Northern Limit Line

It takes one tiny change, to change the history of a person, a battle, a nation, and a world.

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"Attention! North Korean vessel! You are crossing the Northern Limit Line! Turn your vessel back immediately!"

-Lt. Commander Yoon Young Ha of the PKM 357 at 10:19 AM

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Northern Limit Line
Republic of Korea
June 29th, 2002
10:20 AM KST

"Sir, enemy vessels are refusing to turn around and is in our territory." Sergeant Seo Hoo-wan yelled at his captain, Yoon Young Ha, over the sound of the crashing waves.[1]

The lieutenant commander eyed the North Korean vessel with his binoculars. Taechong class patrol boat... Captain Yoon thought. Despite their T34 turret on the deck, we have the advantage if we're further away.

The commander's attention snapped back to one of the officers manning the radar. Lieutenant Lee Hee Hwan began to shout the distance of the approaching North Korean vessel.

"Commander! The boat is now 1900 meters from our vessel!"

Once again, all eyes fell upon the North Korean patrol vessel approaching. For an odd reason, the North Korean vessel had all their men with weapons and cannons pointed at the PKM 357. After a moment of a silent prayer and thinking, the commander pulled the mic of his headset closer to his lips, and spoke his command.

"All sailors of the PKM 357. You are cleared to engage the North Koream vessel. Corporal, aim at the North Korean captain with your cannon. The rest of you, fire at will."[2]

This command was met with a stunning silence for a moment, but the sailors instantly complied. Corporal Gwan Ki Hyung in the cannon turret aimed his 40 mm cannon at the bridge of the enemy vessel. After taking a glimpse at his family picture hanging on the turret wall, he aimed using the sight and fired two rounds into the enemy bridge.

The North Korean captain never knew what killed him as the two shots slammed into the enemy vessel's bridge and caused shrapnels to enter the bodies of 6 officers, including the captain. The officers fell down onto the deck, clearly dead. The North Korean sailors stared at their dead captain for a long minute, with a look of shock and surprise on their face. This delay was met with an additional few rounds of the cannon hitting the T-34 turret, which caused a significant amount of damage and casualties. At this moment, the MG-42s and the Gatling guns on the South Korean vessel began to fire. The North Koreans awoke from their shock and began to respond to the attack. [3]

By then, the attack had reached PKM 358 and the North Korean back up vessel. Captain Choi Yoon Jung saw the smoke and the flashes in the distance and immediately radioed the PKM 357. [4]

"This is Captain Choi of the PKM 358. What's going on over there?" Captain Choi asked frantically as the sailors of her ship began to man the turrets and deck guns.

The question was almost immediately answered by Captain Yoon of the PKM 357. "North Korean vessels attempted to attack our ship and had their guns directly aimed at us... I gave the orders to fire."

"WHAT?" Captain Choi screamed. That brought the attention of her entire crew. She apologized and responded. "That's directly against our rules of engagement! You're going to get court marshaled for this!"

"The lives of my sailors were at risk. The T-34 turret was pointed directly at us and so were the North Korean sailors. That never happened. Not even for the last 2 days. [5]"

Captain Choi bit her lips. The HQ and high command would definitely take action, but she had to call for backup before things got worse. "I don't know what'll happen to you, but I'm going to radio HQ right now in case this gets out of hand" [6]

"That's fine. We'll withdraw after we disable the patrol boat." Commander Yoon replied before cutting the connection.

Captain Choi quickly radioed the HQ about the situation and called for reinforcements. Her message was met with swift reply. The HQ promised to send two corvettes in the area to the NLL and launch jets and medical helicopters.[7]

The captain of the PKM 358 let out a sigh of relief and cursed under her breath. She hoped that the situation wouldn't get out of hand and there wouldn't be any South Korean casualties.

She was wrong, because this battle would only be the beginning of casualties...


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[1] As in OTL, the North Korean patrol vessel refused to turn around and it was accompanied by another patrol boat. 2 South Korean patrol boats intercepted them just south of the NLL (Northern Limit Line). Though, the distance between the 2 South Korean and North Korean boats was quite far (the second North Korean boat was a diversion to isolate PKM 357),

[2] POD. In OTL, the North Korean vessel shoots first from a distance of 450 meters, catching the South Koreans completely off guard and knocking out a turret and crippling half the crew. The commander did consider firing first, but he decided to go against his thoughts and ordered the men to stand down, but to be on alert. This was mainly because the South Korean rules of engagement was to shoot after being fire upon.

In TTL, Commander Yoon, realizing that he has the advantage due to the relative distance and armaments of his boat, fires on the North Koreans first, catching them off guard and taking out the North Korean captain (he did die from a turret shot in OTL). Shooting from a distance of 1,800 meters, the North Koreans now have a harder time aiming and directing fire upon the bridge and deck of the PKM 357.

[3] In OTL, the North Korean T-34 turret was destroyed after around 3-4 shots slammed into the turret from the 40 mm cannon. The second shot did kill the members manning the turret and disabled it for some time.

[4] Like OTL. Except, in OTL, she saw the smoke of the PKM 357. Here, she's watching the smoke of the North Korean patrol vessel.

[5] As of OTL. The North Korean patrol vessel constantly went over the NLL and spied on the PKM 357 for three consecutive days before firing on the PKM 357 on June 29th.

[6] As OTL.

[7] As OTL.

We've a lack of good Korean TLs on this board, but I find the font a bit illegible. Other than that, it seems well-thought out, and generally good.

OrsonWelles said:

We've a lack of good Korean TLs on this board, but I find the font a bit illegible. Other than that, it seems well-thought out, and generally good.

Click to expand...

Thanks

And yeah. I fixed the font, hope it's a bit better.

Inspiration came from the recent tensions between North and South Korea, in addition to me watching the movie Northern Limit Line and researching on the topic.

A few minor differences can lead to one major result.

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"Oh my! And Lee Woon Jae blocks the shot made by Ilhan Mansiz [1]! Korea still leads 1-0!"
-Korean Announcer Kim Nam-Il covering the 3rd place playoff game on June 29th

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Pyongyang
Democratic People's Republic of Korea
June 29th, 2002
10:30 AM KST

Admiral Kim Hwan Hee slammed his fist on the table of the strategic command room, making the messenger shudder before him.

"The capitalist scums fired on us first?" Admiral Kim asked with disbelief and anger. His patrol vessel was suppose to sink the enemy's annoying patrol boat using the element of surprise! Not the other way around!

The messenger nodded, his head shaking as if his life depended on the nod. "Yes admiral. Absolutely. Taechong-1 was struck by the enemy patrol boat with a few rounds from their cannon and is currently under heavy fire. Taechong-2 is moving to intercept the second incoming enemy ship."

The knuckles of the admiral turned white. If he ordered his troops to retreat, then it would make him and the navy lose face. The traitors in the south would declare victory. He couldn't let that happen. "Order all patrol vessels in the area to open fire on any capitalist-loving ships. Deploy any naval ships and submarines we have in the area and scramble our Air Force. We will not let the American puppets get away this time." [2]

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Northern Limit Line
Republic of Korea
June 29th, 2002
10:34 AM


PKM 357 was still engaging the Taechong-1. Despite 14 minutes of intense combat, the PKM had only suffered a few casualties including Staff Sergeant Han Sang-kook, who was shot in the abdomen while steering the ship [3]. However, most of the crew was still unloading bullets and shells into the enemy vessel, causing significant damage and making the North Koreans panic. The North Korean patrol vessel was attempting to turn around, but had suffered engine damage and was slowing down. Seeing this, Captain Yoon nodded and gave out another command to the crew through his head set.

"The North Koream patrol boat is disabled and is dead in the water. We've received word that PKM 358 is about to intercept the second North Korean vessel. We're going to head towards their location and support them if the situation detoriates. Sergeant Han, turn the ship 300 degrees to port side and full speed towards PKM 358." [4]

About 3000 meters away, PKM 358 was intercepting the second North Korean vessel.

"Attention! North Koream vessel! You have crossed the Northern Limit Line! Turn your vessel back immediately!" Captain Park said through the speakers. She had already put her sailors on high alert and had them ready for action in case the ship decided to fire on her. The vessel, after all, was only 500 meters away. Despite the fact that the North Korean ship was very close, she didn't want to start a widespread conflict or break the rules of engagement unlike her PKM 357 captain counterpart.

For a brief 30 seconds, nothing happened and there was an ensuing silence except the crashes of the wave against the two ships. When the two vessels were slightly closer to each other, the North Koreans fired at PKM 358 with the T34 turret, blasting a single turret off immediately and wounding a third of the crew. This shot was met with a quick command by the captain of the South Korean patrol boat. "Open fire! Open fire!"

The captain ducked down as another bullet whizzed past her head. The rest of her officers on the bridge followed suit. "PKM 357! This is PKM 358 and we are under heavy fire from the North Korean patrol boat!" The sound of an explosion, most likely from the small fuel tank on the deck. [5] "We need assistance immediately! We already lost a turret!"

"On our way. We're only about 1,700 meters from you. We'll come closer to prevent any friendly fire." Captain Yoon responded in confirmation.

Captain Choi quickly switched back to the local channel and heard the cries of officers and enlisted men crying for help on the headset. She winced as she heard a bullet strike home and make a fat slapping sound as the officer hit by the bullet collapsed onto the floor.

How can things get any worse than this? Captain Choi thought.

Just 2300 meters north of her position, a small fleet of ships began their expedition towards the south, while another slightly submerged ship also escorted the ships.

"This is Sang O-7, we will sink the two hostile patrol vessels and proceed to relieve Tae-Chong 1 and 2. Arming torpedo tubes."

Just south of the NLL, 2 South Korean corvettes that were patrolling nearby waters began their journey northwards.

"PCC 765 and PCC 771, orders have been confirmed by command. Naval battle is ensuing on the NLL. We are cleared to engage enemy targets."

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[1]: This is the second PoD. In OTL, Ilhan scores the goal and puts Turkey in the lead permanently. In this ATL, he's unable to jump over the keeper and misses his shot, which allows Korea to continue to push in the game. In addition to this, Turkey doesn't score within the first minute of the game, which indirectly influences Ilhan's shot and the rest of the game.

[2] There were actually quite a few North Korean vessels within close proximity in OTL. That remains the same for TTL.

[3] As per OTL.

[4] In OTL, Staff Sergeant Han continues to pilot the boat, even after being shot multiple times. He goes down with the ship at the end.

[5] This happened to the PKM 357 in OTL. In TTL, the PKM 358 gets hit hard.


Edit: Apparently, the Romeo class is used for special forces, so the Sang-O class subs would be used for combat.

Subscribed.

So much for the invasion of Iraq. If and when the heavier combat ships engage, there is no way of telling how this will end.

Karelian said:

So much for the invasion of Iraq. If and when the heavier combat ships engage, there is no way of telling how this will end.

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I'll give the basic rundown. There are two PoDs.

The first is PKM 357 firing on the North Koreans first.

The second is Korea winning the 3rd place game.

The first PoD sets up a potential bigger naval clash. Now that the two navies are being deployed, we'll definitely see a large amount of casualties. Additionally, both sides have sent jets into the area, so we'll also see a dogfight in the sky.

As for the second PoD... Mainly nationalism. An increase fervor and a 3rd place finish will increase the patriotism and nationalism in Korea, thus setting up a stage for a bigger conflict once word leaks out that North Korea attacked South Korea on the day of South Korea's big victory.

Oh yeah. Screw Iraq. North Korea first.

Did the Chinese support North Korea back then? I hope this doesn't erupt into an apocalyptic Sino-American War, rather than a manageable Second Korean War.

OrsonWelles said:

Did the Chinese support North Korea back then? I hope this doesn't erupt into an apocalyptic Sino-American War, rather than a manageable Second Korean War.

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A bit more than today, but that's not saying much. China isn't as hostile to North Korea because they haven't tested nuclear weapons yet. But, the Chinese wouldn't want to involve itself against South Korea (a major trading partner) and the United States. But, we might see the Chinese funding the North Koreans and giving them supplies and weapons.

I picked this PoD specifically because it's certainly plausible (in OTL, the sinking of the PKM 357 did nearly cause a war due to nationalist feelings from the World Cup and the death of 6 Koreans). It's also before North Korea has nuclear bombs, so it'll be a conventional war.

okmangeez said:

A bit more than today, but that's not saying much. China isn't as hostile to North Korea because they haven't tested nuclear weapons yet. But, the Chinese wouldn't want to involve itself against South Korea (a major trading partner) and the United States. But, we might see the Chinese funding the North Koreans and giving them supplies and weapons.

I picked this PoD specifically because it's certainly plausible (in OTL, the sinking of the PKM 357 did nearly cause a war due to nationalist feelings from the World Cup and the death of 6 Koreans). It's also before North Korea has nuclear bombs, so it'll be a conventional war.

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I see. And presumably the US will intervene on the behalf of South Korea?

OrsonWelles said:

I see. And presumably the US will intervene on the behalf of South Korea?

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The US is obligated to defend South Korea in case of North Korean aggression. The two have a mutual defense pact with each other, which would allow America to essentially take over the South's military to beat back the north.

We can definitely see some butterflies, such as the Iraq War not happening due to bigger problems in Asia.

I see you also watched the film.

Interested in how things turn out.

Interesting premise, old boy! I'm looking forward to seeing how the naval engagement plays out.

okmangeez said:

"Order all patrol vessels in the area to open fire on any capitalist-loving ships. Deploy any naval ships and submarines we have in the area and scramble our Air Force. We will not let the American puppets get away this time."

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I wonder, though, do the North Koreans actually speak like this? I really have no idea, but I would think they'd cut the propaganda boilerplate when talking to each other.

MrP said:

Interesting premise, old boy! I'm looking forward to seeing how the naval engagement plays out.


I wonder, though, do the North Koreans actually speak like this? I really have no idea, but I would think they'd cut the propaganda boilerplate when talking to each other.

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Usually the slur would be "간나새끼" or something similar, I imagine. But I guess translation is open to the translator.

MrP said:

Interesting premise, old boy! I'm looking forward to seeing how the naval engagement plays out.


I wonder, though, do the North Koreans actually speak like this? I really have no idea, but I would think they'd cut the propaganda boilerplate when talking to each other.

Click to expand...

In all honesty. Yes, they do. They pretty much treat South Korea as a "rebel territory" and pretty much dehumanizes the South Koreans. American puppets/scums/capitalist pigs are common terms used.

And thanks . Oh boy, things are about to turn from bad to worst in minutes...

zeppelinair said:

Usually the slur would be "간나새끼" or something similar, I imagine. But I guess translation is open to the translator.

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Yeah. That usually translated to like "b****" or "scum."

zeppelinair said:

I see you also watched the film.

Interested in how things turn out.

Click to expand...

Except this time, it won't be a forgotten battle

zeppelinair said:

Usually the slur would be "간나새끼" or something similar, I imagine. But I guess translation is open to the translator.

Click to expand...

And havinga translator for such words is nice, as my Korean is practically nonexistent.

And this timeline so far is a great read. Keep it up!

This starts things off with a bang so to speak, looks really good and you know that the NK will not react well to this.

Raunchel said:

And havinga translator for such words is nice, as my Korean is practically nonexistent.

And this timeline so far is a great read. Keep it up!

Click to expand...

steamboy said:

This starts things off with a bang so to speak, looks really good and you know that the NK will not react well to this.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback so far!

And yes. A bang as in the PKM 357 beating up the North Koreans instead of the other way around in TTL.

Oh... They really won't. Especially when they find out that they lose a lot of men and equipment in the battle...

Next update is nearly finished.

There can only be peace through war.

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Northern Limit Line
Republic of Korea
June 29th, 2002
10:27 AM KST

PKM 357 and PKM 358, along with her sister patrol boats and two Korean corvettes [1], were side by side, keeping a cautious eye towards the North Korean "fleet" that surrounded the single burning patrol boat.. The North Korean vessels and the South Korean forces were still south of the NLL, but both sides had stopped firing on each other... For now. [2]

After back up arrived to reinforce the Korean fleet, the enemy patrol boat attacking the PKM 358 was promptly sunk by the rounds from the Melara 76 mm/62 cannons and a single harpoon missile fired by the ROKS Gongju. The South Korean ships picked up around a half a dozen survivors from the water (from a crew of estimated 40-50 members) and promptly retreated further south at the sight of a dozen North Korean vessels. Despite the fact that most of the reinforcements were small boats, a frigate had been spotted and sonar was picking up a warning nearby, indicating something lurking beneath the ocean surface. This unnerved the South Korean ships as they remained on high alert.

The captains of the South Korean ships did a quick count of the total amount of casualties. The PKM 357 had suffered no deaths and 8 injured. PKM 358 had taken the brunt of the damage, with 6 dead, 14 wounded, and 1 missing, with one of the Gatling gun turret and the boat's engine damaged [3]. Recognizing that their jobs were not don't quite yet, the South Korean vessels sent the PKM 358 back with the PKM 359 to escort, while the rest of the vessels slowly moved forward the force the North Koreans back over the NLL. The captains also sent another request for back up, which was met with a short reply. "Soon."

"Attention! North Korean vessels! This is our last warning! We are not afraid to use force for you to recognize the Northern Limit Line! Turn your vessels back to North Korea immediately!" Captain Park Sun Woo of the ROKS Yeosu shouted into the speakers. "All our weapons and personnel are on full alert to fire at a moment's notice. We recommend you turn around with your damaged vessel right now, or we might not be as forgiving later on."

Of course, the warnings were met with completely silence. The North Korean vessels didn't move from their positions... As if they were expecting something. The guns of the ships and men were pointed at each other, in silence, as a quiet battle of intimidation began on both sides.

Until the radar operator on the Yeosu picked out something on the radar.

"Commander Park! We have incoming torpedoes fired from 1,000 meters away! The submerged vessel has fired on our positions! 2 torpedoes heading our way!" [4]

The captain of the corvette cursed. "Evasive maneuvers! And warn the other ships of the sub in the area! Tell the Gongju to depth charge them right away!"

The mighty Yeosu, one of the first Pohang class corvettes, attempted to dodge the incoming 2 53-65 KE torpedoes. She managed to barely dodge the first torpedo, just missing the back of her vessel. The second torpedo would hit home, as the corvette was slammed by a torpedo right at it's hull, engulfing parts of the ship into flames. The blast instantly incinerated 12 sailor, and left over two dozen sailors with various injuries. The ancient corvette began to list on the port side.

"Shit!" Captain Park said as he slammed forward from the blast. Black smoke appeared on the side of his ship and the crew brgsn their attempt to limit the damage. The captain only bit his lips as the other corvette responded.

Immediately, the Gongju surged forward, pushing towards the known North Korean sub at a speed of 26 knots. Within a few minutes, the corvette was nearly upon the North Korean sub, who had fired another round towards the PKM 360 and was struggling to get away from a possibe depth charge attempt. The South Korean corvette, nevertheless, depth charged the helpless North Korean sub, striking the top of the Sang-O 7 and making it sink to the bottom of the ocean floor. All 15 crew members down with her. Despite this small victory, the damage was done. The Yeosu was struggling with damage control and had lost a fifth of their crew due to the torpedo. PKM 360 had been struck by a torpedo and the crew was being evacuated. 11 sailors of the vessel was dead, along with an additional 13 injured. The Gongju and the remaining patrol vessels watched in terror as the dozen North Korean ships began to move towards the panic stricken South Korean vessels.

A voice crackled over the radio of all vessels. "This is Captain Hwang Ji Won of the ROKS Gongju. It's clear that though we're outnumbered, we have a crippled allied vessel we must protect. Therefore, we must hold our ground and wait for further backup. Lock on to your targets, and begin firing." Within a few minutes, the vessels of the Republic of Korea formed a small half circle around the crippled Yeosu. The cannons began to fire at the smaller vessels as the Gongju fired another salvo of Harpoon missiles at the North Korean frigate...

Naval Command stationed in Gyerong would receive an urgent distress signal from the NLL, acknowledging that the Yeosu was in danger of sinking and the North Korean navy pushing further into the south with more reinforcements. This news was met with surprise and urgency, as the North never attempted to breach the NLL this far before and now very close to breaking the small defense. PKM 359 was ordered to turn around and assist immediately. However, all other naval forces that were based around Inchon and Pyongtaek would take at least 2 hours at top speed to arrive at the battle. 2 destroyers, 4 corvettes, and 3 subs were sent towards the NLL as fast as possible. The command could only hope the ships would arrive in time.

Similarly, the North Korean Naval command under Admiral Kim would respond with rage. 4 additional Sang-O subs were sent to the NLL, along with 2 additional frigates and 5 patrol boats. Both sides began to deal more and more into the battle stricken NLL.

But the only battle wouldn't play out at sea. It would also play out in somewhere much higher.

In the air.

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[1]: In OTL, the patrol boats and corvettes were like a reserve/backup force. In TTL, they move up to assist their allies.

[2]: In OTL, only the North Korean patrol boat that engaged the PKM 357 was heavily damaged. Though, it is assumed that she was towed back to North Korea. However, with the arrival of the corvettes, it is very likely that any North Korean patrol boat that engaged them would've been sunk. However, the North Korean boat the PKM 357 fought in TTL would've been salvaged by the incoming North Korean vessels.

[3]: PKM 357 had engine failure due to the damage during the battle OTL, one of the major reasons why there were much more casualties than expected.

[4]: Yeosu is one of the older corvettes, so her radar systems and weaponry are a bit outdated.