Babylonian Empire

Page 397

After the silkworm missile swooped down from the sky, the kiss of death came immediately.

The crew who were still watching on the deck just now finally knew that they were the target to attack. They watched the missile swoop down and hit the belly of the wide hull in front of them.

After hitting the deck, the fuze started to fire. Hundreds of kilograms of explosives gathered on the energy-concentrating cover at the front, and instantly penetrated the steel of the hull. Part of the fuel exploded violently together.

The entire tanker was divided into more than a dozen dúlì compartments, but the bomb that got in just now completely destroyed that compartment, and then the crude oil also began to burn, and a more violent explosion occurred, and the 15-ton " The "Umm Kabashi" has been broken into two pieces.

This is the power of heavy anti-ship missiles. It is even more powerful to attack civilian ships, especially oil tankers.

At this time, the crew members with the swimming rings had already started to jump into the sea water, and they had to swim to the opposite boat before the oil leaked to the sea surface.

The only thing that made them feel lucky was that due to the tighter sealing between each cabin and the faster sinking speed of the ship, those cabins that were not hit did not explode.

The crew members were struggling to swim, and the crude oil that had leaked to the sea might be ignited by the flames of the explosion at any time, and they would be burned to death when the time came.

Another freighter, the "Atlantic Norman", which was lucky enough not to be attacked, also turned on its horsepower to rescue the crew who fell into the water.

The captain of the "Umm Kabashi" stood naked on the deck of the "Atlantic Norman", looking at the place where his big ship sank, looking at the whirlpool of the sea. An incomparable anger.

As Arabs, they originally supported Iraq, but they did not participate in the war, and Iran dared to attack their tankers directly. This is a naked hooliganism!

In particular, they started to act after announcing their decision in a high-profile manner. Even Israel, the most rogue, did not dare to do so!

This is a sad day, but also a day that shocked everyone in the world. On April 1983, 4, in the busiest waterway in the world, in the Strait of Hormuz, the ship "Umm Kabashi" transporting crude oil from Kuwait , was attacked by an anti-ship missile, causing the ship to be sunk, two crew members died, and one missing.

History has changed a lot here again. The "Umm Kabashi" was originally sunk by the Iranian Republican Guard a year later, but now, it has unfortunately sunk a year ago.

Iran dared to openly attack a civilian ship of a country that has not declared war on it. This is an act of extreme contempt for international law. Until after World War II, no country dared to do so.Public opinion in all societies is condemning Iran.

As for Iran, it was only after watching the Kuwaiti TV broadcast that it realized that it had made a mistake.

Chapter 441 Kuwait's Countermeasures

The central meaning of the conversation between Qusai and Hou Yefeng is that Iraq attaches great importance to its friendly relations with China, even to a strategic level. Iraq can inject large sums of money into China to save China's prematurely aborted projects due to lack of funds. , and for China's economic development, Iraq is also willing to negotiate to provide loans to China, but the premise is that China must stop exporting weapons to Iran. Totally profitable.

This bargaining chip is already big enough, and Qusay is fully confident that China will agree.

"Your Excellency Qusay, I fully understand your kindness. Our country also attaches great importance to exchanges with your country. The government of our country would like to invite Your Excellency Qusay to pay a friendly visit to our country within a few months. What you said, I believe They will be conveyed to the government of our country." Hou Yefeng said very sincerely.

"I also look forward to your country's government making the right choice. We, Iraq, are definitely the best friends of your country's government. We may even join hands to oppose the most powerful country in the world at a certain period of time." Qusay Said.

Hou Yefeng didn't understand what Qu Sai said. What exactly did he want to express?Is it against the Soviet Union or against the United States?

At this moment, the phone on Qusay's desk rang.

When Qusay picked up the phone, he heard Tariq's voice from inside: "Your Excellency Qusay, a major event happened in the Strait of Hormuz. Just an hour ago, Iran launched a missile that hit the a tanker in Kuwait."

As His Excellency Qusay came to Baghdad, Tariq also followed him to Baghdad. Moreover, Tariq was already in charge of diplomatic affairs, while Hikmat replaced Chalabi and became the Minister of Oil.

Hou Yefeng saw His Excellency Qu Sai pick up the phone, and after listening to it, his expression changed unexpectedly, thinking that there was something wrong on the frontline battlefield.

It seems that it's time for me to leave, and I can't affect the other party's work.

After seeing Qu Sai put down the phone, Hou Yefeng said: "Your Excellency Qu Sai, it seems that I should leave."

Looking at the person in front of him, Qu Sai said: "Yes, you should go. After you return to the embassy, ​​you must quickly report my suggestion to the government of your country."

Hearing this, Hou Yefeng felt very uncomfortable, isn't this driving me away?It's not that direct, is it?

Who knows, what he heard next completely moved him.

"Just now I received a report that Iran launched a C601 missile imported from your country in the Strait of Hormuz and hit an oil tanker in Kuwait. Now the Persian Gulf should be lively, Khomeini, what else? I really don't want to worry about your country's government!"

Iran launched an anti-ship missile imported from China and hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker. Hou Yefeng was shocked by this news. The missiles China sold to Iran were definitely not for him to attack Kuwait. How to use it on the Iraqi battlefield is easy to say, but if you attack Kuwait, it will cause a huge international disturbance, and even China will be pushed to the forefront!

……

Kuwait.

In terms of land area, Kuwait only has more than 1 square kilometers, and in terms of population, it is only 300 million people. This is just a tiny country in the Middle East.

However, in terms of wealth, Kuwait definitely ranks first in the Middle East, and even in the entire world. Under the land of Kuwait, everything is black gold.

Everything in Kuwait depends on sea transportation lines, oil exports, and various daily necessities. The people of Kuwait have long been used to all of this.

But now, the situation has changed, because the Kuwaiti tanker was sunk by an anti-ship missile fired from the shore of Iran just as it was passing through the Strait of Hormuz!

The Emir of the State of Kuwait was shocked, which is out of this world, not a good start!

In the Dasman Palace, after receiving the news, the high-level leaders of Kuwait rushed to start an emergency response.

"We have sent a helicopter from the Coast Guard to bring back the crew of the tanker." Defense Minister Sheikh said, "Iran dared to attack our tanker with missiles this time. This is a naked threat. We We must seek justice from Iran!"

"Yes, this is a blatant contempt for international law and a provocation by the Persians to our entire Arab world. We must retaliate against Iran for their despicable way of attacking our civilian ships!" Information Minister Mubarak said.

All the people were gnashing their teeth with hatred and furious. They also heard about Iran's threat to attack the oil tanker a few days ago, but they didn't expect that the Iranians would actually dare to do this!

It is bold enough that the Iranians might attack the oil tankers in Iraq, which are civilian ships. However, I did not expect that the Iranians would attack the Kuwaiti tanks first. This is not only bold, but crazy.

However, what makes Kuwait feel sad is that, apart from protesting, Kuwait really can't find any effective actions.

Because although Kuwait is a wealthy country, Kuwait's military strength is very weak.

The total strength of Kuwait is only more than 1, and there are more than 1000 foreign mercenaries among them. It is not so easy to make the Kuwaiti people lying in the golden house have the courage to fight, and the Kuwaiti navy has only a few ships Missile boats and landing craft, how can such a navy retaliate against Iran?Kuwait's air force, although it has dozens of fighter planes, lacks ground-to-sea attack training. Kuwait has never realized that it has such a huge wealth and only such a weak military strength, so it is easy to be attacked by foreign forces. coveted.

Prince Fahd said: "Everyone, what we need most at the moment is to come up with a practical solution. It is not enough for us to just protest. If we want to retaliate, how should we retaliate? And if we retaliate, will it cause trouble? Will the situation become more turbulent?"

"It is inappropriate for us to go to war with Iran. Moreover, it is not in our interests to go to war with Iran because a civilian ship is attacked. Our military strength is relatively weak. If the attack on ships escalates, our economy will be hit hard." Ad said.

This is a fact that everyone has to face. As these very far-sighted leaders, they have already seen that if they retaliate against Iran, then, for Iran as a country, they will definitely attract their crazy counterattack However, once Kuwait's ocean transportation lines are cut off, Kuwait will fall into crisis.

"What we have to consider now is not only how to deal with our oil tanker being attacked by Iran, but more importantly, how to avoid similar things from happening again in the future." The emir finally spoke: "We must come up with a In a practical way, for Iran, our protest is absolutely useless."

Protect important ocean shipping lines!

"Perhaps, we can request the US Navy to escort." At this time, Speaker Wen Ahmad Satun said.

Since our own side is unable to protect the safety of the cargo ship, we need a force to protect the safety of the cargo ship. Looking at the whole world, I am afraid that the United States Navy is the most powerful. Moreover, Kuwait has a very good relationship with the United States, and it has a very good relationship with the United States. The United States has a great relationship. A considerable part of Kuwait's oil exports goes to the Americas. Therefore, if the US Navy is asked to help, they will definitely agree.

"No, we cannot easily ask the US Navy to escort us." At this time, Fahd resolutely objected.

"Although we are pro-American, we also have our own national defense strategy. This is the world of our Arabs. The United States has long wanted to set foot here. If we ask the US Navy to escort us, then the United States has sufficient reasons. It can enter our world. Once American power enters, it will be detrimental to the entire Arab world. Moreover, Khomeini is firmly opposed to the United States, and if we put American power in, it will cause Khomeini More intense retaliation, what if he declares war on us? They only need to fire a few of the same missiles at us in Kuwait to paralyze our economy.”

Letting the Americans intervene here will definitely have a very big impact. You must know that the United States strongly supports Israel. In the entire Arab world, the voices against the United States are also very strong. Asking the Americans to help themselves will make Kuwait Stand on the cusp.

"The problems of our Arab world should be handled by us Arabs ourselves." Fahd said: "I propose that we negotiate with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, and Qatar to form a 'peninsula defense force'." , we organize an escort fleet ourselves to protect the safety of our own ships."

Kuwait's own navy is not strong enough, but Iran is going against the grain. This move is not only a threat to Kuwait's shipping lines, but also a threat to the shipping of other countries along the Persian Gulf. Therefore, these countries jointly organize Get up, you can deal with Iran!