On Aug. 1, Adjani's Gulfstream 4 took off from an airport near Paris and crossed the Atlantic to New York, a month later than she had planned to travel to the United States.

Her own man has time to spend with her and her children in France, and of course she likes to live in familiar places, not to mention that after Jenny returns to New York, Zhang Nan belongs to her.

Half an hour after the Gulfstream 4 took off, Zhang Nan's Boeing 767 also left the same airport and headed for Belitung Island in Indonesia.

Now the Gulf region is already tense, and the airplane route has to go around in a big circle to avoid the airspace near Iraq, and even the Middle East to avoid a large section!

Security first, the Gulf countries that will be in this meeting are basically highly nervous, and the combat effectiveness of the Iraqi army and Saddam's self-confidence are now bursting.

On the plane, Zhang Nan chatted with several bodyguards about the reconstruction of Baguio: two days ago, the TV said that the Philippine government has no money, and it is possible that Baguio City wants to rebuild its windows to glory.

Although the reconstruction has nothing to do with Zhang Nan, because the Baguio training camp will still exist in the future, the bodyguards talked about it in a relaxed and bored manner.

After the plane took off, Zhang Nan read the professional research materials on Tang Dynasty porcelain for two hours in his small suite, and he was bored, so he went out to the living room and happened to hear the conversation of the guys.

It's a pity that the Mark brothers haven't been to Baguio before, because several other American guys who have been there are all admiring the charm of Baguio.

A resort mecca that sounds charming.

In fact, the summer capital of the Philippines is just like that, and it is only because of the earthquake that the guys who have been there have subconsciously remembered it even more.

Zhang Nan appeared, heard everyone's arguments, and interjected: "As long as Manila is still so hot, Baguio will be rebuilt faster than any of you imagined!"

Everyone is a smart person, and you don't need to explain it, you can immediately understand it with a little focus and inferences.

Those who can enjoy it, even tropical dwellers, basically don't like the hot, humid environment all year round, especially for the rich and Filipino bureaucrats.

For the sake of enjoyment, those people will think of ways to rebuild Baguio!

Moreover, almost all of the top wealthy and political families in Metro Manila have properties such as summer homes and estates in Baguio, and they will be more active than anyone else in rebuilding.

With the participation of these two groups, it is impossible for you to be slow!

……

I'm still talking about the Philippines here, and the satellite phone in New York is here, it's Nicole.

"What's the matter?"

Zhang Nan did not shy away from his bodyguard, and answered the phone directly in the living room.

"Suddenly, less than half an hour ago, the oil negotiations between Iraq and Kuwait officially broke down, and now oil prices are starting to soar. ”

When Zhang Nan heard this, he laughed, "Good news, I see that Saddam Hussein can't help it, and this wave can't be finished for the time being."

At most, tomorrow, the 3,500 tanks and 100,000 troops he placed on the border line are estimated to be in Kuwait.

Waiting for the first wave of dividends, I guess the oil price can reach $40 per barrel. ”

"Don't worry, operate according to the original plan, and make some war money.

Hang up, I'm busy, you pay attention to safety, come back early. ”

"Well, hang up. ”

As soon as the phone hung up here, he saw a group of people on the side looking at him, only Guan Xingquan was still drinking tea by himself, he knew Zhang Nan's plan,

Throwing the phone back to Randy, Zhang Nan said, "You said that if you really want to fight, how long can Kuwait last?"

No one answered directly, which is difficult to estimate, but it will definitely not take long: Kuwait is a small country, and Iraq really can't do it.

Really good at fighting?

The possibilities are getting bigger and bigger!

As for the speed of war......

Definitely can't be slow.

Iraq is known as the world's fourth military power, with 950,000 troops, more than 7,000 tanks and armored vehicles alone, and more than 600,000 reserve troops.

And Kuwait ......

The military strength is not worth mentioning compared with Iraq, the land area is less than 20,000 square kilometers, and the terrain is conducive to the assault of mechanized troops, and the armored troops can fight each other with a single charge.

Since no one spoke, Zhang Nan said again: "I'll watch it for about 10 hours." By the way, Randy and Linman, if Iraq attacks Kuwait, Washington will call for a multinational force, and it will call on you to return to serve in the army, will you go?"

In the United States, it is normal for veterans to return to service, and for most American GIs, being a soldier is just a job.

The differences between Eastern and Western cultures are not strange or problematic.

Randy didn't even think about it and said, "If you are not honorable to discharge, you won't call us." But even if I call for it, I won't go, and I'm doing a good job now.

Boss, do you think this Saddam Hussein is really going to attack Kuwait?"

"Yes, definitely!

It's all about money, and now there is an oversupply of oil, and the price of oil fell to $21 per barrel in January, fell to $14 a month ago, and has risen back in the past half a month, which is still the result of the pressure of Saddam's army.

Iraq is not accusing Kuwait and the UAE of deliberately overproducing oil and lowering oil prices, causing them to lose $14 billion, for this, Saddam Hussein will use force to teach Kuwait a lesson.

However, I think Saddam Hussein wants to swallow Kuwait even more, and they still have 120 kilometers of unclear borders, and the newly discovered giant oil fields there are still terrifying.

There is also the debt problem left over from the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq owes 35 billion to the Gulf countries, and Saddam Hussein thinks that he has been fighting with Iran for so many years to defend the Arab nation, and this money should not be repaid by Iraq. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang Nan stopped and said: "If it were me, I guess I wouldn't be able to bear it, a lot of money!"

When everyone heard this, they laughed for a while, knowing that the boss was joking: three to five hundred billion, this boss is really not likely to put his life on the line, and Mr. Allen's money is more than that.

At this time, Lin Man sighed and said: "Washington will definitely not watch Kuwait be swallowed by Iraq, and it is very likely that there will be a big war and many people will die." “

He probably thought of the quagmire of the Vietnam War, which had been fought for more than a decade, and on the Indochina Peninsula, many American GIs had died.

"Iraq is not Vietnam, the desert cannot be compared with the jungle, and Saddam Hussein is pushing himself into a dead end this time.

The war will definitely be fought, the Iraqis will die a lot, and the US military will ......

Linman, your brethren will not die much, Saddam Hussein overestimated Iraq's war capabilities, and I think this war will surprise the whole world, including you, a former American soldier. ”

Lin Man shrugged his shoulders, "Hopefully." ”

If Iraq swallows Kuwait, the United States and most of the Western world will shout to fight Iraq, because no one wants anyone to point fingers at them!

In order to make some war money this time, Nicole and Jenny certainly won't just rely on their own man's vague plan, the entire investment company team has done a lot of research work, and the plan is sufficient.

Just like the news of the official breakdown of the Iraq-Kuwait negotiations, Nicole may even know a few minutes before the US president, not to mention some economic data and intelligence in the Gulf region that can be obtained through public channels.

By the beginning of this year, there were 651.7 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in the Gulf region, accounting for 10% of the world's proven oil reserves

65% of 1.5 billion barrels, 24 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, accounting for 13.7% of the world's total natural gas resources.

The average amount of oil produced per day in the Gulf this year is about 1,

4.5 million barrels, about 23% of the world's daily oil production6, and about 12 million barrels of oil exported per day, about the world's daily oil exports (

of 43%.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran and the United Arab Emirates – the five largest oil producers in the Middle East – are all in the Gulf, and 11 of the world's 20 largest oil fields are in the Gulf.

The countries in the Gulf region do not use so much oil on their own, and a large part of the oil imported by the United States, Western Europe, and Japan comes from the Gulf region.

According to U.S. energy intelligence statistics, in the first quarter of 1990, the U.S. net daily oil imports were 7.661 million barrels, of which 2.064 million barrels came from the Gulf region, accounting for 26.9%;

Western Europe imported 8.235 million barrels of oil per day, of which 4.276 million barrels (51.9 percent) were imported from the Gulf region, while Japan imported 5.48 million barrels of oil per day, of which 3.54 million barrels (64.6 percent) were imported from the Gulf region.

These data are all clear, and the number of oil exports from Iraq and Kuwait every month is also known, and these economic information must be mastered to operate international oil futures!

If Iraq attacks Kuwait, the oil exports of these two countries will be cut off, so how much can other Gulf countries increase production, and how much will the impact on international crude oil prices be?

These have to be studied in detail, and even if it is the best opportunity, the money is not blowing in the wind.

Oil is the "blood" of economic development and the driving force of the modern military.

If, after Iraq annexes Kuwait, it then occupies Saudi Arabia, which is extremely contradictory to it and has no military strength, it will be able to control more than half of the world's oil resources, and this will be stuck in the throat of the major industrial countries of the West!

If that situation arises, Saddam Hussein can easily use the oil weapon in his hand to manipulate the economic development of the Western industrial countries, which is absolutely intolerable to the United States and some other major industrial countries!

Kuwait is one of the few rich countries in the world, with more than $100 billion in assets abroad and tens of billions of dollars in shares in important Western industrial systems. If these assets are siphoned off by Iraq, it will also cause huge losses to the Western economy.

If Saddam Hussein only wanted to teach Kuwait a lesson, it is very likely that the United States would not have summoned a group of junior brothers to attack Iraq.

No one knew that the generation difference in weapons would produce such a great power in an open area, and even the American generals were still worried about the situation in Vietnam back then, otherwise there would not have been a formal study of "emergency dismantling of M16 and replacement of M14 stockpiles".

There is really only Zhang Nan in the world who has confidence that "the United States will fight Iraq"!

I remember very well that in the basic military magazines of the second half of the 90s, who was more powerful in the "second-rate foreign trade version of T72" or M1A1 was still being analyzed. Many years later, when I watched the review of the Gulf War without incident, it was revealed that the Western media and military analysis departments had similar views.

A Gulf War would upend the idea of warfare, and the whole world would understand that without comparable technology, no amount of people would be of use!

Of course, if you can have a strong enough killer, Lao Mei will not dare to really provoke you!

Saudi Arabia is very smart, it will be in the desert of the intermediate-range ballistic missile base is already in a hurry, basically usable, Iraq wants to move it has to weigh the cost.

As soon as $100 million is issued, the Saudi top level will understand in a few days that this money is really worth it!

Thinking of this, Zhang Nan really wants to get something big guy who can make others "weigh up"!

The amount of money he has earned is so much that the multinational forces cannot spend it in a single Gulf War, and it is one or two times more than Kuwait's assets and shares abroad.

Coupled with the fact that he has always pursued the concept of "how much strength is worth how much wealth", the strength of the "joint forces" is even stronger, at least more effective than the old mercenary who loves to live in tents.

Otherwise, no matter how much money there is, it will one day belong to someone else!

……

On August 2, Zhang Nan, who arrived on Belitung Island, did not immediately take a superyacht to the salvage point, but stayed overnight at a resort hotel that he had chartered before.

On the same day, the news of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait spread all over the world!

More than an hour later, Thomas called, saying something simple, "Boss, our friend just called, and the president has ordered two aircraft carrier battle groups to urgently go to the Persian Gulf.

Also, in a week at the latest, the ground vanguard of the US military will enter Saudi Arabia, and war should be inevitable.

The news has been communicated to Lady Nicole. ”

"Well, well done. Thomas, there's been a recent news from Washington that you can inform Nicole and Jenny.

I've got to go to sea, so be it. ”

Now that the fight has started, Zhang Nan has become less concerned about the situation in the Persian Gulf, as long as the major events remain unchanged, he will fight casually.

Besides, what kind of fighting in Kuwait will be, I know better than the CIA: Saddam Hussein was well prepared, and Kuwait did not expect Iraq to actually start a war until the last moment before the outbreak of the war.

Among other things, the Kuwaiti armoured forces are equipped with more than 150 "Chieftain" tanks with good performance and powerful tank guns.

But until the Iraqi armored forces stormed Kuwait City, all the chieftain tanks in Kuwait had not yet been debugged and calibrated the laser rangefinder, not even the observation and sighting equipment!

The army is overwhelmed and in a state of imminent battle, and the strongest armored force in his hand is unreliable because he has not prepared for war at all!

Although some brave Kuwaiti tank commanders and tank crews participated in the battle with unreliable tanks, and also destroyed many Iraqi tanks at close range by street fighting, they were only mantis arms blocking vehicles.

The Kuwaitis were so rich that they didn't expect the war to really come!

However, Zhang Nan had put this matter behind him for the time being, and took the yacht to the salvage point, where there were things he was interested in waiting for him.