The 7th Panzer Division is also in the territory of Saudi Arabia, in Al Ar, northwest of Ravha.

Critically, the unit remains in a state of concealment.

According to Ding Zhennan's deployment, after the start of the combat operation against Bagh X, the 7th Armored Division will set out from the concealed assembly point in Al Ar and attack north into Iraq, and after occupying Nuhaib in the heart of the desert and serving as an advance base, it will divide into two routes.

Heading straight north, take a detour to Ramadi and make a detour to the north of Bag X.

The other advanced eastward, attacking Kalba X south of Bagh X, and continued eastward.

If all goes well, the two armies will be able to complete the encirclement of Bag X.

It can be seen that the 7th Panzer Division has the heaviest combat mission.

Crucially, the 7th Panzer Division was largely alone. Even if Ding Zhennan made arrangements and the 17th Armored Division was responsible for the response, the plan could not catch up with the changes, the 17th Armored Division was now too busy to take care of itself, and the 7th Armored Division might not be willing to receive friendly assistance.

Do not forget that the 7th Panzer Division is from the North-Western Theater of Operations, and the 17th Panzer Division is from the Western Theater of Operations.

Although there is not much contradiction between the Northwest Theater and the Western Theater, it is certainly not harmonious, and there has always been a competitive relationship between the two.

In fact, the Imperial Army only had these two main theaters.

To put it mildly, the internal competition of the Imperial Army also occurred mainly in these two theaters.

In the past, after any kind of main battle equipment was put into production, the first thing to determine was which unit to supply first, or which theater of troops it should be supplied to.

Usually, these two theaters take turns in the bank.

For example, the ZT-99 was first supplied to the 7th Panzer Division, and after the BZ-98 was officially put into service, the 17th Panzer Division was given priority.

Of course, it mainly happens between the armored forces, after all, the new main battle platforms are first supplied to the armored forces.

As a result, a very obvious competition has been formed between the armored forces of the two theaters, and it has become quite tense.

To put it more bluntly, this refers to the 7th and 17th Panzer Divisions.

After the end of the last war, the troops were renumbered, and there was a dispute between the two sides over who used the number "7".

According to rumors, in the end, it was the first commander of the 7th Panzer Division who had better luck and won the lot.

Because they did not get the number "7", the officers and men of the 17th Armored Division are still haunted by it, believing that someone had cheated when they were drawing lots.

With this relationship, the commander of the 7th Armored Division will definitely not take the initiative to ask for help from the 17th Armored Division.

This refers not only to the Posha Bay War, but also to a much larger global war!

Interestingly, after the outbreak of the global war, only a few combat units in the Western Theater were able to rush to the aid of the Northwest Theater. As long as it can't resist, then no matter what the commander of the 7th Panzer Division thinks, he must ask the neighboring 17th Panzer Division for help.

It is precisely because of this that the 7th Panzer Division has the largest establishment system among the three divisions.

There are a total of 6 combat brigades, 3 support brigades and more than 10 battalions directly under the division headquarters.

Among them, the 701st, 702nd, and 703rd brigades are genuine armored brigades, and they have all been strengthened, not only with a few hundred more troops than the regular armored brigades, that is, with an additional machine infantry battalion and a field artillery battalion, but also more than the regular armored brigades in terms of main battle equipment.

The 704th and 705th Brigades are infantry brigades, while the 709th Brigade is a new infantry brigade.

The 2 infantry brigades have nothing to introduce, they are comparable to the infantry brigades of the 17th Panzer Division, and they are not reinforced like the armored brigades.

The key, in fact, is the 709th Infantry Brigade.

Although it is called an infantry brigade and is also part of a combat unit, the brigade has a total strength of more than 10,000 troops, and all but the main officers of the brigade headquarters are reserves.

In fact, the 709th Brigade is only a nominal infantry brigade, in essence, a logistics support brigade.

Because of the heavy responsibility of protecting the logistical supply lines, the brigade also has a fairly strong combat effectiveness, with 5 literal infantry battalions.

If anything, this is an infantry unit dedicated to encircling logistical supply lines.

This is also the number one mission of the 709th Infantry Brigade.

For the 7th Panzer Division, such a combat unit was really needed.

The reason is also very simple, from Al Al to Nuhaib, the road mileage is more than 250 kilometers, and from Nuhaib to the north, whether it is to Ramadi, or to Kalba X, the road mileage is more than 400 kilometers, so just from Al Al, the length of the logistics supply line reaches 700 kilometers. If you count the two offensive routes, then the total length of the logistical supply line is more than 1000 km!

Obviously, the logistical burden is not ordinarily heavy!

As such, in addition to the help of the coalition forces, the 7th Panzer Division must also have its own, and more reliable support force.

Because it is going to fight deep inside Iraq, this logistics support force must have sufficient combat effectiveness.

Not a stormy battle, but a guard of the lines of communication.

Since there is no need to fight on the front line, motorized infantry units are sufficient.

Among the support units, the 706th and 707th brigades are both artillery brigades, and they are both long-range artillery units directly under the division, the former is mainly equipped with 150 mm self-propelled howitzers, while the latter is equipped with 300 mm long-range rocket artillery, and both have quite strong independent combat capabilities.

To put it simply, 2 artillery brigades have their own support units.

The 708th Brigade is a low-altitude assault brigade.

Unlike the Air Support Brigade, which reinforced the 17th Panzer Division, the brigade consists of an armed assault battalion equipped with more than 30 helicopter gunships and approximately 50 reconnaissance gunships. In addition, four assault transport battalions are equipped with a total of more than 300 utility and heavy helicopters.

Because of the large number of helicopter gunships, the 708th low-altitude assault brigade has the strongest combat effectiveness in the whole army.

Only now, in addition to the 709th Brigade, only 5 combat brigades, 2 artillery brigades, and part of the battalions directly under the division are deployed in Arar, and other units are still in the rear.

The main thing is that there are no more places near Arar where troops can be deployed in concealment.

In order to remain concealed and avoid being guessed by the enemy, the 7th Panzer Division did not even build a field airfield!

Of course, this is not a big deal.

Alar was chosen because there is a road to Iraq and it ends in Nukhayb.

In addition, there are ready-made roads from Nuhaib.

That is, the armored units do not need to march in the field and can advance along the road, and the logistics support units are also able to transport supplies to the front line by road.

Obviously, that's the key.

On the side of the 17th Panzer Division, that is, in Samawa, because there was no direct road, it had to try to expand the local airfield and solve the problem by air.

Because there were ready-made roads, it was possible to send other troops after the offensive began.

However, the situation has changed.

When he came to Aral, Ding Zhennan went to find Major General Lu Liaoyuan of the 7th Armored Division.

In fact, Lu Liaoyuan was also waiting for Ding Zhennan.

If you want to say anything, Ding Zhennan was originally Lu Liaoyuan's subordinate. It was under Lu Liaoyuan that he performed well, and he got the opportunity to show his talent in front of Shi Zhiliang, and thus soared.

Of course, after going to the theater command, Ding Zhennan did not forget the old chief.

In fact, Lu Liaoyuan is 20 years older than Ding Zhennan, only in his early 50s, and he is very young among the major generals of the army.

After meeting Lu Liaoyuan, Ding Zhennan first explained the situation.

The key point is that the southern subcontinent may start fighting at any time, and Admiral Shi Yuliang may return to the northwest theater in the near future, so it is necessary to speed up the attack on Bag X, and it is necessary to be fully prepared, and the 17th Panzer Division in the south may not be able to help.

The reason is also very simple, the 17th Panzer Division may be sent to the Southern Subcontinent.

In Fu Weimin's place, Ding Zhennan didn't mention this matter, because he was worried that Fu Weimin would have reservations in the battle and refused to use all his strength.

Although the Southern Subcontinent is under the jurisdiction of the Southern Theater of Operations, and the 17th Armored Division is under the name of the Western Theater, there are no decent armored units in the Southern Theater.

In addition, the focus of the Southern Theater is actually the Austrian continent in the southwestern and eastern seas.

On the side of the Southern Subcontinent, only one infantry division was deployed in the Southern Theater.

In fact, in the strategic system of the Imperial Army, the Western Theater undertook the task of sending troops to assist the Southern Theater when necessary.

To be realistic, it is actually a military dispatch to the Southern Subcontinent.

The main thing is that two-thirds of the main forces in the Southern Theater, that is, two of the three Class A standing divisions, are deployed in the southwestern and eastern islands. If war suddenly broke out in the Southern Subcontinent, even if the Imperial Navy went all out, it would be impossible to quickly send two fully equipped main divisions to the battlefield.

Relatively speaking, it is more convenient to transfer troops from the adjacent western theater.

Moreover, in the midst of a global war, this is even more so.

If the threat from the Nuland Republic becomes clearer, or if the Nuland Republic will definitely enter the war, it must not be able to draw troops from the southern theater of operations.

At this time, the Western Theater of Operations will have to undertake combat missions in the direction of the Southern Subcontinent.

It is precisely for this reason that in the past few years, the Western Theater has been making a fuss about this issue, hoping to bring the southern subcontinent under the jurisdiction of the Western Theater.

As a result, the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division, which was deployed in the region, would be assigned to the Western Theater of Operations.

Even if the combat effectiveness of the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division is not the strongest, after obtaining the division, the Western Theater has become the only theater with four Class A standing divisions.

The matter has not been approved by the Army Command, that is, the Northwest Theater of Operations refuses to agree.

According to Shi Zhiliang's meaning, if the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division is assigned to the Western Theater, then the Northwest Theater will have to add a new Class A Standing Division.

It is a pity that the Imperial Army did not have a surplus of strength.

In addition, the Army received a budget that could not add a Class A standing division in peacetime.

If anything, the big men in both houses of parliament will certainly not approve the budget for an additional Class A division.

In any case, if war breaks out on the southern subcontinent and the 5th Marine Division fails to withstand the million-strong army of Van Roe after the 5th Marine Division rushes to help, then it is very likely that the 17th Panzer Division will be sent to the rescue, so the 7th Panzer Division can only attack Bag X.

In this regard, Lu Liaoyuan gave an affirmative answer.

Even without the support of the 17th Panzer Division, the 7th Panzer Division would be able to take down Bag X.

It's just that Lu Liaoyuan also raised two questions.

The first is whether the logistical supply is sufficiently guaranteed.

In addition, without the 5th Marine Division and the 17th Armored Division, whether the situation in southern Iraq can be maintained will have an impact on the 7th Panzer Division's combat operations in the north, such as the transfer of troops from the 7th Panzer Division to control cities in the south.

To the first question, Ding Zhennan answered very cheerfully.

As long as the 7th Panzer Division can take down Ramadi and Kalba X as planned, seize the airfields in both places, or establish a field airfield nearby, then even if the supply lines are threatened, the transport planes assigned to the 17th Panzer Division can be deployed to serve the 7th Panzer Division.

Between 5,000 and 7,500 tons of ammunition were delivered to the front line in one day, which was enough to support the offensive operations of the 7th Panzer Division.

As for the latter question, Ding Zhennan's answer was not so refreshing.

He also knew that Lu Liaoyuan was not trying to embarrass him, but reminding him to find a way to solve this key problem as soon as possible.

No matter how much the 7th Armored Division can fight, even if it is upgraded to a corps-level combat unit, it will not be able to take care of the whole thing.

Don't forget that after the expansion of the two armored divisions, they have reached the scale of the army level, and the two armies together are already at the level of a group army.

Besides, the 7th Armored Division has not yet been upgraded, it is still a division-level combat unit, and the total strength is only a little over 40,000, which is only one more infantry brigade dedicated to logistics support than the 17th Armored Division.

This disparity in ranks is not only reflected in the number of troops, but also in the command system and available weapons and equipment.

For example, combat units at the group army level are often equipped with a theater-level missile division, equipped with dozens of land-based cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile launchers, which can independently launch fire assaults on targets within the theater of operations, that is, between 300 and 1,000 kilometers.

Combat units at the army level basically do not have the ability to assault in theaters, let alone division-level combat units.

In this case, it is even more impossible to ask the 7th Panzer Division to conquer the world.

According to Lu Liaoyuan's meaning, it only needs the help of allies, and after the 5th Marine Division completes the sweeping mission, the allies will deal with the remnants of the enemy and be responsible for controlling the occupied area, ensuring that the combat mission of the 7th Armored Division will not become more onerous after the withdrawal of the 17th Armored Division.

Ding Zhennan knew this.

That night, he took a transport plane back to King Khalid's military city.

Although Lu Liaoyuan did not say it, the "allies" he mentioned were referring to the Saudi royal army.

Don't forget, Saudi Arabia is the head of the group of oil-producing countries on the southern shore of Posha Bay and the financier of Mua'a, with the most wealth in the crescent.

The key is that by attacking Iraq, we are actually defending the Saudis.

If it were not for the coalition forces, the Iraqi army would have taken Riyadh long ago.

Although the Shau king has long expressed his willingness to bear most of the war expenses, in the current situation, it is certainly not enough for the Saudi Arabia to pay alone.

A global war has broken out, and it is clearly impossible for the Saudis to remain behind the coalition forces.

Moreover, if Saudi Arabia refuses to send troops, then other oil-producing countries will also stop.

Only by getting rid of the Saudis can we justifiably let other oil-producing countries send troops to participate in the ground battle!