Chapter 49: Preparations

  The night was deep, and the CH-47 Chinook helicopters took off from the base at Al Asad, flying away lightly like an eagle.

  At this time, the big belly of the CH-47 was filled with fuel and ammunition urgently needed by the armored division.

  No fuel, tanks are useless; no ammunition, tanks can only choose to escape.

  The afternoon battle also consumed a lot of ammunition.

  The ammunition base of the tribal tank is 64 rounds, but because this mission is to strike the rear of the Iraqi army, half of the shells are howitzers, which is the preferred type for breaking through the enemy's defense line.

  But unexpectedly, in the marshy area, a fierce tank battle broke out as the enemy's armored brigade desperately blocked our way.

  Grenades are ammunition that contain powerful explosives, relying on the fragments produced by explosions and the energy generated by explosive explosions to achieve lethal damage. Against infantry, this is a deadly weapon, against fortifications, it can also pose a threat, but against tanks, it is far from enough.

  Against tanks, the main type of ammunition is armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot rounds, with only 20 rounds per tank, and the rest are high-explosive anti-tank rounds. In practice, it has been proven that high-explosive anti-tank rounds cannot deal with T-62s, and only armor-piercing rounds work best.

  So this time the ammunition transported is mainly armor-piercing shells used by the Chieftain tank's 120mm rifled gun.

  In addition to tank cannon shells, some 155mm shells for M109A1 self-propelled howitzers were also transported.

  This self-propelled howitzer had a more tragic fate. In 1979, Iran imported 440 M109A1 self-propelled howitzers from the United States to equip several armored divisions with firepower cover.

  The M109A1 is a 39 calibre, 155mm self-propelled howitzer with a maximum range of 18 km, providing long-range fire support to armoured formations.

  This time, following the armored division into the swamp, there was a battalion of such self-propelled howitzers, but the swamp was obviously a big test for the self-propelled howitzer with poor mobility.

  In order to get through the marsh, it was necessary to lighten the load, so although the self-propelled howitzer came along, it did not carry any shells. Each shell weighed about 50 kilograms, and carrying 30 shells would have meant a weight reduction of one and a half tons, which would have been very helpful in getting through the marsh.

  As a result, these shells were all detonated in the supply base before they could be loaded onto the self-propelled howitzers.

  Otherwise, in the daytime battle, although the self-propelled howitzer was deployed in the rear, relying on its long range, it could send all of the opponent's armored vehicles to heaven, greatly reducing its own frontal pressure.

  Rajavi stood beside the command vehicle, listening to the distant sky, where a huge rumbling sound was coming from.

  In the dim light of night vision goggles, the pilots of the CH-47 helicopter fleet had spotted a row of stationary vehicles in the distance. After confirmation by radio, they parachuted down to a suitable location and unloaded the supplies they were carrying.

  All the soldiers ran over to help, and in the wind generated by the helicopter's rotor, they lifted up the oil cans carried on top of it and rushed towards their chief.

  As long as the chieftain is refueled and replenished with ammunition, the chieftain remains a powerful weapon!

  The helicopter pilots were all extremely tense, because they had received a message before departure that the last two Cobras responsible for covering them had been shot down, and they could only rely on themselves. If they encountered any attack, it might be a disaster.

  Heaven knows what felled the Spectacled Cobra, and if there were any Iraqi Ibexes around, who's to say they wouldn't take advantage of the dark night to sneak up on themselves?

  But as soldiers, their duty is to obey orders, and in order to save the armored division, even if it means putting Zhinuoganda on the altar, they have no other choice.

  Rajavi looked at the busy soldiers, then gazed up at the stars in the sky, thinking of the warriors who died in battle today. His emotions were complex. Omnipotent God, please bless this unfortunate country of Iran!

  Baghdad, Presidential Palace.

  "Mr. President, although Qusay is young, he has a lot of wisdom; and even though we haven't found him, isn't it the same as not finding his body?" Defense Minister Adnan Khairallah said to Saddam.

  Adnan was Qusay's uncle, but he was also the Iraqi Minister of Defense and in charge of military security, so when he found out about the Southern Region Command, he immediately came to see Saddam and reported to him.

  "Yes, unexpectedly, Qusay, although young, has accomplished several major things. At first he said he wanted to go to the Southern Military Region, and I agreed. He went to the Southern Military Region, but instead of staying at headquarters, he went to the Suwairijah marshes, which were originally not a battlefield. As it turned out, the Iranians came from inside the marshes." Saddam sighed: "Qusay is indeed my good son. If he hadn't arrived at the 35th Armored Brigade, which was in the process of reorganizing and wouldn't have raised its vigilance, they wouldn't have successfully repelled the Iranians in the marshes. If the Iranians had succeeded, we would have fallen into a very passive situation."

  As the president of a country, especially one with many strong desires, Saddam knew that now was not the time to consider personal feelings. Even if Qusay died, he would still be glorious in death!

  Adnan gazed at the map on the wall, also deeply moved. Who would have thought that the Iranians had chosen to appear in a place where it was absolutely impossible for them to be? If the 35th Armored Brigade hadn't blocked their way, the Iranians would have stabbed from behind the dozen or so divisions besieging Abadan, catching these troops off guard. The gains of more than a year might well be reduced to nothing.

  Frontline report, the 35th Brigade has lost half of its tank troops, but finally managed to block the Iranian advance. The 35th Brigade has achieved a great military merit!

  "How is it with the air force? Are preparations for an attack ready?" Saddam asked discontentedly.

  "Mr. President, when the Iranians were discovered, our fighter jets at Basra Air Base were undergoing maintenance and only a squadron of Mig-21s was on combat duty, which is powerless against tanks on the ground. Most of the Cobra helicopters are in the Abadan area, and three squadrons of Cobras are being assembled to assist Susangerd. The Su-20 needs more bombs, which are being transported from headquarters. The air force will definitely take action tomorrow morning and present a combat plan to you, Mr. President."

  "What's wrong with the MiG-21? Isn't it equipped with missiles? Can't we use missiles to attack tanks? It's just cowardice! And what about the three squadrons of Sukhoi? That's not enough, bring six squadrons over here. Tomorrow morning, take off in the MiG-25, MiG-23 and Su-20, and go together to deal with the Iranian tanks, execute the order." Saddam said.

  Abid did not hesitate at all and immediately replied: "Yes, Mr. President."

  Saddam never trusted the air force, and he had a bad habit of interfering with specific tactics of the army like a little mustache. However, his level was not enough, commanding the army was okay, but he didn't understand the air force at all. As a result, the air force was timid and did nothing.

  MiG-21 has missiles, but those are air-to-air missiles, to attack tanks? I'm afraid only the President could think of that. MiG-25 is a high-altitude high-speed fighter, what can this fighter do in a swamp?

  Abid didn't dare say more, he didn't want to be eliminated for no reason, so he revised the battle plan overnight.

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