Empire of the Ring

Chapter 613: Bridgehead (3)

The Kazakh royal family announced that it would launch an icebreaker to and from the Arctic Ocean in Greenland.

When the port of Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, was said to be a base, Greenland’s residents welcomed it with open arms.

Up until now, four icebreakers owned by Denmark had been opening sea routes around Greenland but failed to effectively remove the ice.

Icebreakers owned by the Danish government were not as big as the icebreaker owned by Arirang Shipping that would cross the Arctic Ocean, but the Danish government did not have a large icebreaker as it having a huge icebreaker was not economical.

Therefore, Denmark never dreamed of going out to other seas because only the waterways to Denmark were open during the freezing season. However, as the Arirang Shipping’s icebreaker was in the 20,000-ton class, it was free of restrictions and was able to travel the Arctic Ocean anytime throughout the year.

An icebreaker with such expectations appeared at the port of Nuuk today.

However, not only the icebreaker but also two warships appeared on the sea, so the residents crowed on the pier like clouds.

The two warships were Aegis destroyers belonging to the Kazakh royal family, which were training in the Arabian Sea.

On the side of the ships, the numbers 1001 and 1002, respectively, were written in Arabic, and on the stern, it read, “Aleksandar” in English.

Aleksander was the first name of the Kazakh Queen, Fatima.

The sea off Greenland in May was still covered with floating ice.

“Commander Jun, I guess the winter’s still not over here.”

As Youngho said it in a worrisome voice looking back at Commander Jun, he responded as if it was nothing.

“It is reported that ice and icebergs appear on a regular basis during the summer months as well. They won’t have much impact on the icebreaker’s hull. We’ve searched the area with radar, and stationed guards at the bridge so we won’t miss them.”

“Yes, nothing is as accurate as the human eye.”

Various suspended goods, such as fishing nets and fishing grounds, were not detected by radar, so the arrangement of guards on the deck was necessary. It was especially so because the performance of radar could deteriorate in bad weather.

As the Royal Navy decided to sail to the Arctic Ocean for the first time with the icebreaker and two Aegis destroyers, Youngho joined the journey from Copenhagen to Greenland despite others’ opposition. He decided so because he trusted the power of the warships nicknamed as God’s shield, and he also wanted to check the situation of the Arctic Ocean.

The North Atlantic Ocean in May was extremely wild.

Youngho could endure it because of the ring’s power, otherwise, he would have suffered from seasickness. Since he would not have known the situation in the North Atlantic if he had not followed along this voyage, he thought that it was a good decision to have joined it.

During the voyage, there were various shooting exercises in international waters, and the warships’ precision of accurately targeting imaginary targets was impressive. They clearly proved to be great strategic weapons.

No matter where the fleet containing the Aegis destroyers went and carried out the operation, there seemed to be no need to worry. Perhaps that’s why the soldiers’ morale was very high. As Aegis destroyers were not shaken by the high waves that they had never seen in their life raised the morale of the soldiers.

When the fleet was leaving the Baltic Sea, it met an Aegis destroyer that belonged to the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Fleet. Surprisingly, the U.S. fleet showed respect to the Aleksandar ships of the Kazakh Navy by firing a salute. This made the pride of the soldiers soar in the sky.

A gun salute was a typically fired when a warship entered a foreign port. It usually put up the country flag of the foreign port and fired a gun salute. Getting such respect from the world’s most powerful U.S. Navy was an exciting moment for the Kazakh soldiers.

It seems that the U.S. Navy made a surprise show because the Kazakh Royal Navy informed neighboring countries in advance of the fact that the naval fleet was going to Greenland.

Anyway, it was a great pride that this happened on the Kazakh navy’s first voyage. It would be a historical event of the Kazakh Navy.

“Your Highness, under these sea conditions, it was an excellent decision to build a bridgehead in Greenland.”

Although the harbor was small and did not have the capacity for many ships, being able to stop in Greenland allowed sailors to unwind from hard work and restore their tired bodies from the Arctic waves. This was a major maritime transportation hub that ships could dock for a short time and get ready to enter the Arctic Ocean.

“The port needs expansion, but it doesn’t look easy with the given port situation.”

The ice was melting and the earth was exposed, but the downside was that the ground was still frozen and the ground was weak to build more facilities on the ground.

“Let’s take time to figure out how we can do so. But isn’t it still great that we can dock here?”

“Of course. It’d be great if we can have such a bridgehead in the Indian Ocean as well. That way, our merchant ships will be able to go a little further, could you find such a place?”

“I think Madagascar, southeast of Africa, is a good candidate. After this voyage, I will travel to that route to see if it’s a good fit.”

***

The port of Nuuk was small, so the icebreaker and the Aegis destroyer stayed outside the port. Youngho arrived at the port with a high-speed boat from the Aegis destroyer.

Hearing the news that the Duke of Kazakhstan arrived at the dock, all the residents came out to greet him. Cho Chul-hwan also greeted Youngho at the pier, accompanied by about ten members of Royal Bodyguards dressed as security company guards.

“Your Highness, welcome to Nuuk.”

“You didn’t have to come out here to greet me. I would’ve gone to the Thule base to see you. I wonder if the guards are doing well at the base?”

“The Thule base is such a well-equipped facility that everyone started work right away after unpacking their belongings. It was rather more difficult to set up a liaison headquarters here. We don’t have a proper building to live in, so we’re waiting for the City Hall to offer us a site.”

“I brought prefabricated building materials and technicians on the icebreaker, so you could use them later.”

“All right.”

“You look great, Captain. Do you like this place?”

Commander Jun also greeted Chul-hwan.

“Commander Jun, you must’ve undergone a lot of trouble on the rough sea, haven’t you? I’ve only gained weight because I’ve been so comfortable here.”

Later, Youngho and Cho Chul-hwan met up privately at the temporary office of the security team at the port of Nuuk.

“Is there any place to use as a bridgehead around the port of Nuuk?”

“I’m going to have a liaison office here and concentrate heavy weapons on the Thule base.”

“That’s up to your judgment. And what else?”

“I need about two light planes. I think we need private planes to get around the Thule base and this place freely.”

“Would 4-seater and 8-seater planes be enough?”

“That’s enough. And I’m thinking about how to adjust the duration of the soldiers’ dispatch here.”

“Didn’t you say it’ll be a six-month shift?”

“These guys are asking for it to be a year-long shift.”

“They want to extend their dispatch further?”

“I’ve been here for a couple of weeks, and it’s been amazing. It’s not much different from Kazakhstan in terms of the weather. People here are naïve and nice. Some married guards want to move here at all. I think the first reason is that they get paid a lot if they worked here, and the second reason is that education here is better than we thought. Besides, the living standard here is much higher than the one in Kazakhstan.”

“In that case, you could arrange that only for the crew who desire to do so. Since Greenland is our bridgehead, we’re planning to stay here for even a few decades, if nothing happens.”

Youngho and Chul-hwan initially thought that Greenland was a harsh place to live, but it turned out that it was not so bad at all. The winter weather in Kazakhstan was not much different from the winter in Greenland as it was 20 to 30 degrees in Celsius below zero, except that winter was longer here.

“Aren’t they having too much fun hunting seals?”

“That’s also undeniable, too.”

“Or are they falling in love with girls in Greenland.”

“That’ll be more fortunate. We won’t have to try to get married.”

“Is there something else?”

“There’s an open alluvial mine around the Thule base that anyone can take, and that could have played a part in that. It seems that the guards here have also changed to be like a particular person I know.”

Cho Chul-hwan was referring to Youngho.

Although Youngho’s ears were suddenly opened to hear about alluvial gold mine, he managed to maintain his composure.

“Do I look like a person who’s crazy for gold?”

“Oh, it’s your word, not mine.”

It seemed that the royal bodyguards were also fond of gold. As far as Youngho knew, he had never seen anyone hate gold.

“Man, you are acting weird today. What’s wrong with you?”

“What are you talking about? Hey, by the way, how come you didn’t bring anything I asked you to do?”

He seemed to be looking forward to something from Youngho and was grumbling because Youngho was not releasing it quickly.

In cold places like Greenland, native people tended to rely on alcohol, so the government of Greenland was strictly restricting the sale of alcohol. Thus, the only complaint of the guards deployed here was that they could not enjoy drinking that they loved.

Youngho bought some drinks in Copenhagen, but he was careful to show it to Chul-hwan as it could be seen as disrespect to the local rule.

“I thought so, so I brought some emergency medicine.”

“Then you should have told me already. You’ve been making me sick.”

“Divide properly. I don’t want any trouble among the guards.”