The undeclared war of the Bran Kingdom had the most obvious impact on the battlefield of Posha Bay.

When Ding Zhennan received the news, the two aircraft carrier battle groups that had been operating in the East Continent Xinhai, that is, the waters near Cyprus, had already turned to Alexandria. Although, according to the adjustment of the General Staff, these two aircraft carrier battle groups will remain in the Eastern Continent Xinhai to ensure that the route from Alexandria to the Mohai Sea, or to the Bosphorus to be precise, is unimpeded, so as to continue to deliver supplies by sea to the shackled land bridge, Novorossiysk. However, with the current situation, these two aircraft carrier battle groups will certainly not be able to continue their combat missions to bomb Iraq.

The loss of 2 aircraft carrier battle groups at once is by no means a trivial matter.

Even if the General Staff has already made a guarantee that it will send an additional aircraft carrier battle group to Muahai in the near future, it will not be able to save the fire from far water.

Do not forget that the Air Force is shifting its center of gravity to the Northwest Theater of Operations.

Can this battle still be fought?

Or can it still go according to plan?

Ding Zhennan went directly to find Shi Zhiliang.

"The General Staff has made adjustments and will send the Fifth Marine Division over in the near future. It's just that what we can rely on now is the little force in our hands. "Shi Zhiliang had long expected that Ding Zhennan was coming to him, and he had already prepared." The combat operation is still carried out according to plan, but it is no longer imposed on casualties and attrition, and it is fought according to the pattern of a large-scale war, that is, a global war. ”

"......"

Shi Zhiliang suppressed his hand first, and after Ding Zhennan closed his mouth, he continued: "The Bran Kingdom has declared war on us, and the Nuland Republic will make a move against us sooner or later, and a global war has broken out. Judging by the above, we may only have half a year. ”

Ding Zhennan sighed, and then nodded.

In a few hours, both houses of parliament will pass the war authorization bill submitted by the first assistant, and then the full-scale war mobilization will be officially launched. However, it will take some time to complete the mobilization. In the sense above, our task is to end the fighting on this side before the mobilization is completed. ”

"It's over!?" Ding Zhennanteng stood up suddenly, his expression was extremely shocked.

Shi Zhiliang was very calm, nodded, and said, "There are already enough signs that in a few months, the film will be opened in the Southern Subcontinent. ”

After hearing this, Ding Zhennan sat down again, but then returned to his normal appearance.

Obviously, this is not worth surprising at all.

"If you need anything, bring it up now, so I can reflect it to the above."

"Both divisions of the army have to stay, and in addition to making sure that the logistics are well supplied. If you can, you'll need to have your allies' combat units in place. ”

"None of this is a problem, and the armored brigade of the Tall Kingdom will be in place this week. As for the troops of Pakistan and Railway, don't count on it for the time being. If it really opens in the southern subcontinent, it will be a blessing that Pakistan can withstand the attack of Van Luo's army and hold out until our reinforcements arrive. ”

"It's going to take another week to complete the pre-attack preparations." Ding Zhennan did not dwell on the matter of Ba Tie, after all, the actual situation was there.

The flames of war in the southern subcontinent must have been ignited by the war of the Van Luo Kingdom against Pakistan.

It is a miracle that the little military strength of the Israeli-Palestinian railway can hold out for several months, so at this juncture, it will definitely not send troops to Posha Bay.

Shi Zhiliang nodded and agreed, and Ding Zhennan didn't say anything more.

In fact, Ding Zhennan knew that Shi Zhiliang was only carrying out the orders given from above, and the current situation was not affected by his personal will.

A global war has broken out, or is in the process of breaking out.

In the face of the torrent of history, anyone is a completely negligible existence.

"There is one more thing," when Ding Zhennan walked to the door, Shi Zhiliangcai said: "After the battle is over, I will return to the Northwest Theater as the commander, and I will need a young and promising chief of staff at that time." Based on your performance, this position is definitely yours. ”

Ding Zhennan was stunned for a moment, but then nodded, and then left the commander's office.

The meaning of Shi Zhiliang's special sentence could not be more obvious. Ding Zhennan also knows very well that if he fails to fight this battle, it will be just empty talk.

Is this battle easy to fight?

If it goes according to the original plan, it really won't be difficult.

Unfortunately, that's no longer possible!

A week later, a ground war will be waged.

By then, how many troops will there be?

2 armored divisions of the Imperial Army, 2 reinforced armored battalions of the Marine Corps, 1 armored brigade of the High Ju Army, and at most several divisions and brigades of Saudi and other countries.

Of course, the two divisions, one brigade and two battalions mentioned above are charging forward.

The total strength of these troops is 50,000 at most.

On the other side, that's an army of millions!

Although the Iraqi Army has only a standing strength of just over 200,000, or 400,000 even if you include the Republican Guard, Iraq has completed its war mobilization, and about 600,000 reserve troops have been formed into armies, and a militia of the same size as the reserve has been mobilized.

Even if you don't count the militia, the Iraqi Army has 22 divisions and 18 independent brigades, with a total strength of about 800,000.

Of course, the Iraqi army will not concentrate all its forces in the south, and will certainly have enough troops to defend the capital, Baghdad, and the oil town of Kirkuk in the north.

Theoretically, the Iraqi Army could deploy up to half of its forces to the south.

That means facing 400,000 troops, and certainly the elite of the Iraqi Army.

What is even worse is that a large part of the superiority of the combined forces, that is, air power, has been siphoned off, and the intensity of air support is certainly not as strong as before.

As mentioned earlier, the Navy has transferred 2 aircraft carrier battle groups.

Even if one more team will be sent over in a few days, it will only be better than nothing.

The reason is also very simple: the additional aircraft carrier battle group can only be deployed in the Mua Sea, not in Posha Bay, and the sortie radius of the carrier-based aircraft exceeds 800 kilometers, and the combat efficiency is certainly very low, and in the northern waters of the Mua Sea, at most only two aircraft carrier battle groups can be deployed. The deployment of three aircraft carrier battle groups at the same time will limit the combat effectiveness due to overcrowding and the inability of the fleet to deploy.

If anything, this is the first thing that needs to be addressed.

The first arrangement Ding Zhennan made was to contact the Navy Command and ask if it was possible to bring carrier-based aviation ashore, that is, to deploy it on land airfields.

Of course, it is not only the carrier-based aviation wing that the additional carrier battle group will be deployed to deploy.

The Imperial Navy had 15 carrier battle groups and 16 carrier-based air wings, but the 16th wing was of a training nature.

In fact, the scale of this establishment far exceeds the actual needs.

Because at any given time, only 12 of the 15 aircraft carrier battle groups are deployed and trained at most, that is, three aircraft carriers are being maintained and overhauled at any time, so theoretically, only 12 carrier-based aviation wings are needed to meet the needs of daily deployment.

It is precisely for this reason that over the past decade or so, the two chambers have been trying to get the Navy to reduce the number of carrier-based aviation wings by three.

Fortunately, after Zhou Yongtao lived in the Shoufu Mansion, all the relevant proposals disappeared.

In reality, there will certainly be no more than nine carrier-based aviation wings in the deployed state, that is, only a maximum of nine aircraft carrier battle groups will be deployed in peacetime, and in addition to the three aircraft carriers for maintenance, the other three aircraft carriers will rest in the harbor.

In other words, six carrier-based aviation wings are in a state of rest and training at any given time.

That's almost 600 carrier-based aircraft!

Among them, there are more than 400 fighters and attack aircraft alone.

What is this concept?

Previously, the Air Force deployed less than 400 tactical aircraft in the Posha Bay area.

In other words, as long as the navy's carrier-based air wings in an "idle" state can be mobilized, they will be able to fill the loopholes in air power.

In fact, this is also where Ding Zhennan's confidence lies.

As for the combat losses that may be suffered, or are necessarily suffered, this is not a big problem.

The empire was about to enter a state of war, and it was obviously much easier to replenish the lost combat aircraft than to build warships, and the navy would also have to expand its forces.

In addition, the navy also hopes to use combat training as a substitute for training and improve its combat readiness through actual combat.

So what reason is there for refusing to send carrier-based aviation into the war?

Soon, Ding Zhennan received a positive reply from the naval command.

Within a week, in addition to one additional aircraft carrier battle group, the Imperial Navy will send three additional carrier-based air wings in training to the Posha Bay area, to be precise, the combat aircraft of which are among them. Since there is no need for a mission for the time being, the support aircraft remain on the Empire mainland.

As long as necessary, it is possible to deploy three to five additional carrier-based aviation wings in a week at any time thereafter to increase the number of combat aircraft to about 500. After completing the mobilization for the war, it was even able to further expand the scale of deployment, putting in nearly 1,000 combat aircraft.

However, it is clear that the day will not come when the Imperial Navy will complete its mobilization for war.

If the hands are relaxed, especially if the emphasis is no longer on casualty control, the 500 combat aircraft provided by the Navy will be sufficient to support the ground forces in completing offensive operations.

The second thing Ding Zhennan did was to ask the army to guarantee that it would not weaken the forces deployed in Posha Bay.

Although this is an internal matter of the Army, the result is somewhat unexpected.

After Ding Zhennan made his position clear, that is, the investment of the army aviation was related to the entire battle situation, the army aviation headquarters reluctantly agreed to his request.

However, there is one prerequisite.

The Army Aviation will make adjustments to its deployment, mainly to return a few units that originally belonged to the Northwest Theater of Operations, and then send other troops to replace them.

The implication is that the army can only guarantee that the number of troops invested will not be reduced.

As for the combat effectiveness of combat units, that's another matter.

In fact, this is the best result that Ding Zhennan can strive for.

According to the information fed back by the Army Aviation Command, the situation in the Northwest Theater is very dangerous, and many of the combat units that were invested before have been wiped out.

Under the circumstance that the first line of defense has collapsed and the second line of defense may not be able to be defended, the army aviation will certainly have to increase its investment in the northwest theater.

Otherwise, I am afraid that even the third line of defense will be broken through by the enemy.

The key is that we must not only invest in combat units, but also in elite troops.

The Northwest Theater is too vast and has placed an extremely huge burden on logistical support, so the combat efficiency of the troops is of decisive value.

Obviously, only elite units will be able to achieve sufficient combat efficiency.

Comparatively speaking, the logistical support on the side of Posha Bay mainly depends on sea transportation, and the troops are stationed in the adjacent sea area, so the burden of logistical support is much lower.

Even if the combat efficiency is low, it will not have much impact.

As for the tactical aviation of the Air Force, there is basically nothing to count on.

According to the reply given by the Air Force Command, except for the "Zhan-16A" group that dealt with the "Scud" missile launchers and the "Attack-11" squadron that carried out key bombing missions, the other combat units will be transferred to the northwest battlefield one after another, but most of the support planes will be left behind.

It's not that support aircraft aren't important, but they won't be needed in the Northwest Theater for the time being.

When needed, it will also be transferred.

As for the "Attack-9" special attack aircraft, which are necessary to launch a ground war, there is not a single one!

For this, the Air Force Command also gave a clear statement.

Comparatively speaking, the demand for attack aircraft is more obvious on the side of the Northwest Theater, and on the side of Posha Bay, the armed helicopters of the Army Aviation and the attack aircraft of the Navy can also cope with them.

What's more, the Marine Corps can also be drawn from helicopter gunships.

In fact, this is also the method that Ding Zhennan thought of.

The Marine Corps has its own air force, the scale of which is not small, and the main force is hundreds of "Z-7" series of armed helicopters, of which there are more than 100 of the latest "Z-7W".

The key is that the "Z-7W" is actually a standard heavy gunship.

Compared to the previous model, the Z-7W is equipped with two engines, nearly doubles the take-off weight, and thus has thicker armor, which can carry heavy anti-tank missiles such as the "repeater", and has also been replaced with a 30 mm machine gun.

In terms of combat effectiveness, the "Z-7W" is not much worse than the "Z-10A".

If you want to talk about the difference, the main thing is the electronic equipment, that is, in the case of a more complex battlefield environment, the combat capability of the "Z-10A" is significantly stronger.

Fortunately, the battlefield environment on this side of Posha Bay is not complicated.

Strictly speaking, it's ideal.

In addition, the Marine Corps did not participate in combat operations in the Northwest Theater.

Although in a short period of time, it is not possible to get the Marine Corps to send more ground troops, such as the Fifth Marine Division, but the problem of investing more aviation is not very big.

The reason is also very simple, those helicopters of the Marine Corps can be carried by aircraft carriers!

Similar operations, the Imperial Navy has not done before.

A few years earlier, while quelling the insurgency in Sri Lanka, the Imperial Navy had carried out a low-intensity, low-altitude assault mission with large aircraft carriers and helicopters.

In fact, it only took one day for Ding Zhennan to get these things done.

The rest is a tactical arrangement.

This is the place that gives Ding Zhennan the most headache.

To put it bluntly, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice.

No matter how powerful Ding Zhennan is, the troops in his hands are insufficient, and he can't change many tricks.

With only 50,000 ground troops, a total of less than 20 battalions of assault force, it was necessary to defeat hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops and capture Baghdad in three months.

To say, no one dares to guarantee this!

But what can it be?

Ding Zhennan knew very well that Shi Zhiliang gave him this task, not only because he trusted him, but also because he was testing him.

In Shi Zhiliang's words, the task of a staff officer is to solve problems, and a staff officer who is not capable of solving problems is definitely not a good staff officer.

Anyway, Ding Zhennan still has a week to go.

On the side of the Northwest Theater, the battle has entered a white-hot stage.