Chapter 2968
Although Qian Tiandun held a high position, he was new here after all, and his understanding of the situation in the South China Sea was only based on paper information from official materials. Both Mu Zhennan and Wu Chengzhi have been stationed in the South China Sea for training all year round, and they must know more about the grievances between these countries.
Both of them attended the meeting with the King of Pattani with Qian Tiandun today. Qian Tiandun did not beat around the bush and asked them directly what they thought about the arms purchase and border issues mentioned by Pattani.
Wu Chengzhi said: "The conflict between Pattani and Kelantan did not only occur in recent years. It is said that the two families have not dealt with each other since the Malacca dynasty. Later, the Malacca dynasty fell, and they still divided the family property. After the war, it’s an old grudge.”
"However, such a small country's national power is weak, with a limited population and little money. It cannot afford to fight a big war, so the way they want to protect themselves is to recruit more helpers through diplomacy. Your Excellency should have seen it when they entered the city. The local foreigners There are quite a few shops, right?”
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "With the size of Beidani, it is quite difficult to attract so many foreign businessmen to set up business offices here."
Wu Chengzhi continued: "But Western businessmen could at best sell them some old guns and cannons that had been resold several times. It was not until we established diplomatic relations with our country that they received real military assistance. Not only did we provide them with weapons and equipment, but we also Training military personnel for them and forming new units with more combat effectiveness is exactly the help they need.”
"Pumi, the Protector General of Pattani, also attended today's banquet. I wonder if your Excellency has any impression. When this man studied abroad at the Sanya Army Academy, he happened to be in the same period as the humble one. He can be regarded as one of the top figures in Pattani. A die-hard supporter of our country, most of the requests for arms purchases and border issues came from his idea.”
Qian Tiandun naturally remembered that when King Panchai introduced Pumi, he specifically mentioned that he had gone to the military academy in Haihan to study. Unexpectedly, this person was a student at the same time as Wu Chengzhi.
Qian Tiandun said: "Then I guess this is not the first time he has made a similar request, right?"
Wu Chengzhi nodded and said: "When Bhumi first went to Sanya to study, he often expressed this idea, hoping to use our country's military power to support Pattani to become the new overlord of the Malay Peninsula. Now Pattani's economic strength is slowly increasing. It has increased a lot, so there should be enough military budget to support his idea.”
Qian Tiandun pondered: "Lobbying all parties to exert influence and seek more military assistance may have been one of his purposes for studying in Sanya. However, he wanted Pattani to dominate one side, which is probably related to our country's diplomatic strategy towards the South China Sea. Conflict?”
Haihan's strategy for the South China Sea has always been to divide and rule, trying to prevent a single company from becoming dominant. Even for allies like Annan, Haihan intentionally or unintentionally suppressed its external expansion and prevented it from annexing small neighboring countries.
Wu Chengzhi smiled and said: "This cannot be entirely blamed on Pattani's ambition. They want to expand outward, so why don't other countries have the same idea? Pattani wants to move the border several dozen miles south. Then Kelantan in the south has always wanted to push the border northward. ”
Qian Tiandun seemed to have the intention to defend Pattani in his words, so he asked tentatively: "Pattani is too far from Sanya. If it is an ordinary military training, it should be closer to the Cam Ranh Bay base, right?"
Wu Chengzhi did not mean to hide it, and responded calmly: "As your Excellency said, Cam Ranh Bay Base has indeed undertaken the task of training military personnel for Pattani."
Qian Tiandun looked at Mu Zhennan, who had been silent, to ask him whether what Wu Chengzhi said was true. Mu Zhennan said in a deep voice: "Actually, it is not just the officers from Pattani who come to Cam Ranh Bay for training. In recent years, we have also sent instructors here to teach them."
Qian Tiandun nodded and said: "This makes sense. No wonder the king and the eldest prince took it for granted when they made their requests."
In this way, the Pattani military has always been supported by the Annan garrison. It believes that it has the confidence to seek a clear statement from senior figures in Haihan, so it made an undisguised request to Qian Tiandun in today's meeting. .
Mu Zhennan said: "It doesn't matter if you refuse them, because we have never agreed to similar requests before."
Qian Tiandun said: "But I still don't understand something. Since the Annan garrison has specially provided military assistance to them, it stands to reason that Pattani's military strength should have far exceeded that of neighboring countries. Why can't even a border dispute be resolved on its own? ”
Mu Zhennan smiled and said: "Sir, this answer couldn't be simpler. We have our support behind Pattani, and there are naturally others' support behind Kelantan. Both sides are evenly matched, and no one can do anything to the other."
Qian Tiandun immediately realized: "Could it be the Sing Tao garrison behind Kelantan?"
Mu Zhennan nodded and said, "My lord, your guess is correct. There are iron ore, gold and tin mines in Kelantan. It was Singdao who first sent people to organize mining. Nowadays, minerals are the country's main source of income. It is said that the Singdao Management Committee owns half of the shares of these mines, and later invested in many other local industries.”
Wu Chengzhi added: "In order to consolidate the relationship with Sing Tao, the king of Kelantan also betrothed a daughter to General Roger. So if there is any trouble in Kelantan, Sing Tao will definitely not stand idly by."
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Mu Zhennan continued: "It is said that since five years ago, Kelantan has sent two groups of officers to Sing Tao for training every year. General Roger also personally recommended Kelantan's navy commander to go to the Naval Academy in Sanya for further training. In the past two years, more than a dozen warships have been ordered at the Victory Port Shipyard. According to our understanding, Kelantan’s military strength may be on par with Pattani.”
When Qian Tiandun heard this, he completely understood that the neighboring countries of Pattani and Kelantan were backed by the Annan Garrison and the Sing Tao Garrison respectively. Counting further up, the Army Academy and the Navy might also be involved. The two major military factions in the academy.
The battle between the two countries is no longer a simple border dispute, but also involves the internal competition between the Haihan Army. However, due to their status, the backers of both sides will not personally participate in the dispute between the two countries. They will only provide military assistance to the two countries behind the scenes, using the two countries as chessboards and chess pieces to manipulate the confrontation.
This can't help but remind Qian Tiandun of the time and space before time travel. Two military academies in his country supported an armed force in a certain overseas country. In the end, the country was divided into two in the armed confrontation. The two academies The forces supported by the school took power respectively.
Although Pattani and Kelantan have not yet started a full-scale war, if this momentum continues, it seems to be only a matter of time before a remote-controlled war breaks out between different factions of the Haihan Army.
(End of chapter)