Chapter Thirty-Six: Seizing Territory

  "Mr. Yang, what do you want to buy this place for?" Holland said in astonishment, as he thought the land had no value at all. Although Kuwait City was an important port on the Persian Gulf coast, it was actually just a small seaside town by European standards.

  "How to put it, you also know that my social circle is full of nobles, even princes and princesses, but I still hold a commoner's status. Because I am unwilling to give up my Chinese nationality, the British and Swedish royal families are willing to grant me a noble title, but they are restricted by law and cannot do so. However, in the Ottoman Empire, it's not that complicated. If I spend tens of millions of pounds to buy this land, His Imperial Majesty should at least be able to give me a Pasha title." Mr. Yang said with a look of expectation.

  "If you want to buy somewhere else, that's absolutely no problem, but if you want to buy Kuwait, it's a different story. Although this land belongs to the Ottoman Empire, it is an autonomous territory ruled by the Emir of the Sabah family. Even if His Majesty agrees to sell and even appoints you as Governor-General of Kuwait, I'm afraid the Sabah family won't let go." Holland shook his head.

  "As long as His Majesty the Emperor settles the legal procedures for me to own this land, I will take care of the rest. If the Sabah family does not give up Kuwait, I will use big guns to ask them to give it up." Yang Feng said with a sly smile, his armored cruiser would soon be in hand, and then he could bring over the cruiser, and get a few thousand mercenaries, let alone rob a city of Kuwait, even conquering the Arabian Peninsula would be about enough, of course, this premise is that one's actions must have legitimacy."

  If the Ottoman Emperor had sealed this place for himself as a fief, then the act of grabbing land would have been completely legitimate. Anyway, this area is actually dominated by the British, and they will not be embarrassed to oppose the surname Yang of this city.

  Holland shrugged his shoulders, finding that this boss of his was too vicious. However, it's true that this matter is quite feasible. First of all, Kuwait City joined the Ottoman Empire only twenty years ago, but not as a result of conquest, rather the Sabah family surrendered under pressure, which ensured their rule over this land. If they had been conquered, they would probably have been driven to the desert to eat sand.

  But Kuwait's semi-autonomous status also means that it is a piece of land with no actual value to the Ottoman Emperor, who would be delighted to add tens of millions of pounds to his treasury by taking over such a territory. As for other matters, he doesn't care; as long as he can appoint Yang Feng as the Governor-General of Kuwait, that's all that matters. If the Sabah family refuses to give up their position, that's Yang Feng's bad luck. In any case, the money is definitely not going to be returned. If you have the ability, you can seize it by force; if not, then just return to London with your tail between your legs and continue to swindle people.

  As for whether Yang Feng could seize Kuwait, Holland seemed to see the women of the Sabah family crying under these armed mercenaries as he glanced at them behind him.

  "This thing isn't difficult at all," he said immediately. "After finding the oil field, I'll make a trip to Istanbul."

  Mr. Yang nodded in satisfaction, and then they paid a visit to the current head of the Sabah family, the respected Sheikh Abdullah II, who was still unaware that he had invited a wolf into his home. The respected elder welcomed the noble guests from London with great enthusiasm. In fact, these small tribal leaders are having a hard time now, on the one hand, they have to carefully serve the emperor of Istanbul, on the other hand, they have to please the British, and also be vigilant against the rebellion of their subordinates, it can be said that they are dancing on three eggs.

  Enjoying a feast and dance in the style of Bedouin, Yang's large entourage left Kuwait under the farewell of Abdullah II with satisfaction. The nearly thousand-strong team marched through Basra Province of the Ottoman Empire into Persia, and then arrived at their destination under the leadership of local guides. According to his memory, Yang Feng quickly determined the location of the oil field. What was left was drilling, which didn't need him to take care of it. He took two young maidservants with him, wandering around Khuzestan Province under the protection of the team's bodyguards.

  To know that ninety percent of Iran's oil in the future would come from this province, he had to roughly determine the location of all the oil fields he could remember, so that the oil exploration team could slowly drill later. When he returned to Masjed Soleyman after traveling outside for half a month, two oil wells had already been drilled here, and it was clear at a glance that they were absolutely high-yielding wells, with daily production of thousands of tons being easy. This made Holland so happy that his speech was not very smooth.

  "Yang, Mr. Yang, it's a miracle! We all thought the drilling had failed when suddenly oil spouted out in front of us. I was completely drenched in black oil at the time and even now my body still smells of oil." The old scoundrel happily sniffed the stinky smell on his body.

  "Drilling will continue, this oil field is huge, what are these two wells? You'll get twenty, or even two hundred wells." Yang Da Boss said with great fanfare, he wasn't very clear about the specific number of wells here either, but judging from the fact that after more than a hundred years of mining, CNPC was still attracted to come, it's estimated that there might be hundreds of wells.

  After the successful drilling, it's time for the formal development of this oil field. This is a complex project with many things to be solved, such as extraction and transportation. Of course, these don't require the big boss to supervise in person. Besides, how could Yang Feng stay in this godforsaken wilderness? He handed over the place to the petroleum workers and returned to Kuwait, then took a ship eastbound for China.

  He must make sufficient preparations for the future armed takeover of Kuwait, first and foremost being to have a private army of over 3,000 people, with the majority being Chinese, while officers can be foreigners, but not all American-Chinese, as their composition cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, he wants to personally go to China to recruit at least 2,000 new soldiers, while recruiting 500 mercenaries in the US and Europe, then adding security personnel from Western Australia and oil fields, which can make up more than 3,000 people, and with an armored cruiser, it is enough to conquer Kuwait.

  Abdullah II did not have a real army in his hands, at most there were a few guards, these guys played the whole nation as soldiers, when they fought, all adult men of the tribe went to battle, riding horses and waving Arab scimitars or holding single-shot rifles, shouting loudly like a swarm of bees rushing up, with more than ten Maxim guns basically able to wipe them out instantly.

  The only castle is Kuwait, which is nothing but a pile of trash in the face of large-caliber naval guns. By the time I've recruited and sent troops to Western Australia for half a year of training, the cruiser will be completed, and Bofors' 75mm gun will also be ready. Add to that howitzers, Lee-Enfield rifles, and automatic pistols, and it's just right to use Kuwait as a venue for a large-scale military hardware show.

  From Kuwait to China is a long voyage, the endurance of the Parrot Shell is 28 knots and 6,000 kilometers, to run over ten thousand kilometers, he at least has to refuel once halfway, in fact, in order to ensure safety, before this, he had already notified Jinyuan Company to send people to Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai respectively to establish oil depots, specifically storing diesel produced by Swedish Yang Oil Refinery.

  A weirdly-shaped black trimaran sailed across the vast Indian Ocean, cutting through waves. Amidst the ups and downs of the waves, Yang Dabao was also experiencing his own ups and downs with his little maid, Caiyun. From the day she became Yang Feng's maid, Caiyun knew her fate. For someone who grew up in poverty and wandering, this was undoubtedly the best outcome - to be a concubine of a master who doted on her, rather than following a fellow poor Chinese laborer through thick and thin. The former was clearly the better choice.

  The 4,000-kilometer voyage ended in four days. With the sunset glow, the Parrot Shell entered Colombo, the capital of British Ceylon, under the welcome of two Royal Navy cruisers. The Governor of Ceylon, Havelock, was very humble to this big man who had a reputation in Europe. As for Yang's shipping company building a dedicated wharf here, it was not worth mentioning.

  "Your Excellency, you also know that the sea is not very safe now, pirates are rampant, although there is protection from the Royal Navy, but in case of any unexpected event, Yang's shipping fleet may have one or two armed merchant ships, I think this point you and the generals of the navy should not mind?" Yang Feng said with a smile at the dinner party.

  "Of course, it would be unthinkable for someone of your esteemed stature to be without some necessary protection, lest the entire world suffer a great loss should something untoward happen at sea." Governor Havelock said with a smile.

  "Then thank you!" Mr. Yang nodded in satisfaction, he had to solve the problem of supplies for the fleet afterwards, and build a dedicated dock in Colombo, Singapore, and Hong Kong, so that hiring troops for intercontinental operations would no longer be a problem.

  After a brief stop in Ceylon to replenish fuel and supplies, the Parrot Shell set off for its next destination. Since it had to pass through the Malacca Strait, Yang Feng installed the twin 37mm anti-aircraft guns on the six mounts that had been reserved for them at Colombo. However, these were not put to use as two British cruisers came out from Singapore to escort it through this dangerous stretch of water.

  Yang Feng is now very important to the Royal Navy, and the future of the Viper destroyer being built at Armstrong's shipyard depends on them as the sole engine supplier, no protection is excessive.