The night was deep. Several CH-47 Chinooks lifted off, rising vertically from the ground as gracefully as falcons as they departed the base at Ahvaz.
At this moment, the massive bellies of the CH-47s were filled with the fuel and ammunition desperately needed by the armored division.
Without fuel, tanks are merely ornaments; without ammunition, tanks have no choice but to flee.
The consumption of ammunition during the afternoon battle had been immense.
The standard ammunition load for a Chieftain Tank is 64 rounds. However, because this mission involved a raid into the rear of the Iraqi army, half of the shells were high-explosive (HE) rounds—the preferred choice for charging and breaking through enemy defensive lines.
However, they hadn't expected to be desperately blocked by the enemy's tank brigade in the swamp, leading to a massive tank battle.
High-Explosive Shells contain high explosives within the projectile, relying on the fragments and energy produced by the explosion for lethality and destruction. Against infantry, they are a weapon of mass destruction; against fortifications, they pose a significant threat. However, against tanks, their power falls short.
Against tanks, the primary ammunition type is the Armor-piercing Fin-stabilized Discarding Sabot (APFSDS) round. Each tank only carried 20 of these, with the remainder being High-Explosive Squash Head (HESH) rounds. Practice had proven that HESH rounds were ineffective against T-62s; only Armor-Piercing Shells were truly effective.
Therefore, the ammunition delivered this time consisted primarily of Armor-Piercing Shells for the Chieftain Tank's 120mm rifled gun.
In addition to the tank shells, a portion of 155mm shells for the M109A1 Self-Propelled Howitzers was also delivered.
The fate of these self-propelled howitzers was even more tragic. In 1979, Iran imported 440 M109A1 Self-Propelled Howitzers from the United States to equip several domestic armored divisions and provide fire cover.
The M109A1 Self-Propelled Howitzer is a large 155mm caliber howitzer with a 39-caliber barrel. This weapon is primarily used to accompany armored groups, providing long-range fire support with a maximum range of up to 18 kilometers.
A battalion of these self-propelled howitzers had followed the armored division into the swamp, but the swamp was clearly a major test for the self-propelled howitzers, which had even poorer mobility.
To cross the swamp, they had to reduce their weight. Thus, although the self-propelled howitzers followed, they carried no shells. Each shell weighed about 50 kilograms; carrying 30 shells would mean adding one and a half tons of weight. Leaving them behind was a great help in crossing the swamp.
As a result, before these shells could even be loaded onto the self-propelled howitzers, they were all set ablaze at the supply base.
Otherwise, during the daytime battle, even though the self-propelled howitzers were positioned in the rear, their long range would have been enough to blow all the enemy armored vehicles into the sky, greatly easing the pressure on the front lines.
Rajavi stood beside the command vehicle, listening to the massive roar echoing from the distant sky.
Through their low-light night vision devices, the pilots of the CH-47 fleet had already spotted the row of parked vehicles in the distance. After radio confirmation, they landed at a suitable spot and unloaded the supplies they carried.
All the soldiers ran over to help. Amidst the wind whipped up by the helicopter rotors, they picked up the fuel cans and rushed toward their Chieftains.
As long as the Chieftains were refueled and rearmed, they remained powerful weapons!
The helicopter pilots, however, were all extremely nervous. Before setting out, they had received news that the last two Cobras responsible for their escort had been shot down. They were on their own; if they encountered any attack, it could be a disaster.
God only knew what had shot down the Cobras. If there were Iraqi Hinds here, who knew if they would brave the dangers of the night to launch a stealthy attack?
But a soldier's duty is to obey orders. To save the armored division, they had no choice, even if it meant risking the Chinooks.
Rajavi watched the busy soldiers and then looked up at the stars in the sky, thinking of the warriors who died in battle today. His heart was heavy. O Almighty allah, please bless this long-suffering nation of Iran!
Baghdad, the Presidential Palace.
"Your Excellency, though Qusay is young, he is very resourceful. Although we haven't found him, we haven't found his body either, have we?" Secretary of Defense Adnan Khairallah said to Saddam Hussein.
Adnan was Qusay's uncle, but he was also Iraq's Secretary of Defense and head of military security. Upon learning of the situation in the Southern Military Region, he immediately came to see Saddam Hussein to report.
"Indeed. I didn't expect that despite his youth, Qusay would accomplish such great things. When he said he wanted to go to the Southern Military Region, I agreed. He went there, but instead of staying at headquarters, he went to the Susangerd Swamp. That place wasn't supposed to be a battlefield, yet the Iranians actually came through it," Saddam Hussein said with a sigh. "Qusay is truly my good son. If he hadn't reached the Thirty-Fifth Armored Brigade while they were resting and raised their vigilance, they wouldn't have successfully blocked the Iranians in the swamp. If the Iranians had succeeded, we would have been at a major disadvantage."
As a national president, especially one with many strong ambitions, Saddam Hussein knew that now was not the time for personal feelings. Even if Qusay had died, he died with honor!
Adnan looked at the map on the wall, also deeply moved. Who could have imagined that the Iranians would choose to appear in a place where it was absolutely impossible? If the Thirty-Fifth Armored Brigade hadn't held them back and the Iranians had driven straight in, they would have stabbed a knife into the backs of the dozen or so divisions besieging Abadan. Caught off guard, the gains these troops had made over the past year would likely have vanished.
According to the battle reports from the front, the Thirty-Fifth Brigade had lost half of its tank units, but they had finally succeeded in halting the Iranians' progress. The Thirty-Fifth Brigade had achieved a great military feat!
"What is the Air Force doing? Are the attack preparations ready?" Saddam Hussein asked with dissatisfaction.
Major General Abid immediately broke into a cold sweat and said, "Your Excellency, when the Iranians were discovered, the fighters at our Basra Air Base were undergoing maintenance. The unit on combat duty was a MiG-21 fighter squadron, which is powerless against tanks on the ground. Most of the Hind gunships are in the Abadan region. We are currently mobilizing three Hind squadrons to aid the Susangerd Swamp area. At the same time, the Su-20s lack sufficient ground-attack bombs, which are being transported from headquarters. The Air Force will definitely strike tomorrow morning, and the operational plan will be submitted to Your Excellency then."
"What's wrong with the MiG-21s? Aren't they equipped with missiles? Can't they use missiles to hit tanks? This is just cowardice! And only three Hind squadrons? That's not enough. Send six squadrons. Tomorrow morning, scramble the MiG-25s, MiG-23s, and Su-20s to deal with the Iranian tanks together. Execute the order," Saddam Hussein said.
Abid did not hesitate for a second and immediately replied, "Yes, Your Excellency."
Saddam Hussein never trusted the Air Force. Furthermore, he had a flaw, similar to the Little Mustache, of liking to micromanage specific military tactics. Unfortunately, his skill level was lacking; he was okay at commanding the Army, but he didn't understand the Air Force at all. As a result, the Air Force was timid and accomplished very little.
The MiG-21 did have missiles, but those were air-to-air missiles. To hit tanks? Perhaps only His Excellency could think of that. The MiG-25 was a high-altitude, high-speed interceptor; what was such a fighter supposed to do in a swamp?
Abid didn't dare say more. He didn't want to be purged for no reason, so he spent the night revising the operational plan.