88: Chapter 88's operational method is quite appealing.

After Major General Zaha arranged for the troops to be equipped with the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile, he immediately escorted the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles intended for the Syrian military to Damascus.

He had two goals for this trip: one was to urge the prompt preparation of natural gas and phosphates to pay Chaos Company, and the other was to lobby the Syrian military and government to engage in oil leasing to trade for arms with Iran and Russia.

Syria's natural gas is mainly concentrated in the Homs area along the western coast, which is not territory controlled by Major General Zaha.

He had no way to personally oversee the collection of natural gas and could only urge the Syrian military to coordinate it.

He believed that with this batch of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles delivered, the military high command would spare no effort to complete the collection of natural gas and phosphates.

After arriving in Damascus, Major General Zaha soon met with the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Army, General Faraj.

"General Faraj, the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missiles I purchased from the arms dealer on behalf of Syria have all been delivered. Some of the anti-aircraft missiles have already been handed over to the troops stationed in Damascus."

Major General Zaha was the first to report the good news to General Faraj.

"That's wonderful. With the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile, the air defense capabilities of Damascus will be significantly enhanced." General Faraj knew the combat power of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile.

"It's just the remaining balance of natural gas and phosphates that needs to be paid to the arms dealer—when can it be ready for payment?" Major General Zaha asked cautiously.

"Don't worry, I've already made the arrangements. It can be paid within five days at the latest."

"Five days? That's good." Major General Zaha felt relieved upon hearing it would only be five days.

If it were dragged out for ten days, half a month, or even longer, Major General Zaha would find it difficult to explain to the arms dealer.

After all, he didn't want this to be a one-time arms deal; dragging it out too long would more or less affect future dealings with the arms dealer.

"There's one more thing. During my negotiations with the arms dealer, they suggested to us that we could use oil leasing to purchase the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile sold by Chaos Company."

"Oil leasing? How does that work?" General Faraj asked curiously.

"It involves leasing a batch of oil from oil-rich countries with which we have good relations, such as Iran and Russia, to use for purchasing the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile. Once we reclaim the oil fields currently controlled by the USA, we will return the oil produced from those fields to these two countries."

After the battle at Raqqa Military Base, General Faraj had been quite envious of the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile. Hearing about this method of operation, he was also quite tempted.

"But how can we ensure that Iran and Russia will lease oil to us?"

"Both Iran and Russia are currently under sanctions from the USA, and their oil cannot be fully sold. If they lease it to us now, they can reduce their oil storage costs. They should agree to the lease."

Major General Zaha couldn't guarantee it, so he could only offer this reason, continuing, "We won't know their thoughts until we talk to Iran and Russia."

General Faraj was unwilling to let any opportunity slip by and said, "Indeed, this is a way. We can go and explore the situation first."

"Lieutenant Colonel Haidari from the Glass House is willing to introduce some officials from the Persian Lion State National Guard. We can go to Iran first to see how things are." Major General Zaha shared the news.

"Alright. We'll consider going to Iran first." General Faraj made a decision, then added, "I'll talk to the Syrian Government to see if they have any objections."

Major General Zaha hadn't expected it to go so smoothly, with General Faraj agreeing to the oil leasing proposal. It seemed they were one small step closer to success.

General Faraj quickly reached an agreement with high-ranking government officials.

Since it didn't involve the government paying directly, they naturally supported the oil leasing proposal wholeheartedly. This could enhance the military's strength.

As for returning the oil after reclaiming the oil fields, they would simply increase oil production then. Since those oil fields were not currently under the control of the Syrian Government, reclaiming them would be like a windfall anyway.

Having gained the support of the Syrian Government, General Faraj immediately notified Major General Zaha to form a negotiation delegation, with Major General Zaha as the leader and Colonel Andre as the deputy leader, to go to Iran to conduct oil leasing negotiations.

While forming the negotiation delegation, Major General Zaha contacted Lieutenant Colonel Haidari.

"Lieutenant Colonel Haidari, our Syria is prepared to propose oil leasing cooperation to Iran. Are you sure you can introduce us to officials from the Persian Lion State National Guard?" Major General Zaha was a bit uneasy.

"Yes. But I have one condition: if an oil leasing cooperation is reached with Iran, you cannot contact the arms dealer directly. You must purchase the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile through me."

Lieutenant Colonel Haidari wanted to earn a brokerage fee, so he naturally couldn't let Syria bypass him to find the arms dealer.

"No problem. As long as you can introduce the Persian Lion State National Guard officials and Iran agrees to lease oil to Syria, we will hand over the arms purchase orders from this batch of leased oil to you to negotiate with the arms dealer."

Major General Zaha didn't mind. In any case, the price of purchasing the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile wouldn't increase; it would just pass through Lieutenant Colonel Haidari's hands, which wouldn't affect Syria.

"Tell me once you set off for Iran. I will then introduce the Persian Lion State National Guard officials." Lieutenant Colonel Haidari seemed to see the brokerage fees waving at him.

"Alright." Major General Zaha didn't say anything more.

He now needed to quickly assemble the negotiation delegation; currently, it was just him and Colonel Andre.

He couldn't just have two people go to Iran to negotiate with Persian Lion State National Guard officials; with so few people, they would lack momentum and confidence.

He still needed to gather more personnel to form a real negotiation delegation.

After Lieutenant Colonel Haidari hung up with Major General Zaha, he didn't immediately contact the Persian Lion State National Guard officials.

He was now more concerned about contacting the high-level military officials of Yemen. Not long ago, he had used his connections to get in touch with Major General Jamari of the Yemen military high command.

Major General Jamari was a senior commander of the Sada Armed Forces in Yemen. The Sada Armed Forces were in the northern region of Yemen and controlled nearly half of the country's territory.

"Major General Jamari, I am Lieutenant Colonel Haidari from the Glass House. I wonder if you are interested in the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile that was used to shoot down USA fighter jets at the Raqqa Military Base?" Lieutenant Colonel Haidari said, getting straight to the point.