Rajavi received General Sharaf's order: immediately withdraw from combat, retreat to a safe zone, and wait for nighttime helicopter supplies. After resupplying, look for an opportunity to counterattack.
Withdraw from combat? Rajavi found this difficult. Currently, the two armies were locked in a stalemate. Any side withdrawing would give the opponent an opportunity to pursue and attack. Furthermore, having fought to this point, both sides were seeing red.
In front of the position, at least seventy or eighty Chieftains had been hit. Aside from one tank battalion that was wiped out at the start, most had become stuck in the marsh and were unable to move, resulting in them being picked off by t－62s that closed in.
His own Chieftains, relying on their long-range firing advantage, had also taken out at least seventy t－62s. Now, the enemy's tank numbers were noticeably thinning. After all, the opponent only had the scale of a single armored brigade and did not have the advantage in numbers.
However, the Chieftains in his rear were almost out of fuel. Otherwise, a thunderous initial push would have been enough to wipe the enemy out. But this marshland greatly increased the difficulty of his offensive. Damn this marshland!
At the very least, this large-scale armored confrontation confirmed one fact: the Iraqis' t－62s were fundamentally inferior to the firepower of the Chieftains he was equipped with. As long as they broke out of the marsh and reached flat ground, his armored division could still complete its designated mission.
"Order the 4th and 5th Armored Battalions to cover each other's retreat," Rajavi issued the combat order.
Meanwhile, Muhammad's 35th Armored Brigade was also exhausted.
Experience had proven that when a unit's combat casualties exceed one-third, war-weariness sets in. When casualties exceed half, it faces the danger of collapse.
Now, although the mechanized infantry battalion in the rear had not suffered much loss, the three armored battalions at the front had already lost half of their tanks.
Morale must be encouraged, not dampened. What supported the tank crews in their brave fighting was a single belief: behind them was flat land, and they had to stop the enemy here. Otherwise, once the enemy broke through, the situation that countless brothers had died for over the past year would likely be completely lost.
Those who could become tank crews were the elites of the army. Coupled with the training of the past few days, which had made them prepared, today's battle could be described as them being well-rested and ready.
Currently, the situation on the battlefield was in a stalemate. Although his tank crews' formations were in disarray, they still dared to fight and charge. Especially Ali's company; they did not shame the flag of the Heroic Company. They charged at the very front and destroyed the most tanks.
Muhammad also saw the situation clearly. The greatest threat to his armored forces was that the Chieftains could open fire from 1,800 meters away. His Excellency Qusay had been making his subordinates train in long-range shooting precisely to prepare for today.
Thinking of this, Muhammad felt a bit sad. There was still no news of His Excellency Qusay; he feared they had already met with misfortune.
Due to the distance and the intensity of the battle, Muhammad did not know that the special forces unit Qusay had led, which had been formed for less than half a month, had accomplished the major feat of blowing up the enemy's ammunition and fuel.
"Reporting to the Brigade Commander, the enemy shows signs of retreating," a report came from the tank crews on the frontline.
Retreating? Ali calculated that the enemy must have run out of fuel. He really wanted to order his armored battalion to continue the pursuit, but thinking of how much of his subordinates' blood had already been shed today, he abandoned the idea.
Since the enemy wanted to retreat, he would retreat too. Muhammad ordered: "Armored battalions, contract the defensive line and prepare to withdraw. Armored reconnaissance vehicles, move forward to scout."
If Qusay were there, he would definitely not let the armored brigade relax and would pursue them relentlessly. Even if they were whittled down to a single tank company, as long as the enemy's fuel was exhausted, the enemy would have to either surrender or be destroyed.
Conservative thinking and a lack of initiative in attacking were bad habits found in many officers during the Iran-Iraq War. They were fundamentally unqualified to command modern warfare, which is why the US military would later give Saddam Hussein a profound lesson during the Gulf War.
There is only one tactic for armored forces: attack, and keep attacking!
In truth, there was another reason Muhammad had to order a retreat: his tank crews were simply unable to fight at night. Although they had TKH-3 periscopes for night use, paired with the OY-3GK infrared searchlights installed in front of the command cupolas with an effective range of 400 meters, the crews had trouble using the fire control systems even during the day, let alone at night.
If they really charged in, they might not even be able to return.
Muhammad did not want to sacrifice all his armored units. He had already blocked the Iranians' sneak attack in the marshland; the military region certainly wouldn't just stand by and watch and would soon send the Air Force to support him. Being able to block a division's attack with a single brigade was already a remarkable achievement.
The sound of artillery grew smaller and less frequent. Finally, both warring sides disengaged from the battlefield.
To be able to disengage smoothly without being stuck by the enemy's tanks, Rajavi felt his luck was truly good. He also felt regret for the enemy commander; it seemed the opponent's intelligence communication had failed. They likely didn't even know his logistics base had been bombed.
A single CH-47 could transport ten tons of supplies. Thus, one night would be enough to bring in fuel and ammunition. Tomorrow, he wouldn't have to fight so miserably.
Using helicopters to transport supplies for armored units was a very wasteful method, but there was no other choice now. The logistics base had been destroyed. If they used off-road trucks to transport from the rear again, it would take at least three to five days. By then, all the Chieftains would likely be unable to move due to lack of fuel, turning the Chieftains into sitting ducks.
In the Iranian armored lineup, the Chieftain was the most powerful tank, equipped in about four armored divisions. The rest were American-made M60 and M48 tanks, which were almost obsolete. The only ones that could go toe-to-toe with the Iraqi army were these Chieftain Tanks.
If the Chieftain Tanks were wiped out in the marsh, it would greatly reduce the Iranian army's offensive capability. Sharaf consulted Abolhassan, who was still in Ahvaz, and he immediately ordered that the armored division trapped in this desperate situation be saved at all costs.
In the darkness of the night, CH-47 Chinook helicopters, fully loaded with ammunition and fuel, took off one by one.
As an all-weather take-off and landing helicopter, the CH-47 pilots were equipped with Starlight night vision goggles. These so-called Starlight night vision goggles were first-generation passive night vision products. They used ambient light from the moon and stars to amplify reflected infrared rays, relying on vacuum tube technology for acceleration and amplification. Because of this, these starlight goggles had a very short lifespan, so few pilots were willing to wear them except during night flight training or special missions.
But tonight, this equipment would play a massive role.