When Hong Sung-ki mentioned Jelyan, Jong-il also flinched.

Jelyan was a special child to him as well since he had known her from the refugee camp in Iraq. He always felt sorry for her, so he used to take care of her every time he met her, so he would not let tears flow from her eyes.

"All right, let's hang up for now. I'll let you know as soon as I talk to Youngho."

***

It was less than half an hour after the royal territory was put on alert.

The Aegis destroyer 1001 and the frigate 901, which were anch.o.r.ed at Arirang Island, were deployed to the waters off Syria.

There were many intelligence agents of Kazakhstan stationed in the Kurdish-dominated area in Syria, so if Syrian forces showed any sign of taking offensive actions in the Kurdish town, those s.h.i.+ps could attack with a s.h.i.+p-to-ground missile.

Although Kazakhstan was not in a position to attack Syria arbitrarily, the Kurds were already considered the Kazakh people, so Youngho thought that they could exercise their right to self-defense.

Even if Kazakhstan acted independently, it would not be blamed as the Syrian government's use of poison gas was being criticized in the international community.

Youngho also informed the U.S. Navy Mediterranean fleet that the Kazakh Royal Navy was entering Syrian waters.

A meeting between Youngho and his friends was taking place in Youngho's office.

"We can't cross the border without Turkey's cooperation. But it's impossible to land directly in Syria at the moment."

"What's wrong with it when we're moving our own people? Ask the Syrian government to cooperate formally."

Youngho was taking an aggressive measure as never before.

"The Syrian government is losing its mind. Would it care about the refugees?"

"This isn't their first time. Syria is determined to take the offensive, trusting Russia's support."

"It seems to me that the Syrian government intends to leave uncooperative people alone rather than trying to capture the rebels."

"First of all, we need to get the Syrian government's promise for Kurdish security. And contact all our wars.h.i.+ps in the Arabian Sea to come over. We'll have to do an armed protest."

"Isn't that too hasty? I mean the U.S. is being still."

"The U.S. Mediterranean fleet is also going to the waters of Syria, so don't worry. If we deploy into the Mediterranean, the U.S. will be more than happy."

"It would've been great if we had a multipurpose landing s.h.i.+p at a time like this. We could just bring people straight from the beach in Syria."

"Not going through Turkey?"

"There is no law that says we need to cross the border of Turkey. Whatever way that's the fastest way to bring out people from Syria, that's the best way."

So far, civil war had been raging in Syria, so Youngho had not considered using the Syrian port. Now that the Royal Navy was holding out off Syrian waters, direct transport from the Syrian port was not impossible.

The migration of the troubled Kurds to Kazakhstan was something that Syria should be grateful for as well. There was no reason that the Syrian government would not cooperate, and if it did not, the Kazakh Navy intended to achieve its purpose even by demonstrating force.

"Okay. From now on, we're not going through Turkey, but we're carrying Kurds directly from the Syrian port. Anyone has an objection?"

"It's been a long time since we've had this kind of huge operation. I'll go, so just supply me with Royal Bodyguards."

"Why is the intelligence chief going there? I have to go, the captain of the Royal Bodyguards!"

"Hey! Does it make sense for the captain of the Royal Bodyguards to vacate his duties?"

"Shut up, you two. Don't forget that you are the heads of key organizations of the royal territory. You two have to issue operational orders from headquarters. How come you want to act like low-rank soldiers and shoot at the front line?"

At Youngho's remark, the two became quiet. They were too excited to be deployed to the field that they had forgotten about important duties. It was a shame.

"Gather all the car ferries we can use to rally them into the Syrian waters. Jong-il, inquire how many s.h.i.+ps can be mobilized by the Greek s.h.i.+pping company and In-soo, you can figure out about the Turkish s.h.i.+pping company."

"It'll take a lot of time for the Royal Bodyguards to get ready to leave from the royal territory."

"Get a squadron of the Royal Guards on the Arirang Island ready and tell them to board the Aegis and frigates coming from the Arabian Sea."

How could Youngho have known that the stationing of troops on the Arirang Island would be used like this? When Cho Chul-hwan demanded to send three squadrons of forces to the island, he scolded him saying that there was no need to have that many forces there. Cho Chul-hwan insisted that there should be a certain amount of troops to be used as quick-reaction forces, so Youngho had to comply.

"Look at that. Aren't you glad that we have stationed troops on the Arirang Island?"

"Okay, okay. You were right."

"Are you jealous of my foresight?"

"Oh, well. Good for you!"

***

Commander Victor Jun was looking through a telescope at the Syrian coast from the bridge of the Aegis destroyer 1001 of the Kazakh royal fleet.

Now, one Aegis-equipped destroyer and one 3,000-ton frigate of the Kazakh Royal Navy entered the Syrian Sea two hours ago and were on standby.

They were waiting for the arrival of the U.S. Aegis destroyers; Ross and Porter from Naples, Italy to do a joint operation with them.

The two Aegis destroyers from Naples belonged to the U.S. Mediterranean Fleet, the 6th Fleet of the U.S. Navy.

As Syria was only 20 hours from the Arirang Island, they had quickly arrived in the Syrian waters to watch the situation.

After receiving the coordinates of the regional command of the Syrian government's military from Kazakh intelligence agents who were in the Kurdish village, the Navy was ready to attack but had to wait as the U.S. Navy requested not to operate independently.

"Commander, we received a word again."

"What is it about this time?"

Victor Jun's voice was full of irritation. He was not fond of the U.S. Navy, which seemed to be enjoying a leisurely vacation at its Naples base despite knowing that the situation in Syria was urgent.

"It states that if there is any sign of government troops entering the Kurdish village before the U.S. Navy arrives, we can go ahead with our own independent operation."

"Indeed, the Duke finally made it happen! International cooperation is important, but the security of the people comes first. Reply that we got it."

"We have additional words."

"What is it?"

"The U.S. Navy has also sent coordinates to the chemical plant that manufactures poison gas. For this one, they asked to cooperate with the U.S. Navy."

"Good. Reply that we are confident of a precision strike without civilian damage."

The leaders.h.i.+p of the royal territory made this decision because it would take a full day for the U.S. Navy Aegis destroyer to arrive, but the situation in Syria was not looking good.

The suspicious movements of the Syrian government forces were detected by military satellites. The Kurdish village was in imminent danger.

In response to the order, Commander Jun stationed everyone on board for action.

Meanwhile, he was in real-time contact with agents in the Kurdish village.

"How's it going there?"

-There are no special movements.

"The Syrian government's movements seem quite serious. First of all, we should stop the Syrian army from advancing. Is there a place to do that?"

-There is a mountain road five kilometers from here. If we hit there, it'll be difficult for government troops to enter the town.

"Then the Kurds' way out will be blocked."

-It's okay because there's a path on the other side.

"Is it possible to enter there on vehicles?"

-You have to walk down the mountain path for about three hours to meet the road.

"And why do they live in a mountain village?"

-When the civil war broke out, they fled to the mountain village.

"Has the villagers been linked to the rebels?"

-That's right. They did the IS subdue operation with the rebels.

"Jeez… How many residents in total are to move out?"

-There are 246 residents and the number of livestock is 3,200.

"Are they trying to move livestock as well?"

-What can we do? To them, their livestock is like family.

"Okay, we're going to fire the missile an hour from now. Keep the villagers away from the mountain path."

-Hold on, Commander Jun. The villagers who are driving the livestock have yet to return.

"What? Don't they know the current situation?"

The shepherds don't even care about the war. The priority is to feed the cattle.

"It's driving me nuts. So how long do we have to wait?"

-We have two hours until sunset. Please wait until then.

Captain Jun made a groaning noise unwittingly.

"Okay. We'll start the operation in two and a half hours from now."

Exactly two and half hours after that, a s.h.i.+p to the ground missile from the Aegis destroyer 1001 of the Kazakh Royal Navy was soaring into the sky with a flash.