Empire Conquest-Chapter 902 - 121: Self-Reliance

The most direct issue is that the Saudi Royal Army essentially has no combat capability!

In contrast, the Saudi Royal Air Force is in a relatively better condition.

During the previous airstrike operations, the Saudi Royal Air Force participated throughout and carried out some high-difficulty combat missions.

For instance, in August, the Saudi Royal Air Force launched combat aircraft strikes on southern Iraq with an average strength of about 400 sorties per day. Additionally, they arranged fighters to escort attack aircraft carrying out strike missions, during which multiple confrontations occurred with Boi fighters over Boss Bay.

This is largely related to the fact that most of the pilots come from Bakistan.

To "reward" Saudi Arabia, the Empire’s Air Force transferred a batch of "War-11A" fighters to the Saudi Royal Air Force at the end of August. Since the first batch of Saudi-arranged pilots had completed training in the Empire, these fighters were subsequently put into combat.

As per custom, the exported "War-11A" was named "War-11AG" and underwent necessary modifications, such as the removal of some sensitive equipment prohibited from international sales.

For this reason, after the Gaoju Kingdom, Saudi Arabia became the second country to deploy the "War-11AG" in actual combat.

In comparison, the Saudi Royal Army is basically a patrol force used to protect the border.

Despite being equipped with 1,000 "ZT-99AGS" main battle tanks, the Saudi Royal Army has never been willing to participate in ground attacks on Iraq.

Additionally, among all the "ZT-99AG" tanks, the S-type sold to Saudi Arabia is the best.

The key is that this tank imitates the Empire Marine Corps’ "ZT-99AL," replacing it with a 125mm smoothbore cannon using unitary ammunition, and switching to a tail compartment type autoloader, so its overall performance is close to "ZT-99B," surpassing other "ZT-99A" tanks that have not changed guns.

If it was just for the liberation of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia’s reluctance to send troops to attack Iraq could still be understood.

After all, Iraq is also a member of the oil-producing group and is a buffer against northern threats for countries like Saudi Arabia along the southern coast of Boss Bay, with shared interests, and the Saudi authorities do not want military intervention to cause a split in Mua Country, hence, military actions would be restrained.

Now, the problem is, with a global war already erupting, what is there to hesitate about?

Any possibility of remaining unscathed is already non-existent.

The most convincing evidence is that from late August, when the global war became inevitable, the Boi Air Force became obviously more active.

Just in late August, the Boi fighters "invaded" Saudi airspace over 100 times.

During this period, several small-scale conflicts also broke out.

On August 29, Saudi Royal Air Force’s "War-11AGS" intercepted two invading enemy aircraft over Boss Bay, fired missiles, and later claimed that they were two F-14A of the Boi Air Force, and shot down one during the battle, although the enemy plane debris fell into Boss Bay.

The Boi Air Force did not admit it but claimed that their fighters were threatened while flying in international airspace over Boss Bay. They turned back to return before the Saudi fighters arrived, thus, no mention of fighters being shot down exists.

The only certainty is that Boi fighters indeed approached Saudi airspace.

The key issue is that the Saudi coastline along Boss Bay is not long and only has one deep-water port, Daman Port, which the Alliance Army commandeered. What’s critical is that almost all of Saudi’s oil fields are on this side of Boss Bay, and nearly all oil exports rely on maritime transportation.

Daman Port is not only a military port but also one of the top commercial ports in the Boss Bay region.

Obviously, the actions of the Boi Air Force pose a threat to Daman Port. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Surely, the King of Saudi Arabia remembers that during the Iran-Iraq War, dozens of oil tankers departing from Daman Port were attacked by Boi warplanes in Boss Bay, causing Saudi Arabia to suffer losses amounting to billions of Gold Yuan, and its prestige in Mua Country plummeted to rock bottom.

In some sense, the Hussein Regime dared to invade and annex Kuwait because of the decline in Saudi Arabia’s position in Mua Country.

From another perspective, Hussein may have thought that by invading Kuwait, he could replace Saudi Arabia to become the leader of the Mua Country group, thus monopolizing the entire Boss Bay region, controlling the world’s oil reserves, and even uniting all Mua Countries to become the fourth superpower.

If Saudi Arabia had been influential, Hussein might not have had that gut.

In the context of the global war, can Saudi Arabia still stay out of it?

The answer is clearly no!

Doesn’t the King of Saudi Arabia understand this logic?

Clearly not!

The problem essentially lies in the combat capability of the Saudi Royal Army.

To put it plainly, even if provided with ample advanced weapons and equipment, the Saudi Royal Army might not be able to win a battle.

Moreover, a large number of mercenaries from Bakistan are gradually returning home.

Completely relying on domestic soldiers, the combat effectiveness of the Saudi Royal Army becomes even more questionable.

Actually, Ding Zhennan had anticipated these issues long ago.

In August, he mentioned this to Shi Shouliang, and Shi Shouliang was very concerned, even making a special trip to the capital of Bakistan on this matter.

Thanks to Shi Shouliang’s efforts, the Bakistan Authority has already made assurances.

Even if war breaks out with Fanluo Country, they will not immediately recall pilots serving in the Saudi Royal Air Force, especially fighter pilots.