Empire of the Ring

Kazakhstan's defense sector would one day stand shoulder to shoulder with China or Russia if Kazakhstan prepared steadily.

It was not only China or Russia but also all other countries that could be potential enemies as they envied Kazakhstan's resources.

Prime Minister was certain that there must be slush funds or nuclear weapons from the former president Nazarbayev.

His words were tempting, but Youngho did not have high hopes. Even if there were no nuclear weapons, Kazakhstan would be able to make one or have a power that was equal to having a nuclear weapon with its accumulated technology.

Perhaps the reason why China did not treat Kazakhstan recklessly was that it believed there was a formidable weapon of nuclear power.

Youngho expressed his thought on the importance of nuclear weapons to Kasim.

"I will take any criticism if we can have war deterrent by having nuclear weapons."

"Who would criminalize us? We are in the advanced guard to protect the free and democratic world. Other countries should indeed support us."

"That's why we're going to have formidable weapons of our own. We must protect our security or who would? Even allies turn their backs on countries that don't try. We have to have strength and power. That way, they'll try to join hands with us. If we don't, we'll end up being abandoned."

"Your Grace, will our national power grow so much?"

Kasim looked at Youngho with doubtful eyes. It was because such a story was just a dream for now.

"I aim to move beyond the limits of the inland country and make our ships sail through the five oceans."

"How can we become a maritime power as an inland country?"

Kasim's eyes were widened when Youngho mentioned the five oceans. It did not seem realistic even though the royal company had several ships since Kazakhstan was an inland country.

"Even now, Arirang Shipping's sales have been doubling every year. We're expecting to have revenue when the Russian canal expands in the future."

"Oh! There was the Russian canal. We've got inland logistics and there are logistics for the Caspian Sea as well."

"That's how we'll grow. When the shipping industry develops, related industries will also see the light. My primary goal is 10 billion dollars in annual sales, combining the shipping industry and the shipbuilding industry."

"I feel like I'm full already just hearing that."

"That's just a baby step. My in-laws in Demark own the world's number one shipping company, and it is reaching more than 11 billion dollars in annual sales."

"I can't believe one company can make such a huge amount of sales."

Since it was not easy for a single company to raise sales that were equal to one-tenth of Kazakhstan's annual exports, Kasim was stunned to hear it.

"Wait and see. Although we are now holding out on our own orders, the Danish Shipyard which the royal family owns has its original technology and there will be rapid progress in the future. The world's leading shipping lines and shipyards have been closed because of the recession, and that will be our opportunity. When the shipping industry recovers, where would all the logistics go?"

"I was always curious about your contribution to the shipyard, but you had all of this in mind already."

"If we only rely on our resources, our land will be deprived soon, and our people will suffer for it. Also, we'd have to leave our resources for our future generations."

"What would we have done if Your Highness did not reform Kazakhstan?"

"Hahaha… I'm blushing. Would you like to drink?"

"Of course. How can I go back to the capital without drinking in this mood? May I stay here for the night? I feel like our drink will taste great tonight."

"Well, I should tell the kitchen to get our snacks ready."

"Hahaha…"

***

China's media were reporting the terrorist attacks in Xinjiang Uyghur in detail as never before. It was a far cry from the fact that the media had been restricting any mention of terrorist attacks.

Although the scale of the current attacks in Xinjiang Uyghur was different than previous rebel activities, it seemed that the Chinese government was going to use this as an excuse to oppress Uyghurs.

The attacks not only destroyed facilities such as factories and public security buildings but also killed many people. As the attacks were tantamount to an air raid, the Chinese government had no choice but to find someone to blame it.

The media vaguely guessed that Uyghur independent fighters were running wild on outside orders. There was no sign of outside attacks as there were only sudden drops of bombs. Security cameras could not tell where they were from, as they did not face the sky. If they were intercontinental ballistic missiles, they would have been caught in the air defense system. The Chinese government did not have a clue that drones would have done it.

"Still haven't heard from him, Chul-hwan?"

"Man, he must be determined to melt our hearts. The attack is still going on, so everyone seems to be safe…"

They could only have a rough idea that everything was going well from the news in China.

"He is not even trying to make satellite calls because China's technology isn't what it used to be."

Youngho could only wait in frustration until Park Jong-il came back to report on the situation at Xinjiang Uyghur.

"He entered Xinjiang Uyghur. I thought he said he'd only stay at the border area."

"I told him to move on his own judgment there. You won't have to worry about the soldiers' safety since Jong-il is with them."

"Are you sure? He's not immortal."

Cho Chul-hwan did not know of the ring's abilities yet, so it was probably a natural response. Youngho did not mean to keep it a secret, but he did not have a chance to talk about it yet.

Cha In-soo knew about it since he had worn it for a while when he was in Baku's farm, so he naturally learned about it, but since Cho Chul-hwan had no such chance, Youngho did not bother to let him know.

"Well, you should admit that Jong-il is frankly a little swifter than all of us."

"He was not my match when we were instructors for the Armenian militia, but he must've been drinking some kind of elixir or something."

"Well, I guess that might be right since he's enduring the cold out there. But since the bombs they took are almost exhausted, it's about time for them to come back home…"

"Hey, the head of the intelligence service runs around the scene himself. Wouldn't it be a disgrace that the commander of the Royal Bodyguards cooped up in the royal territory? Can I go back to Afghanistan for a while?"

"Oh, I knew you'd be saying something like that. You want to make an excuse for Jong-il's case and go to Afghanistan?"

"A large number of troops have been deployed. Shouldn't the captain visit there, too? It's also about the morale of soldiers."

"Make sure Jong-il gets back before you move. You have something else to do."

"You have a job for me?"

Chul-hwan was excited to hear that he had a job. Having no job throughout the winter, he was getting bored.

"Take it easy. Man, everyone seems to be looking for jobs even when they're on a break."

"Oh, you know you can rest when you get old. Tell me what it is."

***

When Youngho showed the prototype of a submarine, Chul-hwan and In-soo's mouths were open wide. The 300-ton black hull, 35 meters long, was showing its prowess.

"You've finished it. I've been wondering about when it will be done."

"It's a small but powerful fellow."

"Is this what we call the tractor in the sea, the shark-class submarine?"

"Even a tractor is definitely a means of transportation. You get injured if you're crushed by it. Even 16th-century rifles can kill people in the 21st century. It's small, but it's capable of carrying four torpedoes."

"It's supposed to be used at the littoral sea. Can it be active in the ocean?"

"We could carry this around on a multi-purpose landing ship or a bulk carrier. Then that will be our off the coast."

"Ha! This is a good-looking fella. How many of these are you going to produce?"

"The target is ten vessels. We'll deploy two each in the Caspian Sea and the Aegean Sea, and the rest in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and at the Danish base."

"We are finally going out to the ocean."

"First of all, protecting our merchant ships will be a priority, but we will also conduct joint operations with our allies later on. If necessary, we'll also develop super-sized submarines that will move to and from the Arctic Ocean, so look forward to it."

That would have to be a nuclear submarine, but it was still a long way off.

For now, the small-sized submarine was good enough because none of the other vessels were as efficient as this for asymmetric power.

No matter how advanced a destroyer's sonar technology was the chances of detecting a submarine crouching in the sea were only 30 to 40 percent.

In addition, in areas where different seawater flew in, the sound waves were distorted and destroyed, making it harder to detect submarines.

If a submarine stayed in front of an enemy port, the harbor would be potentially blocked and there would be the effect of blocking the logistics movement at the source.

It could also attack mine installations, ships, and even destroyers.

The small-sized submarine had comparatively poor performance, but it would not lack enough to carry out a given mission.

Cho Chul-hwan, who was listening to Youngho's explanation, asked why he was not making more of them.

"This number is enough. We will continue the production in the future, but I'm planning on making a submarine that's more than 1,500 tons that can be independently active in the ocean."

"How do you get out of the Caspian Sea if you make something so big?"

"We should make it at the Danish Shipyard. The shipyard in the royal territory will be specialized in small-sized submarines and deep-sea submersibles."

"We're from the Navy too. Shouldn't we try riding the submarine?"

"I'll let you ride as much as you want later. There's something you need to do from now on. We'll have to pick submarine agents from the Royal Bodyguards or Kurdish soldiers."

"I don't think you are asking for them to learn how to operate a submarine now. You're talking about infiltration agents, aren't you?"

"Yes. We'll be able to rotate them on duty if we had about 100 people."

"Sounds good! Now let's take a look inside the submarine."

All of them looked like children with a new toy in front of them.

The three entered the submarine and did not come out for a while. They were fascinated by the authenticity of the state-of-the-art diesel attack submarine.