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Chapter 2498 Why Damascus Isn't Panicking (First Update, Please Subscribe)
The countdown to war is on!
In December of that year, the war was slowly counting down.

With the issuance of the ultimatum, everyone understood that war was imminent.

"Syria has 48 hours to withdraw its troops that occupy northern Lebanon!"

This ultimatum is telling Syria that this is their last chance—48 hours.

Meanwhile, military observers around the world were discussing one question: what tactics would the coalition use to launch its first offensive?

As is well known, the SEA is best known for its electronic jamming, air strikes, and precision Tomahawk missile attacks.

For this reason, after the military operation in Iraq, the Soviet bloc, led by the Soviet Union, began to conduct targeted research. Syria was the Soviet Union's most important strategic ally in the Middle East, so naturally a large-scale military advisory group was sent to Syria, which was of a very high size and level.

The advisory group, spanning from senior generals to technical experts, may number in the thousands. They have infiltrated several key sectors of the Syrian army, navy, air force, and air defense. The primary tasks of these military advisors are to assist the Syrian army in operating and maintaining advanced Soviet-style weapon systems—such as SAM air defense missiles, MiG fighter jets, and T-tanks—provide strategic and tactical training, and participate to some extent in the Syrian army's operational planning.

Mikhail Topoliv, a senior colonel in the Soviet Air Defense Forces, was a senior air defense advisor. He and his team were deeply involved in the construction and training of Syria's integrated air defense system, helping Syria rebuild and modernize its air defense forces after the Fourth Middle East War.

In the process of rebuilding the air defense system, the threat of SEA attacks was fully considered, and the interception of Tomahawk missiles was specifically enhanced.

"The SEA's use of armed helicopters to destroy radar stations during its military operations in Iraq is something we need to consider..."

Mikhail pointed to the early warning radar stations on the map and said:
"Therefore, we deployed anti-aircraft guns near the radar station, and while deploying the anti-aircraft guns, we specifically strengthened the blockade of the valley, making it difficult for their armed helicopters to conceal themselves through the valley..."

As the commander of the air defense forces, General Mohammed Khurri, was briefing the entire air defense system on its operation, General Khurri frowned and asked:
"And what about the drones? Our 2nd Armored Brigade was very likely destroyed by drones, Colonel. We deployed the world's densest anti-aircraft missile defense system in the Bekaa Valley, including the 2K12 Cube and the most advanced 9K37 you mentioned. But they didn't detect those drones, nor did they detect the coalition aircraft..."

Looking directly at Colonel Mikhail, General Khurry said:
"If we can't detect their drones, what makes you think they'll use armed helicopters to attack our radar stations instead of drones?"

Faced with the question, Colonel Mikhail and the other military advisors were all embarrassed.

The use of drones on the battlefield far exceeded their expectations, especially the new SEA drones, which have a very small radar cross-section and can only be detected when they fly several kilometers away. This means that by the time the drone is detected, it has already entered the enemy's firing range.

This is the most deadly.

"General, although their drones have very small radar cross-sections, according to target monitoring results, meter-wave radar can detect them more easily. Therefore, we have adjusted your air defense early warning network and deployed more than thirty meter-wave radars on the southern border. In past use, they have detected SEA drones on multiple occasions..."

Sometimes, older equipment can play an unexpected role. Although those meter-wave radars were in a state of obsolescence, their success in detecting drones on multiple occasions gave Colonel Mikhail and other military advisors an opportunity.

Therefore, on their advice, a large number of older radars were deployed in the southern region to enable early warning of drones.

Compared to the rigidity of the Syrian military itself, these Soviet advisors were very adept at dealing with various changes.

After nodding slightly to indicate his approval, General Huli asked again:
"What about electronic interference?"

Thus, in the operations conference room of the air defense command, Syrian air defense commanders and Soviet advisors discussed how to respond to attacks from the coalition forces.

What is truly the most frightening thing?
It's a blow from SEA!
After all, the SEA has already wiped out several countries!
48 hours!

Damascus did not yield to the ultimatum. The lion delivered a speech at the presidential palace, declaring that it would never succumb to the pressure from the Western invaders.

"The heroic Syrian people will utterly crush the invasion of Zionism and its Western backers!"

On the streets of Damascus, people were everywhere waving rifles, firing into the sky and signaling to camera cameras that they would fight to the end.

Countless young people have expressed their willingness to die for Assad!

More people are joining the army, vowing to defend Syria to the death!

In short, the world has witnessed the surge in morale in Syria. Experts from various countries are analyzing the possible course of the war, and almost everyone believes that while the SEA may achieve victory, they will suffer at least 10000-15000 casualties.

“Except for the coastal plains near Beirut, most of Lebanon is mountainous with complex terrain. Military organizations are scattered throughout these mountains, with the Bekaa Valley being the most important. Located in eastern Lebanon near the Syrian border, it is a narrow strip of land running from south to north, flanked by towering mountains, making it a strategically important location. The main Syrian ground forces are deployed here. To protect these forces from coalition airstrikes, Syria has deployed air defense units in the Bekaa Valley primarily equipped with SAM-6 and SAM-11 missiles, and also a large number of fighter jets along the border, including MiG-21s and MiG-23s…”

On television, experts were analyzing why Assad wasn't panicking, discussing factors like terrain, morale, and troop strength. Everything came to the same conclusion—Assad wasn't panicking!

At this time, people seem to have overlooked a target – the PLO, the Palestinian armed group. They not only control most of southern Lebanon, but also occupy the western part of Beirut. Compared with well-equipped Syria, the PLO's equipment is much more disorganized. Although they have aid from Arab brothers and various tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons from other countries, their scale is far from comparable to that of Damascus.

In fact, there are some conflicts between them and Damascus, but cooperation remains the main focus between the two sides.

"We are right on the front lines of the war!"

The PLO militants in areas near Beirut, including Saadiyah and Damour, knew that they would be the first to be attacked if war broke out.

Over the past month, they have been reinforcing their defenses and maintaining contact with the coalition forces through various channels in hopes of securing security.

However, the conditions offered by the coalition forces plunged the PLO leadership into a debate.

"Disarm and withdraw completely from Lebanon! This is not a condition, but an unconditional surrender!"

In the basement, the high-ranking officials were discussing the matter, but they couldn't reach a consensus—because they couldn't disarm and completely evacuate Lebanon along with the refugees.

Where do we go after leaving Lebanon?

Faced with such a question, everyone fell silent.

Jordan would never accept them, and neither would Iraq. They have even deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the Syrian border, claiming it's to prevent the war from spreading to their own territories. But in reality, it's partly to prevent refugees from fleeing into both countries, and partly because they might join in, especially Iraq, which has signed a mutual defense treaty with the SEA.

"We are a group of people who have lost their country, and no country will accept us!"

As the man in the head seat uttered these words, he added, “We finally managed to gain a foothold here and settle our people down, but now Western countries are trying to take everything away from us. This is absolutely unacceptable. Terrorist attacks… When the Israelis attack us, when they attack us, isn’t that a terrorist attack?”

After asking this question in return, he said in a firm tone:
"So we will resist them, and at the same time, we will let the whole world, let those Western journalists, see their atrocities, that's right..."

He turned his head and asked the official in charge of external propaganda beside him:

"Have those Western journalists come? Why didn't they come here to conduct interviews?"

The main purpose was to interview him. In the past few years, he would be interviewed by reporters from various countries every day, but what about now?

In the past two weeks, no Western journalists have come to interview him.

"The coalition command publicly declared that any journalist who interviews armed groups without permission will be considered a potential supporter of terrorism, and will not only have their press credentials revoked but will also be handed over to a military court for investigation. Although they and international journalists' organizations have protested, the coalition..."

"absurd!"

The man roared angrily:
"How could those guys do this? Don't they know that journalists have the freedom to interview? And are those journalists just going to give in like that? Aren't they the ones who love to go against the authorities?"

Seeing his anger, someone helplessly explained from the side:
"There's no other way. After all, the previous kidnapping of journalists scared everyone. Those Western journalists may like to go against the authorities, but they're always afraid of dying..."

In short, they revealed the key point: in the past, they conducted interviews because there was no danger to their lives, but what about now?

Seeing their colleagues being killed on TV, how many people would be willing to come and die?

“Contact the journalists we know and tell them I will guarantee their safety. Ask them to come here to cover the story; they will film the atrocities committed by the coalition forces—that will be an exclusive story…”

Just then, suddenly, accompanied by a violent earthquake and a deafening explosion, the clock on the wall showed the time—12:12 AM.

War breaks out!
(End of this chapter)