On April 13, 1907, the Great White Fleet separated from the transport ships bound for Kuwait, and the Great White Fleet was to sail to Europe through the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal. A flotilla of two escort cruisers and five transport ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz and arrived in Kuwait on 16 April.

Major Lawrence of the British Army Intelligence Department said goodbye to the Emir of Kuwait, Al-Sabah, and returned to his residence, where his bags had been packed. He and his 150 officers and soldiers were to hand over the Chinese fleet when it arrived, and then leave for Calcutta, where they would return to China.

After becoming a protectorate of Kuwait from the British, Major Lawrence stayed here, commanding the garrison, handing over material and monetary aid to the Emir of Kuwait, and gaining a deep friendship with the sheikh.

However, the government's order could not be disobeyed, and although Lawrence was extremely opposed to the sale of Kuwait, even though there was nothing left here but the desert, and although he and his British people were fed up with the heat of the desert during the day and the cold of the night, Lawrence still thought that the sale of Kuwait was an extremely wrong decision.

Who makes himself a whisper? He repeatedly reported his proposals to London, but they were politely refused, and London, in order to compensate Lawrence, even made him the head of the intelligence section of the intelligence department after returning to China.

"Major, everything is packed, we can go to the port now, and when the Chinese arrive, we can board the ship and leave this hellish place!" Compared to Lawrence, his lieutenant looked excited, and all of his men had the same expressions as the lieutenant.

Lawrence shook his head, he couldn't stop London's decision, and he couldn't stop the excitement of his men: "Are you in such a hurry to go home?" Don't you have a little affection for this place? ”

"Feelings? Major, I don't understand what you mean? Do you have feelings for this? I'm just fed up with the sand on my body every day, my mouth not being let go of the sand, and I can't take a shower at night because of lack of water. During the day, they also have to face the local chieftain who smells from his body. God, I can't wait to go back to my wife's bed right now and let her soft body soothe my wounded heart! ”

It is also understandable that Lawrence and the others have nothing to do here except for the bad weather, and there are not many British ships docked during the year. Every time they saw their British compatriots, these men were as happy as if they had met an old lady. The food here is so bad that the chief once arranged a banquet and the locals revered camel meat and fried scorpions! The women here are all shrouded in dark robes, and even verbal contact will be considered the most **** behavior!

Lawrence had tried to promote English education and the English way of life in the local area, but in the end it failed, and no one in the rest of the country was willing to let women take off their robes, except for a little effect within the chieftaincy. No one wants to drink black tea and taste dark food.

Figuratively speaking, Lawrence is like a catcher in the wheat field, whose only task is to stand, poke, and show the existence of the British Empire. They are the fifth class of the grassland, and Lawrence is the leader of the old horse class.

Thinking about it, Lawrence felt much better, and dozens of locals hired by his men led camels and bags, and everyone was carried by the palanquin man in the direction of the port.

After arriving, he saw the Chinese ships slowly approaching, Lawrence frowned again, no country has ever taken territory from the hands of the empire on which the sun never sets. Huaguo was the first. They thought that defeating the expeditionary fleet would make the empire of the sun never set? They think they can dominate the world with advanced technology? Sooner or later, the British will teach this disobedient country a good lesson!

The few Englishmen standing on the pier are conspicuous, they are taller than the locals. Wearing a half-sleeved military uniform and shorts, and an extremely ugly hat, this shape of the hat continued until the shape of the steel helmet of the British during World War II, and I have to complain about the aesthetics and tastes of the British.

"Captain Wang, after landing, contact the emir of Kuwait, find a place to live, establish an administrative organization and other matters will be left to you, and I will lead people to organize the landing of troops. And those heavy oil detection equipment, engineers, we also have to take care of it. Lieutenant Colonel Takashiro, commander of the infantry regiment, said.

Standing opposite Gaocheng on the deck was Wang Qiang, the captain of the Chinese Action Team in Kuwait, who first worked in the party headquarters of the Zhenguo Party, and because of his outstanding achievements, he was selected to serve as the head of the propaganda department in 1905. Eloquence is top-notch. Wang Qiang and Gao Cheng once cooperated in the Battle of Jiangxi, and this time they unexpectedly cooperated again, and they cooperated very tacitly along the way.

"No problem, do you see the Englishmen on the shore? They should be the staff of the British government in Kuwait, I don't know if they are here to meet us, or are they ready to get out? ”

"Haha, I think it's both, they won't stay here for long, are they waiting to see us humiliate them?"

After Wang Qiang docked, he walked towards Lawrence first with a few staff members and guards, because the other party also walked towards him. Lieutenant Colonel Gao Cheng in the back is organizing the unloading, the soldiers of an infantry regiment, plus equipment, logistical supplies, engineers and workers of the oil exploration team and a large number of construction machinery, trucks, oil, etc., which cannot be done today.

Wang Qiang stood one meter in front of Lawrence, and the two first shook hands amicably: "I am the person in charge of the handover sent by Huaguo, you can call me Wang Qiang." In fact, Wang Qiang's English is very slippery, but how can he speak the other party's language in such a formal diplomatic occasion?

"Major Lawrence, British Head of the House in Kuwait. It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Wang Qiang! ”

"Are you leaving Kuwait?"

"Of course, no one can resist the orders of their superiors, even if I don't want to leave. Before parting, I would like to send you a word to enjoy this beautiful desert life, and I hope you will not be stung by scorpions before going to bed at night! ”

"When the beast comes, we will destroy it with weapons!"

After a few sharp words, Lawrence saw that he couldn't get any benefit, so he asked directly: "Why do you want this barren land?" Sending so many soldiers over, do you want to expand into the Arabian Peninsula? Neither Britain, nor France nor the Ottoman Empire will allow you to leave Kuwait for a single step! Why did you travel thousands of miles to this land? Logistics alone can make you suffer a lot! Of course, I can understand if you don't want to answer, this can be considered a military secret. ”

"There's nothing you can't say! We want to extract oil in Kuwait! Wang Qiang's words are amazing, this really does not need to be hidden, and it can not be concealed, the huge detection team, construction machinery, will definitely attract the attention of the outside world, some things at a glance know that it is oil detection equipment. After the oil is found, oil pipelines, oil storage facilities, and port facilities will be built in the area, and then a large amount of oil will be transported through the Strait of Hormuz and the Strait of Malacca, which will definitely be known to the British. Instead of sneaking around, it is better to reveal it now and see how the British react.

Wang Qiang saw the reaction of an Englishman on the spot, and Lawrence laughed after listening to it, and did not stop for several minutes. It was the funniest joke Lawrence had ever heard in his life, and he felt that he could live off it for the rest of his life.

"Oil? Desert? Are you sure? Seeing Wang Qiang nodded, Lawrence was in an extremely comfortable mood, and the depression of being ordered to leave disappeared in an instant.

"If there was oil in the desert, I would strip naked and walk from Kuwait to Egypt!"

The two sides looked at each other's documents, even if the handover was completed, Lawrence was too lazy to introduce the local situation to Wang Qiang, and Wang Qiang didn't want to say a word to this white man. With the cooperation of the personnel of the Investigation Bureau in Kuwait, Lawrence was not required to intervene at all.

The two of them were not speculative, and were about to lead people to their respective destinations, when Wang Qiang heard Lawrence suddenly say something: "I will come back sooner or later!" ”

On the way to Sabah's residence, Wang Qiang scolded Lawrence in his heart, but he did feel a little uneasy. In China, he heard that his main task was to assist the oil exploration team in detecting oil, and it took him a long time to return to normal, and he tried to persuade himself to take on this task.

It is a world-famous desert area, except for camels, sand dates, thorns, and scorpions, Wang Qiang can't think of what else this great desert produces. But the order was given directly from the highest level, and it had to be accepted, and I heard that the President took it very seriously, and sent not only a large number of engineers, workers, and construction machinery, but also an infantry regiment to guard it.

After meeting with Kuwaiti Emir Al-Sabah, Al-Sabah sent several guides to help the Chinese find a place to live, set up tents, buy supplies from the local market, and so on. Judging from the first meeting, the emir was still very sensible and did not show any dissatisfaction. If you can deal well with the local forces, try not to conflict with them, and their task is to extract oil, not to start a war. Therefore, Wang Qiang and others, including the soldiers of the infantry regiment, received a certain amount of education on local customs before leaving.

After returning to the port, Gao Cheng stuck out his tongue like a dog, and never put down the kettle with one hand, and took a sip every once in a while. The loading and unloading speed was not fast, and the soldiers were not used to the hot climate, but it also gave Wang Qiang time to find a place to live and buy local supplies. (To be continued.) )