Photographs taken by reconnaissance satellites confirmed Faisal's speculation and made Razak and his self-contained generals aware of the current situation.

Photo courtesy of Faisal, also illustrated by Faisal.

There were several main forces of the rebels north of Baghdad, judging from the number of heavy equipment such as tanks, combat vehicles, and self-propelled guns, at least two armored brigades, three mechanized infantry brigades, and more than four infantry brigades, with a total strength of more than 40,000.

These troops, all of them are marching north, to the Kurdish Autonomous Region!

Including the troops originally deployed in the north, the rebels committed more than 60,000 troops, enough to launch a major offensive campaign.

If you want to eliminate the Kurdish forces in one fell swoop, you will definitely not be able to do it.

At the beginning, just by attacking Mosul, the Iraqi Defense Forces invested 60,000 troops.

In addition, the further north you go, the more complex the terrain becomes, the more trouble the attack will encounter, and it is impossible to control all the important towns in the north with a mere 60,000 troops.

More importantly, the Kurdish armed forces were originally a guerrilla military force, mainly infantry, and were extremely good at mountain warfare, so even if they could not defeat the rebels, they could retreat into the mountains to fight guerrilla warfare with the rebels, making full use of the advantages of internal warfare.

It's just that more than 60,000 troops will definitely be able to inflict heavy damage on the Kurdish forces.

If you launch a surprise attack and catch your opponent off guard, you may be able to quickly capture Mosul and Kirkuk, and then switch to defense.

At that time, the Kurdish forces will probably have to fight guerrilla warfare in the mountains.

Because the rebels had just suffered a defeat in Semavo and the government forces had already launched a counterattack, it was natural for the Kurds to assume that the rebels' attention was to the south and would not move north at this time, and they would let their guard down and be attacked by the rebels suddenly.

This possibility is not nothing, but very large.

The main forces that left Baghdad marched at night, avoided the main towns, and rested during the day in the desert hinterland.

Why?

For concealment, of course!

In addition, the Kurdish forces have not adjusted their troop deployment, and the main forces are concentrated in Kirkuk and Mosul, and the combat readiness is not very high.

Among other things, the Kurdish forces did not send reconnaissance units to the south.

These indications invariably indicate that the rebels, having stabilized the southern front, intend to quickly resolve the threat from the north with a surprise attack.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for government forces!

The troops who remained in the south to guard the towns of Najaf and Diwari were all ordinary troops, mainly infantry, and the troops were not sufficient.

In Najaf, for example, there are nominally three brigades, but only three infantry brigades, and all of them are newly formed.

Optimistically, Najaf's defenders totaled just over 10,000 men.

Divari is in a similar situation, with only two infantry brigades and a total strength of less than 10,000.

Even in Baghdad, there will be a maximum of three brigades, of which there will be only one main brigade at most, and the total strength will not exceed fifteen thousand.

If we attack now, we may be able to hit Baghdad in one go.

If we can send enough troops before the main rebels return, we may be able to take Baghdad!

Now, those generals are also interested.

If nothing else, as long as you can take this opportunity to fight a few battles of annihilation and achieve a commendable victory, you will be able to gain the merits of consolidating your position.

Even if the civil war does not end here, it can greatly increase the voice of the Razak regime.

In addition, these generals have enough troops at their disposal, and those units that were formed after the outbreak of the civil war have basically completed their training.

Seven major generals, each with at least two brigades under his command, for a total of twenty brigades.

After deducting the garrison remaining in Basra, at least sixteen brigades could be arranged to participate in the counterattack.

After the general policy of an all-out counterattack has been decided, it is necessary to arrange specific combat tasks.

As proposed by these generals, counterattacks were to be launched simultaneously in three directions, namely the western route towards Najaf, the central route to Diwari and the eastern route to Amamarah.

The west and east roads are feints, and the middle is the main direction of attack.

The question is, how to distribute?

Obviously, these generals want to be the first to return to Baghdad and become the "liberators of Baghdad", so as to sit on the throne of the number one general.

Feint?

That's not a lot of oil or water.

After some backlash, the tone was set.

Of the seven generals, the three most powerful, to be precise, the three with the most troops are responsible for the main direction of attack, and the other four are responsible for the direction of feints.

That is, twelve brigades of troops were invested in the direction of the main attack!

With such a large number of troops, it was certainly impossible to deploy them all, so the offensive plan was adjusted, mainly to add a secondary purpose.

According to the deployment, after capturing Diwarye, the main forces continued to advance towards Hira and then attacked Baghdad.

At the same time, at least three brigades were sent to Kut, in an attempt to capture Kut, before the main forces attacked Baghdad, and blockade the border area.

The feint on the western route was to advance on the right bank of the Tigris, capture Najaf, and then continue the march towards Karbala.

If the first breakthrough is made in this direction, that is, the first to capture Karbala, it is necessary to strengthen the Tigris and assist the army in the center to attack Sheila.

At that time, at least thirteen brigades will march to Baghdad.

The least appreciated is the feint attack on the eastern route.

The point is that no matter how you fight on the eastern route, you can't go to Baghdad, and it has nothing to do with the liberation of Baghdad, but you may encounter big trouble.

Quite simply, the feint attack on the eastern route is actually a sweep of the border areas.

After the capture of Amarah, the Eastern Road Feint Force will advance along the border line, take control of the road to Iran, and block the entire border.

It is clear that if Iran decides to send troops into the war, the first thing it will have to deal with is the government forces here.

To this end, Faisal proposed that the Arab League ground forces would be stationed in Basra to provide support to the feint forces on the eastern route, and if necessary, they would participate in combat operations on the eastern route.

With the backing of the Arab coalition forces, the two generals who were sent to the east to fight a feint only reluctantly agreed.

After the arrangement was made, Lazak told the generals to go back and mobilize their troops, and they were limited to three days, and they had to take their troops to the starting point of the attack.

Of course, you have to prepare for the attack.

Wang Dong did not delay, and left for Nasiriyah that night.

Before leaving, Wang Dong clearly told Faisal that he must keep a few main forces, and he must not act rashly until he has to.

As for why, even if Wang Dong doesn't say it, Faisal knows it.

The seven generals all have their own little abacus, and they must be fighting separately, they are simply a rabble, who dares to pin their hopes on them?