Expedition to Europe

In mid-April, the Syria-Iraq War finally made significant progress.

This started with the Lanfang Army entering Syria.

At the end of January, Lanfang and France reached an agreement that France would lease two infantry divisions from Lanfang for use in the war against Iraqis in Syria.

Around mid-February, the Lanfang army assembled in Syria, and after a half-month of rest, the Lanfang army officially joined the war in early March.

When the Lanfang army joined the war, the Syrians had been defeated and retreated into Syria, and were completely unable to deal with the Iraqi attack. The participation of the Lanfang army changed the situation of the Syria-Iraq War. In less than a month, the Lanfang army won three battles and successively annihilated the Iraqi Second Division and the Fourth Division. The number of defeated troops reached as many as five divisions, and the front line returned to the Syrian-Israeli border.

The French were not satisfied with this result. According to Paris, the Lanfang army should advance triumphantly and capture Baghdad in one fell swoop, giving the Iraqis a lesson they will never forget.

The idea is good, but it is not easy to do. The French were not prepared for a long-term war at the beginning of the war. The Syrian army's retreat at the beginning of the war led to a large amount of stockpiled supplies being seized by the Iraqis. Therefore, although the Lan Fang army still had spare strength, it could only advance to the Syrian-Iraqi border due to insufficient logistical supplies.

Faced with this situation, the French were helpless.

In fact, the French were not short of supplies. The military supplies accumulated during the world war had not been used up until now, but the French did not dare to send too many supplies to Syria now. Paris remembered Qin Zhiyuan's request. If the supplies were sufficient, the Iraqis would certainly not be able to get any good, and the Lan Fang people would be a bigger trouble.

It is easy to invite gods but difficult to send them away.

The current situation is like hitting a wolf with straw, and the French have to rely on Lan Fang's military power and prevent Lan Fang from becoming stronger in Syria. On the one hand, Lan Fang has to carefully maintain the balance of power on the Syrian-Iraqi border, and on the other hand, it has to guard against possible sneak attacks by the British. This war is really a bit difficult.

In fact, just after the Lan Fang army entered Syria, Lan Fang and the British also had contact. Amid the strong opposition of the British, the Lan Fang military promised that the war would be limited to the Syrian-Iraqi border and would never burn into Iraq, which made the British reluctantly accept it.

It is true that Iraq is a British colony, but the British have never paid attention to Iraq. Even in the eyes of the British government, not only Iraq, but the entire Middle East is a huge burden. Now there is no oil in the Middle East, and this barren desert is indeed of no value to the British.

Qin Zhiyuan's idea is not in Syria or Iraq, but in Saudi Arabia in eastern Iraq.

No, there is no Saudi Arabia in these years. If there is no accident, Saudi Arabia will not be officially established until 1926, and then in 27 years, Britain will give up its rule over the Saudi region and recognize Saudi Arabia as an independent country.

Look, the British let it go so easily, because there is nothing in the Middle East now that can make the British linger, and the Saudi oil fields will not be discovered until 1938.

In the current Saudi land, the Aziz family and the Rashid family are fighting endlessly. The Aziz family has gained the upper hand. They not only occupied Riyadh, but also occupied Najd, and are besieging the last stronghold of the Rashid family, Hijaz.

Britain's neglect of Saudi Arabia can be seen from the fight between the Aziz family and the Rashid family. The British don't care who wins or loses, and let these Persians fight to death on this land without any restrictions.

For Qin Zhiyuan, now is a good time to intervene. If it takes a few years, when the Aziz family completely defeats the Rashid family, it will be more troublesome to intervene at that time.

In fact, since the front line was pushed to the Syrian-Iraqi border, Qin Haoge, the highest commander of the Lanfang army in Syria, has been very annoyed.

Qin Zhiyuan initially ordered Liu Zizheng to lead the army into Syria, but at the end of March, Liu Zizheng fell seriously ill due to acclimatization, and Qin Zhiyuan had to order Qin Haoge to come to Syria.

When Qin Haoge arrived in Syria, the front line had advanced to the Syrian-Iraqi border. According to the agreement between Lan Fang and the British, the war should end here. However, since arriving in Syria, Qin Haoge has not had a day of peace. The Iraqis have been making small moves and frequently sending small teams across the border to attack the Lan Fang army, which makes Qin Haoge very annoyed.

On April 1, Qin Haoge received another report that the patrol team was attacked by Iraqis. Although the casualties were not serious, Qin Haoge was still furious.

"Send a telegram to Steven and ask him what's going on. If he can't effectively control his army, then don't blame me for being rude." Qin Haoge was murderous and ready to tear up the tacit understanding between Lan Fang and Britain.

Across the Syrian-Iraqi border is Steven Strachey. This old-fashioned man is now the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi army. When his troops were at their strongest, there were nearly 200,000 people. Now there are only a little more than 100,000 left, and they are all remnants. Although the number of people is much larger than Qin Haoge's, the morale and combat effectiveness are incomparable.

"Yes, General." Qin Haoge's adjutant is Qin Mu.

After Qin Mu came to Syria, he first served as the liaison officer of the Lan Fang stationed in the Syrian army and Jerusalem, and then became Qin Haoge's adjutant. Of course, Qin Haoge also had a secret mission. He was responsible for contacting the Iraqi side, not only Steven Strachey, but also Yang Deshan.

That's right, Yang Deshan is in Iraq. After the relationship between the Brotherhood Alliance and the British eased, Yang Deshan led the Brotherhood Alliance into Iraq to help the British fight the Syrians. Yang Deshan fought a little fiercely and accidentally attracted the Lan Fang army, so Yang Deshan was not at the Syria-Iraq border recently, but rested in Iraq.

In fact, Qin Haoge knew who was making small moves. Karim, the commander of the First Division of Iraq, was the most combat-capable unit in Steven Strachey's hands. It also had a close relationship with Lan Fang, but Karim was not aware of it. Karim believed that his success was entirely due to his persistence in hatred.

Steven Strachey's reply was very fast. As before, Steven Strachey's reply was only a short sentence: investigating.

In fact, similar sneak attacks have happened many times. To be honest, Qin Haoge's losses were not great. Even if there were losses, Qin Haoge didn't care, because the dead were all Syrians and had nothing to do with the Foreign Legion.

Before the Lan Fang army arrived in Syria, the French had already trained a troop in Syria, and the instructors were from Lan Fang. In theory, this troop should have a certain combat capability, but the French were not completely confident in the Lan Fang instructors. The officers in the troop were basically French, and the French insisted on respecting national customs even when they were in a critical situation, which really made the Lan Fang instructors feel helpless.

If this troop is used on the battlefield to fight the Iraqis, it may not be able to do it, but if it is just a simple garrison and patrol, this troop is still competent.

Since it is competent, Qin Haoge will certainly not be polite when using it. As a result, there is a problem now, and Qin Haoge needs to seek justice for them.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Shu/Bar!

"Tell Steven Strachey that he doesn't need to investigate, I will help him investigate." Qin Haoge finally lost his patience.

This "investigation" is just an excuse. There have been so many attacks before, and Steven Strachey's response every time was "investigation", but there has never been any result. The attacks that should happen will still happen. At most, two "scapegoats" will be thrown out to fill the scene when they are forced to do so, and there has never been any further action.

In fact, just last night, Qin Mu had reported Yang Deshan's latest progress. Yang Deshan now has two divisions of nearly 40,000 troops. This force is currently resting in the Muthana area on the border between Iraq and Kuwait. As long as Qin Haoge's troops enter Iraq, Yang Deshan can cooperate with Qin Haoge to perform a scene, and then Qin Haoge's troops can take advantage of the situation to attack Saudi Arabia.

It must be pointed out that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have a special relationship. The Aziz family, which currently has an advantage in the Saudi civil war, used Kuwait as its home base to launch an attack on the Rashid family.

Relatively speaking, the British still attach great importance to Kuwait. This is because of Kuwait's geographical location. Kuwait is close to the Persian Gulf and is in the center of the Middle East. Britain needs to use Kuwait's geographical location to maintain its influence in the Middle East.

The course of history also proves this point. If Lan Fang had not intervened, the British would have abandoned Saudi Arabia soon, and at the same time, the British would have strengthened their control over Kuwait. By 1939, Kuwait would have officially become a British protectorate.

That was of course after the discovery of oil in Kuwait. If Kuwait had not discovered oil in 1938, the British would not have been interested in Kuwait either.

Now because of the emergence of Lan Fang, I am afraid that the British will withdraw from the Middle East earlier than in the original history. The Middle East is a huge treasure pot because of its oil reserves, and Qin Zhiyuan will never allow others to get involved.

After deciding to break the tacit agreement, Qin Haoge immediately ordered the troops to assemble and prepare to cross the Syrian-Iraqi border and launch an attack on the First Division of the Iraqi National Self-Defense Force in Iraq.

The gathering of the Lan Fang army made the Syrian-Iraqi border area tense again, and the first to react were the French.

The French have always wanted the Lanfang army to invade Iraq, and it would be best if they could perish together with the Iraqis, which would be in the interests of the French. For a period of time before, due to the poor supply of supplies and the handover of the Lanfang army's high-level officials, the Lanfang army was unable to launch an attack. The French were impatient. Now that the Lanfang army has finally taken action, the French are really overjoyed.

In early May, a large number of military supplies arrived in Hasakah, and the preparations for the attack were all completed, and the war was about to break out.