The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 902: Speaking of Facts and Reasons
The current Saudi military's data on paper is very good.

No matter from which perspective, paper data analysis is powerful.

In terms of the air force, it has hundreds of fighter jets including F15, F16, J-10 and J-11, making it the best air force in the Middle East.

In terms of the navy, it is equipped with a large number of Type 022 missile boats, Type 022A torpedo boats, Type 054 frigates and Type 052 destroyers. On paper, it is absolutely the number one navy in the Gulf and the Red Sea.

In terms of the army, a large number of Type 80 main battle tanks are the core, forming an armored force with very strong paper data. No matter from which aspect the analysis is made, it can be considered that the Saudi Army has achieved the construction of mechanized forces and is undoubtedly the best army in the Middle East.

Currently, the number of Saudi troops has reached 55. Although some of them are in the Arab coalition and stationed in other Arab countries, Saudi Arabia has a very strong voice in the Arab coalition.

Even some Western military journals rank Saudi Arabia's military power third, only behind the Eagle Sauce and the Polar Bear, calling it the world's third largest military power.

Saudi Arabia has strong military power and a developed economy due to abundant oil. No matter how you look at it, it is far stronger than Yemen. After all, Yemen's economy is backward and it is one of the least developed countries in the world. Its economic development mainly depends on oil exports, but its oil production and export volumes are far less than Saudi Arabia.

As for Yemen's military strength, it is not worth mentioning. Its tanks and armored vehicles are very backward, there are not many aircraft, and its artillery is far inferior to that of Saudi Arabia.

No matter how you look at it, it will be easy for Saudi Arabia to deal with Yemen.

But you have to know that no matter how advanced a weapon is, it still depends on the person who uses it.

No matter how powerful the air force is, it is impossible to destroy Yemen just by dropping bombs, because the terrain of Yemen is different from that of Iraq. Once the troops are deployed to the mountains and plateaus, the air force can only watch helplessly. It cannot launch missiles and bombs to blow up the mountains.

As for the indiscriminate bombing like the US military did in the Gulf War, Saudi Arabia will lose its reputation in the Arab world. After all, Yemen is also an Arab country and an Arab brother.

No matter how powerful the navy is, it can only be effective at sea, and warships cannot go ashore!

As for the army, how much combat effectiveness can tanks and armored vehicles exert when they are deployed in the mountains and plateaus with complex terrain, given the terrible appearance of Saudi soldiers?
Perhaps the pain of the bumpy ride made Saudi soldiers not want to fight.

To be honest, Liu Tao does not want Saudi Arabia to go to war. Now Saudi Arabia is like a bodhisattva in the Middle East, a clay bodhisattva. As long as it does not cross the river, it is still very deterrent. It can maintain the stability of the Middle East, ensure the security and stability of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and keep the international oil price at a relatively low price range.

Once a war breaks out, based on Liu Tao's understanding of the Saudi Arabian soldiers, they will most likely not win. They may even be defeated and lose a large number of advanced weapons and equipment to the Shiite armed forces in Yemen, which will destroy the golden body of the clay Buddha.

Furthermore, Liu Tao also has his own selfish motives.

Panshan Group also has investments in Yemen. After all, Yemen is located at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia to the north, the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the south, Oman to the east, and the Red Sea to the west. It is located across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, facing Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and other straits on the African continent. The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is one of the important international navigable straits, connecting the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It is a major maritime transportation route for the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa and has an important strategic position.

In addition to mining oil and natural gas in Yemen and helping Yemen export oil and natural gas, Panshan Group also mines gold and silver minerals. It has also participated in the development and construction of the Port of Aden in Yemen and has leased Soratra Island, the largest island in Yemen, for 99 years. Now it is just building a port and has great potential in the future.

Liu Tao does not want the war in Yemen to expand and affect the port of Aden and Soratra Island.

As long as Saudi Arabia does not intervene personally, the war in Yemen will be internal to Yemen. No matter how big the war is, the area affected will be limited.

If Saudi Arabia intervenes personally, it will intensify the conflict. In order to dispel Saudi Arabia's idea of ​​personally intervening, Liu Tao revealed some intelligence, such as the polar bears hope that Saudi Arabia will intervene. Once the war breaks out, the international crude oil price will rise, which will be beneficial to the polar bears' oil and natural gas exports and obtain more lucrative profits.

This is not just Liu Tao's random talk, it is the truth!

In recent years, the relationship between the polar bears and Europe has been improving rapidly. Relying on natural gas pipelines and oil pipelines, the polar bears have become Europe's cheapest energy importer. There are already three natural gas pipelines alone. Now the polar bears and Europe are negotiating the construction of the fourth "Nord Stream" natural gas pipeline.

According to the preliminary communication between the two sides, in the next twenty years, the number of natural gas pipelines from Polar Bear to Europe will increase to seven.

As for the oil pipelines from the polar bears to Europe, more and more are being built.

The polar bear would like to export more oil and natural gas, earn more foreign exchange, and import more goods to improve its domestic economy.

Europe had suffered from the oil crisis for nearly twenty years since 1973 and was in urgent need of stable and affordable energy. The two sides hit it off and had a great deal of consensus.

Moreover, as the oil and natural gas pipelines from the polar bears to China are expected to be completed in a few years, the oil and natural gas exports to China will also increase significantly. By then, the polar bears will have a great say in the international energy market.

It's not just the polar bears who want Saudi Arabia to go, the Americans also want Saudi Arabia to go so that they can give Saudi Arabia a good beating.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become increasingly uncooperative with the United States, has become less and less active in purchasing U.S. Treasury bonds, and its investment in the United States has also been decreasing, which has made the United States very dissatisfied.

But Saudi Arabia has a strong military force, and the United States cannot do it like it did to Iraq.

Besides, if Iraq had not attacked Kuwait, the United States would not have found an excuse, let alone get other Middle Eastern countries to cooperate.

The United States, especially the U.S. military, is eager for Saudi Arabia to come to an end and suffer a bloody defeat. At that time, the United States can play a big role.

Prince Sultan frowned. If it were anyone else, he wouldn't have to say anything, but Liu Tao was different. Liu Tao was his friend and also Saudi Arabia's friend. Liu Tao was now presenting facts and reasoning with him, analyzing the pros and cons with him, and laying it out clearly in front of him, so he had to think about it.

"Liu, my good friend, what do you think we should do to achieve what we want?" Prince Sultan asked.

Saudi Arabia has no ambition to unify the Arab world or rebuild the Arab empire because it knows it cannot do so and it does not have the strength to do so.

Saudi Arabia's ambition is to become the big brother of the Arab world, lead the Arab League, serve as the leader of the Arab coalition, and enhance its international status.

And now, this ambition has actually been realized.

The reason why they are keeping an eye on Yemen is simply that they don’t want a fire to break out in their own backyard.

Otherwise, Yemen is so poor and does not have much oil, so Saudi Arabia would not be interested in it.

(End of this chapter)