Getting off the helicopter, Wang Dong saw Zhang Zilan coming over.

Because he contracted the training of the Iraqi government army, when he went to Nasiriyah, Wang Dong asked Zhang Zilan to take a group of instructors to stay in Basra.

Wang Dong came back, not to find Lazak, but at the invitation of the coalition command, to come back to attend the operational meeting.

The commander of the coalition forces has not yet been decided, and for the time being, there is only the chief of staff, and it is Wang Dong's old friend, Faisal, who has been promoted to lieutenant general.

At the beginning, he fought hard against the Houthis in Yemen, and it was Faisal who brought troops to reinforce him.

As a result of that operation, Faisal was given the honor of Crown Prince Mohammed, and within a few years he was promoted to general, and last month he was promoted to lieutenant general.

In addition, Faisal is also the most experienced and capable young general in the Royal Saudi Army.

Faisal has been commanding coalition forces in Yemen for the past few years, participating in dozens of battles and being instrumental in the recapture of the port of Aden.

It's a pity that Faisal is a civilian.

According to the long-standing Saudi tradition, civilians can be generals, but not commanders, so civilians can hold positions such as chief of staff at most.

In addition, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Jordan are all monarchies.

In these countries, only members of the royal family are qualified to be commanders of the army.

In other words, the commander of the coalition must be a member of the royal family.

In fact, this is also the reason why the commander of the coalition forces has not been elected for a long time.

Five countries, five royal families, which member of the royal family will be the commander of the coalition forces?

Obviously, if you want to convince the public, I am afraid that Crown Prince Mohammed can only sit in this position, and if you replace it with someone else, it will definitely create all kinds of problems.

On the way to the headquarters of the coalition forces, Zhang Zilan gave a general introduction to the situation.

Crown Prince Mohammed has promised to be the commander of the coalition forces, but will not come to Iraq, but will delegate command to the chief of staff of the coalition forces.

Of course, new problems also arise.

The Coalition Command is only the nominal Supreme Command, the General Staff is the command organ of the Coalition Forces, and the General Staff obviously has more than a Chief of Staff.

Faisal as chief of staff, what about other important positions?

Obviously, the appointment of personnel in the General Staff involves internal relations, which requires full consideration of other countries, and trade-offs must be made.

In fact, this is precisely the main problem of the coalition forces at present.

Wang Dong was a little speechless, because in his opinion, things like personnel arrangements should be implemented before the ground troops enter Iraq.

More than a month ago, what did you do?

It's just that it's not surprising.

Wang Dong has lived in Saudi Arabia for several years and has long been accustomed to the efficiency of the Saudi government, and several other Gulf countries are certainly not much better.

For these people in power who are usually pampered and loose, even if the sky falls, they may not panic.

Isn't it just sending troops to fight, what's the hurry?

The war in Yemen has lasted for more than 10 years, the war in Syria has lasted for more than 10 years, and the sky has not fallen.

If you really want to make a decision immediately, it's not a matter of a few phone calls?

In fact, this is also the key to the fact that Saudi Arabia and other tyrant countries have bought the world's most advanced weapons and equipment, but they have no military strength to match them.

The rulers of the country are so careless, how can they count on the soldiers of the army?

Again, this is where Crown Prince Mohammed is valuable.

Among several royal families, Crown Prince Mohammed is one of the few members who has a lot of energy and is willing to act for his ideals and fight for his goals.

Maybe it's the only one.

The appointment of Faisal as chief of staff is the best proof of this.

No matter what the above is, as long as the chief of staff is present, the coalition staff will be able to operate normally, at least it will not have much impact on the operational deployment.

Accompanied by Zhang Zilan, Wang Dong went to the General Staff of the Allied Forces.

It's actually a five-star hotel, but it's been requisitioned by the military.

Faisal is still so motivated, but he is a few years older and has matured a lot.

In front of Wang Dong, Faisal didn't have the slightest shelf, and he didn't dare to put it on a stand.

As for the reasons for this, it is difficult to say.

It has long been rumored that Crown Prince Mohammed intends to marry his most beloved sister to Wang Dong, and in Saudi Arabia, men are suspicious of marrying many wives.

It's just a rumor, but who's to say there's no such thing?

If it becomes true, Wang Dong will become the son-in-law of the King of Saudi Arabia and the brother-in-law of the next king, who is a real member of the royal family.

Actually, many people believe this rumor.

Very simply, this is the best way to win over Wang Dong and let Wang Dong work for the Saudi royal family, and only in this way can Wang Dong become a genuine Saudi, become a member of the royal family, defend the interests of the royal family, become the security of the Saudi royal family, and fight for the Saudi royal family.

Swapping a sister for a capable player is a bargain.

What's more, women do not have much social status in Saudi Arabia itself, and the same goes for princesses of the royal family.

After some politeness, Faisal took Wang Dong to the combat center.

It's just a big room, with a huge projection device, showing the battlefield sand table, and suspiciously random zooming in and out.

Similar high-tech equipment, there are more in the Saudi army.

The current battlefield situation is both simple and complex.

After the recapture of Semawah, Iraqi government forces were faced with two options: to march west on the south bank of the Tigris River to Najaf or to cross the Tigris River and march to Diwaniyah.

Because the rebels blew up the Tigris bridge in Semavo, the former was slightly less difficult.

However, Baghdad is east of the Tigris River, so even if Najaf is captured, or even if it continues to advance and occupy Karbala, it will eventually have to cross the Tigris, and the closer you get to Baghdad, or the further you go, the more difficult it will be to cross the river.

You know, after Semawa is the Shiite ghetto.

In terms of the difficulty of crossing the river, Semavo is the best location.

After crossing the Tigris here, and having captured Diwaniyah, they were able to march on Hira and then march north to attack Baghdad.

Of course, there are problems.

That is, crossing the river in Semavo, the counterattack of the rebels must be taken into account.

Najaf is a military stronghold, and the rebels have at least three brigades deployed there, and there is no natural danger to defend from Najaf to Samawah.

Even if the rebels do not launch a counterattack when the government forces cross the river, they will have to deploy heavy forces in Semavo in the future.

So, is it necessary to capture Najaf before crossing the river?

If so, how many troops would be needed?

The problem is obvious, that is, Semavo's forces are not enough to quickly take Najaf, let alone cross the Tigris immediately after that.