Chapter 513: Rich and Inhumane
Hong Kong.
The entire Peninsula Hotel was booked.
Full of trenches!
Not only does Prince Sultan live in the most luxurious suite, but even the bodyguards live in separate rooms.
Security measures are also very tight.
Liu Tao soon met Prince Sultan, and the two met several times!
Prince Sultan visits China every year, and the two of them meet once a year.
"Your Highness, it's a pleasure to see you again!" Liu Tao spoke fluent Arabic, allowing him to communicate directly with Prince Sultan without any obstacles.
The Middle East is a big customer of Panshan Group. Liu Tao has many old friends from the Middle East, so he naturally has to learn Arabic well.
"Liu, I heard that you want to sell naval equipment to us?" Prince Sultan said, "We are friends. I just want to say that our requirements are very high. I am afraid that your Chinese warships are far from our requirements. ”
Liu Tao smiled: "No, no, no, Your Highness, I know this person well. Since I want to sell it to you, it is naturally a very advanced warship."
"But you have to know that warships are not cheap. They are even more expensive than advanced military aircraft!" Liu Tao said.
Prince Sultan said noncommittally: "Money, what we in Saudi Arabia lack most is money! The question is whether your warships are advanced. As long as your warships are advanced, money is not a problem!"
Saudi Arabia is also eager for advanced warships, because although Saudi Arabia can buy warships, neither Europe, the United States nor the Soviet Union are willing to sell brand-new advanced warships to Saudi Arabia.
Because Saudi Arabia knows very well that these countries do not want to see Saudi Arabia have a powerful navy.
If Saudi Arabia has a powerful navy, its voice will be greatly increased whether in the Persian Gulf or the Red Sea.
Liu Tao secretly sighed in his heart, this is the real big dog.
Big dogs have money and don't take money seriously at all.
There is no way, no matter who is in a good location, within the territory of the country, if you dig two shovels at any place, oil will continue to come out.
What is oil?
That's money!
Regardless of the fact that Saudi Arabia's oil production currently ranks third in the world, not as good as the Soviet Union and the United States, the Soviet Union and the United States are both large oil consumers. The Soviet Union produces more oil, but the cost of extraction is high, although its annual oil production is twice that of Saudi Arabia. , but the income is not as much as that of Saudi Arabia.
As for the United States, it is the world's largest oil importer. The oil produced by the United States is simply not enough for its own consumption.
Saudi Arabia produces 4.6 million barrels of oil every day, but only uses part of it for its own use. Most of it is exported. At least 4.4 million barrels of oil are exported a day. If the current oil price exceeds 50 US dollars, a day's oil exports will exceed 220 million US dollars!
If this price were maintained throughout the year, Saudi Arabia would earn US$80 billion a year from oil exports alone!
Not to mention, Saudi Arabia not only exports crude oil, but its refinery is not small. Saudi Arabia is capable of exporting refined oil, and it makes more money in this area.
"Your Highness, the advanced performance of warships is definitely not a problem. My weapons and equipment have never disappointed. Look at the performance of the Type 80 main battle tank, Type 80 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and 'avant-garde' portable air defense missiles on the Iran-Iraq battlefield. The outstanding performance of the 'Eagle Strike' anti-ship missile and 'Aegis' air defense missile system in Libya has caused the US military to suffer enough," Liu Tao said with confidence.
As for him, other countries would definitely not sell advanced warships to Saudi Arabia.
Prince Sultan nodded, that was true.
Although the war in Libya has only been going on for a few days, Saudi Arabia is the nominal leader of the Arab world, so it is still easy to get some information.
Four U.S. warships were sunk by Eagle Strike anti-ship missiles. Many downed aircraft were attributed to the 'Aegis' anti-aircraft missiles.
"Liu, you said so confidently, I want to see it." Prince Sultan said.
"Well, let's set out tomorrow and let you see for yourself. No matter how good I say it, it can't be compared to seeing it with your own eyes!" Liu Tao said with a smile.
"Okay, you can arrange the itinerary." Prince Sultan said, "By the way, I think Tawfik has told you whether you are willing to help me with this."
Liu Tao smiled and said, "Easy to say, easy to say!"
The two of them were eating steak together. Such a piece of steak was taken from the best parts of the best cattle. Liu Tao couldn't bear to eat it, so he ate it at this time.
And this red wine is the top-quality red wine that Prince Sultan obtained at a high price.
The two of them ate, drank, and chatted.
The two then talked about the situation in the Middle East.
The current situation in the Middle East is divided into two parts. One is the Iran-Iraq war. The Iran-Iraq war broke out on September 22, 1980 and has lasted for almost 6 years. Up to now, there is still no winner or loser. The Iran-Iraq war is undoubtedly It affects the entire Middle East and even the entire world.
The other part is Israel. To be precise, it should be a matter between Israel and Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.
Although the Fifth Middle East War finally ended under the mediation of the United States, Israel suffered heavy losses and its air force was almost completely lost. If American active-duty pilots had not directly flown fighter jets to Israel, I am afraid that the Israeli Air Force would have existed in name only, at least for many years. Only then can we regain our strength.
As for the Israeli navy, it was almost completely wiped out. If it were not for the fact that active-duty US naval officers and soldiers drove several warships to join Israel to support Israel, Israel would have no navy at all.
As for the Israeli army, it also suffered heavy losses, with thousands of tanks and armored vehicles destroyed, tens of thousands of troops lost, and even more injured soldiers.
That war made Israel's halo of "Little Overlord of the Middle East" disappear, and the whole situation immediately became very unfavorable to Israel.
Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt all looked at Israel with unfriendly eyes.
Especially Israel still does not accept the two-state solution and recognizes the establishment of Palestine, which makes its situation very bad.
The war did not happen again, but the small-scale exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the guerrillas have never stopped.
When the Israeli army is patrolling, it will accidentally step on landmines, or be attacked by rocket launchers or shoulder-fired missiles.
Over the whole year, the number of tanks, armored vehicles and soldiers lost is not small.
The war did not break out, but the small wars continued, and both sides suffered heavy losses.
And the guerrillas are not only from Palestine, but also from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries.
Everyone knows that the end of the fifth Middle East war is not the real end, but the beginning of a new Middle East war. Maybe the sixth Middle East war will break out at any time!
And Saudi Arabia and other local tyrants have paid a lot of money behind the scenes.
These local tyrants have limited combat effectiveness, and the young soldiers can't play a big role. They may be overturned by the wind even if they fight a favorable war. As for fighting this kind of difficult guerrilla war, they are not willing at all.
Liu Tao knows this very well. The dog-rich armored forces equipped with the most advanced weapons and equipment in the world were beaten to pieces by the Yemeni guerrillas.
However, Saudi Arabia and other local tyrants pay for it, which is no problem at all.
The guerrillas there, many weapons and ammunition, are not bought by these local tyrants!