Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 2473 Rise of Damascus (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

Despite people's high hopes for the world, the world is, in reality, always a jungle where the strong prey on the weak and the fittest survive.

Since late November, large numbers of military personnel have been traveling to Lebanon daily on civilian airliners. Military transport aircraft, on the other hand, are typically used to transport heavy equipment and weapons.

To wage a war thousands of miles away, the first thing you need to do is send your troops there, not just the troops, but also all kinds of heavy weapons.

No one will easily start a war without being prepared.

After all, they are not just facing a rabble. With the support of their brother countries, PLO is now a powerful armed force with 50 battalions, 300 tanks, 300 armored vehicles, and 1100 artillery pieces. It is not only well-equipped and well-trained, but also has two armored brigades, two mechanized infantry brigades, one assault battalion, and air defense units from Syria in northern Lebanon, totaling 30000 people.

Including the religious armed forces it supports, it has a total of nearly 100,000 troops.

For three years since the outbreak of the civil war, these armed forces have been suffocating the Lebanese government army. If it weren't for the help of the Falange Party and the Khaled militia, the Lebanese government would probably have been replaced long ago.

Now, with the increasing presence of foreign troops, the pressure has shifted to the other side—both the PLO and the Syrian army are feeling unprecedented pressure.

Damascus, Syria.

"...Now more than 200 planes land in Beirut every day, bringing not only large numbers of troops but also a large amount of armed equipment..."

As the generals briefed him on Beirut, Assad frowned. The president, who had seized power eight years earlier through a coup, was experiencing extremely complex emotions.

Although the Arab Federation of Egypt and Syria has now dissolved, and Egypt has chosen to negotiate with Israel, recognizing Israel and ending the state of hostility in exchange for the return of Israeli troops to the Sinai Peninsula, Jordan's recognition of Israel has finally brought an end to the days of Israel being surrounded on three sides.

Faced with this situation, Syria did not choose to make peace with Israel, even with the coercion and enticement of Western countries—that as long as Syria recognized Israel and ended the state of hostility, Israel would return the Syrian land it occupied.

But Assad refused without hesitation!
In his view, this was not just a compromise, but a shameless act of kneeling.

Therefore, even years after the end of the Fourth Middle East War, he would still give speeches at every rally, vowing to drive the Jews into the sea.

This was not just a verbal threat. In order to achieve this goal, he signed a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, leasing the port to the Soviet Union. In addition to the naval base in Tartus, there was also the Khmeimim airbase in Latakia. These two bases were the most important strategic strongholds of the Soviet Union in the Mediterranean.

In return, the Soviet Union provided it with a large amount of military aid—T-72 main battle tanks, MiG-23 fighter jets, SAM-11 air defense missiles, and so on.

Moreover, in order to win over Syria—the last remaining Soviet vestige of influence in the Middle East—the Soviet Union even showcased its MiG-29 fighter jets, which were undergoing test flights, to Syria last year.

In short, with Soviet assistance, Syria has built the second largest modern army in the Middle East after Iran. Assad is eyeing Israel with predatory intent, hoping to complete war preparations in the coming years and then wipe Israel off the face of the earth with a fierce offensive. At that time, he will become a hero of the entire Arab world.

A sudden terrorist attack disrupted his plans.

"According to intelligence on the target, the total strength of the coalition forces in Beirut has exceeded 50000, with SEA troops exceeding 37000, British troops reaching 10000, and approximately 3000 additional coalition troops from Siam, Malaysia, Shan State, as well as Canada and Australia..."

Although it was only a mere 50000 people, General Mustafa Talas's words caused everyone in the conference room to frown even more deeply.

Because what they saw was not just a coalition force of 50000!

Instead, these are countries whose strength far surpasses theirs. Under such circumstances, how can they possibly confront them?

At this point, Chief of Staff General Hikmat Shehabi said:

"President, they are demanding that we withdraw from northern Lebanon unconditionally."

This was the request made by the coalition forces, but the coalition forces were "generous" and even gave them a whole month.

"The deadline is one month, but we all know they only need a month to deploy troops. Based on the current transport speed, the coalition forces in Lebanon will exceed 15 in a month. By then, regardless of whether we withdraw our troops or not, they can easily seize the advantage. Therefore, I think..."

General Shehabi pursed his lips, looked at the president, and did not continue speaking. Reason told him that it was time to retreat.

This is the best option, but is the president willing to accept it?
The president is the lion of Syria; how could he possibly show weakness?
"Now... has it been determined who planned the London terrorist attacks?" Assad raised his head, his gaze still sharp and unwavering. He showed no fear despite the coalition's threat.

When his gaze fell upon the head of the intelligence department, the man shook his head and said:

“We still don’t have accurate intelligence, but based on the publicly known identities of the attackers, they come from several small armed factions. Although these groups are opposed to Beirut, they have always acted independently, and they also deny any involvement in the attack…”

This is precisely what makes Lebanon so unique—besides the PLO and the Syrian army, there are other armed factions, more than 40 armed groups alone, and among these groups, over 200 warlords control their own territories. Even within a single group, there is no hierarchical relationship between them. They even attack each other in the struggle for territory.

The Syrian army stationed in Lebanon was powerless to do anything about it and could only try to appease them.

But... could they have been behind this attack?

"Could they have been responsible for the attack?"

Assad countered:

"It is very likely, Mr. President. They have always claimed that they want to teach the Western countries a lesson, from the PLO to various groups. And theoretically, they have the channels to plan this operation. For years, in order to raise funds, those armed groups have been cultivating drugs all over Lebanon. Their trading network is tight and has long infiltrated all over Europe. We have reason to believe that the attackers entered Britain through this network."

It wasn't just about selling goods; there was also human trafficking. During the warlord conflicts, tens of thousands of women were trafficked to various European countries every year.

Damascus was certainly aware of this, but they had no intention of interfering, and to some extent, some members of the Syrian army stationed in northern Lebanon were also involved.

Assad frowned even more deeply, and after a moment's thought, he said:

"So, if we hand over those armed groups, will they evacuate Beirut?"

"This is clearly impossible," Foreign Minister Abdul, who was granted permission to participate in the meeting, said helplessly.

"Mr. President, their demand is to completely eliminate the source of terrorist attacks. In their view, all armed groups, organizations, and warlords are potential terrorist organizations. Their target is not just that one person, but everyone!"

Everyone!

This is the biggest difference in this operation. In the past, when a terrorist attack occurred, Western countries would only target the organizations and individuals who claimed responsibility for the attack, just like the "Munich attack" launched by the "Black January" organization. As we all know, "Black January" is an external organization of the PLO, which was formed to retaliate against Israel's support for Jordan during the Jordanian civil war. Even so, Israel's subsequent target of retaliation was "Black January" itself.

This is precisely what makes SEA so different. He never cares about what is extreme or mild. In his view, anyone or any organization involved in this matter must be held accountable.

This is precisely why the SEA has been able to remain uninvolved in numerous terrorist attacks against Western countries over the years, as everyone fears their retaliation.

This time, however, the terrorist attacks in London thoroughly enraged them, making them determined to solve the problem at its root.

"Their demands are very simple: all organizations must be disarmed and put on trial, Mr. President. How can they possibly lay down their weapons under such circumstances?"

When the intelligence chief asked him a question, he raised his concerns again, saying:

"Moreover, now, with more and more coalition forces entering, all armed groups are feeling the pressure, and our position has become very delicate. After all, the coalition will inevitably strike at the armed groups in northern Lebanon in the future to disarm them and arrest those in charge."

In this situation, we are very likely to inevitably clash with them...

This is precisely the situation Syria is facing now. On the one hand, they are very clear about their own strength, but on the other hand, they cannot retreat because "fleeing without a fight" would cause Assad to lose the support of the people. In the past eight years, the reason he has been able to rule this country is because of people's hatred of Israel and his toughness.

If he chooses to retreat, he will lose the support of the people.

After pondering this for a moment, Assad said:

"Where is our new aircraft? Has it arrived? We want to show it to the world!"

(End of this chapter)