Two Aegis destroyers and three frigates had been converted into a task fleet and were operating in the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, and they went to partic.i.p.ate in a joint operation in the waters of the Maldives at the request of the U.S. Navy.

Five 500-ton Yoon Younghcla.s.s missile s.h.i.+ps and five coast-to-coast missile s.h.i.+ps took over the empty spots of the Aegis destroyers and frigates as they were deployed to the Maldives.

Because the excessive naval presence in the Caspian Sea could provoke Russia, those s.h.i.+ps had been sent to the Aegean Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Persian Gulf. Although they were small vessels, they had great mobility and were being used to fight off pirates more effectively.

The 30 to 40 knots-per-hour, small-sized missile s.h.i.+ps flashed out of nowhere in the narrow waters and were a terror to pirates as they fired at their targets without warning shots.

***

Two Aegis destroyers and three frigates from the Kazakh Royal Navy were operating about 150 kilometers away from the USS George H. W. Bush, the commander s.h.i.+p of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

"Commander Jun, the Indian Navy's oil tanker and two Aegis destroyers from the U.S. 5th Fleet are coming in our direction."

"It's finally coming. We almost ran out of gas. It's quite frustrating. We should deploy multi-purpose landing s.h.i.+ps and supply s.h.i.+ps in action as soon as possible."

"Didn't you say we're going to have them deployed within this year?"

"The situation will be all over if we wait until then."

"Sir, do you think the Chinese are going to step down that easily? Our conflict will last long."

"You have a point. By the way, why is the Chinese Navy acting out here not staying in Southeast Asia? Is China going to buy an island country now?"

The island nation of Maldives, which was about 700 kilometers away from southern India, had been India's military and political sphere since the 1960s.

But with the inc.u.mbent administration in power, it was rapidly leaning toward pro-China.

The Chinese government started to invest heavily in the Maldives, a key route to the One Belt One Road maritime Silk Road, and growl with India.

Maldives' dependence on China was so severe that 70 percent of the Maldives' foreign debts were Chinese, and it was even rumored that a Chinese military base would be built in the Maldives.

For India, the Maldives, a half-century ally, was on the verge of turning into a blade aimed at its neckline.

"Captain, if the Chinese naval base is built in the Maldives, we will be hit hard."

"It won't be easy because the Indian government is willing to go to war. I don't think the U.S. is going to stay still, either."

"They say the US intelligence service is controlling the Maldives civil war."

"Who says that?"

"My friend at the intelligence service tipped me off."

"It's quite possible. It would be terrible for the U.S. if China enters the Indian Ocean."

"I hope we can take this opportunity to get some control over the Maldives."

"You seem to resemble the Duke as time goes by, Deputy Captain."

"Hahaha... His Highness will be sorry if he heard that. He's been working hard to buy an island off Somalia."

"If there are many islands like Greece, it would be easier, but would Somalia easily sell its island under Saudi Arabia's pressure?"

The Kazakh Navy was using Abu Dhabi port in the Persian Gulf, but it was urging the Somali government because it was a long way to reach the Gulf of Aden from Abu Dhabi port.

The question was whether dealing with the corrupt government was really effective. It would be a fiasco if a new government came into office later and claimed the deal was invalid. The Saudi government was also secretly keeping the Kazakh Navy in check fearing its influence in the Red Sea might get diminished.

"Isn't there a reason why the U.S. let us join in the Maldives operation? Don't you think it slipped us in so that we can get benefits from this situation?"

"I'd appreciate it if the U.S. thought of us like that, but I think this is an urgent matter that they needed immediate help. The U.S. thinks we can pressure the Chinese Navy if we worked together."

The U.S. strategy was to pressure China on the outside without being able to intervene openly between China and India.

The Maldives crisis was escalating into an increasingly complicated situation after the pro-China and pro-Indian opposition parties urged China and India to intervene, respectively.

China then tried to deploy a large number of its wars.h.i.+ps in the Indian Ocean, while India counterattacked it with ma.s.sive military exercises and a series of ballistic missile launches.

"I hope they'll provoke us first, then we can strike them back."

"What a terrible thing to say. Their 052 cla.s.s 054 cla.s.s destroyer is also Chinese type Aegis destroyers. Their missiles are also formidable."

"It's no match for our Aegis destroyers."

"You can't underestimate them. There must be a reason why they made it to the Indian Ocean despite the presence of the U.S. Navy."

The official reason for China's plan to build a military base in the Maldives was to protect its oil tankers sailing through the Suez Ca.n.a.l, but it was really intended to secure a strategic military base in the Indian Ocean.

Recently there was another surprising incident: China signed a ten-year contract with Djibouti in the Red Sea to use a military base.

China was stressing that it would provide resting places for its soldiers operating in the Gulf of Aden, and it would only be used as a logistics base.

"The U.N. resolution is the problem. China and Russia are now legally allowed to operate in the Gulf of Aden"

China kept quiet when the pirates and terrorists in the Gulf of Aden became active, and as their activities became scanty, China came forward with a U.N. resolution and said it would partic.i.p.ate in the Gulf of Aden peace-keeping operations.

On the surface, it was stressing that it would protect civilian s.h.i.+ps as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force from pirates, but no one believed it.

"The U.S. intelligence service is no longer a big deal. Does it make sense that it didn't know until Djibouti in the Red Sea gave up a military base to China?"

"Well, it might be taking it easy because other countries' military bases are also in Djibouti."

"We and the U.S. are the only countries that sent the Aegis s.h.i.+ps, so what help can the navies of other countries give?"

The U.S., France, and j.a.pan already had military bases in Djibouti.

China, which, despite so many multinational navies residing in the country, claimed it was only a military base to fight piracy.

The construction of China's overseas military bases was in fact about expanding its influence on Africa. The move was part of China's One Belt One Road project and its "Pearl Necklace" strategy.

What the pearl necklace meant was that if all the ports that had the Chinese base along the sea route from the Middle East to the South China Sea were connected, it would be in the form of a pearl necklace.

If Djibouti in the Red Sea was connected with the port of Gwadar in Pakistan and the Maldives, the Arabian Sea belt would be complete.

On top of that, if the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka, the port of Sittwe in Myanmar, the port of Sihanoukville in Cambodia, and the port of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, the shape of a pearl necklace would be formed.

That was why the Indian government said it would develop Iran's port of Chabahar to check China's pearl necklace strategy.

Youngho also invested in the port of Chabahar with the understanding of the Indian government, in order to keep it in check because the port of Gwadar in Pakistan was highly likely to be China's second overseas military base.

Iran's port of Chabahar was only 90 kilometers from Pakistan's port of Gwadar.

"Commander Jun, all s.h.i.+ps are supplied with gas."

"Prepare for departure."

"Aye, aye, sir! Listen, entire fleet! We've got 15 minutes until departure. Each s.h.i.+p, heave in!"

When the order to sail was issued, each vessel was busy hoisting the anchor.

The U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer, which was waiting next to the Kazakh navy vessels, responded with a loud horn sound.

The reason why the Aegis destroyer of the 5th Fleet visited the Kazakh Navy was to watch the Chinese fleet pa.s.s through the southern waters of the Maldives along with the Kazakh navy.

Commander Jun was very excited to encounter the Chinese navy for the first time today.

Meeting the Chinese fleet in international waters was in some ways very dangerous, but he was not too worried. That was because he had a deep trust in the royal Aegis destroyers, the 1001 and 1002.

Currently, the Aegis destroyer owned by Kazakhstan was considered the strongest in its cla.s.s.

This was the latest new vessel to be commissioned, as well as a wars.h.i.+p that had reinforced all of the weaknesses of previous models.

"Only the radar rooms go on emergency duty while other departments operate normally!"

"Aye, aye, sir! Informing the whole fleet. Only each s.h.i.+p's radar room will go into the second phase of its guard duty, while other divisions will rest except for duty officials."