Chapter 712: Season 2 - Part 14 Tailgating - 1-1 The puzzle.

October 29th, 2023, 17:00 (Russian Standard Time 11:00)

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia (the president’s office)

The Russian government had established a strategy to retaliate against the Corean military’s operations near its borders, and now it only had two days before they had to give an official response to the letter they had received. The bureaucrats had spent days trying to come up with a solution, but they could not decide on one.

The 20 government officials were in a meeting once again, and all of them had lowered their heads as if a cold breeze coming from the table was crushing down on them.

Director Evgeny Lebedev from the SVR (Foreign Intelligence Agency) was sweating from his brow.

“There’s no need for everyone to be so tense. Please look up. How long will you all stay silent like this? Don’t we have only two days left before we need to respond to the letter Corea has sent us?” President Putin crossed his legs and stroked his chin before speaking for the first time.

When President Putin unexpectedly spoke in a calm tone, the officials became more anxious. They had all served under President Putin for between as short as 5 years and as long as 20. President Putin would be calm when he is full of rage.

As the officials were just waiting for someone to speak up, Minister Igor Semshov from the Emergency Response Department opened up the conversation.

“Mr. President! Shouldn’t we try to buy more time?”

“Hmm, Minister Shemshov, do you have any good idea?”

“Well, this is just my opinion, but since Ruslan Nigmatulin is held captive by the Corean intelligence agency and has confessed to everything, I don’t think we can deny the actions we took in Iran. Therefore, I think we should admit to what we have done…”

“The moment we do, it will be over for our nation,” Director Evgeny Lebedev interrupted him angrily.

President Putin scolded him, “Director Lebedev, be quiet.”

“So sorry, sir.”

“Minister Shemshov, please continue.”

Minister Igor Shemshov glared at Director Evgeny Lebedev who had been scolded by the president and continued, “Yes! Mr. President, how about we give an unofficial apology to Corea to buy some time, and give up the takeover of Hokkaido for now?”

“Ho-Hokkaido?”

“Yes, Mr. President! The Corean government is also in a pickle about the Hokkaido issue. If we use that as a bargaining chip, then the Corean government will let this go quietly.”

“Damn it, now we have to give up Hokkaido thanks to the idiots at the SVR and their irresponsibility.”

The arrow of blame was pointed to Director Evgeny Lebedev once again.

“I’m, I’m sorry, sir.”

Since the meeting started a few days ago, Director Evgeny Lebedev had been repeatedly apologizing as if he was a convicted criminal. Had he not been a close supporter of President Putin, he would have already been fired.

President Putin looked at Director Evgeny Lebedev panicking and called out the minister of foreign affairs.

“Minister Karpin!”

“Yes, Mr. President!”

“Tell the Corean government that we admit what we have done and that we give up on the matter of Hokkaido. However, make sure this is done and concluded unofficially. Understood?”

“Yes! Understood, Mr. President!”

“Great. Let’s conclude the meeting for now, and I would like the minister of defense, foreign affairs, the emergency response director, and the director of the SVR to stay behind.”

Soon, only President Putin and the four government officials remained in the office.

“To be honest, I have no intention to give up on Hokkaido. That is why…,” President Putin needed the hand-off of Hokkaido to happen for his third term. He explained his reasons to the four government officials who had stayed behind.

“Director Lebedev!”

“Yes, Mr. President!”

“How is the operation involving Kim Jong-un, which will be your last chance of redemption, going?”

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“It, it’s going smoothly so far, sir.”

“Be more specific. Give me details.”

“Yes. Chairman Kim Hyung-won of the People’s Labor Party is completely on our side. Jo Myung-rok, who will command the operation, has been brought into the fray by Kim Hyung-won as well.”

“I heard the New Republic of China is preparing for something, aren’t they?” Minister Valeri Karpin from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs interrupted the conversation.

“Yes, based on our intelligence, the New Republic of China is attempting to shake up the Corean government as well with their own operation.”

“Is that all?”

Director Evgeny Lebedev lowered his head and answered the president when he asked his question in an angry tone, “The agents at the New Republic of China are doing everything they can to find out. We will report to you as soon as we have more information, sir.”

“Regardless, Director Evgeny Lebedev, remember that this is your final chance and make sure to succeed. That is the only way we can take Hokkaido back.”

“Yes, I will not fail, sir.”

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October 29th, 2023, 20:00 (Egyptian Standard Time 13:00)

Cairo, Egypt, the Arab League’s office (the military council)

The Arab League was formed in March 1945 with six nations as its members: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Yemen. Its purpose was to maintain independence and peace within the Middle East. The member nations grew and were up to 22 nations by 2008, and Iran joined in 2019, making the total 23 nations in the league in 2023.

The office was temporarily moved to Tunis in Tunisia when Egypt lost its membership, but the nation had regained eligibility in 1989 and the office was hosted in Cairo once again.

The Arab League’s 23 nations had given the highest authority to the league that treated each nation equally, and all decisions during a summit would be made under a unanimous vote held once a year. Each meeting by a council would be held twice a year, and decisions could only be made with a 2/3 majority vote.

“Everyone! The Corean government is oppressing our nation, Iran, with its military power. This is not just political intervention, but also an internationally illegal demonstration of power.”

On the 9th, the Iranian government received the Corean government’s official letter and felt threatened. They responded with a call for an urgent meeting with all nations within the military council in attendance. The meeting was held in the office in Cairo, Egypt, and Sayid Rahimpur took the position of chairman while speaking to the 22 member nations.

“This is not just a simple political intervention about the Republic of Kurdistan’s independence. The majority of Corean citizens are Christian. This is clearly religious oppression against the Islamic faith. The Middle East had been peaceful until Kurdistan declared independence and Corea started intervening. Everyone! In the name of Allah, please lend us your strength against the religious oppressor Corea.”

Sayid Rahimpur expanded the issue against Corea’s support of Kurdistani independence and military aid to a religious one by claiming oppression.

The Iranian government was now a candle in the wind ever since they received the Corean government’s letter of protest. To overcome this threat, they needed the help of the member nations of the Arab League, so they used the league’s sensitivity to religious issues to gain favor.

Sayid Rahimpur’s use of the term “religious oppression” was spot on. Most of the other representatives from the member nations were not paying attention to his statement until the mention of religious oppression. When Sayid Rahimpur finished his speech, everyone gave him a standing ovation.

However, the decision to aid Iran through the military council was denied since it did not receive a 2/3 majority vote. It seemed most of the nations did not want to clash with Corea, which was now the world’s dominant military power.

Instead, many of the nations decided on using the strategy of oil shock that could directly affect the world economy.

If the price of crude oil was to drastically rise, then that would affect the world economy through an oil shock, and the most notable ones were during 1973 and 1978.

The first oil-shock had started on October 6th, 1973, and it was the cause of the 4th war in the Middle East. Six oil-producing nations demanded Israel to withdraw from the Arab territory of Palestine, and they had threatened to increase the price of oil by 17% and reduce production by 5% monthly until they did. Crude oil production had been used as a weapon for the war.

Therefore, the crude oil produced by the Middle East quadrupled in a year. The nations that had depended on a steady import of oil were the first to be hit by the oil shock and overcame the issue by reducing power supplies to numerous businesses and civilian facilities. However, the world’s economic growth plummeted, and many first-world countries went into recession, while inflation continued to rise.

This oil shock had caused the OPEC’s Oil Majors to hold complete control over the price of oil and fortified resource-driven nationalism before it concluded in 1978.

The second oil shock began in 1979 when Iran’s Islamic revolution started. Iran, which had supplied 15% of the world’s crude oil, had forbidden all exports. The international market had fallen into chaos. When the war between Iran and Iraq broke out, the price of oil increased by 170%, and just like the first oil shock, the economy crashed.

The third oil shock in 40 years could cause a worldwide recession and countries that did not produce oil could have their economy critically damaged, so this would be a disaster for the rest of the world. The nations that would participate in the third oil shock were to be 19 nations from the Middle East, and it could put the world spiraling down a recession that would be incomparable to the ones before.

As a result, if the Arab League announced their policy to increase prices for crude oil and lowering production and cited Corea’s religious oppression against Islamic nations as the reason, the rest of the world would pressure and criticize Corea greatly.

Three hours later, the meeting for the military council was over. The Cairo office, using OAPEC as a front, announced the increase in the price of oil by 20% starting from March 1st and decreasing production by 5% every month. The organization cited Corea’s religious oppression and disruption of peace within the Middle East as the reason for its decision. Also, the organization demanded the Corean government’s halt on military aid to Kurdistan and support of Kurdistani independence, and the decision would not be revoked until Corea’s military withdrew from the Middle East entirely.

It was a mirror to the first oil shock. Right after the OAPEC’s announcement, every stock market across the world started to plummet. When the third oil shock that could put the world into a great recession started, the stock market was the first to be affected.

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