Empire Conquest-Chapter 864 - 102: Ground War

In the early hours of September 17th, after six days of preparation, the third phase of the Boi War, namely the liberation of Kuwait and the ground war against Iraq, commenced.

At 2 AM, Ding Zhennan signaled the official start of combat operations.

Leading the charge was the preliminary firepower preparation, with the Air Force taking the main role.

Although the main force in Boss Bay was the Navy Air Force, comprising six wings of ship-borne aircraft deployed at ground bases, the Air Force did not stand idly by, leaving enough support aircraft, including eight "Zhi-8C"s and dozens of large refueling planes equipped with hose refueling systems.

In addition, there were three "Zhi-10A"s.

Aside from the one stationed at King Khalid Military City which participated in the early attack actions, the other two entered last month.

Previously, when hunting down Iraq’s ballistic missile launchers, these three Joint Command Aircraft played a crucial role.

To be said, for more than a month prior, seeking and destroying Iraq’s ballistic missile launchers was always the number one task of the Joint Forces.

After the Air Force was thoroughly defeated, and the air defense system destroyed, medium and short-range ballistic missiles became the only reprisal weapon for Hussein’s Military Government.

Of course, these thousands of ballistic missiles posed a huge threat.

In early August, the Iraqi army launched multiple missile strikes repeatedly, targeting mainly the major cities such as Saudi Arabia’s capital.

During the Iran-Iraq War, out of the thousands of ballistic missiles launched by both sides, over 80% were directed at each other’s cities, with less than 20% aimed at military targets.

Actual combat had long proven that these ballistic missiles, with errors as large as hundreds of meters or even over a thousand meters, were not suitable for targeting small, point targets, but were more effective at hitting cities, and attacking cities could strike at the enemy’s morale and confidence.

Fortunately, during that time, the Empire’s Air Force and Navy fully mobilized, destroying all fixed deployed ballistic missile launchers, as well as hundreds of ballistic missiles that failed to be relocated in time, stripping Iraq of the ability to launch large-scale missile attacks.

These ballistic missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia either missed their targets or were intercepted by "Divine Archer".

However, the Iraqi army still had dozens of missile launch vehicles.

These missile launch vehicles became a grave concern for the Alliance Army.

On the night of August 13th, the Iraqi army unexpectedly launched an attack, without any warning, firing a 900-kilometer-range ballistic missile from its northern domestic launch site towards a Joint Forces camp close to the border in northern Saudi.

This camp, close to the border, was outside the protection range of "Divine Archer".

At that time, the Empire Air Force only deployed three "Divine Archer" air defense systems in Saudi Arabia, individually protecting the capital Riyadh, King Khalid Military City where the Alliance Army headquarters was located, and the highly significant Daman Port, lacking additional "Divine Archer" systems to secure the forward-deployed combat troops.

Moreover, the Empire Air Force had not developed and procured the "Divine Archer" air defense system to protect field troops.

Crucially, this ballistic missile did not miss its target.

This was a "Hussein" type ballistic missile, a replica based on the "Scud", aiming for a range of 900 kilometers by reducing the heavy one-ton warhead to less than 500 kilograms, carrying additional hundreds of kilograms of fuel, with almost no other modifications.

Theoretically, the error at its maximum range exceeded 500 meters, possibly reaching 1000 meters.

Yet the missile directly hit this camp, which was less than 100,000 square meters in area, landing precisely in the barracks area.

Just this one missile killed over 300 officers and soldiers and injured nearly a thousand!

This was not all.

A week later, another "Hussein" missile hit, this time striking an external affairs hotel less than 1000 meters away from the Liangxia Embassy within Riyadh’s city area. Resulting in hundreds of casualties, it also destroyed numerous buildings, causing extremely adverse effects.

After the incident, the King of Saudi Arabia, accompanied by Royal Family members, evacuated from the suburb palace of Riyadh to the desert.

About half a month later, after the Empire Air Force deployed an additional "Divine Archer" system and intensified the hunt for missile launchers, the King of Saudi Arabia returned to Riyadh.

Actually, this missile very likely aimed at the Liangxia Embassy.

This attack, in fact, equated to proving that "Divine Archer" is not a flawless missile defense system, possessing many shortcomings.

Despite the Empire Air Force announcing that "Divine Archer" achieved a single-interception rate of up to 80% against the likes of the "Scud" and "Hussein", with ranges under 1000 kilometers, the actual interception rate fell short of even 40%.

Generally, it required two "Divine Archer" missiles to intercept one missile, attaining roughly a 60% chance of knocking it down.

It could also be due to statistical caliber differences, meaning the Empire Air Force included those ballistic missiles intercepted and then deviated from targets in the "downed" range, many of which deviated due to large errors.

Moreover, the damage effect of "Divine Archer" on ballistic missiles was also not ideal.

Crucially adopting the fragmentation warhead used by air defense missiles, relying on explosive fragments to destroy targets.