In the past two months, a certain "world policeman" who cares about other people's affairs has encountered Waterloo in the Middle East - in order to defend his little brother Israel, Lao Mei, who is well-trained and armed to the teeth, and Yemen's Houthi rebels who wear slippers to fight have just come face to face.
I thought that sending a few helicopters to drop a few missiles would make the other party bow its head and admit its mistake, but I didn't expect to let myself fold several ships and let the whole world see my joke.
What is the origin of the "slipper army" Houthis, who can actually punch Lao Mei?
The name Houthis come from a traditional tribe in the mountains of Yemen, where the government is not very well governed, and the people are struggling to make ends meet, many of whom are fed up with this life, and together they have established rebels and named themselves after the Houthis.
When they first made their fortunes, the Houthis were poor and clanged, there were no decent weapons, and the few military pickup trucks were still converted from domestic pickup trucks. In terms of weapons and equipment, it can only be said that talk is better than nothing. The soldiers did not even have official uniforms and shoes, and many soldiers had to wear slippers to fight.
At first, no one took this ragtag army seriously. As a result, in early 2016, the Houthis made a big move. They even fired missiles at Saudi Arabia and killed 10 Saudi soldiers, and the war became famous. Now everyone is wondering: these "slipper army" who can't even make up a few pickup trucks from the poor countryside,
Where did you get such a high-precision weapon as missiles?
Countries that are also puzzled by this compare the Houthi missiles with the database and find that they were produced by Iran. It turned out that the Houthis had Iranian backing behind them.
But why would Iran come to his aid? Actually, the reason is simple: Iran has always been at odds with Saudi Arabia, and Yemen, where the Houthis are located, is right next to the southern edge of Arabia, which is an ideal place to harass Arabia on a daily basis.
Thus, after having a common interest, Iran generously provided the Houthis with weapons and ammunition, and the support of military experts. The Houthis did not live up to Iran's trust, throwing a few missiles at the Arab house every now and then to hear the sound, and the other side had a headache.
So, Saudi Arabia joined forces with the United Arab Emirates and other countries to teach him a lesson to be honest. As a result, the situation was even worse, and the equipment of countries such as the Arab and United Arab Emirates was robbed by the Houthis to expand their ammunition depots, which is really in line with the old saying "give a thousand miles to the head".
With the replenishment of ammunition depots, the Houthis have emerged as a formidable force in the Middle East and can play an important role in the changing situation. Since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Yemen's Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, have made a big move to give Israeli cargo ships a taste of missiles.
In October 2023, Houthi drones and missiles packed up several Israeli merchant ships in support of the Palestinians. But then it turned out that Israel's mind was turning too fast, and they stopped transporting their own goods, but borrowed ships from other countries to transport their own goods. Seeing this, the Houthis simply went on and announced indiscriminate attacks on all ships going to Israeli ports.
From the beginning of November 2023 to the present, the Houthis have indiscriminately bombed ships passing through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, going to Israel or related to Israel, and have been shelled 17 times, drones, missiles, helicopters, all means, for fear of accidentally letting a ship go.
As a result, Israel's Red Sea supply lines were basically cut off. But it's not just Israel that suffers, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait is an important shipping route for trade between Europe and Asia, and ships from all over the world come and go from here. If they don't let them go, all the ships will have to make a big bend from the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, travel more than 10,000 kilometers, and spend an extra 10 to 15 days wandering on the road.
Of course, the most affected must be Israel, 90% of their economy depends on shipping, Israel sees Yemen doing this, anxious like ants on a hot pot, can only find big brother Lao Mei to administer justice for himself.
Lao Mei, as the eldest brother of Israel, how can she watch her little brother being bullied. But behind the Houthis is Iran, one of the most powerful in the Middle East, in order to avoid a long-term tug-of-war. Lao Mei wanted to pull in some countries in Europe and the Middle East to escort Israeli ships, and the operation was codenamed "Guardian of Prosperity".
Who knew that Lao Mei, who had responded to every call in the past, was deflated this time, and all countries symbolically sent a few people to mean it, and Lao Mei failed to shake many people in the end.
But the water that is spilled out of the words is worth it even if it is "acting alone".
Lao Mei thought that with his own personal escort, the other party would definitely not dare to act rashly, but would the Houthis give him this face?
On December 31, 2023, a Danish cargo ship was attacked by four "Houthi" and asked Lao Mei for help. The United States immediately sent two helicopters to support, and in the clash with the "Houthis", the helicopters of the United States sank three Houthi ships and killed 10 of their militants.
At this point, the two are officially on board. Since then, the two sides have exchanged "courtesies" and attacked each other's ships without allowing anyone.
On January 9, 2024, the Houthis attacked a U.S. warship with missiles and drones in retaliation for previous injuries.
On the morning of January 12, before dawn, American and British warplanes staged a "fireworks show" in the night sky of Yemen. The flames pierced the night sky like fireworks for the New Year, but they were no good thing, as they opened fire on targets in the Houthi in Yemen.
With the sound of "bang bang bang" explosions, the whole city shuddered with fear, and the night sky was lit up like day. The Houthis said that this time, the US-British coalition threw a total of 73 "gift bags", which ultimately killed five people and injured six others.
On January 13, before everyone had recovered from the previous day's air raids, the troops of the United States and Britain came to "send warmth" to Sana'a, the capital of Yemen. The airstrikes were larger and longer, and the city felt as if it had been thrown into a furnace. Explosions, cries, cries for help all mingled.
Not to be outdone, Houthi spokesmen on the evening of January 15 publicly stated that the Houthis had "delivered a courier" to a US ship in the Gulf of Aden with multiple missiles, and that they had successfully hit the target.
He also warned the United States and Britain that they had set their sights on all American and British warships in the nearby waters, and that if anyone dared to approach the Yemeni coast, they would not be blamed for being unkind.
On January 17, Lao Mei was furious when she saw that the Houthis were not only so arrogant but also did not bow their heads. They have directly put Yemen's Houthi on the list of "specially designated global terrorists" in order to cut off the source of funds and weapons from the other side, so that they can no longer disrupt the Red Sea shipping lanes.
However, this move by the US government did not make the Houthis back down, but rather provoked the anger of the latter. On January 18, the U.S. military made another sortie to destroy the Houthi missile facilities used to attack ships in the Red Sea, the fifth operation in the week. So far, the U.S. military was not satisfied, and carried out several airstrikes on Yemen that night.
Subsequently, the Houthis strongly condemned the US interference in Yemen's internal affairs via television. They said Yemen has the right to decide for itself which country to support, and as for Israel, it will not stop until they stop their atrocities against Pakistan.
Lao Mei is the world's number one military power, why is it so hard to fight a small slipper army?
In terms of weapons and equipment, although the United States dropped more than 150 cruise missiles and bombs on Yemen and successfully killed about 60 targets, this only weakened their attack power by about 20% or 30%.
The Houthis cleverly hide most of their missiles on easy-to-move launch pads, so that they can hide in a different place in time, so that the U.S. military cannot fight and maintain their counterattack capabilities.
If they want to completely make it impossible for them to launch an attack on the sea, the United States will have to throw nearly 1,000 precision-guided munitions.
On the other side of the Red Sea, the US military currently has one nuclear submarine, four or five destroyers, and cruisers, totaling about 400 Tomahawk missiles. It's not even close to 1,000 pieces. Moreover, these weapons cannot all be used in one place, and must be kept for conflicts elsewhere. So, although the U.S. warplanes and warships on the Red Sea side look quite intimidating, it is a bit reluctant to really destroy the Houthis.
Another very important point is that Lao Mei herself does not want the war to expand. Although it is ostensibly attacking Yemen from different places, it has united with other countries to send "gift packages". But the scope of these attacks has always been the Houthi missiles, radars, drone facilities, etc., in order to deprive the other side of the ability to retaliate. As for whether the United States will continue to increase its participation in the ground armed forces, the White House itself said that "we are not interested in going to war with Yemen"
On the other hand, the Houthis have a diverse inventory of anti-ship weapons, and although they have been bombed by the British and American air forces, they still retain the vast majority of their forces to control the Red Sea.
Another hesitant point for Britain and the United States is that the cost gap between the two sides is too large. According to their estimates, the cost of the Houthi drones is no more than $2,000 at most, but on the British and American side, even the cheaper drones cost $20,000, and the cost alone is nearly ten times worse.
There are also "Sea Viper" missiles on British destroyers that cost more than 1 million pounds, and the old United States is only a lot more, using such missiles to shoot down the opponent's drone of several thousand dollars, the more the battle is fought by Britain and the United States, the more painful it is, once the Houthis use their local advantages to stretch the front, then the cost of this war will further rise.
Lao Mei has been busy with Britain for more than two months, and now she feels a little difficult to ride a tiger: if she continues to aid Israel, it is really not cost-effective. If you don't help Israel anymore, then the missiles you used before will be wasted. The Houthis, the anti-American pioneer, have a tough attitude and do not want to make concessions at all, and it is difficult for the United States to ride a tiger now, and other countries are also watching his jokes, just to see how the United States will save its dignity.