Empire of the Ring

Youngho quickly reported the Koç Holding Group’s suggestion to President Nazarbayev.

Of course, he did not forget to inform him about the relationship between the company and the Turkish government.

“What on earth is the Turkish ambassador doing that he doesn’t even know about this? All of the officials there are thieves.”

“Mr. President, how will the embassy find out such little detail? They’re already busy with their work.”

“Phew, I just can’t believe those guys. So, you’ve made some progress on this trip?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve been promised a 2,000-unit tactical armored vehicle assembly plant and technology transfer. And judging by the situation, I think we will be able to also assemble the latest tanks in Kazakhstan.”

“The latest version of the tank?”

“Yes, and the chairman said that he’d consider technology transfer for strategic weapons.”

“Why would they share that to us if they weren’t crazy?”

“The mineral they want is uranium.”

“These days, the price of uranium has gone up a lot, and everyone wants to produce it.”

While producing or trading highly enriched uranium that was used for nuclear weapons were strongly regulated by the international community, but uranium oxide, called yellowcake, was treated as a natural fuel. It was produced without restrictions and traded in the market.

Canada and South Africa also produced uranium, but Kazakhstan supplied 40 percent of the world’s uranium supply. Recently, the government had made such a high profit as the price surged from $16 per pound to $25 per pound.

“If we increased the amount of production a little, the price of uranium will fluctuate, but there’s nothing wrong with it. If the technology to produce strategic weapons can be transferred, we should take the deal.”

“Then, would you like to meet the chairman of the Koç Holding Group?”

“Of course, I’ll meet him. He’s the one who scratches our itching spots.”

“I’ll contact you as soon as you set the time.”

“So, you’re just doing an errand and not getting anything out of this?”

The old man was quick-witted.

Although he moved purely to increase the strength of the armed forces of Kazakhstan, Kaya, the chairman of Koç Holding Group, said he would hand over the weapons manufacturing technology to the autonomous state.

“He offered to hand over the weapons manufacturing technology and suit it to the state’s ability, but I’m thinking of taking over a different technology than making weapons.”

“What is it? Can you tell me?”

President Nazarbayev, who had been listening to the explanation of Youngho for about ten minutes, seemed excited.

“Nobody would think that we’re going to make it. Make a proper plane in the state.”

“Sir, it’s just a plane from a generation ago.”

“Well, it’s a start. So make a new jet and make a chopper. I’ll support you the funds.”

“…”

“I’ll even give you my money if you can make one. You know my property manager is Koryoin, right? I’ll send him to you, so tell me how much you’ll need.”

“I have some money, too. Your Excellency.”

“Make a decent plane of your own. If it’s made in the state, neither Russia nor China will notice it.”

“We don’t even have basic skills yet, but if we go too far in the beginning and fail, we’re only going to lose money without achieving anything.”

“There’s a lot of money I’ve been saving for Kazakhstan, so don’t be afraid of failure and just make it in secret. I want to see a jet passing through the Presidential Palace before I close my eyes.”

“Very well, sir. I’ll fly a propeller plane since you’re asking me.”

“That’s enough for me.”

The president was determined to provide his secret funds for Kazakhstan’s future. In order to protect Kazakhstan from a great threat, he was willing to increase its force even if he had to give up some land to Russia.

***

It felt like November just came, but December was already here, and winter was just around the corner.

Terrorism was bound to slow down when the weather got cold, but it was still taking place every day around the world. Terrorism was now becoming a routine and was accepted as an ever-present traffic accident.

People began to slowly become desensitized about terrorism and did not care if it was not a big explosion.

However, this was the most dangerous time since people were not on high alert anymore.

Sure enough, IS remnants were preparing for a special event, as they felt the effects of terrorism were reduced, and their presence was not highlighted.

This time, they were carrying out car bombs on power stations and factories that were supposed to be out of the heavily fortified metropolitan area. In a small town in Belgium, a substation was blown up, and the damage was enormous. Part of the land was completely paralyzed when the substation stopped working.

It was inconceivable that a city with a population of only 50,000 would stop functioning with only one substation blown up. Since then, similar incidents had taken place simultaneously.

“I knew they were crazy, but now they’re becoming more creative with their terrorism.”

“Hey, make sure the security guards are on high alert and fully prepared for attacks like that.”

Zeynep Security Service now focused mostly on private security duties, protecting the warehouse complex in Vladivostok and the offshore oil field pipeline. What was problematic was that the IS could damage oil fields and pipelines.

“Man, it’s driving me crazy. There’s no safe place anymore.”

“We need to get rid of the roots of the radical group.”

“Then there will be a religious war, as in the middle Ages. I guess the Europeans are paying the price of their past wrongdoings. They’ve been doing all sorts of things for hundreds of years, so they should be paying for it.”

Park Jong-il, Cha In-soo, and Cho Chul-hwan also flocked to Youngho’s office and were having a noisy discussion. Every morning they stopped by Youngho’s office for tea time, but today’s issue was the explosion at the substation the day before yesterday.

“Don’t you have a morning meeting in your departments? Stop talking and go out. Let me work, too.”

“Yes, prince consort. It’s your order, of course, we should be gone at once.”

“And finish your vigilante training properly before it gets colder.”

“What if the old men hurt their bones or something while rolling?”

“They’ve got the stamina to digest any combat training.”

“They just complained about why they need running when they’re riding around the armored vehicle all the time, and you want me to go harder on them?”

“They now took place in the Countryside Force. If we train them hard, they’ll be a great addition to our defense.”

“Oh, are you trying to keep the Vigilante Army?” ”

“Thanks to the vigilantes, we sleep with our feet stretched. Don’t just let this opportunity slip. Train them at the level of the Countryside Force and arm them.”

This time, Youngho intended to make the Vigilante Army the same level as the active-duty soldiers.

And this should be the case. The reason that Youngho wanted this to happen was that this would expand the Countryside Force’s activities. When the Vigilante Army was reliable enough to protect the autonomous state by itself, the Countryside Force could be on other operations in emergency

The state allowed a recent attack from the IS because the Countryside Force was deployed at a border area for an operation. Under such circumstances, it was unthinkable to temporarily vacate the county if there was no reserve force at the state. Now that there was a Vigilante Army, the Countryside Force could leave the state when there was an annual joint drill with the Kazakh Army without any worry.

Many mid-aged male residents who were familiar with guns had applied to become vigilantes, and their number already exceeded 600.

Thus, the state would be entrusting the Vigilante Army with the task of guarding the state, and the Countryside Force would be used as quick reaction forces.

“Did you transfer Hong Sung-ki to the plane production team?”

“Yeah, he’s got some errands to run.”

“A deputy Director of the Intelligence Department goes around without even reporting to his immediate superior. You’re not taking him out, are you?”

“No, I’m not going to take that talkative guy. You can have it all.”

“Man, I find this project hard to succeed. He’s messing around to build a poor propeller plane, but he’s not an expert or anything.”

“Well, it’s a matter of time. Don’t forget that you have to keep tight security on this project, just educate the guards well.”

“But will the president really give out his personal funds? Aren’t we going to get in trouble if we don’t show him any results?”

“I don’t care if he doesn’t pay me. He agreed to build a fighter jet anyway. That’s my goal accomplished.”

“Have you got any idea of how expensive the airline industry costs? I mean we don’t even have the basic knowledge and foundation technology for aircraft production.”

“We’re going to import everything from the fuselage to the parts and assemble them first. We’ll have to use them right away anyway, so there should be an import substitution effect.”

“We can’t even make a paper airplane, but you’re expecting us to make a helicopter and even a jet. It’s so much pressure especially if it comes from the president.”

“Well, they say your drizzling will wet your underwear and a camel’s back will break from carrying straw. If we keep making airplanes, we’ll eventually make propellers and jets.”

“What about engineers? Are you trying to kidnap them from somewhere? That’s why Hong Sung-ki’s so busy these days, am I not right?”

Jong-il was indeed fast to notice.

Hong Sung-ki, who boasted himself as the best person to talk to about Russia-related stuff, told Youngho that he would bring Russian aviation engineers.

There were a lot of engineers in Russia who were fed up with low pay and poor working conditions. On the surface, they seemed to show great loyalty to the nation, but many of them were critical of the system and eager to get out of it at the earliest opportunity if it presented itself.

Building an aircraft would not be all that difficult if the Russian engineers’ knowledge and skills about it were top notch.