Although the "Top of the Iceberg" operation launched by Iraq had its tactical success, many problems were exposed in the process of carrying out the planning. First of all, in terms of tactical thinking, Iraq's main tactical purpose is to occupy Saudi cities and towns, not to eliminate the vitality of the multinational forces, which is inherited from the Iran-Iraq war and is also related to Saddam's personality of rejoicing in great achievements. Saddam Hussein's idea of how much territory he had captured could be used in the negotiations was far more politically significant than military. In fact, if the Iraqis stubbornly carry out vigorous and powerful killings against the multinational force, it may cause many countries to retreat and cause the multinational force to split.

For example, in the battle at Khafji, the Iraqi army took three directions of attack on a frontal distance of 70 kilometers and used several battalions to attack in different places. This does seem to create the illusion of an all-out strike, but the defense of the multinational force is much stronger, and the entire front of the battlefield is dominated by tens of thousands of multinational troops. This multi-unit miniaturization of the assault gave the multinational force the opportunity to break it down individually.

In the Iraqi offensive in front of the 310th Division, the first wave of two battalions were wiped out, and the new joint force only caught up, and it happened that the Chinese vanguard armored battalion did not catch any enemy to fight just now.

The Chinese armored battalion did not rush into battle, and they first deployed a large number of individual anti-armor weapons on their positions in the desert, mainly Red Arrow-73 missiles and some rocket launchers. Then, the armored battalion sent more than 10 tanks to lure the enemy to the Iraqi tank unit and pull them into the anti-armor position where the armored battalion was ambushing.

It was night, and the lack of light in the desert made the battlefield very dark. However, the Iraqi tanks, whether T-72 or Type 69, are not strong in night combat, and lack reconnaissance capabilities and fire control in night battles. On the other hand, their opponents, the MBT-2000 NATO main battle tank equipped with the armored battalion, are equipped with a third-generation tank integrated fire control system, a command ceremony fire control system, equipped with laser rangefinders, thermal imaging devices, and excellent night combat capabilities.

"Attention all, the driver turns off the headlights and the night vision device is on!" Although it was a lure to the enemy, the armored troops of the PLA did not intend to obediently let the Iraqi tanks fight, on the contrary, they also used their advantages in night combat capabilities to launch a sneak attack on the Iraqi army.

At a position of more than 2,000 meters, more than a dozen MBT-2000 Rhino II tanks that went to lure the enemy had already discovered the Iraqi tank column, but their enemy did not notice their existence.

"I'm Shizhongjian-1, and I've found an enemy tank ahead, over."

The commander immediately replied: "Sword in the Stone-1, this is a knight, execute 311!" "There are various mission codes in the army, and the 311 mission code means to destroy by fire.

The otherwise quiet desert suddenly exploded into a ball of fire and a loud noise, and the tungsten core deshelling tail armor-piercing projectile fired by the MBT-2000 Rhino II tank hit the target directly, piercing a T-72 tank. At a distance of two thousand meters, the Rhino II tank is also able to achieve miraculous accuracy, thanks to its advanced fire control system. The fire control system can automatically collect parameter data and transmit it to the digital fire control computer, which automatically calculates the target distance, vehicle inclination angle, target movement direction, cross wind and ballistics and other data, and then gives the gunner a direct attack method. What the gunner actually has to do is basically lock the data and fire.

When the first Iraqi tank was destroyed, the other dozen MBT-2000s also selected their own targets and fired shells, the 120mm smoothbore gun of the Rhino II tank fired tungsten core armor-piercing shells at a distance of 2000 meters The maximum penetration depth of the 125mm guns of the Type 99 is inferior to that of the Type 99 125mm gun, about 750mm homogeneous armor, but such armor-piercing ability is more than enough to deal with tanks like the T-72, The thickness of the turret frontal armor of the T-72 tank in the hands of the Iraqi army is about 400mm, so when the armor-piercing bullet fired by the Rhino II hits, it is not enough to wear a layer of frontal armor, but also to hit a piercing piercing directly from the tail.

This is actually not good for destroying tanks, but it is impossible to say that the tank that has been beaten through it wants to continue fighting.

With accurate fire control and powerful artillery, the 12 Rhino II tanks sent by the 310th Division took away 12 Iraqi tanks in the first round of shelling, and several tanks were also blown up with spare ammunition, causing a martyrdom and igniting a raging fire in the night sky.

The Iraqi army's tank column is a total of 40 tanks, and there are not many actual T-72s in it, mainly T-55 and its related Type 69, and the armor of Type 69 is thinner, only 203mm, and there is only a share of food delivery in the face of Rhino II.

The commander "Knight" who commanded the operation was stunned for a moment, and then naturally threw aside the so-called decoy of the enemy, and then immediately issued an order: "Keep shooting at a distance of 2,000 meters, don't let yourself get within the range of the enemy tanks, let's take them all!" ”

The PLA tank company immediately carried out a circular movement with the enemy as the center, maintaining artillery fire on the march, which had little effect on their accuracy, but made it difficult for the Iraqi tank crews to grasp their position. Armor-piercing shells kept destroying Iraqi tanks, and the Iraqi armored soldiers became extremely helpless and frightened at the moment, they wanted to counterattack, but there was no way to get close to the opponent. The MBT-2000 Rhino II tank has a 1,500 hp diesel engine, which is far more maneuverable than Iraqi tanks, and if they spot an enemy tank trying to approach, they will immediately set fire to it.

Having suffered such a severe blow that more than a dozen tanks were lost in just one face-to-face effort, the Iraqi tank column lost its fighting spirit and immediately turned around and prepared to withdraw from the tank. However, the Chinese tank company was like kraft candy on them, and as soon as several tanks had completed their U-turn and ran out of the road, two Rhino II tanks stopped their way and then fired shells to destroy them.

This scene caused the Iraqi tank column to completely collapse, several Iraqi armored soldiers crawled out of the tank, waving white flags, although it was night, but with the help of thermal imagers, the Chinese armored soldiers also understood what they wanted to express.

The battle lasted only 11 minutes, 22 Iraqi tanks were destroyed, the remaining 18 tanks were all captured, and nearly 100 Iraqi tank crews were also collected for self-defense, handcuffed and squatted in a pile with plastic handcuffs, waiting for the infantry to follow them to receive them.

"Nima, tell you to lure the enemy, but you have changed the siege and annihilated it!" The battalion commander, who was waiting in the position and was ready to do a big job, couldn't help but burst into foul language when he heard that the tank company was over, but he couldn't help it, the battle was over, and the fight was quite beautiful, and he couldn't hold the "knight" accountable for ruining his combat interest.

Anyway, they can be regarded as having completed their mission and achieved impressive results. In one night, the Chinese army annihilated three armored battalions of the Iraqi army, captured a lot of equipment and captured a lot of prisoners, and more importantly, there were no casualties on their own side, which was a hearty victory.

Division commander Zhang Wanquan learned about the battle situation in front of him from the rear camp, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The military struggle in the new era has undergone earth-shaking changes, and we have maintained a generation gap of about one and a half generations with the Iraqi army, which is a huge advantage in technology and combat strength, so we can rely on the system to fight and destroy the three armored battalions of the Iraqi army without hurting a single person, knock out dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, and kill hundreds of enemies." ”

He then ordered: "Order the 4th Battalion to consolidate the defensive line in front and not to advance any further, we have not yet received an order from the Joint Operations Command to attack Kuwait rashly, so let's hold our troops for now." ”

His staff officer interjected at this time: "It is not particularly important what kind of fight is on our side, the key is what kind of situation Haifji is in the east, we still don't know what kind of situation." ”

Zhang Wanquan said: "The Arab coalition forces are also tightly guarded in the direction of Haifuji, and the US Air Force also has spare strength, so it may not be easy for the Iraqi army to take Haifuji so easily." ”

The staff officer planned: "In fact, the best choice for us now should be to continue to march, attack the northeast direction to take Wafra, and even take Kuwait International Airport, cut off the retreat route of the Iraqi army to attack the troops in the direction of Khaifji, and cooperate with the Arab coalition forces to completely eat it, so as to occupy the initiative." ”

Zhang Wanquan shook his head when he heard his words: "After all, we still have to listen to the orders of the joint operations command, and now there is still a debate about how long the Desert Storm air raid operation will last, if we invade Kuwait, then a large-scale ground battle will break out, and the battlefield situation will also change, and we are not yet at the level of making such a decision." Moreover, once we cut off the passage between the Iraqi troops in front and behind, although we surrounded the Iraqi army attacking Haifji, we actually faced the siege of more than a dozen Iraqi army divisions on the Kuwaiti side. Remember, this is not a war to defend our country, and it doesn't matter if we even irresponsibly say that we lost, but if a lot of losses are caused, it is a great sin. ”

Staff officers also agree on this point, in many cases, good tactics are stupid tricks in a specific situation, and war is never really a good game that can be fought out of thin air, and any bold move actually has consideration and planning beyond ordinary people behind it.

It was at this time that Zhang Wanquan received a piece of information from the rear command, and he couldn't help but sigh after reading it.

"Khafji has been captured by the Iraqi army, and now General Khalid of the Arab coalition forces has asked our troops to support them in recapturing Khafji to the east."