Chapter 107: That’s a nuclear hit, right?
President Yu Ji-ha was very popular.
Not only among the citizens, but also among foreign politicians, celebrities, and leaders.
But to Secretary General Baek Seongmin, he had never seen him so high in demand as he was now.
He had been on the hotline with the major powers, and then he had a conversation with the head of a Middle Eastern country that he barely knew the name of.
‘He’s been on the phone for almost three hours…’
He should be exhausted by now, but Yu Ji-ha’s voice was unchanged from the beginning.
“My wish for peace in the Strait of Hormuz remains valid. However, the act of setting fire to our embassy must be condemned. If Iran does not take responsible measures, I will consider using force.”
No matter who he talked to, he ended with getting their consent for using force.
Even with the US president.
“Didn’t I ask you to stay quiet for a while…?”
“Don’t forget that the ones who started this were the fanatics of Iran. You don’t expect us to just take it, do you?”
“Is it normal to point a gun at someone who just clenches their fist? I heard that your Cheonghae Unit has already entered the Strait of Hormuz.”
“They haven’t entered yet.”
“…You know very well that the Strait of Hormuz accounts for more than 30% of the world’s maritime oil transportation. If the situation drags on, there could be an oil shock.”
“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen by wrapping things up cleanly.”
“You’re not thinking of using that new explosive, are you? That’s absolutely not allowed.”
“I’m not asking for permission.”
It wasn’t a nuclear weapon, so he was just informing them.
President McKinley was furious, but he couldn’t directly intervene in the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, which wasn’t even in the Indian Ocean.
If the US Navy got involved, things would get more complicated.
The Strait of Hormuz was already narrow and full of reefs, limiting the routes that oil tankers could pass through.
From the air, you could see the ships lined up in a row.
Currently, more than 40 oil tankers weighing over 100,000 tons were trapped in the narrow strait.
If an aircraft carrier entered, the situation would get out of control.
But if he left this crazy man alone, he didn’t know what would happen next. It was a headache from all sides.
President McKinley gave him some serious advice.
“Of course, I have no doubt that President Yu has the ability to resolve this situation. But I would like to suggest a diplomatic solution.”
“You want to mediate?”
“According to the information I received, the main culprits of this incident were not Suleiman Rahbar, but the superhumans. They are the problem.”
“They have strong support from the Iranian people.”
“So you’re going to kill all the Muslims in Iran?”
“I’m not going to kill them all, but they have to pay for burning down our embassy. What would you do if your embassy was set on fire?”
The embassy was not just a place where diplomats worked, but a symbol of the nation itself.
Burning it down was tantamount to a declaration of war.
If it had been the US in a similar situation, they would have mobilized their entire fleet of aircraft carriers and used force right away.
“…Let’s try to solve this peacefully, that’s what I’m saying.”
“I’ll limit it to naval warfare. I’ll only intervene minimally on land.”
If they fought only at sea, it wouldn’t be bad for the US.
It would reduce Iran’s influence over the Strait of Hormuz and increase the US’s chances of intervention.
Iran had been nervous about the US Navy’s entry into the strait and blocked their access with countless land-to-ship missile sites.
Even for the US Navy’s Indian Ocean Fleet, entering that narrow strait was very risky.
What if the Korean Navy reduced Iran’s influence there?
“To be honest, I can’t deny that it sounds good.”
“My goal is to safely retrieve the oil tanker and its crew that were hijacked. And there must be a sincere apology and appropriate compensation from Iran for this incident.”
If that was all he wanted, he could say that he had endured a lot.
President McKinley praised President Yu’s patience.
“Then we’ll assume that you’re satisfied with that.”
“You can rest assured.”
Of course, Yu Ji-ha didn’t mention his plans for dealing with the Iranian Navy and his future operations in Afghanistan.
That would be naturally resolved in the process of achieving his goal.
The call ended and the secretary general said,
“The Kremlin said they would supply us with oil at a low price as much as we want.”
“That’s good news. We’ve got rid of the nagging one, so let’s do our job. How far has the Cheonghae Unit come?”
“They’re ready to enter Iran’s territorial waters within an hour.”
“When the incident breaks out, go in and rescue the crew and take the oil tanker out. You have to focus on sailing. Of course, they’re the best agents, so they’ll do well on their own.”
“Don’t worry. The most experienced agents are on standby.”
The mission of the UDT agents of the Cheonghae Unit was to infiltrate the oil tanker docked at Bandar Abbas port, rescue the crew, and take out the oil tanker.
It was possible to rescue the crew, but it was almost impossible to take out a 300,000-ton oil tanker from the port.
It wasn’t a joke that the Iranian Navy and missile sites were there.
Of course, Yu Ji-ha told them not to worry about that.
“A suitable situation will be created, so just focus on rescuing and sailing. Well, I wish you good luck.”
What kind of situation would unfold?
All the plans were only in Yu Ji-ha’s head, so he couldn’t dare ask.
Secretary General Baek Seongmin looked nervously at the information coming from the Cheonghae Unit.
…
Almost no one knew how and when the 4th-class battleship of the Damado Fleet had entered the Iranian waters.
Even the Iranian Navy didn’t know exactly what kind of ship it was.
The US, Russia, Japan, and others were also ignorant, but they had at least some information.
They knew that it was equipped with a railgun and an iron beam, that it could travel fast over short distances with an ion thruster, and that it was operated by an artificial intelligence.
Japan even witnessed it submerging.
It was such a ridiculous thing that they dismissed the testimony of the Self-Defense Force member who saw it as a fool.
Anyway, the Iranian Navy underestimated the ship.
Of course, a modern battleship weighing over 5,000 tons was not something that the Iranian Navy wanted to mess with.
But didn’t they say that even a mongrel dog could bite in its own yard?
This was Iran’s territorial waters, and a narrow sea area with countless missile sites.
That fact gave courage to the commander of the 1st Squadron of the Iranian Southern Fleet.
“God is with us. Send in the speedboats and give them hell.”
Nearly ten missile speedboats approached the Damado ship.
They maneuvered at a fast speed of nearly 40 knots and fired anti-ship missiles.
More than 20 anti-ship missiles were difficult targets for a battleship that was not an anti-aircraft destroyer.
But the Damado ship slowly advanced and activated its iron beam.
Numerous golden lines crossed the dark night sky of the Persian Gulf.
Boom!
The anti-ship missiles exploded in mid-air as they hit the ether laser.
A spectacular fireworks show unfolded around the Damado ship, and the Iranian sailors, including Brigadier General Hoseini, became spectators for a moment.
“What was that?”
“They say Korea has something called an iron beam. It’s an anti-air defense system sold by Israel!”
“It’s always those Israeli Jews who are the problem.”
In fact, the iron beam had a different official name and had nothing to do with Israel.
But Iranians who didn’t know much about Korea’s political situation liked to associate everything with Israel.
Brigadier General Hoseini gritted his teeth at Israel for providing such a dangerous weapon and ordered another attack.
“The missile base has detected that ship! We’ll attack along with their attack!”
If there were dozens of anti-ship missiles, that ship wouldn’t be able to handle them either.
But the Damado ship completely shattered the Iranian Navy’s expectations.
Suddenly, the deck moved with a clank and the upper part changed into a wireframe shape and sank into the water.
It was impossible for a ship to submerge like a submarine.
The anti-ship missiles that activated their seekers couldn’t find their target and self-destructed or passed through the sea where the Damado ship had been.
“What the hell is going on?”
“It looks like the target ship has submerged!”
“Do you think that makes sense right now?”
As an argument broke out on the bridge of the flagship Shahid Roudaki-class, the Damado ship resurfaced and transformed its upper structure again.
“It seems that this ship operates like a U-boat from World War II.”
It only submerged when necessary and operated on the surface normally.
The staff of the 1st Squadron concluded that this ship had ballast tanks, but that was not true.
It had ion thruster nozzles installed in several places to submerge and surface.
It was so fast that it couldn’t compare to using ballast tanks to submerge and surface.
Brigadier General Hoseini decided that it would be difficult to deal with this ship alone.
“Unfortunately, our anti-submarine warfare capability is inferior. Instead, we’ll attack that ship with a submarine.”
However, he found it suspicious that this submarine had not shown any clear intention to attack so far.
Why would it stay still without firing a torpedo?
When the 1st Squadron was suspicious of this, the upper part of the Damado ship transformed again and a missile container popped out.
Soon after, the hatch opened and Haeryong land-attack missiles were launched.
These missiles were originally intended for targets such as coastal artillery, but strangely enough, they headed straight for the sea.
Brigadier General Hoseini scoffed at seeing the missile maneuver on radar.
“New weapons always have a risk of malfunctioning. I guess it can’t be helped if they’re made in Korea.”
But Haeryong missiles were not malfunctioning at all.
The INS worked normally until the moment when the missile hit the sea.
The target was originally the sea.
The Iranian Navy realized this too late.
After entering the sea, Haeryong missiles created huge water columns.
They were big enough to overturn an entire city.
“Nuclear bombs!”
“Korea has launched nukes!”
“Those crazy bastards!”
As the officers screamed, the entire surface of the water rose and created a giant tsunami.
A battleship weighing only a few thousand tons had no choice but to be swept away by the wave.
There were many oil tankers nearby, but they were able to withstand the waves surprisingly well, despite being nothing but corpses except for their size.
Meanwhile, a reporter from the British B Broadcasting Company, who was covering the incident, was staring blankly at the mushroom cloud from a helicopter.
“Oh God. It looks like Korea has used a nuclear weapon…”
It was almost certain, judging by the huge mushroom cloud and the tsunami that was rushing towards the surroundings.
But the cameraman and the producer shook their heads repeatedly.
“Did Korea have nuclear weapons? As far as I know, they didn’t.”
“It would be impossible to make nuclear weapons under the surveillance of the IAEA and the United States.”
“Can someone please tell me what that is?”
That was the biggest problem.
After the Second Korean War, North Korea’s nuclear weapons were dismantled under the supervision of the IAEA and the United States, and it was concluded that there were no nuclear weapons in Korea.
They had been recognized for their nuclear transparency.
In such a situation, it was almost impossible to secretly develop nuclear weapons.
Then what was that…?
The reporter began to report with the mushroom cloud as the background.
“I am here at the Strait of Hormuz. The scene you are seeing right now is amazingly live. It seems almost certain that Korea has a weapon that is not nuclear but equivalent to it…”
However, this report was not leaked out due to the decision of the British government.
Instead, the leaders of Oceus, who shared the information, were all shocked.
―I wish it was nuclear. Then the IAEA and the United States could put pressure on them.
―If that’s not nuclear… Damn, what did Korea make?
―No matter how crazy they are, they can’t contaminate someone else’s sea with radiation where dozens of oil tankers are lying.
―Antitron was also like that. Korea keeps making concepts that shake up the existing power balance. It’s very dangerous.
―The shipping companies reported that there was no damage to the oil tankers. How could they calculate that?
It meant that those ships had caused a tsunami that could only incapacitate the Iranian navy.
If there was no radiation, Korea would have a very scary weapon.
The worried eyes of various countries gathered at the Strait of Hormuz when the tsunami swept away most of Iran’s southern fleet.
Small ships like speedboats or patrol boats were completely overturned, and escort ships that were fairly large lost their buoyancy and lay sideways.
The flagship and destroyers that barely did not lose their maneuverability were busy pumping out water all over them.
Most of the naval forces deployed in the Persian Gulf were incapacitated.
The submarines were better off, but they were too busy communicating with headquarters to notice the Dama-class submarine entering territorial waters at that time.
On board the black submarine that was quietly diving were navy special forces and an android unit.
…
In the morning, major Korean media outlets began to report on the news of the Strait of Hormuz.
It had been embargoed overnight for security reasons and was lifted after the operation ended.
―All crew members under captain’s command who had been detained are returning home under escort of Cheonghae Unit.
―Not only crew members but also two oil tankers are safely accompanied.
People who woke up and saw the news were stunned.
―What? Is it over already?
―Didn’t they say that oil tankers were detained at Bandar Abbas port? How did they get them out?
It was natural for people to have questions.
Let’s say that crew members were rescued by Korean special forces who had excellent skills and infiltrated there.
But oil tankers detained there boasted a size of over 100,000 tons.
It was impossible to get them out of port unless the other side was stupid.
But on screen shot by Cheonghae Unit’s Sejong-class destroyer, two rescued oil tankers were clearly visible.
Unless they manipulated video, it was certain that they rescued them.
A hastily organized program showed an announcer delivering information coming in real time.
“This is breaking news. Special forces from Cheonghae Unit were deployed in this operation and interestingly an android unit supported them. This rescue team approached port with support of Dama-class 4th submarine and carried out operation. Here is video footage.”
On screen showed a small boat and soldiers falling off from a ship that had just surfaced.
People realized that it was a ship made of black metal.
―So it can transform and separate like that. It’s really a strange metal.
―I know it’s unmanned, but how do they determine shape and size?
―It must be artificial intelligence. It might be controlling androids too.
―By the way, who is android among soldiers?
It was night and they were all fully armed and masked, so they couldn’t tell.
Then the view changed and suddenly soldiers appeared.
―Oh, this is video taken by android.
―Soldiers seem curious too. It’s not just us who are amazed.
―But how do they get on that high oil tanker?
―They all have equipment for rescue team.
But that equipment was not visible.
Just as they wondered how they would get on board, a clanking sound came from the boat and the sea began to recede.
The boat had taken off from the water surface.
The people felt disappointed when they realized that.
―No way, how can a boat fly in the sky?
―They put ion thrusters on that small boat.
Normally, it would have taken at least tens of minutes to get on deck.
But the boat with ion thrusters succeeded in dropping off the soldiers on the oil tanker deck in just 20 seconds.
After that, the screen was blurred and nothing could be seen, but it seemed obvious that a battle had broken out from the sound of gunfire.
And the view changed again and the android was located in the deckhouse.
Outside, the Dama-class submarine was firing railguns and iron beams continuously as it advanced at low speed.
―They are fighting with the Iranian army while escaping from port…
―I wondered how they got the oil tankers out, but they just beat them up and took them away.
―If they kill all the witnesses, that’s infiltration.
―No matter how weak Iran is, it’s not an opponent that a single warship can handle if you add up the base defense forces.
―Look at that fighter falling???
It was not that it was not, but it seemed that it was shot down by an iron beam, and a fighter was falling.
The speedboats that were rushing around were all sunk by railguns, and smoke rose from port constantly.
They had succeeded in smashing Bandar Abbas port with a single Dama-class submarine and taking out two oil tankers.
―But how did they force that submarine to surface? It must have been so noisy that sonar and whatnot wouldn’t work properly.
―It’s amazing that everything is artificial intelligence.
―The soldiers who went on operation in Iran port are also awesome.
―They go into Iran port and fight with navy while bringing crew members and two oil tankers? If you make a movie like this, you’ll get scolded.
It was an operation of a different dimension from shooting pirate ships or rescuing hostages, and not something that any country would dare to try.
Maybe the United States could do it, but they would use force demonstration with a fleet or diplomatic solution, not like this recklessly.
However, there was a question left as to what the Iranian navy was doing while Bandar Abbas port was like that.
The naval operations headquarters, of course, did not answer this question, nor did President Ujiha, but information came from an unexpected place.
A British broadcasting company broke the government’s policy and sent out a video of a huge mushroom cloud rising over the Strait of Hormuz.
This video was posted on MewTube and caused tremendous confusion.
People who didn’t know the situation flocked in and cursed Korea for using nuclear weapons.
But some comments calmly pointed out the facts.
―It doesn’t make sense to fire nuclear weapons in such a narrow waterway. You’ll make enemies of the whole world?
―If that’s not a tactical nuclear weapon, it’s even scarier. It means they made a nuclear bomb that doesn’t have to worry about radiation contamination.
―Korea, is that nuclear?
Of course, there was no response from the Korean government level.
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