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Chapter 69: The Unfolding Power Struggle
Chapter 69: The Unfolding Power Struggle
Chapter 69: The Unfolding Power Struggle
The power of the 3rd Escort Fleet of the Maritime Self-Defense Force that approached the vicinity of Wonsan Port was tremendous.
It consisted of two Aegis destroyers, five destroyers over 5,000 tons, a helicopter carrier, and several escort ships.
With such a force in the coastal waters, it was impossible for the Korean Navy’s 1st Fleet to drive them away with its meager power.
The 10th Combat Brigade had joined them, but their main force was three destroyers and escort ships that were inferior in displacement.
If you consider the submarines lurking under the water, the power gap widens.
The Korean Navy crew were busy cursing the Maritime Self-Defense Force that suddenly picked a fight.
“What do they want to get by coming here?”
“Judging by the survey ship they brought, they’re probably after black metal.”
“Do they think they can take a big bite while we’re busy with war?”
“That’s too greedy… Even if we’re at war, there’s a line, right?”
“They’re in a very difficult situation if they don’t cross that line and take something.”
“They should have gotten along better with Chairman Yu.”
Brigadier General Park Seung-ho of the 10th Combat Brigade repeatedly sent communications to the Maritime Self-Defense Force, but he was furious when they didn’t respond.
“Those bastards are determined to do this.”
“Brigadier General, at this rate, the Wonsan Port operation will be delayed.”
That was the problem.
Originally, the 10th Combat Brigade and the 11th Combat Group were supposed to go north as they were, drive away the North Korean surface fleet, and attack Wonsan Port.
But the operation was disrupted by the arrival of the escort fleet.
No, it was enough trouble already.
“Why are they making a fuss here when they said they wouldn’t bother us?”
“I guess foreigners are not included.”
Now the Korean Navy had two choices.
Either attack Wonsan Port as planned, or pressure the escort fleet to back off.
With limited resources available, neither option was easy.
Then good news came to the 10th Combat Brigade.
“Brigadier General, we have a report that ship 9111 is coming up now!”
Hull number 9111 refers to the Kim Gu-class railgun destroyer.
“Why is it coming now?”
“I don’t know! The command center says to join them and proceed with the operation!”
It was an unbelievable schedule for a ship that was launched in February to be deployed in May.
The funny thing was that Shilla Heavy Industries actually did it and it was also a blessing for the Wonsan Port attack fleet.
The status of Kim Gu-class was unmatched even by combining brigades and groups.
But new information came in.
The helicopter that was patrolling around the fleet sounded an alarm.
-Missile speedboats and torpedo boats have left Wonsan Port.
They must have survived as a fortified base even after being hit by dozens of Hyunmoo missiles and bunker busters.
At the same time, coastal artillery fire that had been quiet until now began.
Now the attack fleet had to pay attention to Wonsan Port rather than Japan.
Ding ding ding ding-
“All hands to battle stations!”
—Styx missiles detected from Wonsan base!
—Anti-ship missiles confirmed from missile speedboats! Distance 45 miles!
—-Activate ECM on each ship and execute evasive maneuvers!
—We’re going into anti-aircraft defense now!
It was a disaster that happened because they were distracted by the escort fleet’s maneuver and pushed to the land side.
Each combat ship activated ECM and entered missile jamming when suddenly a golden beam of light was drawn in the air.
“What is that?”
As the officers on the bridge looked at the sea in confusion, Styx anti-ship missiles exploded in mid-air without penetrating the golden beam of light.
Boom!
The destructive power of a 0.5-ton warhead was no joke, causing a small tsunami.
That was the start of Kim Gu ship wedging itself between the Korean fleet and Wonsan Port.
As alarms blared loudly, iron beams were activated and dozens of lasers fired at anti-ship missiles and boats.
It was unbelievable from an observer’s point of view.
A heavy combat ship suddenly intervened and blew up anti-ship missiles with laser beams.
Not only that, Kim Gu ship activated railguns and fired projectiles in an instant.
Missile speedboats moving fast were erased one by one from radar screens.
“What the hell is going on…?”
The officers who were preparing for anti-air defense shook their heads in disbelief.
They were using all kinds of means to evade and defend against the air attacks, but the Kim Gu ship had single-handedly destroyed them all.
Dozens of anti-ship missiles, high-speed missile boats, and even torpedo boats were obliterated by the lone ship, clearing the radar screen.
Black smoke rose incessantly from the distant sea.
“Si-, situation over!”
Colonel Park Seung-ho asked again incredulously.
“Is the situation over? Are you sure?”
“Yes, yes! There are no enemy ships detected on the radar! It’s confirmed!”
“…He became a monster while we weren’t looking.”
Meanwhile, Colonel Lee Won-hyung, the captain of the Kim Gu ship, who had pressed the automatic combat button, stared blankly at the black smoke rising from the far sea.
He originally planned to just follow the fleet without engaging in any real combat.
It would be suicidal to fight with a crew that was not fully trained.
But he received an order from the Joint Chiefs of Staff to press the automatic combat button.
It was probably not the decision of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but of President Jo Hyung-geun.
He had no choice but to press the button, and then the artificial intelligence took over the ship and finished the battle by itself.
The only thing the crew did was to hold on to nearby objects to withstand the crazy maneuvers.
‘Do we need a crew for this?’
Of course, artificial intelligence could not handle everything.
It was evident by seeing more than 100 sailors and officers running around like mad.
But it was scary to see that it could handle the most important aspects of naval warfare and navigation by itself.
Maybe in the near future, Korea would become a world dominated by artificial intelligence.
Some might be enthusiastic about a fair world, but why would humans be needed if everything was done by artificial intelligence?
As he pondered this, Lucia was collecting data and identifying nearby warships.
Suddenly, the turret rotated quickly and aimed the long barrel of the railgun at something.
It was a Japanese reconnaissance plane that had been flying around and making noise.
The combat command room went berserk.
“Hey hey hey!”
“That’s not allowed!”
Puff puff bang!
An arc discharge exploded from the barrel and a projectile flew out.
…
…
The P-3 anti-submarine reconnaissance plane of the Maritime Self-Defense Force was flying leisurely in the sky.
It had been annoying the Korean fleet that had gathered to attack Wonsan Harbor, but it did not respond to their calls.
They knew that they could not do anything anyway.
Behind them were the 3rd Escort Flotilla, and behind them was Japan.
Korea, which was busy dealing with North Korea, had no room to pay attention to this side.
But they did not know that this sortie was entirely caused by the maritime chief of staff.
The Ozawa regime had already lost its trust and was being criticized by the people.
In such a situation, the Maritime Self-Defense Force wanted to salvage something from the Second Korean War.
-How about securing the black metal buried near Takeshima?
If they could secure it, they would be able to gain positive public opinion for sure.
Korea’s navy had no resources to deploy here because they were focused on North Korea.
And the railgun cruiser had not been operationalized yet.
They could build a hull quickly, but it would take years of experience to commission a new weapon system like a railgun.
-Negotiate after securing it and ending the war. Korea won’t be able to refuse our offer.
Japan assumed that North Korea’s nuclear missiles would devastate Korea.
They acknowledged iron beam, but perfect ballistic missile defense was impossible, and getting hit by a few nukes was inevitable.
—They won’t be able to maintain their nuclear stance either.
That was the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s judgment, and the defense minister and chief of staff turned a blind eye to it.
The Ozawa regime, which boasted of being the worst ever in popularity, thought that they could gain popularity in the next election if they could catch anything.
The first step was low-altitude flyby by reconnaissance planes that they had done before.
The P-3 Orion circled around the Korean fleet that had gathered to attack Wonsan Harbor and drew their attention.
They couldn’t attack anyway, so they planned to take advantage of their distraction and send a detachment to occupy the black metal deposit site.
But something went wrong.
A railgun cruiser appeared at an incredible speed and wiped out all of North Korea’s surface forces that had emerged from Wonsan Harbor.
The Orion crew shuddered as they confirmed dozens of missile boats sinking in an instant.
“…That’s really unbelievable.”
“Can we compete with that?”
“It’s just a mission. Korea won’t be able to attack us recklessly.”
Korea claimed this area as their air defense identification zone, but it had no legal binding.
Besides, they wouldn’t want to make Japan an enemy while facing North Korea.
The Orion crew made this judgment and flew low around the Yang Manchun ship.
That’s when the railgun cruiser’s turret rotated quickly.
Beep beep beep beep-
The fire control radar’s signal was detected and an alarm sounded.
The Orion tried to lift its altitude urgently, but something grazed its wing and passed by.
The sonic boom followed behind.
Bang!
Suddenly, the control stick became heavy and the altitude started to drop.
“We lost a wing! The hydraulic system is out!”
“Korea attacked us!”
As the Orion crashed with one wing missing, the escort flotilla that was waiting behind panicked.
“Admiral Izuchi, Korea shot our reconnaissance plane!”
“Those fools! Do they want to start a real war?”
Why did they have to provoke a conflict?
It would be best to just stand off until they entered Wonsan Harbor…
Admiral Izuchi Saburo clenched his teeth and watched the Orion fall into the sea.
“Admiral! We can’t stay like this! Give us the attack order!”
The chiefs suggested, but Admiral Izuchi could not easily give the order.
He was afraid of the accuracy and power of the railgun that hit the wing of the maritime patrol plane from an invisible distance.
And the purpose of the escort flotilla was to buy time by stirring up trouble, not to clash.
“…For now, call the Korean navy. We have to hold them accountable.”
“We called them on channel 10, but they didn’t respond.”
“Call them again! Bring those bastards out!”
As the escort ships were busy with the rescue operation, new news came in.
“Two unidentified aircraft are approaching rapidly!”
The escort flotilla was too focused on scanning the Korean fleet with their radar and missed the Russian air force’s SU-24 coming from behind.
“They’re dropping something on our expected course!”
Bombs exploded and water columns sprouted.
The 3rd Escort Flotilla tried to evade hastily from the bombs dropped by the two aircraft.
…
“…”
The staff at the Joint Chiefs of Staff were speechless as they watched the escort flotilla scatter.
After the Orion’s crash, a Russian long-range bomber appeared and dropped bombs, and then the Pacific Fleet showed up.
Moskva-class cruisers, Udaloy-class destroyers, and even Borei-class nuclear submarines revealed themselves.
They blatantly cut into the formation of the escort flotilla, and the Japanese destroyers were startled and avoided them.
“That’s satisfying, but…”
Admiral Izuchi Saburo clenched his teeth and watched the Orion fall into the sea.
The generals exchanged uneasy glances.
Why did the Russian fleet suddenly appear?
And why did the Kim Gu ship attack the Japanese maritime patrol plane before that?
There was no one here who could answer those questions.
President Jo Hyung-geun contacted Yu Ji-ha through the communicator handed by the secretary.
“Sir, there’s something strange going on in the waters off Wonsan. Can you explain?”
“The Russian Pacific Fleet? I called them.”
How was it possible for an individual to move Russia?
The president felt something like fear towards Yu Ji-ha for the first time.
“…Why did you call them? And why did you attack the Japanese patrol plane?”
“That’s to drive away the Japanese fleet.”
He said it so casually that President Jo wondered if that was true.
That’s not it.
“You could have just threatened them. Shooting down a patrol plane is not a trivial matter. Do you intend to provoke a conflict with Japan at this point?”
“Japan can’t protest about this. It happened without the permission of the prime minister.”
“Really?”
If it was the maritime self-defense force’s unilateral action, then the story would change.
But there was still a question left.
How did Yu Ji-ha know that?
“And the Japanese government owes me one. Once the escort flotilla returns, they will be dismissed one by one, from the maritime chief of staff to the others.”
“…”
“If Japan protests, tell them I did it. It’s Russia’s doing, so it’s ultimately my responsibility.”
His calm voice made President Jo put down the communicator.
He once admired him for being a great communicator and a driving force.
But now he was afraid of him.
He felt like this war was playing in his palm.
Do you feel the difference in power?
“Thank you for moving the fleet this time, Mr. President.”
“It’s nothing. It’s just a return for what Chairman Yu has done for us.”
Yu Ji-ha returned to his headquarters and talked to Russian President Putin.
They were talking through a satellite communicator dedicated to Russia, so there was no risk of being exposed.
The appearance of the Pacific Fleet made the Japanese escort flotilla scatter and retreat.
From the perspective of the escort flotilla, they might not mind fighting against the Korean navy, but they didn’t want to face Russia’s fleet.
But President Putin seemed curious about something.
“Lately, I’ve been quite perplexed. Do you know why? I thought that maybe Chairman Yu orchestrated all this.”
“I’m not a prophet, nor can I predict the future.”
“You seem to have waited for this situation, though. You asked me to back off from North Korea, as if you knew what would happen.”
“I didn’t intend it, but I did wait for it.”
“May I ask why?”
“War is another opportunity.”
“That’s a typical arms dealer’s remark.”
He was called that by not only the third world, but also by the European media that valued human rights.
The boycott situation had dragged on and his image in Europe was the worst.
Germany was a bit better, but they were being called Nazis by their neighbors.
President Putin’s voice became subtle.
“By the way, why did you choose Russia? You could have asked the US to mediate, and they would have done it enough.”
It was convenient.
The US was a democratic country and the president couldn’t decide on many things alone.
On the other hand, Russia only needed Putin’s decision to solve most things.
This was also true for this Pacific Fleet case.
If he had contacted the US, it would have taken a long time, and Congress would have interfered and made a fuss.
“I needed quick decision-making. That’s something the US can’t provide.”
“So you prefer that style.”
“And I didn’t want US intervention. They’re too big and intrusive.”
“What about Russia? Didn’t Chairman Yu just scratch our itch?”
He quietly watched and only provided necessary support, so Yu Ji-ha had no complaints.
“The timely support of the Pacific Fleet saved me from a lot of trouble.”
“Hahaha, I know Chairman Yu must have had a second move in mind.”
He said that, but his laughter revealed his satisfaction.
He would use this as an excuse to ask for a deeper relationship.
“Let me hear what you want from this war. We’ll help you get it, if Chairman Yu helps us too.”
“No questions asked or answered.”
“We’ve been patient enough so far. I hope Chairman Yu acknowledges that.”
“What do you want?”
“A full cooperation. I want to revive our economy with Chairman Yu. That’s what I mean.”
Russia was enjoying a good profit from its resource exports lately, but President Putin was not satisfied with that.
He wanted to revive his economy and restore the glory of the former Soviet Union.
But that was impossible without Yu Ji-ha’s full cooperation.
“…That won’t be free.”
It was a very arrogant thing to say to a president of a country.
But President Putin didn’t mind that.
He had the right to do so.
“Tell me what you want. I’ll provide everything.”
There wasn’t much that Russia could offer, but Yu Ji-ha needed it.
The US could offer it too, but they were not agile and their policy could change.
Think about it.
What if he signed an agreement with this administration, but the next one canceled it? How absurd would that be?
Yu Ji-ha had a long-term plan for decades, and he needed a force that could help him for a long time.
Russia was weak in human rights and its leader was a dictator, so he wouldn’t care what Yu Ji-ha did in the future.
As long as he didn’t infringe on their interests, that is.
And they had a moderate economic size, so they wouldn’t pose a big threat in the future.
China became like that because they were too big to be next to Megacity.
And that also applied to the US.
Yu Ji-ha asked casually.
“Would war and land do?”
“Russia will support you as long as we don’t suffer a fatal blow. And do you want the Kamchatka Peninsula for land?”
“It could be more than that.”
That would change the story.
There was no need to fight for it.
“Let’s discuss that later.”
He originally planned to take it away, but it was different if he offered it like this.
“Let’s talk about it after the war.”
“What about North Korea’s nuclear weapons? Do you want us to provide you with a nuclear umbrella? We’re willing to do that.”
“I don’t think I need a nuclear umbrella.”
“You mean you’ll solve it politically. I see, let’s talk later.”