Saudi Arabia has wooed the Arab League countries and decided to send troops to Iraq, giving Razak great hope.

It's just that it also stimulates Karim.

On the same day that Razak extended his invitation to the Arab League, the rebels launched a full-scale offensive north of Semavo, capturing the bridgehead controlled by government forces for a time.

At the critical moment, the Iraqi Air Force launched two interdiction bombings.

Fierce fighting continued until the early hours of the next morning, when government forces, with the support of the air force, routed the rebels besieging the bridgehead and held the northern gate of Semavo.

The losses of the rebels were extremely heavy, with hundreds of people killed and dozens of tanks and combat vehicles destroyed in the "Mosul" brigade alone.

However, the casualties of the government forces were also heavy, the infantry battalion guarding the bridgehead was reduced by more than half and lost its combat effectiveness, and one of the reinforced infantry battalions also suffered hundreds of casualties.

To make matters worse, the government army used up the last of its reserves.

That same night, the rebel "Kirkuk" brigade crossed the Tigris River in the north and advanced overnight to the west of Semawa.

By daybreak, the rebels had outflanked the government lines.

Faced with enemies on both sides, the government forces had to abandon the bridgehead and fully retreat to the city.

At that time, the commander of the government forces demanded a retreat towards Nasiriyah.

To put it bluntly, after losing the bridgehead, the rebels' heavy equipment will be able to cross the Tigris River smoothly, and the government forces will definitely not be able to hold Semavo.

Because the rebels are three times as strong as the government army, and the two main forces have rich combat experience and are particularly good at urban warfare, after attacking the city, even if they do not have heavy equipment, the rebels can still annihilate the government army, but it will take a little more time.

From the point of view of preserving forces, retreat is the only option.

You know, compared to the rebels, the government army needs to conserve its troops.

If too many vital forces are lost in Semavo, then the government forces will not have enough troops to defend Nasiriyah by the time the rebels attack.

However, Razak did not agree, but let the government troops hold on to Semavo.

To put it another way, Razak's order was not wrong either.

The government's defensive deployment in Nasiriyah is far from complete, and if the rebels kill them, even if the defenders of Semavo withdraw, they will certainly not be able to hold it.

Only by holding on to Semavo can we gain time to complete the deployment of the defense.

To this end, Razak also sent a group of his cronies to ensure that the government forces guarding Semavo could continue to fight and not flee.

To boost morale, Razak also signed hundreds of promotion orders, and all the officers of the Semavo garrison were represented.

In addition, the Iraqi Air Force launched an all-out campaign to intensively bombard the rebels who were pouring into the city of Samawah.

Of course, this is only relative.

During the three days that the rebels besieged Samawa, the Iraqi Air Force flew less than 100 sorties and dropped less than 300 tons of bombs, and mainly used unguided bombs and rockets, mainly bombing convoys on the periphery, and the impact on the rebels was not significant.

After completing the encirclement, the rebels went on the offensive.

This time, it was not the "Mosul" and "Kirkuk" brigades that acted as the main force, but the two infantry brigades that had been transferred from the north not long ago.

Quite simply, the two ace forces marched south from Baghdad to Semavo.

Relatively speaking, the situation with the "Kirkuk" brigade is slightly better.

During the assault on the bridgehead, the "Mosul" brigade lost nearly half of its heavy equipment, and more than 20 main battle tanks alone were blown up.

By the time it was withdrawn from the battlefield, the "Mosul" brigade was largely incapacitated.

In fact, this has already indicated that the rebels' offensive operations are about to reach their limits, and even if they can take Semavo, they may not be able to capture Nasiriyah.

However, the initiative is still in the hands of the rebels.

The Battle of Samawa thus became the first decisive battle of the Iraqi Civil War.

Of course, only Iraqi standards.

Including the two ace brigades reorganized in the rear, and an infantry brigade that was later transferred to serve as a reserve, the rebels committed a total of five brigades with about 20,000 troops.

On the side of the government army, the main force is still the infantry brigade that previously reinforced Semavo, with a total strength of less than 6,000.

Purely in terms of troop strength, the disparity is extremely wide.

It's just that the strength of the rebels for the offensive did not exceed eight thousand at any time, that is, two infantry brigades.

In addition, government forces received air support.

It is not only the Iraqi Air Force that is providing support, but also the fighters of the Arab League.

On the day the rebels stormed the city of Semavo, the Royal Saudi Air Force took the lead in the fight, sending four F-15S to bomb a rebel convoy.

This bombing officially announced that Saudi Arabia had sent troops to the war.

Since then, Royal Saudi Air Force fighter jets have been operating near Semawah, striking convoys carrying troops and supplies to Semawah.

The bombing had some effect, but it wasn't ideal.

It is mainly a matter of intelligence, that is, the Royal Saudi Air Force does not have enough means of battlefield surveillance to maintain twenty-four hours of uninterrupted surveillance.

According to normal procedures, the Royal Saudi Air Force fighter jets took off from King Khalid Military City only after the reconnaissance plane and the unmanned aerial vehicle carrying out the reconnaissance mission discovered the target, so when flying over the battlefield, the target discovered by the reconnaissance plane often had already left the bombing area.

In addition, the Royal Saudi Air Force never provided close air support to the defenders in Samawah.

Quite simply, no effective communication network has been established.

In a situation where we are staggered, bombing the city will inevitably injure friendly troops, not to mention that there are hundreds of thousands of civilians in Semavo, most of whom are Sunnis.

Since then, other Arab League countries have also sent fighter jets to support Iraqi government forces in Samawah.

It's just that it has always been the Royal Saudi Air Force that has been the main force.

Although the interdiction bombardment delayed the rebels' movements, on the whole, the effect was not significant, and it did not have the effect of containing the rebels.

After a week of fierce fighting, the Royal Saudi Air Force adjusted its tactics.

By this time, the rebels had occupied the northern city of Semavo, controlling a third of the city, and had used heavy artillery to bombard the positions of the government forces.

Mostly at night, of course.

In order to suppress the rebel artillery, the Royal Saudi Air Force used more fighter jets and ensured that several fighter jets carrying bombs and missiles were hovering around Semavo at any time to ensure that the target could be attacked as soon as the reconnaissance aircraft spotted it.

Obviously, this is not interrupted bombing, but battlefield suppression.

It can be seen that in terms of air strike tactics, the Royal Saudi Air Force has learned a lot from the US military.

The problem is that the Royal Saudi Air Force does not have a well-developed combat system like the U.S. Air Force.

You know, the U.S. military usually uses battlefield surveillance aircraft such as the E-8 to search for targets, and electronic warfare aircraft to provide cover for fighters.

None of these are available in the Royal Saudi Air Force.

Then, it is inevitable to suffer losses.