Empire Conquest-Chapter 907 - 123: Interlocking Links

Relying on a desert highway that hasn’t been repaired in decades cannot support large-scale corps operations.

Moreover, aside from the Saudi Royal Army, what army would transport tanks using flatbed trailers during an assault?

Furthermore, Hussein’s backing was the Tiaoman Empire, and during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, the Newland Republic had been supporting Boi Country.

Without the support of the Newland Republic, Boi Country would have long been defeated, at least losing the crucial Lowland Province.

Even if a global war had broken out, Hussein might not be willing to trust his former nemesis.

As a result, on that night, after the 5th Group Army confirmed that the main force of the Alliance Army had crossed the Euphrates River, Hussein dispatched an armored division of the Republic Guard that was serving as the strategic reserve, specifically directing them to Divaniye to support the 5th Group Army’s counterattack.

However, Hussein indeed overestimated the 17th Group Army.

Although the 171st Armored Brigade and the 177th Mechanized Infantry Brigade crossed the river on October 1st and 2nd, respectively, neither unit moved north. Instead, after consolidating their beachhead positions, they advanced directly towards Sinafiye, posturing as if to seize the Euphrates River bridge.

Additionally, in the afternoon of the 2nd, the 172nd Armored Brigade also began crossing the river.

This left the Iraqi army in a very awkward position.

With only one Republic Guard Armored Division available, the 5th Group Army could only launch a counterattack in one direction—either to retake the bridgehead north of Samawa or to hold the bridge at Sinafiye. With the force of one armored division, it’s impossible to cover both ends.

Apparently, judging by the situation at the time, the Iraqi army should abandon Sinafiye.

This way, they could concentrate their forces to counterattack the bridgehead north of Samawa, prevent the 17th Armored Division’s combat troops from continuing to cross the river, and engage in a decisive battle around the bridgehead.

Moreover, Sinafiye is simply untenable!

Even without encirclement from the 171st Armored Brigade and the 177th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, once the feint force from the south bank arrives, the Iraqi army would abandon this town along with the Euphrates River bridge southwest of the town, making a last stand in Sinafiye impossible.

Moreover, the bridge does not hold much value.

As the Alliance Army began its northward assault on Baghdad, all combat units deployed south of Divaniye began retreating northward.

It seems, whether Hussein is willing or not, he is left with no option but to abandon the southern regions.

So, is it still necessary to hold this bridge on the north-south highway?

Let’s not forget, over the past month, the Iraqi army suffered heavy losses under the Alliance Army’s airstrikes trying to hold this bridge.

Even now, the wreckage of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles lies at both ends of the bridge!

Crucially, if the Iraqi army destroys this bridge, it would prevent the Alliance Army’s assault forces moving parallelly on both banks of the Euphrates River from joining, thus significantly reducing the defensive pressure on Divaniye, ensuring there are enough forces to resist the Alliance Army crossing the river from Samawa.

As for the two brigades charged at Sinafiye, they are not a threat.

The reasoning is simple: without rear support, these two brigades will eventually have to halt due to logistical shortcomings.

In Samawa, relying only on two pontoon bridges and three floating bridges to continue ferrying armored forces across, the supplies available to the north bank are certainly very limited.

Additionally, the early stage mainly consisted of combat troops crossing the river.

That is to say, the logistics support units have not caught up yet.

In the short term, the 17th Armored Division can only advance north from Samawa; there is no possibility of detouring through Sinafiye and then encircling Divaniye.

One could say, making such judgments is no difficult task.

Unfortunately, on the night of the 2nd, the vanguard of the 7th Armored Division reached Nuhayb and launched an attack overnight.

This time, whether Hussein is willing to admit it or not, he has to believe that the intelligence provided by the Newland Republic was correct, and the main force of the Alliance Army was in the west.

Setting everything else aside, the artillery preparation prior to the attack alone was enough to prove it was a main armored force.

In a mere 15 minutes, dozens of long-range rocket artillery pieces of the 7th Armored Division rained down on the entire town, directly crushing the defenders’ morale.

The result was that after the defense commander sent the telegram announcing the fall of Nuhayb, he promptly ordered a surrender.

Crucially, the defense commander Major General Halim was Hussein’s nephew!

Initially, Hussein positioned him there to keep him away from the battlefield.

Because of this, Hussein concluded that the armored assault force departing from Samawa, specifically the two brigades advancing towards Sinafiye, was indeed the main force.

More accurately, it was the main force in the south.

The reasoning was that the Alliance Army focused their efforts on the western battlefield, and that the forces assaulting from the south were advancing along the Euphrates River in the north, aiming to join the forces attacking from the west.

This way, aside from resolving logistics support issues, it would also enhance the assault capability.

By this stage, it wasn’t as simple as blowing up the Sinafiye Bridge anymore.

North of Sinafiye, there are several more bridges!

To enable the two forces to link up, not only should the Sinafiye Bridge be destroyed when necessary, it’s also essential to block the northward advancing Alliance Army here.

According to later intelligence, at the time, Hussein was planning a counterattack strategy.

Simply put, the first step was to block the assault force of the 17th Armored Division at Sinafiye, trying to buy 3-5 days. Then, with the support of the Republic Guard commanded by Hussein’s second son, Usei, the 3rd Group Army, deployed west of Baghdad, would eliminate the western Alliance forces.

If this annihilation battle could be won, there would be hope to make the Alliance give up its assault on Baghdad. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

In Hussein’s view, it could even turn the tide of the war.

However, the precondition was to stop the northward armored forces at Sinafiye.

Thus, Hussein issued a death order to the 5th Group Army’s commander, to hold Sinafiye at any cost, and to blow up the Euphrates River Bridge if necessary, without retreating from Sinafiye under any condition, even if it required the army commander to personally defend the position.

As a result, in the early morning of the 3rd, with the support of the Republic Guard Armored Division reinforcements, the 5th Group Army’s two Infantry Divisions began advancing towards Sinafiye.

As for the Alliance forces at Samawa, they couldn’t be bothered anymore.

Hussein overestimated the capabilities of the Iraqi army and once again made the wrong judgment—that the two brigades of the 17th Armored Division were not going to attack Sinafiye.

The advances of the 171st Brigade and the 177th Brigade along the Euphrates River were still a feint.

To put it bluntly, it was to alleviate pressure on Samawa and to lower the troop density at the bridgehead, providing space for subsequent forces crossing the river.

An armored brigade of 5,000 officers and soldiers, in a field deployment, covers an area of over 100 square kilometers.

If combat breaks out, the operational area needs to expand by at least tenfold!

Clearly, the bridgehead north of Samawa could not accommodate too many combat forces.

Of course, tactically, there was no need to wait until all the forces crossed the river before launching an assault.

In fact, in the plan drawn by Ding Zhennan, the Iraqi army would concentrate on attacking the Samawa bridgehead, not going to Sinafiye.

Thus, there was no possibility of seizing Sinafiye.

As for coordinating operations with the 7th Armored Division, that was pure fiction—it was at most cooperation, far from reaching the level of coordination.

It wasn’t a lack of command capability, nor that the two armored divisions couldn’t work together, but that it was unnecessary.

In the entire operational plan, the attack on Baghdad had little to do with the 17th Armored Division. After the first wave of assaults concluded, the 17th Armored Division would pull back, focus on sweeping and controlling the southern region, and assist the 7th Armored Division in eliminating future concerns.

For this reason, upon realizing that the main forces of the Iraqi 5th Group Army were dispatched to Sinafiye, Ding Zhennan promptly adjusted the operational actions.

To put it plainly, it was using the enemy’s plan against them.

In the early morning of the 3rd, the 171st Armored Brigade and the 177th Mechanized Infantry Brigade accelerated their assault, simultaneously receiving orders for a full-scale attack on Sinafiye.

Additionally, the feint mechanized infantry battalion in the south also accelerated its assault.

To ensure nothing went wrong, Ding Zhennan not only had the 17th Armored Division send its engineering battalion from the south bank of the Euphrates River to Sinafiye to ensure that, after the bridge was destroyed by the Iraqi army, pontoon and floating bridges could be erected to ensure timely logistical support for the north bank forces.

After all, the 171st Armored Brigade and the 177th Mechanized Infantry Brigade did not carry much ammunition and supplies.

In addition, Ding Zhennan also dispatched a Special Forces unit to try and capture and control the Euphrates River bridge at Sinafiye through a sneaky assault.