Two days later, the offensive operation began.

The battle began at Gaymas.

Shortly after nightfall, four artillery battalions of four Saudi brigades. Two artillery battalions sent by the UAE forces, as well as two artillery battalions of the government army, a total of nearly two hundred self-propelled howitzers of eight artillery battalions opened fire at the same time, kicking off the offensive with ultra-high-density shelling.

Faisal personally went to the front and gave great encouragement to the officers and men.

It can also be said to be stress.

The star of the night was the PLZ-45 self-propelled howitzer.

Although the PLZ-45 self-propelled howitzers of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had participated in the battle and shelled the rebels many times before this, it was here that the UAE's PLZ-45 used GP laser-guided artillery shells imported from China for the first time to bombard the rebels' bridgeheads.

In fact, many years ago, the UAE army used GP-1 laser-guided artillery shells in Afghanistan and achieved very satisfactory results, and then in the joint exercises with the US military, the UAE's PLZ-45 with a longer range, the US military's M109 was powerless.

In Yemen, the PLZ-45 is even more deservedly the "god of war".

In terms of range, accuracy and reliability, the PLZ-45 is much better than the Saudi M109A3 and is the most trusted support firepower for front-line officers and soldiers.

It's just that the problems of the PLZ-45 are also prominent, that is, the firing range when using ordinary shells is a little shorter.

To this end, Kuwait first made improvements to the PLZ-45, mainly replacing it with a 52-diameter body tube and installing more advanced fire control equipment.

What Wang Dong obtained in Kuwait was PLZ-45G, that is, the improved type.

Subsequently, the UAE followed Kuwait's lead and asked Huaxia Arms Enterprises to make similar, to be precise, exactly the same improvements to its own PLZ-45.

In fact, Saudi Arabia has a similar plan.

It is a pity that the Saudis are the absolute main force on the battlefield in Yemen, and almost all artillery units equipped with PLZ-45 are on combat duty in Yemen.

In addition, with the style of local tyrants in Saudi Arabia, they generally do not improve the equipment in service, and they are really backward, so they directly purchase new equipment.

Of course, this is also related to the performance of the PLZ-45G, that is, the improvements mainly increase the firing range, increase the ability to use new guided projectiles, and not change much in terms of accuracy, rate of fire, etc., or even reduce some; For example, the sustained rate of fire for fifteen minutes was reduced to two rounds per minute, while the PLZ-45 was able to reach three rounds per minute; Compared with the new self-propelled howitzer, the PLZ-45 cannot catch up no matter how it is changed.

As the saying goes, you don't know if it's good until you've used it.

Because of the powerful performance of the PLZ-45 in Yemen, Saudi Arabia has long taken a fancy to the PLZ-05.

However, Saudi Arabia has not signed a contract with Huaxia to purchase PLZ-05.

Quite simply, the PLZ-05 is actually a deep modification of the PLZ-45, and it can also be said to be a self-propelled howitzer that refires against the shortcomings of the PLZ-45.

Although a lot of advanced and fashionable equipment is used, and the indicators are outstanding, the shadow of PLZ-45 can still be seen in PLZ-05, and many of the most fundamental problems cannot be solved by installing equipment and redesigning locally.

The biggest problem, in fact, lies in the shells, to be precise, the cartridges of the shells.

The PLZ-05 still uses a semi-combustible cartridge, while today's first-class self-propelled howitzers, especially in the West, have adopted a fully combustible cartridge.

Strictly speaking, at least at the level of tactical use, there is not much difference between fully combustible and semi-combustible.

Self-propelled howitzers are tanks that fire at the enemy from dozens of kilometers away, and they are not tanks that charge on the battlefield and fight with the enemy with bayonets.

Besides, the price of semi-combustible cartridges is low, and the economic benefits of large consumption are extremely considerable.

Shells are consumables, and in a battle, hundreds or thousands of rounds are used, even if each cartridge is cheaper than tens of dollars, and it is impossible to accumulate it.

It's just that Saudi Arabia is a local tyrant and doesn't care at all.

The point is, it's funky.

Under the propaganda of Western countries, whether or not to use all-combustible cartridges is a hard indicator for the generation of artillery, and if not, it is a backward product.

Affected by this, the Saudis at one time intended to purchase PzH-2000 self-propelled howitzers from Germany.

Compared with the somewhat rustic, or down-to-earth Chinese artillery, this self-propelled howitzer produced in Germany is absolutely tall.

This is very much the appetite of local tyrants.

What is the consumption concept of local tyrants?

Not the best, but the most expensive!

The Germans are indeed shrewd, but a little greedy, and after the Saudis expressed their intention to purchase, the Germans went so far as to vigorously promote the "Leopard" 2A7.

According to the propaganda of the Germans, the PzH-2000 is the best match with the "Leopard" 2A7, and if you add a few hundred "Pumas", it will be perfect.

Do you want to add the 212 submarine?

Germany tried to sell the Leopard 2A7 together, while Saudi Arabia did not have the idea of purchasing main battle tanks at that time, after all, it had only obtained a few hundred M1A2s from the United States.

The negotiations dragged on for several years, and as a result, the chickens flew and the eggs fought.

Why?

Qatar was the first Gulf country to purchase the PzH-2000, and it was for this reason that Saudi Arabia was interested in this German-made self-propelled howitzer.

As a result, when the storm of severing diplomatic relations came, Saudi Arabia directly dismissed the idea of purchasing PzH2000.

The Saudis have treated Qatar as a traitor, can they use the weapons that the traitors are already using?

Since then, Saudi Arabia has taken a fancy to South Korea's K9.

It's just that, after some investigation, Saudi Arabia gave up the idea of purchasing K9.

It's not that this self-propelled howitzer is not good enough, but a lot of equipment for the K9 comes from Germany, such as the power system, and the comprehensive performance is worse than the PzH2000, and the key is logistics support, that is, South Korea may not be able to provide comprehensive support services, and there will definitely be trouble in the future.

In addition, the protection of the K9 is very poor.

Although most of the time, self-propelled howitzers do not need thick armor, the fighting in Yemen has shown that a little thicker armor is definitely not a bad thing.

In fact, the most important thing is that Saudi Arabia has received guarantees from the Chinese arms enterprises.

That is, Huaxia has developed a fully combustible cartridge, which not only has excellent performance, surpassing similar products in the West, but also is about to be successfully developed with a self-propelled howitzer.

In a word, wait a few more years, and Huaxia will be able to offer a much better self-propelled howitzer than the PzH2000.

It's not that the PLZ-45 can't be used, and it won't hurt to wait a few more years.

Besides, negotiations with Germany and South Korea have been going on for several years, so why not wait a few more years to get a more reliable artillery?

Now this self-propelled howitzer has arrived.

This is the PLZ-55.

Of course, this is the code name of the foreign trade type, and Huaxia uses it for its own PLZ-20.

It has just come out and is undergoing type testing, but it will definitely be able to enter service within two to three years and enter the foreign trade directory of China.

As expected, the Saudis will be the first users of the PLZ-55.

Provided, of course, that the Iraqi civil war ends before that.

The shelling continued into the night, without the slightest intention of stopping, as if the Arab army on the south bank of the Tigris River did not intend to attack immediately.