The southward offensive operation went very smoothly.

Although the Van Roe Desert is more severe than the Mua Desert, especially in the second half of the year, sandstorms are common and tend to last for several days. Not to mention people, even camels, known as "ships of the desert", are difficult to survive in such a harsh environment. But for the Fifth Marine Division, which had experienced the test of the Poshawan War, the 200-kilometer field march from Balmel to Trad was not difficult.

Of course, luck is also very important.

For at least these days, there is no discomfort in the Van Roe Desert except for the extreme temperature difference between day and night.

The assault force commanded by Liu Zunshan set out on the night of the 13th, and by the early morning of the 14th, it had traveled 100 kilometers and reached the vicinity of Gilha, in the lower reaches of the Luni River.

It's a small town in the desert, an oasis under the River Looney to be exact.

Because it is an inland river, the Looney River will stop flowing during the dry season, and the few ancient trade routes that pass through the lower reaches of the Looney River can only rely on a few oases along the way. Gilha is located on the ancient trade route, and it is the only water source within a radius of hundreds of kilometers.

Even now, Gilha's status has not diminished.

In peacetime, there have always been caravans going back and forth between the country of Van Luo and Pakistan.

For the inhabitants of this "paradise", it is clear that the borders are not as clear as they appear on the map.

The ancient trade routes, which had existed for thousands of years, were still thriving, and the locals were unaware of the impending war until the vanguard of the 5th Marine Division arrived.

That's not a bad thing, though.

At least when the vanguard arrived, the local population did not resist, and did not even see the tank and combat vehicles that suddenly appeared outside the town as a threat.

The troops sent by Liu Zunshan to maintain order were still surrounded by a group of children outside the town.

The town's police station, the only 6 policemen, including the chief, surrendered after the patrol arrived, handing over 3 antique-level Li ?? Enfield rifle and a revolver with only 4 rounds left, then took off his uniform and went home.

The assault troops stayed in Gil-Ha for only a few hours, and after replenishing the tank tanks and fighting vehicles, carrying out the necessary checks, they set off again.

If anything, the biggest trouble is actually logistics.

Although the assault force is moving on the road, the road is in very bad condition, and it is necessary to consider the supply convoys that follow behind, to be precise, those wheeled vehicles with relatively poor cross-country ability, especially transport trucks, so the main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles of the assault force do not occupy the road, and almost all the time they march in the desert on both sides of the road, which inevitably consumes more fuel.

Strictly speaking, a field march consumes several times more fuel than a road march!

Crucially, the assault force must remain in combat condition and not resupply after the fuel has been burned, at most it must stop after half of it has been used. Otherwise, after encountering the enemy, the tank tank will be incapacitated due to the lack of fuel.

It was for this that the assault forces stopped in Gilha for several hours.

After that, it was still a smooth ride.

By the afternoon of the 14th, the assault force had reached the north of Trad and stopped at the western flank of the Arawali Ridge, to be precise, north of the hilly terrain south of the Van Lo Desert.

It is less than 20 kilometers from Trad.

While preparing his troops for the attack, Liu Zunshan also sent a reconnaissance platoon to Trad to probe the defensive deployment of the Vatican army.

Actually, it's a bit redundant.

The information provided by the air force was correct, and the Vatican troops stationed in Trad lacked armored forces such as tanks and fighting vehicles, and did not build defensive positions outside the town.

It is said that it is a garrison, but in fact it is more like a security force.

Comparatively speaking, minefields deployed along highways pose a greater threat.

When the reconnaissance unit tried to get closer, it strayed into a minefield and one wheeled armored vehicle pressed the mine. But fortunately, it was an anti-personnel mine that did not penetrate the bottom armor of the armored vehicle. The three officers and men in the armored vehicle were fine except for hearing loss and a minor concussion.

However, this is also to be expected.

It is this that the first to go into battle after night are the sapper platoons with 4 BZ-68SD rocket-swept minesweepers, which follow the activities of the assault forces.

The DZ-68SD, in fact, is equipped with a set of 12-rail rocket launchers on the chassis of the BZ-68 armored transport vehicle. With the use of special mine-sweeping rockets, only three salvos are needed at a time to clear a safe passage with a width of 200 meters within 800 meters ahead. Theoretically, a platoon of four minesweepers can open a safe passage with a length of more than 12 kilometers in 15 minutes. If it is necessary to expand the width of the safe passage, it is also possible to allow 4 minesweepers to work at the same time. Which mine-clearing tactic to use depends on the situation, such as the size of the force or the speed of the desired assault march.

The most prominent advantage of clearing landmines by blasting is its high efficiency, but it also has the disadvantage that it may not be able to clear all mines.

For this purpose, it is also necessary to equip the main battle tanks that lead the way with minesweepers.

When designing any kind of main battle tank, it will take into account the installation of the minesweeper, leaving bolts on the lower armor of the hull to connect the minesweeper.

In addition, battalion-level armored units are generally equipped with several mine-sweeping blades.

If you want to say, the minesweeper has become a "must-have" external equipment for the main battle tank, and its value is not only used to sweep mines.

In the later stages of the Poshawan War, especially in the stage of attacking the city, the front-line soldiers found that the main battle tank equipped with the minesweeper was a sharp weapon for eradicating the barricades, and had an irreplaceable role in the rapid advance of the battle, and at some times even the only option.

It was for this reason that the two armored battalions of the assault force each prepared eight mine-sweeping guns.

The next offensive operation was not difficult at all.

After the sappers cleared the obstacles, the armored units quickly passed through the minefield and advanced to the outskirts of Trad in less than three hours.

Although the follow-up troops had not yet caught up, the high-explosive shells fired by tank guns were more than enough to deal with the few fortifications that the Van army hastily constructed.

The point is also that the Vatican army simply does not have anti-armor weapons capable of dealing with the ZT-99AL.

Not to mention anti-tank missiles, there are not even a few bazookas.

What's more, the tanks of the Marine Corps opened fire from a distance of more than 1,000 meters, and did not get close to the defensive positions of the Van army, so they did not give the Van army a chance to counterattack.

When more than a dozen ZT-99ALs lined up and advanced towards the city, the Van army raised the white flag of surrender.

Interestingly, the officers who commanded the battle at the front were still a little worried, did not immediately accept the surrender of the Vatican army, and shouted for the Van army to stay on the ground.

The main thing is that the infantry who work together is still behind to assist the sappers in clearing the mines and clearing the obstacles created by the mines.

The point is that blasting and clearing mines will inevitably damage the road surface, causing huge problems for the wheeled vehicles that follow behind.

Wait until the infantry arrives before letting the Vatican army surrender in front of the battle.

It was originally planned to occupy Trad in one night, but the battle ended before the early morning of the 15th.

Of course, this is not a bad thing.

In the next few hours, the officers and men who have been fighting for two days can sleep well and start a new journey full of energy after dawn.

It's just that the telegram sent by Hou Chensheng made the assault troops stay in Traddo for a day.

It was not that the main forces of the 5th Marine Division were advancing too slowly, but that the assault troops were running too fast and encountered some unexpected troubles.

In Gilha, the main forces of the 5th Marine Division were not able to get enough fresh water!

According to the plan, about 800 tons of fresh water will be pumped from three deep wells in Gilha. The staff officers of the Front Command made this judgment based on the average amount of water produced by three deep wells in the dry season over the past decade or so. The problem is, it's not the minimum.

This year's situation is exceptional.

Due to the impact of the war, especially in the upper reaches of the Luni River, hundreds of thousands of more Vatican troops have been consumed, which has consumed more water resources, so the lower reaches of the Luni River have been cut off about 20 days earlier than usual. As a result, the output of the three deep wells in Gilha was much lower than the average of previous years.

Before the arrival of the main forces of the 5th Marine Division, the engineering units remaining in Gilha pumped out only 500 tons of fresh water.

In addition, some needs to be left for the local population, and it is also necessary to purify and filter out impurities, and only 400 tons can be supplied to the main forces.

Only half of the plan.

Then, another 400 tons will have to be transported from the rear.

But the problem is that the 4 combat brigades of the 5th Marine Division will have to replenish at least 2,000 tons of fresh water before they reach Trad, and the planned transport supply is 1,200 tons. The supply point is Gilha. After resupplying here, the next resupply operation will not take place until it reaches Trad.

In order to transport 1,200 tons of fresh water, 60 tank trucks with a capacity of 20 tons were used.

If anything, this is all the tanker trucks that can be found.

Other tanker trucks are transporting fuel to combat units.

Then, if you want to transport an extra 400 tons of fresh water, you can only use other means of delivery, such as heavy helicopters.

This is how Hou Chensheng arranged, allowing the heavy helicopter originally used to transport food, ammunition and other supplies to fly one more trip and airlift 400 tons of fresh water to Gilha.

Because there was no extra fresh water on Balmer's side, they had to fly back to Hydebara, a round-trip voyage of more than 600 kilometers, plus the time required for loading and unloading, so they had to be delayed for at least more than 10 hours, and the advance of the main force of the Fifth Marine Division was slowed down by more than 10 hours.

In fact, there is more time to delay than that.

While the main forces of the 5th Marine Division were waiting for fresh water supplies, that is, on the night of the 14th, the battle on Deogle's side also began.

After the "March of Suffering" on the 2nd, the 41st Army of the Southern Cluster of the Vatican Army, which had set out from Udaipur, finally reached Deogel.

To be precise, about 30 kilometers south of Deogle, they encountered the armored units of the Imperial Marines.

In fact, the Van army got into the ambush circle.

Although it was planned to fight a decisive battle with the Vatican army in Deogel, the officers and soldiers who went up to the south of Ding Zhennan and down to the grassroots level did not think that they would rely on their positions to fight a defensive battle.

Even if it is defensive, it is mainly based on sports warfare.

A total of only 7 battalions remained in Deogle, and only 4 combat battalions, with a total of less than 3,500 officers and men, and only a little more than 2,000 combat personnel.

In comparison, the field airfield on the southern outskirts of Deoger alone covers an area of 10 square kilometers.

It can be seen that if it is a passive defense, it will not be able to hold it at all!

The key is that this time it was the main force of the southern faction of the Vatican army, which not only had more than 200,000 troops, but also a large number of heavy weapons.

According to the information provided by the Air Force, this Vatican army has hundreds of large-caliber artillery pieces.

Although most of the old guns from decades ago could not be compared with today's main guns in all aspects, their sheer numbers still posed a serious threat to the Imperial forces guarding Deogle, especially the artillery deployed near field airfields.

Under the influence of this, it is impossible to let the enemy approach.

It was precisely for this reason that, after obtaining the consent of the front command, Colonel Peng Yuhui, who remained to command the operation, decided to fight an ambush battle south of Deoger to defeat the spirit of the Van army, block the Van army far enough away from the field airfield, and then consider positional defense.

To this end, Peng Yuhui mobilized 2 armored battalions and 1 infantry battalion.

The main force is 2 armored battalions, and the infantry battalion is in reserve.

In addition, he transferred an air assault battalion with more than 20 helicopter gunships from Balmel.

The ambush tactics are also very simple, first break forward from the infantry battalion, make contact with the Van army's forward, and lead the Van army's forward troops into the encirclement of the armored battalion.

Even if there is an accident, you can let the air surge camp go to the rescue.

Actually, there are no surprises at all.

According to Peng Yuhui's battle report, after encountering the infantry battalion that served as a decoy, the forward troops of the Van army were like pigs rushing out of the circle, ignoring them at all, and rushed into the ambush circle. In order to buy the two armored battalions the time needed to complete the deployment, the infantry battalion also had to slow down when retreating, and repeatedly exchanged fire with the pursuing Van army, suffering a lot of casualties and losses.

Of course, after the ambush began, there was no suspense.

Flanked by 2 armored battalions, the forward unit of the Van army, a mechanized reinforced armored brigade, held out for less than 4 hours.

Before dawn on the 15th, the ambush was over.

Because the main force of the Van army was rolling in from the south, after the battle, Peng Yuhui did not let the ambush troops clean up the battlefield.

Actually, there is no need.

The living Van soldiers had already fled, and those who did not escape must have been seriously wounded.

Obviously, Peng Yuhui did not intend to treat the wounded of the Vatican army.

It is precisely because of this that in the battle report submitted by Peng Yuhui, it only mentions the annihilation of a reinforced brigade of the Vatican army, the destruction of hundreds of tanks and combat vehicles, and the killing and wounding of thousands of enemy soldiers. As for the exact number of enemies destroyed, as well as the establishment of the brigade, or even the number, it was not mentioned in the battle report.

What is certain is that after the ambush ended, the main forces of the Vatican army stopped.

At this point, the decisive battle situation around Deogle was formed.

According to the battlefield photos taken by the tactical reconnaissance plane on the morning of the 15th, the Vatican army that arrived south of Deogel had at least six divisions, and three of them were the main divisions, that is, the three divisions that had been sent to Pali and were called back shortly after departure.

Of course, the state of these 3 main divisions is not as good as before.

It's not surprising that after tossing twice before and after, and constantly being bombed by the Imperial Air Force, these 3 main divisions can still maintain the construction system, which is already very good.

As for the recapture of Deogle from the Imperial Marines, it was clearly wishful thinking.

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