Empire of the Ring

Chapter 648: The Force Behind (1)

Everyone was surprised when the Kazakh royal family said they would deploy Lynx helicopters for maritime attacks on their own private vessels.

Taking security guards on board was not enough, but carrying a Lynx helicopter was excessive and excessive.

It was intended to inform both the home and abroad that it would no longer sit idle in compliance with pirates or terrorists no matter what others say.

It was welcome from the perspective of shippers who put their cargo in charge of Arirang Shipping.

Then it turned out to be the effect of leaving more cargo to Arirang Shipping than before.

Container ships and bulk carriers passing through the Suez Canal, as well as oil tankers carrying crude oil and gas from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, were required to make a fleet of ships.

One Lynx helicopter was assigned to the fleet.

The Lynx helicopter had a radius of 300 kilometers, so ships from other countries tried to stick to the Arirang fleet.

When there is a pirate attack, you can ask for help from the Arirang fleet.

It is now possible for naval vessels to conduct effective defense and attack without having to follow each civilian vessel.

Young-ho borrowed five Lynx helicopters from the British government.

There was a reason why Britain readily complied with the request of the Kazakh royal family.

When we said we would consider leaving the European Union, it was time for the pound to plummet and an exit strategy was needed.

Britain wanted to advance to Russia by using Kazakhstan as its medium.

Russia is always growling, but for economic development, there is no enemy or ally in international relations.

On the other hand, he did not forget to ask more British companies to participate in Kazakhstan’s resource development.

Even now, many British companies are actively engaged in business activities in Kazakhstan, so Young-ho was happy to accept it.

“The reason why only the Kazakh royal ships were targeted in the Gulf of Aden is not because they accepted Kurds or because they destroyed ISIS, which had previously entered Kyrgyzstan. The king received a third power saver, which he was vaguely speculating about.”

Just when it comes to China, we talk about where it gets infected by complicated simple words.

“Lord Eriksson also doubts China.”

“I just said third power.”

If Eriksson was also China, Youngho would not measure back and forth and retaliate.

Eriksson was worried about it and was saying it was a third force.

“Then how should we deal with it?”

“We have to be careful until we have the evidence. Your operation so far has been excellent. If we keep this tone in the future, we won’t be harmed. The backstabbing is bound to get tired of itself someday.”

Eriksson, who returned from his busy schedule in Greece, was pestering the case, saying it would be over at the right time.

He praised Young-ho, saying, “The current operation is very appropriate for fear that he might make a sudden move.”

I knew he was going to come up with a big plan because he had such an extraordinary head, but Young-ho, who was looking forward to it, was exhausted.

“Sir Eriksson. I won’t act rashly, so let me know what you’re thinking. It’s been years since I’ve been with you, so don’t you have the hint?”

“I have no other intention. I’m just saying you’re dealing with it. Just in time, England sent us a Lynx helicopter.”

“When we were in a hurry to search for a Lynx helicopter, we were on the same wavelength. It’s never free.”

“Britain is trying to empower our royal family.”

“Really? You didn’t do it for your own good?”

“It has many implications that we were willing to give up our naval assault weapons at the most sensitive time. The fact that the U.S. has given up 300 cruise missiles and is supporting Lynx helicopters to the U.K., is a warning to the people behind the scenes. It means no more provocations in the Gulf of Aden.”

“It’s a pretty good interpretation. When great powers give something to a small nation, they think about the opposite side of the world, and they don’t just act out of kindness.”

“Don’t think of it in a complicated way, just take it at face value. Your Highness is so sensitive.”

“I’m sure IS is not. There is no country but China that would do such a shameful thing.”

“There are many countries, if not China, that would hurt Kazakhstan well.”

“We don’t do that because we have a stomachache, but we’re targeting us as a cover to advance into the Arabian Sea. You didn’t expect our agility to be this great.”

China and Russia have failed to intervene in the alliance of allies in the Gulf of Aden, also known as the “Portal Freedom Operation” and the “Somalian Sea Battle,” which Young-ho suspected that the Chinese navy was plotting terrorism as an excuse to advance into the Arabian Sea.

In the Gulf of Aden, Russia, a strong military power, did not have enough warships of the communist state to show up and operate and return home only when its ship was hijacked.

This is because it is not the U.S. that will allow hostile vessels to hover in the Indian and Arabian seas.

To justify entering the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Aden must be in such a dangerous area that it can naturally

So he believed he orchestrated the attack.

He would have pointed to a Kazakh royal ship as his target.

You must have thought Kazakhstan’s vessels were the most comfortable than those of other countries.

“Your Highness, even if you have evidence of diarrhea, you should avoid direct protests and take a roundabout route. Now, the U.S. is too strong to handle China. You should avoid direct confrontations.”

“You mean let’s just let it go, even though there’s conclusive evidence?”

“It’s not even a country to admit to having evidence. But you want to go to war?”

“That’s true What country is China?

“If China turns out to be behind this, we can retaliate. There are plenty of ways to retaliate without leaving any evidence.”

“Okay. Even if you know it, you won’t have to go to war, and you won’t have to scratch it. We’ll have to pay more attention to the anti-piracy operation when we’re trying to find out what’s behind it.”

“You named the Gulf of Aden Operation Sterilization, did you decide?”

“The former captain of the Aegis destroyer and the pilots had a meeting, and what they said about sterilization became solid. But what’s wrong with the operation name?”

“You’d be very upset if you had a back-up. I think it’s a proper psychological operation. I mean, who would love to mean that way?”

The name “bear” and “wolf” are only a bit cute, but the name of the operation to exterminate germs is very much a slap in the face of the other

***

The U.K. has maintained close ties with Young-ho since the days of the Arirang Autonomous Prefecture.

After becoming a constitutional monarchy, the British Army, which was withdrawing from Germany, had formed a military alliance in northern Kazakhstan, and a conventional weapons plant was also relocated to Kazakhstan to help Kazakh defense.

In addition, it is a close ally in Europe that is second only to Denmark and Sweden, as Kazakh intelligence agents helped to become elite and provided military satellite information in real time.

When Kazakhstan was in a critical situation in the Gulf of Aden this time, it readily supported the Lynx helicopters.

Behind the support of Lynx helicopters, the Kazakh royal family said it would purchase 30 of the latest helicopters.

It was an unusual mass order to order as many as 30 units at a time from a single country.

The reason why we purchased 10 more Lynx helicopters than we would deploy to Aegis destroyers, frigates and multi-purpose amphibious landing ships was to deploy them to Arirang shipping vessels that make up the fleet.

The pirate-infested waters included not only the Gulf of Aden, but also the waters of Ghana in western Africa, Indonesian waters and the Strait of Malacca.

Recently, the Strait of Malacca was emerging as one of the mainly pirate-ridden waters.

The Strait of Malacca is the shortest route between Asia and the Middle East and Europe and a strategic point where 20 percent of the world’s trade volume passes.

It is one of the most important routes in the world, along with the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.

The piracy in Southeast Asia, especially in the Strait of Malacca, was also a great threat to Kazakh maritime transportation businesses.

The Strait of Malacca is a narrow channel between the Malaysian Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

It is about 1,000 kilometers long from Singapore in the southeast to Andaman in the northwest and only 2.8 kilometers wide in the narrowest part.

The water is only about 25 meters deep.

There are 80,000 ships passing through the area annually.

This is because detouring Sumatra Island is 1,600 kilometers away and it takes three more days to sail.

So almost all the ships were flocking here.

The downside is that the water is shallow and there are too many reefs to speed up properly.

In the low tide, we should also be careful of stranded accidents, but the bigger headache was pirates.

The number of pirates in the world has been on the decline thanks to the combined naval escort operations, but the number of pirates in Malacca has been on the rise.

In the past, pirate accidents in Southeast Asia were mainly about breaking into ships waiting at ports and burial sites and stealing supplies.

Recently, pirates linked to organized gangs and rebel groups were seized with weapons and using high-speed boats to hijack tankers to rob highly-monetary oil.

Last year, 200 of the 246 pirate attacks around the world took place in Southeast Asian waters, including the Strait of Malacca.

Pirates were hiding in swamps and harassing merchant ships with about 10 tons of small boats.

By the way, terrorists from Islamic militants have begun to participate systematically.

The use of tactics acquired by terrorist organizations made it harder to defend.

Therefore, there was a call for a canal to be breached in Thailand, the waist part of the Malay Peninsula.

The 130-kilometer-long canal construction cost an estimated $28 billion, with China seeking to expand its energy security and maritime influence showing willingness to invest.

However, Singapore and Malaysia, which have relied on port and tourist imports, were strongly opposed to the construction of the canal.

This is because losing the geographical advantage of the Strait of Malacca will deal a heavy blow to the national economy.

When I asked Min-seok to investigate and report on pirate movements in Southeast Asia, he knew this in detail.

“Where is the area where China says it wants to break through the canal?”

“This is Thailand’s ‘Cra’ area. Your Grace.”

“How many Chinese live in Thailand?”

“It accounts for 14 percent of the 64 million population. The economic power is mostly concentrated on the Chinese side.”

China’s distribution of the plan to cover the construction cost of $28 billion, even though it may be considering securing a Southeast Asian route after failing to take the Arctic Ocean route.

On the one hand, it was envious of China, which is sweeping the world’s major ports, businesses and mines based on its huge foreign reserves amounting to $3.1 trillion.

He said that envy means losing, but that is because he is buying the world based on his enormous financial strength.

I wondered what was sitting in the head of the Chinese leadership, which has such an economic scale and chooses all kinds of petty things rather than helping the world.”

The economic strength of 14 percent of the Thai population is also formidable, and the Southeast Asian route was feared to be dominated by China if the canal was breached.

On the other hand, if the canal was breached, it would be welcome from the perspective of Arirang Shipping.

“There’s no place where China hasn’t applied acupuncture.”

“Even if the canal is breached, it is unclear how many ships will be used. They say the canal fee will be expensive, considering the huge construction and maintenance costs.”

“Who gave you such a rosy outlook?”

“That’s what the data from Sweden’s intelligence agency says.”

“When did you ask him to consult with you? That’s pretty good.”

He complimented me because he asked a consulting firm to present detailed data without conducting a fist-of-the-hand investigation.

“There is a reduction in shipping distances to clear the canal, but there is a focus on getting out of the pirates’ threat. If pirates can disappear or fight effectively, the canal becomes useless. China will only spend a huge amount of money and it will be hard to expect operating profits.”

Min Se-seok, who reports, looked as if he was going to die by filing a complaint.

This is because Arirang Shipping ships armed with Lynx helicopters have no reason to use the canal.

They also said that if ships of our allies follow the Arirang shipping fleet, who would pass the expensive canal?

There was something that came to mind from the report by Min-seok.

The sudden emergence of more than pirate organizations in the Gulf of Aden was not intended to make inroads into the Gulf of Aden, but rather to pre-empt the canal project in the Strait of Malacca.

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