21st century Goguryeo

Chapter 532: Season 2 Book 21 Shadow of War 2- 5-2 Wits Game

January 20th, 2024, 21:20 (UK time: 13:20)

Westminster Foreign Ministry building, London, England

In another reception room at the British Foreign Ministry, U.S. Secretary of State, Maine Johnson, who had arrived in London on a private plane the previous day, sat on a chair while various expressions crossed her face.

It was because she had just received a report from her assistant that the Latvian CIA branch’s hideout had been attacked by unidentified assailants, resulting in casualties and, most importantly, the seizure of important documents.

The report said they were attacked by unidentified assailants, but Secretary Maine Johnson was convinced they were sent by the South Korean Intelligence Agency.

Following their failed assassination attempt, CIA agents switched to 24-hour surveillance of Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan, his bodyguards, and Korean intelligence agents. Therefore, Secretary Maine Johnson was very concerned that their hideout had been attacked in such a situation.

Moreover, she was concerned that the information about the attempted assassination of Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan would now be in the hands of the South Korean intelligence service.

As all sorts of thoughts were churning through her head, the door to the reception room opened and Minister Enders entered the room.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I had an unexpected lunch meeting with the Prime Minister.”

Minister Enders, who arrived 20 minutes later than expected, extended his hand with an apologetic expression. Secretary Maine Johnson responded by lightly shaking his hand with a firm expression as she cursed in her head.

She had guessed why Minister Enders had a sudden lunch meeting with the Prime Minister.

“Is that so! May I ask what happened during your sudden lunch meeting with the Prime Minister?”

“What? Haha, it’s a domestic political issue.”

Once again, Minister Enders lied slyly! At this, Secretary Maine Johnson raised one eye and said, “Wasn’t it because of the meeting with the Korean special envoy?”

“What? Haha, how did you know about that?”

Minister Enders immediately disclosed this fact. Because she spoke in this manner, it implied that she already knew everything. As a result, he determined that it would be better to speak truthfully.

“This is a piece of cake for us.”

“Haha, as expected from the country that leads the world, they have a lot of information.” Minister Enders took a sip from the cup of coffee and uttered some ambiguous words, without being clear if it was praise or sarcasm.

“Minister Enders! Let’s go straight to the point as we both don’t have much free time.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

“As you previously promised, please hand over the commander of the British troops currently deployed to NATO forces.”

“Well, it is…”

Minister Enders looked embarrassed, placed the coffee cup down on the table, and sighed for a long time.

“Didn’t you promise in advance that you would cooperate with us?” asked Secretary Maine Johnson, raising her voice.

“At the lunch meeting, the Prime Minister expressed his disapproval of this.”

“What?”

“As you know, the EU rejected this agenda, right? We think it would be an international problem for the UK to intervene in such a situation.”

“Minister Enders! Isn’t Britain an ally with the United States? How could you refuse to assist your allies in such a way?”

“I’m sorry. There’s nothing I can do about this because it’s an order from Prime Minister,” said Minister Enders firmly.

“Huh! Are you afraid of Korea?”

“What are you saying? Of course not. How could you say that?”

“What do you mean by no?”

Secretary Maine Johnson vented her rage by slamming her fist on the table. Minister Enders’ expression, on the other hand, remained consistent, and he eventually leaned forward and quietly asked, “Excuse me! Secretary Johnson! Did you happen to have a big accident in Latvian Riga?”

“What does that mean?” asked Secretary Maine Johnson who was surprised but was trying hard to hide her expression.

“Our intelligence agency can find out information, too.”

“Haha, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“An attempt to assassinate Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan.”

Secretary Maine Johnson made an unpleasant look and pretended not to know. “What do you mean, an attempt to assassinate someone? Please clearly tell me what you mean.”

“Haha, even though I knew everything, you continue to defy me. I’m referring to the CIA agents in Riga who attempted to assassinate Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan, who had arrived here as a Korean envoy the day before.”

“Minister Enders! What you’re saying doesn’t make sense. Are you trying to get rid of us with such nonsense because you have no reason to reject our U.S. request?”

Eventually, Secretary Maine Johnson stood up.

She was deliberately becoming more enraged because she believed she would suffer as a result of their assassination attempt if she sat there any longer. Besides the British military’s transition to NATO command had already been disrupted.

“Oh! Don’t get too angry and sit down.”

“It’s fine. I don’t think there’ll be any difference if I sit down anymore.” Secretary Maine Johnson, who had the last word, immediately headed to the door.

“Secretary Maine Johnson! What’s wrong with you?”

When Minister Enders, who reluctantly stood up, tried to catch her, Secretary Maine Johnson, who had already opened the door, threw a threatening remark and left. “In the future, there will be no international coordination with Britain. I hope you are aware of this.”

“Hoho. This is…”

Minister Enders standing slumped, looked at the door.

The documents received from Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan in the morning included not only a USSC case but also evidence of the assassination attempt on Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan the day before, as well as evidence that the assassins were U.S. CIA agents.

After receiving the documents on the actions of the United States, which was willing to commit any illegal act for its own interests, Secretary Anders and Prime Minister Ryan concluded that it was no longer in Britain’s interest to engage with the United States.

In addition, there was one more thing that led them to make this decision.

It was that the Republic of Korea was already aware of the UK’s MI6 involvement in the plasma core technology that was stolen by New China.

Shin Baiqing was attempting to sell the plasma core technology for $500 million after stealing it, but he disappeared after the attack in Haute Vienne Limousin, France, on January first. Following this, the British cabinet deleted all evidence of MI6’s involvement.

Unfortunately, the Korean government was well aware of everything. As a result of being caught, the British cabinet had no choice but to listen to the wishes of Second Vice Minister Kim Myung-hwan. In other words, they had to maintain their distance for the time being while also denying the request of their most important ally, the United States.

In fact, this was the main reason Minister Enders and Prime Minister Ryan made this decision, and France, which actively supported South Korea alongside Turkey at the previous EU (European Union) representative meeting to the summit, was also caught up in Shin Baiqing’s plasma core technology leak and had no choice but to take Korea’s side unconditionally.

From ancient times to the present, the world situation has moved according to the logic of power, with each hitting the calculator to determine their profit.

* * *

January 20th, 2024, 22:30 (UK time: 14:30)

May Fair Amma Hotel, London, England

Secretary Maine Johnson, who returned to Amma Hotel without getting any results, immediately received a detailed report from the head of the CIA’s London branch regarding the Riga case.

The report revealed that the unidentified assailants who attacked the CIA Riga’s hideout, as Secretary Maine Johnson predicted, were South Korean intelligence agents.

“How many people died?” asked Secretary Maine Johnson in a tone of disbelief.

“There were 17 casualties, and only one survived. He is currently being treated in a hospital due to severe injuries.”

In other words, all CIA agents working in Riga`s branch were dead.

“Did branch manager Eddie Louis die as well?”

“Yes, we found him dead in the alley behind Rodison.”

At that moment, Secretary Maine Johnson was furious and threw her topcoat on the floor.

“Currently, our agents in Poland and Finland have been mobilized to investigate this.”

“Damn, what are the missing documents?”

“We are checking, but what is currently confirmed is documents related to the EU Representative Council agenda, the list of countries we have contacted and the policy of conciliation for the heads of the summits.”

Secretary Maine Johnson sat on the sofa with a long sigh.

“It’s over. It’s over!”

She waved her hand and motioned for him to stop as if she didn’t want to hear anything more.

“This is the end of my 30-year political career. It’s over!”

At this time, her smartphone rang.

“Ha! It’s finally come!”

Upon seeing the president’s name appear on her smartphone’s screen, she answered the phone helplessly.

“I’m Maine Johnson.”

“What happened? Are you still in the meeting?”

“No, I just finished and am back at the hotel.”

“Shouldn’t you then immediately report the results to me?”

“I’m sorry, but I’ll just tell you the conclusion. Britain has rejected our request.”

“What does that mean? Weren’t you certain about it until the morning?”

“I believe Korea had a hand in this.”

“What? Then what were you doing in the meantime?” President Trump’s angry voice erupted through her smartphone.

“That’s…After the failure of the EU summit, I ordered Kim Myung-hwan’s assassination, but we failed.”

“What do you mean by an assassination attempt?”

Until then, President Trump did not know about the assassination attempt.

“After the rejection of our agenda at the EU Summit, I was certain that our plan to request UK’s NATO forces would be jeopardized, so I ordered the assassination.”

“Have you lost your mind? What on earth were you thinking when you gave such instructions?”

He would have moved on quietly if she had succeeded in the assassination, but as long as she failed, President Trump held her responsible.

“Yes, all right.”

“Damn! You are not doing anything right! It’s my fault to put you as the Secretary of State.”

Although her pride was hurt by the insulting remarks, Secretary Maine Johnson listened silently, unable to make any excuses under the circumstances.

“Come back and resign!”

“Yes, I will resign as soon as I get back. One more thing. Did you get a report from CIA’s Director General?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tha…that yesterday morning, the Riga branch’s hideout was attacked by Korean intelligence agents. 17 people were killed, with only one seriously injured. In addition, several top-secret EU documents have been transferred to Korea.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes, that’s right. Other agents have been mobilized to deal with this.”

“Oh, dear!

President Trump’s mouth erupted with a slew of curse words at that moment. These were not words that could be uttered by a country’s president.

After a while, President Trump, who had calmed down after swearing, spoke quietly.

“You should handle things there and come back.”

* * *

January 21st, 2024, 16:00 (local time: 17:00)

610 kilometers east of Katsura City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan (Pacific Fleet)

The Pacific Fleet’s forces finally gathered on the Pacific Ocean. The majesty of these Pacific Fleet ships sailing to Japan’s East Sea with a 500-meter interval between them was truly amazing.

The 7th Fleet’s Ford-class aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan (CVN-79) was in the lead and the two aircraft carriers from the 3rd Fleet were sailing alongside it. There were also 30 Zumwalt-class destroyers and 30 Arleigh Burke-class Aegis Destroyers in escort formation at about 200-meter intervals, followed by eight Bougainville-class LHA amphibious assault ships, four Wasp-class amphibious assault ships, and 20 various Logistics support ships.

Deep in the sea, various nuclear submarines were quietly and secretly diving, while in the air, the Navy’s E-55N stealth detection and intelligence system, as well as one E-2FN AHE Hawkeye, the latest model of the airborne early warning and control system, and three Navy P-3N maritime patrol aircraft and four F-35C Lightning II squadrons were flying together over the fleet.

Given that they were on a normal voyage and not in a state of war, it seemed to be somewhat excessive military activity.

The Pacific Fleet commanders arrived at the Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) before 2 p.m. on a transport plane from the Pentagon and immediately convened a commanders’ plenary meeting, and the ‘2024 Pacific Joint Training’ meeting lasted approximately an hour.

At that moment, the captains, who were the commanders who returned to their respective vessels, had begun the ‘2024 Pacific Joint Training.’

First of all, six Zumwalt-class destroyers belonging to the 3rd Fleet and two Zumwalt-class destroyers belonging to the 7th Fleet, for a total of eight Zumwalt-class destroyers, were placed in the role of a hypothetical enemy, the Blue Army.

The eight Zumwalt-class destroyers that formed the Blue Army, left the Pacific Fleet formation and sailed at full speed toward the east of Japan..