Dictator From Outer Space

The warriors who followed Ahmad Masad into Kabul city with drones were shocked by what they saw.

“What is this…”

What did the corpses and piles of scrap metal everywhere mean?

It was impossible to wipe out such a force in such a short time.

But the gruesome scene before their eyes was not a fantasy, but the truth.

“Commander Masad, they are all dead!”

“The residents are too scared to come out, and there are no moving vehicles!”

Ahmad marched silently through Kabul city, listening to his subordinates’ reports.

As the drones that hovered around him flew away, screams inevitably followed.

He couldn’t help but laugh at this point.

The war they knew was never like this.

It was a war where snipers and rockets flew from everywhere, and they couldn’t even stick their heads out properly.

And yet, they had to sacrifice themselves to capture a stronghold.

But the war waged by the Korean entrepreneur was completely different.

“This is not a war…”

A one-sided massacre.

They had no idea what had been deployed.

The drones fought well, but they couldn’t flip over those armored vehicles.

And when they found a tank with a detached turret at the airport, they were speechless.

Ahmad looked at it with a dumbfounded expression and said,

“Uncle. Do you have any idea what we were up against?”

“I have no clue. It’s definitely not a weapon from the US or Russia that I know of.”

“It doesn’t look like it was hit by a rocket, judging by the lack of explosion marks.”

“It looks like that to me too. It’s as if a giant monster tore it apart.”

It was too absurd to believe.

Ahmad realized the importance of this incident as he looked at the traces of battle.

This was not something to be casually talked about.

It might be a secret more important than the Taliban.

Would someone with that much power let go of someone who leaked the secret?

He quickly told his uncle,

“Tell all the warriors. Do not ever reveal what we saw today to anyone.”

“It’s hard to contact the outside in our situation anyway, but I’ll do as you say.”

Ahmad cherished the business card that Yu Ji-ha gave him.

He said to contact him anytime if he needed support, but he wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

“And it would be good to impress upon the residents that we are not their enemies as much as possible.”

“That might take some time…”

The citizens of Kabul were people who had been under the influence of the US forces, so they were distant from Islamic extremism.

A destroyer, not a cruiser

The first week of February 2028 was a very auspicious day for the Korean Navy, or rather for Korea as a whole.

It was the day when the new railgun-equipped destroyer Kim Gu-class 1st ship Kim Gu was launched.

This destroyer was claimed by Korea to have a full load displacement of around 10,000 tons, but no country believed it.

The US and Japan estimated it to be 15,000 tons, and the construction photos captured by artificial satellites also roughly matched.

Especially Japan was obsessed with this destroyer, because of the initial model that had two railguns installed.

—It’s impossible to use two railguns with four gas turbines. What kind of ship is that?

—They even installed an iron beam sea type… Now this destroyer is an invincible ship with both offense and defense.

—Judging from the results in Taiwan airspace, it’s impossible to break through the iron beam unless you pour out hypersonic anti-ship missiles.

—What about early warning and control aircraft? It’s impossible to calculate firing parameters from long range without them.

—They decided to import Peace Eye secondhand from the US and it’s expected to arrive within February.

—The ion thruster is also a problem. The maximum 30 knots written on the spec sheet is rumored to be camouflage. Judging by the hull shape suitable for high speed, it might reach close to 50 knots.

—50 knots? Is it a cruiser or a speedboat?

Anyway, Kim Gu was an existence that made Japan’s headache worse.

Especially because there was no way to counter it that came to mind.

The Maritime Self-Defense Force Strategic Research Institute came up with a countermeasure to sink it by pouring dozens of Type 4 anti-ship missiles.

But it was unknown whether this missile could penetrate the iron beam.

If Kim Gu operated alone, it might be possible, but it was expected that it would mostly accompany a fleet.

It was impossible to sink it without breaking through the fleet air defense and iron beam of Aegis ships.

Some people in Japan said why not just confront it.

—Didn’t Yu Ji-ha have a condition? Just lend him the sea. Then the railgun and iron beam will be ours.

—Let’s be realistic. If the prime minister bows his head and the emperor visits Korea to create a mood of reconciliation, we don’t have to worry about this.

—Don’t you want to use unobtainium? If the prime minister shakes hands with Yu Ji-ha, we can make the next generation Shinkansen a maglev train!

But these voices were in the minority.

Most Japanese felt a serious security crisis from the railgun and iron beam that were distorted by the media.

Even though Korea had never shown a threatening stance to Japan.

And so, on February 5th, the entire Japanese archipelago was interested in Kim Gu’s launch ceremony.

In fact, not only Japan, but also the US, Russia, Britain, France, Australia and other countries with wide seas were mostly interested.

It was probably the first time that so much attention was paid to the launch of a single destroyer.

This ship was originally scheduled to be launched in May, not February.

But President Jo Hyung-geun personally visited Silla Heavy Industries shipyard and encouraged them and ordered the navy to cooperate for quick construction, so the schedule was greatly advanced.

The navy was cautious because it was a new platform and they didn’t know what defects would come out, but they had to swallow their tears and move up the schedule at the president’s insistence.

Thanks to that, night shifts became routine at Tongyeong shipyard and sometimes even QC was skipped.

The intention was to put the railgun destroyer into service in the second half of the year.

The result of all that was right in front of them.

President Jo Hyung-geun held a champagne bottle with an emotional expression, but had to put it down at the urging of his staff.

“Mr. President, breaking the champagne is usually a woman’s job.”

“Oh, is that so? I thought it would be fine for a man to do it too, but I’ll give in here.”

The first lady smashed the champagne bottle against the bow and confetti popped out with a bang.

Soon after, the railgun destroyer slid down the rail into the sea and bounced up.

“Kim Gu has been launched. We would like to thank all the dignitaries who have graced this occasion with their presence. Please give us your support with a hearty applause.”

When the launch ceremony was over, President Jo Hyung-geun called Yu Ji-ha and the shipyard president.

“When do you think it will be operational?”

“It will take until next year because of the trial period…”

They had been tormented by saying it was a special order from VIPs, but what can’t be done can’t be done.

“Really? That won’t do.”

The president who was about to express his negative position closed his mouth when Yu Ji-ha gave him a hint.

“Considering the mission of this warship, some equipment can be omitted.”

“That’s right, isn’t it? What kind of fancy decoration do we need? Just deploy it in real combat and fix it.”

“Real combat?”

The president blinked his eyes without understanding and President Jo Hyung-geun called Yu Ji-ha separately.

“It must be delivered to the navy by the end of June. Do you understand?”

“We will try our best to meet it even if we have to work all night.”

June was the deadline for the northern advance.

If they delayed any longer, the army that was undergoing harsh training would be exhausted.

Moreover, China had withdrawn a considerable number of troops from the northern front to suppress the Beijing riots, so this was their only chance.

Korea’s movement caused concern not only from the media, but also from the opposition and the United States.

North Korea also responded nervously.

―The Republic is different from China. We are ready to launch nuclear missiles at South Korea at any time, so it would be wise to refrain from rash actions.

But South Korea did not care about North Korea’s reaction.

With NCM warheads in their possession, North Korea’s nuclear missiles were nothing but scrap metal.

What South Korea really cared about was Japan’s recent attitude.

President Jo Hyung-geun said with a headache.

“It seems like Japan is going to conduct a nuclear test.”

Yu Ji-ha asked in a tone of ignorance.

“A nuclear test? When did they progress that much?”

“Oh, you don’t know, Chairman Yu. They have enriched plutonium quite a bit. They must have almost finished the simulation by now and are ready to do an actual detonation test.”

“That’s a big deal. I mean, for Japan, not us.”

How would the world react if Japan succeeded in developing nuclear weapons?

The reactions or sanctions of other countries did not matter much.

Japan, which was cornered, was prepared for all of that.

The problem was the United States.

They had turned a blind eye to plutonium enrichment and simulation, but they were unlikely to allow anything beyond that.

Japan’s nuclear development would lead to Korea’s nuclear development.

That was the result of interpreting it as favorably as possible for Korea.

“The staff came up with some scenarios, and if Japan succeeds in developing nuclear weapons, the result is that the United States will sanction them but tacitly accept them.”

“···They are worried about the power balance in East Asia being shaken.”

“That’s right. Japan doesn’t have railguns, ion thrusters, or iron beams.”

“The worst case scenario is that if Japan succeeds in a nuclear test, IAEA inspectors will swarm into our nuclear plants and monitor them thoroughly.”

“We don’t have anything to argue about, but having inspectors stay here will be a big burden.”

Japan is allowed, but Korea is not.

That was the worst scenario.

And this scenario required Japan to succeed in a nuclear test.

What if they failed?

Yu Ji-ha looked around and whispered.

“Mr. President, NCM warheads can be greatly reduced in size.”

His face brightened up.

“Oh…then you might be able to apply them to railguns?”

“Why not? If you wrap them in an insulator and detonate them, you can prevent a small-scale nuclear explosion.”

“Hmm…”

President Jo Hyung-geun looked serious.

If they used missiles, they would be caught right away, but railgun projectiles were too small to be detected.

It was a way to interfere without revealing NCM warheads.

It would make a sound, but they would only observe it with cameras from afar. How would they know?

The president’s mouth barely opened after a lot of thought.

“Good. Let’s do it.”

“Isn’t it nice to do our test along with theirs? It will work out well.”

“I like that better. Testing together… “

One fails and one succeeds.

It was almost obvious who would succeed.

…

Japan’s recent nuclear development had been noticed by quite a few countries.

They suddenly covered up IAEA cameras and refused inspections, which was suspicious enough.

Many countries urged them to stop through diplomatic investigations, but they did not budge.

They could not impose high-intensity economic sanctions either, because the world economy was already shaky due to the two-sided war.

Various economic research institutes reported that if China’s economy collapsed followed by Japan’s, it could lead to a great depression.

In the end, the key was the United States.

But the United States showed a strange reaction to Japan’s nuclear development.

On the surface, they showed a firm attitude by summoning ambassadors and sending defense ministers, but they did not take any real action.

They seemed to be watching passively for some reason.

The intelligence agencies of various countries interpreted it this way:

―The United States does not want the power balance in East Asia to be shaken from their perspective.

―South Korea has been putting Japan in trouble with several weapon systems lately. The United States cannot intervene, so they are watching Japan’s nuclear development.

―If Japan’s nuclear armament ends at the line, the United States might tolerate it.

Meanwhile, Japan was faithfully continuing its nuclear development.

They decided to build a test site in Hiroshima, located in Saga Prefecture, for the final stage of detonation.

Japan desperately tried to hide this, but it was impossible to escape the US intelligence network.

The White House officials looked at the map of Korea and fell into deep thought.

“South Korea’s military power is growing too much, Mr. President. They recently announced that they would jointly develop a new stealth fighter with Russia, equipped with ion thrusters.”

“Looking at the case of the two-sided war, five railgun destroyers can handle a naval force. I understand why Japan is reacting sensitively.”

“···”

President McKinley flipped through the screen and looked at the model of the Kim Gu-hoek destroyer.

As a result of satellite photography, it was bigger and more massive than the existing Korean Aegis destroyers.

It even boasted a size that was not inferior to the Zumwalt-class.

“A destroyer with that size? They should have called it a cruiser.”

“According to the investigation by the intelligence agency, there is a rumor that the core area is covered with black metal.”

“It is difficult to fire two railguns at the same time from the maximum range, but it is possible if the range is lowered.”

“It is impossible to use the sea-based iron beam and railgun simultaneously, but it can target more than 10 targets.”

It was also difficult to give a baptism of anti-ship missiles.

The more he heard the report, the more he lamented how such a crazy thing came out.

When South Korea announced that it would build a new railgun platform, the White House expected that at best, it would be a downgrade of the Zumwalt-class.

It was because South  Korea’s naval budget was tight.

But they canceled most of their plans, including light aircraft carriers, and resorted to a desperate measure.

They bet their future on the navy with railguns.

As a result, a crazy ship with an estimated displacement of 15,000 tons, two railguns, an iron beam air defense system, and an estimated speed of 50 knots came out.

“How are we supposed to deal with this?”

“We can handle it with an aircraft carrier group.”

“That’s not what I’m asking. Unless Korea goes crazy, they won’t antagonize us, right? I’m talking about other countries.”

“Well… We have no choice but to pour supersonic anti-ship missiles. Until they sink.”

The president sneered at his aides’ remarks.

“You guys saw the performance of the iron beam in Taiwan, didn’t you?”

It was a mess in Taiwan when they shot down China’s J-20 stealth fighters.

They tried to secretly take one out and dissect it, but Silla Group somehow found out and warned them that there would be no more cooperation if they did.

It was the same for the United States, so they couldn’t dissect it.

It was a thing that a private company did what the United States did when exporting weapons.

President McKinley frowned and flipped through the screen with his finger.

“This unmanned stealth fighter that Russia and Korea are developing… How did they agree to collaborate?”

“Russia is in charge of the body design and electronic warfare equipment, stealth. South Korea is in charge of the ion propulsion system and armament system, algorithm.”

“What is the expected performance? I know it’s difficult, but try to predict as much as possible.”

“I don’t know about anything else, but the maximum speed and range will increase tremendously. It could exceed 10,000 km without aerial refueling.”

“Considering the performance of Terra’s ion propulsion system, it could be supercruising all the time.”

“They don’t use it for passenger planes first, but for military use. And it’s unmanned.”

The United States was also one of the best in unmanned aircrafts, but that was when pilots were in charge.

They didn’t dare to think about unmanned aircrafts that operated autonomously in combat, let alone develop them.

But South Korea stepped into it.

It seemed like they collaborated with Russia because they recognized artificial intelligence in Korea.

President McKinley sighed deeply.

“I can understand why Japan is having a fit.”

“South Korea announced that all this was to prepare for North Korea. But it’s too excessive weapon system.”

“We have to support Japan at this point, Mr. President.”

Of course, President McKinley knew how often his aides met with lobbyists.

Even so, he agreed that this time he had to hand over the initiative to Japan.

Japan was in charge of the front line in the Pacific strategy.

Korea was like Taiwan in the second line, and it was not desirable to increase its military power excessively.

The president made a decision.

“If Japan succeeds, we will impose sanctions on some items. The duration of sanctions will depend on how sincere they are. And we will also limit Japan’s nuclear warhead numbers through negotiations.”

Humphrey asked.

“What if they fail?”

President McKinley looked at the map of Japan.

“They will never dare to develop nuclear weapons again. The world will make them do that.”