Children are primarily visual learners and learn everything like pictures. So if you teach them 100 common English words, that’s what they will learn. They do not have to learn numbers to read a word in English nor do they need any mathematical ability to read.
To them, reading is simply identifying the symbol (or word) and they will read those words that they know or have already learnt.
In fact, it is even possible to teach your child to read an entire book (their first naturally) without them even knowing the alphabet. Only when you begin to teach them phonics (and you should only do this when they are already familiar with the reading process) do they need to know the alphabet.
It is definitely useful to teach your child the alphabet earlier as it enhances their confidence but it is not necessary and they can start reading without it.