Empire of the Ring

Malaysia and Singapore, which were living on the profits made from businesses of the Strait of Malacca, had fiercely opposed the canal since 2004 when Thailand was planning it.

If the canal was breached in Thailand’s ‘Kra’ area, Singapore would lose all of its profits from the port.

With the opening of the Suez Canal, Cape Town, South Africa, had lost all of its advantages as a stopover, and Singapore would be the same.

In the early days of planning the canal, Japan and South Korea were also interested in the construction, but the project did not come to light as Singapore and Malaysia fiercely protested.

Over the years, however, the need for a “Kra” canal had resurfaced as pirates had been rampant in the Strait of Malacca.

This was because the pirates’ presence had raised ship insurance premiums and cost a lot of money to send warships to the Strait of Malacca.

In this situation, China offered to provide capital to Thailand’s Kra Canal Construction.

He cited the safety of trade routes in the name of canal construction.

The reason was that pirates were threatening China’s trade goods that passed through the Strait of Malacca.

The cause was plausible.

“Sir Eriksson. According to Min-seok’s data, China is drooling over the canal project in the Strait of Malacca. It’s insisting with a reason that pirates are back on their feet.”

“…”

“I can’t get rid of the idea that China has orchestrated the Gulf of Aden’s tensions to win the work on the Kra Canal.”

“Your Highness, it’s too much to conclude that it’s China. Strangely enough, but there’s no reason for China to take such an irrational risk. The Kra Canal is the territory of Thailand. It’s not even in its own territory.”

“China knew that Thailand couldn’t afford the huge cost of construction. Would China, which wants to expand its influence in Southeast Asia, begrudge the cost?”

“Then why is it bothering us in the Gulf of Aden, not the Strait of Malacca?”

“It’s intended to call attention to each country and a warning that Malacca will turn the same soon. On the other hand, it would have included a desire to advance into the Arabian Sea.”

“After hearing your words, I have a rough outline.”

“China is trying to catch two rabbits at once. It wants to make inroads into the Arabian Sea and expands its influence in Southeast Asia.”

“Your Highness, then we can persuade Thailand.”

“Why are we persuading Thailand?”

He asked again what this was about.

“If Thailand doesn’t want to work on the canal, wouldn’t it be back to point zero?”

“We don’t want that to happen. The canal project must be made with Chinese capital. Instead, we have to make the canal useless. If pirates could not exert their powers, ships don’t have to pay expensive fees to use the canal.”

“You mean we Kazakhstan will take the lead in the fight against Malacca’s pirates?”

“We don’t have to. Our ships can go around armed like they are now. If the Lynx helicopters escort our fleet of ships, we can cope with even the smallest warships. That means you don’t have to use the canal.”

“Now I know what your intentions are. That would make the costly canal useless.”

“From now on, we are going to make a big fuss about investing in the canal project.”

“I’m sure China will try to monopolize it. It’s trying to influence Southeast Asia, so it’s not going to share its stake.”

“Of course it will. So, I’m going to just fall back at the crucial moment. I’m sure Korea and Japan are very interested in the canal project, so they’ll be snooping around, too. Then China would be anxious and rush at it.”

He intended to trick China into making a huge investment in the canal project that would be useless in the future. With this scheme, it might end up spending more than it planned to.

“China has a huge foreign exchange reserve, so would it be bothered by spending more costs?”

“That’s a loss as it is. And the canal project won’t go smoothly either. Malaysia and Singapore could use force. Is there any country that can afford to stay still when the new canal reduces its national income? They’re going to try to sabotage it. They’re not the countries to be underestimated.”

The military strength of Singapore or Malaysia was strong enough that China could not recklessly treat either.

In particular, Singapore’s air power was the strongest in the world.

Of course, China’s armed forces were much stronger, but it had to fight against the disadvantage of being in waters far away from home.

And the U.S. would not just wait and see China making inroads into Southeast Asia.

Similarly, the Kazakh Royal Navy would also advance into the Strait of Malacca in the name of protecting its ships.

China would face numerous difficulties both inside and outside even before the canal project began. The chance to avenge the terrorist attacks in the Gulf of Aden was slowly approaching.

***

There was no further terrorist attack on the ship belonging to the Kazakh royal family, as the Kazakh navy relentlessly attacked the suspicious ships. Instead, its allied warships were being targeted by the terrorists. On top of that, the pirates started to act out again.

The Kazakh navy had been able to deal strongly with other ships because they were targets of terrorism, but the warships of the combined fleet had only been lukewarm about the pirates as they only chased them away. It was because of the international norm that sublated killing in any situation.

Despite that, the Kazakh navy did not hesitate to sink the pirates in the sea in the name of preventing terrorism.

Then, a funny situation occurred. The combined fleet informed the Kazakh navy of the pirates they had found. This meant that since they could not deal with the pirates, they wanted the Kazakh navy to take care of them instead.

Now, even fishing boats avoided the Kazakhstan flag in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea. If they wandered around for no reason, they would be mistaken as pirates and would be punished.

The Kazakh navy had long ignored the international human rights groups.

It had long been rumored that the Kazakh navy was ruthless, and even the Kazakh royal ships were armed with heavy machine guns and 20-millimeter guns. In addition, the fleet was equipped with Lynx helicopters.

Commander Jun of the Aegis 1001 on guard duty in waters near the Gulf of Aden was boisterous in a telephone conversation with the Duke of Kazakhstan.

“Yes. Your Highness, I think we can withdraw the Aegis destroyer now. There are no more attacks on our ships. We can send frigates in rotation for the guarding duty just in case.”

-Then head straight to Copenhagen. The Arctic Ocean fleet is leaving in a week, so you can join it.

To test whether the Aegis destroyers could overcome the winter in the Arctic Ocean, it was decided that the destroyers would join the Arctic fleet. The Russian government also made clear in advance that two Kazakh royal warships were sailing in the Arctic Ocean.

“The Russian navy has called for a joint operation in the Arctic Ocean.”

-I guess Russia was also very curious about our Aegis destroyers.

“Russia asked if the visiting officers can be on board during the joint operation, and I’m wondering what to do.”

-Get them on board and show them everything. If they experience our intelligence, they’ll fear us even more.

“Do you mind if we reveal our strength?”

-We intend to show our strength rather than hiding it. That way, they won’t treat us recklessly in the future.

“I see what you mean. I’ll do as you say.”

-Show off our Lynx helicopter’s operational capability and anti-air defense capabilities. You could show off ship-to-ship missiles if necessary.

“You mean to fire a missile?”

Commander Jun was stunned to hear that he could launch a missile that cost close to a million dollars.

-Let’s show the capabilities of our navy. Don’t begrudge spending it. Only by showing that, can we flatten the nose of Russia.

Youngho wondered what the response would be if the training was conducted as if it were a real game without sparing the cost. Russia was in such a dire situation that it could not even shoot a gun for a test because of its economic difficulties, so it would be worth seeing if the Kazakh Navy fired a million-dollar-worth missile in front of the Russian officers.

***

On the deck of the Aegis destroyer, sailors were breaking frozen ice.

Thick ice was formed on the deck and railing because of the spray of water overnight.

Just six days earlier in the area on the Gulf of Aden, they were operating air conditioning but ever since they entered the North Atlantic, the weather got cold that they could only withstand it by operating a boiler.

Commander Jun, who watched the sailors in thick uniform freezing in the cold, told them to withdraw from the deck and looked at the sea map.

The sea map marked 18 degrees east longitude and 69 degrees north latitude.

This was off the coast of Norway’s Tromsø port.

It was planned to meet the Arirang shipping fleet in two days, which departed from Copenhagen, Denmark, so there was some time to spare.

For now, he reported to the Kazakh Royal Polar Development Company in Tromsø that Aegis 1001 and 1002 ships had arrived. He intended to replenish oil and drinking water and allow soldiers to go out for a short time.

As two giant warships floated off the coast of Tromsø, people on herring fishing boats took pictures hovering around the warship as if they had never seen anything like that before.

-Captain. You may enter the port. There’s still room at the dock. But there’s only a room for one vessel left, so we’ll have to moor in parallel.

“It’s a good thing that there’s a place to moor. Thank you, Branch Head. Let’s go in and have a drink.”

-We’ve already given the entrance notice, so the tow ship should be there any minute. I’ll see you at the pier.

When he was done drinking a cup of coffee after finishing the call, crude towboats arrived.

Towboats came at the front and back of the Aegis destroyer and led it to the harbor.

The Branch Head of the Royal Polar Development Company was waiting at the dock.

“Captain Jun. It’s nice to see you. It must’ve been a long voyage.”

“Compared to you struggling in the cold, it’s like going on a cruise.”

The Aegis destroyer was a ship with perfect facilities that could be compared to a hotel, rather than a warship. It had a medical room, a fitness center, a PX, a laundry room, a barbershop, a library, and even a guardhouse inside the ship.

“There’s a rumor going around that you’ve done a great job in the Gulf of Aden. Reporters will be interviewing you soon. Will you accept that you’re coming?”

“Of course I’ll accept any interview. It’s a great opportunity to announce the prestige of the Kazakh Royal Navy.”

This was a good opportunity to promote what punishment the Kazakh Royal Navy had imposed on the terrorists who threatened Arirang Shipping in the Gulf of Aden.

The more Kazakh Royal Navy promoted its ruthless action for pirates or terrorists, the more the shippers who used the Arirang shipping company would feel security as the ships roamed the five oceans.