After the meeting ended, Chen Shao immediately returned to the imperial study. When it came to Jasker at the meeting, Chen Shao's heart always had a slight sense of crisis. This feeling came too suddenly, even after the meeting was dismissed, it was still there.

This made him have to think that the 200,000 American reinforcements have just landed in India, will they use this to attack Jask? This is an important question, and if this speculation comes true, it will become very passive.

How long can a full-fledged infantry division defend Jask? Chen Shao has no bottom in his heart. That's why he gave that order at the meeting.

Two infantry divisions plus a reinforced Marine Corps regiment are enough to hold until Chinese reinforcements arrive, plus there is also an Indian Ocean fleet, as long as it does not encounter a large-scale military attack, it will not be too much of a problem to hold there.

"Xia Mengyu, come to me right away." As soon as he arrived at the imperial study, Chen Shao made a phone call directly to Xia Mengyu, the head of the Chinese secret service.

"Yes."

Chen Shao focused not only on the Jask region. He is well aware that the safety of the railway is still a top priority, and it must be restored as soon as possible.

China did not have such a huge amount of energy to send troops to defend this long railway, because it was too impractical. In a desert area, it is not an easy task to hold a railway of several thousand kilometers. Not only do you need a huge number of troops, but you also need a lot of money to maintain it. In order to prevent the small Allied forces from destroying the railway.

Therefore, Chen Shao needs a helper, willing to help Zhonghua guard this railway. Since this railway is on the territory of Afghanistan and on the territory of Iran. Naturally, the best helpers are the Iranians and Afghans.

As the most famous Persian Empire in history, Iran also has a long history. Originally inhabited in the southwestern part of the Iranian plateau, the Persian tribes expanded their territory over the decades before Cyrus the Great overthrew the Medes tribe in 550 BC and established the Persian Empire.

During the reign of King Darius I (522 BC-486 BC), the Persian Empire reached its peak and stretched from the Indus Valley in the east to the Balkans in the west and Armenia in the north. south to Ethiopia.

Includes 70 nationalities. With a population of 50 million and a land area of nearly 7 million square kilometers, it became the world's first empire that spanned three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Persian Empire gradually went from its heyday to decline after the Greco-Persian War in 492 BC. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great, king of Macedon, invaded the east. Conquer all of Persia. Thus destroying the country.

Afterwards. Genghis Khan led his army to invade the west in 1219, conquering Khorezm, Central Asia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and other places, killing the king of Khorezm. After plundering a large amount of property, he withdrew to the Mongol mainland. In 1229, Genghis Khan's son Ögedei attacked Khorezm for the second time, killed the king and returned to the court. In 1260, Genghis Khan's grandson Hulegu again led his troops to occupy Iran and established the Ilkhanid dynasty centered on Iran.

After the Persian Empire, there were also many dynastic changes, and in modern times.

The Qajar dynasty was founded in 1779 and was first established as its capital in Tehran. At the beginning of the Qajar dynasty, the Western powers intensified their struggle for Iran.

In 1801, Russia annexed Georgia, and three wars between Britain and Iran resulted in Iran ceding land and paying reparations and recognizing the independence of Afghanistan.

In the second half of the 19th century, Britain and Russia obtained privileges in Iraq for mining, building roads, setting up banks, and training troops.

In 1907, Britain and Russia colluded with each other to divide their spheres of influence in Iraq: Russia in the north, Britain in the south, and a buffer zone in the center.

After that, France, Austria, the United States and other countries successively forced Iran to sign unequal treaties. Although Iran is still nominally an independent state, it is in fact a semi-feudal and semi-colonial state.

In stark contrast to the glory of the Persian Empire in the past and the humiliation of today, Iran's quest to rejuvenate itself inevitably produces a strong nationalism, which in turn can easily lead to extremism and blind xenophobia.

From the second half of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, with the invasion of European powers, Iran gradually became a semi-colonial country, with social and economic decline, arbitrary and brutal feudal rule, and many popular uprisings.

In February 1918, a mysterious man secretly met with the Iranian military officer Reza Khan. Pahlavi, and brought him a large amount of weapons and ammunition, and at the same time a number of military instructors.

Finally, three years later, Pahlavi staged a coup d'état, seized power, and established the Pahlavi dynasty.

Pahlavi has taken a number of measures to develop the socio-economic economy internally, but at the same time has imposed a personal dictatorship. An agreement was signed with the Soviet Union, abolishing the inequality between Tsarist Russia and Iraq.

In the 28th year, taking advantage of China's defeat of the Anglo-French coalition, it announced the abolition of all unequal treaties signed with foreign countries and the consular jurisdiction of foreign countries in Iraq, and the implementation of tariff autonomy.

When the Chinese Empire was established, it was the first to establish diplomatic relations with China, and like Germany and South American countries, it became the first batch of countries to establish diplomatic relations with China.

At that time, the attention of all countries in the world was on China, and who would care about a desert country with nothing. The main thing is that at that time the oil of the Gulf region was not known.

So, with the exception of the coastal areas, Iran was lucky enough to be out of the control of some of the Western powers.

In later generations, before World War II, Iran had close relations with Nazi Germany. After the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Britain and the Soviet Union sent troops to Iran. Pahlavi was forced to abdicate, and his son Muhammad. Reza. Pahlavi succeeded to the throne. Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and Iran conclude a treaty of alliance, and Iran declares war on Germany.

In this time and space, Britain and the Soviet Union did not put their hands here, and relations between Iran and Germany were not so good. So, after the start of the war, Iran did not make a statement.

As China, which shares the same experience with Iran, the two sides have a lot of common language, and the relationship has become more and more harmonious over time. In addition, over the years, China has provided great assistance to Iran.

Chinese businessmen set up factories in Iran and invested in business. The Chinese government has also helped Iran train its military, sold weapons to Iran at a discount, and helped them build up their national defense and education undertakings. Later, with the railway, the circulation between China and China became more and more convenient.

"The Western powers have brought guns, oppressed us, plundered us, so, we have to resist. The great Chinese brothers, who brought food and daily necessities, helped us, so they gained the friendship of the Iranians. ”

This is the phrase Pahlavi said the most, and when he recalls that night more than 20 years ago, he will be inexplicable.

China has proved its intentions with practical actions, and has not signed any unequal treaties with Iran, nor has it ever taken advantage of them, and any transaction is in a fair position.

Because Chen Shao understands the thinking of these Shia Muslims very well, high-pressure policies may bring huge benefits for the time being, but they are not conducive to long-term interests, and in the end they will only be empty.

Moreover, coupled with the fact that colonial rule in the Middle East was becoming weaker, the path of colonization was no longer feasible. So, the straightforward way is to give them enough benefits to help you willingly.

Force is not everything, and sometimes money is more effective.

Over the years, Chen Shao has never asked Iran to pay anything, even if it wants oil fields, Chen Shao has not exploited the land he bought in Iran. Rather, he wants to take Britain as a knife, and there are naturally his considerations in this.

A lot of land in Iran and Iraq has been bought by the Longteng Group or has obtained long-term mining rights. However, none of these places are close to the sea. The British in the Gulf region still controlled the coastal areas and did not let go. This is also the reason why Chen Shao wanted to lease the place of Jask to Britain in the first place, he needed a port.

Moreover, Chen Shao can exploit the oil in the mainland whenever he wants, and he does not want to expose all the oil fields. At least this is the case in wartime, otherwise it will lead to a situation where the forces are scattered and defensive.

It is very good to provide the enemy with a lot of places to fight, anyway, now the oil produced by Jask is enough for China. There is no need to waste unnecessary manpower and material resources.

China's influence in the Middle East is not limited to Iran, Iraq is also under China's influence. For Chen Shao, who knows the importance of the Middle East and the Gulf region, how could he let go of all the countries in this region.

Irrigated agriculture in the Two Rivers Plain has been practiced for thousands of years. In ancient times, China called Iraq the food of black clothes. It belongs to the countries of the Middle East.

Iraq has a long history, and the valley of the two rivers is one of the cradles of the world's ancient civilizations, with city-states emerging in 4700 BC. In 2000 BC, the Kingdom of Babylon, the Assyrian Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom, known as one of the "Four Ancient Civilizations", were established successively.

It was destroyed by the Persian Empire in 500 BC. It was invaded by the Macedonian Empire in the 4th century BC. In the 7th century, it was annexed by the Arab Empire and became the political and cultural center of the Arab Empire.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, it was the land of the Mongolian Hulagu Khanate. It was ruled by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. In 1920, it became a British "Mandate". In 21, independence was declared, the Kingdom of Iraq was established, and the Faisal dynasty was established under British protection.

However, Faisal's relationship with Britain was frozen from the beginning, especially after Iran announced the abrogation of the unequal treaties and tried to break free from British control.

In 1928, like Pahlavi, a mysterious person approached him and brought him a lot of gifts. When he saw that it was yellow-skinned, the Iraqi leader who had some ideas began to prepare secretly.

Three years later, Iraq declared its independence and was no longer under the control of the British. However, the king did not live long, and died of a heart attack two years later, and the throne was inherited by his son.

This Faisal II was even more of a character who hated the Western powers, and after ascending the throne, he quickly entered the state and embarked on the same path as his father. (To be continued.) )