While the expeditionary fleet was in the north of Vladivostok, and he was sending a message to the Russians in Vladivostok, there was also a team in distant Mesopotamia, looking for resources under the land of Mesopotamia.

This team is a special exploration team sent by the National Social and Political Axe, which is completely composed of domestic geological experts.

Their mission is to find rare resources that can be useful to China in Mesopotamia, which has just become Chinese territory.

These resources include iron ore, coal and other rare resources, and of course, there is no shortage of oil.

In fact, the real purpose of Yan Guang's dispatch of such a team was to find oil in Mesopotamia, oil that could make the whole of China rich overnight. As for other iron mines, coal mines and other materials, they are just to cover for the search for oil.

After all, Yan Guang knows very well that under the land of Iraq and Kuwait, there is [black gold] that cannot be used up even if it is used for a hundred years.

However, Yan Guang's actions, in the eyes of the British and Turks, are somewhat delusional. After all, the Turks had controlled Mesopotamia for hundreds of years, and Kuwait had been a British protectorate for almost twenty years... For such a long time, the Turks did not find out, and the British did not find out? Could it be that the Chinese have just come to discover something good?

You know, the only places that produce the most oil at the moment are Russia, the United States and Mexico, and there are indeed oil fields in the Middle East, but that oil field is located in Iran, and the production is not very high (the large-scale discovery of oil was made in the thirties...). ）。

It's just that when the British watched coldly and wanted to see what mineral deposits the Chinese could find in Kuwait and Iraq, Yan Guang sneered in his heart.

However, although he would like to see the British [heartbroken], Yan Guang is not prepared to exploit oil in Kuwait and Iraq as soon as he discovers the oil fields.

Because the allure of oil in these two places is too great, and the current China does not have the ability to completely protect these two places. After all, Iraq is too far away from China, and it is too inconvenient to reach Iraq by land through Central Asia and the Caucasus... As for the value of the two places of Iraq and Kuwait... Let's put it this way, in 1910, Yan Guang discovered the Tampico oil field in Tampico, Mexico, when Yan Guang and Standard Oil signed a contract to obtain 30% of the annual oil profits, of course, the price cannot be without, after all, Standard Oil is not a philanthropist, but people are outright capitalist.

Therefore, while Yan Guang obtained 30% of the annual oil profit, he also paid a great price, that is, he could only receive this income for 20 years, and after 20 years, all the interests of the Tampico oil field would be owned by [Standard Oil].

It is precisely for this reason that Standard Oil will sign such an agreement with Yan Guang.

On the surface, Yan Guang must have suffered a loss, because the condition proposed by Rockefeller Jr. at that time was 15% per year, and this 15% was a lifelong thing. But in reality? Although Mexico's oil has experienced several ups and downs in history, Mexico's political axe has nationalized oil many times, and has been overthrown by major oil companies and the United Kingdom and the United States behind them.

But after the 40s, in order to prevent Mexico from being co-opted by Nazi Germany at that time, the United States had to allow Mexico to nationalize all Mexican oil.

Therefore, Mexico's oil fields can only be harvested for more than 30 years, and it is obvious which is more profitable than 30% in 20 years or 15% in 30 years.

Moreover, the income brought to Yanguang by the Tampico oilfield is still increasing year by year... In 1910, the price of oil was only $1 per barrel, because oil was not very useful at that time, after all, there were not many ships powered by steam turbines, and even fewer cars and so on.

But after the outbreak of the European War, a large number of ships powered by steam turbines entered service, as well as thousands of standard aircraft in the European sky... Therefore, by 1918, the price of oil at this time was not half a star compared to 1910.

If in 1910, when the Tampico field could bring Yan Guang at least $50 million, or £16 million, a year, what is it now? 20 million pounds is no longer enough.

This is also the reason why, despite the fact that the financial revenue of the national social government axe is only more than 700 million, it is still capable of expanding the army to 121 divisions and taking into account the development of the air force and navy.

You know, more than 20 million pounds, is more than 200 million yuan a year... Coupled with the large number of factories opened by Yan Guang in China, as well as the dividends obtained by his many invention patents in the United States, by now, the annual income is almost close to 300 million... Of course, the above is just to illustrate how much oil is worth in this era (in fact, it will be worth as much in later generations, and even more). Yan Guang will send exploration teams to Kuwait and Iraq this time, hoping that they can first find all the oil buried here, and then wait until the end of the war of intervention against the Soviet Union, the whole situation is stabilized, and the British will also decommission or destroy his battleships, and then excavate the oil buried here... Petroleum... In fact, Yan Guang does not have many memories of Iraq and Kuwait, and he does not even know where oil is found in these two places. However, when Iraq invaded Kuwait and the United States attacked Iraq, he was familiar with some information about these two areas.

And because this information was so amazing at that time, it has been remembered in his mind until now.

For example... Iraq and Kuwait exported about 2 million barrels of oil a day, and the fact that both countries had oil reserves of more than 100 billion barrels (by the way, Saudi Arabia's oil reserves were probably more than 200 billion barrels, and the number of exports was more than 8 million barrels, which is probably why the Saudi guys were so rich...). ）。

What is the equivalent of producing two million barrels of oil? That's the equivalent of exporting at least 730 million barrels of oil a year. And in the twenties of the nineteenth century, even if the value of 1 dollar per barrel in 1910 was calculated, it was equivalent to 730 million dollars, that is, more than 200 million pounds, more than 2 billion silver dollars... More than 2 billion silver dollars, probably more than 1 billion silver dollars more than the current fiscal revenue of China's political axe... Of course, we also have to take into account the mining conditions and mining technology, but even if you think about it, it is definitely not impossible for Kuwait and Iraq to produce more than 1 million barrels together.

And just one million barrels, or 365 million barrels a year, would bring China at least one billion silver dollars, which is estimated to be as high as China's current fiscal revenue if it is a fraction of that.

More than a billion silver dollars... In this era when a super dreadnought of more than 30,000 tons is only worth 25 million silver dollars, it is probably possible to buy more than 40 super dreadnoughts for China, and this is only the income brought by one year... With the oil of Kuwait and Iraq, it is absolutely not a problem to catch up with the United States in the UK.

Of course, while thinking like this, we must also pay attention to it.

This is why Yan Guang only hopes that the exploration team will roughly find a good position, and wait until the dust settles.

In fact, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now negotiating with Persia, that is, Iran in the future (Iran at this time was called Persia, and changing its name to Iran is a matter of the future), preparing to build a railway in Iran, a direct railway to Iraq, so that even if there is anything in Iraq in the future, the national social and political axe can make preparations as soon as possible.

At present, the negotiations with the Persian political axe are going well, and the British have not made too many obstacles in the process, after all, China is still an ally, and the British do not think that a [barren] Iraq can threaten China with anything, so everything is going quite smoothly.

However, while negotiating with Persia, Yan Guang is often thinking about a question..."What if I take Iran down?!" ”

Iran's oil reserves are a little less than Iraq's, but they are probably more than 100 billion barrels, and if combined with Iraq's oil reserves, they can probably surpass Saudi Arabia, and if Kuwait is counted, then the oil reserves in these three regions will greatly exceed Saudi Arabia.

At this time, if Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have many borders, this factor can indirectly affect this country after the Saudi reading power comes out in the later period... Didn't the United States of later generations influence and control the world through oil? China can too, and China controls it more thoroughly than the United States, after all, the Americans also took Iraq through the war, and there is still one Iran left to move, but it is estimated that there is a lot.

But China is different, in addition to having a lot of power in the Middle East, which can influence Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with various [postures], Iraq, Iran and Kuwait are China's territory at all... In this way, of course, there is also the white factor, but China's influence will never be lower than that of the United States in later generations... Of course, there are some other things to consider, that is, if so much oil is rushed to be extracted, it will definitely drive down international oil prices. However, no matter how it is lowered, one billion a year is absolutely indispensable, and this is tantamount to a big tonic for China.

What's more, in addition to Iraq and Kuwait, China's Daqing and other places also have oil exports, of course, certainly not as much as these two places, but in general, it is not small.

But most importantly... Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as Sakhalin, which is now marching into the country, also have oil outputs...―――――――――― Yanguang is ambitiously calculating the oil located underground in Iraq and Kuwait, while on the flagship of the expeditionary fleet, Sa Zhenbing and Yin Changheng, who are responsible for attacking Vladivostok this time, are thinking about how to take Vladivostok.

And, of course, there's a library page.

However, although Yan Guang has a strong request, for many reasons, in the eyes of Sa Zhenbing and Yin Changheng, Vladivostok is still much more important than Sakhalin.

After all, Vladivostok is at least an important port, and in the future it will be able to connect with the traffic of the mainland and the Khingan Mountains in the future, but what about Sakhalin? The Sakha of this period was a real place of inactivity. If it had been changed a few decades ago, when it was still the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it would have been enough to let Sakhalin replace Ili... And apart from these..."It's the ghost I made again..."

Inside the bridge, looking at the telegram that had just been sent from China, Yin Changheng scolded fiercely.

On the telegram in Yin Changheng's hand, it has already elaborated on the information that he has sent a message and that the Vladivostok defenders are reinforcing the fortress.

And these, naturally, are the news from the military intelligence bureau located in Vladivostok and the local area.

"Myself?"

Hearing Yin Changheng's scolding, Sa Zhenbing, who was thinking carefully about what to do if he encountered his own fleet on this expedition, also frowned, walked to Yin Changheng's side, took the telegram and looked at it carefully.

"I said..."

Shaking his head, Sa Zhenbing put the telegram aside.

"I can't have sat back and watched us take down Vladivostok so easily, so isn't this what was expected..."

Although the information on the telegram made Sa Zhenbing frown, it obviously didn't make him angry.

However, when it comes to the grudge against Yue himself, Sa Zhenbing is by no means less than Yin Changheng, who once fought with Yue himself in Shandong.

When he was still in the Beiyang Navy, although Sa Zhenbing did not participate in the First Sino-Japanese Naval War, Sa Zhenbing at that time was one of the defenders of Yue Island, and unlike Yin Changheng, who tasted the fruits of victory, Sa Zhenbing at that time tasted the fruits of humiliation... Therefore, Sa Zhenbing's hatred for Yue himself can be said to be a lot more than Yin Changheng.

And seeing Sa Zhenbing so calmly, Yin Changheng, who was originally angry, also calmed down.

Speaking of which, Yin Changheng is a rare talent in the army, and it is very promising that he will take over the positions of these two after Jiang Baili and Cai Yi get old―――――― of course, it is not easy to wait for these two to get old, after all, Yin Changheng is not much younger than them.

However, it is understandable that young people are prone to impulsiveness.

After calming down, Yin Changheng started his own work, walked to Sa Zhenbing's side and studied the map around Vladivostok with him―――――― Yin Changheng didn't think about landing directly towards Vladivostok Fortress, it was no longer suicide but retarded.

Therefore, now Yin Changheng and Sa Zhenbing are studying the terrain around Vladivostok that is suitable for landing, and after landing and regrouping, they will launch a fierce attack on Vladivostok.

After carefully searching on the map, the two of them finally found a suitable landing site at a location more than twenty kilometers away from Vladivostok. However, although it looks very suitable on the map, it also needs to be investigated on the spot, after all, the maps of this era are different from the maps of later generations, and the drawings are very crude, and it is difficult to predict whether there are mistakes or not..."In this case, order the third detachment to send a light cruiser to the place to conduct a field investigation, and if it is suitable for the expeditionary force to land, land there..."

"Yes!"

Receiving the order, a naval officer nodded and left.

Soon, a Jinghai-class cruiser was speeding at 30 knots per hour, heading quickly towards the target identified by Sa Zhenbing and Yin Changheng on the map.

As for Sa Zhenbing's expeditionary fleet? is still moving slowly with a speed of more than a dozen knots―――――― in fact, it is not what Sa Zhenbing thinks, but although those troop carriers are specially prepared for landing battles, but the speed or something, more than a dozen knots is already the limit, so it can only go slowly towards Vladivostok.

Fortunately, although it is a slow speed of more than a dozen knots, one section is equal to a mile, and in fact, the speed of the fleet is not very slow. So it didn't take long for the fleet to reach the location plotted on the map.

After arriving at the position, the escort fleet of the expeditionary fleet began to scatter in all directions to prevent a possible attack by the Russian fleet, or submarines or something―――――― although according to the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Agency, Vladivostok does not seem to have submarines, and the few old warships inside are only tortured and killed in front of the expeditionary fleet... Even so, the fleet is still very vigilant, after all, be careful to make the 10,000-year-old ship.

And the troop carriers, having approached the coast, also released ―――――― landing craft ... The landing craft was specially developed by the National Defense Navy and was specially used for landing operations, and was the first landing craft in the world to be specially used for landing operations. This kind of landing craft not only has a speed of 30 knots, and enough thick armor and a certain self-defense ability, but also can carry at least one platoon of troops at a time, if you don't count the weapons, it is no problem to squeeze a company―――――― of course, the process of squeezing will definitely not be very comfortable... Of course, Yin Changheng will not let his subordinates crowd, after all, the time is not urgent, and the number of landing craft is also abundant.

Therefore, in just half an hour, dozens of landing craft were already floating on the surface of the offshore sea, and on top of these landing craft were full of expeditionary officers and soldiers preparing to attack Vladivostok.

"If the British had this kind of equipment, the Battle of Dardanelles probably wouldn't have failed..."

Looking at the landing craft floating on the sea, Yin Changheng sighed, and then glanced at Sa Zhenbing beside him.

"Sa Lao, what do you say?"

"Me?" Sa Zhenbing was stunned for a moment, and then smiled. "All I can say is that we are much happier than the British..."

"yes..."

Indeed, although it is not yet comparable to virtue in terms of industrial strength, the Wehrmacht is definitely ahead of its time in terms of equipment. Whether it's weapons such as massive machine guns, mortars and grenade launchers, or tanks in Erzurum and now landing craft... Perhaps in terms of quality, the Wehrmacht is at the same level as the European powers, but in terms of equipment, the Wehrmacht is definitely an order of magnitude superior to the other side ... And this is the greatest advantage of the Wehrmacht ...

(To be continued)