Chapter Eighteen: Reconnaissance of the Swamp

  "Traveling is long, under us, we go to the swamp land to take a look, can?" Zhang Feng asked.

  Marshland? Muhammad was very surprised: "Kusayy, down there it's all marshes as deep as our knees. What is there to see? You must be tired too, let's rest for a while!"

  "Since you are stationed here by order, you should be familiar with everything here like your own body. This swamp is just a swamp, but it must have an outline, right? How long is it? How wide is it? Is there any solid road in the middle?"

  "Isn't it unnecessary? That swamp, except for birds flying over..." Muhammad suddenly realized something: "Kusayy, what do you mean?"

  "God is above, nobody knows where the Iranians will pop up from, we are fighting on Iranian territory after all, and we are not familiar with the terrain here. If by chance we encounter an ambush, I'm afraid we'll be at a great disadvantage." Zhang Feng said.

  Will the Iranians attack from the swamp? That's too evil! Muhammad sucked in a breath, if the Iranians really came from here, his own army would be defeated miserably in this situation!

  If this place is occupied by the Iranians, they can directly insert into the rear of the troops besieging Abadan from here, and the entire southern military region will face a major defeat.

  But isn't this a bit like worrying about something that won't happen? How could Iranians possibly come from the swamp?

  Zhang Feng was certain that the Iranians would come.

  War is a deceitful affair, coming from this place, the defending army will definitely be caught off guard.

  "Alright, let's go take a look," Muhammad said, calling over an armored command vehicle.

  This is a 63-style armored personnel carrier that has been modified to go into the swamp, and an ordinary off-road vehicle is probably powerless.

  As the brigade commander of an armored brigade, Muhammad had his own command tank. However, there were too few people in the tank and it was too cramped with little space, so an armored command vehicle was also equipped.

  Zhang Feng got on the armored vehicle with his two subordinates: Waleed and Marwan. Ghasaal had already gone ahead to help him prepare food and accommodation.

  Muhammad got on an armored vehicle with several staff officers. More than a dozen people sat in the armored command vehicle and headed to the swamp together.

  To prevent getting stuck in the swamp, a tank followed behind, driven by Ali, and trailed an armored vehicle. In case of trouble, the armored command vehicle could be towed out, and if encountering enemies, the tank's firepower could provide cover.

  Muhammad was worried that Zhang Feng would not be able to adapt to the bumps of the armored vehicle, but unexpectedly, Zhang Feng fixed himself in his seat and sat very steadily.

  At the beginning, when Zhang Feng first drove an armored vehicle, he was shaken by that unscrupulous driver until he was dizzy and disoriented. He, who had never been carsick before, even vomited out his bile. Later, after repeated training, this level of bumpiness didn't mean anything to Zhang Feng anymore.

  When driving into the edge of the marsh, Zhang Feng got out to take a look. The land here had obviously started to become soft and had thick vegetation, just like the muddy roads in the countryside after a rain, extremely slippery.

  If it weren't for knowing the history, Zhang Feng really wouldn't dare to believe that even tracked vehicles passing through here are also dangerous. Iran's big beard sometimes is indeed daring to innovate.

  Looking at the thick swamp, the driver was a bit overwhelmed, but under Zhang Feng's insistence, the armored vehicle driver still pushed the operating lever, stepped on the accelerator and drove into the swamp.

  The engine roared loudly, and since it was placed unobstructed on the driver's right side, the noise inside the vehicle was extremely loud. Despite this, the driver perked up his ears, and at that moment, what he least wanted to hear was the sound of the tracks spinning idly, which meant they were in for trouble!

  Zhang Feng had already opened the hatch on top of the armored vehicle and was standing on it, able to see everything around him clearly.

  This is a uninhabited area, where mud and plants are intertwined in a complex manner. Due to the low terrain, accumulated rainwater cannot be drained, making this place muddy and impassable.

  However, the mud splashed by the track later clearly told itself: the armored vehicle can fully perform its duties here.

  As for the tanks in the back, it's a bit of a stretch.

  The T-62 tank's tracks are wider, but its weight is nearly 40 tons, resulting in a higher ground pressure than the Type 63 armored car, making it difficult to handle this type of road.

  Ali was not pleased, this parachuted into the Ministry of Travel Kusay, that is Saddam's son, may be the new President of Iraq in the future, originally wanted to perform well, but reality made himself look like a clown, a carefully prepared performance became unrecognizable.

  Now, he is driving the tank with full attention, afraid of any unexpected situation, although there is a travel blanket, if he is not careful, the tank will get stuck in the swamp and become a non-combat loss, which will be very unfavorable to his future development.

  "General, this swamp is indeed terrifying, but our armored vehicles can still get through. In other words, if those despicable Persians really choose to break through here, their tanks may be able to tear through our defense lines from here," Zhang Feng said.

  Everything has to be investigated before speaking, Muhammad was originally disdainful of this swamp, everyone knows that it is impossible for vehicles to pass through this swamp, but now that his armored vehicle can pass through without much effort, then the defense deployment here needs to be re-examined.

  He suddenly realized that this Kusayr base was very mysterious, and it accurately predicted the route of the Israeli air raid. Could he have predicted that the Iranians would attack from here?

  God is above, these lands were won by the Iraqi army with blood and fire, they absolutely cannot be lost! Muhammad made up his mind.

  Looking at the dim yellow sunlight, the sky had darkened, Muhammad said: "Kusay, it's getting late, let's go back!"

  Zhang Feng knew that being anxious was useless, and there was still about half a month before the Iranian's action. This half-month period was enough for him to thoroughly investigate the entire swamp area here, where it was easy to pass through, where the swamp was thicker, and he had to be fully prepared. Even if it meant losing a few armored vehicles, it was worth it.

  Moreover, we must quickly train the tanks to enable the gunners to grasp the essentials of long-range shooting; otherwise, once a tank battle begins, our own tanks will be very passive.

  "Turn back and go." Zhang Feng finally agreed.

  After a day, Zhang Feng also felt that his whole body was tired like scattered bones. This little body of Kusai has not been trained yet, it seems that in spare time, he still needs to seize the time to train and practice until his whole body is full of muscles again.

  The driver pulled the left turn lever and the armored vehicle made a smooth U-turn, heading back in the opposite direction.

  Ali saw the armored vehicle in front of him start to turn around and head back, he let out a sigh of relief, today's mission was finally completed. He stepped on the brakes, and the tank came to a stop.

  Then Ali showed off his skills and wanted to let Kusayyim see that he wasn't weak either, and that his tank driving abilities were very strong.

  This tank, wanting to achieve a stationary turn, is simply impossible, because it's impossible to control the two tracks reversing. However, by stopping one track and making the other track rotate quickly, it can still achieve a minimum radius turn.

  Ali shifted into low gear, floored it, pulled the control stick and the tank's left track began to rotate rapidly while the right track rotated around a central point, allowing for a quick turn.

  At this time, the Type 63 armored vehicle just turned around and Zhang Feng was on the armored vehicle. He saw the tank in front performing this stunt and was shocked at once.

  How stupid! This arrogant Ali Lianchang!

  PS: Thanks for the evaluation votes from Faxis, I got up at more than 4 am this morning and finally coded a chapter. I will try to code another chapter tonight. Thank you to all readers who care about the Babylon Empire, I will do my best to update continuously in the future, thank you for your support!