The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 703 The war is about to begin
soon.

After receiving the order, the pilots flew their planes to Iraq.

There is only Turkey in between, so the planes don't even need to refuel in the air.

Soviet pilots flew their fighter jets directly to Iraq's air force base and delivered them to Iraq.

Iraq immediately arranged for pilots to take over this batch of fighter jets.

As for the Iraqi Air Force, Iraq was originally equipped with a large number of Soviet-made fighter jets. The fighter jets introduced from the East were actually also considered Soviet-made fighter jets.

Pilots do not need to undergo long-term training and can become combat-ready as soon as they take over.

Even the advanced fighter jets that Iraq had negotiated for were approved to be imported into the country, including 30 MiG-29 fighter jets.

Saddam had fully understood the Soviet Union's attitude.

With the attitudes of the United States and the Soviet Union, Saddam’s confidence increased greatly!

Liu Tao, at the Panshan Group headquarters, has been following news from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

I contact the people here via satellite phone every day.

When Saudi Arabia wanted to hire more mercenaries, Liu Tao agreed without hesitation. If you have the money, you'd be a bastard not to make it.

But he knew that under the threat of Dongfeng Express, Saddam did not have the courage to lead his troops into Saudi territory and start a war against Saudi Arabia.

After all, even if Iraq has the "Aegis" air defense missile, no one would be naive enough to think that the air defense missile is omnipotent and can intercept targets 100%.

Even if there was some possibility, Saddam would not take the risk.

This is playing with your own life.

Liu Tao even knew Saddam's decision, the assembly and deployment of the Iraqi army, and even the battle plan.

When Liu Tao got the news that Iraq had sent troops to the border to scare the Kuwaitis and Saudis, he couldn't help but feel happy.

Even if he didn't pay special attention, he knew that international crude oil prices had risen.

He went long on international crude oil futures and has already stopped loss to profit!
And the more time goes by, the more the international crude oil price rises, the more he earns.

He not only went long on international crude oil futures, but also bought stocks of several major energy giants, making quite a profit.

Liu Tao knew that war was inevitable!
This is an inevitable result caused by multiple factors.

From Iraq's perspective, Iraq has always wanted to annex Kuwait and make Kuwait the 19th province of Iraq.

First, it is for Kuwait’s oil resources, second, it is for access to the sea, and third, it is for hegemony in the Gulf region.

Saddam has always had great ambitions and wanted to establish a unified Arab country.

Iraq now has the most powerful army and air force in the entire Arab world. As long as there is an opportunity, Saddam will definitely attack Kuwait.

Even after digesting Kuwait, it may further launch a war against Saudi Arabia.

Once he controls Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Saddam will control more than 70 percent of the Middle East's oil production.

With the huge oil production, the revenue brought by it can make Iraq truly become the world's third largest military power, and also the world's third largest economic power. This can be seen from the fact that Saddam spent 50 billion US dollars to purchase a large amount of weapons and ammunition from him.

In addition to a large number of weapons and ammunition, there are also a large number of commodities, including daily necessities, food, medicine, etc.!
"The United States and the Soviet Union!" Liu Tao had already received inside information that Saddam had already received support from the United States and the Soviet Union.

So far, Liu Tao can only look up to these two superpowers.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union are still very powerful, far surpassing other countries.

The comprehensive national strength of the two superpowers is indeed far greater than that of other countries.

Just as Liu Tao guessed, the increasingly tense situation in the Middle East has made the whole world worried.

Governments around the world have expressed their views.

Several major powers, at the invitation of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, tried to mediate, hoping that the two sides could talk things out to avoid an increasingly tense situation between Iraq and Kuwait that would affect world peace as a whole.

However, mediation did not work.

After all, there is only one country that sincerely wants to mediate and truly does not want Iraq to launch a war against Kuwait.

It is normal that mediation has not worked.

As Iraq continues to mobilize troops and send reinforcements to the Kuwait and Saudi borders, the number of troops on the borders has exceeded that of an armored division on each side.

The entire situation in the Middle East has become more dangerous.

Crowds of people all over the world excitedly brought their small stools, put out a glass of water, cracked melon seeds, held watermelons, and began to watch the war that was likely to break out in the Middle East.

Even many casinos have already opened, leaving gamblers around the world guessing how long it will take for war to break out.

Although the Middle Eastern countries are all weak, they are all very rich and have advanced equipment. They are also very decisive in fighting wars and often start wars when they say they will. Even if they cannot win, they will still start a war when it is necessary.

Domestic television stations have also launched special forums to discuss whether war will break out in the Middle East.

Experts have stated with confidence that both sides are Arab brothers and both believe in Islam. In the Iran-Iraq War, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait both firmly supported Iraq. It is impossible for Saddam to risk the world's condemnation and attack Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.

Some experts also said that Iraq had just ended the Iran-Iraq War and its soldiers were still exhausted and had not yet recovered. Tired soldiers are bound to be defeated. No country would start a war under such circumstances. Only a fool would do such a thing.

There are also economists who believe, from an economic perspective, that Iraq suffered heavy losses in the Iran-Iraq War. Now that oil prices are very good, Iraq must export oil to make more money to restore its domestic economy and is unlikely to start a war.

Liu Tao keeps an eye on the rise in international oil prices every day. He will benefit greatly from this rise in international oil prices.

When the international crude oil price was US$25 per barrel, he transported a large amount of oil to the mainland as a reserve.

Panshan Group now owns many gas stations across the country, and the oil he prepared is enough for "Huaxia Petroleum" to use for a period of time.

'Huaxia Petroleum' is a company wholly owned by Panshan Group. Its full name is 'Huaxia Petroleum and Natural Gas Group Corporation'. It is a comprehensive international energy company with oil and gas operations, engineering and technical services, petroleum engineering construction, petroleum equipment manufacturing, and new energy development as its main businesses. It is one of China's major oil and gas producers and suppliers.

Unlike China Petrochemical Corporation, which owns all domestic oil fields and mainly exploits domestic oil fields, China Petroleum has oil fields in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. In addition to exploiting its own oil fields, it also buys crude oil from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

In addition to supplying the mainland and Hong Kong, China Petroleum also supplies oil to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Japan and South Korea.

Previously, "Huaxia Petroleum" was under the jurisdiction of Huaxia Southwest Industrial Group Corporation, but after one or two years, when its scale reaches a certain level, it will inevitably be separated from Huaxia Southwest Industrial Group Corporation and become a second-level group of Panshan Group!
(End of this chapter)