Chapter 21: Want a helicopter? Not giving

  As soon as they left the swampy area, they saw a bright light pillar shining in front of them from afar.

  Needless to say, the base personnel must have seen so many high-ranking staff members fail to return and started to get anxious.

  In order to prevent being discovered by Iranians, after entering the swamp, Zhang Feng ordered the radio station to be shut down, as a result, these people were anxious.

  It was pitch dark and they couldn't venture into the swamp to search, so they could only wait here.

  At the sound of the familiar roar of engines, they opened their eyes wide. The familiar silhouette of T-62 tanks and Type 63 armored vehicles reappeared in their line of sight.

  "Second Master, you're back! You've worried me to death." Gassar said as he saw Zhang Feng emerge from the armored vehicle. If anything happened to Second Master, Madam would never let him off the hook. Gassar knew he was just a small servant and couldn't possibly protect Second Master completely, but he still had to take on that responsibility.

  "Uh, don't worry, Gasal, put away the bath water and go back, I'll take a bath first," Zhang Feng said.

  Zhang Feng returned to his own house after parting with Muhammad.

  Although it's not a villa, it's already considered a good house here. The original owner was the chief of staff of the garrison stationed here, but after being eliminated by the military, everything was taken over by the state. The 35th Brigade had already sent a team to protect it.

  "Let's change to a less noticeable place tomorrow, this place is not safe." Zhang Feng said.

  "Yes, Second Young Master." Gassar replied.

  Although I like the feeling of living in a big house, now it's wartime and on newly occupied land, this place is not safe, who knows when a bomb will fall from the sky and make me see God in confusion.

  Soaking in a comfortable bathtub, Zhang Feng's body and mind were fully relaxed, and his brain was getting clearer and clearer.

  Because he suddenly thought of an aspect that had been severely neglected by himself: Now, the air force strength of Iranians is at its weakest.

  F-14 Tomcat, always its own worst enemy, but in the early days of the Iran-Iraq War, the Iranians were able to deploy only a few, as some had been grounded due to lack of spare parts and were being cannibalized for parts to keep other jets flying. They focused on defending key areas such as the capital.

  Iranians have to pay a high price for parts from arms dealers.

  It wasn't until later that the situation was alleviated when the United States secretly shipped a batch of parts to Iran.

  And Iran's main attack helicopter, AH-1 Cobra, is also in a similar situation as the one I saw.

  The Iran-Iraq War vividly illustrates a truth: strong national defense cannot be bought. The Baathist government was extremely pro-American and possessed many American-made weapons, including F-14 fighter jets that even Israel envied.

  However, after the overthrow of Pahlavi and Khomeini's rise to power, he spared no effort in opposing the United States, this great Satan, and Iran's US-made weapons lost their chance for rebirth.

  What if the helicopter he saw was the last one that could take off in Iran? Zhang Feng thought maliciously.

  To make Iraq's takeoff a real giant, independent industry is absolutely indispensable.

  In the warm water, Zhang Feng's heart completely calmed down.

  What a comfortable life it would be if there were no wars, as the son of the president! Zhang Feng looked at Gassar's busy shadow and thought that even in the army, he could enjoy such privileges, with someone taking care of his food and daily life. Although it wasn't a beautiful maid, it was still an absolutely comfortable life.

  "Kasal, get me the phone number of the military district," Zhang Feng said.

  In this era, there were no conveniences like having a mobile phone in every hand or even several phones per person. Not even brick-sized mobile phones had appeared yet. However, in this bathroom, there was an extension of the telephone.

  Gassar quickly answered the phone.

  Zhang Feng picked up the phone, and on the other end was his uncle, Izzat Ibrahim, commander of the Southern Military Region.

  "Hey, uncle," Zhang Feng said warmly, completely without the imposing air he had when he was in the military district headquarters.

  Hearing such a passionate voice, Ibrahimbay also said: "Abdulla, how does it feel in the 35th Brigade?"

  "Uncle, everything is fine here, it's just a bit lacking in equipment," Zhang Feng said.

  As soon as Ibrahim heard this, he knew that this kid was definitely up to something.

  "Come on, Abdulla, what's in the Southern Military District that you can lay your eyes on? Muhammad got lucky this time, now his troops need a blood transfusion, but don't think about asking me for the latest tanks, okay?" Ibrahim said with a smile.

  Apart from the T-62, in Iraq, the most advanced ones were imported from the Soviet Union, namely the T-72. However, Zhang Feng knew that these tanks were not even worth thinking about, and even in the Southern Military Region, there were only a few of them, which were all allocated to the Tikrit Division as priority equipment.

  "Uncle, the officers and men of the 35th Brigade are already very satisfied with the T-62. They can even hit targets at a distance of 1,500 meters." Zhang Feng first praised them, then said: "However, you should know that the Iranian Chieftain tanks are very difficult to deal with, so can you send some armed helicopters over?"

  Zhang Feng tentatively expressed his needs, and suddenly felt that the other party was stunned.

  However, it is also rare to have helicopters and tanks organized together. Even in China, the army aviation troops were only established during the large-scale downsizing of the military in 1985. Before that, all helicopters belonged to the air force.

  If our armored forces can get support from armed helicopters at any time, it will be a earth-shaking change.

  "After waiting for half a day, the other party still didn't speak, so Zhang Feng had to say again: 'Uncle, I don't need to go first, just give me some Mi-24s, twenty would be enough, more than that is useless, and there's enough space here for them to land.'"

  Mi-24 helicopter codenamed "Female Deer", because compared to Western armed helicopters, this helicopter has a big belly that can carry infantry, facilitating joint operations and making it look more cumbersome. This type of helicopter just meets the needs of Zhang Feng's special warfare, searching for the enemy's fuel supply point on the helicopter, discovering it, and then the special forces parachute down to attack, with the helicopter providing cover, everything will go smoothly.

  On the other end of the phone, Ibrahim had already fainted. In his mind, his nephew was asking for guns, cannons and ammunition, which were all easy to satisfy. He didn't expect him to have such a big appetite.

  The Thirty-Fifth Army is just a reserve force, not a combat force. What's the point of arming helicopters? It's just a waste, twenty would be enough. Do you think armed helicopters are like cars? The entire Southern Military Region only has fifty armed helicopters, and they're mostly in Abadan on the front lines. Where did he get so many helicopters to play with?

  "Abdulla, this helicopter is really impossible to withdraw. Why don't you discuss with the president and let him allocate two from Baghdad for you?"

  Baghdad? Cunning Ibrahim, that damned bureaucracy, go ask the old man to dispatch a helicopter? Or from the capital? Who has such great face? If not, then forget it.

  The Iranians are going to attack from this side, I know it's true, now the commander and staff of the 35th Brigade also have a premonition, but after all, there is not enough intelligence, I went to the swamp and saw a helicopter, if I told my uncle about this, he would definitely blame me for running to the swamp, as for the helicopter, his 100,000 soldiers under him, seeing helicopters many times, it's nothing to be surprised about.

  In fact, Zhang Feng had a small idea in his heart. If he could turn the tide this time and thoroughly repel the Iranian attack, he would gain more weight in his father's heart.

  His brother Uday was fundamentally incompetent, violent and a sadist, he would never be a suitable successor. For the future of Iraq, he had to demonstrate his own abilities.

  "Alright, uncle, let's forget about the helicopter." Zhang Feng had no choice but to compromise, "However, I need some individual firearms."

  Ibrahim smiled contentedly, this is more like it, individual weapons are abundant in the warehouses of the Southern Military Region, and this time Muhammad will be lucky.