Empire of the Ring

Chapter 693: Royal Fleet (1)

The Greek government immediately accepted the Kazakh royal family’s offer to manage the whole Kasos Islands.

Leaving the management of its islands to another country meant that it had no strength to protect its own waters, and the Greek government was desperate for help.

Since the royal family of Kazakhstan had been effectively managing the port of Piraeus after buying it from Greece, the Greek government could trust the royal family.

Kazakhstan needed a forward base close to the Suez Canal, and Greece needed a country that could keep Turkey at bay.

Turkey and Kazakhstan were allies, so there would not be any conflict. The existence of a buffer called Kazakhstan was an opportunity for Greece to escape from the tiring territorial dispute against Turkey, so it did not matter whatever Kazakhstan was going to do with the islands.

This mutual understanding led to the Kazakh royal family managing the waters around the Kasos Islands.

Park Jong-il looked proud when he entered Youngho’s office after his visit to Greece.

“What do you think? It’s my diplomatic skills that got us the Kasos Islands at no cost. This isn’t something anyone can solve.”

“Great job. I didn’t know the Greek government would accept it unconditionally.”

“The Greek government is very appreciative of our royal family. They said we’re the only country that actually helps out Greece while others are trying to take advantage of its problems. By giving us the Kasos Islands, they expect a corresponding role from us. Turkey keeps making territorial provocations, so we should be responsible to stop it, but I don’t know if Turkey will hear us out.”

“Turkey is also in a position of regret without Kazakhstan’s raw materials, ranging from grain to oil.”

If Turkey would press to take over the stone islands in the Aegean Sea, it would have a conflict with the Kazakh royal family, potentially risking raw material imports from Kazakhstan. Moreover, it could risk its relationship with Kazakhstan’s other ally, Azerbaijan. So, it was very unlikely that Turkey would oppose the Kazakh royal family’s ownership of the Kasos Islands.

“The Greek government would have been after that, too. The government officials definitely seemed to want to use our relationship with Turkey.”

“It’s rather good. Wait and see, the more the Greek government relies on us, the more our position in the Mediterranean will be strengthened.”

“We’ve already gained a solid footing. The U.S. government or companies have never owned ports or islands in Greece.”

“What would you describe U.S. naval bases all over the Mediterranean? When European countries give their ports to the U.S., there’s a reason. That’s because they have a debt to the U.S. since it helped them get out of hunger and achieve economic development before and after World War II with its support.”

The United States was the country that liberated Europe during World War II.

If the U.S. had not intervened, the war would have been prolonged indefinitely, or some of Europe would have fallen into the hands of Germany.

For that reason, European countries were heavily indebted to the United States.

Europe was quickly able to heal the scars of the war with U.S. support.

Of course, the U.S. had done so for its own benefit, otherwise, it would not have moved at all regardless of the war.

Likewise, Youngho was moving with a thorough profit-and-loss calculation, even though he seemed to be involved in a wide range of things.

If the Greek government used the Kazakh royal family as a shield, it would have to pay that price.

Youngho was not going to lose the power to influence the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean that he had acquired.

Until raw materials and industrial goods produced in Kazakhstan spread to the world through the Mediterranean Sea, he could not be satisfied.

***

“My princess is always asleep every time I come home. How beautiful are you going to get?”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a saying that beauty sleeps a lot.”

“Oh my! So you’re saying I’m not a beauty since I can’t sleep well?”

Youngho did not mean it that way, but Fatima was taking it in the wrong way.

“Honey, of course, you are a beautiful woman.”

Fatima was having a hard time because of Ljubica’s changed sleeping habits.

Even a good-natured Fatima had become cranky when she lacked sleep.

Youngho hugged her and comforted her quickly as he was not able to help her babysit their baby daughter.

“She must have no idea how her dad looks like. It’s obvious since she laughs when seeing Leon or Jelyan but cries whenever she sees you.”

“What are you talking about? She woke up last night, so I lifted and hugged her, and she was trying to talk to me, let alone crying.”

“Huh! She must have not seen who it was because of the dark.”

It seemed he needed to be with Fatima today.

Even if he had a lot of things to do, if Fatima’s mood was terrible, it would impact his outside work. Peace in the family made the outside work better.

“Shall we take the children out to the Ural River?”

Fatima’s expression brightened a little when he asked.

“Are you not going to the office today?”

“Looking around the royal territory is also my duty. When I go out with you, it’ll be like inspecting around the river.”

“You seem very busy these days. Just go to work. I’ll take the kids on a yacht to the Ural River.”

“I need to take a break, too. I need to play with the kids.”

“Okay, but what about Ljubica? You can’t take a sleeping child.”

“How can we go on our own? We will take her anyway. She will wake up by the river wind.”

When the royal family said they were sailing on the Ural River, the royal knights and the security officers were on alert.

The queen, the crown prince, and the princess were going out all at once.

The great security status of the royal territory was well-known in Kazakhstan, but it was always nerve-wracking from the standpoint of the security guards.

Recently, Syrian migrants had just entered the territory, and their actions were unpredictable.

The Kurds were united under Princess Jelyan, but the Syrians were forced to migrate to the royal territory after being pushed away from Europe. That did not mean they were hostile, but it was just unpredictable.

There were several docks on the Ural River with the largest dock dedicated only for cargo followed by the second-largest dock at the royal shipyard.

The next was the Royal Navy’s dock, and there was a dock for fishing boats, which served as a forward base for domestic fishing. Lastly, there was a general dock where boats and yachts could be moored.

The royal yacht, which Youngho mainly used for fishing, was placed in the naval dock.

The naval base was very busy welcoming the queen’s party.

Commander Jun, who had just returned to the royal territory, was also there.

“We’ll have to move the yacht moorings somewhere else. If you greet us this loudly, doesn’t that mean we shouldn’t come sailing?”

“Hahaha... Your Highness and Her Majesty have visited the naval dock in a long time. Of course, I should greet you.”

“What do you think? Is submarine education worth it?”

Commander Jun had been briefly educated at a submarine base in the Russian White Sea.

In order to lead a large-scale mobile fleet, he insisted on learning about nuclear submarines even though he would not be in the submarine.

“Two week’s education was just a smattering. I wanted to get trained until the end with the rest of the crew, but I had to take a look around the Mediterranean islands of Kasos and Seychelles, so I hurried back home.”

As the conversation with Commander Jun was prolonged at the dock, Leon, Jelyan, and Rena, who were already on the yacht, called Youngho to come quickly.

“Your Highness, let’s talk about business later and get on the yacht. Her Majesty is watching.”

Fatima’s face sagged when he promised to take a day off and kept everyone waiting for work again.

“Commander Jun, why don’t you come with us and steer the yacht today? That way we can continue our talking.”

Then Victor Jun asked Fatima for an understanding.

“Your Majesty, I’ll be your escort today. Would it be okay if we went downstream?”

“Goodness. It’s good to have a veteran navigator steering our yacht, but aren’t we bothering you on a busy day?”

“It’s never a bother to serve you.”

“Then I won’t feel bad to have you on the yacht with us today.”

When the royal yacht left the dock with a loud engine noise, two 100-ton high-speed boats escorted it in the front and back.

In the sky, an Apache helicopter was circling in the distance to escort the royal yacht.

When the yacht departed, the children and Fatima settled by the window and were busy looking at the scenery along the Ural River.

Sitting side by side in the cockpit, Youngho and Commander Jun were continuing to talk about work that had been suspended.

“Your Highness. We’d like to place one of our nuclear submarines at the islands of Kasos, what do you think?”

“You were supposed to deploy both vessels to the Seychelles Islands, weren’t you?”

“Strategically, we believe that there should be one in the Mediterranean. The Indian Ocean has an Indian submarine and an Aegis destroyer, so we don’t have to deploy two nuclear submarines. Since it’s close to the Suez Canal, a submarine at the Kasos Islands could have an impact on the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea.”

“It sounds like a good arrangement. Submarines on the Seychelles Islands only need to be in control of the Indian Ocean and African Seas.”

“We plan to deploy three of the frigates that will be ready next month on the Seychelles Islands and operate them as two mobile fleets on a trial basis.”

There were a total of nine used frigates acquired by the British Navy, which were being retrofitted to missile ships with the latest equipment sequentially mounted at the Danish Shipyard.

Three 5,000-ton frigates were also being built at a shipyard of Koç Holding in Turkey.

If three Aegis destroyers built by the Danish shipyard were launched additionally, it would create a powerful navy that was untouchable.

“The multi-purpose landing ship will be integrated next month, and it won’t have much role.”

“The multi-purpose landing ship is of no immediate use, so I’m thinking of using it as a support ship for the Indian Ocean mobile fleet. It’s so big that we don’t have to operate a supply ship separately. I will write out the plan and submit it to you soon.”

“We are transforming as an oceanic navy. Now it’s time for the Navy to have an admiral in place.”

“Your Highness, did you say Admiral?”

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