Empire Conquest-Chapter 897 - 118: Tactical Adjustment (Part 2)
Fortunately, the Empire’s Air Force has already dispatched a specialized engineering battalion.
According to reports from the front line, they will definitely be able to double the air transport capacity next month, which is also the time to start the assault on Baghdad, averaging 5,000 tons per day.
In fact, this is the most basic requirement.
Ding Zhennan went to the front line precisely to understand this situation.
The goal is to support the 17th Armored Division to reach full combat readiness and strengthen it, yet with 5,000 tons of daily supplies, it is far from sufficient.
Currently, the 17th Armored Division has five combat brigades.
Among them, the 171st Brigade and the 172nd Brigade are genuine Armored Brigades, with almost identical equipment scales, each possessing 330 main battle tanks and 300 infantry fighting vehicles, and nearly 1,000 combat vehicles of various types, including dozens of self-propelled howitzers.
The 173rd Brigade and the 177th Brigade are mechanized infantry brigades, with the 177th being a temporarily formed reserve unit, its equipment level is about seventy percent of the 173rd Brigade. In the 173rd Brigade, there are about 240 main battle tanks, 380 infantry fighting vehicles, and nearly a thousand other combat vehicles.
The 174th Brigade is an Artillery Brigade, with its main equipment of 180 self-propelled howitzers and over 80 long-range rocket artillery.
In addition to these five combat brigades, the 17th Armored Division also has an Air Support Brigade, with more than 300 helicopters, mainly around 200 "Z-8" series general-purpose helicopters, and about 80 "Z-X" series heavy helicopters. As an air support unit not responsible for combat missions, no attack helicopters are equipped, but they can be added as needed during operations.
Additionally, there are many special operations battalions directly under the division.
The entire division has more than 30,000 troops.
It has been mentioned before, such a large and comprehensive organizational system has always been a characteristic of the Empire’s Army.
During peacetime, all A-class divisions of the Empire’s Army are constructed with the framework of a corps, and A-Class Infantry Divisions are constructed on the scale of a Group Army.
The reason is simple, these combat units can be rapidly expanded during wartime.
To put it simply, the expansion of the 17th Armored Division isn’t that significant. After all, it was previously deployed in the Western Battle Zone, facing the North Xuan and New Moon regions, the operational pressure wasn’t very high. Therefore, the organizational scale of the 17th Armored Division is not prominent among several A-class armored divisions.
Furthermore, it is not necessary to expand excessively.
For a combat unit with 30,000 officers and soldiers, thousands of main battle equipment, and hundreds of helicopters, a daily consumption of 5,000 tons is definitely not much!
In fierce battles, the 17th Armored Division’s ammunition consumption alone would exceed 10,000 tons per day.
In fact, this is also the source of Ding Zhennan’s confidence.
Nominally, the Imperial Army has only deployed the forces of two divisions, but in reality, after completion of expansion, these two divisions have combat power equivalent to two corps.
Importantly, they are all armored divisions, or rather, armored corps.
To say nothing else, the 17th Armored Division alone has over 1,000 ZT-99B main battle tanks!
Not to mention, whether in the Boss Bay area or on the continental battlefield, 1,000 ZT-99B main battle tanks can launch a large-scale ground offensive.
Moreover, there’s the even more formidable 7th Armored Division!
However, logistical support remains a major issue.
The key is that when the 17th Armored Division was expanded, the scale of support troops was not increased, but instead hope was placed on the Alliance Army.
Simply put, while the 17th Armored Division charges forward, the Alliance transports ammunition and supplies from the rear.
The current issue is that the Alliance may not keep up.
So, they can only find ways to shorten the logistic supply line, specifically the length of the ground supply line.
In fact, this is also one of the main problems Ding Zhennan came to the front lines to solve.
Besides the airport in Samawa, is it possible to capture or construct more airports along the way to transport supplies closer to the front lines by air?
The commander of the 17th Armored Division gave an affirmative answer.
Not only did the Air Force dispatch engineering units, but the 17th Armored Division also has an independent engineering battalion that has been strengthened and has very strong engineering capabilities.
In terms of engineering capabilities, the Empire’s military has never lacked.
Since the first Global War, the engineering capabilities of the Empire’s Army have been world-renowned, and consistent over the following decades.
However, Major General Fu Weimin, the division commander of the 17th Armored Division, also pointed out an issue.
According to the new tactics proposed by Ding Zhennan, we shouldn’t expect to maintain a sufficient speed of advance, meaning the ground troops will have to wait for rear engineering construction.
Moreover, the 17th Armored Division will inevitably bear greater operational pressure.
In the initial plan, the task of the 17th Armored Division was actually to complete the division of operations and prevent the Iraqi troops in the southern region from retreating.
While the 17th Armored Division is required to advance north, participating in the assault on Baghdad, there was a condition that the 5th Marine Division at Basra would arrive to take on part of the combat mission, allowing the 17th Armored Division to allocate several brigades northward.
The current problem is that the 5th Marine Division will not come to participate in the combat.
Ding Zhennan made it very clear: after mopping up the remnants at Basra, the 5th Marine Division will head to Fao port to board a ship, at which point, at most, an armored brigade from the Gaoju Kingdom will head northward. Therefore, the 17th Armored Division needs to take on more combat tasks, such as those originally undertaken by the 5th Marine Division.
Obviously, this is no small request.
Despite the 17th Armored Division having over 30,000 troops, five combat brigades, there are really only four armored and mechanized infantry brigades capable of launching assaults.
These four brigades amount to less than 20,000 officers and soldiers.
According to Major General Fu Weimin, if the division is to take on part of the 5th Marine Division’s tasks, he can at most send one armored brigade north.
If really necessary, he might even send the division headquarters’ guard battalion up.
The remaining three brigades have to stay in the south.
This is unavoidable because in the southeast direction of Samawa, there are approximately 400,000 Iraqi troops. After Basra is taken, these Iraqi forces will swarm towards Baghdad. What’s more problematic is that they will pass through Samawa!
Relying on three brigades to hold back 400,000 Iraqi troops!?
Even with sufficient air support, it’s not an easy task.
Besides, after the battle to take Baghdad starts, it’s uncertain that sufficient air support can be obtained, as the Navy Air Force will certainly prioritize Baghdad.
Faced with the enemy coming like a tidal wave, these brigades of the 17th Armored Division will undoubtedly be struggling to manage.
At that time, being able to deploy one armored brigade northward is quite commendable.
Of course, all this is essentially telling Ding Zhennan.
The heavy responsibility of attacking Baghdad still lies on the 7th Armored Division.
It’s not that Fu Weimin is admitting defeat, but he is calmly facing reality. More importantly, he’s truly considering the welfare of his soldiers.
The division commander secures the mission, but it is the soldiers at the grassroots level who go to die.
In this regard, Ding Zhennan is well aware.
If Fu Weimin wasn’t considering his subordinates, he wouldn’t be a good division commander and couldn’t earn the loyalty and following of tens of thousands of officers and soldiers.
As for the real difficulties, they indeed exist.
The problem doesn’t lie with the 17th Armored Division, but with the 5th Marine Division or the situation determined by the war strategy.
From another perspective, maneuvering a single division to stabilize a force equivalent to Iraq’s southern region, which accounts for a third of Iraq’s territory, with nearly half a population, is already quite something. At best, the 17th Armored Division won’t add trouble to other units at that time.
Fortunately, as planned by Ding Zhennan, he only delayed in Samawa for a few hours.
After understanding the situation clearly, he departed from Samawa on a transport plane.
In fact, he was not too demanding about the situation with the 17th Armored Division once he understood it clearly.
Besides various real reasons, there is also one unmentioned issue.
The 17th Armored Division came from the Western War Zone, whereas Ding Zhennan did not have any hidden agenda to work against him.
Since it came from the Northwest War Zone, naturally, Ding Zhennan will pay more attention to the 7th Armored Division, which he personally led to Boss Bay.
To look at it differently, this can’t be considered favoritism.
After all, each war zone has its own system, and I have every reason to believe that the warriors of this division will never let him down.
