Empire of the Ring

The voice of Captain Asam got more confident as if he gained strength when Admiral Jun told him about the nuclear-powered submarines.

"We will do our best to make sure that your troops will not be uncomfortable in the future. I'm so proud that you're our ally."

"I'm encouraged by your kindness. When I get back home, I'll make sure to report your hospitality."

"You don't have to. It is for the friendship between the two countries, and I am very proud to be able to help as a base commander. We'll make it as convenient for you as possible."

The Kazakh Navy, which participated in this operation, had just over 2,600 members.

The Aegis destroyer and multi-purpose landing ship each had about 300 troops and the frigates had a capacity of about 220 people.

It was twice as many as the number of Indian soldiers working in the Seychelles Islands.

About a quarter of the Kazakh Navy participated, and any sailor who had ever been out to the sea was deployed to this operation.

Kazakhstan's reality was that its naval forces were far short of the increasing number of vessels. Starting from just 3,000, the number had now barely passed the 10,000 mark.

About one-twentieth of them were those who served as noncommissioned officers or officers in the Korean Navy.

Those who were discharged from the Korean Navy after serving in an Aegis destroyer or submarine unit, who became civilian military officers of the Kazakh Navy on condition of land duty after a year of ship service, were playing a pivotal role in the operation of the vessel.

It was no exaggeration to say that most of the important equipment was operated by their hands, so it would be impossible to operate a ship without the former Korean naval officers.

As time went by, the role of civilian military personnel increased, and some even re-enlisted as officers.

Whether they were non-commissioned officers or barely just officers, they were unconditionally commissioned as officers if they were fluent in Russian.

This was because the navy still had to wait another two years to produce officers at the Royal Naval Academy.

Since there was no need to have all of the two task force groups at the Seychelles base, Youngho was planning to build Kazakhstan's own naval base in the port of Mahajanga, Madagascar.

As Zeynep's hospital ship would be voluntarily working in Madagascar, it would be the first step toward his plan.

This was because the presence of escort ships was necessary to protect the hospital ship and exert influence on eastern Africa.

Zeynep's hospital ship would be escorted by the Mediterranean fleet, so the tanker must follow it as intermediate refueling was essential to sail from the Mediterranean to Madagascar, the southernmost island of the Indian Ocean.

The hospital ship was 25,000 tons and had a large tank of oil, so it could travel without refueling, but the 3,000-ton frigates had a range of only 7,000 kilometers and must be refueled. This was because the distance from the Mediterranean Sea to the port of Mogadishu, located in the northwest of Madagascar, was over 9,000 kilometers.

If the supply ship did not follow, there was an inconvenience of receiving oil from the port of Djibouti or Mogadishu.

***

'The Zeynep,' the 25,000-ton hospital ship, was sailing at an average speed of 17 kilometers per hour.

In the front, a 3,000-ton frigate, 'the Ural', was escorting the hospital ship and a supply ship was seen following behind the hospital ship.

After completing the test run, the hospital ship embarked on a full medical service journey, and the first destination was the port of Mahajanga in Madagascar.

The hospital ship departed from Copenhagen, Denmark, joined with 'the Ural' in the Mediterranean, then passed through the Suez Canal, passing the Red Sea and just got into the Gulf of Aden.

When it was ordered to reinforce the alert from the preceding vessel of Ural, a platoon of the guards assigned to the hospital ship was removing the packaging of the 20-millimeter machine guns placed all over the deck.

Watching the scene, Zeynep tilted her head.

She did not understand the fuss of the guards as there were armed frigate and supply ships in the hospital's front and back. As it was hard to believe that the dozens of large ships sailing through the Gulf of Aden were still targets of pirate attack, she squinted her eyes.

"Princess, have you called me?"

Lieutenant Shim Eun-seop, the captain of the Royal Bodyguards who boarded the hospital ship, was a former Korean Navy's special forces sergeant who became a naturalized Kazakh.

"You're doing a great job, but I couldn't help but wonder why you are making such a fuss and making everyone nervous when there aren't many risk factors. I'm getting a lot of complaints about keeping no one on deck."

Zeynep was also stuck in the cabin's office because they kept no one on deck during the operation.

"I'm sorry. It was our first voyage, so we had to overrun our operation. You just have to wait for about 10 minutes."

When Zeynep seriously protested, Lieutenant Shim was at a loss of what to say.

He was only following the order of the frigate captain to tighten the security but he was embarrassed when the arrow of Zeynep's complaint pointed at him.

"No pirates will attack us with two big ships escorting us. If you create tension, our medical staff will be shaken."

"All right, Your Highness. I'll report to the captain of the frigate and clear the perimeter immediately."

"Oh! Wasn't it your order?"

"No way. We must follow the instructions of the frigate at sea."

"I see. I'm sorry that I complained to you when you were not responsible for it."

"No, princess. We had a special order from the Duke, so I was going to strengthen our vigilance anyway."

"His Highness made a special order?"

"Yes, he did. He said in any case, your safety is the top priority. Please understand if we extend our vigilance a little bit too much. His Highness was very concerned about your personal security too."

"Oh, gee. I'm on the hospital ship. Why would I need personal security? He still thinks I'm a clumsy kid. I'll have to be stuck inside the ship to ease Lieutenant Shim's worries."

As she replied to Lieutenant Shim, Zeynep twisted her body as she was flattered.

It was a good feeling that everyone was trying hard to protect her. She added.

"Lieutenant Shim, please make it seem less noticeable for our medical staff. Thank you."

When Zeynep thanked him in a slightly nasal voice, he left the office with a blushed face at Jayep's cuteness.

Soon after Lieutenant Shim left, the deck was freed.

But the guards were still on the alert, flashing their eyes.

When the nurses made coffee and handed it to the guards, the young men's hearts were warmed.

They wanted to show off their strength to the nurses, but sadly the sea was at peace and they had not much to do.

Looking at the scene, Zeynep smiled. It seemed that there would be many new couples after this medical service.

***

As they moved out of the Gulf of Aden and into the Arabian Sea, the guards loosened their vigilance.

While the frigate received the oil from the supply vessel, the hospital ship continued to sail diligently. Due to the slow speed of the hospital ship, other ships had been sailing like a turtle so far, so it was done to save a little time as waiting for the frigate to be refueled was meaningless.

Less than half an hour after the hospital ship began its solo voyage, there were two boats that quickly followed the hospital ship.

Sergeant Azadi, who was on duty, quickly rang the emergency bell when he discovered the existence of two boats while looking around with a telescope.

The guards on the hospital ship were on a two-hour patrol mission at the steering room, so they were able to respond quickly.

As the emergency bell rang, the rest of the guards rushed to the 20-millimeter machine guns installed all over the deck.

Shim, who looked through a telescope at approaching boats about one kilometer away, realized that they were not visiting the hospital ship for friendly purposes.

Each boat had five or six sturdy men on board, all armed. At a glance, it seemed they were also carrying a portable missile launcher.

He felt his short hair stand on its end. The confusion was brief and the guards began to move according to the maritime manual.

"Load each machine gun and fire warning shots if they get closer. If they fire back, firing at them is allowed."

This was ordered to every soldier on each machine gun and the situation was also delivered to the escorting ship receiving oil supply at a distance of 30 minutes.

-Captain, they are approaching quickly to the rear side of the ship. What should I do?

"Fire warning shots immediately!"

Shots were fired from a machine gun in the rear side of the ship.

A moment later, the boats which were rushing at the sight of a slow hospital ship, were seen scaring and making a sharp turn.

"Enforce aimed fire."

-Aimed fire, sir?

"Who is this? The one who's asking without identifying himself?"

-This is Sergeant Azadi, 23rd machine gunner.

"Was it you, Sergeant Azadi? I'll let it slide for today because you've done your watching duty well. Don't ask anymore and do as I say."

-Yes, sir.

The boat approaching at about a distance of 500 meters soon became a beehive.

Smoke was seen rising from the boat's engine room.

"Cease fire!"

The two boats showed no more movements.

It would be a miracle if anyone was alive on the two boats that were shot by a machine gun in rapid succession.

The hospital ship only followed the maritime manual. In principle, all Kazakh ships sailing around the Suez Canal should attack unconditionally regardless of whether there was a provocation or not if they were determined to be pirate ships.

That was because if they waited until the pirates reached the ship, all lives on board were at risk of immediate slaughter by guns or portable missile launchers.

While the navies of other countries were busy kicking out pirates, the Kazakh Navy and merchant ships wiped them out without mercy.

The best option for pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea was to avoid ships of Kazakhstan unconditionally, but today was a case of bad luck.

The hospital ship did not register its nationality because it belonged to the Zeynep charity foundation.

The pirates' plan to attack the hospital ship and secure the hostage was shattered.

Who would have imagined that a hospital ship would be armed and there would be such a devastating attack?