Chapter Thirty-Four, Departure of the Thirty-Fifth Regiment

  "Brothers, the detestable Persians, attempted to export their Islamic revolution to us and turn us into their puppets." Muhammad said: "In defense of our motherland, we waged this war with indignation and achieved unprecedented victories."

  The officers and men of the 35th Brigade gathered on the scene, with no sound, only the voice of Brigade Commander Muhammad echoing in the air.

  "The accursed Persians are not willing to accept defeat, now they have come again from the side of the marshes. If we allow them to break through our defenses, Basra, Abadan, Karun River, our comrades who are still fighting will be attacked from both front and back." Muhammad said: "In front of us are the Iranian Chieftain tanks, we must use our war chariots to annihilate the Chieftains in the marshes, we cannot let them break through our defenses! Long live Allah! Iraq will surely win!"

  "Long live the Lord! Iraq will surely win!" The officers and men of the 35th Brigade were all inspired with a strong fighting spirit.

  "Now we mount our tanks and wipe out those accursed Persians!" Muhammad ordered.

  "Yes sir!" The armored troops of the 35th Brigade boarded their tanks and started the engines.

  "Boom, boom!" One after another, the tanks emerged from behind, emitting black smoke, and started smoothly in combat formation, advancing towards the swamp.

  Muhammad got into the armored command vehicle behind, following the 63rd Armored Regiment, and advancing with the tank formation. In addition to some armored infantry fighting vehicles, there were also a small number of ZSU-57-2 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns. This twin-barreled 57mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun used the same chassis as the tank, with a high rate of fire of up to 4,000 rounds per minute, and was suitable for dealing with Iranian helicopters.

  Three tank battalions, a total of 108 tanks, were all deployed. Because Zhang Yang had discovered the Iranian's movement in advance, although the troops were resting, the 35th Brigade did not relax at all. No soldier was allowed to take leave, and the armored vehicles were well maintained. Moreover, each vehicle guaranteed sufficient ammunition, full fuel, and was ready to be deployed at any time.

  Thus, the Thirty-Fifth Division created a miracle for the Iraqi Army, as it was able to prepare for battle and advance into the combat zone within fifteen minutes of learning that an enemy armored force had launched a surprise attack.

  The only deficiency was that all the gunners and tank commanders were studying the use of the T-62's fire control system under Elrad's explanation, so that they could shoot at a distance of 1,500 meters. However, in these few days, they had not yet had time to actually practice shooting, and it was hard to say how effective they would be.

  The T-62 tank held its gun high, rocking back and forth constantly.

  The ones who charged at the front were the 35th Brigade led by Harat, with Elrad's 3rd Company in the first battalion and the second battalion behind.

  Several armored reconnaissance vehicles quickly passed through the entire team and drove forward. Their mission was to rely on visual observation to discover the whereabouts of the Iranians as soon as possible, and then formally hand over the battle to the tank regiment.

  The tracks of the Type 63 armored scout car first entered the swamp.

  Although it had rained, the sunshine here was somewhat treacherous, and many places were no longer so muddy. The driver only felt the ups and downs, sometimes feeling the tracks sliding sideways, but everything was under control.

  The over-40-ton T-62 tank followed and entered the swamp, instantly feeling a great deal of difficulty with its engine. The driver downshifted and floored it, just to make sure they wouldn't get stuck.

  Even the T-62, which is good at swampy terrain, felt struggling. How did the Iranian commander do it? All armored soldiers had this question, but they also knew that this was certain and they would soon encounter Iranian tanks.

  The tribal-style tanks are now lined up in a row on the temporarily constructed road, waiting for the cement to solidify in front.

  If it weren't for the doe causing trouble, we could have driven out of the swamp by now! The commander of the first armored battalion, Hila'de, stood on the turret, looking at the waiting Chieftain tanks behind him with some helplessness.

  The helicopters in the sky also returned to base, CH-47 needs to go back and transport cement again, and Cobra has been flying in the air for several hours and needs to return to refuel.

  At this time, the sky was floating with white clouds, it was a rare good weather. The sun had already slid to the west, and in another two or three hours, it would probably be dark. At the current pace, it would just get out of the swamp when night fell, which wasn't bad either. Under the cover of night, it was very advantageous for the attacking side.

  The soldiers all jumped out of the sweltering tank and stood around in twos and threes discussing something.

  Let them relax a bit, Sheila knew that the working environment of tank soldiers was extremely harsh, with high temperatures, high noise levels, and polluted air. The inside of the tank was like a movable coffin.

  Xila looked at the little boy beside him and then glanced back into the distance.

  Only in the distance, several small black dots appeared, moving towards this direction.

  "What is it?" Sheila immediately picked up the military high-power binoculars hanging on her chest.

  This sight gave him a big surprise: it was one, not two armored vehicles. Judging from the appearance, it should be an Iraqi-equipped Type 63 armored vehicle.

  They came so quickly!

  "Hurry, the Iraqis are coming, prepare for battle!" Shila shouted.

  The armored soldiers who were lazy just now suddenly became energetic and quickly jumped onto their tanks, which roared to life.

  "Target is still three kilometers away, pay attention to aim, as soon as the opponent approaches, open fire immediately." Sheila commanded through the wireless radio, after shouting just now, he also jumped back into the turret and operated the wireless radio.

  At the same time, he picked up another radio microphone and shouted: "Report to the superior officer, I am the armored first regiment, my unit has encountered the enemy, my unit has encountered the enemy."

  The tank that Xi La De was in was a command vehicle, so it had two radios. One with relatively small power, with a range of only 20 kilometers, responsible for contacting all lower-level tanks. The other with greater power, covering a range of 100 kilometers, responsible for contacting higher-ups.

  So, all tanks had two whip antennas at the rear, while lower-level combat vehicles only had one radio set. However, to confuse the enemy, all tanks were equipped with two antennas, one of which was useless. Otherwise, during battles, as long as the enemy aimed at the tanks with two antennas and hit them, they would be command vehicles.

  In the No. 30 MK1 periscope, the enemy had already entered a distance of two thousand meters.

  "First platoon, prepare to fire armor-piercing shells with stabilizer fins. Destroy the enemy at 1,800 meters. Second and third platoons, be on high alert." Shira ordered.

  The other side has only a few armored vehicles, and one company of twelve tanks. Even if three artillery shells hit one tank, it can still be solved.

  At this time, the tank had already started, and the hydraulic motor drove the turret to rotate in the direction of the approaching armored vehicles. The vehicle commander had already tracked the opponent's route through the fire control system.

  "Squad leader, do we have to get so close? If we get any closer, we'll be within the enemy tank's firing range and won't even be able to escape," a soldier on the lead armored reconnaissance vehicle said to his squad leader.

  At this time, the other party's trail had been discovered, and the reconnaissance mission was supposed to be completed. However, the stubborn squad leader continued to move forward without stopping.

  No matter how thick the armor plate of the 63-style armored vehicle is, it can't withstand the attack of an armor-piercing bullet at all. It's extremely dangerous to get so close.

  The monitor, however, stubbornly moved forward, because he suddenly felt that these Iranian tanks were a bit strange. They just pointed their barrels at themselves, but didn't fire to annihilate themselves. This was unthinkable. It's common knowledge that once an armored vehicle is discovered by a tank, it means annihilation. But now the other side just stood still, there must be a problem.

  He chose to approach slowly, and finally, relying on his vision, he saw where the opponent's tank was staying, with a grayish-white thing that was very inconsistent with the swamp.

  It turned out that the answer was here! He revealed a smile and quickly stepped on the brake, shifting into reverse gear.

  "Boom!" The chieftain opposite him had finally opened fire.

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