With only three battalions, only two battalions to be exact, the Saudi engineering battalion did not take part in the battle and tore open the encirclement of the rebels in one night?

Is it possible!?

It's hard to believe, but it makes sense.

That night, the fighter jets of the government forces and the coalition forces of the Arab League flew a total of 578 sorties, a record number of sorties at night, and the number of bombs dropped reached a record 2,750 tons, more than 30 A-5PGs deployed in Nasiriyah flew 108 sorties, and the JF-17 group deployed in King Khalid Military City flew 133 sorties, and these fighters belonging to the Iraqi government army dropped a total of 800 tons of bombs.

In addition, the JF-17 fleet used up 1800 small-diameter bombs in two rounds of close bombing!

It was with such strong air support that the ground forces led by Wang Dong were able to tear through the encirclement of the rebels and enter the city of Samawa.

From this point of view, it is not the ground forces that defeat the rebels, but the air power.

Obviously, the powerful strike capability endowed by hundreds of advanced fighter jets is the trump card of the Arab coalition forces, and it is also the nightmare of the rebels.

If it can't neutralize the air superiority of the Arab League, the rebels will lose the war no matter how much they can fight.

To put it bluntly, the government army and the ground forces of the Arab League do not need to advance at all, and they can reach Baghdad with the next step of air support.

The question is, what will the rebels do to neutralize the air superiority of the Arab League?

The rebels had no air force, and the few attack aircraft they had were destroyed on the ground shortly after the outbreak of the civil war, and there were no air defense systems.

By Iran?

Iran did provide support to the rebels, and according to information released after the war, Iran provided the rebels with a long-range anti-aircraft search radar, and it was the radar of the S-300, which the rebels relied on to shoot down several government and Arab League fighters with the remaining FD2000 anti-aircraft missiles.

It's just that Iran did not supply the rebels with a complete set of air defense systems at that time.

There is nothing surprising that Iran has only three S-300s in total, one of which is deployed in Tehran, one near the nuclear power plant, and one in Abadan, north of the Strait of Hormuz, and there is nothing superfluous, not to mention that these air defense systems are worth billions of dollars.

In fact, Iran is not a big country, and even if it has some military industry, it will not be able to produce advanced air defense systems on its own.

Looking at the world, there are only three countries that can independently develop and produce regional air defense systems, namely the United States, Russia and China, in addition to the European Union.

As for Israel, all the key technologies of its "Arrow" air defense and anti-missile system come from the United States.

Obviously, Iran simply can't be relied upon.

With Iran's capabilities, even if it goes all out to support the rebels, it will at most give the rebels limited air defense, which will not be enough to offset the air superiority of the Arab League.

What to do if it is not possible to neutralize the air superiority of the Arab League?

From a strategic point of view, the only choice for the rebels is to switch from offensive to defensive, abandon operations on the outer front, take the initiative to retreat, and make full use of the favorable conditions for fighting on the inner front.

What is an "outside line" and what is an "inside line"?

The Sunni ghetto is the outer line, and the Shiite ghetto is the inner line.

Semavo is the dividing point between two major sects, with Sunni settlements to the east and Shia settlements to the west.

Actually, previous battles have proven this.

The defeat of the rebels was in the Sunni settlements, while the Shia settlements were easily victorious.

With the strength of the rebels, even if the attack is hopeless, there is still a great chance of winning if they retreat to defense.

Relying on the people and holding on to important military towns such as Najaf and Diwaniyah should not be a big problem.

This is considered only at the military level, and at the political level, the problem is big.

To abandon the offensive is to admit that the Razak regime cannot be eliminated.

As long as the Razak regime exists, it is the legitimate regime in Iraq, and Karim, who occupies Baghdad, is nothing more than an illegitimate regime that came to power through a coup d'état.

Obviously, recognition of the Karim regime will be possible only after the elimination of the Razak regime.

Is there still a chance to eliminate the Razak regime after the entry of the Arab League ground forces into Iraq?

If not, the attack would be a drain on valuable troops.

Karim doesn't understand this?

Of course I do!

Leaving aside the fierce fighting, the rebels raided Semavo and surrounded more than a dozen brigades of the government army in one fell swoop, in fact, making a last-ditch effort.

Obviously, this is also the key to the rebels' onslaught on Semavo in an attempt to quickly annihilate the government forces.

Now, the effort has failed.

What's next?

Retreat, of course!

Before the government forces and the coalition forces launched an offensive, the main forces were withdrawn, and then the deployment was adjusted to strengthen the defenses of Najaf and other places.

It's just that we can't all evacuate in a swarm, and that can't be done.

The correct approach is to have the troops retreat one by one, and if necessary, to fight a few small counterattacks to ensure that the retreat can be carried out smoothly.

It is not the government forces that need to be guarded against, but the coalition forces of the Arab League.

Shortly after daybreak, a mighty procession arrived at Nasiriyah, headed by an armored brigade under the command of Faisal himself.

That, of course, was the armored brigade of the Royal Saudi Army.

Hundreds of brand-new M1A2s, countless armored combat vehicles, and fleets with no end in sight.

There must have been more than one brigade coming.

At about two o'clock in the afternoon, after a few hours of rest, mainly to refuel the tanks, the huge team set off again.

The destination is Semavo in the west.

The procession is so huge, stretching for more than ten kilometers before and after, and when you look down from the air, you can only see rolling sand and dust, and vehicles that appear and disappear from time to time.

It's just that judging by the length of the ranks, there are at least four brigades here.

Of course, it is only a combat unit, and the logistics support convoy will spend the night in Nasiriyah and will not leave for Semavo until tomorrow morning at the earliest.

Because the team is too large, the speed of travel is not very fast, and it only takes more than 20 kilometers to walk in an hour.

It also has to do with the condition of the road.

The road between Semavo and Nasiriyah has been repeatedly run over by the rebels and government forces, and it has long been riddled with holes, and there are no tanks and fighting vehicles, and wheeled vehicles, especially service vehicles lacking cross-country ability, are simply not able to move fast on this road.

At this rate, it will be after dark to reach Semavo.

During the day, Wang Dong and the others did not rest.

Although there were no large-scale battles, the rebel attacks never stopped.

According to Wang Dong's arrangement, the government army carried out several small-scale counterattacks, connected the defense areas, and focused on strengthening the defense deployment in the eastern urban area.

The busiest were not the fighters, but the Saudi engineers who accompanied Wang Dong to Semavo.

That is, the restoration of tank fighting vehicles abandoned by government forces, especially the "Khalid" main battle tank.

Don't forget, Wang Dong only got 30 of these tanks provided by Pakistan, and all the rest were given to the government army, and then they were taken to Semavo.