Chapter 126: Reaping Huge Profits from War

"The Ugly Country is launching airstrikes on Aid Aid Xuliya; both sides are engaged in fierce combat, and you can see intense exchanges of fire in the sky!"

A war correspondent who had arrived early shouted into his camera.

Behind him, tracers from anti-aircraft machine guns streaked orange through the night.

Whistling missiles flew incessantly.

From time to time, explosions rang out across the sky and the ground.

One could imagine just how fierce the fighting between the two sides was at that moment.

At this moment, the entire world was focused on this event.

The BBC, CNN, Yang Ma, and others were all reporting on it.

It must be noted that this invasion by the Ugly Country was in no way inferior to the Gulf War of years past.

They were even assembling a coalition army.

Affected by this invasion by the Ugly Country, stocks of Ugly Country military-industrial enterprises soared continuously,

achieving massive gains.

Basic increases hovered around eight percent.

Meanwhile, oil prices climbed steadily; WTI crude rose from $37.04 per barrel to $50.33 per barrel,

with a single-day "Four Zero Zero" surge reaching as high as 35.8%.

This was because people feared the Middle East war might affect crude oil exports from major producing nations.

After half a day of fierce fighting in Aid Aid Xuliya,

aboard all three of the Ugly Country's aircraft carriers, nearly every carrier-based aircraft had been deployed more than twice.

They had launched 389 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

According to the news spokesperson of the Ugly Country's White House on that day,

their special military operation, codenamed "Thunder God,"

in this round of combat, utterly destroyed 50% of the anti-air resistance forces of Syria and the Houthi armed groups of Yemen.

It can be said that the Thunder God operation achieved the results it deserved.

Regarding this, a reporter asked:

"Mr. Spokesperson, but this military action by the Ugly Country has caused many civilian deaths; you bombed numerous civilian facilities!"

The spokesperson glanced at him and said:

"These are necessary sacrifices for world peace, and the so-called civilians you speak of stand on the side of the dictatorial president; I am not certain they are civilians!"

At these words, every reporter present frowned.

This is the hegemony that the Ugly Country has always pursued,

using depleted uranium bombs to bomb the populace,

yet claiming that those ordinary people, women, the elderly, and children, stand on the side of the dictator.

And the Ugly Country claims to have gone to war for the sake of peace.

Only a spokesperson from the Ugly Country could state such fallacies so calmly.

In the Dragon Country, however, the situation was completely different.

During the routine press briefing, the Dragon Country's spokesperson stated their established position,

which was to call on both sides to return to the negotiating table, asserting that war is undesirable and beneficial to no one.

The spokesperson said they hoped the United Nations could play a leading role, seeking common ground while reserving differences, to achieve permanent peace in the Middle East as soon as possible.

As for the spokesperson of the Brown Bear, they strongly condemned the actions of the Ugly Country and some Northern Yue countries.

They believed this was an invasion, an extension of the Ugly Country's hegemony.

The Brown Bear would continue to monitor the situation closely.

Meanwhile, the Syrian side also publicly disclosed the casualties from this incident.

After twelve hours of fighting, as of 5:00 PM Capital Time,

Syria reported 98 dead and 217 wounded, among whom 65 were critically injured.

At the same time, the Syrian side admitted to suffering some losses, but stated that everything remained within a controllable range.

Furthermore, the Syrian side claimed to have destroyed three F/A-18E fighter jets and captured one Ugly Country air force pilot.

Soon, television stations in various countries showed footage of the wreckage of an F/A-18E fighter jet behind many armed militants,

as well as the captured Ugly Country air force pilot.

From the battles between Syria and the Ugly Country,

this was already the third Ugly Country pilot they had captured.

One of them had been sacrificed to the flag and dismembered by the Houthi armed groups, but the remaining two were still alive.

Although the Ugly Country claimed that they achieved significant results in this battle,

judging from the video footage, while heavy smoke rose from many key towns, including the capital Damascus,

the Syrian side immediately launched rescue operations.

Those soldiers showed no fear; instead, they continued to shout provocations at the Ugly Country.

Many viewers around the world saw the terrified expressions on the faces of the captured Ugly Country airmen,

making it difficult for ordinary people to discern who had actually won this battle.

However, in reality, the Syrian side had indeed suffered a major setback.

Although their air defense systems did indeed destroy three F/A-18E fighter jets, which is undeniable,

the Syrian air defense systems were shattered by the F-22 and F-35C stealth fighters.

In just one battle, the Syrian side lost two S-300 missile defense systems supplied by the Brown Bear.

Not to mention that numerous other anti-aircraft guns, Scud missiles, and low-altitude air defense positions were also destroyed.

Just as the Ugly Country stated, Syria's air defense capabilities were paralyzed by at least 50%.

While some of these losses could be replenished through the DWS platform,

high-end systems like the S-300 missile defense system were not sold on the DWS platform.

Speaking of which, Syria could theoretically purchase some air defense weapons from the Ugly Country.

For instance, Patriot missiles and Avenger air defense missiles.

But, regrettably,

Syria had always been dominated by Soviet-made weapons, and the Syrian side had never used many Ugly Country weapons,

so naturally, within a certain procurement budget, the Syrian side would naturally prioritize familiar weapons.

Even if they tried to learn hastily now, it would be difficult to form combat effectiveness in a short time.

It could be said that the only exception was that the Syrian side had ordered 200 Ugly Country M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks,

because compared to the Brown Bear's T-90,

the M1A2 Abrams main battle tank, which had once been active on Middle Eastern battlefields, appeared more advanced.

Moreover, at this time, some Syrian officers and soldiers were undergoing secret training in Iran.

Once the Ugly Country launched a large-scale invasion, they would use these tanks to teach the enemy a lesson.

By then, one could only imagine how ugly the Ugly Country's expression would become.

Therefore, after half a day of fighting had concluded,

the Syrian side urgently contacted the DWS platform, expressing hope to obtain some air defense systems capable of inflicting real damage.

Additionally, they sought to replenish some anti-aircraft artillery shells.

Basically, the 100 S-400 surface-to-air missiles ordered by Syria last time have been almost entirely expended.

Although many launch platforms were destroyed,

the Syrian side still retained some launch platforms.

Without these surface-to-air missiles, it would be extremely difficult for them to defend against air raids by the U.S. Air Force.

Even though the S-400 missiles achieved limited results this time, destroying only three of the enemy's outdated fighter jets,

and failing to shoot down a single F-35C or F-22 Raptor.

Nevertheless, as long as Syria possessed surface-to-air missiles, the U.S. Air Force would not dare to bomb indiscriminately.

Furthermore, more powerful strategic bombers would likely not be deployed by the U.S. without complete air superiority.

As for Lin Yi, the owner of the DWS weapons trading platform, he had been quite happy lately.

They say one makes a fortune from war; only now was he truly experiencing it.

In such a short time, countries including Mao Xiong, Iran, and Syria,

had collectively ordered over five billion dollars worth of various equipment.

He had earned at least four billion dollars in profit from these deals,

and adding the two billion dollars gained from overseas investments in gold and oil,

his total overseas earnings now amounted to at least 16.8 billion dollars.

Of course, part of this money would quietly be converted into procurement funds for various raw materials for domestic enterprises,

while the remainder was reserved for future upgrades to the weapon systems.

(PS: This new book needs flowers, tips, and review votes; your support is the author's motivation!)

— Author's Notes —

(P.S.: New book seeking flowers, tips, and review votes; your support is the author's motivation!)