NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 269 - The Countryside Force (1)
Chapter 269: The Countryside Force (1)
The U.S. coastal patrol boats arrived at the Caspian Sea safely from the New York Harbor. It was a rash gamble to make the ships sail across the Atlantic since they were only 300 tons and 500 tons respectively.
The length of the ships was about 60 meters long, so they could endure most waves but if the sea state was seven or higher, the survival of the vessels about that size could not be guaranteed. Despite the concern, they luckily made it to the Caspian without any damage.
Since the sixty men of Countryside Force, who were trained to operate the vessels for a short period in America as maritime policies, succeeded to sail across the Atlantic with the new vessels, this was quite an achievement. As they returned, their eyes were full of pride.
Youngho rewarded everyone who would defend the Caspian coast with an insignia.
They would be training with Navies for a while to double their operation ability and would serve their duties as an affiliated organization of the Kazakh Department of Defense. Although the headquarters of the maritime police would be in the Arirang Autonomous State, it would only function as a symbol because its main field of action would be Port of Atyrau and Port Aktau. With the new vessels previously ordered from Korea, there would be four vessels in total, dedicated to the maritime police department of Countryside Force. The number of ships was enough to patrol around Kazakhstan’s territorial waters.
The medical team was surprised to see patrol boats entering Arirang Wharf. It seemed that they were worried that the state of public security was bad. Curious, Kim Dong-sung asked to Youngho.
“Mr. Lee. Why are there naval vessels moored at Arirang Wharf?”
“Oh, I guess I haven’t told you about this, doctor. It was agreed that Kazakhstan’s territorial waters would be guarded by the autonomous state. That’s why we were given patrol vessels previously used by the U.S. Navy.”
“Is there no sea police in Kazakhstan?”
“The Navy used to be in charge of the maritime police’s tasks, so we stepped in to take over the duty. We have our own force, so we thought it was not a problem.”
He still did not seem to understand.
For people who just moved to Kazakhstan from Korea, confusion was natural. After Youngho shortly explained things, he finally nodded.
“The country is more than twelve times bigger than the Korean Peninsula but it’s true that they lack serious number in the population. It’s unprecedented to give the maritime police’s job to the civilians of the autonomous state.”
“You’ll only understand the systems of the countries of the Caspian coast after living here for several years. Everything is very different here.”
“So, you’re saying that the reason that the teenagers are receiving military training in case of emergency, not because of outside threats.”
“Well, you can just assume that as a kind of physical education. In order to protect themselves, they’d need to build strength and learn how to use arms. As soon as we go beyond the stone walls, it’s like nature’s warzone.”
It seemed that experience would be more effective for the doctor, than describing how it was like outside the stone walls for a hundred times. Youngho planned to go camping outside with the medical team this week. He needed to teach them the difference between the outside and inside of the autonomous state.
“Would you like to go camping in the vast plains? You can also try wolf hunting.”
“Wow, certainly! I also used guns when I served as a medical officer.”
The doctor had served in the military when he was in his 20s, which meant that he had not touched a gun for about 30 years now.
“The guns these days are a little more complicated than before, but I guess you’d be able to get the hang of them quickly.”
At Youngho’s concern, Kim Dong-sung showed a proud look on his face.
“You have no idea about what we have used during the Vietnam War. It was the M16 rifle.”
“Well then, that’s no problem. I’d like to see your skills, Dr. Kim.”
***
Countryside Force suddenly got busy.
It was because Youngho shared his plan to go camping in the wild outside the state with the newcomers of the state, the doctors and their families, with some of the soldiers of the force. Since the doctors were eager to learn about their new surroundings, the force was willing to help them and protect them in the wild.
After a few days of preparation, the first day of the three-day camping had begun.
“Only six people can get in each vehicle. We should also load our supplies.”
Each vehicle could have ten people but since they were driving far, they had to secure some space.
“Doctor Kim, why don’t you and your wife come along with me?”
“Do you think my clothes would be enough?”
Youngho was surprised to see the couple only bringing thin jackets.
“The temperature in the day will rise high but the night in the field is quite cold. You need to bring your winter coat.”
It was April, but the temperature dropped below freezing point at night. Winter coats were necessary.
“But it’s so warm during the day.”
Not knowing how the semi-deserted area was like, it was a natural reaction.
This was the purpose of the camping, to teach them how to camp outside and how wild animals could be life-threatening in here.
Fifteen light-armored vehicles set off to the camping sight in a row.
The vehicles were great transportation in the great plains and if it snowed or rained, people could also sleep and eat inside them.
Dr. Kim and his wife inside the car was enjoying the outside view.
“I should make medical volunteer trips often since it’s so nice outside.”
He could only say that when he had not seen the other side of nature.
Youngho smiled to think that he would not say that tomorrow.
Although the light-armored vehicles were the newest versions, they were not comfortable as cars since they were built for battles. As they drove on a rough field for hours, everyone got tired of the long drive. If there were children in the group, people would have given up in the middle of the trip.
Since it was not the greatest idea to exhaust people on the first day of camping, the group decided to make a camping ground at that point.
When Youngho and Jong-il were busy putting up a tent, doctor Kim Dong-sung approached them.
“I thought we’d be sleeping in yurts where nomads live in.”
“Well, if we would stay here for the long term, yurts would be better but if you’re only camping for a night or two, tents are more efficient.”
The tent they were making now was a large one that could fit portable beds and a heating system inside. They could install a yurt too but that would be an annoying job.
“I haven’t seen any wolf or person since we left the state.”
“Well, they are nocturnal creatures. Unless they are extremely hungry, they would show up only when it gets dark.”
“Do they roam around the tent at night?”
“Sure. I’m sure we can expect to see some tonight.”
Although he seemed to be excited to see wolves, Youngho wondered if he could stay up at night since everyone was extremely tired due to long, six hours of travel time. They would probably fall asleep shortly after dinner.
***
The purpose of today’s camping was mainly to let the medical team experience the nature of Kazakhstan, but it was also for Countryside Force’s shooting training. That was why everyone was in their combat uniform. As all of the soldiers of the Countryside Force had their uniform and insignias on, they looked serious.
As Countryside Force became the official defense force of the autonomous state, the intensity of its training was raised and its devices were modernized. They looked very professional and systemized now. The soldiers who came along with the medical group today were 40 people, which was about 20 percent of the total number of Countryside Force.
Since they didn’t have many chances to use heavy firearms near the autonomous state, they brought mortars, portable rocket launchers, and machine guns to practice. Only the minimum number of guards were left at the campground and everyone else headed to an empty field on light-armored vehicles.
They looked like they had been training hard as they were moving in perfect order, according to their drill instructors who worked at Zeynep Security Service previously.
“Whoa, that’s quite the skill! Man, but what’s that one doing out there? Doesn’t he know what hiding means? I don’t believe this. Cha Insoo said he taught them according to the special training manual.”
Jong-il was complimenting and complaining as he evaluated their state of training.
“They’re doing great. You can’t expect to be satisfied at once.”
“They’re just too relaxed because they are stuffed with a good life.”
Life was difficult in Korea around in the 1970s, but now it was not the same.
“Dude, we’re even too young to say that. What time are you referring back?”
“If they don’t have strong willpower like now, expensive devices are pointless. They’d be busy running away from their enemies in war. Should I train them myself?”
Everyone seemed to be high-spirited after their shooting training.
Although a few soldiers were stunned by the noise of the machine guns, most of them were highly motivated. It was because they were now prideful that they had learned how to use heavy firearms. Since they practiced until they were out of ammunition, they now knew the basics skills. From now on, their training would be focused on learning how not to blink an eye at explosive noises.
The mortars and portable rocket launchers were easy to get used to since they would burst from afar, but machine guns on the armored vehicles and light machine guns were deafening. It was a good idea to bring the soldiers to practice those weapons as much as they could.
Youngho and Jong-il also fired rocket launchers as much as they wanted.
“Man, if only we had this when we were in Xinjiang Uyghur. We would’ve destroyed the whole base.”
“You know, if that happened, that Chinese force would have demolished the whole Xinjiang region.”
“When are they going to earn their independence if they act so slowly like that? They need to go through a major rough time to get to the conclusion.”
Youngho did not think that China would ever give up Xinjiang even if it went through a war with the region due to the region’s rich underground resources and its locational purpose of being a buffer to other nations. It did not seem like it was going to happen in the near future.
The whole group returned after it became dark.
“Mr. Lee. We wanted to shoot guns as well. Why didn’t you take us?”
The doctors who were left at the campground the whole day were disappointed that they did not get to touch the arms.
“Why would you want to practice using the weapons? They only deafen your ears.”
“Do you know what a man’s dream? It’s to drive in the wild wilderness and fire guns at random. That’s been my desire for a long time.”
Youngho did not know that even doctors had such a wild dream. They did not seem to have the strength to pick up a wooden poker.
“Then, would you like to try shooting tomorrow?”
“Of course. We need to learn to protect ourselves as well if we are going to live here from now on. I don’t want to be protected by others forever.”
That was the right idea but the training would not be easy as they thought.
“Very well. Then, you should receive safety training and basic training tomorrow.”
“training?”
People did not like receiving training regardless of their age. However, it was a necessary step.
“Alright. Everyone, get down and get to the position. Hey, trainee! I told you that you can’t hold a gun like that multiple times.”
“Instructor, please cut us some slack. We’re not soldiers here.”
The doctors began to complain when they had not even trained for an hour yet. Youngho told the instructor to go easy on them, but he was being strict as usual. It was only basic training but it was a difficult task for the doctors who did not have strong bodies to use guns freely.
“Complaining to your instructor is not allowed during your training. If that’s a problem to you, I shall take your gun away.”
Doctors finally stopped complaining.
The instructor wanted to train them strictly now so that they could really learn to protect themselves, but to prevent any safety accident, they needed to be trained a little bit harshly.
Residents of the autonomous state all carried guns since things were wild and dangerous outside the stone walls. Anyone could get attacked by wild animals at any time. If one did not have the strength to protect himself, he could easily turn into a chunk of meat. The wolves did not care if its prey was a human or another animal.
“Stand again and get to your position now. Hey, trainee, your muzzle’s shaking.”
The doctors were already getting exhausted now since the use of guns needed extra focus and self-control. Although Youngho was convincing the instructor to go easy, he was actually enjoying seeing the doctors strictly getting trained.
Chapter 270: The Countryside Force (2)
The outdoor training of the Countryside Force went on for four more times.
It finally ended after all of the soldiers had practiced using heavy firearms.
Youngho went out every time to train with them. It was to get to know their training sequences in case he had to work with them in the future. The only way to maximize fighting efficiency was repeated training. One’s strength and shooting abilities were important but he would only be a paper tiger if his skills were not backed up with actual fight training.
The training that incorporated real arms consumed a huge amount of ammunition. Because of this, the training field was wrecked. It was not only the ground force that had the training but also the maritime police.
The only arms that were attached to their patrol boats were 20-millimeter-long machine guns and Vulcan. So, Youngho ordered them to attach machine guns and rocket launchers on their vessels and let them practice shooting those firearms with the ground force.
There was no point to distinguish Countryside Force by departments since they were not a lot of people, to begin with. Any Countryside Force should be trained to fight on any place whether it was the land or the sea since dividing the land force and sea force and rotating them every three months would be a great way to run the force efficiently even if they were not a lot in numbers.
With the small number of people protecting the state, Youngho thought that it would be great if Cessna airplane pilots began to take police duties. They could be called a small air force.
As Youngho told that Cessna airplanes would become a small air force, Jong-il laughed hard.
“Man, it’s too funny that you do a lot of things with such a small number of people.”
As Jong-il teased, Insoo snapped at him.
“Hey! All of the agents of the intelligence department is also a Countryside Force, right?”
“Dude, please. They’re extremely busy collecting information. You know I told you that we should get old combat planes this time. Did we make the runway bigger for nothing?”
“People will laugh at us if we have old fighters with propellers in this era.”
Jong-il had been trying to convince Youngho to buy old fighters.
“There will be a symbolic meaning to it. You can still use the machine gun and bomb a place if you want. It can wipe out a place before a supersonic plane arrives.”
“Oh forget about it. I’m thinking about buying a helicopter. What do you think?”
“Now you’re talking about it? I’m in for any kind of attack helicopter.”
“I might be able to manage to get a Cobra helicopter from America.”
“Whatever it’d be, let’s try that. The Countryside Force is our own military force. Don’t you think we need at least two attack helicopters?”
In a country that was as large as Kazakhstan, people preferred fighters that had a bigger radius of action than helicopters that could only travel about 500 kilometers. However, helicopters were better to use within the Arirang Autonomous State. It seemed that helicopters would be a great addition to the state’s military force.
***
Russia finally stepped in to mediate between China and other Central Asian countries because military forces were gathered near China’s border areas. If things intensified, it was not good for Russia either. So, Russia suggested to China to retreat its force and missile base 100 kilometers away from the border to sooth the tension between the Central Asian countries and China.
China agreed to retreat and even reduced its force around the border down to 130,000 soldiers. Following China’s move, other countries reduced the intensity of their military forces as well. It was because they had gathered to protest against Uyghur’s oppression, not to begin a war.
Because of the current situation, Kazakhstan’s plan to equip its military with U.S. military arms was postponed for now since it would be risky if Kazakhstan was misunderstood to be reinforcing its military strength against China or Russia.
Youngho was relieved to hear the agreement between Kazakhstan and the U.S. Although Arirang Shipping was in charge of transporting U.S. weapons to Kazakhstan alone, it was too risky to provoke Russia. It could damage his wine trade to Russia and might affect Yaniv’s position as well.
The leadership of the Arirang Autonomous State was trying hard to make a small but invincible army of the state. The only obstacle was the small number of the Countryside Force.
It was already a lot that almost five percent of the whole population was serving in the Countryside Force, and it was now impossible to increase the number.
It would be the same in any country, but if a country reinforced its defenses it did not mean that the country that reinforced its defenses would want to invade other countries. Any country would just want to have an assurance in the form of a deterrent force. The strength of Arirang Autonomous State would also be an addition to Kazakhstan’s defense force. It was a sense of duty but it was also because some people of the leadership group were crazy over weapons.
Those people were now gathered at a conference table and making a new plan.
“It’s called a land warrior. Simply, it’s a wireless network given to soldiers.”
“Oh, I’ve heard about it before. The Stryker brigade of the U.S. Army is already equipped with it.”
Cha Insoo still had no idea but Jong-il answered Youngho right away as a military mania.
The Land Warrior system would be a luxury for bigger armies but the state’s small army could benefit hugely by it if each soldier was equipped with the system.
For example, a rifle with heat-seeking and a target detection function that could detect an enemy’s location and automatically inform the distance and direction of that target.
The newest helmet had infrared discrimination and laser detection functions and a user could receive real-time information from the battlefield through its display at any time. He could also message other soldiers using a little keyboard on his wrist.
If a soldier was equipped with all of these devices, it would be quite heavy since they weighed about 3.5 kilograms but it could save soldiers’ lives.
“We can just add a display device to what the Countryside Force has now.”
“That’s why I want to buy at least the all-in-one helmet.”
“You think the U.S. would give them to us easily?”
“The ones made to export might be less functional than the originals, but it’s worth a try.”
Youngho had to give it a try, so he called Edward who was in the states.
“Ed. How’s your wife doing?”
He was supposed to visit the autonomous state in the winter but because his wife had an injury from a fall, his visit was canceled.
“She’s been asking to visit the Arirang Autonomous State as soon as she’s out of her cast.”
“How about the fourth week of May. There’s Memorial Day weekend.”
“Since you’re inviting me, I’ll be glad to come. Now, I know that you didn’t call me just for that. Did you need something from me?”
Since the two had been friends for years, he knew exactly why Youngho was calling him.
“I’m trying to get Warrior helmets. Do you think that would be possible?”
“I’ll try to get my hands on those as a visiting gift. I’ll see you then.”
Youngho liked this side of Edward. He did not ask for any explanation but agreed to find what Youngho needed.
***
Youngho ordered a large number of combat rations from Eti, the Turkish food company that recently opened a branch in Atyrau.
The combat rations were used by residents who often went outside of town and by the Countryside Force when they had outdoor training. Because the autonomous state’s territory was huge, there was no place to cook when people traveled a little bit far away from the town. To anyone who often went out of town, combat ration was the best food for them.
The combat rations were unexpectedly tasty that teenagers also like them.
As the spring was arriving, people began to do outdoor activities and the convenient combat rations were their first preference for such occasions. Youngho had been giving them out for free since he thought that the people would get sick of them after eating it a few times, but now combat rations had become the residents’ go-to lunch menu. Since many people lived off farming and ranching, they liked to eat convenient food while they worked.
In the end, Youngho could not give away free combat rations anymore. So, they were now sold by the state except for the ones that teenagers used for their outdoor activities at school. Although the demand for combat rations decreased after putting a price on it, they were still popular as a packed lunch meal.
“Boss. The seedling planting work in the lowland would be finished soon. We won’t have many workers because all the people will be sent to help out with farming now. It’d be great if the Countryside Force could help out with finishing the work since their training is done. We’ve been borrowing young kids’ hands but I don’t want to interrupt their school life anymore.”
Kim Chun was working on building a reservoir where there was a natural stream and planting seedlings around it. Planting would have to continue consistently for many years but this year’s goal was to plant in 30 percent of the state’s territory excluding areas of farming. That would decrease heat and dirt around the residential areas.
“How about getting the help of all of the residents on their break day?”
“They work for six days these days. I can’t ask them to give up their only day to rest.”
“We should ask for their understanding since they get to have a long break in the summer. If we miss this time, the trees won’t grow so well this year.”
There were no residents who would not help out in a town’s big event.
There were some lazy people but they would have to come out and work with others because of the pressure they will get from those people who were working. Planting trees were one of the most important works at the autonomous state now since they want to give a better place for their descendants.
“First, I’d like to focus on planting trees in the northeast and southwest regions.”
“Does the southwest region need trees now?”
“The summer wind is quite strong too. Some of the fully grown wheat was snapped by the wind.”
The land suffered from continental winds and winds from the Ural Mountains in the winter and from winds that traveled the Caspian Sea in the summer. Since Atyrau was lowland, there was nothing that would block the wind that would blow through the region.
Although the warm spring wind could be helpful for farming, the wind was problematic since it was too strong.
The state was being equipped with the army of the Countryside Force but the worst enemy of farming was the wind now.
Chapter 271: New Immigrants (1)
Youngho, who had been staying at Baku’s Zeynep Farm for the past fifteen days, was heading to Batumi in Georgia with Kim Il-kwon on a Cessna airplane.
“This feels strange without Jong-il.”
“You’re right. It’s less quiet when Jong-il hyung is around.”
“All you do is bicker at each other and you miss him now?”
A business trip was always fun when chatty and loud Jong-il was around but the three friends were now scattered for their own work. Jong-il was away in New York to receive intelligence devices, and Insoo was in Vladivostok to build new warehouse units within the warehouse complex. He was extremely busy at the moment because the warehouse company contracted with H Corporation to store goods that would be traded to Kazakhstan and Russia.
The warehouse business was not going to make a big fortune with one swoop but it was a secure business that would make consistent profits. Youngho thought that it was a charming business once the system was set up. Because quantities of imported goods were increasing in Russia and in Central Asian countries, contracting with a large corporation like H Corporation would guarantee a high profit. The warehouse business was a golden goose.
As the business in Vladivostok was successful, Sergey was motivated to open a private warehouse business in a port city of the Black Sea. He was also planning to open a hotel business too. He would be a potential competitor of Zeynep Corporation.
They would not have an overlapping point now but if Yaniv was gone, they would have to survive on their own.
“How’s your land purchase going?”
“Farm owners around keep coming to sell us their land that It’s hard to reject them now. The Charles farm itself is more than 30 acres. Including the land that is going to be added, it will be about 50 acres.”
As the small-scale farm owners around the Charles farm became employees of the Charles farm, they began selling their land. It was because the money they made as employees were better than what they made from running their own farms. Since experienced farm owners were great employees, there was no reason to refuse them.
“Don’t buy them so cheaply. I’m afraid that people will say that we’ve killed all of the small-scale farms around us.”
“I feel like they’re too expensive compared to the land received from the Kazakh government.”
“The soil must be rich. They’re worth the money.”
An abandoned soil and manured soil had a huge difference in the amount of yield they produced. People thought that the Charles farm would have more crop than Zeynep Farm when the new grape vines were planted. Since the small-scale farmer families had taken care of their precious land for generations, their quality was great. That was why Youngho wanted to honor their efforts by paying high costs for their estates.
“Any citizen in Baku knows how successful Zeynep Farm is. We even do charity work for people in need. We should definitely pay them well for their cherished farmland.”
“I understand but there are people with ill-intention too. Even large-scale farm owners are requesting to buy their land. They’re afraid that if we expand our farm business to the domestic market, they’ll go out of business.”
When the Charles farm went out of business in the first place, which had monopolized the domestic market, middle to large-scale farms had taken over the domestic market and benefited by it. Since all of the wine produced by Zeynep Farm was exported to Russia and Europe, there was no contact point with them. They were making an unreasonable demand.
“Just ignore them. The business people of Baku are greedy.”
“They’re trying to scare us ahead of time in case we decided to distribute our wine in Baku.”
“They were going out of business in the first place because of the previous owner of the Charles farm. They get to make money because of us now. I don’t know what their problem is.”
Although small-scale farmers were still struggling, middle and large-scale farmers were doing much better now but were still being greedy. This was why Youngho did not want to do business in the domestic market of Baku.
“Should we teach them a lesson this time?”
Il-kwon wanted to scare them away.
“How can we stop them from being greedy?”
“We can start distributing our wine in Baku. They’d be so frustrated.”
“Oh, let’s not. It’s our business that’ll get damaged if we run into a problem. We live here now but the fact that we were still foreigners here will never change. Zeynep Wine won’t ever be sold in Azerbaijan.”
“Should I announce that to the vineyards that make wine?”
“Yeah, we should do anything to quiet them.”
“I feel like it’s such a waste that we have to give up the domestic market because of them.”
“Well, I’m rather glad. We don’t even have a sufficient amount of wine for our foreign demands.”
That was because the grape farm was the base business of Zeynep Corporation, Youngho had to make a firm decision. Although he had to do that, he could not help but feel annoyed by the local vineyard owners.
***
The reason that Youngho was visiting Batumi was not to meet his friends or look around his hotel since he could always talk to his friends on video calls and receive reports about the hotel through e-mails. It was to buy a shipyard in the city.
There were shipyards that built vessels that weighed tens of thousands of tons but the one that Youngho was interested in buying was a shipyard that specialized in making yachts only.
Batumi was a famous tourist sight in the Black Sea but it was also the richest city of Georgia due to its shipbuilding business, light industry, and chemical industry.
“Boss. When I looked around the place a month ago, they were building two yachts but today there’s none. I don’t think this one’s selling well.”
Kim Il-kwon had visited Batumi a few times to visit shipyards in the market. Since he had convinced Youngho that yacht production was a prospective business in the future, Youngho had reluctantly agreed that he would come with him.
“You know, there is only a handful of wealthy men who’d buy a yacht in the coastal countries of the Black Sea.”
“Have you seen the yachts moored at the port over there? Everyone’s saying that they belong to foreigners of the coastal countries of the Black Sea.”
“They’re all used ones.”
Youngho could see a few new ones but most of them had their paints peeled off from their bodies.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re used ones or new ones. The important thing is that there’s a demand. The reason I recommended this business is because I thought the yacht production technologies could be a good addition to the Arirang Autonomous State and Zeynep Corporation.”
High-performance yacht production technology was monopolized by a few advanced countries but there was a yacht producer company that stood out from the coastal countries of the Black Sea. Since there were frequent disputes between different ethnic groups, people could not travel freely on land. As they used sea routes more often, the maritime business was naturally developed.
The company specialized in producing small vessels for different purposes, so its strength was that their vessels could be customized in any way. The bodies of their vessels were made up of FRP or glass fibers instead of steel, so they were light and they could be made in various forms.
“They’ve got outstanding technical skills but they’re financially struggling now because of business depression. If we could transport those facilities and hire their technicians, it’ll be like having a small hidden champion in our autonomous state.”
It was the result of a global economic recession and not being able to read the market well. The management team was responsible for insisting on yachts only.
“They’d be great for battleships too, right?”
“Well, they’ve got the speed, lightweight, and sturdiness. What more could we ask for?”
The technology of a high-performance yacht production could be applied to anywhere. The recent trend of building ships was vacuum forming which incorporated glass fibers. This could make the body of a vessel 50 percent harder than the original production method, bread-and-butter model. Moreover, the body was 30 percent lighter and had higher fire resistance and better insulation.
No matter how strong a battleship was, it could be destroyed by a single missile. If it was going to be destroyed anyway by a missile, it was more economical to produce more ships with less investment and shorter production time. Youngho decided to study about how building a shipyard could help other industries and economy of the state first before deciding.
“Find out the core technologies of yacht production.”
“Boss. Did you finally make the decision?”
“We need to make the most out of our state’s geological advantage of having a river next to it. I think the technologies can also be applied to drone production.”
***
The reason why mega-corporations like Sony and GM were cornered was that they settled for their current success and a combined reason of a self-preservation attitude and miscommunication between its leadership and underlings.
Batumi’s Ararat Shipyard was not a huge company like the ones mentioned above but it was a distinguished company that boasted more than a hundred years of its history. It was a capable company but the recent management team failed to maintain its finance well and ended up giving up the company.
The company’s purchase condition for a buyer was to take over all of the technicians of the shipyard, which was the last regard of the owner for the company’s employees who had been working hard for him for a long time.
Just like most of the other countries around the Caucasus, Georgia was not affluent enough to support a company’s finance or give a tax exemption. It could not help out the business that had been once a leading company in Batumi. With the economic power of $6,000 per-capita GDP, the nation’s management was in jeopardy, devising corporate support measures was unlikely. As a result, even blue-chip companies often went bankrupt out of nowhere.
After all, Georgia was not a country that had abundant underground resources like Azerbaijan and not to mention, it had been only about twenty years since it became an independent country. It could not yet stop its own corporation’s downfall with its current economic power.
“It’s only five million dollars?”
The facilities of the shipyard would easily cost more than ten million dollars. Not only that, the accumulated technologies of shipbuilding went beyond ordinary standards.
“The owner’s condition to take over the company’s technicians meant that we should pay for their payments overdue. We can hand over the company’s site to the company’s creditors and take the employees and facilities.”
“How many employees are there?”
“They’re about 150 and most of them are veteran workers who have been here for over twenty years. I’m especially excited about the material production department and the designing department.”
Although Kim Il-kwon was educated in a closed and limited system of North Korea, he had worked overseas as an agent for more than five years. Since he used to be an elite agent, Youngho trusted him for this job, and he seemed to have picked out the key in this business.
“Find out if they’re willing to move to Kazakhstan. I don’t want to take over a shipyard without technicians.”
Youngho was rather interested in taking in the technicians rather than the business itself. If they wanted to receive overdue payments and get a more secure position, they would have to leave Batumi. He wanted to see if they were willing to take a leap of faith that required leaving their hometown. Also, with their joining, the population of the autonomous state would increase.
Taking in 150 technicians meant taking 800 people including their family members. It would increase the population of the autonomous state for about 15 percent. They were not homeless immigrants but specialized ship-building technicians.
The people of the autonomous state were feeling the necessity of a bigger population. Even if they wanted to increase the number of factories or to expand wheat farming, without more people, it would all be just a dream. Since many were worried about the future of the autonomous state, any more immigrants would be welcomed by them.
If the new immigrants would be responsible as citizens of the autonomous state, there was no reason to dislike them. That was why Serbian immigrants were living well with Koryoins on the farm. Youngho thought that this would create a good precedent if the technicians in Batumi decided to move to the Arirang Autonomous State.
“Il-kwon. Can you contact Commissioner Kim Chun and ask him to send us the whole view of the autonomous state?”
“Should I tell him to send the view of the wharf too?”
“Of course. Tell him not to forget to take shots of the school, hospital, and gym facilities too. We shouldn’t hear anything about the autonomous state being worse than Batumi.”
The only way to convince the technicians, for now, was to pay them their overdue payments and offer a new position. There would be no one who would move to an unfamiliar place that he had never heard of. Youngho had to at least let them know that it was a great place to live.
“Boss. I’ll take the charge and try my best to relocate all of the 150 workers to the autonomous state.”
“Tell them that even if one person is not willing to, we’re going to give up purchasing the shipyard.”
Since it was a long-term investment to make a technician, Youngho did not want to miss a single technician.
“Tell them that we’d even take their distant relatives and friends!”
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