Compared to the unavoidable minefields in the field, urban warfare was a headache for the Imperial army.

In the words of the officers and men of the front, they would rather follow the minesweeper into the minefield than sit in the infantry fighting vehicle and enter the enemy's entrenched city.

According to incomplete statistics, more than half of the casualties suffered by the coalition forces in the Battle of Poshawan were related to urban warfare.

As such, whenever there is a choice, the Imperial army will avoid the enemy-controlled cities, and even if they can't, they will deal with the enemies entrenched in the cities through encirclement and firepower, and even if they have to capture the cities, they will spend a lot of time preparing in advance.

In fact, the last urban battle on the other side of Posha Bay, the battle against the city of Moss, taught the 7th Panzer Division a lesson to the rest of the Imperial Army.

The siege of Mosu lasted almost 2 months, and the 7th Panzer Division took 50 days to prepare.

Throughout the month of September, the 7th Panzer Division besieged the city of Mosu without attacking it, and through artillery bombardment and bombardment, it continued to weaken the enemy's combat capability and will to fight. Crucially, the 7th Panzer Division made full use of a variety of tactical reconnaissance equipment to maximize the accuracy of its strikes, to ensure that collateral damage was minimized while striking a recalcitrant enemy, and to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to civilians leaving urban areas.

As a result of these efforts, less than a fifth of the civilian population remained in Mosu by the time the massive fire phase began.

However, by this time, the 7th Panzer Division still did not immediately attack.

This was followed by high-intensity, indiscriminate firepower.

In order to improve the effectiveness of the strike, in fact, it is to enhance the impact of the firepower strike on the fighting will of the enemy's officers and men, and the main use of heavy bombs and large-caliber heavy artillery is used.

Because the standard howitzers of the Imperial Army only had three calibers, namely 100, 150 and 200 mm, and the length of the projectile was also severely limited, and the power was limited by the amount of charge, the officers and men of the front-line troops managed to get dozens of 2S4 240 mm mortars produced by Xiluosha.

This giant cannon is simply made for urban warfare.

With a high-explosive shell weighing up to 130 kilograms, the 2S4 is more like a heavy artillery designed specifically for demolition purposes, which can basically destroy a building with a single shot.

It is more effective when used against bunkers.

In fact, the 2S4 was designed for bunkers and other bunkers, and with its high-throw trajectory, it is very suitable for use in cities with complex environments.

Had it not been for the fact that the captured ammunition had run out, the shelling would have continued until the end of October.

As for the bombing, it goes without saying.

According to the requirements of the 7th Armored Division, in the preparation stage for the attack, unless there are special requirements, all attack aircraft use high-explosive shells of more than 500 kilograms. Whether or not the enemy in the city can be destroyed is one thing, the key is to completely break the enemy's fighting spirit through bombing.

If it was only for a few days, it would be nothing, but such a high-intensity fire strike lasted for 20 days.

By the end of October, when the combat units of the 7th Panzer Division moved into the city, they did not meet any decent resistance at all, and even did not encounter many enemies.

As a result, in just one week, in fact, five days, the 7th Panzer Division captured the entire city of Mosu.

As for the next two days, they were actually sheltering and settling prisoners of war.

After that, the Mu'a coalition army, which rushed to replace the 7th Panzer Division, spent another half a month searching for and rescuing those buried in the rubble, especially the civilians who could not evacuate before the indiscriminate fire attack began, and was responsible for rescuing and relocating the refugees gathered outside the city.

The storming of the city of Mosu can be said to be a bold attempt by the imperial army to explore the specific tactics of the siege of the city.

However, the experience gained by the 7th Panzer Division may not be replicated elsewhere.

The key is time.

Where to find 2 months to attack a city on other battlefields?

At this pace, it would take decades to defeat the Van Luo Kingdom!

Of course, this is not to say that the Battle of Mosu was without merit.

For example, an effective weapon can greatly reduce the difficulty of urban fortification, reduce its own casualties and improve combat efficiency.

Obviously, the most representative is the 2S4 heavy mortar from Xiluosha.

In fact, as early as the end of September, that is, after the Seventh Armored Division sent several captured 2S4s to Mosu City and participated in the siege operation, the Ministry of National Defense in charge of equipment research and development arranged for engineers to go to the Northwest Theater to get back a few relatively intact and original 2S4s.

Don't look at the arrogance of the Imperial Army, if the army needs it, especially in wartime, it doesn't mind copying the enemy's weapons.

After that, on the basis of the 2S4, to be precise, the launch mechanism of the 2S4 was copied, the tracked chassis was replaced with a wheeled chassis with a 4-axle 8-wheel independent drive, and a more efficient automatic loader was adopted, sacrificing part of the field maneuverability, the rate of fire was increased to 3 rounds per minute, and the sustained combat rate of fire could also reach 2 rounds per minute. Combined with the new shells, the effective range has been increased to 24 kilometers without reducing power and accuracy. At a critical time, the laser-guided projectiles that appeared in the later stage increased the strike efficiency by hundreds of times!

However, this heavy mortar, produced by the Empire, could not be delivered until 151 New Calendar.

Even the matching 240-mm mortar shells will not be mass-produced until the end of the year, and it would be good to be able to provide them to the front-line troops in January next year.

For this reason, Ding Zhennan personally came forward, found General Lu Liaoyuan, and asked for all the 2S4 captured by the Seventh Armored Division in the Poshawan area.

If to say, these 2S4s were not in good condition, and the captured artillery shells were all used up in the battle for the city of Mosu, so the 7th Panzer Division did not take these heavy mortars with them when it returned to the Northwest Theater of Operations, and handed them over to the replacement Mu'a coalition army.

Obviously, these heavy mortars are simply not needed for the Mu-Afghan coalition forces on the task of occupation.

Crucially, shortly after the withdrawal of the 7th Panzer Division, the Mu'a coalition found an entire warehouse of 240mm mortar shells, as well as several basically brand new 2S4s, as well as a large number of spare parts, in a base abandoned by the enemy north of Mosu City.

Otherwise, Ding Zhennan would not have gone to Lu Liaoyuan for dozens of heavy artillery pieces that had no shells available.

By November 10, 36 overhauled 2S4s, along with a total of 30,000 rounds of artillery shells, were delivered to Sukkur by Air Force transport aircraft.

Because the total combat weight of the 2S4 is only 30 tons, and the width is only 3.2 meters, which is less than the width of the cargo compartment of the "Y-11", it can be transported by air from the "Y-11".

These 36 2S4 are the confidence of the 17th Armored Division to dare to attack.

If you have to say, the forward units of the 17th Panzer Division did not immediately attack Jayselmeier, which also has a lot to do with these 2S4s.

Because of the lack of spare power equipment, and in the 17th Armored Division, there were not many officers and soldiers who could understand Luo Shawen, so these 2S4s were organized into a separate heavy artillery battalion, which was directly subordinate to the division headquarters, followed by the main force, and was about 1 day's journey away from the forward.

In order to avoid breakdowns, the 17th Panzer Division also prepared 36 heavy flatbed trucks.

However, it was only after the capture of Jayselmel that the flatbed trucks were able to do their job, after all, in the desert, the capacity of wheeled vehicles was terrible.

In the early morning of the 19th, the storming of Jaiselmel officially began.

As far as specific tactics are concerned, the 17th Armored Division has also made some innovations on the basis of fully drawing on the combat experience of the 7th Armored Division.

The main thing is to have the front-line commander fly in a helicopter over the battlefield to search for targets and observe the impact point.

In addition, it can more effectively cooperate with ground forces.

Under normal circumstances, it is possible to have the 4 2S4s of a platoon open fire within 2 minutes of the call from the ground forces, and immediately confirm that the target has not been destroyed, and if necessary, to allow the 4 2S4s of the other platoon to fire again within the next 1 minute.

Even if the ground forces do not provide accurate information about the target's position, the air commander can order a covered artillery strike on the target's area after observing the battle. However, howitzers are generally used to cover shelling, after all, the captured 240-mm mortar shells are not sufficient.

Of course, this tactic is not perfect.

For example, an observation helicopter will definitely be attacked by the enemy, and the risk of being shot down is not small.

In response to this problem, in addition to letting the observation helicopter fly as high as possible, that is, several front-line attack aircraft are on standby near the battlefield to ensure that after discovering the enemy's anti-aircraft fire, they can immediately use air-to-ground missiles to launch an attack and cover the retreat of the observation helicopter.

In addition, that is, the intensification of electronic interference.

If anything, these are a bit redundant.

Jayselmer is a small town with a population of less than 10,000, much smaller than Mosu City, and most of its inhabitants are military dependents.

In addition, the air defense units deployed on the outskirts have long been completely annihilated.

As for individual anti-aircraft missiles, the range is generally less than 5 kilometers, and the observation equipment carried by observation helicopters can allow commanders to see the battlefield situation clearly from a greater distance.

For the officers and men of the 17th Panzer Division, the challenge was actually outside the city, with permanent fortifications supporting the defensive line.

The whole siege operation is to search for and destroy those bunkers that are very well hidden, and the firepower is very fierce, which poses a serious threat to the attacking troops.

Because of the peculiarities of the operation, especially the fact that it was impossible to determine when the enemy's bunker would be found, the task of striking fell to the artillery, or rather, compared to those attack aircraft that did not fly long and had to return home, the heavy artillery deployed in the front was obviously more reliable.

The 17th Panzer Division did not advance quickly, but the losses were minimal.

The point is that in the face of such a steady offensive tactic, the Vatican army is simply unable to organize an effective counterattack, and can only respond passively.

The battle continued until the early morning of the 20th, with the 17th Panzer Division advancing almost 5 kilometers.

In the battle of attacking, this is simply a god speed!

According to the report of the 17th Panzer Division, on the first day of the storm, about 4,000 enemies were killed, in addition to hundreds of prisoners, almost all of whom were incapacitated after being wounded. Crucially, this is without counting the uncountable results of the battles, such as those who did not manage to escape from the destroyed bunkers, and the seriously wounded who died of serious injuries after evacuating.

All things considered, the Vatican army must have lost more than 10,000 troops on the first day.

In contrast, the casualties of the 17th Panzer Division were largely negligible.

A total of 233 officers and men were killed or wounded, of which the vast majority were wounded, and more than 20 officers and men were accidentally injured by their own shelling because they did not withdraw from the shelled area in time. The number of officers and soldiers actually killed in the battle will not exceed 50 people, and most of them will be killed by enemy snipers.

Obviously, if the fight continues in this state, the Van army will soon be completely annihilated.

On the morning of the 21st, the Vatican Army mobilized the main forces of the 11th Armored Division and the 34th Mechanized Infantry Division to launch the first counterattack after the engagement.

In fact, it is also the last counterattack.

Under the circumstances at that time, if the Van army did not move, I was afraid that the two main divisions would be completely defeated before they encountered the 17th Panzer Division.

The point is that the Imperial Air Force has been striking at the Vatican armored forces deployed near Jaiselmer.

If anything, it's more like indiscriminate bombing.

After all, a ground offensive in the west has little to do with the Air Force, and only needs to keep two or four front-line attack aircraft on standby over the battlefield, waiting for the field commander to call them. As a result, most of the hundreds of front-line attack aircraft, heavy attack aircraft, and multi-role fighters arranged by the Air Force are in a state of "unemployment." Even if you don't think about the problem of competing with the army, you have to find something to do for the front-line aviation.

Besides, battlefield interdiction is the main task of tactical aviation.

On the 19th, the Imperial Air Force's front-line attack aircraft flew thousands of sorties, dropping thousands of tons of bombs on the perimeter of Jaiselmeier, and bombarding mainly the southern suburbs where the 11th Panzer Division and the 34th Mechanized Infantry Division were stationed, especially the positions adjacent to the offensive area of the 17th Panzer Division.

Because there is too much ammunition, or there are no other targets to hit, front-line attackers will drop bombs on any suspicious target during the battle.

The targets are all outside the city, so there is no need to worry about accidentally injuring civilians.

It can be seen that if the air strike lasts for a few more days, the two main divisions of the Van army will have no main battle equipment available.

The Van army launched a counterattack in this situation, and the result naturally would not be much better.

In fact, this battle had little to do with the 17th Panzer Division, or the armored forces sent by the 17th Panzer Division to fight the Vatican army failed to catch up.

Before the main force sent by Fu Weimin arrived, the counterattack force of the Vatican army had been routed by the air force and army aviation.

If anything, the front-line attack aircraft of the Air Force and the helicopter gunships of the Army Aviation are indeed murderous. In just a few hours, more than 200 main battle tanks and at least 400 infantry fighting vehicles of the two main divisions of the Vatican army were destroyed on the march, and dozens of them were M1A1.

Interestingly, the first thing the main forces of the 17th Panzer Division did after the killing was to tow back a few M1A1s that were still in good condition. The 17th Panzer Division also used the wreckage of these M1A1s to test anti-armor weapons such as 125-mm tank guns, heavy anti-tank missiles, and large-caliber rocket launchers before handing them over to the personnel sent by the rear to handle the trophies.

As it turned out, the main anti-armor weapons of the Imperial Army were completely sufficient, at least against the M1A1 sold to the Van Rowe Army.

According to estimates, even at a distance of 3,000 meters, a 125-mm armor-piercing projectile can penetrate the turret and frontal armor of the M1A1.

Unfortunately, the captured M1A1 tank guns were damaged and could not be used for fire testing.

What the 17th Panzer Division was able to do was to take 120 mm armor-piercing shells and compare them with the information they had to judge the firepower of enemy tanks.