If the Houthis succeed grinding down the bulk of the Hadi army forces around the city and collapsing the Ma'rib front that unhinges the entire Hadi govt position in Yemen and opens the door to a repeat of the 2014 scenario. https://twitter.com/Ndawsari/status/1361099572181938183

Ma'rib city is located at a key road junction connecting the Saudi border & northern Hadramawt, Sanaa and Shabwah. Also hosts the 3rd MRC concentration of forces and Safir oil infrastructure. The Houthis have historically done pretty badly at open-desert warfare but if Ma'rib

goes it seems pretty likely that remaining Saudi-backed Yemeni forces will pull back toward Wadiah. The clears the way for a Houthi blitz across northern Yemen via al-Abr toward Wadi Hadramawt and down into the Shabwah & its energy infrastructure and then we're back to late 2014.