Shepard's team is responsible for negotiating Saudi Arabia's aid exchanges with Afghanistan.
Because of the huge financial resources brought by the oil trade, Saudi Arabia has always hoped to become the big brother and leader of the Arab world.
The Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan was such a great opportunity to expand Saudi Arabia's influence. With a large amount of economic assistance, Saudi Arabia's status in Arab countries has also risen, winning the hearts of many people.
Shepard's technical team arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, directly from Europe. In addition to military contractors like Shepard, there were also think tank experts and military personnel in the team, and the person responsible for receiving them was the head of Saudi Arabia. His Highness Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman bin Faisal Al Saud, Crown Prince and First Deputy Prime Minister, also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces First Private Secretary.
Prince Shepard of Sultan is no stranger to him either. He can be said to be an evergreen topic on the Simplified Chinese website in later generations. Whenever Saudi Arabia is mentioned, he is indispensable. This is not because of his identity and official position, but because , this prince was a major contributor to Saudi Arabia's successful purchase of Dongfeng ballistic missiles, so he was talked about by countless people.
But now, he is just a senior national official who is busy with government affairs. Because he is busy enjoying life, he cannot spare time to meet the professional team from the United States. He can only be responsible for it by his secretary.
And his secretary was also more responsible. After taking the professional team to the hotel where he was staying, he quickly organized a professional counterpart team, and the two sides conducted a new negotiation on how to provide assistance to Afghanistan.
Although the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan has been going on for four full years, the situation of the Afghan guerrillas has not improved much in these four years. On the contrary, it has even worsened due to the Soviet tactical adjustments. If it were not for the vast mountains of Afghanistan, this situation might not have improved. The war is over.
Because those who invaded Afghanistan were not some crooked melons, but serious Soviet field troops, which included elite armored armies, Guards airborne troops, aviation divisions, etc. In addition to these serious conventional field troops, a large number of The Soviet special forces, GRU, signal flags, etc. are also permanently stationed in Afghanistan. Ordinary guerrillas are no match for these special forces, and can even be exchanged for hundreds or even thousands.
But even so, the Afghans did not give up. In the past, during the heyday of the British Empire, they invaded Afghanistan three times, but were beaten to pieces. On one occasion, only one person out of tens of thousands of troops came back alive. This shows that the Afghan mountain people of tenacity.
But the quality of soldiers can be determined by their will, but the gap in equipment cannot be made up by their spirit!
The Afghan guerrillas are extremely short of weapons, especially modern weapons. Even some mountain guerrillas are still using ancient hand-made matchlock guns to fight against foreign enemies. But how can this old-fashioned weapon be the opponent of the AK74 rifle, let alone the Soviets? There are also countless tanks, artillery, infantry fighting vehicles, helicopters, etc.
Saudi Arabia has supported the Afghan guerrillas with a large amount of funds in the past and purchased a considerable amount of weapons and ammunition. However, these ammunition are still insufficient for high-intensity firefights, and the Afghans urgently need some light and flexible heavy firepower to fight against The Soviet army and Saudi Arabia were also anxious about this, but the howitzers and other things sent over were easily destroyed by the Soviets.
Therefore, they urgently need a qualified substitute at this moment.
"Uh, by the way, haven't you ever considered a closer country?"
For the Saudis who were thinking about purchasing weapons from European and American companies, Shepard carefully raised his questions.
From the beginning, he enjoyed the various delicacies provided by Saudi Arabia in the corner, as well as the massage provided by a dedicated person. Although there was no big-eared sheep or fermented grape juice, the delicious dates and various special fruits and meats had already attracted him. I couldn't help but feast on it.
There was no place where the Saudis and Americans could temporarily use military contractors, so no one cared about him until Shepard spoke.
"Excuse me, can you repeat that?"
"I said, you
Rather than looking for weapons from European and American arsenals, why not consider countries very close to Afghanistan? "
Shepard repeated.
"You mean India? No, no, no, the Indians support the Soviet Union, and they are also eyeing the ****. It is impossible for us to buy weapons from them!"
A Saudi officer shook his head and explained.
"It's not India, it's further north!"
Shepard raised a finger and poked it in the direction of the roof, meaning it was pointing upwards.
Although nearly twelve years have passed since Nixon visited China, it is obvious that these fellow experts still know nothing about the mysterious Eastern country, especially several American military experts with academic background. The military proficiency of the foreigners is very doubtful.
"They are also using imitation Soviet weapons, and they are still allies with the Soviets! How can we trust them?"
"But those who threaten to drop nuclear bombs on them are also Soviet allies, and those who have various conflicts and frictions with them are also Soviets. Don't we have a lot in common in confronting the Soviet Union?"
Shepard picked up a glass of chilled freshly squeezed pomegranate juice and poured it into his mouth.
"I think that at this stage, no one is more suitable than them to deliver weapons to Afghanistan. After all, there are not many countries that have the ability to provide such a large amount of weapons in a short period of time!"
Shepard's suggestion made several Saudi officers think deeply, but the American expert was a little dissatisfied. He then forced himself into the topic and began to change the direction. Shepard was not annoyed by the interruption and continued to enjoy the food leisurely. .
The Saudis must have listened to what he said. The latter are big business owners, but they are not fools. They are also very happy to have one more choice.
Therefore, Shepard estimated that the Saudis might talk to him privately, but now, Shepard felt that it was time for him to win some orders for his company.
"You just talked about long-range sniping? Then why not take a look at the AXC sniper rifle produced by Knight Ordnance. This is a 12.7mm large-caliber weapon developed by us. It is even lethal to ordinary armored vehicles. Or take a look at With this 14.5mm caliber, it’s easy to fly helicopters..."
