At 5 o'clock in the morning, the marines near Lavha attacked the assembly positions.

"Left, keep left, a little more left, okay!"

With a "clang", under the command of the driver Fu Xiaobing, the soldiers of the Royal Saudian Army who operated the crane put the integrated external fuel tank, which is actually a large oil drum with a volume of 1 cubic meter, and placed it firmly on the platform at the rear of the ZT-99AL body.

Subsequently, Fu Xiaobing ran over to inspect it, and also connected the oil pipeline by the way.

This kind of thing should have been done by logistics support personnel. Only a few battalions arrived last night, and many tanks and combat vehicles needed to be overhauled and maintained, and the officers and men of the logistics support unit were simply overwhelmed. There was really no way, so Liu Zunshan asked the Saudi officers and soldiers guarding the camp to participate in the logistics support work.

These Saudi soldiers are all Pakistani soldiers, mercenaries recruited from Pakistani Railway, and some of them are Pakistani soldiers.

In the Saudi Royal Army, almost all the generals and senior officers are members of the royal family or have a relationship with the royal family; Junior officers and technical non-commissioned officers, most of whom are Saudi citizens; And the lowest soldiers, especially in various dangerous positions, are mainly mercenaries.

Because they have the same beliefs, are relatively similar in life customs, and are particularly able to endure hardships, the soldiers of Pakistan are very popular in Saudi Arabia.

Of course, the relationship between the two sides is certainly not so simple.

Saudi Arabia has always been the "gold owner" of Pakistan's railways.

Although Pakistan mainly relied on an alliance with the Liangxia Empire to fight against the powerful Fanluo Kingdom, after suffering two consecutive defeats, the high-level Pakistani Railway had already let go of illusions, knowing that the relationship with the Liangxia Empire was only the basis of national strategic security, not that the Liangxia Empire had to rely on the Liangxia Empire in any situation.

Fundamentally speaking, we still need to rely on ourselves to safeguard national interests.

However, Pakistan is not an oil-producing country that is rich in oil.

Over the past few decades, the Pakistani railway authorities have attached great importance to relations with Muslim-A-Arab countries that share the same faith, especially the oil-producing countries on the southern shore of Posha Bay.

During the Iran-Iraq war, Pakistan also provided support to Iraq, including selling large quantities of weapons and ammunition to Iraq through secret channels.

Of course, it is the oil producing countries such as Saudi Arabia that pay the bill.

Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries also attach great importance to their relations with Pakistan. First, Pakistan has more than 200 million people and is the most populous country in Mua. Second, Pakistan and the Rails have fought two large-scale wars against the Van Luo Kingdom, and they have rich experience in actual combat and a large number of military talents with outstanding quality. Third, Pakistan Tie has a special relationship with the Liangxia Empire, and it is easier to obtain the support provided by the Liangxia Empire, such as obtaining advanced weapons at the first time.

All in all, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are mutually dependent on oil-producing countries.

To this end, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries should provide billions of gold dollars in free aid to Pakistan and Railways every year to help Pakistan and Railways promote national defense modernization.

In return, Pakistan allows its citizens to serve in the military in oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia.

In fact, Pakistan was also a bridge between the Liangxia Empire and the Mu'a countries, especially the oil-producing countries such as the Saudis.

In the decades after the war, the Liangxia Empire had a huge influence in the Crescent region, which was not weakened even after the Polish-Iranian War, relying on the relationship between Pakistan and the Saudis and other Mu'a countries, that is, through the strategic mutual trust established between Pakistan and the Saudis and other countries.

If anything, mutual trust at the strategic level has immeasurable value.

For example, when Kuwait was invaded, the Saudi-like royal family immediately agreed to open its military bases to the empire and provide unconditional support. According to an intelligence report obtained by the Military Intelligence Agency in August, if the empire did not immediately send troops to the Saudis and launch air strikes against Iraq, even if it was only delayed for a few days, the empire could have sent troops to Iraq, that is, recognized the legitimacy of Iraq's annexation of Kuwait.

For Liu Zunshan and other officers and men of the grassroots troops, the greatest convenience is actually to be able to give orders to the officers and men of the Saudi royal army at will.

When Fu Xiaobing finished his work and climbed into the tank, Liu Zunshan handed over a cigarette.

Later, another 30 tanks were still preparing for departure, and the time for launching the attack was tentatively set at half past five, with almost half an hour to go.

It's only mid-September, and it's going to be dawn before 6 o'clock.

Scheduling the offensive to start after dawn was a major adjustment.

Over the past month or so, coalition air strikes have been almost exclusively concentrated at night, especially against high-value targets that have been heavily protected.

If it is necessary to bomb during the day, it is also necessary to dispatch a large number of bombers to drop bombs at an altitude of several kilometers and carry out carpet bombing.

Relying on advanced night vision equipment, coalition forces can gain a greater advantage at night.

Of course, the advantage of night combat is also reflected on the side of the ground forces.

In the border battle in July, the armored battalion under the command of Liu Zunshan had proved with its actions that the tanks and fighting vehicles of the Imperial Army could gain enough tactical superiority at night with advanced infrared imaging night vision devices, so as to form a one-sided situation and easily defeat opponents who lacked night vision equipment.

Along these lines, the commander of the Iraqi army would assume that the coalition forces would attack before dawn.

This is also the reason for the preparation of the fire after 0:00 in the morning.

As a rule, the duration of fire preparation before the attack does not exceed 2 hours.

Because the targets of the attack are relatively limited, the main hit is at the front of the position, and the fire preparation is mainly to assist the ground forces to break through the enemy's frontal defense line, so in the absence of special reasons, 2 hours is enough, and there is little significance in extending the fire preparation time.

Just after 2 a.m., when the firepower is ready to "end", Iraqi forces will gradually move into defensive positions, ready for the upcoming offensive.

According to the arrangement, the second round of fire preparation began at about 3:30 a.m., and the duration remained 2 hours.

In this round of firepower preparation, the long-range artillery of the Army and Marine Corps is the main force.

In addition, four battleships of the "Yanhai" class, which have already reached Posha Bay and have been incorporated into the artillery group, will also join the fire support operation.

These were the last few battleships preserved in the Imperial Navy.

The "Yanhai" class is the last type of battleship built by the Imperial Navy in the last war, and it can basically be regarded as an improved version of the "South Zhuhai" class after enhanced protection.

Because at the time of construction, the "Xuhai" and "Yanhai" had been given to the Manman Navy free of charge, and in order to be different from the "Xuhai" class, the first ship continued to use the name of "Yanhai", and the second ship was naturally named "Xuhai".

Compared with the "Nanzhuhai" class, the biggest improvement of the "Yanhai" class is actually to increase the output power of the power system, ensuring that the speed can still reach 33 knots and have sufficient firepower under the condition of enhancing protection and increasing the displacement by about 10,000 tons.

Nothing else has changed.

For example, three triple gun turrets are still used, and the 55 times diameter 400 mm naval guns used in the "South Zhuhai" class are still used.

There was no increased firepower, the main thing was that there was no need for this.

When the Imperial Navy decided to purchase the "Yanhai" class, the war was already in its final stage, and the enemy was still left with the Nuland Federation in chaos. The point is that the main forces of the Nuland Navy have been annihilated, and the Entente is about to carry out strategic bombing of the east coast of Nuland.

Shipyards are certainly a priority.

By this time, on a global scale, the Imperial Navy had no real enemies.

The order of battleships of the "Yanhai" class was mainly to maintain the size of the fleet. After all, at that time, there were only a few "South Zhuhai" class ships left in the Imperial Navy, and the rest of the fast battleships were either backward in performance, or unconditionally transferred or aided to allies such as the Hindan Empire.

For the Imperial Navy, which had a global presence, there was definitely a need for more than enough battleships.

From the point of view of reaping the fruits of victory in the war and safeguarding global interests, the need for the empire to maintain a sufficiently strong navy is even more important.

Crucially, a battleship outside the door of any littoral nation is far more threatening than an aircraft carrier parked in the open sea.

As the saying goes: truth only exists within the range of naval guns.

Before the end of the war, the Imperial Navy ordered a total of 12 "Yanhai" class ships in two batches, but only 4 ships in the first batch and the first 4 ships in the second batch started construction, and only 6 ships completed the construction of slipways before Xue Yuanzheng, who supported the construction of the navy, stepped down.

As a result, the two ships that did not have time to be launched were demolished.

Before the end of the war, the first batch of 4 ships was delivered to the Imperial Navy, and after the end of the war, the second batch of 2 ships was re-appropriated.

To say anything, also thanks to the Nuland Republic, that is, the Nuland Republic was not defeated.

In addition, the contradictions between the Liangxia Empire and the Empire have surfaced, and they have turned from cooperation to confrontation, so it is necessary to maintain a strong enough navy.

These six battleships, "Yanhai", "Asahimi", "Takashahai", "Muahai", "Coral Sea" and "Luxinhai", became the swan song of the Imperial Navy, and even the battleships of the world's navies, and the most powerful battleships of all time.

It's just that these 6 battleships have had a bad fate since they were born.

The "Yanhai" and "Xuhai," which were the first to be completed and delivered, waited for the officers and men to complete their basic training, and the war was coming to an end, and their only actual battle was to burn tens of thousands of tons of heavy oil, sail more than 20,000 nautical miles back and forth, and go to the other side of the world to shell several port cities on the east coast of Newland, use up tens of thousands of rounds of 400-millimeter high-explosive bombs in stock, and achieve the result of destroying several shipyards and steel plants.

When the "Gao Sahai" and "Muahai" were forming their combat strength, the war had already ended, and they did not have the opportunity to fight in real combat.

It was not until more than a decade later, in the Polish-Iranian War, that these six battleships were put into battle again.

Throughout the Polish-Iranian War, the Rapid Strike Fleet, with battleships at its core, operated in Posha Bay and was responsible for striking military targets in the coastal zone.

However, after the end of the Polish-Iraqi War, the size of the Imperial Navy was rapidly reduced, and all the fast battleships were on the reduction list.

There is nothing surprising in this, the era of battleships has long since ended.

The key point is that in the naval war in the new era, the air defense operation, which was originally the strong point of the battleship, has long been stolen by cruisers equipped with anti-aircraft missiles. Besides, the cost of taking a battleship to renovate and equipping it with anti-aircraft missiles even exceeds that of a newly-built air defense cruiser, and its combat efficiency is not as good as that of an air defense cruiser, so even if the Navy is reluctant, there is no reason to keep the battleship.

Under the wave of great disarmament, all the other battleships were decommissioned, and except for a few that were preserved and transformed into a naval museum, all the others were sold to the shipbreaking yard as scrap, and only 6 "Yanhai" class ships were relatively new because of their short age and relatively new hulls, and the main admirals have been arguing for reason, and finally preserved, to be precise, they were sealed and transferred into the naval reserve.

When Zhou Yongtao lived in the official residence of the first assistant and began to implement the "600+200" project, the six "Yanhai" class battleships ushered in the second spring.

Of course, it's not as simple as reopening.

Before returning to service, the six Yanhai-class ships were returned to the shipyard with necessary improvements, such as replacing them with more powerful diesel generators to power new radar and other electronic equipment. However, the most critical improvement is actually the removal of all the secondary guns, the replacement of 6 Type 730 rapid-fire guns, and 8 4-pack "Painted Halberd" cruise missile launchers, and the transformation of the auxiliary gun ammunition depot into a missile depot.

In this way, the "Yanhai" class can carry 256 cruise missiles to carry out strike missions, and launch up to 32 cruise missiles at a time to attack 32 targets within a range of 1,500 kilometers.

This attack capability surpassed all other warships of the same period.

Even if the "Qingzhou" class is equipped with 128 vertical launch devices, and two-thirds of them can be loaded with cruise missiles, in actual combat, there are only four units at most to carry cruise missiles, and there are only 32 in total, and the long-range strike capability is not outstanding at all.

Of course, the main armament of the battleship was still 9 400-mm naval guns.

Because there was no possibility of using armor-piercing shells against enemy battleships, after the war, the Imperial Navy did not produce and purchase armor-piercing shells, but instead developed some special shells, such as enhanced high-explosive shells with a charge of 150 kg and a killing radius of 250 meters.

These shells gave the battleship an extremely strong land strike capability.

The key is that it also greatly improves the service life of the barrel.

The main thing is that it is no longer necessary to launch a full charge, and when firing high-explosive shells with reduced charge, the life of the 400-mm barrel is more than 5000 rounds.

Of course, shells are also very cheap.

A 400 mm high-explosive bomb weighing 1 ton is an affordable ammunition with a bulk purchase price comparable to that of a 1,000-kilogram aerial bomb.

As for the accuracy of shelling, it is certainly much higher than that of unguided bombs dropped by bombers from high altitudes.

It is precisely for this reason that last month, the Navy sent four "Yanhai" class ships to participate in strikes against the southern coastal areas of Iraq.

Of course, the main thing is to work in tandem with the Marines.

In the combat system of the Imperial Navy, the main task of the battleship was to provide support to the landing force during the landing operation.

This was also a key reason why the Imperial Navy insisted on the adoption of 130 mm naval guns.

When performing ground strike missions, the power of the 130 mm naval gun is comparable to that of the army's 150 mm howitzer, and the ship gun has a faster rate of fire and can also use full-size shells, so 1 rapid-fire 130 mm naval gun is equivalent to a 150 mm howitzer battalion of the army.

Obviously, 80-mm naval guns certainly did not have such power.

In the second round of firepower preparation, the four "Yanhai" class battleships were the absolute main force in the southern theater, and the 400-mm shells fired were a huge attraction.

That's not the main direction of attack, though.

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