Empire Conquest

Chapter 671 - 12 Preparing for the Front Line_2

Wolfgang, however, felt not the slightest satisfaction.

That phone call amounted to an admission that the Tiaoman Empire increasingly needed the Newland Republic.

Although Wolfgang had long known that this day would eventually come, after all, in terms of hard power, the Tiaoman Empire simply couldn’t compare with the Newland Republic, no one wished to acknowledge, from Wolfgang down, that the victorious Tiaoman Empire would have to bow down to its former defeated subordinate.

Previously, it was about cooperating with the Newland Republic to challenge the powerful Liangxia Empire.

Now, the Tiaoman Ambassador to Newland, acting as a special envoy for the Prime Minister, was having a secret discussion with the Newland Secretary of State about military cooperation in the Boss Bay region.

To put it simply, it involved deploying some reconnaissance forces at the Newland military base in Boi Country.

Of course, the main assets were reconnaissance aircraft.

If Iraq had to be abandoned, then the only one they could rely on in the future would be Boi Country.

Thankfully, the situation had not progressed to that point.

The secretary brought good news.

Right at the start, the Liangxia Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a tough-worded statement demanding the Iraq authorities immediately stop their military invasion of Kuwait.

The key point was that in this statement, only the attacked oil tanker was mentioned, and not the battleship.

Additionally, the Liangxia Empire gave the Iraq authorities 72 hours.

Counting from 8 a.m. local time on August 1st, the Iraq Army must unconditionally withdraw from Kuwait within 72 hours.

As for what consequences there would be after 72 hours if Iraq did not withdraw, the statement did not specify.

Actually, there was no need to specify.

Before issuing this statement, the Liangxia Empire had already dispatched combat troops to Saudi Arabia, and had shot down an Iraqi attack aircraft in the prior conflict.

Clearly, the Liangxia Empire would take military action after the ultimatum expired.

As for what kind of military action, it was uncertain at present.

It was only at this time that Wolfgang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The Liangxia Empire was acting according to common sense, so the possibility of declaring war on Iraq on the grounds of a battleship being attacked on the high seas was almost nonexistent.

This meant that the risk of an immediate outbreak of a Global War was greatly reduced.

However, the relief lasted only half an hour.

A report delivered by the intelligence department made Wolfgang tense once again.

After the Liangxia Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the statement, the Liangxia military had raised its combat readiness level without issuing any public notice, especially towards the Northwest War Zone and the Western Battle Zone that faced the West Continent group.

Furthermore, the Liangxia Navy was already making pre-war mobilization.

In light of these, the intelligence agency also made an analysis.

The key point was that without full-scale war mobilization, the Liangxia military’s state of readiness could only be maintained for a maximum of half a year.

The Navy was the main concern.

Simply put, Liangxia Navy battleships could not always be at sea conducting combat missions.

After being deployed at a heightened state of readiness for half a year, the ships would need to return to the shipyards for maintenance, and the naval officers and personnel would also need rest.

After half a year, the Liangxia Empire would either have to accept its inadequate capabilities as a fact or put the country into a state of war.

Enter the state of war for the sake of Iraq?

Not to mention Zhou Yongtao, even if replaced by Lian Xusheng, would likely be impeached by the domestic opposition.

The critical point was that blindly initiating war mobilization would only make the Liangxia Empire strategically passive and constrained at every turn.

During the Boi War, the Liangxia Empire had already suffered such hardships!

It was precisely because of this that there was enough reason to believe that if Iraq could hold out for half a year, the Liangxia Empire would have to swallow the bitter fruit of defeat.

Afterwards, Wolfgang returned to his study and called the Newland President again.

The Newland President had also received related information.

Like Wolfgang’s view, the Newland President also believed that as long as Iraq could hold out for half a year, the situation would become very unfavorable for the Liangxia Empire.

The key issue was how to enable Iraq to hold out for half a year.

After some initial probing, the Newland President finally indicated that he would send a special envoy to Bailin soon to discuss the issue face to face with Wolfgang.

Such significant matters could only be discussed in person.

Subsequently, Wolfgang returned to the conference room and began to consult with the Cabinet Minister regarding the matter of providing aid to Iraq.

But just for six months!

Originally, Boi Country had repelled the Ter Occupation Army without much direct aid, then waged years of fierce battles with the Liangxia Empire’s massive armies.

No matter how inferior Iraq might be, it should certainly have no problem holding out for half a year with the support of two superpowers.

...

At this moment, in Riyadh.

Only a few hours ago did the outside world learn that Emperor Abbas III of Kuwait had fled to Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, Abbas III had already delivered a televised speech about the military invasion, calling on the Kuwaiti military and citizens to bravely resist and formally requesting international assistance, hoping that responsible major nations would come forward to uphold justice by providing military actions to help Kuwait expel the invading enemy.

Following this, the Liangxia Empire’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia publicly stated that any peace-loving nation and its people cannot tolerate such blatant violations of international law.

Although the Liangxia Authorities had not issued a statement about sending troops and had only issued a final ultimatum to Iraq, no one doubted that the Liangxia Empire would deploy troops after the ultimatum expired.

Not just for oil but also for the prestige of the empire.

According to external propaganda, Iraq’s brazen military invasion and occupation of Kuwait were actually a challenge to the Liangxia Empire’s absolute hegemony in the Boss Bay region. If the Liangxia Empire swallowed this bitter pill and did not deploy troops to protect Kuwait, it wouldn’t take long to completely lose Boss Bay.

Without Boss Bay could the Liangxia Empire’s energy supplies, and the oil-backed Gold Yuan that relies on superpower support, continue to be sustained?

Without its primary source of energy, will the Gold Yuan, which upheld the global financial hegemony, collapse, and would the Liangxia Empire still be the world’s leading superpower?

From every perspective, this battle must be fought!

For military men like Liu Zunshan, there was no need to contemplate these complex issues.

Stepping off the airplane, Liu Zunshan immediately noticed that inside this largest airport in the Boss Bay region, the security personnel were clearly more numerous than necessary.

Or rather, the atmosphere was very tense.

Fully armed military police stood by every passage, and armored vehicles were parked near the exits.

Since the Air Force’s transport plane was redeployed to execute more important tasks, Liu Zunshan and the batch of Marines had first gone to Bakistan, then took a civilian airliner temporarily requisitioned to Saudi Arabia, where they were transported to the military camp by vehicles arranged by the Saudi Royal Army.

When leaving the airport, Liu Zunshan also noticed several air defense missile launchers positioned not far from the road outside the airport.

It felt as though war could break out at any moment.

On the road to the campsite, they encountered many military vehicles heading north.

To put it frankly, that was the state of the Saudi Royal Army.

Despite the fact that Saudi Arabia, as the world’s top oil exporter over the past few decades, used its oil income to purchase arms and equipment worldwide, the Saudi Royal Army’s combat effectiveness was virtually non-existent; a large part of its soldiers were mercenaries from Bakistan.

More precisely, foreign military personnel serving in Saudi Arabia.

Over half of the fighter pilots in the Saudi Air Force were from Bakistan.

The Saudi Army’s main battle equipment, from the Army’s main battle tanks to the Air Force’s fighters, mostly came from the Liangxia Empire.

Interestingly, Saudi Arabia has never provided military bases to the Liangxia Empire, or to put it accurately, has not rented out facilities for the long-term stationing of Liangxian troops.

However, this also relates to the Liangxia Empire.

Over the past decade or so, the Liangxia Empire’s main military strategy in the Gulf region has been to rely on its Navy, trying to minimize local troop deployments.

Were it not for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, Liu Zunshan and his fellow soldiers would not have come to Saudi Arabia as military personnel.

Of course, the first to arrive were military personnel.

According to the Marine Corps’ arrangement, they were deployed at King Khalid’s Military City, initially responsible for the base’s guard duties.

In the following days, the main battle equipment for an armored battalion would be delivered through strategic airlift to strengthen the military presence in the region.

The forward deployment was said to be for the purpose of repelling the enemy before they reached the national border.

If the Iraqi Army continued south after conquering Kuwait, the Marine Corps would have to head north to confront them, buying time for the arrival of the main forces.

Should it come to that, an intense battle would inevitably ensue.

But after all, wasn’t the purpose of coming to Saudi Arabia to fight?