Chapter 1325 Qatar

In the headquarters of the Third Fleet, Commander Lomach and Lieutenant General Prato studied the map of the Middle East.

The map of the Middle East is very complicated. There are a lot of countries and countless tribes. The powerful ones are Britain, the Ottoman Empire and Persia, the medium ones are internal rule (Saudi tribes), Oman, and the weak ones are Bahrain and Qatar. Others are almost negligible.

"How about Persia?" Lieutenant General Prato chose Persia as his primary target, and gave the reason: "The relationship between the empire and Persia is average, and the strength is not strong enough. Moreover, Persia itself has the longest coastline in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. There are many islands for us to choose from, and they don’t have to be occupied like the Beibu Gulf Territory. It’s not impossible to lease them, as long as they can meet our current needs.”

Lend-lease is a very common way to obtain overseas military bases or colonies. This is how some overseas military bases or colonies in countries such as Britain and France came from. Therefore, East Africa, which is also an imperialist country, is also familiar with this model.

However, in the past, East Africa focused more on directly sending troops to occupy. Most of East Africa's overseas colonies were obtained through this simple and crude method. Only in the Far East or South America, East Africa would occasionally use the lease method.

Commander Lomach frowned and thought for a moment, then said: "Persia is indeed a good choice, but Persia is a big country after all, and its relationship with the empire has gradually deepened in recent years, so it can be placed as a backup option."

Persia has always been a major power in the Middle East. Apart from the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Gulf can now be called the second most powerful country in the Middle East. Of course, Egypt may not agree with this.

After all, Egypt's history is not inferior to that of Persia, and Egypt's development in modern times has also been very outstanding. If it had not been for the intervention of Britain and France, Egypt's Ali regime might have really replaced the Ottoman Empire as the big brother in the Middle East.

Of course, with the intervention of British and French forces, Egypt has certainly not challenged the strength of the Ottoman Empire again, but if its national strength is compared with Persia, the two countries are probably on par.

In the geography of the Middle East, the only four countries that East Africa can look up to now are the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Persia and Oman. Among them, the Ottoman Empire is undoubtedly the only independent country in the Middle East.

Although the Ottoman Empire has been weak in diplomacy in modern times, like the Far Eastern Empire, it still has the ability to develop independently and protect itself, while several other countries have basically been infiltrated into a hornet's nest by Britain and France.

Commander Lomach's next words also prove this point: "Although Persia has always emphasized its neutral status, it has actually been involved in the war by the British. During this period, the British attached great importance to Persia."

"After all, if Britain and the Ottoman Empire confront each other, they must rely on Persia for land and resources. So if we threaten and intimidate Persia, it is entirely possible that the Persian government will ask the British to deal with these problems, so I can only put Persia as a backup option. ”

Britain has invested as many as one million troops in the Persian Gulf, and such a large number of troops certainly cannot float on the surface of the Persian Gulf to confront the Ottoman Empire.

The reason why Britain was able to invade the territory of the Ottoman Empire was through Persia. Now the British army on the front line relies on Persia for material transfer, so Persia is bound to Britain to a certain extent.

In fact, Persia was Russia's frontline against the Ottoman Empire in its previous life. However, in this time and space, the Ottoman Empire entered the war relatively late. By the time the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, Russia was already on the verge of collapse.

At the beginning, the wealth of the Kazan treasury was transported from East Africa to the Persian Gulf coast from northern Persia, passing through the Russian sphere of influence in Persia (of course, this sphere of influence was an agreement reached between Britain and Russia without the consent of Persia).

After the collapse of Russia, Britain took over the local area, and some Russian troops were even directly incorporated into the British army to serve as cannon fodder.

All in all, now that Persia and Britain are bound together, Commander Lomach's concerns are not unreasonable, and this is also recognized by Lieutenant General Prato.

Lieutenant General Prato said: "Then let's choose targets from the small countries in the Middle East. In fact, if possible, I think Oman is also a good choice. Unfortunately, Oman has always had a good relationship with us, and we can't find it. Reason to start."

East Africa attaches great importance to its relationship with Oman, which is mainly inherited from the original Sultanate of Zanzibar, a branch of the Oman Empire.

It can be said that the Zanzibar people are a very special existence to East Africa. East Africa can grow bigger because the original capital is provided by the Zanzibar people. It can be said that the earliest coastline, seaports, handicrafts, and shipbuilding industries in East Africa all come from the Zanzibar people. .

East Africa's treatment of the Zanzibaris is also the most special. On the road to East Africa's colonial expansion and rise, the Zanzibaris can be said to be the only group that received preferential treatment from East Africa.

The root cause of this is that East Africa needs Zanzibaris to serve as a bridge for exchanges between East Africa and the Middle East. This is not even limited to the Middle East, but also in Central Asia, Southeast Asia and other Arab-influenced areas.

Whether it was the black slave trade from East Africa to the Middle East, or the later commercial trade (mainly agricultural products), or the sales of industrial products after the 20th century, Zanzibar people have certainly contributed a lot. They also made a lot of money from it.

Relying on the huge profits made by middlemen to earn the price difference, the Zanzibaris quickly gained political status in Oman. Many officials in the Oman government today are former Zanzibaris.

Of course, the so-called Zanzibaris are actually Omanis, and the Sultanate of Zanzibar, the only country that can prove the existence of Zanzibaris, has long since disappeared in the long river of history.

However, the return of Zanzibaris to Oman to recognize their ancestors has undoubtedly promoted the development of relations between East Africa and Oman.

East Africa also needs Oman to continue to serve as a bridge for exchanges between East African and Middle Eastern countries. Oman is also relatively pragmatic in its diplomacy with East Africa and recognizes its position. For example, the negotiations in the Fujairah region were the result of Oman's initiative to compromise.

Faced with such a country, the East African government is naturally very friendly towards it. If the British factors are excluded, Oman is almost equivalent to East Africa's agent in the Middle East. In fact, it has developed almost the same to this day. With the expansion of the East African Navy in the Indian Ocean, With its rise, Oman has moved closer and closer to East Africa.

After hearing Lieutenant General Prato's bold idea, Commander Lomach said decisively: "Your idea is very dangerous. The central government will definitely not agree with us. To a certain extent, Oman and our interests are consistent. , In fact, if it were not for the issues left over from history when negotiating in Fujairah, we would not be able to do so. "

"Moreover, Oman has also supported our construction of Fujairah Port. If we backstab Oman at this time, it would be morally wrong."

Looking at Commander Lomach's serious expression, Lieutenant General Prato said angrily: "I was just thinking about it, how could I really attack Oman."

"Actually, I have already chosen a target in my mind, which is Bahrain's neighbor Qatar. Although Qatar's location is a little worse than Bahrain, in other aspects they are similar. The only drawback is that they will have to be neighbors with the British in the future. "

The reason why Prato said that Qatar's location is worse than that of Bahrain is mainly because Bahrain is an island and Qatar is connected to the Arabian Peninsula.

For the navy, islands tend to bring a greater sense of security, which can prevent enemies from attacking from land and provide better defense. It was for this reason that the British Navy used Bahrain as the most important naval base in the Persian Gulf. This was also inherited by the U.S. Navy in its previous life.

Of course, although Qatar's location is relatively poor, it is not unacceptable. After all, its connection to the land is not long. What's more, it borders the Beibu Gulf territory in East Africa and is backed by its own army. There is no need to worry about land. enemies.