Dictator From Outer Space

Chapter 57: To Test A New Weapon

A while later, at a villa near Beijing, China, Guo Hongshan, the state councilor, met someone.

He was the leader of the Taliban, who had a thick beard and wore a turban.

Abdullah Ahmad Pada.

He came here to protest against Guo Hongshan, who did not keep his promise.

“I entrusted you with five warriors! But what has been done now? You are shifting the blame to us and not paying the price!”

He was talking about the five Taliban members who played the role of bait when ten special agents carried out the operation.

They were caught by the South Korean police, but they were not reported to the outside world.

Naturally, all the blame went to China and caused a huge impact.

There were many people in China who thought that civilian terror was too much.

Guo Hongshan was annoyed, but he barely smiled and said.

“…The payment was conditional on the success of the operation. Wasn’t it?”

“What do I care! Five of our warriors died! You Chinese must compensate for this in some way!”

“They’re not dead!”

Guo Hongshan started to shout angrily.

“They’re not dead yet! Do you think Korea is a country that executes people? They’ll be released after they get a trial and serve their time!”

“It’s as good as dead to us!”

Abdullah approached Guo Hongshan and warned him.

“By the end of this month. If the payment is not deposited by then, we will expose everything.”

Guo Hongshan sneered.

“Go ahead and try. It’s war soon, who would care about such things?”

As they were growling at each other, an asteroid entered the Earth’s orbit.

This asteroid, which was nearly 50 meters in diameter, attracted the attention of the UN Astronomical Research Institute and NASA as it entered the atmosphere at over 30 km per second.

And it caused a huge explosion in China’s airspace due to friction with the atmosphere.

An asteroid alert went off.

「An explosion of 1 megaton equivalent detected in Shandong Peninsula 150km above ground」

China’s astronomical research institute also received the alert, but there was little they could do.

Dozens of pieces of asteroid hit China’s coast.

Not only naval bases, but also hidden submarine bases and other national agencies were blown away.

And the asteroid also flew to Beijing without fail.

Dududu―

The whole villa shook and Guo Hongshan and Abdullah hurriedly opened the window.

As security guards ran in surprise, they witnessed an asteroid burning in the sky and falling to the ground.

“O Allah…”

“This can’t be.”

He had just seized power and was trying to launch a national recovery movement, but this was such an absurd end.

The asteroid collided with the ground and turned everything around upside down.

A huge amount of dust clouds rose all over China.

President McKinley of the United States was looking at the screen in the White House cabinet room.

Next to him were military leaders including Ike, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the National Security Team.

What they were watching was a briefing on China’s asteroid collision damage.

“The explosion that occurred 150km above Shandong Peninsula was estimated to be equivalent to 30 megatons of TNT. This explosion divided an asteroid with a diameter of 100 meters into more than 20 pieces and hit China’s coastal cities.”

“What’s the damage?”

“More than 10 cities including Beijing suburbs, Tianjin, Qingdao, Shanghai suffered major damage. The exact extent of damage is not confirmed yet. As a special note, the East Sea Fleet’s home port was annihilated.”

The screen showed images of naval bases before and after the collision alternately.

“…It’s gone clean.”

“More than 10 destroyers and frigates, as well as landing ships and others. Dozens of ships flew away at once. It goes without saying that the naval base was destroyed.”

It was too much damage for an asteroid with a diameter of 100 meters entering the atmosphere.

The United States had known about this asteroid for a few days, but they couldn’t come up with a countermeasure.

What could they do with an asteroid flying at over 30 km per second? Shoot a hydrogen bomb at it?

There was such an idea during the Cold War, but it was canceled because of the fear of radioactive debris.

There were also various ideas to change the orbit of near-Earth objects, but none of them were realized.

As a result, China suffered tremendous damage.

Of course, the United States would express condolences to China, but their hearts were elsewhere.

“China has no choice but to make a choice at this point. Will they postpone the war and recover the damage? Or will they take a risk?”

Humphrey, the security adviser, stepped forward.

“Postponing the war is difficult. China has spent over 3 trillion yuan to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan. And they plan to spend more than that in the next three months.”

“They can’t postpone it because they spent that money. What does the Pentagon think?”

Luke, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, answered.

“Currently, a large number of inland troops are deployed on the coast. This means an imbalance of power, and if they postpone the war, a real civil war will break out.”

The situation in China was hard to call a civil war.

It was more correct to see it as a power struggle among the powerful.

But if the region with the navy tried to end the situation by absorbing the troops, a civil war would almost certainly break out.

To prevent that situation, they had to start a war.

That was their logic.

The analysis of the chief of staff was similar.

“China can no longer suppress the debt of local governments and the corruption that comes out from within. They lost their captain who held the key. They have to divert their attention by war.”

“That makes sense. They have no choice but to choose war… Then when will be the exact time. Let me hear the data analyzed by the intelligence agencies.”

Various discussions followed, but there was not a single mention of the asteroid, which was the main culprit of this incident.

Everyone thought it was a natural disaster.

What could they do when an asteroid flew from space and fell?

Yu Ji-ha was attacked by terror and more than a month and a few days later, this happened, so no one doubted him.

And US intelligence agencies knew that the Taliban was involved in this terror.

If they had blown up an asteroid in Afghanistan, the US might have suspected Yu Ji-ha.

But Yu Ji-ha postponed his revenge on the Taliban, and that turned out to be the right decision.

President McKinley judged as he listened to the reports from the intelligence agencies.

“From late November to early December. They’re aiming for after recovery work to divert attention.”

“They have to receive condolences and disaster relief funds from other countries right now.”

“That money will all go to the troops preparing for war. I’ll only issue a statement of condolences this time. Block UN’s support.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And it’s time to get cooperation from Chairman Yu. The thing we’re developing this time… Ion what was it? Did you get the test results?”

Martin, deputy adviser, stepped forward.

“It’s similar in purpose but completely different in performance from Ion Beam developed by Israel. It’s a device that intercepts North Korea’s artillery or short-range missiles with multiple lasers.”

The screen showed related data and military generals tilted their heads.

Wasn’t it almost the same size as the laser interception system that was developed and abandoned by the army?

“Is it possible to realize multiple lasers with power from a container?”

“It’s impossible unless new materials are discovered. But South Korea did it.”

“And what’s the result?”

“Successful simultaneous interception of five Nike surface-to-surface missiles for training purposes, successful simultaneous interception of more than 20 shells fired by K-9 self-propelled guns, successful interception of all 72 rockets from two K-136 multiple launchers.”

“Is the success rate 100%?”

“It’s 100 percent,” Martin said confidently.

Everyone looked at him incredulously.

“How is that possible in modern warfare…?”

“They barely redeveloped it a few months ago.”

“I want to say it’s impossible, but since he’s involved, I want to believe it.”

Yu Ji-ha was already known as the man who made the impossible possible.

Everything he had done so far surpassed the US’s technological advancement in the last decade.

He was a being beyond common sense.

They should have brought him over by any means necessary…

President McKinley regretted not being able to make him an American citizen.

“We need this ion beam. Not us, but Taiwan.”

“If Taiwan gets this weapon, they might be able to survive the missile barrage.”

“But will South Korea give it to them…? It’s not even fully operational yet.”

“We persuaded them to give us the railgun. This shouldn’t be too hard.”

The president spoke casually, but he was slightly nervous inside.

Yu Ji-ha had given Taiwan the railgun at the US’s request, but he was attacked by terrorists.

As a result, his fanatical supporters increased, but the US didn’t do anything for him directly.

Now what would he ask for in exchange for giving them the ion beam?

‘Maybe he’ll ask for land.’

He had heard rumors that Russia had leased part of the Kamchatka Peninsula to him.

He could see buildings and facilities being built there on satellite images.

According to analysts, they were not military facilities.

‘If that’s his demand, we can handle it.’

He made up his mind and ordered Martin.

“Ask him politely to cooperate with us on giving Taiwan the ion beam. Agree to any reasonable request he has and remind him that we appreciate his goodwill.”

“Yes sir.”

“And one more thing. Tell the generals this. Even if war breaks out, we must never fight directly with the Chinese army. Do you understand?”

Taiwan was an indispensable strategic point for the US.

They didn’t have a formal defense treaty with them, but if Taiwan fell into China’s hands, the Pacific would be open.

This would mean a huge change in the US’s security environment and they had to stop it at all costs.

But they couldn’t fight directly with China either.

It could trigger a third world war if they did so they had to fight by supplying weapons and supporting from behind.

After the generals left, the White House team started discussing what Yu Jiha would ask for.

…

China suffered a massive damage from the meteor incident.

The world expressed their condolences and donations were collected.

But the donations didn’t go where they were supposed to.

The real power holders in politics died in large numbers, leaving the administration in chaos. 

The commanders of each military region mobilized their troops and seized the state institutions and banks.

They were afraid that the people might rise up after the meteor disaster was over.

―The administrative vacuum is too severe. The economy is at its worst and the people are on the verge of rebellion. We need to divert their attention somewhere.

―Don’t we have enough troops in our hands? The US is helping Taiwan, but they can’t intervene directly.

―Taking over Taiwan is our only way to survive. We have enough power to do it.

It was a common tactic to cover up a smaller incident with a bigger one.

If it was a war, the effect would be perfect.

The people who were about to riot would wave the red flag and the soldiers would unite for once.

And so, the commanders of each military region decided to go to war.

They decided to wage war with their own forces, without the central control.

It was an absurd plan, but they had no choice but to go ahead.

The war started without any declaration of war.

Chinese soldiers boarded a cargo ship belonging to Taiwan Shipping and detained the crew.

All flights to Taiwan were canceled at airports across China.

Jinmen County, Taiwan’s territory closest to the mainland, was attacked by an artillery unit near Xiamen City, which was only 4 km away.

Taiwan protested strongly, but what came back was a short-range ballistic missile launched by China’s Rocket Force.

Submarines waiting in the East China Sea also launched ballistic missiles.

Taiwan’s missile bases and warships deployed Tien Kung and Hai Kung missiles to intercept them, and succeeded in shooting down many of them.

But China’s missile power was too much for Taiwan to handle alone.

Major military facilities went into air defense, but they couldn’t stop them all.

Red explosions erupted all over Taiwan.

Major media outlets issued special reports at once.

―China attacks Taiwan without declaration of war!

―Hundreds of ballistic missiles hit Taiwan! Taiwan is in chaos!

The US tried to convene a UN Security Council meeting immediately, and Russia agreed for once.

―China must stop all hostile actions against Taiwan and withdraw its troops.

―If no action is taken, the UN will pass a resolution for peacekeeping forces.

A resolution calling for an end to the war was also passed in the General Assembly.

The Chinese diplomats sent to the UN shrugged their shoulders.

“This is a civil war. Has the UN ever interfered in a civil war? Then why didn’t you send troops to the Myanmar civil war?”

“Does Taiwan think this is a civil war? What benefit can you get from waging a war that threatens your neighbors with nuclear weapons?”

“Peacekeeping forces were deployed in the Somali civil war. Why are you ignoring that?”

“We are willing to accept peacekeeping forces after the war is over.”

“That’s wordplay!”

A heated debate ensued, and a few countries, such as Pakistan, sided with China.

Most countries supported the resolution, but it had no real effect.

The UN’s strong recommendation was nothing to a country that was called G2 along with the US.

Instead, they had to deal with the loss of international prestige and influence, but what did that matter to a country that had decided to go to war?

China was a wounded beast, and the only country that could handle it was the US.

But the US was afraid of a nuclear war and didn’t want to intervene directly.

Instead, they took the drastic measure of evacuating their embassy in China, and other permanent members except Russia did the same.

As a fierce diplomatic battle unfolded, Taiwan issued a general mobilization order and entered a state of emergency.

The US persuaded the Congress to adopt a plan to provide a large amount of military supplies to Taiwan by using transport ships instead of direct support.

Despite this action, the Chinese attackers did not respond much because they lacked central control.

Each military region was fighting a different war without coordination.

“What do we care about the US transport ships? Are they in our jurisdiction?”

“No sir!”

“Then ignore them and focus on our original goal!”

The attackers’ goal was to land a large number of troops on Taiwan.

The importance of the navy and air force had increased in modern warfare, but in the end war was over when the army occupied the territory.

But it didn’t go as planned.

The railgun batteries installed on Taiwan’s south coast fired projectiles at once.

Those projectiles penetrated 700 km of distance and hit the landing force that had departed from Zhanjiang Naval Base.

It wasn’t one or two shots; each battery fired more than ten shots per minute, so there was no way for the slow landing ships to avoid them.

“Type 071 Jinggangshan-class amphibious transport dock hit on the bridge! It seems that many officers have been killed!”

“Protect the landing ships immediately!”

The nearby destroyers surrounded the landing ships, but the railgun projectiles completely penetrated the destroyers’ radars and slammed into the landing ships.

It was a brute force.

The victims were surprised, but the perpetrators were more surprised.

The battery troops confirmed the hit through the US early warning aircraft and swallowed their dry saliva at the huge power.

“So this is what they meant by removing the power limit in actual combat…”

“It feels like this is a weapon that should appear 30 years later…”

They tied up China’s landing force with just two railguns.

Considering that two landing ships, six destroyers, escort ships and submarines were included in the landing force, it was an amazing achievement.

This information was also reported to the US and made them grab their necks.

“They gave us a downgraded version.”

“If they gave Taiwan something like this, what about Korea’s railgun cruiser under construction…”

“South Korea wouldn’t do this to us! We have to protest immediately!”

“We can’t protest! He might cut off the supply of railguns and ion beams!”

“The US is looking at an individual’s face…”

It couldn’t be helped.

Martin McKinley, who had some rapport with Yu Jiha, flew to South Korea to negotiate with him for giving Taiwan the ion beam.

At the negotiating table, Martin clung to him as if he were begging.

“The US will never forget your help, Mr. Yu.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure you’ll pay me back with interest later, so don’t worry about it.”

What was he going to ask for in return?