Empire of the Ring

Although the Chinese government was intensely against the Kazakh Duke’s visit to Kashgar, it could not do anything when Youngho visited it.

It was because Youngho did not have to cross China to get there but only needed to cross a Kazakh federal state, Tajikistan.

Although it was an autonomous republic within Chinese territory, Chinese administrative power could not reach it.

Youngho stayed there only for two days, but its aftermath was enormous.

His visit to Kashgar spread the awareness that Kashgar was a separate entity from China and proved that Kazakhstan was a country that was not interrupted by Chinese pressure.

While Youngho was there, he also publicly made it clear that Kazakhstan accepted Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as a partner, which was quickly issued by the media.

The Chinese government did not know what to do as Kazakhstan took such reckless actions before it knew it.

There was nothing China could do as everything already happened in a quick manner. All it did was to denounce Kazakhstan to the UN.

It would have conducted an armed protest at the border in the past, but now it would not be a threat to Kazakhstan. It was because any exchange with China was broken already when the border was shut down.

However, Kazakhstan could not let its guard down as the Chinese government would retaliate in any way.

The entrance security of the Arirang royal territory was tightened all of a sudden.

Not only the police but also royal bodyguards were patrolling all over the territory, so Youngho asked what was going on to Cho Chul-hwan.

“Why did you heighten the security all of a sudden?”

“It’s a routined heightened security training.”

It was the first time police and the royal bodyguards working together in guarding duty since the armed dispute with China, so it was less convincing to say it was a routined training.

“You’re only scaring the residents. Why don’t you ease the security?”

“I don’t think the Chinese guys will let it slide so easily since we provoked them badly this time.”

Cho Chul-hwan was worried about a potential Chinese unpredictable move.

“Don’t you think we are reacting too sensitively? There’s no military movement at the border. I don’t want to be seen as being wary about China.”

“It’s better safe than sorry. There are so many foreigners coming in and out of the royal territory these days. It’s also to alert the residents, so just follow my lead. Haven’t you thought about this from the perspective of the Chinese government? It won’t have any further problems if only the Duke of Kazakhstan can be removed.”

“I get that, but we have to think about how this will affect the economy of the royal territory. Why can’t you do it more subtly?”

If the rigid atmosphere continued for long, people’s daily activities would be limited. They were bound to feel uncomfortable when random inspections were conducted frequently.

“There is a need to deliberately show that our security is heightened as a preventive measure. I don’t want to say this, but what if the Chinese government is planning an assassination? This is the least I can do.”

Chul-hwan’s concern could be needless, but there was nothing wrong with preparing for a rainy day.

“Okay. If you’d feel relieved by doing so, do as you want.”

***

When Russia’s technology transfer began, the U.S. government also began to move quickly.

As it became anxious, it gave consent for establishing Boeing’s Apache helicopter assembly plant in Kazakhstan.

It was because the Kazakh Federal Kingdom’s arms demand was great and the U.S did not want to lose its big customer to Russia.

The recent change in the constitution of Azerbaijan by the national referendum also played a big part as it allowed the Kazakh royal family to intervene in Azerbaijan’s foreign affairs and defense.

This indicated the stretch of the Kazakh border followed by high arms demand.

Also, most of the Kazakh border consisted of rough mountainous areas, so attack helicopters were most effective among other defense equipment.

Not wanting to lose such a big market, Boeing proactively lobbied the U.S. government to get its consent to establish an assembly plant in the Kazakh royal territory.

Cho Chul-hwan was assigned to represent the royal family and to be in charge of the construction of the plant. He was at a meeting with Boeing representatives.

“Kazakhstan is the biggest client of your company, but you’ve been neglectful so far.”

Cho Chul-hwan let out a complaint as soon as he sat down.

“Commander, I have no words to say, but please understand our position. We are a private company, but we can’t ignore the U.S. government’s policy. It’s a huge achievement of our lobbying that we’ve been able to get the consent of the U.S. government this time.”

Alex, who was the vice president of the helicopter department of Boeing, made excuses with an embarrassed face.

There were not many countries that could purchase more than 30 Apache helicopters every year.

“The Russian side is willing to sell Havoc helicopter to us and we’re in the middle of negotiations. I’d like to hear about your company’s suggestion.”

Chul-hwan mentioned Russian Havoc helicopter (Mi-28) since it was the only helicopter that was equal to the Apache helicopter.

It was a kind of a show since there were no such negotiations with Russia going on.

Upon hearing about Havoc, Alex was flustered.

His company’s radar had been receiving complaints from clients, and if Kazakhstan disappeared from its client list, he would have to worry about next year’s sales.

“If we start the assembly production in Kazakhstan, we’re planning to greatly reduce the price of the helicopter, and we will transfer our main technology boldly as well.”

Hearing what he wanted to hear, Chul-hwan smiled inwardly, but he kept his stern face.

“I assume you know about Russia’s technology transfer of Sukhoi Su stealth jet. Our defense department thinks that we won’t have to buy more attack helicopters if we have that technology.”

At Cho Chul-hwan’s response, Vice President Alex jumped up from his seat.

He was anxious to think that the deal would be off.

“Commander, you’d know it well, but attack helicopters have their own function. Also, in order to maintain the best condition of preexisting attack helicopters, you’d have to disjoint and reassemble them once in a while. For such a purpose, you’d need an assembly plant. Not to mention that you’d have to replace worn-out components frequently.”

“I guess the repair plant we have is not enough to maintain the best condition of the helicopters. Then are you saying we made a useless investment?”

Alex just realized that there was a preexisting repair plant while emphasizing a new assembly plant, but he could not take it back.

“Commander, you know very well that Apache helicopters are far better than Russian Havoc helicopters.”

“I believe Havoc is better in terms of pilot’s viability.”

Cho Chul-hwan slowly began driving the wedge in.

As far as he knew, Havoc helicopters’ strength was in the maximized viability of pilots.

“Our company’s product’s pilot viability is also higher than that of other helicopters.”

Alex argued as hard as he could, but frankly, he was not confident in the issue of pilot viability.

The negotiation went on, but there was nothing to say anymore as the ball was already in Kazakhstan’s side.

No matter how great the performance of Boeing’s Apache helicopters, it was not competitive against Russian Havoc helicopters in terms of the price, defense, and pilot viability.

Especially in a country like Kazakhstan, which prioritized the lives of its troops, it would focus on viability rather than performance, so Boeing had to make concessions.

Thus, Boeing decided to increase the viability of pilots for the helicopters that would be assembled in Kazakhstan even though their speed would be decreased due to increased weight, not to mention the reduced cost of the helicopter.

Hearing about the negotiation result, Youngho laughed out loud.

“You should go to foreign negotiation tables from now on instead of Jong-il.”

At Youngho’s words, Jong-il teased Chul-hwan.

“They say that every man for his own trade. I guess you are good at something too. But this negotiation was rather an easy one because Russia was behind us.

“What? Are you kidding me? It’s not as easy as you think.”

“Hahaha….”