“It’s hot, whatever the agent is. I took plenty of tissue samples out of that Korean kid. Bacteriology should have some answers in three or four days. I don’t know why the Koreans haven’t at least figured it out down to the genus level. The hematoxylin and eosin slides I looked at earlier this morning from other cases are suggestive of a red hot bacterial pneumonia rather than a virus. The Koreans are sophisticated enough to figure that out.”
“Any bets as to genus?” Dr. Timmons, an epidemiologist from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention asked as they strolled out the hospital.
Matthews thought for a moment and looked Timmons in the eye. “Look, are you thinking it is a released agent, a biological attack or something?”
Timmons shrugged, “I doubt it, but then, you never know. North Korea’s leaders are a crazy bunch. They are capable of anything. They have bluffed before and backed down at the last minute. They have pursued nukes and bioweapons in spite of everything we have done to prevent it.”
As an epidemiologist, Timmons asked questions others were slow to consider. “Why only here? Why not in China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan or some other crowded place as well? Maybe it came out of China, and they are sitting on it, although that is extremely difficult if not impossible in today’s world of information. China today is a far more open society. After the SARS episode, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome with coronavirus in 2003 and 20024 plus Covid-19 in 2020 they learned their lesson about sitting on epidemics and trying to hide them. No, it does seem very suspicious. Hell, we can’t even determine if it is transmissible. It’s odd, but there don’t seem to be any secondary cases associated with caregivers or others. It seems to be extremely infectious but nontransmissible. The fact that the majority of cases initially occurred in line units along the DMZ is very, very suspicious.
“Cases now showing up down here in Seoul indicate that it is a very hardy agent, highly resistant to the environment if it is nontransmissible. It would have to be windborne, lasting for days, not affected by humidity and sunlight. Cases here in Seoul seem to appear in pockets. I have asked meteorologists to look at wind patterns blowing out of the north. It does seem to have a much-generalized center; it is that part of the city that receives the breezes coming out of the Imjin Valley. Far fewer cases appear on the surrounding mountainsides. While we are still doing a lot of case finding, our early distribution maps and epidemiologic curve indicate that it suddenly appeared along a hundred- and fifty-mile front all along the DMZ. Extremely abrupt in its appearance, in a linear distribution, it is very suggestive. It is also very disturbing.”
“Well, if it is the opening shot, we’ll know soon enough. The tanks will roll, and we will be in the proverbial polluted pond. In the meantime, let’s get some lunch over at the officer’s mess. I’m hungry.”
“How can you eat after doing a postmortem on a kid like that? Ugh!”
The city of Seoul was extremely quiet. Very few people were on the streets. All public meetings were cancelled; businesses were, for the most part, closed. Only the food stores and street vendors selling vegetables were open and out. The officer’s mess was understaffed, and it took thirty minutes for them to get a sandwich. A few other officers were scattered about; almost all were Koreans. There were two other Americans in uniform. Their insignias indicated they were colonels of infantry and artillery. Nods were exchanged, but the physicians remained to themselves.
“Are there any other epidemiological indicators which you can share with me as to the nature of this beast, Dr. Timmons?” Matthews asked.
“Well, the veterinarians recently forced us to accept a veterinary epidemiologist on our team. Now, I am glad we have him. He went looking for cases in livestock, found a bunch in goats and sheep, and a few cows. Widespread too, up along the DMZ. Seems like the Koreans decided to establish a small ruminant industry a few years ago. They began to import dairy goats to establish a possible market for goat cheese, and sheep for wool and meat. He did some necropsies and brought back samples, fresh tissues for microbiological and virological culture and isolation, as well as some formalin fixed. His pathology reports indicate a red-hot pneumonia very similar to the descriptions you doctors of the dead are detailing. He says he has seen something like it before in the veterinary files at AFIP when he was a pathology preceptor there. He says it most closely resembles a red-hot strain of tularemia, one from what he called the paleoarctic branch of Francisella, or something like that.”
“You say this vet is a pathologist as well? If so, I would like to meet him.”
“Yeah, he was a veterinary pathologist preceptor at AFIP but isn’t boarded. He has specialty boards in veterinary public health, specializing in epidemiology. He has kind of a funny personality though, almost paranoid around the rest of the team. He doesn’t seem to have much of a sense of humor concerning us physicians. He’s cynical, almost antagonistic towards us MDs. He seems to think veterinarians are our equals. He has a real attitude problem.”
“Hmm. I guess you didn’t know I was a veterinarian before I was a physician. Veterinary school was harder than medical school. Veterinarians have a saying that physicians are just veterinarians who specialize in one species. I remember a gross anatomy test that was two questions long and took two hours. ‘Trace a drop of blood from the third phalange of the fifth digit of the dog through the entire circulatory system, naming all possible routes and variations.’ The second question was ‘compare that in the horse, pig, and cow and name all possible variations.’ Veterinary medicine today has almost as many subspecialties of human medicine. Small animal medicine today is only a few years behind human medicine in specialization and competence, Doctor.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that, although that does tend to deflate the ego somewhat. As to Veterinarian Major Bradley, I don’t know where he is right now. Probably off again, running around the countryside. One thing about him, though, he raised hell about wanting to carry a weapon. Seems he wanted a firearm of some kind, for his own protection, he claims. Says there are still bandits running around the countryside in South Korea, and he feels that it is likely that the North will come down screaming and running. He wanted both a rifle and a pistol, but the team leader nixed that. Instead, the Koreans gave him two armed guards, both of whom speak English very well, and an old Chevy Blazer to run around in. He seemed quite pleased about that. He says these Korean Rangers are the toughest in the world, and never, ever, get in a fight with them. Seems he did a tour here when he first came on active duty. Knows something about the people and the country. He said he wouldn’t at all be surprised if we are at war within a week. Of course, most the team thought he was full of crap. Now, I am not so sure of anything.”
“Where did he take his samples, do you know?”
Timmons shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. I believe I heard him remark that he split his samples, half to go back to AFIP and half to the Korean Veterinary Institute. He didn’t want much to do with the World Health Organization folks who are around here. I think they have a pathologist here, too, but I am not sure. I think they are over in Pusan. You might run over to the Korean Veterinary School here in Seoul and see what they say. We should be able to get you a driver and interpreter to get you there. As an American officer, they tell me you never, ever want to drive in this country. No doubt they speak English in that veterinary institution.”
The Korean colonel in charge of liaison with the American team looked at the eagles on Matthews’s shoulder boards and the gold caduceus on his blouse and nodded his head in a slight bow. In perfect English, he asked, “What can I do for you, Colonel?”
“I understand our veterinary officer has discovered similar cases in animals and taken samples to your veterinary institute. Is it possible to have a car and driver take me to your Institute of Veterinary Medicine, so that I might confer with them on what they have found?”
“It is most reasonable Colonel, and a car and driver you shall have.” The colonel motioned to a soldier standing by, uttered something in Korean, and then turned to Matthews. “If you will accompany this soldier, he will see that you are immediately assigned a car and driver.”
Matthews saluted, “I thank you, Colonel. I hope it will be of benefit.”
Matthews studied the hematoxylin stained tissues Major Bradley, U.S. Army Veterinary Corps, had submitted to the Koreans as well as those the Korean Department of Agriculture collected. The tissues revealed identical pathology in all cases. He observed the species related differences between human, porcine, bovine, and caprine tissues. It dawned upon him that veterinary medicine just might surpass human medicine in its breadth and depth of knowledge. In spite of the tissue differences, however, the reactions to the infection were essentially the same. After two hours of reviewing the tissues, he decided that the agent was a zoonoses, a disease agent common to both animals and man. He thanked his Korean hosts, bowed at the waist, and left. En route to the former American compound at Yong San Dong, Yong San Ku, Seoul, Matthews decided to discuss his observations with Timmons over supper.
Chapter 10
At 03:30 the next day, from bases all along southern North Korea, six squadrons of North Korean Mig 29s, a Soviet made first line aircraft very similar to the American F-16 Fighting Falcon, and equipped with look-down shoot-down radar and missile systems, rolled out of revetments along highways that doubled as runways and took off. They rendezvoused with six squadrons of Sukhoi Su-27s, the Soviet equivalent of the USAF F15 air superiority fighter, and three squadrons of Mig -31s. Their mission was to provide air cover for the squadrons of ground attack aircraft, the Mig -27 Flogger Ds, the FC-1Dragons and Sukhoi-24D Fencers, whose mission it was to destroy the South Korean Air Force on the ground. They flew at treetop level across the DMZ. Osan Air Base and Seoul International Airport were among the first targets destroyed. It was seven air seconds from North Korea to Seoul.
Some of the South Korean F-16s from the more northern bases made it into the air and made a worthy showing for themselves. In the end, however, they were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. They did buy time for their colleagues from more southern bases to get into the fight, though. The South Korean aviators accounted themselves well. They were better trained and far exceeded their northern brethren in aerial combat. The cost, however, was tremendous, as North Korea had amassed a larger air force than anyone realized. The look-down shoot-down radar systems and the newer Mig 31s were responsible for most of the South Korean losses. The Mig 31s were purchased from Russia in spite of denials by the Russians that they were selling modern weapons to countries such as North Korea. The North Koreans controlled their aircraft from the ground, vectoring them into the foray in the classic Soviet style. The South Koreans flew in sections of two aircraft, often attacking as many as six of their opponents at once.
At 03:35, a distant rumbling, like thunder, suddenly reverberated over the horizon. The ground along the DMZ seemed to be vibrating. Seismic sensors went off all along the DMZ. At 03:45, battalion after battalion of T-64, T-72 and T-80 Soviet model tanks poured out of the tunnels starting on the northern side of the DMZ. The T80s had British style Chobham armor which made them resistant to direct hits from most anti-tank weapons. A rolling artillery barrage from Soviet made 122 mm howitzers pounded the terrain 500 meters ahead of the tanks. Soviet style armored personnel carriers, BTRs and BTMs, were mixed among the tanks.
Satellite infra-red imagery at 05:00 showed a massive assault launched down the Imjin River valley. Smaller thrusts occurred farther to the east, all along the Korean peninsula. Light infantry in trucks moved south along the Pukhan River, and the road from Panmunjom was bumper to bumper with tanks, armored personnel carriers and supply trains. A major thrust from Kosong moved along the eastern coastline. The objective of this thrust was to occupy the road that led to Pusan and ultimately capture that port city. The South Koreans moved quickly. The roadblocks, consisting of massive stone carvings piled lengthwise along the shoulders of the highways in the northern part of the country, were dynamited, allowing the huge carved octagonal and squared cylinders four feet in diameter to roll onto the highways, blocking them for the onslaught of armored vehicles. All of the highways of Jinsang Ri, especially Route 324 paralleling the Imjin River, were bumper to bumper with North Korean combat vehicles. Hastily constructed bridges were thrown across the Imjin River near Yachon to tie into the South Korean road net at a loop of the river. Another Bailey type bridge was hastily constructed at Baembal Ri, and a third at the old Ferry site at Jingpa Ri. Armored vehicles spread out on both sides of the Imjin.
Route 3 is the major north-south hard surface highway, connecting Seoul with the DMZ. Highway 3 is west of Highway 325, running through Tongduchon. Highways 349 and 368 are parallel hard surfaced highways west of Highway 3. Farther east, Highway 43 divides at Unch-on, where a spur turns west to link with Highway 325. Highway 43 continues south where it intersects Highways 327 and 322. The North Korean 2nd Armored Division poured south out of Idong Myon. The Taebak Mountains caused the North Koreans to split their forces into two massive movements, similar to that of General McArthur in the summer of 1950 after the successful landing at Inchon.
The South Koreans blew the bridges on Highway 322 across the Imjin River just north of Mapo-ri and between Jensang-Ri on the east and Mudeung Ri on the west. Slightly to the east, an armored brigade poured down Highway 3 from Sinmang Ri. The city of Jeon-gog was overrun by the second hour, and the city of Tongduchon came under immediate attack while follow-on forces bypassed it en route to Seoul.
The telephone lines were overwhelmed as the call went out for all South Korean men and women in the reserves to report to their martialling areas. All South Korean women and girls were trained in first aid and nursing through high school to at least the level of the American licensed practical nurse. All able-bodied South Korean males studied Tae Kwon Do and military tactics while within the educational system. Any Korean male who could not achieve at least the brown belt level was considered a disgrace. All received basic training in infantry tactics and weapons as part of their normal high school curriculum. The biggest difference between the South Korean soldier and the North Korean soldier was one of hate. The North Korean was raised on a diet of hatred for Americans and for their South Korean brothers. “South Koreans are the running dogs of the Americans” was the slogan they had known from cradle to grave. Their cruelty and disregard for human life was unmatched since the Japanese cruelty of World War II. Much of that Japanese cruelty was inflicted upon Koreans. It was kept alive by tales from the grandparents of what they had suffered and observed as children. They had not forgotten.
Many of the civilians not involved in the defense immediately took to the roads, evacuating the northern cities and towns. Within hours, the highways out of Seoul became utterly clogged with civilian traffic. Those who did not have vehicles moved on foot, carrying what luggage they could. Tremendous traffic jams occurred, hampering South Korean units attempting to move north along the same highways. Traffic slowed to a snail’s pace, even those in vehicles couldn’t move faster because of the pedestrians. In frustration, one South Korean tank company commander even ordered his tanks forward to plow through the civilians blocking the road. Another company commander of mechanized infantry ordered his lead M-113 armored personnel carrier to clear the road by machine gun fire into the civilians. Under such circumstances, people fled to the surrounding fields or to the shoulder of the road as quickly as they realized they were being fired upon.
South Korean artillery from the former American bases such as Camp Casey and Red Cloud opened up with pre-registered fires. Air-fuel bomblets from tube artillery rained on the North Korean armored columns. Within minutes, the lead elements of the North Korean columns were in flames. Highly flammable fuels from the bomblets were immediately vaporized and then ignited. The result was a flashing explosion and searing heat, reaching 5000 degrees Fahrenheit. The ammunition and fuel within vehicles were immediately ignited and the crews incinerated. They never felt a thing. North Koreans responded with counter battery fire, and Soviet made Sukhoi-25 ground attack aircraft, NATO code named Frogfoot, zeroed in to destroy the firing batteries. South Korean soldiers with Stinger missiles guarded the artillery batteries and took their toll of the Sukhoi 25s. Many of the Sukhoi 25s took a missile hit in one of their external engines and went limping back to North Korea in flames. Others went down in flames.
Mobile surface to air missiles hidden in camouflaged revetments targeted the Migs as they flew across the DMZ, and everywhere there were no friendly aircraft in the skies north of Seoul.
North Korean armored columns poured down Highway 3 and into Tonguchon along the Imjin Gong (river), the classic invasion route to Seoul. Other columns poured down parallel Highways 325 out of Ch-orwon, down Highway 43 out of Kalmal, down Highways 374 and 368, and down through Idong Myon. Bridges were hastily thrown over the Injin Gong near Yach On to tie into South Korea’s road net at a loop in the Imjin north of Tongduchong. Follow-on forces poured across the bridges thrown across at Baembal Ri, and at the ferry at Jingpa Ri. Columns moved south on both sides of the Imjin. On each serviceable road, North Korean tanks, armored personnel carriers and self-propelled artillery moved, stopping only when under intense fire. Sights fell off of some of the North Korean artillery pieces when they fired. Others failed to register accurate fires. Still others simply broke down. These were pushed off the road and abandoned.
North Korean battalions linked up across east to west Highways 322, 349 and 37. Thus, they isolated whole sections of northern South Korea. In these sections, small South Korean units, platoons and companies, and even as individual soldiers, fought and fought well. Many died, but they bled the enemy with small arms and man portable weapons. They put mortar fire and Light Anti-tank Weapons (LAW) against the infantry fighting vehicles, and rifle fire with their excellent Dae Woo rifles against individual enemy soldiers. They knew history well. In the Korean War of the 1950s, North Koreans slaughtered entire villages of men, women and children, whom they suspected of being sympathetic with South Korean government. Many died of excruciating torture. The South Koreans knew it would be the same this time. Only this time, they were better prepared. They were armed, trained, and ready, knowing that it would be weeks, if ever, before American or United Nations’ help could arrive. They knew they had to hold, as there was no other option. To other South Koreans, the attack was a horrifying shock. Many felt that there was no necessity for a treaty with the United States to return in case of an attack. In disbelief, they cringed with the realization that their northern relatives were attacking and would destroy much of their country in an effort to unite the peninsula under a totalitarian government.
For the last several years, Kim, Jong-un now in his 50’s, had played a dangerous game of political advance and retreat, each time seemingly becoming a little less belligerent and a little more reasonable. At each conference, with each proclamation, Kim, Jong-un seemed to offer opening the door of North Korea a millimeter wider to the outside world. Yet real improvements in transparency and relationships never materialized. Weapons systems such as aircraft, tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery, and Russian 122 mm howitzers were purchased from Russian enterprises, owned by organized crime, and shipped disassembled as machinery parts for assembly in underground factories inside North Korea. It was a tremendous source of exports for Russia.
Physicians Matthews and Timmons heard distant explosions but didn’t realize their nature. When a two-hundred-kilogram bomb landed on the building that housed the former United Nations command on the Yongsang Dong compound, they were shaken out of their beds. They dressed as hurriedly as they could. Matthews, being short sighted, had brought only Class A and Class B uniforms, which were the formal and daily office dress uniforms. He packed no battle dress uniforms. Timmons was exclusively a civilian. A product of suburban Maryland, Timmons was a member of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. The thought of developing any type of outdoor survival skills was anathema to him. He particularly loathed firearms and the right for civilians to own them.
“It seems your veterinarian was right, Mark,” remarked Matthews as he pulled on his pants. “I hope to hell he isn’t up there on the DMZ.”
“Well, if he is, he is probably toast by now, literally,” responded Timmons. Neither said anything more as they moved out the door. At that moment, cannon fire from a Frogfoot raked their building.
At the same moment, Major Robert Bradley was in a Korean inn in the town of Hwach’on, on the road north of Ch’unch’on. He and his Korean guards were pulling on their camouflage Battle Dress Uniforms, known colloquially as BDUs, as fast as they could. “We have to get the hell out of here,” yelled Bradley, over the noise of the North Korean aircraft. “I think we should head south toward Ch’unch’on. What do you gentlemen think?”
The Korean captain shouted, “I think you are right on both counts, Major. We need to get the hell out of here, and we need to head south. This road was extended into North Korea in the 1990s under the sunshine program. North Korean armor is probably already moving south on it. We couldn’t be more than a few kilometers ahead of it.” The Korean sergeant vigorously shook his head yes. With that, they all dashed out to their camouflaged painted Chevy Blazer. The sergeant drove, the Captain rode shotgun, and Bradley sat in the back seat. He reached behind him and pulled three MREs from the open case. One was beef ravioli, one was chicken tetrazzini and the third vegetarian bean and burrito. He kept the beef ravioli and handed the other two to the captain. The captain looked at the labels and put the vegetarian bean and burrito between the sergeant’s legs as he drove. The sergeant glanced down just long enough to read the label. “Thank you, Sir,” was the sergeant’s response. Civilian traffic was already moving south along the road.
At 04:00, a phone call went to the White House. “Mr. President, Mr. President!” The aide’s hand shook the President from a fitful slumber. He opened his eyes to the dim light, looking into the face of his aide. “Mr. President, North Korea has attacked South Korea. They are attacking in force at several points across the DMZ.”
“Oh God!” was the only comment heard from the First Lady at the President’s side.
“Put all American forces on full alert. Alert all reserve and guard units as well as active forces. I want breakfast in twenty minutes, a meeting with the National Command Authority in one hour, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff to join us in two hours.” The President liked breakfast. He felt that he could function better on a full stomach and a clear mind. He showered quickly, dressed in slacks and dress shirt, put on a necktie, and sat down in his private quarters to a breakfast of bacon and eggs, toast, jam, orange juice, milk and coffee.
At 60, Jason Thornton was still slim and trim. He worked out in the White House gym and swimming pool on a daily basis, even taking Tong Soo Do lessons twice a week, sometimes more. He was the first Republican president after eight years of Democratic Party administration, during which the Democrats controlled both the houses of Congress. One of the planks in his platforms was to restore some military capability. While never having served in the armed forces, not even in the reserves, he read history as a hobby. One of three children, he had an older brother and a younger sister. He was raised in the Presbyterian Church and on the two hundred acre family farm where they grew corn, sorghum, alfalfa for hay, raised hogs and fed out about thirty head of steers each year. His older brother was the real farmer in the family. His parents wanted him to be a veterinarian, but his sister turned out to pursue that profession. In fact, after graduating with her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Iowa State University, she did an internship followed by a residency in equine medicine. She made quite a name for herself as an equine practitioner.
Jason had earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science at Iowa University and an L.L.B. at the same institution. After graduation, he served as a junior partner in a law firm in Davenport, Iowa for four years. After not being offered a full partnership, he moved to a small town in Iowa and started his own general practice. After two years, he was elected county attorney. After four years of county attorney, he was elected circuit court judge. Following this, he was appointed as a federal district judge. Being dismayed with the irresponsible legislation which he was bound to follow, he decided to do something to change it. Then he was elected to the House of Representatives. After four terms, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He was elected for two terms, which was his springboard for the presidency.
Now, in his first six months of office, his worst fear had come true. He was being put to the most severe test of all - whether or not to commit U.S. forces to battle on the Asian mainland and lead the country into war. From reading history, he saw parallels between the United States and the Roman Empire in the first century, in Great Britain after World War I, and the failure of the United States to prepare for world leadership after World War II. He recognized the consequences of these failures of World War II by the British failure to assume leadership, the United States failing between World War II and the Korean War, and the failure to maintain that leadership after the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
