Chapter 114: His Specialty is Self-Written Plays
The United States had initially declared that they would not intervene in this crisis.
They had some justification since they had been attacked by terrorists, and they had also suffered a similar fate in the past.
However, this only applied if President Yu Ji-ha maintained a reasonable line.
If the Democrats’ claim of a Muslim genocide came true, they planned to intervene immediately.
But surprisingly, Yu Ji-ha focused his efforts on Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
There were some question marks on the strength of his fleet, but it was somewhat convincing.
It was a combination of black metal, artificial intelligence, ion thrusters, and hafnium-2, which were all the things that Yu Ji-ha had shown so far.
The technology level was impressive enough, but it had been more than a year or two, so they had become immune to it.
The United States had also developed its own railgun cannons and ion thrusters with basic capabilities.
Of course, they were inferior in quality and performance compared to Yu Ji-ha’s products, but they could not stop developing.
Who knew if someone who could match him would appear someday and bring about innovation?
Anyway, the United States had no intention of intervening unless Yu Ji-ha moved the battlefield to the real Middle East, that is, the Arabian Peninsula.
Afghanistan was doubtful if it had a government at all, and Pakistan was better off being on the losing side considering its relations with India.
And Iran was also a typical anti-American country, so Yu Ji-ha’s actions were like scratching their itch.
As long as the situation did not worsen, that is.
They were watching the situation when an urgent report came to the White House.
Pakistan had entered a de facto nuclear attack procedure.
This was news from the Indian intelligence agency, which said that Pakistan’s nuclear missile Shaheen-2 used solid fuel, making it difficult to detect early warning signs.
The missile’s range was only up to 2,000km, so the target was presumed to be the United Human Federation fleet in the Indian Ocean.
President McKinley immediately contacted Pakistan and was able to talk to President Zahir.
“Nuclear attacks are absolutely, absolutely unacceptable.”
“He says he’s going to kill us all. Do you still say that?”
“He doesn’t mean it.”
“Then withdraw your fleet. Or get a confirmation that he won’t attack us.”
Well, that seemed impossible.
It was not the United States, but any country in the world that could not do that.
Yu Ji-ha was furious and determined to crush the Taliban, who were behind the terror.
It was not unreasonable for sparks to fly to the two countries that supported the Taliban.
Anyway, the United States was in a very headache-inducing situation.
They had declared that they would not intervene, but suddenly they looked like they were stuck between two forces.
President McKinley cursed at the Indian Prime Minister who had hit and run and warned him one last time.
“Listen carefully. The United Human Federation fleet has a power that we can’t even touch. If you provoke them foolishly, you’ll pay a big price.”
“I’ve heard about Antlions. But they can’t stop dozens of them at once. They showed their weaknesses in that war in Asia.”
Was that really true?
According to military experts’ analysis, the United Human Federation weapon system often downgraded its specs on purpose.
A typical example was the ion thruster, which initially only produced about 40 tons of thrust by clustering when it was developed.
This was not much superior to the current civilian rockets.
But after steadily improving the ion thruster for about a year at Starfield, they finally made a suborbital plane.
It was impossible even with Saturn V rocket, which boasted the highest thrust ever.
DARPA suggested that they were not developing but removing limiters.
There were various problems such as narrow diameter of ion tubes or shorter electromagnetic rails than expected.
If that was true, then even ion Beam could have been significantly upgraded in specs.
It was deployed before the Yang’an War, so it was nonsense that it still had the initial specs.
President McKinley emphasized instead that the fleet could submerge.
“Those ships are actually submarines. It’s doubtful if they can conduct military operations while submerged, but if they detect signs of ballistic missile launch, they can submerge right away. It’s much faster than filling water into ballast tanks.”
“That makes me want to shoot before they’re ready. Who knows if you’ll give them information.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll never do that.”
“Withdraw your fleet from the Indian Ocean and we’ll cancel the launch procedure immediately.”
It seemed that he had to talk to President Yu Ji-ha.
It would hurt his pride, but it was better than having a nuclear explosion in the Indian Ocean and India stepping in.
They were already in a fierce conflict with Pakistan, and a full-scale nuclear war might break out.
President McKinley was about to take a breath to persuade him when it happened.
Humphrey, the national security adviser, came in and quickly wrote on the board.
—Multiple ballistic missile launch flashes detected near Peshawar, Pakistan. It’s where India told us they had TELs. At least 20 or more. Reported by the National Reconnaissance Office.
Damn it.
President McKinley barely held back his curse and growled.
“You were trying to buy time by talking to me, weren’t you?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you just launch dozens of ballistic missiles? They must have nuclear warheads since they can’t have conventional ones.”
“No, no. I didn’t give the launch order!”
President Yu Ji-ha’s voice changed as if it was about to tear.
If this situation was a deception, then this man should have been an actor instead of a president.
“You’re responsible for what your subordinates did. You might be lucky that there were no casualties.”
He coldly hung up the phone and received a report from the Secretary of State that the 5th Fleet had evacuated.
“Do that. It’s a shame to miss such a good show.”
It was a chance to watch the United Human Federation fleet operation nearby, but he regretted it.
President McKinley thought carefully.
It was possible that it was a coup by the military, but it was still a mystery why these things happened often when Yu Ji-ha intervened.
He had seen such phrases frequently when he read the report on the Second Korean War.
—North Korea fired artillery shells as if they were possessed, and this became the trigger for the war. Even though they were not in a position to conduct a war at all.
—The death of former President Jo Hyung-geun was also not investigated enough. Although he had a nickname of Uncle Bukjin because he had a hasty personality, he could not explain his strange behavior.
—In many ways, the Second Korean War was full of doubts from the beginning to the end, and Yu Ji-ha, who acted as an authority, hurriedly ended all investigations.
At that time, they concluded that Yu Ji-ha had nothing to do with it because he took responsibility, but it was strange when he included this terror.
Maybe he planned all this…
Despite these suspicions, the reason why the United States kept silent was because Yu Ji-ha guaranteed enough benefits for them.
In other words, they could expose those suspicions at any time if they thought that Yu Ji-ha violated their core interests.
He just hoped that he would not do that.
Soon after, Shaheen-2 ballistic missiles entered the pull-up maneuver.
They reached their peak altitude and then descended again, rising once more to make it difficult to calculate their trajectory.
But it didn’t seem to work on the fleet lying in the Indian Ocean.
They had to penetrate ion Beam and Antlion warheads, which was quite difficult even for the United States.
If they made a mistake, they might end up making more debris for them.
‘What if he took all this into account and provoked an attack…’
In that case, Pakistan was being played by him.
He couldn’t have made that decision alone, so someone must have pushed him from behind.
An ally who had been close since before…
President McKinley’s delusions that were close to the correct answer continued while Shaheen-2 ballistic missiles began to fall over the Earth Fleet’s head.
Shaheen-2 was a ballistic missile completed with China’s support.
It couldn’t be called precise with a CEP of 350m, and its final maneuver was also straightforward.
But it was still a ballistic missile, so its speed when it hit the fleet’s head was tremendous.
The Earth Fleet’s air defense system detected the ballistic missiles and launched missiles with Antlion warheads.
There was no deception on Shaheen-2’s nuclear warheads, so they were busy making fireworks in the air when Antlion warheads detonated near them.
But the anti-aircraft missiles were not perfect, and 10 nuclear warheads penetrated the air defense network.
The Earth Fleet’s last line of defense was high-power ether laser.
The drone ships and supply ships without air defense systems immediately submerged, and the remaining combat ships started intercepting ballistic missiles with ion Beam.
Before gaining speed, golden beams crisscrossed the sky.
The ether laser with enhanced output easily blocked up to five of them.
Shaheen-2’s nuclear warheads had no countermeasures against such high-power lasers, so they caused explosions near the fleet.
The explosions got closer to the fleet and reached eight times when fragments began to hit the deck hard.
And the last one succeeded in breaking through all air defenses and entering.
The railgun combat ship did not submerge but focused on air defense with ether laser until the end, but it could not stop the warhead from detonating.
And then a nuclear explosion occurred in the Indian Ocean.
The paint on the surface of the combat ship flew off and most of the parts that were not black metal melted down and stopped functioning.
A fierce blast hit and scattered parts everywhere without any sense.
After the explosion subsided, only a silent railgun combat ship remained.
The other combat ships that had submerged in advance surfaced from other waters and salvaged the railgun combat ship and disappeared somewhere.
Meanwhile, the ships of other countries that were busy evacuating sent radio messages to their home countries.
—Shaheen-2 warhead detonated, nuclear explosion occurred in the Indian Ocean.
—The United Human Federation fleet submerged, but for some reason the railgun ship stayed and focused on air defense.
—They succeeded in intercepting dozens of ballistic missiles with anti-aircraft missiles and ion Beam, but they failed to stop the last one.
—The railgun ship that was hit by the nuclear warhead seems to be disabled, although the hull is intact.
This information was delivered to several countries, including the United States, Russia, India, Britain, and France.
The leaders of each country wondered why the railgun ship had focused on air defense until the end.
They could have escaped since they could submerge.
Rahul Gandhi, the Indian Prime Minister, gave an assessment that he was concerned about the radioactive contamination of the Indian Ocean.
—Shaheen-2 was not powerful, but it was still a nuclear bomb. He must have been worried about widespread radioactive contamination.
—The United Human Federation fleet wanted to protect the Indian Ocean even if they lost their ships.
Of course, France and Britain expressed doubts about this report from their intelligence agents.
—Logically, the fleet should not have stopped if they were worried about radiation contamination. If they had been moving, they would not have dared to launch a nuclear attack.
—They pretended to care about peace after provoking the attack, how disgusting.
—Regardless of their intention, this nuclear attack revealed that the United Human Federation’s fleet was not invincible.
—Black metal itself was fine, but the equipment inside could not withstand the energy.
—Pakistan’s nuclear warheads were on the low end of the spectrum, and yet they did this much damage.
—If they were strategic nuclear warheads from nuclear powers, they would not have been able to resist them.
—The problem was that they could not catch the submerged fleet.
—Submarines are the answer. The United Human Federation must not have a sophisticated detection system, so we need to increase our submarine force.
—When the heads of state of various countries were pondering this, Earth Fleet faced a second attack.
—Tactical aircraft, including F-14s that took off from Iran’s air force base, swooped in.
—The air defense force also launched CJ-100 hypersonic cruise missiles that they had imported from China years ago and had been saving for a long time.
—These missiles could reach speeds of Mach 5, making interception extremely difficult.
—The United Human Federation’s fleet, which had evacuated to prepare for a nuclear attack, seemed unable to withstand it.
—However, the situation changed when the drone carrier that had been submerged until the end surfaced.
—Twenty Caliber drones separated from this carrier and soared into the air with maneuvers that humans could not endure.
—Iran’s tactical aircraft were generally outdated and even the F-14s could not perform well due to lack of parts.
—In such a situation, it was impossible to deal with Caliber drones.
—These shark-shaped unmanned aerial vehicles easily dodged Phoenix air-to-air missiles and lowered their altitude to engage in dogfights.
—A rare sight in modern aerial combat, where BVR, beyond visual range combat, was common, occurred.
—The F-14s hastily dropped their anti-ship missiles and scattered flares while raising their noses, but Caliber drones ignored all that and shot lasers precisely at their engine nozzles.
—As relatively modern aircraft like F-14s were shot down one after another, other tactical aircraft were busy fleeing, but this time they became prey to ion propulsion missiles.
—A short time later, hypersonic cruise missiles covered the United Human Federation’s fleet.
—However, Earth Fleet, which had defended against 29 nuclear warheads, easily handled about 20 cruise missiles at Mach 5.
—Railguns and ion beams activated to defend against cruise missiles approaching the fleet.
—Cruise missiles exploded sequentially on the side of the fleet, creating a spectacular fireworks display.
—Of course, the defense system was not perfect and missed one shot.
—As a result, fragments of cruise missiles swept across the deck of the integrated firepower ship, but there was no significant damage because the material was black metal.
—The fleets of various countries witnessed this situation indirectly and were amazed.
—I thought hypersonic missiles would be effective, but they were not at all.
—Mach 5 is not enough. We need something close to Mach 10.
—The unmanned aerial vehicles mocked F-14s of equal or greater numbers and shot them down. It was clear that no fighter of this generation could match their maneuverability.
—The most impressive thing was the durability of that fleet. It seems difficult to inflict damage with conventional warheads.
—Nuclear warheads are needed. At least warheads using hafnium 2 explosives.
—The United Human Federation was founded not long ago, but they have gathered such power… They will do more in the future. We need to increase our defense budget and strengthen our military power.
—The battle in the Indian Ocean was short but left a strong impression.
—Countries such as Russia and India were satisfied with the outcome and decided to spend more money to strengthen their relations with Yu Ji-ha.
—Countries such as Britain and France showed their wariness of the United Human Federation’s power and decided to increase their defense budget significantly.
—There was no law that prevented the United Human Federation’s fleet from advancing to the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Indian Ocean.
—And the United States, which watched this situation closely, had mixed feelings.
—Politically speaking, it seemed right to be friendly with Yu Ji-ha, but the Democratic Party that would take over the next administration did not think so.
—They realized that the United Human Federation had reached a very threatening level.
—If they continue to grow in conjunction with Korea, they may try to divide the Pacific Ocean in half someday.
—Maybe they will become enemies of the United States after the Soviet Union and China.
—What the United States wanted was for Korea and the United Human Federation to be loyal poodles, or at least obedient dogs on tight leashes.
—But their master, Yu Ji-ha, did not seem to have any such intention.
—The United States had a bitter experience of leaving China’s rise alone in the past and suffered a lot as a result.
—Although they collapsed on their own due to the Cross-Strait War, they could not repeat that.
—They did not even notify the US Navy of this scale of operation in the Indian Ocean.
—We can’t leave their actions alone any longer. It’s time to give more power to China and Japan.
—The Democratic Party thought so and mobilized the next candidates to pressure the White House.
—There was still some time left until the election, but President McKinley, who had already entered lame duck, could not refuse.
—And so a secret tripartite meeting began.
***
“We have expelled the Taliban from Kandahar.”
“That’s good.”
—Yu Ji-ha was looking at the situation from the bridge of Settler.
—The guerrilla war with the Taliban was gradually coming to an end under the overwhelming offensive of drones.
—Their forces numbered tens of thousands, but so did the drones deployed by this side.
—The exchange rate was close to hundreds to one, and they had all kinds of information, so it was an operation that could not fail.
—In just three days, the Taliban in Kandahar were wiped out and the city was occupied by drones.
—The city of 550,000 people was tense from the constant fighting and people were starving due to lack of supplies.
Yu Ji-ha requested Russia’s intervention at this point.
“Ask them to send some food by transport planes. And talk to India too.”
“The Prime Minister’s Office has secretly offered to provide food aid.”
India had gained a lot from this battle, while the three countries suffered severe damage.
They might have a headache with the refugee problem in the long run, but they must have felt relieved that Pakistan, their old enemy, was on the verge of collapse.
“Accept it if it’s not too much to ask.”
It was hard to feed 550,000 people, but it was not impossible if both countries helped.
—Yu Ji-ha decided to deploy androids at this point.
“Send down a few and confiscate the assets of the Taliban’s top brass.”
“They have a major villa in Qatar. Should we send a letter there too?”
“They were the type to impose strict laws on people while eating pumpkin seeds behind their backs.”
“People who are strict tend to be more decadent. Not that I’m saying Master is like that.”
“I don’t have time or leisure for that. And did Fatima enter Panjshir?”
“Yes. She is currently meeting with the resistance leaders and persuading them.”
“We have no choice but to build a megacity around the Registan Desert. Panjshir may be good for defense, but it’s too narrow.”
“The scenery was nice too.”
“…Anyway, there aren’t many people there, so there won’t be any problem bringing them over if we persuade them.
It’s better to build a new one since Afghanistan has no infrastructure to speak of.
The rugged terrain of the Hindu Kush mountains also hinders development.
We will eventually connect the megacities with super-commuter trains, but the high peaks of thousands of meters above sea level are nothing but obstacles.
Yu Ji-ha looked at the map of the Middle East and crossed out Iran and Pakistan with an X.
“They attacked us, so they need some feedback.”
The main targets were not them, but they had to pay the price and it was better for the megacity.
Arma asked.
“How will we respond?”
“Send them back to the Middle Ages, if not the Stone Age.”
“I’ll take care of it right away.”
And so hundreds of missiles equipped with antitrons and hafnium 2 warheads rose from three integrated firepower ships.
Earth Fleet submerged after that attack and did not show itself again.
And a few minutes later, despair struck Iran and Pakistan.
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