The fierce resistance from the Iraqis made the raiding Iranian army feel the strain.
From dawn until now, they had been fighting for a full six hours; the lead infantry regiment had already lost more than half its strength, and the Revolutionary Guard had suffered over a thousand casualties. This didn't even include the youths who had been blown up clearing the minefields at the very front, yet they still hadn't repelled the Iraqis.
This left Lieutenant General Hassan, who was in command, somewhat disappointed. He had originally expected this surprise attack to turn the tide, but he hadn't anticipated it would be such a difficult struggle.
He had no other choice; only by crushing the Iraqi forces in Abadan could he lift the siege. This was a crucial battle—one they could only win, not lose!
All the troops had been deployed; all he could do now was wait for good news from the front lines.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside his headquarters.
"Who is it? Have you no sense of military discipline?" Hassan shouted.
Suddenly, he froze. Wasn't the person walking toward him the great spiritual leader of the Iranian people, everyone's idol, Khomeini? Wasn't he supposed to be in Tehran?
"Welcome, Leader, to the front lines for inspection!" Hassan said.
"Mhm, I heard the fighting here was intense, so I've come to see the soldiers," Khomeini said.
"Yes, the fighting is fierce, but victory will surely be ours. The Iraqis opposite us are already on the verge of collapsing," Hassan said excitedly.
"Mhm, continue with your command." Khomeini knew that although he was the political and spiritual leader, his military command skills were not outstanding. He had come here for only one purpose: to boost the army's morale!
Hearing that the spiritual leader Khomeini had personally come to the headquarters by the Bahmanshir River, right behind them, all the Iranian soldiers launched a desperate assault as if they had gone mad.
"Long live Khomeini! Long live Iran!"
Amidst the soaring slogans, they braved a hail of bullets, charging forward relentlessly. Neither the machine guns ahead nor the mortar shells exploding around them could stop their conviction to advance; they were now fighting with a complete disregard for their own lives.
When one fell, another would immediately take his place. One would fire a rocket and miss, only for another to follow up with another shot. A machine gun nest that had wiped out ten consecutive rocket launcher operators was finally hit by a rocket fired from a different angle.
The Persians had gone mad!
Under this powerful offensive, the Iraqi lines began to gradually contract; they were about to break.
Sensing this, the garrison that had been holding out inside Abadan for nearly a year finally received orders from the commander-in-chief. They gathered and launched a fierce attack against the rear of the Iraqi forces that were resisting the external siege!
Hearing the gunfire from behind, Kalma knew that the garrison inside the city had finally emerged.
His resistance had not been in vain. From yesterday until now, the 10th Armored Division had lost over thirty tanks and hundreds of soldiers. Their sacrifice was worthwhile; if they had entered Abadan for street fighting, his entire division might have been wiped out without even taking the city.
Since the enemy had moved out, his mission to lure them had been accomplished. The next step was to successfully withdraw with minimal losses.
Retreating is also a great science; if one retreats haphazardly without restraint, it eventually turns into a rout.
Kalma issued his first order: two tank brigades were to deploy immediately and launch a counter-charge against the enemies approaching from both sides!
The divisional artillery regiment was to fire off every last shell with everything they had!
The Iranian infantry at the front, emboldened by Khomeini's presence, erupted with immense combat power. Seeing the Iraqi soldiers ahead beginning to retreat, they were about to charge when they saw clouds of dust billowing behind the enemy positions.
The enemy's tanks were coming!
At this moment, the Chieftain Tanks were out of fuel after driving all night and had returned to the rear to refuel.
Taking advantage of this gap, the Iraqi tank brigades charged forward.
The tank guns of the T-62s let out earth-shaking roars. High-Explosive Shells flew one after another from the 115mm barrels, mercilessly blowing the Iranian soldiers into the sky.
Simultaneously, countless shells rained down from the sky, exploding among the charging Iranian soldiers, each one claiming several lives.
The front line, where they slaughtered each other, had now become a bloody meat grinder.
"Quick, a rocket!" an Iranian company commander shouted to the soldier behind him while crawling in a crater; he had just fired a rocket but missed.
The soldier behind him handed over a rocket. He quickly loaded it into the launcher, stood up abruptly, aimed, and fired at a tank several hundred meters away!
Boom! The tank's turret was pierced from the side, instantly triggering a horrific ammunition explosion that sent the entire turret flying.
A hit!
"Come on, another one," the company commander shouted.
There was no response from behind.
He looked back and saw that the soldier who had just handed him the rocket had long since had his lower body blown off. Leaving a trail of blood behind him, he had crawled several meters just to deliver that rocket.
The company commander glanced at his soldier, then scrambled up to run for more rockets.
"Rat-tat-tat," suddenly, the machine gun of another tank rang out, instantly riddling him with bullets.
The garrison emerging from Abadan consisted of an infantry division and an infantry brigade. Under the cover of over a dozen m48s and more than thirty m113s, they lunged toward the Iraqi lines.
In the Iranian Army, only the most elite troops were equipped with the British-made Chieftain Tanks featuring 120mm guns. The older American-made m48s were still in service, though their models were the latest M48A5.
Compared to previous models, the M48A5 had its engine power increased to 750 horsepower and its main gun caliber increased from 90mm to 105mm. While it couldn't compare to the 120mm Chieftain, its performance was not inferior to the Iraqi-equipped T-62. Furthermore, it was fitted with aiming devices including active infrared night sights, a mechanical ballistic computer, and a coincidence optical rangefinder, making its targeting extremely accurate.
They were like a knife, suddenly tearing open the Iraqi lines.
The m48s fired shells incessantly, each shot overturning enemy fortifications.
Although minefields and other defensive works had been set up on the perimeter, there were no such defenses facing Abadan. The Iraqi army had intended to storm the city, and placing mines in front would have hindered their own offensive.
This also favored the garrison. With their tanks taking out machine gun nests and other covers, they only needed to charge forward. Their greatest wish was to kill the army that had besieged them for nearly a year and completely annihilate the Iraqis.
They held the absolute upper hand.
Suddenly, Iraqi tanks appeared ahead!
"One thousand five hundred meters ahead, six o'clock position, one Armor-Piercing Shell!" the M48 Tank commander said calmly.
They had been firing at fortifications using High-Explosive Shells; now they had to switch to Armor-Piercing Shells.
The loader immediately swapped out the High-Explosive Shell in his hand, picked up an Armor-Piercing Shell, and shoved it into the breech.
"One thousand two hundred meters, prepare to aim," the commander shouted.
Boom! The M48 Tank shuddered as an Armor-Piercing Shell streaked toward the enemy tank.
The battle raged on intensely.
To allow the soldiers of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade fighting on the positions to retreat as planned, Kalma had to deploy the Armored Brigade to hold off the fierce enemy offensive. The soldiers began to quickly board the Type 63 Armored Vehicles in an orderly fashion.
The reason the 10th Armored Division was chosen for this task was its mobility. Within 20 minutes, the soldiers who had been fighting moments ago were already in the armored vehicles, "routing" toward the west.
Once all the officers and men of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade had begun their retreat, the two tank brigades completed their cover mission.
Meanwhile, in the direction of the main Iranian attack, the Chieftain Tanks had finished refueling and lunged forward once more.
They wanted to use the Chieftain's powerful main gun to give the Iraqi tankers a lesson they would never forget.
To their surprise, they found nothing; the enemy had escaped!