"Boss Liu!"

After the driver's reminder, Liu Zunshan also saw the red signal flare rising into the night sky, which was the order for the official start of the assault.

At this time, it was exactly 5:15.

There was still some distance from the forward assembly position to the border, and it was almost half past five o'clock.

Liu Zunshan didn't think much about it, and after asking Fu Xiaobing to start the tank, he took out a glow stick, raised it above his head and waved it a few times.

That was telling the tanks behind, keep up with the battalion commander's tank.

As for the on-board radio, it can only be used after crossing the border line, and radio silence must be maintained before it to ensure the concealment of the movement.

In this regard, Liu Zunshan and other front-line officers and soldiers felt that it was an extra move.

The Iraqi army has long been blown up, and even if there are still a few units with a certain combat effectiveness, they will not be deployed in the desert near the border.

Judging the offensive actions of the coalition forces by radio activity is even more nonsense.

At the time of determining the tactics of the assault, a very serious analysis arose within the coalition forces.

Although at the end of July, the Joint Forces Command adjusted the purpose of the operation, no longer only to liberate Kuwait, but also to attack Iraq, at least to occupy the two river basins, so as to control and use the road and railway from Posha Bay to the Armenian plateau.

The main purpose of the plan was to control the oil fields in southern and northern Iraq.

It was not until the outbreak of the Great War that the imperial authorities adjusted and no longer regarded the control of oil fields as their main purpose, after all, the last thing that was lacking in the Posha Bay area was oil.

The empire is much less dependent on imported oil than it was a few decades ago.

In the last war, the empire was very strategically passive because of its high dependence on imported oil, and had to prioritize securing oil supplies at many critical moments. In fact, this is the primary reason why the Empire gave priority to the invasion of Fanyan Ocean during the Great War to capture and control Posha Bay.

In addition, in the two post-war waves of national independence movements, the empire's influence was weakened, and its control over the oil fields was greatly reduced.

For example, Nigeria in the Xuan Continent, Venezuela in the Southern Continent, and the Kingdom of Weijing in the Western Continent all got rid of the control of the empire after the war.

All this forced the imperial authorities to make great efforts to solve the energy problem.

The main thing is to find oil fields in the local area and the surrounding areas of the local land to reduce the dependence on imports.

In the decades after the war, five super oil fields with reserves of up to hundreds of millions of tons were discovered in the empire itself, and a few years ago, three world-class oil fields with theoretical reserves of up to billions of tons were discovered in the far north. On the Yanhai side, an offshore oil field comparable to Posha Bay has also been discovered.

In the surrounding area of the empire, that is, in the southeast, several large oil fields were also discovered.

To this day, the empire's oil self-sufficiency rate has remained above 75%.

After the Second National Independence Movement, the Imperial authorities expanded and improved the system of national strategic reserves in order to enhance the strategic security of energy.

By the latest standards, the Empire's oil reserves reached 270 days, which corresponds to 9 months of normal consumption.

Although this standard is lower than the 12 months before the last war, due to the impact of economic development, the oil reserves have increased by nearly 20 times!

Of course, the establishment of strategic petroleum reserves is also aimed at manipulating international oil prices.

All in all, after the efforts of Zhou Yongtao's government, the empire's dependence on oil imports has been reduced to an innocuous level.

Theoretically, when the empire entered a state of war, locally produced oil would be able to meet the war consumption.

As for controlling the oil-producing countries on the south shore of Posha Bay, in addition to the huge strategic value of Posha Bay itself, it is mainly for the purpose of controlling international oil prices.

Of course, whether you want to control the oil fields or not, you have to occupy Iraq.

The question is, should the focus be on the south, or should it be a direct attack on the Iraqi capital?

In the initial stage, the main goal was the liberation of Kuwait, so the draft battle plan was mainly based on fighting in the southern part of Iraq.

Of the several battle plans drafted by Ding Zhennan, the most was the capture of Basra.

According to this purpose, it is enough to use the strength of 2 divisions, and it is not even necessary to go deep inland and fight a battle around Kuwait.

Although after the adjustment, the strength of the army has also increased from the initial two divisions to three divisions, in addition to the army's 7th and 17th armored divisions, plus the strengthened 5th Marine Division, in addition to an armored brigade of the Kingdom of Tall Giant and other allied units, but compared with the tasks to be undertaken, this investment in troops is simply not enough, and it is not even guaranteed to complete all combat missions.

As a result of this, the ground war could only be carried out in stages.

This is at least the opinion of the majority of officers and soldiers.

However, this conflicts with another requirement.

If the ground war is divided into several phases, even two phases, such as the liberation of Kuwait first and the attack on the capital of Iraq, it will absolutely not be possible to complete the main combat operation within the one month stipulated by the imperial authorities, that is, to occupy Baghdad and other major cities.

Theoretically, it would take one month just to liberate Kuwait and occupy southern Iraq.

It was against this background that Ding Zhenna proposed not to invest too many ground troops in Kuwait and to march directly to Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

To put it bluntly, that is, to smash the Yellow Dragon!

A delay in taking Baghdad would force Iraqi forces elsewhere to surrender, thereby minimizing the duration of large-scale combat operations.

However, this is not to say that action is not being taken on Kuwait's side.

In the battle plan drawn up by Ding Zhennan, the Marine Corps will launch a feint on the Kuwaiti side and be responsible for pinning down the elite Iraqi troops deployed in that direction.

The point is that the troops used in this direction are actually only 2 battalions, and they are all synthetic infantry battalions.

Throughout the month of August, the number one task for the Marines was to get the ships transporting the 5th Marine Division to Dammam Harbor, unload the equipment at night, camouflage it before dawn, and then send it away by the military columns to ensure that the enemy did not detect the movement of the coalition forces.

It is not Iraq that is on the lookout, but the reconnaissance satellites of the Republic of Nuland.

Because the ship could only be unloaded at night, and the operation time was only a few hours, the transfer work that could have been completed in a few days was carried out for a month.

At present, the transport ships deployed on the other side of Posha Bay are actually loaded with ammunition and other war materials.

The main forces of the 5th Marine Division have long been moved to the vicinity of Lafha, and they are all in a state of covert deployment.

In order to avoid exposure, combat units are dispersed, and daily consumption of supplies, especially food and fresh water, is delivered by helicopter. The point is that all the camps were camouflaged, such as a layer of yellow sand on top of the barracks, which was camouflaged as a sand dune.

As for the logistical supply after the offensive, it will be borne by the two infantry divisions in Saudi Arabia.

To this end, Saudi Arabia has mobilized about 5,000 military trucks and urgently requisitioned thousands of transport vehicles capable of driving in the desert.

In fact, the task of the 5th Marine Division was relatively easy.

After invading Iraq, the 5th Marine Division advanced directly towards Salman and captured the small town in the heart of the southern Iraqi desert.

This was the target of the first day of the assault.

After that, the vanguard assault force of the 5th Marine Division would continue to march towards Semavo and capture this strategic town in the valley of the two rivers.

Critically, this is the dividing point between the Marine Corps and the Army's area of operations.

According to Ding Zhennan's arrangement, after capturing Semavo, the 5th Marine Division would turn around and begin to march downstream to Basra.

At that time, the coalition forces deployed on the Saudi side will also attack Kuwait at the same time.

That is, the 5th Marine Division and the ground forces of the coalition forces were responsible for liberating Kuwait and capturing southern Iraq.

The key is to open up logistical supply lines.

It was for this reason that Ding Zhennan clearly told the officers and men of the 5th Marine Division that they had only one week, and a maximum of 10 days, and that they had to take Basra and control the road and rail from Basra to Semawao to ensure that the supplies that were delivered to Basra could be sent to the front line.

After that, it was the Army-led combat operation against Baghdad.

Sweep a third of Iraq in a week!?

It's not impossible, but it's really difficult.

The main problem is logistics.

When drawing up the details of the battle plan, Liu Zunshan and other officers of the grass-roots units proposed that first of all, it is necessary to ensure that the logistical support must keep up.

The ground advance alone has more than 1,200 kilometers, a third of which is field marching.

According to the tactical regulations of the Imperial Army, the armored forces had to be refueled once when they advanced 200 kilometers in the field, and every 300 to 350 kilometers even if they advanced along the road. If there is a possibility of engagement, increase the frequency of resupply by 50%.

In high-intensity combat, the armoured forces often strike at a distance of only a few tens of kilometers per day.

During the last war, even in a blitzkrieg, not a single arm-sized armored unit had a daily assault distance of more than 50 kilometers.

To put it bluntly, every step of the advance of the armored forces was built with massive supplies.

The same is true of modern warfare, where armored units must at all times ensure that tanks and fighting vehicles have 60% of the fuel surplus, and even in the event of a sudden encounter with the enemy, they can still engage them, without losing tactical mobility due to lack of fuel, and thus being routed by the enemy in the encounter.

In this way, 1,200 kilometers of advance requires 5 to 8 refueling alone.

Obviously, ammunition also needs to be replenished.

If the logistics can't keep up, it's all in vain.

Fortunately, Ding Zhennan also made enough guarantees.

In addition to the thousands of transport vehicles provided by the Saudis, the coalition has mobilized thousands of helicopters, about a third of which are heavy transport helicopters, dedicated to transporting war materiel to the front lines and ensuring that assault forces are covered at all times.

In addition, it is necessary to intensify air strikes and reduce the combat consumption of assault troops as much as possible.

Actually, the Marines themselves are working on it.

In the military city of King Khaled, there is an aviation unit of the Marine Corps, in addition to dozens of helicopter gunships, there are also more than a hundred attack aircraft.

Helicopter gunships of the Marine Corps will be stationed at the temporary base in Lafha to provide support to the ground forces after the ground war has begun. As for the attack aircraft deployed in King Khalid Military City, they are under the unified command and command of the coalition command, but they are mainly oriented to the southern part of Iraq.

In addition, the Army left a separate artillery brigade in Lafha to assist the Marine Corps in operations.

It must be admitted that the Marine Corps has always lacked long-range artillery.

It's not that the Marine Corps can't afford large-caliber howitzers and long-range rocket artillery, but that they haven't been needed for decades.

In a landing operation, or in a coastal area, the Marine Corps can call on the fleet at any time to provide artillery support, and the Navy's warships are the artillery of the Marine Corps.

All destroyers and cruisers of the Imperial Navy were equipped with at least one 130 mm gun, and some frigates were also equipped with 130 mm guns.

The main value of these large-caliber naval guns is to provide fire support to the Marine Corps during landing operations.

In the landing fleet, especially when carrying out landing operations, several warships are often assigned to provide fire support for the landing force.

Sometimes, even battleships with powerful firepower with large cruisers!

In Ding's words, he sent all the support he could find, and the Marines were only tasked with sweeping the southern part of Iraq as planned.

Because he first arrived in Saudi Arabia and fought a battle with the Iraqi army in July, Liu Zunshan took on the heavy task of assault.

It was still this synthetic battalion under his command.

Unlike more than a month ago, there is one more infantry company, one air defense company, and one logistics support battalion, bringing the total strength of the strengthened force to more than 800 people.

That's not much, if anything.

Theoretically, a reinforced battalion of the Marine Corps can reach a maximum of 2,000 men, which in the past was equivalent to a regiment of the Army.

As a matter of fact, small but comprehensive has always been the characteristic of the battalion-level combat units of the Marine Corps.

After all, on the battlefield faced by the Marine Corps, it is often necessary to have a relatively comprehensive combat capability to ensure that it can cope with all kinds of unexpected situations.

Of course, the assault mission was still carried out by 3 armored companies and 3 infantry companies.

Although it was a field assault, the armored units were still lined up in a neat line.

Less than 5:30 a.m., Liu Zunshan's tank crossed the border and entered Iraq.

Because it was so well concealed, there were no Iraqi troops guarding the border in that direction, and there was no blocking when crossing the border.

Less than 6 o'clock, several helicopters flew over the armored units.

Not a mighty gunship, it's a small reconnaissance helicopter.

According to the information provided by the Air Force, there is no Iraqi army deployed in a structured manner south of Samawa, and there is no need to deploy helicopter gunships in advance.

In order to be insured, the Marine Corps nevertheless sent several reconnaissance helicopters.

Of course, this is a standard assault tactic.

The reconnaissance helicopter opens the way in front, and the armored troops can keep the marching state, which not only saves fuel, but also allows the officers and men to maintain their physical strength.

If the enemy is in front, the assault force will be ready for battle after receiving the message.

In fact, Liu Zunshan did not believe that it would be smooth sailing.

The distance from Lavha to Semavo is more than 120 kilometers in a straight line, and even if it were to rush directly, it would take a full four hours at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour that a tank can achieve on a field march, and it would normally take five to six hours if it was delayed.

During these 5 to 6 hours, the Iraqi army did nothing?

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