Chapter 3512: Flipping the Table

The biggest cost for long-distance shipping is fuel—a 100,000-ton-class cargo ship needs tens of tons of heavy oil per day, and a single refueling can take thousands or even thousands of tons of oil. If the price difference per ton is a few hundred yuan, one refueling can result in a difference of hundreds of thousands.

Many ocean-going freighters prefer to refuel in Singapore mainly because fuel prices are cheap there, and filling up can save a lot of money.

If Hamid had oil, he wouldn't need to go through the trouble of finding buyers—he just needs to sell the oil to Wanlong Palace at a lower price, and Wanlong Palace can then sell the heavy oil to Yisu Shipping at a lower price, and this business line would be viable.

By then, Hamid would make money, Wanlong Palace would make money, Yisu Shipping would save part of its fuel costs, and with the fleet size as it is, annual savings could reach hundreds of millions of yuan—this would absolutely be a win-win situation.

Moreover, relying on Wanlong Palace's foundation for escorting this route, developing the refueling business for Yisu Shipping is just a side matter.

Although Syria's oil reserves aren't as rich as those of a few wealthy nations, Ye Chen doesn't expect Hamid to secure a super-profitable oil field earning ten thousand gold a day—just having something decent enough for Wanlong Palace and Yisu Shipping to consume internally would make this worth pursuing.

And Ye Chen isn't doing this just to save himself money—mainly because Hamid is a tough nut to crack, stuck day after day in that poor mountain valley with almost no income sources; without Ye Chen's aid, his base couldn't possibly be in its current state.

But if Hamid continues to spend more than he earns, it would be like a company perpetually in the red—a bottomless pit forcing him to make money, which he lacks the ability to do, so Ye Chen would have to subsidize him, or just abandon him outright.

So for Ye Chen, the best solution is to help Hamid find a stable revenue channel.

Syria has been war-torn for years, the land is barren—even growing grain for self-sufficiency would be difficult, let alone making money to feed a large army there.

If one wants to earn some money locally, the best way is to extract oil.

If Hamid can't secure a plot of land capable of producing oil for himself, Ye Chen even considers letting him seize one by force.

Otherwise, given the scale of his current operations, if Ye Chen stops aid, Hamid likely won't be able to sustain it.

Hamid also roughly understands Ye Chen's meaning—now that his operation has expanded, not only are there more people, but the permanent fortifications under construction and needing maintenance have increased significantly compared to before, and overall operating costs have multiplied several times. Plus, Ye Chen has always had him stockpile sufficient supplies, and those reserves require constant funding to replenish—under these circumstances, his deficit will only worsen.

If he doesn't act quickly to find a way to make money, he'll become increasingly passive in the future.

So he told Ye Chen: "There's an oil field over 40 kilometers from here that's already under opposition control, producing about five to six thousand barrels of oil per day—it's the nearest oil field to me. Besides that, within a hundred-kilometer radius of my position, there are three or four more oil fields, all also under opposition control."

Ye Chen did the math and said: "Five to six thousand barrels a day means about two million barrels a year—roughly 200,000 to 300,000 tons. After conversion, annual output value is around 100 million USD. After deducting various costs, net profit of tens of millions should be no problem."

After saying that, he added: "Old brother, you should recently talk to the core leadership of the opposition directly—lay it all out and tell them they must give you certain compensation for this. If they ask what compensation you want, tell them you want the oil field nearest to you."

"If they give you the oil field, everyone can live in peace—you'll still be nominally part of them, and if foreign enemies appear, you'll still fight alongside them."

"If they don't give it to you, you don't need to waste words—just bring your troops and destroy every oil field within a hundred-kilometer radius of you except that one."

"How do we fight, little brother?" Hamid exclaimed: "Just march the troops straight over?"

"Exactly!" Ye Chen said firmly: "Just march the troops straight over—they couldn't possibly react as fast as you. A hundred kilometers is nothing—you can move quickly and take one down in a few hours. You've raised so many troops; it's time to bring them out for a drill. Always cooped up in the mountain valley eating imported white flour—after a while, you won't even know how to use a gun!"

"Alright!" Hamid said without hesitation: "Then let's blast those dog days! Anyway, my defensive works here are solid—after we strike, we'll withdraw, and they won't have the capability to retaliate!"

Ye Chen said: "Exactly—when it's time to act, just act. Mobilize the troops and get it done."

Hamid asked: "Then what do you think is the appropriate extent of the strike?"

Ye Chen said solemnly: "You must destroy their oil fields to the point of complete paralysis—so damaged that they cannot be repaired without massive spending and huge time investment. For you, it would merely mean normal wartime losses and attrition. For them, destroying one oil field could mean losing hundreds of millions of USD in future revenue over several years—so no matter how you strike, you come out ahead."

"Moreover, your base is impregnable—they could never overcome you anyway, and since those oil fields are close to you, you can wage guerrilla or lightning warfare against them. After one round of attack, these oil fields—like money-printing machines—will all shut down. Worst case, we just flip the table. If we can't even get two bites to eat, then nobody gets to eat at all."

Hamid was inspired by Ye Chen's words and immediately exclaimed with fervor: "Old brother, you're absolutely right! Damn it, if they won't let me have two bites, I'll smash the pot!"

Ye Chen then warned him: "If you win this step, you'll give other opposition warlords a idea to follow. Then, many will surely want to split off and go independent, which will greatly weaken the opposition's core leadership. Once everyone wants to carve out their own fiefdoms, they won't be able to hold them down—systematically subduing each would be extremely costly and unlikely to succeed. So to protect their core interests, they'll have no choice but to grit their teeth and accept."

Saying this, Ye Chen explained: "Sometimes security doesn't come from strengthening oneself, but from weakening the enemy. If you can gradually erode their core strength from within, the gap between you and them will shrink, and they'll naturally stop looking down on you. So I believe this battle must be fought—and fought as soon as possible."

Hamid, somewhat eager to try, said excitedly: "Great, old brother—looking at it this way, this battle is inevitable! I'll call the opposition's core leadership later; if they dare refuse my terms, I'll immediately launch a devastating strike on all oil wells around me."