Chapter 1124: Forceful Negotiation

“This is impossible! No matter what, these terms are unacceptable to the Third Reich.” The German negotiator, Ribbentrop—who had been delivered to Israel on the Italian battleship Vittorio Veneto and then rushed all the way to Saudi Arabia—shook his head repeatedly at the negotiating table. “My God, you people have absolutely no grasp of the current situation, do you understand?”

As he spoke, he picked up the water cup in front of him and took a small sip before continuing: “His Majesty the King of Saudi Arabia may retain his own shares, and he can use the burned-down oil fields as collateral to obtain technical support from the Third Reich… However, the American, British, French, and other miscellaneous shares must all be transferred to the Third Reich’s name. This is the greatest concession we can make.”

The envoys from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the other side of the table whispered among themselves, beginning to discuss Ribbentrop’s terms. They shook their heads constantly during their discussion. Finally, an elder who was their leader spoke to the translator: “Although there has been some unpleasant history between our two countries, this is not a cooperative attitude for the future. We can reapportion the oil shares, but the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia must hold the absolute dominant position in this division.”

Dominant position? Go ask our Stuka bombers for a dominant position! Go ask our King Tiger tanks for a dominant position! Go ask our Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier and our battleships for a dominant position! Go ask the muzzles of the rifles in our grenadiers’ hands for a dominant position! Ribbentrop thought bitterly in his heart.

However, he did not say these words aloud. Instead, he looked at the speaking elder with a contemptuous gaze. He waited until the other party had finished before smiling and replying, “Since your esteemed nation is so confident in its own strength, why don’t we take a break and restart these negotiations next month? How about that?”

One month? What a joke! Forget one month, in just 20 days, the iron treads of the German armored forces would probably be on the western shore of the Persian Gulf. Talk to the Germans then? What would be left to talk about? The Saudi envoy’s expression turned ugly upon hearing Ribbentrop’s words. Clearly, the other side didn’t see him as an opponent, but was just unilaterally mocking him.

“We are very aware of the Third Reich’s outstanding military achievements, but that is not a reason for a great empire to bully the weak, is it? There is a famous Arab saying: A nation’s fate cannot be sustained by force for long.” The Saudi envoy, trying his best to secure a better opportunity for his country, gritted his teeth and retorted.

Ribbentrop was not a man overflowing with internationalist sympathy. He was completely disdainful of this rhetoric. “Mr. Envoy, I imagine His Majesty King Ibn Saud did not instruct you, when he sent you, to avoid using flattery to gain benefits, did he? The Third Reich has been through two wars. Our Foreign Ministry spends every day navigating lies and deception.”

He paused, then raised his head, bearing down on the Saudi delegation members opposite him with his most threatening gaze. “The Third Reich gave Saudi Arabia a chance. We found the oil that would make Saudi Arabia rich, but Saudi Arabia chose to forget when it came to sanctioning Germany. When we were invincible in North Africa, we also gave you a chance to choose, but you chose to ignore us. Now our army has defeated the Americans and the British, and you come running to us, saying you want to take the fruits of victory for free?”

A weak country has no diplomacy. Or perhaps, with the backing of a powerful nation, one’s words in diplomacy are “three parts harder.” The only reason Ribbentrop spoke so solemnly was because behind him stood Marshal Rommel’s 400,000+ German-Italian allied troops, and the Third Reich’s 7.5 million invincible Wehrmacht.

To be honest, Ribbentrop was not in a hurry at all. For every minute delayed at the negotiating table, Rommel’s army had another minute to continue advancing. This advance was pushing forward with almost no resistance. The more they delayed, the more it seemed to favor the Germans.

By the time the treads of the Third Reich’s Panther tanks rolled onto the western coast of the Persian Gulf, perhaps the German Foreign Ministry wouldn’t need to worry about anything. They could just sit in their offices and drink coffee, because by then, the country of Saudi Arabia would no longer exist in this world.

“Mr. Minister, please understand our difficulty. Saudi Arabia is just a small country. We do not have the ability to resist great powers like America and Britain.” In the blink of an eye, the Saudi envoy started playing the “victim card.” He began to list the heinous crimes committed by the British and Americans in Saudi lands. He only stopped when Ribbentrop was about to doze off. “Is Germany’s army of justice also going to walk the old path of exploiting the Arabs?”

“Exploitation? No! This is a war, sir!” Ribbentrop didn’t take the bait of the victim card at all. He immediately clarified his point of view from another angle: “Look, we are not exploiting Saudi Arabia for any materials whatsoever. This is our sincerity toward the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia… Of course, we must seize the enemy’s assets, especially the oil resources of the British and American enemy. On this, there can be no compromise!”

Ribbentrop directly treated the oil resources in Saudi hands as the assets of an enemy nation. Plundering these resources was, of course, a matter of course. He spoke with such righteousness, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest. Both sides were playing their own hands, each talking past the other.

“I think… we can compromise on this point. To show our sincerity, we are willing to make certain concessions to support the Third Reich in winning this war.” The first to compromise was the Saudi envoy, whose kingdom had limited strength and could not afford the attrition. After struggling for several hours, he was forced to concede: “We are willing to lend the British and American oil shares to the Third Reich, free of charge, until the war is over, at which point we will take them back… This is in your country’s interest, and in ours.”

“No, no, no. That is indeed in your interest, but it is not in the interest of the Third Reich.” As Germany’s Foreign Minister, one of the men in all of Germany who understood diplomacy best, Ribbentrop could not possibly agree to such a naive condition. “Saudi Arabia gets 20 percent. Italy gets 15 percent. Turkey gets 5 percent. Vichy France gets 5 percent. Northern Britain gets 5 percent… The Third Reich gets 50 percent of all Saudi oil shares! I’ve already said it. This is the Axis’s bottom line. Either agree, or we recess.”

It had to be said, this was an era in which diplomats were most proud. The increasingly complex international relations after the Cold War made it impossible for diplomats to so easily utter the bold words, “Agree or we go to war.” Yet, almost every diplomat dreamed of saying this for their homeland: “If your side refuses to sign, then we will go to war!”

Just as the Saudi envoys were whispering angrily among themselves, discussing countermeasures, a German intelligence officer, holding a file, walked into the negotiating room. He leaned in and whispered a few words in Ribbentrop’s ear. The smile on the German Foreign Minister’s face grew wider. He waved the intelligence officer away and stood up with a smile.

Under the uncomprehending gazes of everyone, he gave a polite, slight bow. Then, in a “this-has-nothing-to-do-with-me” tone, he announced a piece of news that shocked every Saudi in the room: “Gentlemen, I think this time we truly can take a recess. Because just a few minutes ago, German Air Force intelligence confirmed that the British and Americans have scrambled all their bombers and have begun a full-scale bombing of the oil fields controlled by the Saudi royal family.”

“What?” The elder leading the Saudi delegation shot up in terror, his eyes wide as he shouted the question. A second later, he realized something. He immediately pounded the negotiating table and began to curse. “Those damn Brits! Those damn American bastards! We Saudis will fight these bastards to the death!”

Cursing was one thing, but the German advisory group and diplomats present watched the apoplectic Saudi delegation, most with expressions of schadenfreude. The Saudis, who had been trying to sit on the fence, had finally been dragged into the water. And they had been dragged into the muddy waters of war by their own former allies.

“Apologies, Mr. Minister Ribbentrop, please allow us to recess for one day. We must confirm the truth of this news, and we must speak with His Majesty the King…” Just a moment ago, it was the arrogant Germans demanding a recess. Now, after only a short time, it was the weakened Saudis begging for one. The strange turns of the world are truly unexpected; at least, this instantaneous reversal was.

“Of course. We will wait patiently for the results of your discussion.” Ribbentrop smiled and, a little unaccustomed to it, extended his hand and shook the other’s. Of course he had time to wait. Anyone would have plenty of patience if their own army was expanding their territory as if marching into an empty land.

Unfortunately, the Saudi delegation did not make Ribbentrop wait long. They returned, confirmed the details, and discovered the German intelligence was perfectly accurate. They really had been attacked—attacked by British and American bombers targeting their oil fields.

Ibn Saud finally resolved to take revenge on America and Britain. Three hours later, the Saudi royal family announced they were siding with the Axis and declared war on the Allies. The price was indeed heartbreaking: the Saudi delegation signed their names to the Axis accession agreement, drafted by the Germans, without changing a single word.

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