Empire Conquest-Chapter 893 - 116: Racing Against Time

Of course, the airport is within the base, and it only takes about ten minutes by car to get there.

To put it frankly, King Khalid Military City now seems more like a city rather than a military base.

After the large-scale influx of coalition forces, King Khalid Military City’s garrison population reached 300,000, akin to a medium-sized city.

In order to accommodate the coalition forces, the Saudi Army also opened several large-scale military camps around the area.

Of course, there are also supporting facilities available.

Anyway, supplying tens of thousands of soldiers is a troublesome task, not to mention about 150,000 of them are troops from the oil-producing countries.

Among these troops, almost all the high-ranking officers and most of the grassroots officers have royal identities.

In the Saudi Royal Army alone, there are about 1,000 princes!

Obviously, these royal family members are not very strong in combat but put a high value on quality of life.

According to Shi Shouliang, these "Crown Prince" armies from oil-producing countries have made the entire base a chaotic mess, far from resembling a military camp.

To enhance mutual understanding, or perhaps to liven up the atmosphere, there are basically daily social activities.

For example, yesterday there was a camel racing competition, where the fastest camel was awarded a 1-kilogram gold medal made of pure gold by the Saudi Crown Prince.

Some may misunderstand and think it’s a royal gathering in the oil-producing country.

Fortunately, the core areas responsible for combat missions have not been affected.

As for the airplane, it’s still the "Attack-2EG."

Although it is mainly a battlefield observation aircraft that serves artillery and tactical attack aircraft, it often acts more like a small private aircraft for high-ranking staff officers.

In fact, during the last war, the Imperial Army had many small transport planes specifically used to transport staff and communications officers.

Even though helicopters are now available, staff often prefer longer-range fixed-wing aircraft.

Before noon, Ding Zhennan arrived at the frontline command outside Basra.

The siege of Basra is still underway.

Counting from the 21st, the city battle has entered its 4th day.

Though the 5th Marine Division has deployed all its forces, several brigades have taken turns on the battlefield, and on the afternoon of the 23rd, the armored brigade of Gaoju Kingdom also joined the battle, bringing the total strength of the siege forces to over 30,000. However, the advance remains very slow and has suffered considerable losses.

After fighting for 3 days, half of the city is still held by the Iraqi forces.

It’s not that the attacking forces lack strength, nor is the Iraqi army particularly strong, but urban warfare itself is very tough and inherently slow..

This time, Liu Zunshan was the one who came to the airport to pick up Ding Zhennan.

His armored battalion was resting in the rear, stationed near the airport, multitasking with guarding the airport.

On the way to the frontline command, Liu Zunshan gave a general introduction to the battle situation.

The combat is extremely challenging, largely because the defenders include an infantry division of the Republic Guard, whose commander is Kusa, Hussein’s eldest son.

Even worse, Kusa issued a strict order prohibiting civilians from leaving Basra.

As a result, Basra’s 1.5 million residents have become hostages!

In the preceding days, one of the most critical challenges the attacking forces faced was evacuating civilians from the combat zone and providing the necessary humanitarian aid.

According to Liu Zunshan, over half of the soldiers are engaged in civilian protection.

If there were no civilian constraints, the coalition forces would have already captured Basra.

Unfortunately, the problem is entirely unsolvable.

Even with the coalition’s full effort, only less than 500,000 civilians have been evacuated, and most remain in the areas controlled by the coalition.

Given the coalition’s logistics support capabilities, there’s simply no way to accommodate so many homeless refugees.

Furthermore, there are still over a million civilians inside the city.

Consider all of it, settling these war refugees would keep the coalition busy for a long while.

The frontline command is in the suburbs, not far from the airport, only a few-minute drive away.

At the command post, Ding Zhennan received similar feedback from Major General Hou Chencheng of the 5th Marine Division, stating that accommodating civilians consumed too much time.

Moreover, the 5th Marine Division tried to find a way!

For example, in the past few days, Hou Chencheng dispatched several scouting teams deep into the Iraqi forces’ controlled area to find the Iraqi forces’ command post.

Obviously, the precise target was to find Kusa.

According to Hou Chencheng, if the Iraqi forces’ command center could be destroyed, perhaps by eliminating Kusa, it would rout the Iraqi forces or force them to surrender.

Unfortunately, the dispatched scouting teams didn’t find Kusa and suffered heavy casualties instead.

Of course, Hou Chencheng did not give up.

By dawn, three more scouting teams entered the area controlled by Iraqi forces.

"We have already made arrangements; once we receive messages from the scouting teams, a heavy artillery company deployed outside the city can open fire within five minutes," Hou Chencheng paused slightly, then continued: "If needed, support can be called; Sea Air’s attack aircraft can arrive within fifteen minutes."

Ding Zhennan nodded, indicating he understood the Major General’s intent.

Capturing the key leader, eliminating the top Iraqi command, is indeed a strategy, but its execution is immensely challenging with great uncertainty.

"As long as we can eliminate Kusa, we..."

"We’ll have to change the approach."

After Ding Zhennan spoke, Hou Chencheng immediately furrowed his brow.

"Kusa is certainly on guard, conventional routines may not find him." Ding Zhennan vigorously rubbed his forehead. "Since he cannot be found, then we won’t search."

"This..."

"I’m giving you three days," Ding Zhennan glanced at Hou Chencheng, "make ample preparations to ensure sufficient reception and treatment for refugees and the injured."

Hou Chencheng didn’t voice it, but his expression wasn’t looking good.

"Later, we’ll employ broadcasts, leaflet drops, and so forth to launch psychological warfare, urging the Iraqi civilians and military within the city to evacuate promptly."

"There will be no obvious effects," Liu Zunshan added.

Ding Zhennan paid no attention, continuing: "Starting from the early morning of the 27th, indiscriminate bombing will commence, with the Air Force taking on the initial round of bombing operations."

"Strategic bombers?"

Ding Zhennan nodded to confirm that bombers were arranged for the bombing mission.

"The key point is to explicitly mention this during the publicity; once the bombing begins, the coalition won’t differentiate between military and civilians."

"This..." Hou Chencheng seemed a bit worried.

"This is merely propaganda, intended to compel the civilians within the city to evacuate quickly and to scare and provoke them."

"Disturb the grass to chase the rabbit?" Liu Zunshan realized.

Ding Zhennan nodded again as he shifted his gaze toward Hou Chencheng.

"To achieve the desired effect, I suggest scheduling the bombing post-dawn and using unguided bombs; let the bombers drop bombs over the city." Hou Chencheng exhaled deeply, then said: "As long as we can crush the enemy’s morale, maybe we can capture Basra in a few days."

"Let’s schedule it for the morning of the 27th," Ding Zhennan didn’t bother with the details, as Hou Chencheng, being the frontline commander, is more familiar with the battlefield situation.

"Given the current situation, it won’t take three days. Build a temporary camp near the airport, and one day will be enough. Even factoring in other preparatory work, it’ll only take two days," Liu Zunshan commented at that moment: "In that case, the bombing could be initiated on the 26th."

"Printing leaflets takes two days."

Liu Zunshan was momentarily stunned, then couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

He contemplated merely the military operation, forgetting that publicity also requires time.

"I don’t care what methods you employ, you must conquer Basra by the end of the month, or at least bring an end to the large-scale operations on this side."

"Do we need to participate in the operation to attack Baghdad?"

Ding Zhennan glanced at Hou Chencheng and said, "Capture Basra first, then there will naturally be arrangements. There’s no need to think much about it."

Liu Zunshan initially wanted to inquire further, but given how Ding Zhennan articulated it, he chose not to dwell on the issue.

Hou Chencheng also noticed this and refrained from asking further.

Whether the 5th Marine Division will be arranged to attack Basra, that’s a matter for the Alliance Headquarter, and in any case, it is not up to the Major General to make decisions.

Moreover, Hou Chencheng is in no position to dictate terms to Ding Zhennan.

After querying a few other issues, Ding Zhennan left the command with Liu Zunshan, returning to the military camp outside the airport.

In Ding Zhennan’s view, he will remain at the frontline command until Basra is captured.