Beginning on the evening of the 15th, the battle on the southern side of Deogle entered the stage of "you come and go".

Although most of the time, it was still the Van army attacking, and the marines relied on positional defense, but the marines took advantage of the small-scale tactical counterattacks launched by the Van army in the interval between the attacks, which created huge problems for the Van army, affected the offensive deployment of the Van army, and affected the development of the war situation.

Until this time, the Van army did not realize that the main force of the Marine Corps had already entered Gugibang.

According to the relevant information disclosed after the war, as early as the 14th, the top brass of the Vatican army already knew that another line of troops of the Eastern Coalition Army had moved south from Balmel and attacked Gugibang from the west of the Aravalli Ridge. However, at that time, the top brass of the Vatican army believed that this was a feint, and its purpose was to attract the attention of the Vatican army, and then send troops from Udaipur to intercept it and relieve the pressure on Deogle's side.

After all, on Trad's side, it can't pose a threat to the northwest region of the Van Luo Kingdom.

The reason for this judgment is very simple: a few hundred kilometers south of Balmel is a vast desert, and there is only an extremely rudimentary road, not to mention providing logistics support for tens of thousands of troops, it is very good to be able to support a brigade-sized armored force.

In addition, in the northern part of Gugibang, there is the Kutch Marsh.

If the purpose of the Eastern Coalition was to sweep the eastern seaboard and capture a large city like Bommai, there would be no need to move south from Balmer and directly launch an amphibious landing operation. After all, overland transport via the Van Roe Desert and the Kutch Marshes is pitifully inefficient compared to sea transport.

The most critical reason is that the Vatican Army has always believed that the opponent is the Eastern Coalition Army, at least a mixed force, not the Fifth Marine Division.

Actually, this is also normal.

The vanguard of the 5th Marine Division, which was the first to enter the battle, that is, to attack Balmel, was equipped with a lot of main battle equipment that originally belonged to the army, such as the BZ-98 infantry fighting vehicles that were transported to the port of Kara and not delivered to the 17th Panzer Division, and the equipment belonging to the Marine Corps, such as amphibious combat vehicles, was relatively small.

In addition, because they fought in the desert, the vanguard units all changed into desert camouflage uniforms of the army.

In the battle of the assault on Deogle, a large number of the army's main battle equipment also appeared. For example, the "Z-18" heavy helicopter and the "Z-15" utility helicopter, and later the AL-100A ultra-light howitzer and PH-300B large-caliber rocket launcher, as well as the "Y-15A" ZT-99B sent from the empire, and the only main battle equipment unique to the Marine Corps is the "Z-7W" armed helicopter.

Moreover, Balmel and Deogle are both inland, hundreds of kilometers from the coastline.

Crucially, the 17th Panzer Division had already been deployed and most of its combat personnel were on standby in Kara Harbor, not far from the front line.

With the 17th Panzer Division here, why use the Marines?

Although the 17th Armored Division was to the north of the Fifth Marine Division and faced the northwest of the Van Luo Kingdom, the dispatch of several battalions and at most one brigade to carry out assault missions would have a negligible impact on the actions of the main attacker, at least there was no need for the Marines to do the work for them.

What's more, the combat operation of the assault on Deogl was also mainly aimed at the northwest battlefield, that is, to cut off the ground communication line between Udaipur and Jaipur, and to prevent the main forces deployed in the southern cluster in Udaipur from moving north, so as to be able to concentrate forces to besiege Jaipur.

This, if anything, is precisely the main task of the 17th Panzer Division.

In this way, there is even more no reason to let the 5th Marine Division do the work for you.

As for the mission of the 5th Marine Division, according to the judgment of the top brass of the Vatican army, after the main force of the 17th Panzer Division entered the battle, that is, when the attack on Jaipur began, it would launch an attack on the core area of the west coast, especially Bomby, and occupy several major port cities.

As long as there are ports, the Eastern coalition forces will be able to commit their main forces to attack and occupy the southern region.

In fact, this is the first battle plan drawn up by Ding Zhennan.

It can be seen that it was only after this wrong judgment was made that the top brass of the Vatican army stared at Deogle and did not take the threat from Trad's side seriously.

As a result, on the night of the 16th, when the main force of the Fifth Marine Division began to storm Palampur, the top brass of the Vatican army suddenly woke up.

Two brigades of the 5th Marine Division were on the outskirts of Palampur, and both were main combat brigades.

Whether the top brass of the Vatican army believed it or not, Balampur was under onslaught and most likely fell before dawn.

The point is that the garrison of Palampur was not prepared at all, and did not even know that the enemy was outside the city until it was attacked.

In addition, the Marine Corps offensive was fierce. In addition to opening the way with artillery fire, aviation was also dispatched.

Before the Marines could enter the city, the Vatican army defending Palumpur had collapsed, and there was even a collective rout of the battalion.

This is just the beginning, though.

Just a few hours later, late on the night of the 16th, another main force of the Fifth Marine Division appeared on the northern shore of Kutch Bay.

The number of troops was smaller, with only one combat brigade, but there were also far fewer Vatican troops on this side, and there was only one large city worth attacking, which was Gandhitham.

It's a coastal city!

Despite the terrain constraints, the average water depth of Kutch Bay is less than 10 meters, and the offshore waters are even more reef-dense, Gandhitam has no ready-made harbor and the only small fishing port that cannot accommodate large ships, but Kutch Bay itself is a natural sheltered bay and spacious enough for hundreds of landing ships and transport vessels to anchor and then use small vessels such as landing craft for transshipment. No more, there are still hovercrafts available. After all, those reefs hidden under the surface of the sea have a negligible impact on hovercraft.

Comparatively, the Marines were preparing for an assault on the southern part of Guchibang, such as Ahmedabad north of Cambay Bay.

As soon as the two armies of the Marines came to the city, the Vatican army would lose this vital city.

Only at the military level, Ahmedabad is the big rear of Udaipur.

Geographically, Ahmedabad is a transportation hub connecting the western coastal region with the northwest region, and can be seen as the northern gateway to the northwest coastal region.

After taking Ahmedabad, the Eastern Coalition forces could not only go north to besiege Udaipur, but also choose to move south to sweep the port cities along the coast.

In fact, it only takes the capture of Ahmedabad to force the hundreds of thousands of Vatican troops in Udaipur to surrender.

Don't forget that the Vatican army on the Udaipur side belonged to the southern faction, and many of its officers and soldiers came from Guji Bang or the big cities on the western coast. The key point is that the supply of materials for the southern cluster is mainly borne by the southern region, and only the northern region makes up for the shortfall.

In other words, the hundreds of thousands of regular troops stationed in Udaipur, as well as the millions of mobilized reservists, and many more militias, most of the supplies needed for daily life are provided by the southern region, and almost all of them pass through Ahmedabad.

Now, it happens to be a critical period for grain transshipment.

The ripening time of medium rice is November every year, and the harvesting time in the southern region is generally in early November, so it will be harvested and stored in the middle of the year. Counting the time spent on dispatching and other work, it will not be until late November that the collected grain will be distributed one after another.

According to this arrangement, the delivery of food to the front line began in late November.

It can be seen that if Ahmedabad falls at this time, all the Vatican troops on the side of Udaipur will be hungry!

It was for this reason that in the middle of the night of the 16th, Tigara gave a death order to the commander-in-chief of the Southern Cluster that Ahmedabad must be defended without affecting the combat operations against Deogle, even if the commander-in-chief himself had to fight.

But the problem is, it's easier said than done.

The main force of the southern cluster is in Udaipur, and the elite troops in it have already moved north to attack Deogel, and those who remain in Udaipur are all second-line troops.

Crucially, the hundreds of kilometres from Deogle to Ahmedabad are not a thoroughfare.

In addition, there are less than 50,000 Vatican troops stationed in Ahmedabad, and their combat effectiveness is extremely poor, not even a second-line force, and there is basically no combat effectiveness at all.

If anything, there is not a decent combat unit in the whole of Gujibang.

It's not that Gugibang is not important enough, but the top brass of the Vatican army has always felt that it is unlikely that the Eastern Coalition will directly attack Gujibang.

Relying solely on military force, the Vatican army will certainly not be able to hold Ahmedabad.

There is sufficient intelligence to prove that the main forces of the Fifth Marine Division are in Guji Bang, and the strength of the three combat brigades fighting on the front line alone is close to 20,000, and if you include the artillery brigades that follow the combat brigades and the support brigades operating in the rear, the total strength will not be less than 40,000.

Based on the Boshawan War, in order to deal with the 40,000 troops of the Liangxia Empire, the Vatican army needs to invest at least 500,000 troops!

It is a pity that there are not so many troops in the whole of Guchibang.

It was in this way that, after Tigara gave the order to die, the commander-in-chief of the Southern Cluster gave an order to the garrison of Gugibang.

All combat units withdrew into the city, and improvised militias were issued with guns and other weapons.

It must be said that this was the only defensive tactic that the Vatican army could employ.

Almost all of Guji Bang is located on the coastal plains, and there are no natural hazards to defend, even the mountainous areas to the north and west are not insurmountable obstacles in the face of modern armored forces. It was obvious that for the Van army, which had basically no heavy equipment, the field battle was a sure defeat.

If anything, dense towns, especially a few megacities, are the natural dangers that the Vatican army can rely on.

Actual combat has long proven that urban warfare is a nightmare for all armies, and even the powerful imperial armies may not be able to take advantage of urban warfare.

In addition, megacities with a population of more than 5 million are the graveyards of ground forces.

It is precisely for this reason that in the Poshawan War, the Imperial Army was exploring and summing up the experience of urban warfare, and looking for tactics to cope with and overcome the difficult problems of urban warfare.

Unfortunately, all the lessons learned point to one thing: avoid urban warfare as much as possible.

According to the experience of the engagement in Posha Bay and on the mainland battlefield, no matter how elite the ground troops, as long as they enter the city, there will be no good results. For example, in the later stages of the Poshawan War, the mighty 7th Panzer Division suffered many times in the city, and in the end it simply avoided the enemy's stubbornly defended city. If it had to be occupied, it would take a lot of time to prepare, including prolonged bombardment and shelling.

In fact, this is also the key reason why the Imperial army has been avoiding attacking large cities on several major battlefields.

Of course, this is also Ding Zhennan's biggest concern.

For this reason, Ding Zhennan repeatedly told Hou Chensheng that if the Van army relied on the big city to hold on, it would besiege but not attack, and blockade it by controlling the roads and railways. In order to attract Hou Chensheng's attention, or let Hou Chensheng act according to the order, Ding Zhennan also emphasized one point. After the 17th Panzer Division is on the field, it will launch an amphibious landing operation on the east coast of Van Luo in accordance with the original plan.

The implication is that if the 5th Marine Division is trapped in Guji Bang, it can only arrange other troops to be responsible for the main attack.

As for combat operations on the west coast, even if they do not cease after the 17th Panzer Division takes over, their importance will be greatly reduced.

All in all, if you are willing to make soy sauce, you can do it yourself.

Of course, in order to convince Hou Chensheng that this was not a joke, Ding Zhennan approved the combat operation codenamed "Fury" in the early morning of the 17th.

That's right, it was a combat operation in which the 17th Panzer Division acted as the main force and marched towards Jaipur.

If anything, the 17th Panzer Division has already sharpened its knives.

On the night of the 14th, Fu Weimin went to the front-line headquarters in Sukkur and issued the battle plan to the battalion and brigade commanders according to the plan.

Don't forget, according to Ding Zhennan's plan, a surprise attack will be launched as soon as the 15th.

Even if combat units at all levels are already ready for battle, it is necessary to give front-line commanders a few hours in advance the specific assignment of tasks and figure out what to do.

Unfortunately, he was unable to receive the battle order issued by Ding Zhennan in the early morning of the 15th.

In the next two days, nearly 50,000 officers and men of the 17th Armored Division were waiting for Ding Zhennan's battle order.

It must be said that the officers and men of the 17th Armored Division were anxious to see the Fifth Marine Division kill the Van soldiers on their backs.

It seems that if it drags on for a few more days, there will be nothing to do with the 17th Panzer Division.

Of course, in the past two days, Fu Weimin organized and held several operational meetings at the front-line headquarters, saying that he wanted to discuss combat operations with field commanders, but in fact, it was to control the grassroots officers and find something to do for these young Zhuang officers who were full of fire.

If these officers are really released back into the army, there is no guarantee that there will be any trouble.

As for the operational meeting, it did discuss and resolve some issues that had not been taken into account or taken seriously, such as the coordination and cooperation of troops at all levels.

Crucially, all combat units have taken this opportunity to complete their mobilization.

Nearly 50,000 officers and soldiers, all of them are riveting, just waiting for the command to give an order!

It was precisely in this way that less than four hours after Dingzhennan gave the order, that is, at 3 o'clock in the morning of the 17th, the vanguard of the 17th Panzer Division crossed the border line west of Sukkur, invaded the territory of Van Luo, and marched at the fastest field speed of 30 kilometers per hour towards Jaiselmer, which was located north of Balmer and had great strategic value, and was killed by the Van army, boasting that it was the first military town on the western border.

At this point, large-scale combat operations in the North-Western Theater began.

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