The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 662 In-depth cooperation
Saudi Arabia is located on the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East. Its land area is 225 million square kilometers, accounting for about 80% of the total area of ​​the Arabian Peninsula. In terms of land area, it can be said to be the veritable overlord of the Arabian Peninsula.

Saudi Arabia has been a transportation hub between the East and the West since ancient times. It is located in the land of "two oceans, three continents and five seas", connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, linking the three continents of Asia, Europe and Africa, and overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Its strategic location is extremely important.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia can be regarded as the leader of Arab countries, especially among Sunni Arab countries, where it has great influence.

It is precisely because Saudi Arabia has an important strategic position, strategic influence, and strategic resources that the United States has been trying to win over Saudi Arabia. When it was impossible to do so, the United States chose to gradually nationalize Saudi Aramco, and even allowed Saudi Arabia to hold 70% of Aramco's shares after the 100s.

However, the United States does not fully support Saudi Arabia, otherwise it would not have chosen Persia and made Persia the overlord of the Gulf region with the most powerful military force.

The United States will not allow Saudi Arabia to become a military power because once Saudi Arabia becomes militarily strong, it will inevitably lose control.

China is different. There is no strategic conflict of interest between China and Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, the two sides are very complementary. China's oil imports are showing a huge growth trend, and it needs a stable source of imports. Saudi Arabia wants to sell more oil, especially the United States is increasing its oil imports from Latin America, which can make up for the decline in Saudi Arabia's oil supply to the United States.

The most important thing is that the relationship between the two sides is developing very rapidly, and Saudi Arabia can choose the military products it wants without paying any political, economic or other additional conditions.

Liu Tao even feels that, if necessary, he can help Saudi Arabia achieve its industrial transformation from crude oil extraction to petrochemicals.

The relationship between the two parties is based on a long-term cooperative relationship, and it is necessary to deepen cooperation.

Moreover, based on Panshan Group’s own interests, Liu Tao is more inclined to deepen the cooperative relationship between the two parties.

Whether it is Panshan Group's military products or civilian products entering Saudi Arabia and then entering the Middle East, or the Beidou global navigation system entering Saudi Arabia, and the Internet connecting to the Middle East, these are real benefits.

For example, in the field of aerospace cooperation, Saudi Arabia previously leased communication satellites, meteorological satellites, and reconnaissance satellites, but now Saudi Arabia wants to have its own communication satellites, meteorological satellites, and reconnaissance satellites.

Saudi Arabia does not have the ability to manufacture satellites, let alone launch satellites, but China does. China can manufacture satellites for Saudi Arabia and launch satellites for Saudi Arabia!
Saudi Arabia just needs to know how to use it!

And Saudi Arabia only needs to pay a fee!
The negotiations between the two parties were very pleasant. Liu Tao held a banquet in Hong Kong to invite Prince Sultan, and then sent Prince Sultan away from Hong Kong.

Hotel suite.

Liu Tao turned on the TVB, now also known as Hong Kong Satellite TV, which can be watched in many places in the mainland.

He was watching the news, which was reporting on the first round of peace talks between Iran and Iraq in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia.

By now, there is a glimmer of hope for peace in the Iran-Iraq War. Both Iraq and Persia have softened their attitudes and are no longer willing to continue fighting.

Both sides wanted to end the Iran-Iraq War.

The original Iran-Iraq ship attack war decreased in intensity after escort fleets from various countries began to escort the ships. Now, it is unlikely that a cargo tanker will be attacked and sunk in a month.

Even on the battlefield, there were no more large-scale battles, and the battles between the two sides were all small-scale.

Liu Tao smiled when he saw the foreign ministers of both sides shaking hands. This should be the first handshake between the two sides in more than a decade.

I just saw on the news that the two sides did not reach a ceasefire agreement in the first round.

But think about it, the two sides have been fighting for almost ten years, and there is great hatred and contradictions. How could they reach an agreement in the first round of talks?

"It seems that the Iran-Iraq War will hopefully end this year!" Liu Tao murmured to himself. The losses between Iran and Iraq were not small. Both sides invested a lot of real money in the Iran-Iraq War.

Not only have the economies of both sides not developed much, but their foreign exchange reserves have also declined significantly.

The economies of the two countries were not improving but deteriorating, especially Persia. The battlefield was located in Persia and the damage to Persia was very serious. The economic losses caused to Persia exceeded 3000 billion US dollars. The war delayed Persia's economic development plan by at least 20 to 30 years.

Nearly 50 Persian soldiers were killed in the war, more than 100 million were injured, and in Tehran alone, 30 women lost their husbands.

50 people died and more than 100 million were injured, and these were all soldiers!

The lethality caused by human wave tactics and biological and chemical warfare is extremely terrifying.

On the Iraqi side, more than 10 soldiers were killed and more than 15 were injured.

The navy was completely destroyed, the air force had thousands of planes shot down, hundreds of pilots lost, and an air base was destroyed, causing heavy losses.

In addition, the Persian Air Force's early bombing of Baghdad and other cities also caused many casualties.

This war was one of the wars with the highest casualties since World War II, second only to the Vietnam War and the Korean War.

The casualties were heavy, and the equipment losses were also very large.

On the Persian side, nearly 2000 combat aircraft, over 40 tanks, over 3500 artillery pieces, and over 2000 ships were lost; on the Iraqi side, over aircraft, over tanks, over artillery pieces, and the entire navy was wiped out.

At the same time, non-belligerent countries also suffered huge losses, with more than 150 ships sunk or destroyed, more than 700 ships damaged, and another 90 ships trapped in the Shatt al-Arab River, most of which were damaged.

Both Iran and Iraq suffered serious losses in the war. In addition to conventional warfare, the war also involved attacks on cities, ships, oil fields and other means of destroying the enemy's logistics and economic facilities. Sieges and street fighting also broke out.

Human wave tactics and biological and chemical warfare appeared many times on the battlefield, and chemical weapons were used.

There were common trench warfare and human wave attacks in World War I, armored warfare in World War II, and also clustered tank long-distance assault operations in modern warfare.

In addition, new tactics such as using helicopters to attack helicopters and using anti-aircraft missiles to attack small boats emerged during the war. Both sides used a large number of anti-aircraft missiles, anti-ship missiles, and surface-to-surface missiles.

It can be said that the Iran-Iraq War produced many cases worth studying.

At the same time, this war also revealed the importance of war mobilization in modern warfare.

If the Persian war mobilization had not been so fast and strong, it would probably have been defeated at the very beginning of the war.

The resilience and war mobilization capabilities demonstrated by Persia in the Iran-Iraq War are enough to move people.

At the very least, without complete certainty and absolute overwhelming advantage, no force would dare to wage war against Persia.

Through this war, Persia showed that even if the "Tiger of the Middle East" is temporarily weakened, it is still the Tiger of the Middle East!

(End of this chapter)