Chapter 112: The Army of the United Human Federation
Chapter 112: The Army of the United Human Federation
Yu Ji-ha did not get angry easily.
He had created situations where he had no reason to get angry, but the public perceived him as a calm and composed personality.
Even after he seized power, the expression “president’s rage” was hard to find in the media.
He never showed serious anger even when he carried out political purges.
He always finished them with a cold and sharp attitude.
But he was furious now.
Although his face was covered with bandages, the reporters could tell by his atmosphere and voice.
“Yesterday, we lost several of our citizens. They were planning to meet their families or friends after work. Or maybe they were going to have a good time with a drink. The terror took their lives away.”
The reporters looked up at him in confusion.
They expected him to rant about the ones who targeted him, but he was venting his anger over the Silla Group employees whom he did not care much about.
“I cannot forgive the terrorists. The two pilots who hijacked the Iraqi cargo plane and crashed it into the building, the gang who threw a suicide bomb at the substation and caused a blackout, and the forces that supported them from behind, as well as those who toasted with their drinks over Korea’s misfortune.”
“I will not forgive any of them. I declare here that I will erase their traces from the earth by mobilizing all the resources of Korea and the United Human Federation.”
“I will kill them all.”
The reporters took their hands off the keyboard with stunned faces at his shocking remark.
It was hard to accept that a politician of a country, especially a leader like Yu Ji-ha, made such a crude statement.
But they could not edit his words either.
Yu Ji-ha did not control the media, but he hated it more than anything when they distorted his words.
He had a phrase that he often said to the media outlets.
“I know you don’t like me. I won’t ask you to like me, but just don’t distort me. Then I won’t bother you.”
He never exerted pressure on the media.
Some argued that cutting off subsidies and advertisements to the media outlets was pressure itself, but anyway he did not care.
He then expressed his gratitude to various countries that expressed their condolences, but it did not change the mood.
The major media outlets in the world admitted that his remark was excessive, but they could not ignore the situation.
―It is inevitable that his emotions are agitated since several of his citizens died and he himself was injured…
―But saying that he will kill all the forces and people related to this incident is questionable. Even if we only consider the possibility, it is impossible even for the United States.
―Yu Ji-ha is likely to use his madman strategy. He will first blurt out roughly and then try to negotiate calmly.
The reason for this judgment was that the suspects were too scattered.
There were more than one or two groups claiming that they committed the terror, and they were spread across the Middle East.
If it were the United States who had been keeping an eye on such terrorist groups, it might be possible, but it was difficult for Korea to attack them directly.
But there were other perspectives as well.
Mainly from Russia, Germany, India and others, they gave an opinion that Korea should not be underestimated.
―We do not know the potential of Korea yet. And it seems like we are forgetting, but the United Human Federation will not sit still either.
―Yu Ji-ha incapacitated Iran’s navy with just one massive ship. If he is truly angry, the terrorists will have no chance.
Anyway, everyone agreed that a cloud of war hung over the world.
The Muslim society and Yu Ji-ha were in such a confrontation that coexistence was impossible.
They even targeted each other’s lives directly.
If the situation reached this point, it was almost impossible to solve it peacefully.
―One of them has to die to live.
However, there was no other choice but to give a skeptical answer to whether Korea could handle such a huge war at present.
Even the United States fell into a quagmire after invading Iraq with an excuse of mass killing weapons because Hussein made an annoying remark.
In the ensuing war against terror, the United States claimed victory, but most countries did not think so.
―They spent 1.5 trillion dollars on Afghanistan alone for 20 years and lost more than 4,000 soldiers. And the Taliban are still on that land.
—We may have killed Osama bin Laden, but nothing has changed. If Korea tries to imitate the United States, it will fall into a deep swamp.
The American political circles, who knew this situation well, expected that Yu Ji-ha would go strong at first, but negotiate later.
It was common sense that he had to take too many risks to keep his statement.
He had to fight Iran and Afghanistan, and the terrorist groups scattered around, and even threaten Pakistan.
It was not a situation that could be handled by Korea’s economic power, let alone its military power.
But Martin, the assistant who was dispatched as a special envoy to Korea, was speechless when he met with Yu Ji-ha.
“Your decision… hasn’t changed?”
“Assistant Martin, you’ve known me for quite a long time. Have you ever seen me change what I said?”
Looking at his eyes burning with anger, Martin thought something was wrong.
President Yu Ji-ha was serious about what he said.
If this goes on, at least three countries will be dragged into war.
No, maybe the whole Middle East will be involved…
Regardless of Korea’s economic power, this person could calmly do such a thing.
He could tell by looking at the traces he had walked so far.
However, Assistant Martin had received instructions not to provoke Yu Ji-ha’s mood, so he did not oppose his words.
“President McKinley said he hoped the situation would be resolved peacefully if possible.”
“That must have been the same for 9.11. How did the United States do?”
“…”
They threatened to send Pakistan back to the Stone Age if they didn’t open their airspace…
But that was a statement that only the United States, which was called a superpower, could make.
They also attached several conditions for the minimum dignity, such as reducing Pakistan’s debt of 30 billion dollars.
It was obvious how they would react if Korea tried to imitate the United States without being in such a position.
‘That’s why it’s more dangerous.’
He couldn’t predict what this person would do at all.
Even various intelligence agencies had different opinions on this.
Anyway, it seemed impossible to change President Yu Ji-ha’s decision for now.
Assistant Martin contacted the White House right away.
The US government declared that it would not intervene in this situation despite the protests of the Democratic Party.
Now only Yu Ji-ha’s actions remained.
***
Identifying the identity of the terrorists was not a difficult task.
Two of them who disguised themselves as Iraqi pilots were from the Iranian Air Force, and they were even connected to the Taliban.
It was the result of Russia mobilizing all its computing power and searching the internet.
Information about the terrorists who attacked the substation was also revealed.
They did not have any disguise identities and entered the country as foreign workers, so it was immediately revealed that they were former IS members.
Several mistakes were found in this process, especially the checklist given by Mossad.
The government confirmed that Mossad did not even know about this checklist.
The National Intelligence Service was embarrassed when Yu Ji-ha gave an order while they were in trouble.
“Pretend you didn’t see it and destroy the documents. Incompetence is better than betrayal.”
It was a shameful thing for a group that obtained and processed information, but since the other party was in the Middle East, they said they would tolerate it.
The National Intelligence Service quickly destroyed the documents and poured all its resources into identifying the backers.
And within ten days after the incident, five people who were directly involved in the terror and their supporters were identified.
Retaliation had to follow, but the Joint Chiefs of Staff objected.
One general spread out a map and shook his head nervously.
“I’ll tell you in advance that I’m furious too. But this is clearly beyond our capabilities. Look at this vast land.”
The territory of Iran and Afghanistan combined was more than 22 times that of Korea.
It was almost impossible to search this land and find the terror supporters.
Deploying military force also faced huge obstacles.
Even if Pakistan miraculously opened up its airspace, there was no adequate means of transportation.
The Korean army had nothing special except for a few platforms such as railgun battleships.
The troops were conscripts, so if they were deployed in an irregular war against terrorists, they would likely cause a terrible outcome.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff reported this.
“The conclusion is that the operation is difficult. We can somehow deploy them, but… the damage will be enormous.”
They lacked comprehensive capabilities, from transportation to intelligence gathering, combat skills, and supply.
It was fortunate that they spoke honestly.
The president comforted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“It’s okay. There are only two places in the world that can do this kind of operation.”
One would be the United States and the other…
“Mr. President.”
“I will mobilize the army of the United Human Federation. I will notify the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but don’t expect much information.”
It was his country and his soldiers, so it was natural.
But he had no idea what kind of forces were prepared.
The only military forces of the United Human Federation that had been revealed so far were battleships equipped with railguns and iron beams.
They probably had drones and androids as well, but that was not enough.
Meanwhile, the international situation was very urgent and complicated.
The EU began to voice opposition to his declaration that he would kill all the terrorists involved.
—We sincerely regret that President Yu Ji-ha became a victim of terrorism. But we should not repay hatred with hatred. We humans can progress through reconciliation and forgiveness.
—Judging from the situation, the direct supporters of terrorism seem to be the Taliban in Afghanistan. If he limits his target to them, we are willing to provide information from MI6.
They tried to appease him somehow, but he was busy ignoring countries like France.
—It is clear that Yu Ji-ha has never seen a map of Afghanistan.
—If he uses hafnium-2 missiles, I congratulate him in advance. He will be recorded as the worst mass murderer in human history, surpassing Hitler and Stalin.
—There is a saying about Afghan terrorists. When the Western world looks at the clock, terrorists look at the calendar. In the end, they always endured.
Various ridicule poured out as he worked hard to recover the economy.
The show for the justification of invading Afghanistan had caused a significant blow to the economy.
Fortunately, when he announced that he was safe, the stock market recovered and the air blockade was expected to be lifted soon.
In the meantime, the situation in Iran changed drastically.
The president who had claimed to hold power until now was assassinated and killed.
The new religious leader who took his place was Vaspur, an Islamic fundamentalist who was unanimously elected by the clergy council.
He declared that he would establish a new regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
He also said that he would abolish Western-style courts and conduct all trials according to Sharia law, which made the citizens cheer.
“We are 1.5 billion! How many are you?
“We will fight until the last person is left! For jihad!”
It was a very creepy remark.
It implied that if Muslims became the mainstream of the earth in decades, they would not sit still.
This was also a thought that many Muslims agreed with.
In fact, while the birth rate in the West, including Korea, was worsening day by day, the Middle East was on the rise.
As a backlash against Western culture and technology, fundamentalism strengthened and women’s rights plummeted.
Countries that had allowed women to drive since entering 2010s also cracked down on them and confiscated their licenses.
On top of that, Yu Ji-ha supplied drones and androids to cause shock and attacked Iran to provoke resentment.
And now he declared that he would kill them all, so it was natural for the people to be enraged.
The excited Iranian people staged a massive demonstration in Tehran.
-We are 1.5 billion! How many are you?
-We will fight until the last person is left! For jihad!
However, not everyone was so angry.
There were also intellectuals in Iran, and they were desperate to prevent a war, requesting mediation from the UN and so on.
“A thorough investigation is needed. First of all, the whereabouts of the two terrorists are unclear. They disappeared a few days before the terror attack and suddenly reappeared…”
“The investigation of the aircraft wreckage should be prioritized. Korea is making excuses that the black box is missing. We request the intervention of the US National Transportation Safety Board.”
In summary, they were saying that this terror attack was very suspicious.
The US analysis also showed that, but President McKinley refused to intervene.
“We don’t need to step in when the Democrats are already angering President Yu Ji-ha. The US will not interfere.”
There were even rumors of a self-made drama within the US intelligence agency, but the government did not adopt it as an official position.
If Yu Ji-ha planned all this with his information and power, why would he care about the US?
He seemed to be reckless, but in fact he maintained a precarious line.
He knew better than anyone that it was dangerous to clash with the US.
However, President McKinley was worried that Yu Ji-ha would use the mass driver for purposes other than garbage disposal, and used various reconnaissance means to monitor him.
And he found out an unexpected fact.
The army was gathering on Terra Island.
The intelligence agency submitted photos and videos, and President McKinley groaned.
“…Is this true?”
“This is the raw data without any processing. The United Human Federation has organized a large army.”
The photos showed warships coming out of the cliff shipyard in a row, and android infantry piled up on the ground.
And hundreds of unidentified containers were moving around Terra Island.
He didn’t have to check what was in the containers.
President McKinley muttered.
“Are they planning to go to war with the whole Middle East…?”
***
Since 2030, the presence of the United Human Federation has been quite faint.
They only invited people to megacities and did not speak out in the international community.
They were not even affiliated with the UN, so they had no reason to speak.
Some doubted whether Korea and the United Human Federation were really different countries.
—The current leader of Korea is Yu Ji-ha. The leader of the United Human Federation is also Yu Ji-ha. Then why do they need to separate the two countries?
—Even the administrative agency of the United Human Federation, the Management Bureau, seems to be influenced by Arma. It wouldn’t be surprising if it was one of Korea’s regions.
In fact, the concept of Korea’s territory was quite vague at present.
The Korean Peninsula and its subordinate islands were definitely Korea’s territory, but if you add Tsushima Island and land ceded from Russia, and Terra Island, you can’t tell what is true.
Yu Ji-ha didn’t explain it clearly from the start.
Anyway, in many ways, the United Human Federation kept quiet and was forgotten in public interest.
But after the 3.25 terror attack, Yu Ji-ha declared revenge and drew attention again.
It was because the army of the United Human Federation showed its appearance for the first time.
Until then, their forces were nothing but unmanned battleships, drones, and small-scale androids on Terra Island, but it turned out that a large army was being organized there.
Each country tried hard to confirm information by mobilizing all reconnaissance means, but they didn’t find out much.
Even in this situation where they didn’t know much about the first appearance of a giant-class battleship.
But two things were certain.
First, there were no humans in the army of the United Human Federation.
Even in the huge aircraft that looked like transporters, there were no windows.
It seemed that they didn’t design windows because humans wouldn’t ride them.
Was this possible in 2030? There was a debate about this, but as always, they concluded that it was possible because it was Yu Ji-ha.
And secondly, the shape of their weapons was very unfamiliar.
Modern weapons systems have similar levels as well as similar goals of annihilating enemies, so there is a phenomenon where their appearance resembles each other.
This phenomenon was well shown in the field of fighter jets.
As they tried to reduce RCS and cut costs somehow, many countries made fighter jets that looked similar to each other.
Some called this convergence evolution.
But the weapons of the United Human Federation were completely different in appearance.
The experts analyzed them and concluded that they did not resemble any weapons system in the world.
—This platform that can store many drones can be called an aerial carrier. It’s just a huge target in its current state, and I can’t even imagine how they operate it.
—Even this ship looks like an arsenal ship. The concept of carrying a large number of missiles was abandoned by the US.
—Especially, the missiles stored in these containers are quite large. There is no reason to be this big considering the efficiency of the ion thruster and the hafnium-2 warhead… I wonder how far they can reach.
The army of the United Human Federation was a headache for military experts in many ways.
The power was not clear at all.
It would be considerable considering the combat power of a giant-class battleship, but it was unknown whether it would work on land as well.
Anyway, based on appearance alone, it was worthy of being called a high-tech army, so it attracted a lot of attention.
The conspiracy theorists in foreign communities were happy that Yu Ji-ha finally revealed his true colors.
—Yeah! Now he’s going to attack the US with that army! And rule us!
—Where’s the spaceship? The spaceship!
The fleet of the United Human Federation finally left Terra Island, avoided surveillance, and submerged all at once.
And before a day passed, they surfaced in the Indian Ocean and made President McKinley spit out his coffee.
“How fast are those bastards’ ships?”
At the same time, an emergency alert sounded at the US naval base located in the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean.
The fleet of the United Human Federation had entered military action.