"The Russians may have run away," Pete's speculation comes from a pre-war briefing.

As a low-ranking officer on the front lines of the war, although it is unlikely to know much, after a long tug-of-war in the Caucasus theater, all front-line combatants of the US military now know very well what the situation of the opponent in front of them is.

The mountainous Transcaucasus, including the three republics of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, served as a natural barrier to the south of the Soviet Union, and although it is difficult to calculate the old historical scores, it is undoubtedly of great strategic importance for today's Red Empire.

During the long Cold War era, the Soviet Union has been stationed in the Caucasus with heavy troops, and in addition to some necessary border and internal guard troops, the "Fourth Guards Army" stationed in Baku and the "Seventh Guards Army" stationed in Yerevan, two elite assault forces with a glorious history, stood side by side with the "Ninth Army" stationed in the western city of Kutaisi, lined up from east to west, like a heavy iron gate sealing the idea of a NATO offensive -- and more than that, In the Caucasus during the Cold War era, NATO's greatest fear was that these red iron streams would roll south along the Zagros Mountains into the Middle East after the start of the war, turning the oil-producing regions on which the Western world depended for prosperity.

The pre-war Caucasus-shaped shì was probably like this.

But now, in the face of a sudden world war. Many of the predictions have become far from the truth.

Just at the beginning of the war. After the Americans fired the first shots in Central Europe. In order to ensure a quick victory and a solid victory in the main direction of attack of the Warsaw Pact bloc, and in addition to the fact that Iran, a neighbor to the south, was still extremely anti-American and could not cooperate with the Western world, the Soviet Union quickly transferred forces from the Caucasus theater and quickly transported the Fourth Guards Army stationed in the eastern Caucasus to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.

This strategy of overwhelming the territory and leaving no respite for the opponent clearly had the desired effect, after weighing the pros and cons. Wisely gave up the daydream of stubbornly resisting the elite of hundreds of thousands of guards, and the war on the European continent was settled.

After that, because Britain and Spain were firmly on the side of the Americans, and the situation in Western Europe was not very stable, the Fourth Guards Army remained stationed in the Federal Republic of Germany and did not return to the Caucasus, and now only the Seventh Guards Army and the Ninth Army assisted in the defense of NATO's large-scale attack. These two armies, with a total strength of about 110,000 troops, can be used for defense, but they no longer have the strength to go south to overthrow Turkey and enter the Middle East.

It is precisely because of such a situation that NATO, which has shed blood in Western Europe, has come to the Caucasus to be the first move. In accordance with the unified deployment of the US Central Command, the two armies launched simultaneous attacks today.

In a large-scale offensive launched at dawn today. The eastern flank of the front was dominated by heavy ground forces and mountain troops with reinforced armour, which tried to directly consume the Soviet Guards Seventh Army defending Yerevan by means of frontal engagement; On the west side of the front, a large number of aviation assault troops, including the 101st Airborne Assault Division, were concentrated and prepared to use the campaign-level "leapfrog tactic" to cross the Black Sea and directly take the Sukhumi and Sochi lines, cut off the communication arteries between Transcaucasia and the interior of the Soviet Union, and then cooperate with the ground forces attacking Batumi and Kutaisi to encircle the Soviet Ninth Army.

According to such an operational plan, as long as the two mobile combat forces deployed by the Soviet Union in Transcaucasia can be eliminated and they can go all the way east and occupy Baku, the fifth largest city in the Soviet Union, and the region's high-yield oil fields, then the first phase of Operation "Typhoon" can be regarded as a smooth completion.

Okay, the plan is perfect, but what about the actual execution?

Choosing to launch an attack on all fronts at dawn, NATO's vanguard on the eastern front of the Caucasus advanced all the way, and at first it did go very smoothly.

In contrast to what had been expected, the Soviet Union's defenses in Transcaucasus, which had been heavily stocked, were very thin and sparse near the borders, and in many areas where the offensive was launched, American and British troops, such as those facing the enemy, crossed the starting line without even encountering any resistance, and followed the winding road into the territory of the Armenian Republic - without encountering enemy troops or firing any fire, as Thomas Pitt is now experiencing.

But even in the absence of brief encounters, NATO ground forces in the difficult, rainy, slippery Transcaucasia were cautious in their movements between gentle hills and slopes.

The 10th Mountain Division, as a lightly armed rapid reaction force, was not originally the main force for the attack on Yerevan in the plans of the command; Pre-war reconnaissance intelligence showed that the 164th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Guards Seventh Army had been deploying southeast of Yerevan and was preparing for the forward position. In the face of the Soviet motorized infantry division, which was organized into a large number of heavy equipment, the 10th Mountain Division, even if it strengthened some armored forces, it was difficult to gnaw this hard bone alone.

In addition, before the real start of the attack on the ground, the NATO tactical air force had already carried out prolonged air strikes and harassment on targets in Armenia, but it is difficult to say how effective the air strikes would be due to the large-scale interception of the Soviet front-line aviation.

Combined with the above considerations, for the next battle to attack the city of Yerevan, the plan of the command is still to let the heavy troops carry out.

As the vanguard advanced, tanks and armoured vehicles painted in tricolor camouflage slowly passed through the gentle hillsides under a grey overcast sky; After a period of marching, seeing that Yerevan was not far away as indicated on the terminal map, Lieutenant Pete leaned out of the "Stryker" armored car and looked with some curiosity at the large sloping meadows and the towering mountains in the distance.

Transcaucasia, completely alien to many Westerners; Now that he has actually set foot on this land, Lieutenant Pete has found that the climate and scenery here are far more than he imagined.

Is such an almost picturesque place the battlefield where they faced off against the Russians......

Along the way, I pricked up my ears and listened, and around the slightly empty winding road, except for the roar of the engines of the vehicles and the faint rumbling of the sky, the enemy was still nowhere to be seen; After the initial nervousness, Lieutenant Pete and his comrades were now relaxed, and they suddenly felt that they were not in the line of fire, but that they were cruising around the Caucasus in some kind of sightseeing car.

Inadvertently, I heard the sound of paddles and toks in the sky, and the UH-60 "Black Hawks" escorted by AH-64 "Apache" helicopters passed by the sight.

After looking up at the helicopter team in the sky for a while, sitting in the bumpy "Stryker" armored car and looking out, the relaxed American GIs still held guns in their arms, but from time to time raised their hands to stuff gum and chocolate into their mouths; As infantry relying on armored vehicles to fight on their own devices, they have nothing to do at the moment, and they are bored and chatting with each other while looking at the helicopter figure that is gradually disappearing in their sight.

A qiē, it seems that it is all so calm; Until someone accidentally noticed a puff of bright fireworks scattered in the sky, and thin white smoke appeared out of thin air against the gray background of the sky, the fire and the subsequent explosion-

“Shit！ ――oh-my-God，thehawks’re-hit！ ”

“What？ What-the――”

Witnessing the puff of fireballs and flying debris exploding in the sky, the soldiers suddenly became nervous.

From the beginning to the present, the road forward has been smooth, and they only came back to their senses at this time, that is, the battle has already begun, but it is not their turn yet!

Hearing the dull explosions in the sky, he unconsciously clutched the M16A1 assault rifle in his hand, Lieutenant Pete heard the call in the headset at this time, he quickly confirmed the order issued by the battalion headquarters, checked the electronic map, and then beckoned the soldiers to prepare for battle.

Now that friendly forces have been ambushed, the Russians' line is clearly close ahead!

But...... Thinking about the battalion headquarters' forward instructions, Lieutenant Pete hesitated a little again.

As the only mountain rapid reaction force in the United States, before being deployed to the Caucasus to participate in the war, the 10th Mountain Division temporarily expanded a number of heavy equipment such as "Stryker" wheeled infantry fighting vehicles and M1A2 "Abrams" tanks, but it was still not completely suitable for offensive operations.

Even now, the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Brigade, to which the lieutenant belongs, will definitely fall into a bitter battle if it really encounters a large Russian force due to the lack of heavy weapons and the temporary inability to obtain field artillery cooperation; But even so, the soldiers could only follow orders, nest in the "Stryker" and follow the tanks with fear to approach the front line of operations, and then, when encountering the enemy, get out of the vehicle and attack along the gently sparse slopes of the bush.

The convoy turned the next col, and the field of view suddenly widened, and the vanguard of the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Regiment quickly crossed the predetermined meeting point and made contact with the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Regiment of the 1st Cavalry Division, which was following from another route.

Faced with the open and sparse woodland in front of them and the narrow roads that run through them, the Americans, after a short period of confirmation of deployment, still used the strategy of tanks taking the lead and armored vehicles advancing along the way, and advanced along the gentle slopes of the mountains to the north. (To be continued......)