When Cavendish controlled the parachute and landed in the desert, Zhou Ming's plane on the other side had also landed safely at Salm International Airport in the capital of Iraq.

The fact that the airport is named after the Iraqi president is another indication of the country's authoritarian system.

Zhou Ming stepped off the plane, and he could see that there were many large and small planes of various types parked on the tarmac of Salm Airport, but these planes were all cargo planes, and many workers were carrying goods outside.

Just at a glance, Zhou Ming understood that these planes were all speculators who made war money, because Iraq is now under the sanctions of the United Nations, the whole world has imposed an embargo on Iraq on all materials, and now the price of many essential goods such as food and medicine in Iraq has risen by more than 50 times compared with before the war, so there are many Arab businessmen who take the risk of transporting materials to Iraq at night to sell them in order to make huge profits.

I don't have time to pity these Iraqis, Zhou Ming has more important things to do, he walked out of the airport exit, and there are still people waiting here, he is the Chinese ambassador to Iraq, Lin Hong, and the military attaché and security personnel behind him.

Since there was no one else here, they quickly recognized each other's identities, Lin Hong quickly stepped up and gave Zhou Ming a warm hug, and then looked Zhou Ming up and down a few times and sighed: "It's incredible, I didn't expect Comrade Zhou Ming that you could really reach Salm International Airport safely, I can't imagine how you broke through the air interception network of the Americans." ”

After listening to Lin Hong's explanation, Zhou Ming learned that just an hour and a half ago, the United States had announced that the skies over Iraq and its border areas within 200 kilometers had been set as a no-fly zone, and that any entry of planes might provoke an air attack by the United States. It is also because of this sudden no-fly zone that the airport, which was originally busy at night, has not landed for more than two hours.

This news made Zhang Lin and the others frown: "No-fly zone? But we didn't receive any warning. ”

"As I said, maybe someone released a welcome flower for us. ”

Zhou Ming's words ended this conversation, of course, Zhang Lin and Lin Hong will still have doubts, but they will not and there is no need to mention it again.

Then Lin Hong took Zhou Ming and them into the car, compared to the Saudi side, Iraq is much more miserable, Lin Hong prepared for Zhou Ming and them is just an ordinary minibus.

After getting into the car prepared by the embassy, Zhou Ming breathed a sigh of relief, he flew from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and then to Bahrain, and finally took a private plane from Bahrain to Iraq.

Just to arrest me alone, the whole of Iraq has become a no-fly zone, and even those speculators will not be spared, as for it?

Zhou Ming was a little helpless in his heart, and then the car drove to the city of Badina, which is the capital of Iraq and one of the oldest cities in the Middle East, as early as the 18th century BC, the world's famous Code of Hammurabi mentioned this city, in ancient Persian, Badina means a gift from God. In the millennia that followed, Bardina never changed its name, although it changed hands several times.

"Comrade Zhou Ming, it's already two o'clock in the morning, I will take you back to the embassy to rest, and tomorrow morning I will ask for a meeting with President Salm. Lin Hong said to Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming has no opinion on this arrangement, in fact, Zhou Ming thinks that he does need to rest, after all, he is not a superman with unlimited energy, and now he has been flying for more than 24 hours in a row, traveling to countless countries, facing the last step of his plan, he must maintain his best state to meet the face.

So Zhou Ming and Zhang Lin's desert team slept in the embassy, and the next morning, Lin Hong came to tell Zhou Ming that Salm had agreed to meet him, and Zhou Ming immediately went to the presidential palace with him.

The Presidential Palace in Salm, on the banks of the Tigris River, is a magnificent garden-style building, and of course there is a very Middle Eastern dome. However, strictly speaking, the yellow wall on the periphery of the presidential palace and the five-storey house inside it are far less than some county governments in China that Zhou Ming has seen in later generations, but in Iraq, this is the center of the country.

After passing the inspection at the door, Zhou Ming followed Lin Hong into the presidential palace, and they were taken to a spacious reception room.

"Comrade Zhou Ming, when President Salm comes, I will introduce you to him first, and then you will talk about you, because his temper is not very good, so it is best to express it tactfully. Lin Hong whispered to Zhou Ming and finally instructed some precautions.

Sitting on the sofa in the presidential palace, Zhou Ming was still a little excited, after all, he was going to meet Salm next, and he was an international figure.

According to Zhou Ming's memory, Salm has been dominating the country since he launched a coup d'état to become the president of Iraq twelve years ago, and he has an extraordinary fanaticism for war, launching a purge when he ascended the throne, and launching the Iran-Iraq War that lasted for eight years the next year, and only two years after the end of the war, he took the initiative to provoke the Gulf War, and was finally captured and hanged by the United States in the Iraq War.

It must be said that in terms of Iraq's geographical location and its oil resources, if it were not for the war launched by Salm, it would have become an oil-rich country like Saudi Arabia. But on the other hand, because of these wars, he has also become a very high-profile international figure, at least at home, even Aunt Square, who has never paid attention to the international political situation, will have heard the name Salm.

Now that I am about to meet this famous person, I will always be a little excited, but now Zhou Ming's qi cultivation attainments are already very profound, so I can't see it at all on the appearance.

After ten minutes, Salm walked into the reception room, Zhou Ming and Lin Hong got up and shook hands with him to say hello, Zhou Ming looked him up and down a few times, he is 53 years old this year and looks very young due to maintenance reasons, but his iconic beard is still unforgettable.

After a period of politeness, Salm asked Zhou Ming and Lin Hong to sit down, because Salm had studied abroad, so his English was also very fluent, at least there was no problem with normal communication, so after a few conversations, everyone communicated in English.

Lin Hong said to Salm: "Mr. President, first of all, I am sorry to disturb you today, but this land is about to be devastated by war, and we are also very concerned about the situation here, so this Mr. Zhou Ming is here for this." ”

Hearing Lin Hong say this, Salm looked at Zhou Ming with meaningful eyes and said: "Have you brought me any weapons that can win? I heard that you have sold Saudi Arabia a lot of missiles, and the establishment of diplomatic relations between Iraq and China was earlier than that of Saudi Arabia, so can you also sell us this kind of missile? In this way, I can easily sink the aircraft carrier of the Yankees parked in the Persian Gulf!"

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Mr. Salm, I'm not an arms dealer, and I'm afraid it's not good news that I brought today, I hope you can be mentally prepared." ”

Salm made a gesture of invitation to Zhou Ming, and Zhou Ming said to him: "Now the war in the Gulf region is about to break out, I flew from Bahrain last night, on the plane, I saw that you have deployed most of your troops on the border line in an attempt to block the attack of the multinational force, I think such a deployment is very dangerous, it is best to withdraw all the troops to the country, and let the US Army come in and fight again." ”

Salm smiled, and he asked Zhou Ming, "I'm curious, are you a general of China, or a staff officer of the state, or a military attache of the embassy?"

"I'm sorry I'm not either, I'm just a very ordinary businessman, and I'm here to do a bigger business in Iraq, so I very much hope that your country will win this war. Zhou Ming said.

"If you hope that I can win this war, then you do not pray for me, but hope that I will remove all the defensive lines, and then you will not let the enemy in? Salm said.

Zhou Ming then persuaded him: "President Salm, according to my understanding of the US military, they will frantically fight for air supremacy at the beginning of the war, and after gaining air supremacy, they will carry out non-stop bombing of all ground targets, and if you deploy your troops on the border line, it will be very easy to become the enemy's target, and finally be pulled out one by one, I don't think of a month, your troops will suffer heavy losses, and the defense line will no longer exist at that time." ”

Salm was silent for a while and then said, "Do you know? Mr. Zhou Ming from China, if you were my general, I would definitely send you to a court-martial, and then you might face the harshest punishment, you know?"

"That's why President Salm, do you have to choose to set up a line of defense on the border line in a desperate bet?" Zhou Ming asked.

"Militarily, I have been fighting for many years since I returned home to instigate the revolution, so I know very well that now that the Americans are on the offensive, since we are on the defensive, of course we have to build our own line of defense, to keep the enemy at the border. Salm continued, "Since you are not a general, young Chinese gentleman, I think we should talk about other things, such as the business you are going to do. ”

"But the business I want to do must be on the premise that your army, Mr. President Salm, can hold back the attack of the Americans. Zhou Ming explained.

When Salm heard this, his face turned gloomy: "You mean that you think that my army will definitely fail, right?"

Seeing this situation, Lin Hong immediately interjected and said: "Mr. President, he didn't mean that, he actually wanted to say that your defense line could be better, and he was inspired by you to think of it, otherwise how could he say such a thing with his appearance that he doesn't understand military affairs at all?"

Lin Hong said this obviously to help Zhou Ming bring the circle back, but Zhou Ming didn't appreciate it, he nodded and said to Salm: "Of course your army will fail, and it will lose very badly, I can believe that your soldiers are very brave, but under the continuous bombardment of the multinational force, I think no matter how firm the belief is, it will be shaken, and finally it will become a landslide and a sea collapse." ”

Salm slapped the table fiercely, and he said to Lin Hong: "I am giving you or China a face today, I want you to take this person away immediately, I don't want to see him, otherwise I am not sure what other decisions I will make!"

Lin Hong hurriedly nodded and said yes, and then pulled Zhou Ming up, but Zhou Ming left a sentence for Salm while being pulled out: "I'm in the embassy, if you have any ideas, I welcome Mr. President Salm to come to me, don't wait until after the heavy blow." ”