"Everyone knows that the other side is getting more and more supplies, and all kinds of new equipment are being ordered. What happened to the 137th Battalion was a clear signal...... "Al Tedel understands his men's concerns. "The Arabs are receiving more and more international aid and are growing rapidly......"

He also knew that the Ministry of Defense had no choice.

In recent years, Iraq, which has received international aid, has grown so much that Persia has not been able to get as much support from the Arabs, even by various means. In particular, Saddam Hussein had the economic support of the entire Arab world behind him, and the Soviet Union and Western countries were constantly providing advanced weapons and equipment to Iraq for their own interests.

Since the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty, Persia has been under international sanctions, with few sources of weapons and exorbitant prices from the Soviets.

Under such circumstances, Persia's own economic strength could not withstand the attrition of a long war, and if the Arabs had been given more advanced weapons and equipment, the outcome of the war could be imagined.

The purpose of the Ministry of Defense in issuing the request was to expand the results of the war and prepare for the end of the war.

The more chips you have, the more you will have to say in the armistice negotiations.

The war was clearly provoked by Saddam, but the other side was unwilling to make any compensation......

"We don't have enough ammunition, and at the same time the Air Force is underreplenished, and in terms of fighters, the number is even more insufficient. "The operational staff officer simply felt that it was impossible to achieve the strategic intent demanded by his superiors.

"Fighters to support operations will arrive before the start of the war. Among them, there are 12 F-14s, as well as some F-4 and other fighters. ”

"So many?" the men didn't believe it at all.

The F-14 fighter is the most advanced fighter in the whole of Persia, at the beginning it was equipped with 80 aircraft, and now most of the fighters cannot take off because they have no spare parts, and the number of missions in the country is only more than 30.

In the south, there are fewer than 10 of them, and these fighters need to escort their own cargo ships and tankers in the Persian Gulf, and they also have to pack up the Iraqis......

"This is a message from above. Al Tedel didn't give any explanation.

After the reorganization, the combat effectiveness of the Persian Air Force is gradually recovering, especially through some means, even if it is embargoed by the international community, Persia has also replenished some urgently needed strategic materials through Israel and the United States through secret channels.

The F-14 takes off so frequently that sometimes the two fighters are painted with the same number, so that the enemy has no idea how many fighters they have to carry out the mission.

So far, Iran has repaired more than 20 F-14s, bringing the number of F-14s available for the country to more than 60 again.

"Tomorrow there will be a fleet of long-range surface-to-surface missiles deployed in our rear positions to support our operations. At the same time, in order not to give the Arabs time to react, there will be a large supply of ammunition in place tomorrow night......"

"Preparations must be kept secret so that the other side cannot discover our intentions, and at the same time, we must be prepared to force a crossing. Al Teddell gave the order.

For his order, no one questioned.

This is an order from the highest level of the Ministry of Defense.

Basra is much closer to the front line of the border than Ahvaz.

On the southern border, the two sides faced off across the Shatt al-Arab for several years, with soldiers firing at enemy positions across the river every day, as well as artillery firing at enemy positions.

Everything has become the norm.

On the far edge of the south, on the Faw Peninsula, the Iraqis built strong fortifications and defended them by part of the most well-equipped Tikrit Division.

Across the wide Shatt al-Arab, General Qasim did not see anything wrong.

His biggest concern was the safety of Basra.

Basra was less than 40 kilometers away from Khorramshahr, which was heavily defended by the Persians, and even though there were many defenders on the front line, they were still worried, and every day warplanes patrolled to observe changes in the Persian positions on the opposite side.

At the same time, desperately strengthening the defenses of Basra.

If Basra is lost, the whole south will be in danger.

In particular, in the north, the Persians tried more than once to cut Basra off from Baghdad......

I was always thinking that the other party would attack in full force, and I was always prepared.

During this time, General Qasim felt that he could relax, according to intelligence, the enemy on the opposite side had not received strong logistical supplies, and even the frequency of routine artillery bombardment every day was much lower than before.

Although the young officers from Tikrit had achieved great success, Kassem, after meeting with them, asked them to go to the southern tip of the Faw Peninsula to take away many key officers to the garrison of the expanded garrison division, so as to save these bastards who did not belong to him from causing trouble.

In this arrangement, General Isad, the direct supervisor of the Young Officers Company, did not have any objections.

Of course, what General Qasim is looking forward to more is the presence of more 359 tanks like the Young Officers' Company, with which Basra's defenses will be even better.

Once the Iraqi army is equipped with a large number of 359 tanks, it will not be a matter of attacking Persia again.

General Qasim not only looked forward to, but also applied to his superiors, hoping to give priority to the allergy guard division composed of Tikrites in the southern theater of operations.

The Tikrit Division is the president's most trusted unit, and Qasim knows that no other troops should be counted on.

In any case, Qasim would not have believed that the Persians on the opposite side would launch an offensive in the short term.

Xie Kai and his father set out from Rutbay to Najaf with a few men in charge of negotiating with the Soviets, and waited until the next evening to send them to the Mi-8 transport helicopter in Basra on a mission to transport supplies to the north.

Throughout the day, the uneasiness in Xie Kai's heart became stronger and stronger.

But he really couldn't figure out where the uneasiness was coming from.

"Basra is the second largest city in Iraq and is not badly defended. Where is it so coincidental, as soon as we go, we meet them to fight. It's been a few years since this was fought, and you're not tired?" Xie Jianguo knew that his son was afraid of war. "When I was in East Germany, war could break out at any time. ”

At the time of the Cuban nuclear crisis, Xie Jianguo was still in East Germany.

Even if relations with the country were not good at that time, they were not recalled by the country.

"Dad, I'm not afraid of war...... Xie Kai said that he didn't believe it.

There is no confidence.

In any case, he couldn't figure out why his uneasiness was getting stronger and stronger.

After Xie Kai and others boarded the cabin, the Mi-8 helicopter rose up in the dark and flew towards Basra in the southeast.

The closer he got to Basra, the more uneasy he became, and he didn't even have the heart to worry about the possibility of the helicopter falling, but he didn't know why.

"Thanks, don't worry. The helicopter will fly at a low altitude as it approaches Basra. The radars of the Persians could not detect our ......" Ibrahim even felt that Shekai was trembling. "On our borders, it is impossible for their fighters to go too deep. Unless their special operations forces infiltrate ......"

Speaking of this, he himself felt a little frightened.

"They have avant-garde anti-aircraft missiles!" Xie Kai felt, finding the source of his unease.

If the Persians send a small detachment deep into Iraq......

If he was shot down by an avant-garde anti-aircraft missile that he sold, Xie Kai would probably be the saddest person to die among the traversers.

"Their trained personnel haven't come back yet!" Xie Jianguo felt that Xie Kai was too worried.

The helicopter was still speeding towards Basra in the dark.

And on the position not far from Basra, the artillery of the Persians had already lifted the gun jackets on the position, and in the darkness, there was little light, but many soldiers were silently busy.

Boxes of shells were carried towards the gun emplacements.

Behind Ahvaz, several cars carrying huge missiles have begun to prepare for the shooting.

The missile is not launched vertically, but at the sky.

Here, the distance from Basra is more than 110 kilometers in a straight line.

"Report, the missile is ready and ready to be launched!"

The news from the missile forces relieved General Al Teddell, "Let them stand by." ”

Then he asked the intelligence staff officer, "How is Isfahan's air force prepared?"

"Preparations for take-off have been completed and orders are being awaited. The staff officer replied.

"What about air tankers?"

"It has just taken off and will arrive at the designated airspace at the scheduled time. ”

General Al Teidel raised his wrist and looked at the time.

"On my command, F-14 fighters took off and waited for the first wave of missile strikes to carry out aerial bombardment of Basrah's air defense positions. ordered the Abadan artillery unit to prepare for the attack, and in half an hour launch an artillery bombardment to cover the ...... of the river-crossing troops"

A barrage of orders was issued.

There was only half an hour before the scheduled time of the attack.

Isfahan, the most important transport hub in central Persia, has a modest airport.

An hour earlier, 12 F-14s had landed at the city's airfield in the night sky and then began to refuel......

After receiving an order from the Ahvaz front command, more than a dozen F-14 fighters, whose engines had not been completely cooled, began to slide onto the runway and roared into the darkness.

Isfahan, 450 km from Basra in a straight line!

F-14, maximum flight speed, Mach 2.38, can exceed 800 meters per second.

At a distance of 450 km, at the maximum flight speed at high altitudes of the F-14, no more than ten minutes.

And the time given by Al Teddle to the F-14 fighter is twenty minutes......

Time, gradually moving towards the predetermined time of attack.

At the long-range missile launch position in Ahvaz, the coordinates of the attack target have been entered into the guidance center of the missile.

Abadan all the way to the artillery position of Khorramshahr, the thick muzzle of the cannon has been raised high, and the huge shells have been loaded......

The Mi-8 helicopter carrying Xie Jianguo, Xie Kai, and others had already entered the airspace of Basra and was preparing to land at a military airfield more than 10 kilometers west of Basra......