On the 25th, Mu Haoyang received a message from Du Xiaolei.

Although the Iranian authorities refused to form an alliance with China, they agreed to open their own railway lines and provide three camps and material support for the Chinese army transiting. Of course, China has to pay Iran a loan fee and pay for the purchase of materials.

In any case, this was the best diplomatic achievement that could be achieved at that time.

In response, the Iranian president mentioned that Iran has not yet been subjected to a strategic threat that cannot resist, so there is no reason to be involved in this war. However, Iran attaches great importance to traditional friendship with China and supports China's military counterattack for the strategic blows it has suffered. Therefore, it hopes to further cooperate with China when necessary, and also hopes that the Chinese authorities can understand Iran's difficulties.

To put it bluntly, Iran does not want to be involved in the war immediately, but he does not want to be isolated when he has to be involved in the war.

Politically speaking, Iran is using its relations with China to demonstrate to Russia, or to make Russia give up its idea of ​​entering the Caucasus.

Of course, all Mu Haoyang wants is this result.

After receiving the news, he contacted Qi Kaiwei, who had already gone to Islamabad, and asked him to immediately send a railway engineering force into Iran, determine the basic situation of the Iranian railway line, control the main railway hub center, and then send ground troops to Syria.

Mu Haoyang did not forget to remind Qi Kaiwei that he had to arrange a suitable frontline commander.

Qi Kaiwei originally planned to go to Damascus in person, but Mu Haoyang made it clear that he was the chief of staff of the army and had to stay in the country to be responsible for local defense.

Finally, Qi Kaiwei sent Major General Yu Shihui who followed him to Cairo and Damascus.

During the Fifth Middle East War, Yu Shihui was also Qi Kaiwei's major staff officer. In assisting the Syrian Defense Forces in the battle against the Golan Heights, Yu Shihui was running on the front line, conveying combat orders on behalf of Qi Kaiwei, and performing very outstandingly and has a deep understanding of the Syrian Defense Forces.

In addition, Yu Shihui can also speak very fluent Arabic.

Two days later, the Thirteenth Army arrived in Islamabad.

According to Qi Kaiwei's arrangement, the 13th Army will travel to Syria. As the vanguard of the Chinese Army, the 333rd Reserve Army will be sent to Syria. From the number, it can be seen that the 333rd Reserve Army was formed after the outbreak of the war. According to the Army Organization Regulations implemented in 2050, the numbers of the reserve troops are "One xx", and usually only retain a military staff with dozens of people, and only the combat troops will be supplemented according to actual conditions during the war. The numbers of the reserve troops formed during the war are "Two xx" and "Three xx", the former facing the Pacific Ocean and the latter facing the Indian Ocean, have clear strategic directions.

Obviously, the reserve forces may not be deployed until 2053.

On this day, Qi Kaiwei submitted Yu Shihui's promotion order. According to his statement, the Syrian National Defense Force attaches great importance to military ranks, so it is very necessary to promote Yu Shihui to an army general. However, Mu Haoyang only approved the promotion order for lieutenant general, and decided whether to grant the rank of general after Yu Shihui performed. In fact, this matter was not under the jurisdiction of Mu Haoyang, because before the war broke out, the General Staff was no longer responsible for promotion and the power was handed over to the Ministry of National Defense. However, Huang Hanlin granted Mu Haoyang full power at that time.

Although Mu Haoyang's approach is not wrong, it still further aggravated the conflict between him and Qi Kaiwei.

In the eyes of some people, Mu Haoyang's lack of consideration should be responsible for the setbacks encountered by the 13th Army on the Middle East battlefield.

Of course, this is just what some people think.

On the 25th, after asking Qi Kaiwei to arrange to send troops to the Middle East, Mu Haoyang and Pang Yuelong had a video call meeting, mentioning the attack on Singapore.

At that time, Mu Haoyang only made a request that Singapore must be conquered within the year.

It can be said that this is a very clear requirement.

On the 24th, Zhou Yusheng submitted a navy's combat draft as an admiral, which clearly stated that the fleet would be sent to the Indian Ocean at the latest in early January 2053, otherwise the US military would have enough time to consolidate the strategic strongholds in the Indian Ocean, and the situation on the battlefield in the Western Pacific is likely to deteriorate, resulting in the navy being unable to send troops to the Indian Ocean before the second batch of "Tarzan"-class aircraft carriers formed.

As a Navy general, Mu Haoyang is very clear about the meaning of this report.

According to his estimate, the end of the year is also a deadline.

A few days later, a piece of intelligence provided by Li Mingyang also proved Zhou Yusheng's inference that the US military was sending more troops to the Western Pacific region and requisitioned large areas of land on large islands of the Northern Mariana Islands such as Saipan and Tinian Island, preparing to open a military camp.

This information shows that the U.S. military is planning to attack an island in the Western Pacific.

Obviously, before this, the US military will gather aircraft carrier combat clusters in the Western Pacific, seize sea and air supremacy, and support the Marine Corps to get ashore.

Strategically, the United States will also choose the Western Pacific first, rather than the Southwest Pacific.

The reason is very simple. In the Western Pacific direction, there is only one strategic defense line outside China, namely the first island chain from Fusang to Taiwan in the north. This defense line is close enough to China, tactical fighters can strike China, and strategic bombers can bomb the hinterland. As long as the US military opens a breakthrough on this line of defense, such as seizing an important island, it can greatly improve the efficiency of strategic strikes. In addition, it can force China to transfer industrial facilities in the eastern coastal areas to the mainland, thereby greatly weakening China's war potential in the short term. More importantly, by posing a substantial threat to China's inland sea, namely the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, it can maximize the limit of China's internal maritime transportation power, forcing China to rely more on a railway system with low efficiency.

In short, launching a strategic offensive from this direction can achieve the greatest effect.

In fact, Mu Haoyang made a similar judgment as early as the 23rd, and believed that the US military would attack Okinawa Island first after completing the adjustment.

The reason is very simple. In the island chain from Taiwan to Hokkaido, Okinawa is in the middle and the size is just right.

If Taiwan is attacked, the US military will have to fight face to face with the Chinese army, and the US military's sea control advantage will not play a role in the narrow Taiwan Strait. If it attacks Fusang, even if Japan's legacy can be used, the US military will have to fight on a relatively wide battlefield, without immediate results. Only Okinawa is not so big that it is difficult to take it down in one fell swoop, and it is not so small that it cannot deploy strategic strike forces.

In addition, there are several military bases on Okinawa Island, with extremely superior basic conditions.

This is also true. According to Mu Haoyang's arrangement, Pang Yuelong first strengthened the defense deployment of Okinawa and planned to send an additional Marine division before the end of the month. If the threat from the US military further intensifies, the Marine Corps can also send a second Marine division to Okinawa before the end of the year.

From a strategic perspective, the US military's attack on Okinawa Island is both a challenge and an opportunity.

To talk about challenges, it means that you must defend Okinawa Island and not make any mistakes. To talk about opportunities, the US military will inevitably focus its main force on the Western Pacific.

To put it bluntly, when the US military attacked Okinawa Island, it was the time when the Chinese Navy sent troops to the Indian Ocean.

According to Mu Haoyang's estimate, if the US military attacks Okinawa within the year, at least nine aircraft carrier battle groups will be concentrated in the Western Pacific, and twelve may be reached. The specific situation depends on whether the US military is confident that only three aircraft carrier battle groups will be used to defend the entrance of the Indian Ocean. If the US military does not attack Okinawa within the year, it is very likely that it will give up the idea of ​​attacking Okinawa or postpone the attack until the end of 2053, because by this time, the US military can obtain the second batch of "enterprise"-level super aircraft carriers, and the naval strength will increase significantly, and the US military will have the ability to concentrate more troops and launch a larger offensive operation in the Western Pacific.

Of course, the US military may also enter Southeast Asia in 2053.

In short, in Mu Haoyang's view, the US military's attack on Okinawa Island is not a bad thing, but a good thing.

To this end, he had to try to convince the US military that he would have to attack Okinawa within the year, otherwise he would never have been able to get such a good opportunity again.

From a military perspective, what Mu Haoyang can do is to conquer Singapore.

To put it bluntly, if the US military does not intend to wait until the second batch of "enterprise" aircraft carriers are in service, the attack direction can only be the Ryukyu Islands or Southeast Asia. As long as Singapore is still under the control of the US military and guards several strategic channels in Southeast Asia, the US military will focus on Southeast Asia. In order to consolidate Singapore, the US military is likely to give up Okinawa Island in tactical terms and turn to the Philippines.

In fact, the information provided by Li Mingyang later proved that the US military was also capable of entering the Philippines.

For the Chinese army, it is much more difficult to defend the Philippines than to guard Okinawa. First, the Philippines is too big, second, the Philippines is composed of many islands, third, the Philippines' infrastructure is too backward, and fourth, the Philippines is far away from China. Based on these factors, Mu Haoyang definitely does not want to fight with the US military in the Philippines. According to Pang Yuelong's recollection, Mu Haoyang even clearly stated at that time that if the US military enters the Philippines, the main task of the Marine Corps is not to fight the US military back, but to turn the Philippines into a quagmire for the US military.

Obviously, Mu Haoyang had never considered a decisive battle with the US military in the Philippines.

The problem is that in the days after the outbreak of the war, the signs of the US military entering the Philippines were very clear. In addition to its military value, there were also political reasons, that is, in the more than a hundred years before the Civil War broke out in the Philippines, in addition to being occupied by the Japanese army during World War II, it was always a colony and ally of the United States. The Americans had a very special feeling for the Philippines.

Affected by these factors, Mu Haoyang has no other choice.

Only by launching combat operations to attack Singapore as soon as possible and capturing Singapore as soon as possible can the US military give up the idea of ​​entering the Philippines, and it is also possible to attract the main fleet of the US military to near Okinawa Island, allowing Mu Haoyang to get the opportunity to send a fleet into the Indian Ocean.

In a sense, China's entry into Singapore will be the first turning point in this war.
Chapter completed!