Empire of the Ring

These days, the business and development plans announced by the Kazakh royal family were much exaggerated. Anything was said to be a world-class facility.

The Royal Aviation College, which opened in September, was advertised that way as well.

The Naval Academy and the Non-Commissioned Officer Technical School would be opened soon, but it was not advertised broadly.

There was a reason why people believed in royal facilities. It was because of the royal medical school and the hospital was actually a great success. Especially, the hospital had become the largest facility in Central Asia. Even Russia's wealthy people visited the country for medical tourism. The building was equipped with more than a thousand beds and state-of-the-art medical equipment. On top of that, the talented medical staff that enabled high-level operations became extremely popular.

Whether global or not, the Kazakh people went wild when the royal family announced any new project. They wanted to brag about it because it was a country that had little to boast about.

"Mr. Commissioner, what kind of world-class aviation college is it when the headquarters building is not even built properly?"

Kim Chun had oversold the Royal Aviation college to reporters who visited the Arirang royal territory, so Youngho was embarrassed.

"Your Highness, as far as I can tell, we're the only aviation school with a factory that produces propeller planes as well as fighter jets and helicopters next to it. It's a college with a full test laboratory. Isn't that a great title? Besides, Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome is already famous as a world-class place. So, we can even call it a space college."

The Baikonur Cosmodrome was built during the Soviet Union and was still being lent to Russia, so technically, it could not be called Kazakhstan's.

"The faculty line-up is still not confirmed, so you should not make a fuss now, or we'll only be humiliated."

"Didn't you say you're inviting the aviation professors from Russia?"

"We're waiting on answers from most of them."

As professors invited from Malmoe University in Sweden did not seem to be enough, professors in Russia were also being recruited at the moment.

In the past, Russians never would have considered coming to Kazakhstan, but now as the Kazakhstan's situation got better with the emergence of the new government and the royal family, their reluctance had been greatly reduced. Also, the fact that there were many Russians living in Kazakhstan was an appealing element.

"Your Highness, if we could ease the conditions a little bit, we'd be able to accept more. If we asked them to change their nationality, who would want to come here easily?"

"We need to show our core facilities without filtering them. We need that level of safeguards. Changing their nationality doesn't mean they're going to be on our side right away, but they're going to feel the psychological burden."

Youngho had demanded a condition for professors from Russia, which was to acquire Kazakh nationality. It was widely intended to keep them under the royal territory for a long time. It was because Russia's space technology was globally outstanding.

Kazakhstan's technological prowess was nothing more than bringing in parts and assembling airplanes, so Russian researchers and technicians were needed to produce Kazakhstan's own engines and plane bodies.

"Your Highness, they come here to escape the rigid Russian society. If they're forced to abandon their Russian nationality and obtain Kazakh citizenship, they will think Kazakhstan is no different from Russia. And even if they want to leave Russia, they just hate the social and political system, not Russia itself."

"…"

There was nothing to argue about Kim Chun's remark.

Although it was a defense industry, it was only an assembly plant.

It was also too much to force talented people to change their nationality for fear that a secret would be leaked to the outside world although it was more of a way to keep them within the country.

"I overlooked that point."

"The Russians living in Kazakh are nearly one-third of the whole population. They're coming because they know that the Russians are living here freely."

"As you say, I'll withdraw the nationality issue. But I'm not sure about at which level we should treat them. We have no choice but to differentiate their treatment with the Swedish professors…"

It was inevitable given the economic level of the two countries.

"If we treat them equally as the teachers in the royal territory, that should be more than enough. That's a few times as much as what they'll get paid in Russia. It would be better if we even offered a house for them."

In the beginning, people invited to the royal territory were given a house for free, but these days the administration of the city only provided housing sites and cement as providing houses for all people was also a big burden.

Except for the site and cement, people paid for other materials and labor costs to the administration to build their own houses. With the exception of Kurds, other people came to the royal territory had some money with them.

However, professors and engineers from Russia were suffering from financial difficulties that Kim Chun was asking for housing support for them.

***

A monthly meeting was being held in the royal conference room.

Everyone was speaking up about the exaggerated advertisement of Kazakhstan's abilities.

"Your Highness, did you just say you want to let the press know the size of the Royal Bodyguards?"

Cho Chul-hwan jumped up from his seat.

"I don't think we need to hide it. If they knew the size of our guards, who are trained as special forces, it will be a deterrent."

There were already more than 10,000 guards.

"If that's the purpose, I'll put together the reserve forces and announce it altogether as the Royal Bodyguards."

Since the reserve forces included the civil guards of the royal territory, Chul-hwan meant to exaggerate the number of the Royal Bodyguards.

"Present both the Apache helicopters and the F-35 fighter jets as part of the royal territory."

"I think that'll be too much. That's the equivalent of the total power of a decent country."

"Come on, no one's going to come here to confirm it. Except for the Royal Navy, other forces we have can be known to the public. Royal Navy's strength should be strictly kept secret."

With Kazakhstan's nuclear power being debated, it would be worth seeing Chinese government officials if the power of the Royal Bodyguards was announced bigger than it was. It was a strategy to make the world think that Kazakh regular military would be formidable if the Royal Bodyguards had that much strength. This was only a fraction of strength compared to China, but it was also a power that could make China reconsider any military advance toward Kazakhstan.

If Kazakhstan's asymmetric power exceeded 10,000, it would be something to be feared for. Special forces was a power that could penetrate a city with only a small number of troops causing chaos.

"What if the United Nations asks us to deploy our troops to areas of conflict because of our strong forces?"

"It's an opportunity to build experience, of course, we have to send our troops. In fact, we have to volunteer to go."

There was a gap between soldiers who had been in battles and who did not have real-life experience. The soldier, who experienced a bloody battlefield, would have overcome his fears to some extent, so he would be prepared for a mess to some extent.

It was like the difference between soldiers who opened their eyes wide to the sound of guns and soldiers who closed their eyes tightly.

"Your Highness. You should also keep the potential damage to our troops in mind."

"That's why we're building a hospital ship. No matter where our troops go in the world, the hospital ship will always be at a short distance. I won't let anything go wrong because they can't get medical treatment in time. I'm talking about Princess Zeynep's hospital ship. In peace, it's going to be used for areas that lack medical attention, and in the event of war, it is going to be used to treat the wounded, regardless of whether they are allies or enemies."

"Your Highness, I'm afraid we're adding on too much of our troops. Don't you think Chinese spies will find out about the truth soon?"

It was Park Jong-il who made such a comment.

"Since fighter jets and helicopters are moved from place to place, I think it's safe to say that their power belongs to the area where they are at the moment. In that case, we're not adding on. And we're going to bring in more aircrafts by the end of the year, so there's nothing wrong with it."

"Are we bringing in more F-35 fighters and Apache helicopters?"

"It's not a huge number since we have to deploy them in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and even on our multi-purpose landing ship."

If China was focusing on the army, Kazakhstan was focusing on air power.

The border with China was blocked by the Tian Shan Mountains, so ground warfare could not have much effect.

No matter how strong China's mechanized division was, there was a limit to the number of troops deployed through the Tian Shan Mountains and the Pamir Plateau with their geographical features.

If Kazakhstan was overpowered with its powerful air defense network and air force in the early stages of the war, even China would lose its fighting spirit.

"I didn't think of the multi-purpose landing ship. We can project naval power anywhere even on the East China Sea but China can't come from the Caspian Sea. That's an advantage of an inland country."

"So try to find a way to maximize the benefits of an inland country. And I intend to pursue a deeper military alliance with the United States. We're already working together in Afghanistan, so we won't have a big problem."

"Do you intend to break up the military alliance with Russia?"

"No, we'll maintain it."

"There has never been a military alliance with a free democracy and a socialist country at the same time."

"I know it's a funny situation but we formed an alliance with Russia due to our historical relationship with it. We will consult this with Russia in advance, but it will rather support our military alliance with the United States. Russia is the country that fears China's advance more than anyone else."

In Youngho's guess, Russia could not lose Kazakhstan as it was Russia's buffer zone from the world and especially China.

"Will the United States actively engage in a military alliance with us?"

"We are on the way to Europe and the Middle East. The U.S. will not be able to neglect Kazakhstan, which serves as a buffer, to exert its influence in Europe and the Middle East."

As Youngho tried to persuade the leadership of the royal territory, he could realize how important Kazakhstan's position was.

It was the first soldier to block China's westward policy and Russia's southward policy.

It was making all-out efforts to deal with the two superpowers. If the U.S. did not want to establish a military alliance, it should provide defense funds or even give weapons free of charge.