Empire of the Ring

Buying Meltemi Island was processed in a snap.

As the Kazakh royal family was personally buying the island, there were no complicated steps although it was buying land of Greek sovereignty. There had been many cases where the islands off the coast of the Aegean Sea were sold to foreigners.

The construction of the military facilities, however, was a touchy part, but the Greek government actively agreed, as the Kazakh royal family claimed to act as a buffer against Turkey.

Turkey pressed Greece with its power to claim some of the islands of the Aegean Sea as its territory. Lately, the situation of the sea had been tense, and Greece was getting tired of Turkish provocations.

The U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean had been trying to defuse tensions over the Aegean Sea, but now the Greek government was willing to trust the Kazakh Royal Navy to take over the baton.

The U.S. government had already agreed to give the role to the Kazakh Royal Navy as it would take off the burden from the U.S.

“Your Highness. Are you satisfied now?”

“Yes, I feel like we’ve been renting a place to live in until now, but it’s great that we can finally build a proper base.”

Looking at the island of Meltemi, Youngho felt satisfied.

Even if he had the right to use the port of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates or the port of Chabahar in Iran, he was only borrowing those places.

“Meltemi Island is bigger than we thought, and we can expand the port, so it would be great to use it as a ship repair shop and ammunition distribution base. What do you think?”

“What? You want to use it as a repair shop and ammunition supply base?”

Eriksson made a bold and refreshing suggestion even though he did not have a military base.

“Were you going to send every ship with minor repair needs to the Danish Shipyard?”

Even the best-made electronic or mechanical equipment was bound to have small and large failures due to defects in the manufacturing process or poor handling.

It would be ridiculous to drag a ship operating in Arabia to Denmark to fix it. Even if they could do so, the absence of ships being repaired would also lead to a huge power gap.

“I didn’t think of that before.”

Youngho flushed to think that he missed something really important.

“I thought you were buying an additional island with that in mind.”

“This is why I have to listen to many people’s opinions. If Lord Eriksson hadn’t told me, I would have been flustered when the problem occurs.”

“New vessels won’t have problems right away, but we’ll soon have parts to replace. Now that the ships in operation, it’s not too late to prepare.”

“If we’re going to build a dockyard, I’d like to make it up to the level where precision weapons and electronic components that can be repaired.”

“Yes. It may not be the level of technology that makes a finished product, but it needs to be similarly leveled to prepare for an emergency.”

“If there is a weapons repair shop on the island, we should also look for a place to test-fire.”

“I think the priority should be to choose where to put the ammunition storage. We have to keep our missiles and artillery, which is a lot of firepower.”

Weapons such as missiles that were highly explosive could not be left out in the open.

It was common knowledge to store weapons and ammunition in concrete structures or in a solid cave.

“It seems we have more work to do. In order to have to mount missiles, there must be a weapon room where experts reside.”

“I guess we have to find engineers to live there.”

“That’s worrisome. Who would come forward to relocate to a place where cultural facilities were lacking? That’ll be hard to expect from white engineers. We’ll have to call the technicians from the royal territory. It won’t be easy.”

Although the royal territory was not a big city, it was now equipped with great facilities and cultural amenities such as a department store and a few big theaters for people to enjoy.

However, people in Meltemi Island would have to travel to the island of Crete, which was the largest island in Greece, to enjoy their cultural life. It took a lot of time to travel by ship, so people would have to visit Crete on a propeller plane, so which technician would live on the island at the risk of such inconvenience?

***

If Arirang was a rectangular island, Meltemi was stretched out like a worm.

There were three or four ports, and the survey showed that only two of them would be plausible to use.

The majority of the residents lived near the eastern port with sandy beaches and shallow waters. It was on the side of the Arirang Islands.

There was another port in the west on the opposite side, but it had been shunned by residents due to its lack of sandy beaches and deep water.

Small fishing boats were also unable to dock due to its topographic position where it was not protected from the Mediterranean wind.

The ships owned by the Kazakh royal family would not be affected by the waves and winds, but a breakwater along with a dock was essential for effective ship repair.

So Youngho was head-to-head with the manager of the shipyard in the royal territory to select the location of the ship repair shop. The manager, after looking at photos of the island taken by satellite and drones, nodded and opened his mouth.

“Your Highness, there is a flat site on the right side of the bay, so I think it would be okay to make a dock for ship repair here.”

“Isn’t it too much to make a dock and a full ship repair shop on a small island?”

“It is very useful to have a dock facility to build a trap repair shop. I’ve heard that the Danish Shipyard is overwhelmed with ship orders and not able to handle ship repairs now. How can it fix the urgently needed warships in time? If we’d be increasing the number of warships, we can’t expect the Danish Shipyard to do all the jobs for us. A dedicated repair shop is essential.”

“But if we’re going to build a large repair shop on the island of Meltemi we’re going to have to start by attracting engineers right away.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

“…”

“It’s a good place to approach with ships operating in the Baltic and Arabian seas. I believe there are elements that the shipbuilding engineers of the royal territory will love.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yes. Most of the engineers of the Arirang Shipyard are from Georgia. Just think about it. They are the people who were born and raised in places as warm as here.”

Arirang Shipyard’s engineers were from the coast of southwestern Georgia, facing the Black Sea. When the shipyard they had been working for was on the verge of bankruptcy, they were forced to move to the royal territory.

Since they had never seen snow all their lives, they had a hard time adjusting to the harsh weather in Kazakhstan. Still not adjusting to the cold, the work performance became poor when the weather began to get colder.

They worked to live on, but most of them still went on a vacation to the Black Sea during the Christmas season.

Engineers from Georgia were still missing a warm place.

For that reason, even if the island was isolated without cultural facilities, they would be willing to volunteer to come.

“I don’t know if they’d want to go to a place where there are no educational and cultural facilities.”

“I don’t know about young people, but old people like me who are about to retire would compete with each other to go. It’s hard to adjust to the cold weather.”

“Great. Then, let’s get volunteers.”

If this would work, his biggest concern would be easily solved.

There were plenty of ship engineers and engineers who worked at the weapons labs and various ammunition factories in the royal territory.

Anyone who had tasted the harsh winter in Kazakhstan would not mind the island of Meltemi even for some uncomfortable living conditions.

“Your Highness. Can I go to Meltemi Island, too? Now, I’d like to leave my job to someone else and go serve the island, so please allow me.”

The manager showed his intention to step down carefully. He said that no one would mind a warm island, and it seemed that he was one to think so.

“If you go, who will lead the shipyard in the royal territory?”

“The size of the shipyard has become too big for me to manage. I think it’s time for me to step down. I’m not a man of extraordinary skills. I’ve only been there because of your kindness.”

“It must have been very hard for you to bear the cold here, too.”

“That plays a part too, but I’m asking you this because it’s a new place that’s just starting. I think it’ll need help from someone like myself.”

“That sure is an important place. I’d be relieved if you would serve there. If you have anyone in mind who can replace your current position, please make a recommendation.”

The island was a strategic base of the Kazakh navy, so someone trustworthy should be in charge of it. The person who had been in charge of the shipyard in the royal territory was the right person for the Meltemi Ship Repair Center.

Meltemi and Arirang Islands were the last bastions of Kazakh royal naval forces, so they should be managed by someone who knew Youngho’s heart well.

The U.S. once called Greenland an unsinkable aircraft carrier, but the two islands in the Aegean Sea would be the inviolable aircraft carriers of the Kazakh royal family.