Chapter 1320: An Eye For An Eye
As soon as the phone was connected, Yerif’s hearty laugh echoed in his ear.
“My old friend, you finally remembered me.”
“It’s been busy these days.” Jiang Chen laughed along.
“I can feel it,” Yerif nodded, “I have been paying attention to Colombia recently. With all due respect, you don’t seem to be in an optimistic position?”
“It depends on how you define the word optimistic,” Jiang Chen said. “Since you are keeping an eye on it, you might as well wait two days to see what will happen next.”
“Really? I knew you’d still have some cards hidden up your sleeves.” Yerif laughed.
Jiang Chen smiled, and then said, “You’ll see in the news. For now, let’s talk about business.”
“The plan has been pushed ahead?” Yeirf had already sensed the purpose of the call.
“Yes,” Jiang Chen nodded and leaned back in his chair. “We’re ready. Ten thousand mercenaries have been a.s.sembled in the port of Madagascar and they are ready to set off for the Red Sea.”
“Are you sure this is the right time?” Yerif asked.
“There is no better time than now. If we wait till the end of the year, the variables would be more uncertain,” Jiang Chen said.
NATO’s eyes were completely focused on South America. At this moment, even if a big s.h.i.+ft happened in Syria, it was unlikely for the UA to create a second battlefield in the Middle East.
The only possible risk was that intervening in Syria could potentially offset the regional balance in the area. However, based on the consideration that Celestial Trade did not plan to be heavily involved, even if the balance was tipped, Jiang Chen would not be the one having a headache.
Yerif rubbed his beard and after a moment of thought, he said.
“You can register a sh.e.l.l company in Madagascar. I will use my import and export company to sign a fruit import agreement with your sh.e.l.l company. Five large cargo s.h.i.+ps will depart from Jeddah to the port of Madagascar. Just let your people board my cargo s.h.i.+ps with fruit at that time. The UA has been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, but they usually don’t touch the s.h.i.+ps of the Saudi Royal Family. It’s just that your people have to squeeze into the containers.”
“No problem, that is nothing to them,” Jiang Chen said softly, “I’ll get someone to look after the sh.e.l.l company today, and it can be done by tomorrow afternoon. Get your s.h.i.+ps to set off as soon as possible.”
“This is not something that can be rushed,” Yerif said, then shook his head, “It takes about three working days to complete the necessary processes. If we can follow the formal procedures, we should try to follow the formal procedures. You don’t want to be targeted by the CIB.”
“Then you decide the time,” Jiang Chen said.
Yerif thought for a moment, then said.
“July 1st. It is more fitting for it to be at the start of the month.”
“Great.” Jiang Chen laughed.
“Well, I wish you all the best in your plan,” Yeirf also laughed along and said in a relaxed tone, “I’m still waiting for you to fulfill your promise and transform my country into an oasis.”
…
On June 27th, NATO coalition forces crossed the Atlantic and landed in South America.
After the coalition forces disembarked at the port of Barranquilla, they immediately proceeded to the front line between the Colombian government and the FARC rebels – Bucaramanga. About half a month ago, the UA Marine Corps had already established a temporary military base and airport runway here. At this moment, it was used to house the coalition forces.
In less than a week, the UA had mobilized many of its allies to partic.i.p.ate in the war, and the total force now exceeded 90,000. Even South Korea sent dozens of people to partic.i.p.ate in the fun as a response to the UA’s call.
And while NATO was busy rallying to Colombia, Jiang Chen was also busy.
Moro’s soldiers had quietly set off, in batches, to the New Moon Island military base.
A total of 200,000 soldiers were divided into two groups on New Moon Island. A small number of people took-off in a large military transport plane directly to the FARC-controlled Cucuta Airport, while most of the remaining soldiers boarded a transport s.h.i.+p to Venezuela under the escort of the Celestial Trade Navy.
Santos commanded a total of 800,000 troops, and he dispatched a quarter of his country’s army at once, which demonstrated his willingness.
Of course, Jiang Chen didn’t treat him poorly either.
Not only the military expenses for this expedition were borne by Celestial Trade, but Celestial Trade also gave Moro 2 billion XND in “compensation” based on the headcount, which was equivalent to ten thousand dollars for each soldier. This may be a drop in the bucket for Celestial Trade, but it was undoubtedly a huge sum of money for Moro, which was in desperate need of foreign exchange.
The t.i.t-for-tat confrontation between the UA and Xin on the South American issue pushed the global political situation on a knife’s edge. With a little carelessness, the two powerful giants may end up in a conflict. If one of the sides failed to remain rational, it could potentially trigger a worldwide disaster.
However, almost all international commentators in the world shared a pessimism about future prospects.
The reason was very simple, because Celestial Trade’s leader did not behave like a politician at all.
He did not possess the rationality, compromise, and forbearing qualities that a politician should possess, and all his actions never considered any political significance, because he was not a politician himself, and his country’s congress and the president did not have any constraint on his power. His first response to the Xin delegation’s movement restriction was not through diplomatic channels, but to directly deploy special forces. He even shamelessly used the local rebels as scapegoats in the end while he claimed that he only spent money to purchase the “hostages” back.
No one believed that a group of guerrillas could enter the city center without being detected, and completely cripple a company of soldiers!
However, FARC was happy to be the scapegoat without feeling shameless at all. On the contrary, it left Colombia and the UA speechless, as well as the commentators that closely followed this incident.
In five months, it was the UA general election.
The overlord of the old world would elect its ruler.
Based on the current polls, Joseph Kennedy’s approval rate was slightly higher than the Internet celebrity Mr. Trump. However, what surprised the UA citizens was that after several debates, Trump’s approval rating rose instead of fell.
Curses, offensive comments, ridicules, and black humor filled this election. The televised debate that ended just now could only be described as “a mess”. People all over the world were paying close attention to this election to see what else the seemingly careless new candidate had to say.
At least one thing, whether correct or not, most people, especially young people, agreed.
Hua took away their jobs, Xin took away their hegemony, and the UA was in decline. The UA should strengthen its strategic deployment in the Pacific. If an aircraft carrier battle group was not sufficient, then send a few more.
Then, a tough president would negotiate with them.
Also, the UA should indeed restrict immigration.