The end of the fighting in Tikrit was the beginning of more fighting in Salah al-Din province, especially closer to the north, where the population is fierce and some Islamic State fighters have gathered.

Although the ISIS forces in this area are relatively scattered, their overall combat effectiveness is not very strong, and they are not capable of organizing large-scale military operations, they are also the most difficult to deal with because of their profession and the ISIS forces here.

These forces, in contact with the swampy areas in the north of Salah al-Din Province and the mountainous areas that have been handed over to Iran, advance and retreat in an orderly manner, hiding in the depths of the swamps, and are not afraid of being surrounded and intercepted by heavy armored forces on the ground.

The freedom to enter and exit here brings with it the trouble of extermination.

Therefore, the capture of Tikrit was only the first step in the capture of the entire province of Salahuddin, but it was only the first step.

And among the large number of tribes in the north, each tribe has its own armament, ranging from a few hundred to a thousand.

These tribes have not been either armed or co-opted as in the key economic cities occupied by the Islamic State.

On the contrary, he has always lived well here in the north, and has always made frequent deals with the Islamic State.

But these tribes are all unclimated tribes, which are not as good as those tribes on the Silk Road, they are simply a world of heaven and earth.

Those tribes on the Silk Road, even the United States would not provoke, but for such small tribes, few people would really take them seriously.

In fact, these so-called tribes are just those small warlords who occupy the mountains and become kings by taking advantage of the turmoil in Iraq, and they usually conduct all kinds of transactions with any force, have intelligence and weapons and equipment, and live freely.

No one would come to such a place at all. Meddle in their affairs. After all, these tribes are also people who understand, and they don't provoke anyone, so they do their own thing.

It is often such smart people who can be nourished and long-lasting.

This is different from the local warlords in the Iraqi government, who have to survive. All need to be attached to the snort of the government army, and there are also many restrictions.

But not here, they can do whatever they want, and even some small caravans passing by are their targets.

And such a goal is not to extract taxes, but to directly kill people and sell goods. However, they were all polite to those powerful caravans, and they didn't even dare to overcharge tolls.

In normal times, the commercial convoys of those Silk Road troops pass through here. Some tribes even send soldiers to protect them, as much as possible to show their friendliness.

If there is no one to task, Cai Ruichen will not have much heart to move these small warlords who occupy the mountains as kings, and they will not be in the climate at all.

But now, he needs a complete and unified province of Salah al-Din, and something must be resolved.

Coupled with the activities of those Islamic State forces in this area, a lot of supplies are provided by these guys.

The only thing that made him feel apprehensive was the little warlords. Many of them have a certain relationship with the tribes on the Silk Road.

And for those tribes that were once on the Silk Road. Even Cai Ruichen felt a headache.

These tribes stretched from the Taliban area of Afghanistan to Syria, and a Silk Road ran through them.

The reason why these tribes are difficult is not that they have many planes and tanks, or how powerful an army they have.

It's because these guys are all a bunch of principled lunatics, and their principle is to just don't talk to me. I'm not going to take care of anyone.

They were all real businessmen, interested in doing business, and every tribe was very rich, even among the worst tribes. The wealth owned is at least billions to tens of billions.

It is not at all smaller than those large enterprises in other countries, and in the world, it also has a very broad network of contacts, and has business cooperation with many international large consortia and even with many countries.

If it's just such a businessman, it's nothing, but if it's a bunch of crazy people, it's different.

Since ancient times, all wealth has not been revealed, and the wealth possessed by these Silk Road tribes has not been eye-catching at any time.

Once, it was not without conflicts, even wars, that broke out out of greed.

As early as the beginning of the Silk Road, these tribes along the Silk Road were often oppressed, and even often became the target of robbers and thieves.

Long-term oppression, and a group of rich people with economic acumen and business ideas, will not be able to stand it for a long time.

From that time on, the Silk Roads began to unite and fight against any force that wanted to rob them of their wealth to the point of destruction.

Because they all know very well that if they don't show a tough side, they will only blindly go soft, and they will only become the target of everyone's robbery in the end.

Therefore, it has gradually developed a madman-like tradition, as long as someone dares to do something to any tribe on the Silk Road, it will cause all the tribes on the entire Silk Road to unite and confront.

For more than 1,000 years, the dynasties of the Middle East have changed, and generations of people have perished in the long river of history, but these tribes still survive here, and with the development of dynasties, they have become more prosperous.

Today, all the ancient tribes along the Silk Road have formed a huge alliance, advancing and retreating, and have never been separated.

At the same time, these tribes are extremely xenophobic, and it seems that some people around the world seem to them to come into contact with them for wealth.

The spirit is very, very closed, but the business mind is very developed, and there are their industries all over the world.

There was even a European economist who said that if these madmen combined, they could create a country that squeezed into the developed world.

Unfortunately, if the Silk Road had left this trade route, their wealth would have been gone, so it was destined to be impossible.

However, this does not affect their status.

In the same way, there are really not many people in the world who know them, because they rarely appear in the eyes of the world, and they always uphold the quiet fortune, and then everything has nothing to do with me, don't mess with me.

Cai Ruichen also didn't know if he would arouse the hostility of those madmen on the Silk Road once he attacked these small tribes, and he also checked the intelligence of Xianguan and found that in the past few decades, a pair of obscure big hands seemed to have begun to appear behind these madmen to manipulate something. (To be continued.) )