<h4>Chapter 731: A Tooth for A Tooth (3)</h4>


    Kazakhstan’s closure of the border was big news.


    Western countries criticized China over the Uyghur bloodshed, saying that economic sanctions could be considered if the anti-humanitarian persecution on Uyghurs continued.


    In response, the Chinese government reacted angrily, saying that eradicating anti-government forces was a matter of internal affairs.


    In any case, China, hit by Kazakhstan’s ban on mineral resources and oil exports, sought to diversify its import lines, but it had not been easy to find a supplier as close and as convenient as Kazakhstan.


    It had to be satisfied with Mongolia, which had been a close country to China.


    When the supply of mineral resources was cut off, some factories began to cut operations, which could lead to the shutdown of factories and the damage to secondary and tertiary processing industries in a chain.


    China’s biggest blow was in the energy sector, including oil and gas, which used to be supplied stably through pipelines connected to Kazakhstan.


    They could be brought from the Middle East, but there was no better supplier than Kazakhstan.


    Oil was also produced in China, but it was not enough for 1.3 billion people to use.


    November of the Arirang royal territory was the time to begin the break after winter preparation, but this year, people were more energetic than ever.


    Despite the colder weather, the road was filled with noise from numerous container vehicles traveling to and from the light industrialplex.


    Factories that used to operate only 8 hours a day to control the volume of daily necessities produced in the light industrialplex were running 24 hours a day now, so the vehicles were busy to transport the supplies.


    This phenomenon was not limited to the royal territory, but to all industrialplexes across the country.


    The reason why factories were operating 24 hours a day and logistics was increasing was because Chinese daily necessities were not allowed in Central Asia anymore.


    Despite all the efforts to prevent the flood of Chinese products, Chinese daily necessities still dominated the market in Central Asia.


    If there were no border closures, Central Asia could not have been freed from cheap Chinese products forever.


    “Your Highness, thankfully, it seems that we have given us a little breathing space in the supply and demand of daily necessities. I think this is a great opportunity to lower the market share of Chinese goods.”


    Although the Minister of Industry, who was reporting on the market share of Chinese daily necessities, Kazakhstan was still relying heavily on Chinese imports for major products.


    As the demand for high-end products was limited to the poption, the more factories were operated, the more there were to lose.


    It would be different if the poption of Kazakh Federal Kingdom exceeded 100 million, but it was only 30 million, so the industry could not be maintained for domestic consumption alone.


    “Minister, most of the writing tools we use in this very conference room are from China. Without alternative products, we have no choice but to use Chinese products. Please find ways to improve the quality of our products.”


    In order to drive out Chinese products that had prated into every corner of life, high-quality products of various items must be continuously produced, but Kazakhstan’s industry-level had yet to reach that level.


    “I’ll take a closer look. Right now, we have no choice but to appeal to the public for the use of domestic products. We stillck advanced technicians...”


    “Do you have any intention of releasing additional funding for technology improvement at the government level?”


    “The moral hazard of the factory owners is the problem. It’s hard to expand it anymore because many factory owners use it for other purposes in the belief that its blind money. Moreover, there are not enough public officials who have the ability to identifypanies and factories that are expected to improve their technology.”


    “If they’ve diverted technology funding elsewhere, isn’t it proof that thosepanies are small? We need to increase the size of thepanies and factories with the potential to grow even with bold support, and if we turn free aid into paid aid, moralxity will be eliminated.”


    “I’ll go over it carefully and report it to you again.”


    Youngho did not intend to get involved in what the minister was in charge of, but he had to urge it because Kazakhstan would be eroded by Chinese products in the future if it did not prepare now.


    “It’s important to be determined to outpace Chinese goods. Someday, the Chinese border will be reopened. We have to be prepared for that.”


    “Your Highness. Are you thinking of improving rtions with China?”


    “Not right now, but one day we’ll have to resume our exchanges. There’s no eternal enemy or ally in the internationalmunity.”


    ***


    Early Kazakhstan’s defense capabilities were based primarily on defense-oriented strategies which meant airpower was rtively weakpared to China.


    However, after bing a constitutional monarchy, it continued to invest funds in expanding its air power by assembling Gripen fighter jets from Saab, Sweden, in the country and introducing the U.S. F-35 fighter jets and Apache helicopters.


    Recently, the government had introduced aerial tankers and early warning systems, which were considered equal to or superior to China in terms of airpower.


    This assessment was amon diagnosis by global military critics.


    The reason why Youngho was not afraid of China was based on this assessment on top of Kazakhstan’s newly arranged weapons.


    Kazakhstan had not only tactical nuclear weapons but alsoser guns and unmanned attack drones.


    Unmanned attack drones had been the result of exhausting research and development since the early days of the Kazakh Kingdom.


    China, which was a drone powerhouse, had also developed unrivaled unmanned attack drones, but they were not up to what Kazakhstan had.


    Chinese troops deployed along the Kazakh border were mostly engaged in reconnaissance activities or construction of camps.


    It was proof that they felt a sense of crisis.


    China had not necessarily strengthened its borders because of the confidence that it had a military advantage of a powerful force and the rugged Tian Shan Mountains reced the border.


    On the other hand, Kazakhstan prepared thoroughly for China’s invasion, including the construction of steel-rebar concrete trenches in various parts of the Tian Shan Mountains to ovee the rtive inferiority of its troops and the ease of troop movement by prating mountain roads.


    Recently,ser gun units and unmanned attack drones were deployed in rtively t areas aimed at neutralizing fighter jets and deterring mechanized troops from advancing.


    Theser guns had a range of only 4 kilometers, but it was fired at the speed of light without a sound, so it was not detected by radar.


    This meant that the only way to avoidser guns was to fly high.


    Although rtively low destructive power, direct attack of aser gun would result in temporary loss of function and incapacitation of tanks or fighters as there were no modern weapons without electronic devices.


    Chinese fighter jets going on a reconnaissance flight without knowing that such a secret weapon was hiding would be the first to be sacrificed to aser gun.


    When Chinese fighter jets approached the border, Kazakhstan’s air force would alsounch in response.


    However, after theser guns were deployed, no response wasunched, which was a trick to induce the Chinese aircraft to invade Kazakh airspace.


    It was a n to fire aser gun as soon as they crossed the Kazakh airspace.


    On the afternoon of November 28th, when the temperature suddenly dropped sharply, a Chinese fighter jet deliberately entered the Kazakh airspace while on a reconnaissance flight as usual. It was going in and out of the Kazakh airspace over and over again.


    Lieutenant Erhan, the chief of theser gun units, was continuing to track down the Chinese fighter jet captured by the radar.


    He was already fully prepared tounch aser gun, so he pressed theunch button the moment it invaded the airspace for the third time.


    The Chinese fighter jet, which was directly hit by theser, seemed to be flying for a while but soon lost its direction and began to shake.


    The pilot tried to control the fusge but decided that he could not do anything, so he tried to separate the canopy and attempted an emergency escape only on the brink of a crash.


    The fighter jet crashed into the mountainside and exploded, and the pilot was seized by Kazakh mountaineers.


    It was the result ofser gun practice against drones.


    In the process of capturing the pilot, there was a gun battle between soldiers of the two countries, but there was no further expansion because the area where the jet crashed and the pilotnded was Kazakhstan’s territory, which meant the jet clearly invaded the Kazakh airspace.


    Prime Minister Kasim called to report the shooting down of a fighter jet.


    Youngho could not help but hide his smile when he heard the news that a fighter jet was neutralized by theser gun.


    This was because his efforts so far had not been in vain.


    In the case of unmanned attack aircraft, they caught it because of its slow speed, but the fighter’s speed was noparison to that.


    “What happened to the pilot and the fusge?”


    -The pilot only suffered a slight bruise whennding with a parachute. The fusge exploded as soon as it touched the ground, and we are currently collecting its debris.


    “What are you collecting that for? Only soldiers suffer in cold weather, so tell them to quit.”


    China’s fighter jet was not a secret weapon nor was it high-tech, so there was nothing to collect carefully.


    Only shes with Chinese troops would ur during the search for the wreckage.


    -We must find a ck box with flight records. If we study it, we can figure out how theser gun affected the fighter. We needed to umte data to further develop theser gun in the future.


    Kasim, a former soldier, was calcting all that.


    “You think ck box is still intact even though the missile on the fighter exploded?”


    -The ck box is strong enough to withstand minor shocks and explosions, and it is necessary to deal with China in the future. It’s also the only evidence of invasion of our airspace and territory.


    “China could argue that it was an idental crossing.”


    -They can’t cover up the fact that they’ve invaded our airspace. It’s all recorded on our air defense radar and satellite.


    “The Chinese military will make a fuss to figure out the cause. Was there any request for the return of the fusge and the pilot from China?”


    -We can’t just return them just because they requested. We will check thoroughly and send them back after receiving a promise to prevent a recurrence.


    “Are theser gun units well camouged?”


    -Don’t worry, it’spletely disguised so you can’t find it even if youe near just around the corner.


    Now, Chinese drones and fighter jets wandering near the border were likely to be hunted by sight.


    Watching its own fighter jet crash for no reason, the Chinese military would be stunned.


    However, it would be hard to find theser that had no sound and no substance.