Draft:Red Phoenix

Red Phoenix is a 1989 war novel by Larry Bond.

Set on the Korean Peninsula, Red Phoenix follows an attempt by Kim Jong-Il to violently reunify Korea under the North's rule. It also includes the perspectives of military and civilian personnel, from soldiers in the field to the leaders of the nations involved.

Setting
Red Phoenix is set in the Korean Peninsula in the then-future 1990. Although the Seoul Olympics have concluded, the Fifth Republic government remains in control of South Korea and struggles to deal with constant protests and riots from opposition. Kim Il-Sung is still the President of North Korea, but his failing health means his son and heir Kim Jong-Il effectively rules the country.

North Korea receives military equipment and technology from both the communist Soviet Union and People's Republic of China. The Soviets provide most of this aid including Soviet Air Force pilots as trainers for the KPAAF, to keep North Korea in its own sphere of influence against an ambitious People's Republic of China. The leaders of the United States, Soviet Union and China are not named.

Plot
When Combined Forces Command discovers and destroys a massive tunnel under the DMZ containing tanks and other military vehicles, Kim Jong-Il starts weighing other options for reunification.

Kim has a sleeper agent in the South Korean interior ministry authorize lethal force against a protest, killing hundreds. Horrified by the slaughter, Congress swiftly passes legislation enacting severe economic sanctions on South Korea and setting a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces from the peninsula unless the South Korean government enacts significant reforms.

Sensing the opportunity for reunification has arrived, Kim starts an ostensibly defensive KPA buildup along the DMZ in preparation for Operation Red Phoenix, designed to force the South Korean government's surrender by encircling Seoul.

With their nation's reputation in tatters, a cabal of ROKA officers attempt to launch a coup to re-establish direct military rule. Although their coup is swiftly crushed, a paranoid South Korean government retaliates with a massive purge of the ROKA officer corps, crippling its operational staff.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Kim Jong-Il orders Operation Red Phoenix to begin at 0200 on Christmas Day. North Korean commando squads massacre important US and South Korean government officials in Seoul. A massive KPA assault shatters the western DMZ allowing a direct route to Seoul. KPA forces successfully place the city under siege and press forward down the peninsula.

CFC commander Jack McLaren, having fended off a commando attack on his Yongsan headquarters, predicts North Korea's maneuvers and evacuates his HQ outside of Seoul before its encirclement while ordering the release of imprisoned officers to stabilize the ROKA. Although UN forces are quickly able to secure air and naval supremacy, constant KPA attacks on land take heavy tolls on both sides even as supplies and reinforcements begin to arrive from across the Pacific.

McLaren allows UN forces to retreat quicker than normal to stretch KPA supply lines in preparation for Operation Thunderbolt, a presumed amphibious landing similar to that previously used in Incheon. A North Korean spy in Pusan spots the preparations for the amphibious attack and radios to Pyongyang before he is discovered and killed.

With his Soviet-supplied submarine fleet destroyed by the US Navy and unable to intercept, Kim contacts Moscow, where hawkish defense minister Rychagov unilaterally orders a Soviet Navy Tango-class submarine to covertly ambush the Thunderbolt fleet.

Despite inflicting some damage, the US Navy identifies and forces the Soviet submarine to surface, capturing its crew and revealing direct Soviet involvement in the conflict. Meanwhile, a US Sturgeon-class submarine monitoring the port in Petropavlovsk is caught by a Soviet Akula-class and sunk, but not before sinking the Akula in return. Presuming further attacks from the US, the Pacific Fleet mobilizes from Vladivostok, threatening to escalate the war beyond Korea.

Operation Thunderbolt is revealed to be a surprise USMC and ROKA attack from the mountains east of the KPA lines with the amphibious attack serving as a distraction. The operation successfully severs the narrow North Korean lines, leaving their forward command encircled in Taejon.

Seeking to take advantage of the collapsing Red Phoenix, the Chinese Premier strikes a deal with the US to engineer a ceasefire and enforce it with People's Liberation Army soldiers transferred to the peninsula by the USAF. Although the Soviet General Secretary recalls the Pacific Fleet after discovering Rychagov's involvement and purging him, China's moves also force the Soviets to withdraw their remaining support for North Korea, ending their involvement in East Asia.

In Pyongyang, a cabal of Chinese-backed officials overthrows Kim Jong-Il in a quiet coup and have him executed. In order to maintain stability, they broadcast news that he died of natural causes and scapegoat the commanders in the field for Red Phoenix's failure. Marooned in Taejon, these commanders either commit suicide or are executed by MPs loyal to the new government.

On 20 January, the new North Korean government agrees to disarm its surviving troops in South Korea and withdraw them north of the DMZ under PLA escort, ending the war. Having secured advantageous trade deals with South Korea and other regional neighbors as part of the ceasefire plan, the People's Republic of China becomes the dominant power in East Asia.