Chapter 43: Flames of War in Kuwait

  One day in January three years ago, the sun was high and the heat waves were rolling, the air seemed to be filled with sparks, Sheikh Muhammad, the respected Kuwaiti chief, sat in his mud palace, staring at a British man in front of him with eyes that also seemed to be emitting sparks.

  "Go back and tell that shameless villain, Kuwait is the territory of the Sabah family, no one has the right to take it away, we will defend our ancestral land with our blood." He said, gritting his teeth, his nostrils blowing hot air like an angry bull.

  As soon as he finished speaking, the Arab warriors standing on both sides immediately grasped their short curved knives, furrowed their brows and stood with a fierce air.

  "Respected Sheikh, I apologize, but my boss has made it clear that although you were the former ruler of this land, His Imperial Majesty the Great Emperor has chosen a new administrator for her, as the appointed Governor-General of Kuwait by His Imperial Majesty the Great Emperor, he must come to fulfill his duties."

  And you must transfer your authority to him, this is what a loyal subject should do. If you continue to block his entry into the city in an unfriendly manner, he can only think that you are rebelling against him.

  At that time, as the Governor of Kuwait, he had to fight against the rebels until this land returned to His Majesty's hands." Said Harold, a serious lawyer from London, as the full-time lawyer of Jin Yuan Company, the task entrusted by the boss must be done well, and such drastic actions must conform to legal procedures.

  "I said it clearly, Kuwait is for the Sabah family, even if the Ottoman Emperor himself has no right to give it to anyone else." Muhammad said fiercely, and he was indeed very angry.

  Although Kuwait was a part of the Ottoman Empire's Basra province, it was only a nominal possession. The Sabah family had ruled here for nearly two hundred years and when they first submitted to the Ottoman Emperor, the condition was that the Sabah family would continue to rule here. For over twenty years this relationship had been maintained quite well, but suddenly there was a Kuwaiti governor who wanted to take over the land left by his ancestors, which was somewhat infuriating.

  After initially receiving the news of this calamity, he also made some intercessions, but unfortunately, the Ottoman Emperor who had already received ￡50,000 was absolutely unwilling to offend a big shot in Europe for the sake of a small port that only nominally belonged to him, so his appeal was doomed to receive no sympathy.

  Having sought justice from the Emperor in vain, he thought of going to the British for a fair trial, but unfortunately, the British who had been urging him to leave the Ottoman Empire all along told him that they were inconvenient to intervene in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire.

  Poor Muhammad Sheikh called heaven and earth, but no response. Just as he was preparing to defend his ancestral land with blood, the Governor of Kuwait suddenly disappeared. The bewildered Sheikh only found out later that the Governor of Kuwait was just a British millionaire who wanted to buy the title to show off, and someone like him would never actually come to be the real Governor of Kuwait.

  So that's it, after making a fuss for half a day, it turned out to be his own overthinking. Muhammad Shaykh let out a sigh of relief and had almost forgotten about the whole thing after several months passed. Who would have thought that this morning two ships arrived in Kuwait Bay, including a large ironclad warship? A messenger came down and told him that the Governor of Kuwait was coming to take over the city, which nearly made Muhammad pass out. And that's how this scene unfolded.

  "So, Sheikh, you are admitting that you have chosen to betray His Imperial Majesty the Ottoman Emperor." Harold said with a smile.

  "I didn't say that, but I also won't give up my own land." Muhammad isn't stupid either and naturally wouldn't fall for his trap.

  "It makes no difference, you have not betrayed His Imperial Majesty the Ottoman Emperor, so you must hand over the administration of this city. If you do not hand over the administration of this city, then we will consider that you have actually betrayed the emperor." Harold said.

  "Yes, we will no longer obey that odious tyrant. Kuwait is a Sabah, never was an Ottoman province, nor is it now, nor ever will be." A nearby Arab warrior shouted angrily.

  Harold shrugged his shoulders and, looking at the silent Muhammad, said: "Well, Sheikh, since a rebellion has occurred here, Yang Feng Pasha will fulfill his duties as a minister of the Ottoman Empire as Governor of Kuwait."

  After finishing speaking, he walked away with his head held high.

  On the deck of the raider, under a sun umbrella, drinking iced beer and watching his little slave girl dance the Persian dance, Yang Da Boss soon received news of a rebellion in his territory. Then this guy lazily waved his hand, and the raider's cruiser immediately turned its right side to face Kuwait City in the distance. Immediately afterwards, the nine main guns roared simultaneously, and behind Mina's twisting waist, against the blue sky, a background of blood and fire suddenly appeared.

  Accompanied by the lively dance steps of the little girl, the 130mm cannon fired incessantly towards Kuwait City in the distance. Soon, the sound of counter-fire from the city walls began to ring out sporadically, but unfortunately, their shore defense guns had a range of less than one-third that of the 130mm cannon. They merely added a few water columns to Mina's background and invited retaliatory fire upon themselves. In less than ten minutes, there was no longer any counter-fire capability within the city.

  Yang Da Boss is thoroughly enjoying this long-awaited killing spree, he's like a god controlling fate, watching the ants struggling futilely under his feet. The magnificent city wall of Kuwait City, which has been under construction for over 100 years and still isn't finished, four meters high, is being pounded by large-caliber artillery fire, crumbling into ruins segment by segment. Smoke columns from exploding shells are rising from time to time within the city, it's clear that the Arabs inside must be feeling great right about now.

  He was also very satisfied with the training level of his subordinates. There were nearly 400 crew members on the Plunderer, only about 100 of whom were white Europeans recruited in Europe, and the rest were Chinese recruited in China, half of whom were survivors of the Battle of the Mawei Sea. Although they had undergone several months of training, it was still unexpected that they could fight at such a level.

  The bombardment lasted for half an hour, and the Kuwait city wall facing the sea was basically flattened. The ancient castle was like a girl stripped of her outer garment, trembling with anticipation waiting for him to **.

  "Go ask them if they surrender or not?" Yang Da Boss waved his hand to order the cessation of the artillery fire, then called Harold over and said.

  Harold shrugged and rode the small boat back to Kuwait City, in this city that was already scarred, under a gaze of sorrow and anger, he once again conveyed Yang Feng's request to Muhammad.

  "Respected Sheikh, I give you a piece of private advice: do not struggle in vain. To oppose someone who has as much money as the sand in the desert will lead to no good outcome. If you listen and yield Kuwait, you might even receive generous rewards." Harold said with some pity.

  "The Sabah family does not have the habit of surrendering, if you are capable, then be a real man and take up your knife and gun to fight us to the death." Muhammad roared.

  "A true man should be like me, drinking wine, listening to music, hugging a beauty and watching others cry." Yang Feng, the big boss, was dismissive of his challenge, but he didn't fire back either. As for this small place in Kuwait, it basically calmed down after making a big fuss for half a day.

  "I am a kind person, the Sabah family is guilty, what sin have its people committed!" He let out a sigh of sorrow and pity, Mina, who was kneeling beside him, tactfully placed herself at his feet and handed him a piece of iced watermelon on a toothpick. This Persian little slave girl still can't speak any language that Yang Feng understands, but she has been trained in the Ottoman harem and not only dances well, but also has excellent skills in observing people's words and expressions, and of course, her skills in bed are also top-notch, which comforted Yang's lonely heart a bit.

  Of course, this is just talk, and in reality he is now waiting for his ground forces. Six merchant ships carrying a mixed army of 2,500 people from the Middle East are rushing day and night from Western Australia to participate in the campaign. The stick soldiers who have undergone three months of high-intensity training will serve as the main force under the leadership of European officers. Yang Feng also plans to test the mettle of these Arabs, and if they prove useful, he intends to recruit another 3,000 to form a brigade.

  At the same time, 500 cavalrymen were rushing to Bushehr Province. These were the security guards of the Imperial Oil in Persia. Although they were called security guards, their combat effectiveness was even stronger than that of regular troops. Two hundred British veterans who had participated in the First Boer War, plus three hundred Chinese workers recruited from the United States, with machine guns, Gruson quick-firing cannons, Lee-Enfield rifles, automatic pistols, and even 82mm mortars, were absolutely armed to the teeth.

  There was also an artillery detachment on the Raider, equipped with four Bofors 75mm guns, and this battle would be a full-scale demonstration of firepower.

  However, what surprised Yang Feng was that the Kuwaitis also had helpers, but they couldn't be considered as helpers. In fact, they were refugees who had been expelled by the Rashid family and were hiding here. The leader was a little boy of about ten years old.

  "What's that guy's name?" Yang Feng asked curiously to the British merchant who came running to report, his war with the Sabah family didn't have much impact on the city's businessmen, in fact these guys welcomed Big Boss Yang even more.

  "Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman bin Faisal Al Saud." The tobacco vendor, Haid, smiled with a twinkle in his eye as he looked at the banknotes in his hand.

  "Put it simply." Yang Feng said impatiently. He was now thoroughly disgusted with the long, smelly names of these fallen aristocrats.

  "Ibn Saut!" Hyde exclaimed hastily.