and military police units were stranded due to traffic control measures imposed by nearby government offices.

If I had been careful, I would have identified the Pia by clearly checking the unit affiliation, but the situation was so chaotic that I didn’t have time to bother with that.

The 11th Military Police Commander, who was supposed to command the military police immediately, was with the commander of the capital defense and was taken away by the coup forces, and the high-ranking officers who were supposed to take command instead were at the Taedong River Bridge.

Although the Chief of Security at the Prime Minister’s Official Residence was temporarily in command, it was impossible for an old soldier who had long since retired from active duty to grasp the situation quickly.

In a situation where no one took responsibility, the soldiers of the 11th Military Police Brigade ended up paying the price for vaguely judging the affiliation of the Lee Je-dong gang.

As the military police and plainclothes troops jumped out of the truck and rushed in, the soldiers of the 11th Military Police Company shouted.

“Stop! Stop!”

Ta-tang tang!

Now, Major Lee Dong-soo and the plainclothes assault team fired without hesitation at the soldiers of the 11th Military Police Brigade who were trying to stop them.

As gunshots rang out repeatedly, the soldiers of the 11th Military Police Brigade hurriedly crouched down to find a place to take cover.

“What is this?”

“It sounds like gunshots.”

Lee Jeong-ju, the security commander who was at the Prime Minister’s residence, was startled as soon as he heard the gunshots.

He left his pistol with his aide and hurriedly ran toward the Prime Minister’s office.

Then, several military policemen guarding the front of the Prime Minister’s office approached and demanded that the procedure be followed.

“General, please wait a moment so I can speak to Your Majesty.”

“Get out of the way!”

He was so embarrassed by the fact that the coup forces were attacking the Prime Minister’s residence that he opened the door without asking permission.

At that moment, several officials from the hastily assembled cabinet were sitting in the Prime Minister’s office.

They gave a puzzled look to the security commander who suddenly barged in while they were talking.

“What is the security commander doing here?”

Prime Minister Noh Jae-woo asked with a gentle expression.

Although the Prime Minister was called Water because he was as soft as water, he was not a very soft person.

The soldiers who tried to treat the Prime Minister lightly after seeing his attitude had to pay a heavy price later.

Lee Jeong-ju was aware of that, but the situation was very urgent.

“Gunshots are ringing out in front of the Prime Minister’s residence right now.”

“What, what?”

Only then did the Prime Minister and his ministers show expressions of bewilderment.

Gunshots could be faintly heard through the open door of the office.

“General Lee. What is this? The rebels are on the other side of the Taedong River?”

Because the military had deliberately delayed reporting information, the cabinet was still unable to properly grasp the situation.

Lee Jeong-ju’s mouth was parched.

But I couldn’t get away with lying, so I explained briefly.

“Right now, the rebel cavalry regiment has crossed the Taedong River. Soon, their tanks will reach the Prime Minister’s Office and the Army Ministry.”

Even though the platoon’s tank is a Gojong No. 1 equipped with an old 37mm rapid-fire gun, it is still a tank.

It was not an opponent that infantry could stand against.

“no?”

“How on earth does the Army do its job?”

“So you’re telling us to run away?”

Normally, even the ministers would not have been able to criticize the commander of the security forces, the most powerful figure in the military, in this way.

But, given the circumstances, even the ministers lost their fear.

“Okay. Calm down, General.”

“Yes, Your Excellency the Prime Minister.”

“If the main force of the rebels is coming here, what are the gunshots around here?”

“Nine times out of ten, they are considered enemy military police.”

“So, how do we get out of here?”

“If you move while thickening the escort force.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. How can you expose His Excellency the Prime Minister to bullets!”

“General! If you want to take His Majesty somewhere else, resolve those gunshots first!”

Lee Jeong-ju also had nothing to say.

He greeted the cabinet members and then hurriedly left the office.

‘You guys are crazy. How are you supposed to move safely in this situation?’

He said that, but if you think about it from a different perspective, he probably wouldn’t have moved from the official residence either.

This is because civilian officials are the coup forces’ ‘targets of acquisition’ and not threats.

Anyway, the attempt to persuade the Prime Minister failed.

As soon as Lee Jeong-ju entered the Prime Minister’s Office, he picked up the phone.

“Exchange! Security Command, uh. Chief of Staff? Check the rebel situation and report to the embassy here every five minutes. Okay.”

Lee Jeong-ju returned the phone.

“Gendarmerie Command. Oh, General? This is Jeong-ju. The Prime Minister’s residence is under attack. Yes. Mobilize all available gendarmes. It’s urgent.”

Lee Jeong-ju also requested support from the Marine Corps.

Although the Marine Corps’ main force was outside the capital, most of the security for each military post was done by the Marine Corps.

It seemed that if we could dispatch this official guard, we could quickly repel the enemies around the Prime Minister’s official residence.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Shin Hee-beom promised to cooperate as soon as he received the request.

In fact, while the Army was caught off guard and was in disarray, the Marine Corps was faithfully carrying out its requested tasks, such as guarding the official residence and dispatching five aircraft.

“If the Army makes a formal request, we will dispatch the 1st Marine Division to Pyongyang.”

“The Army will look into that carefully.”

In fact, it was not the case that the Army was short on troops to deploy.

The 12th and 33rd Infantry Divisions in the metropolitan area had already been ordered to deploy, and the reserve divisions in the Wonsan area, connected to Pyongyang, were also put on standby.

‘If we can hold out for just five more hours, we can take the lead in terms of troops.’

Lee Jeong-ju waited with an anxious expression to subdue the enemies around the Prime Minister’s residence.

At the same time, the Army command, which was directing the suppression operation at the Ministry of the Army, was faced with a serious dilemma.

“The rebels are advancing towards the Army Ministry and the Prime Minister’s residence. If we continue like this, we will have no choice but to throw up our hands.”

“So what do you want me to do, General Ha?”

“Let’s move CP to the Security Command right now.”

The generals were stirred by the proposal of Army Operations Director General Ha Jung-yeon.

“General Ha. If you move CP to the Security Command, what are you going to do with commanding the field units?”

“So, is there any sharp point here?”

“The Army can never give up. If we give up this place, we’re giving up the entire government office area. What would happen if the rebels get their hands on the broadcasting station?”

“No, we don’t have any troops, what can we do?”

“Once the Guards Armored Regiment arrives.”

“Why are you talking about troops that don’t exist here?”

Even while the generals were fighting, Chief of Staff General Park Sung-ryeol had a hard time coming to a conclusion.

In fact, there was no guarantee that the generals would follow his conclusions.

Since this happened in a situation where there was no clear supreme commander in the first place, it was difficult to figure out who would take up the mantle and command.

If there was a general in a responsible position, such as the commander of the capital defense forces, I would have delegated full authority to him, but that didn’t work either.

Park Sung-ryeol drank a glass of cola because his throat was parched.

At that moment, Military Police Chief Oh Jung-gu slammed the table.

“Are you all just going to sit around and talk nonsense right now? At this very moment, my men are fighting the rebels, and you are all just sitting around talking about nothing. You are doing a good job.”

“Oh, General!”

“I’ll go to the Prime Minister’s residence. Whether I live or die, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

General Oh left the situation room with his subordinates.

The generals watched the back of Oh Joong-gu as he left the room with complicated expressions.

One hour and thirty minutes after the coup began.

The situation was tilted heavily in favor of the rebels.

But the match was not yet decided.

The suppression force’s greatest ally was time.