Luo Youbin came in by sending a fruit plate, and pointed to his watch in front of Zhou Yongtao, reminding him that it was almost 12 o'clock.

Lin Shiping was very knowledgeable and went to the pantry next door on the pretext of smoking.

After eating a few slices of watermelon, it actually took time to sort out the rhetoric before Zhou Yongtao went to pick up the phone microphone.

After discussing with Lin Shiping, he came to a conclusion that could not be considered a conclusion.

This battle can only be won, not lost!

To put it bluntly, the outcome of this war, and to be precise, the way it is conducted, will determine whether or not the Third Global War will begin.

The key to this is the impact of the new round of military reform, as mentioned earlier.

From the standpoint of the Manman Empire and the Newland Republic, the number one problem at present is actually the inability to accurately judge the gap with the Liangxia Empire.

I can't even figure out the gap, where are the odds?

In Lin Shiping's words, if the performance of the imperial army is not satisfactory, then the third global war will start in a few months.

On the contrary, it may drag on for a few more years.

As for the outbreak of an organizational war and the maintenance of peace, it is a fool's dream.

Not to mention the Manman Empire, even the Liangxia Empire and the Newland Republic are on the verge of losing control.

Forty-five years after the end of the war, even from the "Iron Curtain Speech" delivered by Schmidt, the former prime minister of the Manman Empire, the post-war arms race has been going on for almost 40 years.

It was only 20 years from the First Global War to the Second Global War.

Crucially, during the two global wars, the great powers were also bound by arms limitation treaties such as the Treaty of Luntai and the Treaty of Hwaseong.

The fact that the situation of peace after World War II could be maintained for more than 40 years has nothing to do with the domination of the Liang Xia Empire over the world.

In addition, the dominance of the Liang Xia Empire has always been relative.

Several large-scale local wars after the war, especially the Polish-Iraqi War, had a direct result of weakening the hegemonic advantage of the Liangxia Empire.

In the later stages of the Polish-Iraq War, the Liangxia Empire recognized the Nuland Republic and established diplomatic relations with the Nuland Republic, which was a concrete manifestation of the loss of its hegemony.

Since then, the relative equilibrium of the three-legged establishment has become the cornerstone of world peace.

Unfortunately, this situation has been precarious with the confirmation of the hegemony of the Nuland Republic and the frenzied expansion of the Western Continent bloc.

It's just that no one dares to deny that the Liangxia Empire is still the world's first hegemon.

Compare military strength.

The total strength of the Liangxia Army is as high as 2.2 million, with more than 15,000 tanks, nearly 20,000 armored combat vehicles, more than 20,000 artillery pieces and self-propelled guns of various calibers, more than 7,000 helicopters, nearly 200,000 transport vehicles of various types, and a total of 120 divisions.

The Nuland Army, which ranks second, has 60% to 55% of the strength and technical equipment of the Liangxia Army.

As for the Yuman Empire, even if it is calculated according to the Western Continent Group, the strength is only the same as that of the Liang Xia Army, and the number of technical equipment is slightly inferior.

On the Navy side, the gap is even more pronounced.

The Liangxia Navy has more than 500 large ships with a total tonnage of nearly 3.5 million tons, including as many as 15 large aircraft carriers and supercarriers.

In addition, there are nearly 4,000 carrier-based aircraft, shore-based patrol aircraft and helicopters.

Among them, there are as many as 2,000 carrier-based combat aircraft, which are organized into 17 carrier-based aviation wings and 5 reserve wings, making it the third largest aviation force in the world.

The Nuland Navy and the Western Continent Navy combined, are not as good as the Liangxia Navy!

Even the air force, the advantages of the Liangxia Empire are obvious.

The Liangxia Air Force has more than 9,000 combat aircraft, including more than 5,000 tactical aircraft, nearly 2,000 bombers, and more than 2,000 support aircraft of various types.

Among them, there are more than 1,500 transport aircraft alone, and more than 600 tankers.

At this scale, it has a crushing advantage over any opponent.

Even the Nuland Air Force, which ranks second in the world, has less than 5,000 combat aircraft, of which 3,000 are tactical aircraft.

But the problem is that the military superiority of the Liangxia Empire is no longer "absolute".

To put it simply, it is impossible to form an absolute advantage over the other two super-hegemons at the same time.

For a long time after the war, the key factor in maintaining peace was that even if the Manman Empire and the Nuland Republic joined forces, they were no match for the Liangxia Empire.

No single force could change the situation of the Liang Xia Empire's monopoly on the world.

For about 30 years, the Liang Xia Empire has been digesting the dividends of the war, and has launched and participated in several regional wars for this purpose.

These 30 years were a period of strategic expansion for the Liangxia Empire.

Until the end of the Polish-Iraqi War.

Now that the Manman Empire and the Newland Republic have the strength to join forces to challenge the Liangxia Empire, can the roughly peaceful situation be maintained?

The key is that from strategic expansion to strategic contraction, for more than 10 years, the internal contradictions of the Liangxia Empire have also been fermenting.

On the other side of the coin, the expansionist Empire and the Newland Republic did not reap much tangible benefit from strategic expansion. In other words, after paying a huge enough price, the people of the two countries have not tasted the sweetness of strategic expansion.

It can be seen that the three superpowers need to divert internal contradictions in some way.

There is no doubt that a large-scale foreign war is the ideal, if not the only, means of deflecting internal contradictions.

As early as more than six years ago, when he was nominated for the first assistant, Zhou Yongtao realized that his support was related to the increasingly tense international situation.

The main reason is that in the coming big war, the empire needs a commander at a strategic level.

If you want to say it, this is the same reason as sending Xue Yuanzheng to the Shoufu Mansion back then.

In the words of today's saints, whenever there is a challenge from the outside world, there will always be an outstanding commander who will stand up and lead the imperial army and people to overcome the difficulties and dangers they have received.

This time, it was Zhou Yongtao's turn.

After he finished calling, Lin Shiping returned to the study.

Zhou Yongtao did not call the military dictator in Iraq, and there was no need for that.

If he could call the Iraqi troops who were massing on the border to get home, he would definitely do it, but unfortunately he didn't have that kind of charisma.

That call was made to the King of Kuwait.

Luo Youbin began to remind Zhou Yongtao that it was almost 12 o'clock, just for this matter.

As promised, the imperial authorities would warn the Kuwaiti authorities and guarantee the personal safety of the king and members of the royal family before the situation completely spiraled out of control.

"It's all arranged, our personnel are about to arrive at the palace, and it's time to watch the show." Lin Shiping said as he picked up the watermelon on the plate.

It's the height of summer, and it's the season when watermelons are on the market in large quantities.

"Do you think it's too late to call?"

"It's only useful if Hussein is scared, you call. The problem is, if he's really scared, he'll call you. He hasn't called until now, which shows that he is not scared at all, so even if you call, it is just boring for yourself. ”

Zhou Yongtao was speechless, but changing tricks to complicate simple things is actually a common problem of intelligence people.

In the words of Bai Zhizhan, talking to an intelligence officer can make you wonder if your IQ is normal.

It's just that Lin Shiping's words about going around twice are not wrong.

With the support of the two superpowers, it has just "won" the Iran-Iraq war, has a million heavy troops in its hands, and has the most technical equipment in the Poshawan region.

What is Hussein afraid of!?

To be afraid, it should be the king of Kuwait!

…………

Kuwait City, inside the Royal Palace.

When the middle-aged man with a big belly and a red checkered turban walked out, Lei Zhenting nodded to his companion standing next to the car.

When his companion opened the car door, Lei Zhenting turned around and blocked the approaching middle-aged man.

"Your Majesty, please come here." While saying this, Lei Zhenting grabbed the other party's arm.

That's right, that middle-aged man is the king of Kuwait, Abbas III.

At this time, he had already seen that in the car sat a middle-aged man who was also dressed in a white robe and a red checkered bandana. Although the man's appearance was not seen, he was almost the same size as Abbas III. As for clothing and dress, there is no difference at all.

Another king?

Without waiting for Abbas III to react, Thunderbolt had already led him to an off-road vehicle.

It's not the royal family's car, it's the car they drove.

"This ......"

"Your Majesty, this is for your safety."

Hearing the roar of the vehicle starting, Abbas III immediately turned around.

The bulletproof sedan for the royal family, as well as several royal guard vehicles, drove away, leaving behind three security personnel's cars.

"Your Majesty, it's time for us to go!" Thunderbolt reminded Abbas III once more, and opened the door.

"What about my family?"

"They have all arrived safely at the embassy, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is on his way to Riyadh, and in a few hours, you will be able to meet."

"They all ......"

"Your Majesty, please rest assured." Thunder interrupted Abbas III very rudely, probably thinking that the king had too many questions.

After a careful look at the thunder, Abbas III got into the car.

Abbas III didn't know the bottom of his heart about this Oriental who was not burly in stature and had no special appearance, but he absolutely trusted the person who introduced Lei Zhenting.

That's right, it's Lin Shiping.

About 10 years ago, Abbas met Lin Shiping when he was still the crown prince, but he didn't know that the other party was the deputy director of operations of the Liangxia Imperial Military Intelligence Bureau.

Of course, this did not prevent the two from becoming closer.

In fact, after Lin Shiping became the executive deputy director of the Military Intelligence Agency, the two rarely met.

Usually, the most it is just a phone call to greet each other.

At the beginning of last month, after a lapse of five years, Lin Shiping reappeared in front of him, and it came so suddenly that he didn't even call in advance.

Soon after, Abbas III sent the crown prince away in the name of pilgrimage at Lin Shiping's suggestion, and successively arranged for members of the royal family to go abroad.

Now, almost all of those who remain in Kuwait City are women.

Of course, Lin Shiping also fulfilled his promise.

Yesterday afternoon, intelligence officers arranged by Lin Shiping came to the palace and picked up several wives and daughters of Abbas III one after another.

The last to arrive was the Thunderbolt team.

Abbas III knew Lei Zhenting, that is, last month, Lei Zhenting followed Lin Shiping to Kuwait and was specifically responsible for the security of Abbas III.

Otherwise, Abbas III would not have been able to leave the royal guards behind and go with this Liangxia man alone.

Only now it seems that the situation has changed.

After getting into the car, Lei Zhenting did not let the driver go immediately, but took out a detection device and scanned it on Abbas III.

Soon, the transmitter was found hidden in a ring.

Nothing surprising, it was a positioning device installed by the royal guards.

"Your Majesty, this is for your safety." Before saying this, Thunderbolt had already removed the ring from the middle finger of Abbas's right hand.

Abbas III was visibly flustered, but did not ask, apparently pretending to be calm.

Thunderbolt didn't explain, handing the ring to a companion standing outside the car, before closing the door and letting the driver go.

After leaving the palace, the three off-road vehicles did not travel with them and immediately parted ways.

"This ......"

As soon as Abbas spoke, the phone on Lei Zhenting's body rang, it was a large wireless phone.

After signaling Abbas III to shut up, Thunderbolt answered the phone.

"It's me...... Got it. ”

After listening carefully for a while, Lei Zhenting only said a few words, and then hung up the phone.

"It's already started, acting according to Plan B."

After Lei Zhenting's order, the driver didn't ask much and stepped on the accelerator to the end.

"What starts, you start ......"

"Your Majesty, the Iraqi army has crossed the border and the war has begun!"

Abbas III was stunned.

Is the war just that!?

At this time, there was an explosion from the rear, but it was still far away, and there was nothing to worry about for the time being.

On the subsequent road, although he continued to accelerate and brake, and turned left and right, Abbas III was in a trance, completely unrelenting.

When he came back to his senses, he found that he was already on a speedboat that was chopping the waves.

The land was no longer visible, and Kuwait City was a few dozen kilometers away. You can also see the smoke from the explosion and fighter jets flying at low altitudes.

However, it should be a combat aircraft of the Royal Kuwait Air Force.

"No, I can't be an exiled king, I ......"

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

Thunderbolt had been keeping an eye on Abbas III's movements, so he grabbed the king by the arm when his emotions became agitated.

"Three of my men were just killed, and if you go back now, they'll die in vain!"

"Yes...... But ......" Abbas III suddenly understood, and looked at the Liangxia man next to him who had saved him with a gaze of complete disbelief.

Obviously, the problem is with that positioning device.

There were 3 people in the SUV that the security officer who took the ring was riding in!

In other words, there are traitors in the royal guard, and most likely a high-ranking official.

The Military Intelligence Bureau had already mastered the relevant information, so Lin Shiping sent Lei Zhenting over and arranged this evacuation plan that ordinary people could not think of at all.

At this time, there was a roar ahead, and a helicopter was flying towards this direction at an altitude close to the surface of the sea.

Fortunately, it is a "Z-8T" special helicopter of the Liangxia Navy, and the most prominent symbol is the retractable refueling probe tube mounted on the nose.

Such helicopters are mainly used by special forces, so they are often deployed on amphibious assault ships or aircraft carriers.

Obviously, neither aircraft carriers nor amphibious assault ships will operate alone.

There is definitely a fleet of the Liang Xia Navy nearby.

With the Liang Xia fleet here, there is nothing to be afraid of!