At night, flashes of light appear from time to time, making the sand dunes in the distance look eerie.

A few kilometers away, Wang Dong could still feel how fierce the battle ahead was.

In the afternoon, Wang Dong received news that an armored unit of the rebels was arriving from Jesan in the north, and it must be more than one battalion in size.

Because the rebels kicked up a cloud of dust as they marched, the unmanned reconnaissance aircraft could not determine the size of the rebels.

The only thing that is certain is that this rebel force is certainly supported by Iran, and it is likely that it is armed with Iranian-supplied main battle tanks.

Quite simply, 50 kilometers north of Jaisan is the border between Iraq and Iran.

Because it was too close to the border, the Arab coalition forces had not focused on bombing the city before.

In fact, not long ago, a Saudi F-15SA was attacked near Jaisan, although it was not shot down by an anti-aircraft missile, but the pilot was scared out of a cold sweat.

This incident indirectly proves that there is an Iranian ground-based air defense system near Jessan.

In addition, as early as a few days ago, the reconnaissance planes of the Arab League discovered a main battle tank that resembled the "Zulfkar" 4 in the vicinity of Jessan.

According to this, Saudi intelligence believes that Iran has provided the rebels with such advanced main battle equipment.

Is this main battle tank advanced?

By Iranian standards, it is indeed advanced.

Five years ago, when this tank first appeared, it was artificial, like the previous two generations, a modification of the "Zulfirka".

Obviously, this is a ridiculously wrong judgment.

This main battle tank, specially developed for the Revolutionary Guards, adopts the technology of a large number of third-generation main battle tanks, and has made a qualitative leap in performance.

The biggest change is the chassis.

The chassis of the previous three generations of "Zulefka" was derived from the M48, and the chassis of the fourth generation "Zulefka" is more like the M1 main battle tank.

According to outside analysis, it was through Iraq that Iran acquired several M1A1 main battle tanks.

Of course, this is just speculation.

In fact, only the chassis of the "Zolfirka" 4 uses Western technology, and almost all of them rely on Russia in other aspects.

Although the turret is more like a Western tank, the gun, sighting equipment, and armor are all from Russia.

Even the Russian automatic loader was followed, and the aft compartment behind the turret was not used to store ammunition, but to a large extent was just a decoration.

In terms of performance, there are indeed some commendable points.

For example, the latest Type 2A46 tank gun was used, capable of firing all standard shells, including the latest depleted uranium alloy armor-piercing projectile developed by Russia.

However, with Iran's relationship with Russia, it may not be able to obtain such a powerful armor-piercing projectile.

In terms of protection, the "Zulefka" 4 is also in place.

The turret and the front of the hull are ceramic composite armor with strong Western characteristics, and explosive reactive armor can be added as needed.

In fact, all mass-produced "Zolfirka" 4 was equipped with reactive armor.

This reflects from one side that Iran's armor technology is still very backward and it is not capable of developing and producing high-performance composite armor.

According to outside estimates, the frontal protection of the turret of the Zulefka 4 is equivalent to 600 mm of homogeneous steel plates.

Obviously, this level of protection is indeed a bit lower.

The standard third-generation main battle tank has a level of protection above 650 mm on the turret front, and some of the most advanced main battle tanks exceed 800 mm.

After the installation of reactive armor, the strength of frontal protection of the Zulfirka-4 against armor-piercing shells will not exceed 700 mm.

It can be seen that the protection can only be regarded as passing.

As for maneuverability, it's actually not too good.

The 6TD engine has an output of only 1,000 horsepower, while the 6TD-2 has only 1,200 horsepower, which does not reach 1,500 horsepower.

After hanging reactive armor, the total combat weight of the "Zulefka" 4 approached 60 tons.

Comparatively speaking, its mobility is not even passable.

Of course, the biggest problem is actually the sighting and fire control system.

Many of the technologies of the "Zolfirka" 4 come from Russia, and Russia's sighting and fire control system has always been the biggest shortcoming.

Not to mention the main battle tanks provided to Iran, even the main battle tanks used by the Russian army are far behind the West in their sighting and fire control systems.

According to outside speculation, the "Zolefka" 4 does not have the ability to shoot at moving to motion, and the hit rate of static shooting is less than 60 percent.

In addition, because of the lack of an infrared imager, the night combat capabilities of the "Zulfirka" 4 must have been very bad.

To guide, Russia simply cannot create a qualified infrared imager.

It can be said that the "Zolfirka" 4 can only barely be regarded as a third-generation main battle tank, and it cannot be compared with the rebel M1A1 at all.

It's just that the rebels have no other choice.

After fighting for so long, the M1A1 that the rebels kept was almost depleted, and the few remaining ones were also distributed to the main forces elsewhere.

Although the performance of the Zulefka 4 is not very good, it is better than nothing.

Based on this, Saudi intelligence believes that the tanks were not driven by the rebels, but by officers and soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, perhaps the Quds Force.

Quite simply, it was impossible for the tank crews of the rebels to master a fundamentally new main battle tank in such a short time.

After receiving the news, Wang Dong immediately mobilized the 001st Armored Battalion and the 101st Mechanized Infantry Battalion, and also made the 201st Artillery Battalion ready for battle.

The rebels rushed south, and they must have come prepared.

Of course, this was expected by Wang Dong for a long time.

Without Wang Dong's orders, Wang Haotian immediately mobilized the air power of the Arab League coalition forces to bombard the rebel armored forces from the south of Jesang.

It's just that the bombing was not very effective.

Mainly, the lack of precision-guided munitions in the coalition forces and the sand and dust raised by the rebels when they moved south, played a good protective role.

It wasn't until after nightfall that Wang Dong received definite news that it was an armored brigade that had been killed.

There are hundreds of main battle tanks that rush to the front alone, in addition to more than a hundred infantry fighting vehicles, and they are also from Iran.

After losing two "Pterodactyl" 2 unmanned reconnaissance planes one after another, Wang Haotian did not send drones over again.

At around 9 o'clock in the evening, Wang Haotian arranged the last air strike.

Twelve Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SAs carpet bombarded rebel forces amassing north of Kut.

Because a drone had already been shot down by an anti-aircraft missile north of Kut, Wang Haotian strictly limited the height of the fighter jet's bomb.

Obviously, it was not the rebels who were killed, but the Iranian army under the banner of the rebels.

Iran has provided tanks and combat vehicles, and naturally it will provide field air defense systems, such as the "Doyle" M1 short-range anti-aircraft missile imported from Russia.

Now, those Saudi fighter jets are bombing from the north.