Chapter 813: The War in Africa
The harsh winter climate has silenced several battlefields on the Korean Peninsula, northern Pakistan, and southern Tibet, and neither the Chinese and Pakistani armies nor the US-South Korea-India coalition forces have been able to launch large-scale military operations under the heavy snow covering the mountains. In addition, both sides were carrying out a new round of troop deployment, so the war was tacitly stopped.
In addition to an undersea battle in the Indian Ocean that is about to break out, the most fierce war is now in Africa, the 86th Brigade under the leadership of Deputy Brigade Commander Colonel Dai Qiliang went north, and took the lead in engaging fire with the Second Infantry Brigade and the Armored Brigade of the Third Mechanized Infantry Division of the US Army, which were heading south, at Babati. Instead, in accordance with the arrangement of the Sino-Tanzanian Joint Command, they abandoned frontal resistance and dispersed into small units at the company and platoon level, scattered into the mountains to delay by guerrilla attacks and sabotage of communication lines.
It's just that in the face of the modern armament of the US military, it is difficult for these guerrilla units of the Northern Army of the Tanzanian Defense Force to seize any loopholes and achieve great results, and they are more likely to harass the tired US troops by firing a few cold guns in the dark when the US troops are camping.
For this tactic of the Tanzanian Defense Force, the U.S. military set up sentry posts around the camp, and then used several M2 Bradley combat vehicles to form a defensive line with crossfirepower, the U.S. troops in the camp simply ignored it, and the U.S. E-3C early warning aircraft patrolling alternately in the air 24 hours a day will see the entire northern Tanzania sky to death, and it will also make the PLA Air Force have no chance, not to mention the second-generation fighter with obvious targets such as the destroyer drone, even if it is a fourth-generation stealth fighter like J-21, In fact, it is difficult to break through to the 200-kilometer aviation alert zone of the US military without being detected.
Therefore, the Sino-Tanzanian Joint Command did not think of any conspiracy to sneak attack the US military at all, but took advantage of the relative superiority in air power to formulate a reasonable combat plan, preparing to use the J-10C and J-21 flight regiments as the sky umbrella for the Destroyer UAV to break through, and take the lead in taking the lead into the air over northern Tanzania before the operation, ready to intercept possible attacks by the US Air Force at any time.
At the same time, tank units and Destroyer drones on the ground coordinated to attack the vanguard of the U.S. armored brigade and the Longbow Apache attack helicopter battalion. The ZTZ-99S tank battalion is aimed at the armored forces and air defense battalions of the US army, while the destroyer UAV is aimed at the US Longbow Apache helicopter gunship.
Although the PLA's midge anti-aircraft missile battalion can also pose a threat to the U.S. Army's Longbow Apache, compared to the number of Avenger air defense missile systems owned by the U.S. Army's Third Mechanized Infantry Division, the 86th Mechanized Infantry Brigade has less than one-third of the opponent's midge anti-aircraft missiles. For the midge anti-aircraft missile, this towed combat vehicle has the upper hand, and a variety of tactics can be used to attack.
Therefore, the primary goal of the Sino-Tanzan Joint Command is to solve the helicopter attack force possessed by the US military, because if the US armed helicopters are knocked out, in ground tank battles, although the 86th Mechanized Infantry Brigade has a much smaller number of main battle tanks than the US military, because it is difficult to deploy in the mountainous areas, the quantitative superiority is not as effective as the qualitative superiority.
Relying on the excellent performance of the ZTZ-99S tank and the theater joint combat and tactical system that completely occupies an overwhelming advantage, the 86th Mechanized Infantry Brigade will not be able to defeat a single mechanized infantry brigade and armored brigade of the US army, but it will not have much problem withstanding it for two or three days.
With these few days, the two new infantry brigades of the Tanzanian Defense Forces on the battlefield on the Western Front should be able to inflict heavy losses on the offensive forces of the US Army on the Western Front and reinforce the Northern Front.
But although the plan was good, the American side was not stupid, and when the American army advanced to Babati, the American army began to be cautious, scattering its Longbow Apache fleet in the valley, not far from the Avenger anti-aircraft missile battalion, which had been following the tank lead battalion.
In this way, when the PLA tank battalion advanced slightly, its longbow Apache quickly stepped forward to attack, and once it succeeded, it retreated into the valley, not only did the PLA midge air defense missiles have no time to react, but also the PLA air defense radar system was also difficult to detect its specific location, and the Pterodactyl drones could not lock these gunships for the destroyer drones to attack.
Therefore, in the Babati outpost battle, the PLA dispatched a tank battalion and a midge anti-aircraft missile company, plus a special battalion of destroyer drones, against the ground troops of a tank battalion and an Avenger anti-aircraft missile battalion of the US army, as well as 12 Longbow Apaches, the PLA suffered a loss, losing 6 tanks ZTZ-99S and 2 destroyer drones, but only annihilated 8 M1A2SEP tanks and 2 Avenger air defense systems of the US army. The US military helicopter gunships that wanted to solve the problem were not fished out.
Seeing that the PLA theater joint operations system had lost its power in the mountainous operations, the Sino-Tanzania Joint Command took the opportunity to make a decision and ordered the 86th Mechanized Infantry Brigade to retreat south to the area around Kondoa, where the terrain is compared with the mountainous areas of northern Tanzania, although it is not far from the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, and there are many cliffs, but along the A104 highway, it can choose a battlefield with a broader field of vision at any time, and in this case, the PLA theater joint combat system can give full play to its greatest advantages.
The unfavorable first battle did not make the Sino-Tanzania joint command lose confidence, but the US army showed a hesitant attitude in the face of the retreat of the 86th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, and its forward troops waited for the main force to come up before advancing steadily and slowly, allowing the Kenyan infantry brigade to come up together to form a heavy group, which was crushed by Mount Tai in a way that was overwhelming.
Although this proves on the one hand that the US military is cautious and wants to make use of its superior forces to fight steadily and steadily, on the other hand, it also reveals that the US military is still very afraid of the PLA ground forces; after several battles in the Korean and Pakistani battlefields, the US military has realized that it is no longer an era of seeking defeat alone, whether in the air or on the ground.
Therefore, although the Sino-Tanzanian coalition forces now seem to be at a disadvantage in terms of strength, they are not without a little opportunity, and this opportunity is that on the western front, the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade and the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade of the Tanzania Defense Forces can successfully inflict heavy losses or defeat the U.S. forces and the Uganda-Rwandan coalition forces, and then return to the division of Condoa and the 86th Mechanized Infantry Brigade to defeat the main force of the U.S. Army.
The total strength of the Western Front and the Northern Front exceeded 20,000 respectively, but the main force on the Western Front was actually only one mechanized infantry brigade of the U.S. Army, and the rest were Ugandan and Rwandan motorized infantry brigades, and the equipment and combat effectiveness were no longer on the same level as the U.S. military, and some of them had to stay on the road to ensure the safety of the logistical baggage routes, while the new mechanized infantry brigade of the Tanzanian Defense Forces was not much different from the U.S. mechanized infantry brigade. With the cooperation of the Destroyer UAV, the two new infantry brigades in Tanzania can form a local advantage.
What's more, Tanzania is a home battle, which is much more convenient than the U.S. military and the East African coalition in terms of logistics and marching secrecy. For example, now, the two new infantry brigades in Tanzania have secretly moved to the Nzega area, but in the information obtained by the US military, the second brigade of the elite new infantry brigade of the Tanzanian defense force should still be defending the capital Dodoma.
After all, after the US military retreated to the Condoa area on the northern front, it was already close to the Tanzanian capital Dodoma, only more than 150 kilometers away, and the US military command did not believe that the main forces of the Tanzanian Defense Forces were not defending in the capital.
In order to convince the US military of this, the Tanzanian military even secretly transferred an ordinary brigade to the camp of the newly formed Second Mechanized Infantry Brigade and pretended to be the newly formed Second Mechanized Infantry Brigade to ensure that this secret would not be seen through by US reconnaissance planes and intelligence personnel.
Not long after the PLA retreated to Condoa, the main force of the Western Front of the US-Africa coalition finally advanced to the vicinity of Enzega. Although it is more than 400 kilometers away from the Tanzanian capital, the terrain is open, which is very conducive to the reconnaissance and three-dimensional attack of the Sino-Tanzanian coalition forces.
Seeing that the U.S. military and the armies of Uganda and Rwanda were obviously divided into two parts, Senior Colonel Song Jihong immediately saw the fighters, and he ordered the air force fighters and the destroyer drones to take off immediately and go straight to the western front, under the cover of the air force fighters, the destroyer drones carrying heavy bombs played the role of bombers this time, bypassing the anti-aircraft missile battalions of the U.S. mechanized infantry brigades, and bombing the Ugandan and Rwandan infantry brigades behind the palace. Its limited towed howitzer was the first to be destroyed by the bombs of the Devastator drone, and then the dense trucks were also targeted, turning into piles of scrap metal and parts under the bombshell attack.
Although they did not kill many in terms of strength, after this round of strikes, the motorized infantry brigades of Uganda and Rwanda are now really infantry, and with the destruction of heavy artillery, these two armies with only light firepower have basically eliminated the lethality of the Tanzanian National Defense Force. What's more, as a result of this bombing, the Ugandan and Rwandan armies have been so frightened that they have pulled out their teeth, rendering them completely useless in the ensuing battles.
Therefore, in the general offensive launched in the ensuing period, when the two newly formed infantry brigades of the Tanzanian Defense Forces surrounded the American infantry brigades, the armies of several brigades of the Rwegian and Ukrainian coalition forces never made progress under the resistance of the two ordinary infantry regiments of the Tanzanian Defense Forces. Seeing that the U.S. Mechanized Infantry Brigade was completely defeated by two newly formed Mechanized Infantry Brigades in Tanzania with the cooperation of the Destroyer UAV, the U.S. Army was forced to surrender on the Western Front after being annihilated by two-thirds of the total, and won a complete victory.