Reza’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean? What day is my execution scheduled?”
Vahid looked at Reza calmly. “Today. In one hour.”
Now Reza looked at Vahid in shock. “One hour? That’s ridiculous! I have the right of appeal!”
Vahid shook his head. “An ordinary criminal does. But you’re not one of those, you’re a mass murderer. And you’ve already been tried by our highest authority, the Assembly of Experts, and your sentence has been confirmed by the Supreme Leader.”
Reza stared at Vahid wild-eyed. “The Supreme Leader? Who is he?”
Vahid cocked his head, and waited for realization to dawn.
Reza’s breath hissed between his teeth. “You… You can’t do this! Our troops will make it to Riyadh! We can overthrow the Saudis! You’re throwing away a great future for our country!”
Vahid just smiled sadly, and shook his head.
“Your plan was always insane, Reza. It’s time for the rest of us to deal with the consequences of your madness.”
Vahid started to walk away, and then turned. “And it is time for you to meet the final judgment, that sooner or later comes to us all.”
Chapter Twenty Eight
As he sat in the cupola of his M1A2 tank with the rest of the force moving to intercept the Qataris, Prince Ali bin Sultan played back the argument he’d had with the Crown Prince in his head and tried to imagine how he could have convinced him. Ali had argued for another air strike against the Qataris, who had already had their two hundred Leopards thinned out considerably by both the American cluster bomb attack and the RSAF’s Hellfires. Another round of Hellfires, in Ali’s view, might well have inflicted enough damage to make the Qataris turn back.
The Crown Prince had vetoed that plan, noting first that they needed air assets to be available in case the northern invaders made it past the relatively weaker force commanded by Jamal Al-Qahtani sent to oppose them, especially if during the battle Jamal’s forces were successful in destroying their anti-air missile launcher. He also pointed out that some of the Qatari tanks would probably survive, and might make it to Riyadh. That was a risk they simply couldn’t take.
Ali thought the bigger risk was splitting his armor so that his deputy commander would have to attack the cloaked force coming from the north with fewer tanks than he probably needed for victory. The Crown Prince countered that Ali could swing north once the Qataris were defeated and finish off any northern invaders still left, plus the tanks on their way back from Yemen would be in Riyadh soon.
Ali pointed out that nothing guaranteed the northern force would stick to its previous slow pace, and that both his force and the tanks from Yemen quite simply might not get back in time. He didn’t say that his force could also be defeated by the Qataris, because he never thought for a minute that was possible.
The Crown Prince had then explained that the surviving strike aircraft had to be refueled and rearmed, and that would take as much time as driving his already prepared tanks to meet the enemy. Besides, he’d added tartly, “you won’t have to drive far.”
What the Crown Prince didn’t tell Ali was that he’d been shocked by the losses the QEAF had inflicted on the RSAF, and didn’t want to send out its pilots again so soon. It was unfortunate for Ali that Khaled bin Fahd wasn’t still alive, since he would have insisted on pressing home the air attack against the Qatari armored force. Khaled would have also known that his pilots weren’t asking for rest, and instead wanted nothing more than to strike back against the country that had cut short the lives of so many of their friends.
Ali’s tanks were loaded with the 120 mm APFSDS-T M829A2 round. It was two generations behind the rounds used by American M1A2s, having been introduced in 1994. Against Houthi forces this had not been an issue.
Against the Qataris’ Leopard 2, Ali feared it would be.
It certainly was an improvement over the M829A1. A classified manufacturing process improved the structural quality of the depleted uranium penetrator and there were new composites for the sabot and a new propellant, which all added up to improved penetrator performance.
Combined, these features increased the muzzle velocity of the M829A2 by 100 m/sec to 1,675 m/sec.
By contrast, the Qataris’ Leopard 2s fired the DM-53 round. It featured a temperature-independent propulsion system (TIPS) which improved accuracy, particularly in the face of the wide temperature ranges often found on the Arabian Peninsula.
Which would be more effective? Since M1A2s had never faced off against Leopard 2s, they were about to find out.
The Saudis weren’t blind to the Leopard’s advantages. They had tried to buy Leopards since the Leopard 1 was introduced in the 1980s, but been stymied by European concerns over its human rights record. Initially successful at obtaining German approval for an order of two hundred Leopard 2s, Saudi military intervention in Bahrain in 2011 and renewed concern over human rights led to the order’s cancellation.
After the American’s drone attack and their own air strikes with Mavericks all Ali knew for sure was that the Qataris no longer had two hundred Leopards. Just how many was anyone’s guess, especially because an unknown number were outfitted with that cursed camouflage netting, this time one that had apparently been made by a European company specifically for the Leopard 2 tank. At least, none of the Qataris' other vehicles had it.
Ali had many advantages, though. Even in the unlikely event that the Leopards abandoned the highway and struck out cross-country, he knew their destination. Not only was the capital the obvious target, but the Qataris’ route since crossing the border also pointed like an arrow straight at Riyadh.
Bolstering this edge was the unexpected addition of an American Reaper drone, which for now Ali was using strictly for reconnaissance. Camouflage might help conceal some of their numbers, but it didn’t stop him from knowing where the bulk of the Qatari force was located, and their heading.
These advantages paled, though, in the face of what Ali could do now that destruction of the two Qatari S-300s had been confirmed. They were finally going to be able to deploy their Apache attack helicopters. Though Ali knew the Qataris must have other anti-air assets, he doubted they could cope with all eight Apaches he had for this battle.
The good news was that these eight Apaches had just been upgraded to the latest AH-64E standard, that the Americans called “Guardian” in place of the earlier “Longbow.” It featured multiple improvements including a more powerful engine, new composite rotor blades giving it increased speed, climb rate and payload capacity, and improved radar.
The bad news was that many of their existing Apaches were still being upgraded in Arizona, and the ones they had most recently purchased hadn’t yet been manufactured. With some Apaches yet to return from Yemen, he’d only been able to spare five for the force that would attack the northern invaders. Ali thought about the S-300 they would be facing, and said a silent prayer for their pilots.
The news was also mixed for the nearly one hundred Bradley APCs Ali had available for this battle. On the one hand they were plentiful, since none had been sent back to America for refurbishment like the Apaches. On the other, they were still the M2A2 model, two upgrades behind the Americans.
Its TOW II anti-tank missile would almost certainly fail to penetrate a Leopard’s frontal armor but a flanking hit might damage it, or at least knock off its treads. It was also still a match for the Qataris’ APC, the Mowag Piranha.
Knowing where the Qataris were and where they were headed allowed Ali to deploy his Abrams tanks, Bradley APCs and Apache helicopters to maximum effect. Ali planned to hit the Qatari force both directly and on each flank, with the aim of bringing overwhelming firepower to bear. Any vehicle without camouflage would be engaged first, simply because they would be far easier to target. Then, Ali would deal with the camouflaged survivors.