Middle Eastern tyrants

Chapter 144 Turbulent October (Part 3)

"On November 17, extremists attacked Riyadh TV station. Prince Hari bin Shams bin Abdulaziz Al Saud bravely stepped forward and sacrificed his life to protect the country's modernization achievements. His actions exemplify the noble character of the royal family and their devotion to Allah."

When Ziad, who was studying in New York, learned of his brother's death, he was struck as if by lightning. From childhood, he had regarded his brother as his only family.

As children adopted by the King, Harry and his brother were not well-liked in the Twin Princes' circle.

Living under someone else's roof is not easy. Although King Shams loved them, he obviously couldn't be by their side all the time.

When their father passed away, some people initially sympathized with the two brothers' plight. However, upon learning that they had become the king's stepsons, their words became rather comical, leaving them unsure whether to apologize or congratulate them.

The two brothers spent their childhood in this conflicted way. The closed social environment also made Harry, as the eldest brother, obsessed with religion, and he believed in traditional sects and was more devout than the average person.

"why?"

"How can this be?"

As a blood relative, Ziad knew his brother very well. His brother valued "tradition" extremely, and he preferred to believe that his brother had gone to destroy the TV tower, rather than to protect it.

This news could only be a smokescreen from the royal family.

What he couldn't understand was that the report said the security forces protecting the TV tower were directly under the royal family, so why would King Shams allow the army to kill his own brother?

He shared his questions with his roommate, Suhail, who was also from Shuangzhi.

Suhail's father was also a prince, but not from the Sudri faction. The young man replied, "Perhaps His Majesty did not want to kill your brother. He just didn't care. After all, you are not his biological children."

He's not his biological son.

These words precisely pierced through the psychological defenses that Ziad had built up over the years, and his faded childhood memories suddenly came back to life.

The brothers and sisters' seemingly warm but actually distant gazes, the whispers hidden behind people's cautious respect, and the fleeting hesitation of the ministers when addressing them.
Yeah, after all, we're not biologically related.

A sharp, stinging rage, like thorns, began to spread wildly from the depths of his heart.

In fact, not only Harry, the older brother, but also Ziad, the younger brother, has some mental problems.

This is what is known as extremism, a black-and-white view of things, and once one gets stuck on a particular point, it can breed an extremely strong destructive urge.

However, these symptoms don't usually appear, which makes him seem like a normal person.

At this moment, King Shams was unable to give his brothers the unreserved love and trust they deserved as if they were his own sons. In his increasingly distorted interpretation, this gradually transformed from "the helplessness of the king and father" into "hypocritical charity" and "utter deception."

But outwardly, he still folded the announcement neatly and put it in his pocket.

“After I return to China, I will ask my father about all of this in person,” Ziad said calmly.

Suhail patted him on the shoulder, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

------

In the blink of an eye, four months have passed.

Spring in Arabia is short and indistinct; the days are still dry, but the nights are even colder than in the north.

For Lu Lin, his second winter in the Middle East was neither good nor bad; it was just that politics was not as naked and undisguised as the weather.

Over the past four months, the Sudari faction, led by King Shams, has launched a swift and brutal purge under the pretext of "avenging Prince Harry."

The royal forces and security services pounded down like an iron fist, uprooting countless families, large and small.

Their property was confiscated, and most of the family members mysteriously disappeared. Even Lu Lin didn't know where these people had been sent.

However, the purge of the Sudri faction did not have the expected deterrent effect. Instead, it stirred up a huge hornet's nest, with resistance coming from all directions, making the Sudri faction, which was promoting reforms, feel as if they were at odds with the entire country.

Some highly influential religious scholars have issued decrees publicly condemning television, women's education, and mixed-gender venues as "symbols of corrupt Western culture" that are eroding the nation's foundation of faith.

Meanwhile, tribal factions took advantage of the situation to stir up trouble. They secretly incited the people to resist the land acquisition for the construction of new schools and hospitals, and encouraged traditional merchants to strike, making the Sudri faction's grand "ten-year development plan" extremely difficult to implement, thus proving that the Sudri faction's policies were "unpopular".

In Riyadh, the establishment of every new school and the opening of every new hospital became fiercely contested battlegrounds between the two sides. Some officials appointed to implement reforms were quickly dismissed due to immense pressure or unearthed scandals. This made the Sudri faction realize that promoting the modernization of Shuangzhi was far more difficult than they had imagined.

As for Lu Lin, he had long since returned to the military base in Hafbar to manage his army.

From time to time, with the facilitation of the Ministry of Defense, he would also contact the Kingdom of Hashim or Surria to hold joint military exercises, claiming that they were necessary preparations to "counter the threat posed by Zion".

This tactic is usually very effective; whenever news of border military exercises reaches Riyadh, the domestic conflict will temporarily subside.

During this period, not only Shuangzhi, but also the situation in Arab countries was in turmoil.

Due to the defeat and humiliating treaty, Masr faced a surge of protests in the country, with calls for the president's resignation growing louder.
With the death of King Hashim and the hasty ascension of a new king, the influence of the Arafat people has grown day by day, and anti-Zion demonstrations have become commonplace in the country.
The huge war loans and the failure to retake Damascus fueled public discontent in Surrey, but Commander Hafez suppressed it with an iron fist.

Meanwhile, the Phoenicians also fought, and the four months did not bring an end to the civil war. Instead, the conflict continued to spread outward from Beirut, and the fighting gradually intensified.

------

Phoenicia, East Beirut.

This once-shining pearl of the Mediterranean is now mostly reduced to ruins.

Pierre, the leader of the Falange, sat at the head of the long table. Several months had passed, and his hair had turned almost completely white, but the flame of revenge in his deep-set eyes burned with an unusual calm yet fierce intensity.

“We have taken control of two-thirds of Beirut, but at the cost of huge casualties.”

"Although the PLO's overall military strength and weaponry are inferior to ours, they are extremely adept at urban warfare," said Kais, the militia's military commander, pointing to a city defense map covered with dense punctuation marks. "What's more troublesome is that their supporters in the Muslim areas inside and outside the city provide them with a continuous stream of soldiers."

"Unless we can drive all the Muslims and Arafats out of Phoenicia with overwhelming force, this war will never end!"

“It’s impossible to drive all the Muslims out,” sighed a bespectacled staff officer. “Unless we can kill most of the country’s population, the United Nations could drown us in their spittle, and the Phoenicians would bleed to death in the war!”

Since the Third Arab-Israeli War, a large number of refugees have poured into Phoenicia, and the country is now nearly 80% Muslim.

A suffocating silence fell over the conference room; everyone knew this was the harsh reality.

“However, we can take a different approach,” the staff officer said, changing the subject. “We cannot ‘eliminate’ all Muslims, but we can temporarily ‘control’ them with fear and an iron fist. Our main target is the core of the PLO’s armed forces. We will concentrate all our forces to carry out the most ruthless encirclement and elimination of them, cutting them off at the root!”

Some officers exchanged glances; the suggestion seemed to be heading in the right direction!

As the war has progressed, many Falange Party members have realized that their goal is not to expel Muslims, but rather the PLO.

Their strategic goal is to restore the country to its original Christian-dominated state.

"But how do we distinguish between those Muslims and PLO?" the commander-in-chief frowned. "Once they enter the civilian area, it's like fish entering the sea."

“This will require unconventional methods,” the staff officer laid the groundwork and offered his solution: “We don’t have much experience dealing with this kind of situation before, but we can ask experienced people to help us with this.”

He looked around, his gaze finally settling on the silent Chairman Pierre. “Our neighbor, Commander Hafez of Surya, rose to power under such circumstances by using an iron fist to suppress Islamic religious groups and local armed forces. If we can get his help, perhaps we can completely eradicate the PLO from Phoenicia.”

Pierre raised his head.

He's like a ghost haunting the world, seeking revenge.

The sight of his son and grandson being killed before his eyes had caused Pierre unbearable pain for months. Only when he personally executed the PLO guerrillas and expelled the Muslims could he briefly forget his suffering.

The advisor's words were like Pandora's box, waking Pierre up.

A terrifying light shone from his eyes.

But as he prepared to nod in agreement, a last shred of reason suppressed his desire for revenge, for he understood the calamity that would befall Phoenicia if he agreed.

"We cannot do this unless absolutely necessary."

Pierre's voice was hoarse: "The Falange can be the losers of Phoenicia, but they can never be the destroyers of Phoenicia."

(End of this chapter)