Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 140 Recommendation
"Shuangzhi must relinquish control of Ganam, Your Majesty."

The United States Secretary of State, Erich von Stern, sat in the lavish drawing room, his tone calm and his face expressionless.

King Shams maintained his usual smile: "Dear Erich, in fact, this was not a decision imposed by Shuangzhi, but the choice of the people of Ghanam themselves. Al-Ilag abandoned them twice, and it was my nephew who led the army to pull them out of the abyss, thus winning their hearts."

Erich turned his gaze to the silent Lu Lin and continued, "I understand the emotional inclination, Your Majesty, but you must be clear that under international law and the existing order, Ghanam still belongs to Al-Iraq. Maintaining established borders is the foundation of stability for the United Nations and even the world."

Lu Lin raised his eyes and retorted directly, "Then why don't you go after Zion?"

Does that mean good people deserve to have guns pointed at them?

“Of course we must take care of Zion,” Erich said calmly, without getting angry. “But to deal with Zion, we must first dismantle the old colonial empire system behind them… This requires strategy, not brute force.”

He paused briefly, his gaze landing squarely on Lu Lin.

"As for you, General Amir, I also have some things I must remind you of."

Ehrlich leaned forward slightly, and an invisible pressure filled the room.

"Since you have proposed to establish a united front against Zion and want to integrate and control the military forces of various Arab countries, you should understand that from now on, everything you do will be under the spotlight."

Some will praise you as a hero, but many more will be fearful, fearing you will become another Mu'awiyah, which will benefit no one.

He spoke slowly, but his words were clear and unambiguous.

"You may only want to fight Zion, but to outsiders, your taking the position of Governor of Canam is a clear signal. It will be interpreted as expansion, ambition, and that you are no longer satisfied with 'resistance' but want to 'control'."

The politicians of Zion and the colonial empires will seize upon this, accusing you of using the pretext of resisting Zion to pursue expansion. They will portray you as building an unprecedented military empire, aiming not only externally but also internally—to unify the Arab world.

Erich's voice deepened, almost uttering each word slowly and deliberately:
“If it really comes to that, General, neither the United Nations nor the United States, nor even Ant, will stand idly by.”

"The power you wield is both a sword against Zion and a blade hanging over your head. Before you use it, you'd better think carefully about who you are fighting for."

After saying this, Erich von Stern glanced at his watch and said, "That's enough small talk. I have other matters to attend to. There's no need to rush to answer this question. Think carefully about how to give the world an explanation."

Before leaving, Erich said to Lu Lin, "You are destined for great things. Do a good job."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Lu Lin hadn't expected the United States to be so serious about Garnum.

This is clearly a reminder to Shuangzhi not to overstep its bounds.

After all, the reason why the United States chose to cooperate with Shuangzhi in the past, besides the large-scale oil exports, was mainly because Shuangzhi had always appeared harmless, which was indeed true.

Compared to countries like Masr and Surria, Shuangzhi had no ambition for expansion, which is why the United States liked Shuangzhi the most.

But everything changed when he led his expeditionary force through western Al-Ilag.

The United States is certainly happy to see its allies become stronger, but in its view, the Twins cannot be out of its control.

"Fortunately, dismantling the colonial empire is still the primary goal of the United States and Ant, and there are no other powerful countries in the Arab world right now, otherwise I would have been sidelined," Lu Lin thought to himself.

In fact, Western countries generally believe that Canam only "won half the battle" in the final battle against the 210th Division, and the most crucial contributor was the timely assistance from the United States.

Furthermore, in the latter half of the story, as the commander, Lu Lin was essentially out of combat.

While his abilities are undeniable, they are not as exaggerated as the rumors circulating within the Arab world suggest.

This is one of the reasons why the United States was willing to give him a chance—youth means potential, and through investment, they might be able to bring Amir into the pro-United States camp in the future. However, before Lu Lin could figure this out, Al-Irag's revenge came.

The Ba'ath Party government unilaterally announced the severing of all trade routes to Ghanam, including the most critical food shipments.

The Euphrates River basin, especially its lower alluvial plain, was originally part of the famous Fertile Crescent in the Middle East and an important granary of Al-Iraq.

However, during the war, Zion implemented scorched earth tactics, systematically destroying and burning almost all arable land, and also bombing irrigation facilities. As a result, Ghanam had to rely on imports for food for at least a year.

"Air transport can work in the short term, but it's not a long-term solution."

Lu Lin hadn't expected Al-Iraq to go to such extremes; instead of engaging in direct military conflict, the other side had adopted this strangulation strategy.

However, Shuangzhi itself is not a grain-producing country, and it also has to import grain.

Lu Lin pondered for a moment. Currently, the world's two largest grain exporters are the United States and Australasia (Australia), which is far away in the Southern Hemisphere.

However, transporting grain from either the United States or Australasia was a problem of excessively high costs, which was a huge burden even though Shuangzhi was very wealthy.

Just when he was having a headache, things unexpectedly took a turn for the better.

The cause was the air force. The air force of the two countries performed poorly in the Yom Kippur War. Therefore, the Minister of Defense, Prince Mohammed, took the lead in organizing a "Seminar on Air Force Combat Experience Exchange". Many friendly countries in the Middle East were invited to participate. The most important guest was from the Mughals, who had an air force with a lot of combat experience.

The atmosphere of the meeting was professional and enthusiastic. During the tactical discussion session, Mughal air force officers shared their experiences without reservation.

"If it's a heavy fighter like the F-4, when facing Zion's Mirage III light fighter, we must not get caught up in their close-range dogfighting tactics. We must leverage our advantages in beyond-visual-range air combat, using better radar and longer-range medium-range missiles to launch an attack before the enemy even sees us, and then retreat after a single strike."

"In terms of ground attack formations, it is necessary to establish specialized air defense suppression teams, allowing priority anti-radiation missile-carrying aircraft to eliminate enemy radar and air defense positions first, thus opening up a safe corridor for subsequent attack aircraft groups."

"As for how to teach pilots to deal with ground-based air defense fire, our suggestion is to use training to overcome their fear. Let them fly training aircraft, use real radar to illuminate them, and use real signal flares to chase them, until they become familiar with these things and form muscle memory."

Based on its unity with the Islamic world, the Mughal Empire firmly opposes Zion in its foreign policy and even refuses to recognize Zion as a state.

The Mughals considered Zion's occupation of Arab territory illegal and strongly supported the Arafat people's right to self-determination.

The meeting was very beneficial to the pilots of Shuangzhi Air Force, but it was hard to say exactly how much they would improve.

The atmosphere was much more relaxed at the officers' get-together after the meeting.

A high-ranking Mughal Air Force general, Azim Raja, approached Lu Lin.

"General Amir, I've heard a lot about you. I've heard that Ghanam has recently run into some trouble?" General Raja asked, getting straight to the point.

Lu Lin was taken aback: "Did the news spread so fast?"

"The entire Arab world is watching the Noor region." General Raja sighed and nodded solemnly, his tone filled with righteous indignation. "Those guys at the United Nations are always meddling in Arab affairs, yet they turn a blind eye to what Zion is doing. They're using us to establish their authority!"

Lu Lin nodded, deeply agreeing.

General Raja lowered his voice and leaned forward slightly: "However, on another note, Your Excellency Amir, I can introduce you to a friend who might be able to solve Ghanam's current food crisis."

"Oh?" Lu Lin perked up. "Which country?"

General Raja smiled slightly and uttered that name that seemed to possess a magical quality, a name that was both strange and familiar to him:

"Seres".

(End of this chapter)