The result of this air battle was not unexpected.

What happened next was the real incredible.

Normally, after a frustration in the air assault, Van Luo's army should make adjustments to its operational deployment, such as strengthening artillery preparations.

When making a plan, you need to plan for the unexpected that may arise.

As the saying goes, if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what happens.

Obviously, Van Roe's army did not have a plan for the unexpected, or did not think at all, that the first air assault would fail.

The difference in strength between the two sides is too great.

The Van Rowe Air Force dispatched nearly 1,000 combat aircraft, while the Pakistani Air Force had less than 600 combat aircraft available in total.

There are only 120 "Zhan-10AP" fighters that can be regarded as a useful air supremacy fighter in the Pakistani Air Force, in addition to about 100 "Zhan-7MP" that have taken a back seat. The other more than 300 "Attack-6EP" are specialized attack aircraft and lack the ability to carry out air defense combat missions.

Perhaps when formulating the plan, the staff officers of the Van Luo Air Force felt that even a one-to-one fight could be used to destroy the Pakistani Air Force.

In the first round of air assaults, the Van Rowe Air Force dispatched 80 F-15A/Bs and 120 F-16A/Bs, apparently aimed at the fighters of the Pakistani Air Force.

In fact, in the Second Southern Subcontinent War, the Van Rowe Air Force did suppress the Pakistani Air Force through the fighting method of attrition, and finally won air supremacy.

It is a pity that after more than 20 years of development, air warfare has already undergone earth-shaking changes.

For example, in air combat more than 20 years ago, the main weapon was aerial artillery, not to mention medium-range air-to-air missiles, and even combat missiles were not very easy to use. Up to now, medium-range air-to-air missiles equipped with active radar seekers have become the absolute main force, and in the Bosshawan War, more than half of the results were achieved by the KK-12A, and the combat missiles have become self-defense weapons, and the aviation artillery has basically withdrawn from the air combat stage.

As the means of warfare change, so will the methods of air warfare, as well as the main factors that determine the outcome of air warfare, inevitably change.

The battle on the other side of Posha Bay has proven that it is no longer the number of troops that determines air supremacy.

Even in high-intensity confrontations, a small number of new fighters equipped with advanced missiles can change the balance of power and determine the outcome of an air battle.

Because there was no plan, and the ground troops carrying out the assault mission entered the offensive positions ahead of schedule, and the radio-based communication system was suppressed and interfered with, after the failure of the air assault, the Van Luo army did not adjust its deployment and still launched a ground offensive according to the original plan.

It's an absolute disaster!

However, it was a disaster for the Van Roe Army.

Just after 3:30 a.m., the Van Rowe Army began artillery preparations before the attack.

It only lasted 30 minutes!

For a strategic offensive that has lost its suddenness and air strikes are not in place, 30 minutes of artillery preparation is certainly not enough.

In addition, the Van Rowe Army does not use theater-level strike weapons such as tactical ballistic missiles and long-range rocket artillery.

The reason is also very simple: long-range strike missions such as battlefield interdiction are undertaken by the Air Force, so there is no army part in the battle plan.

If anything, the Van Rowe Air Force has indeed made a bloody investment.

According to the information that was later declassified, in the first round of assaults, the Van Rowe Air Force arranged more than 100 F-4Es from eight squadrons and more than 50 F-16A/Bs from four squadrons to carry out battlefield breaking missions. More than 20 F-16A/Bs of two squadrons carried GBU-24B "Paveway 3" laser-guided bombs that had just been acquired from the Republic of Nuland and were responsible for destroying eight road and rail bridges over the Sutleje River, a tributary of the Van Ro River.

These 2,000-pound laser-guided bombs have only 120 in total for the Van Rowe Air Force, and these F-16A/Bs are loaded with more than 50!

In addition, the Van Rowe Air Force is the only one of the more than 20 F-16A/Bs that have been improved, which can mount laser indication pods on the equipment hardpoints at the front end of the lower edge of the air intake, and can use the "Paveway" series of laser-guided bombs alone to carry out accurate bombing of the enemy's high-value targets.

Theoretically, one GBU-24B can destroy a bridge!

As long as it succeeds, Van Rowe will be able to capture and control the east bank of the Sutlej River within a few days, thus gaining the strategic initiative.

Unfortunately, none of these F-16A/Bs completed their mission.

Except for a few that were shot down, the other F-16A/Bs were intercepted by Pakistani fighter jets, and then dropped their bombs in panic and turned to escape.

As for those F-4Es that carry ordinary bombs and penetrate from ultra-low altitudes, most of them drop bombs indiscriminately after flying across the border.

Some of them, without even flying across the border, dropped bombs on the territory of the country of Van Luo!

By the time Van Roe's army attacked, the eight bridges that should have been destroyed were still standing on the Sutlej River.

Interestingly, in the battle report released by the Van Rowe Air Force, all 8 bridges were destroyed.

Although a few hours later, the photographs taken by the Nuland reconnaissance satellite exposed the lies of the Van Rowe Air Force, but after a delay of several hours, it was too late.

In fact, it was this battle report that went wrong.

In the first round of assaults, the number one task is to complete the battlefield cut.

The Air Force did not gain air supremacy?

When the ground battle began, air supremacy became a secondary issue, after all, the Pakistani air force was not strong, and it was strategically on the defensive.

In addition, the Pakistani Air Force lacks effective means of attack, and the Van Luo Army has a fairly powerful field air defense system.

In the face of the flood of armor of the Van Luo Army, the attack planes of the Pakistani Air Force, which are backward in performance, can at most cause some trouble, and it is impossible to turn the tide of the situation.

This was the case with the last war.

From the standpoint of the Van Luo Army, what we really need to care about is whether we can prevent the Pakistani iron armored units deployed in the deep zone from rushing to the front line.

Because the territory is relatively long and narrow, and the wide side faces the country of Van Luo, from a strategic point of view, Pakistan has no depth of defense at all.

Pakistan's strategic defense system is highly dependent on the Van Lo River, as well as its main tributaries.

In the Second Southern Subcontinent War, Pakistan and the Railways basically lost the initiative on the battlefield because they placed the main force of the army in the border areas, and suffered heavy losses after the war. If it weren't for the Pakistani Air Force, before the Liangxia Empire could reinforce, Iburg would have been captured by the Van Luo army.

Since then, Pakistan has been deploying its main force, the Heavy Army, on the west bank of the Sutlegg River.

It's just that this also poses a problem.

After the start of the war, it will take 3 to 5 days to deploy these armored units, and it is necessary to ensure that the bridge over the Sutlej River is safe and sound.

If those bridges were lost, it would be impossible for the main forces on the west bank to rush to their aid in time.

Strategically, losing the area on the east bank of the Sutlej River is an unbearable defeat!

The point is that the Satlej River joins the main stream, which is the place where the Van Luo River, is right in the middle of the Pakistani Railway mainland!

Although the eastern bank of the Sutlej River is the Thar Desert, which is largely uninhabited, and a few towns are near the river, Khanpur, near the confluence, is of unparalleled strategic value. As long as the Van Luo army captures this town, it will be able to divide the Pakistani Railways into two theaters, the north and the south.

To get to this point, the Pakistani railway army will inevitably be difficult to take care of.

It is not difficult to see from this that the purpose of the Van Luo Army is actually to complete the strategic division after the start of the war and lay the foundation for the elimination of Pakistan.

The most important thing is the bridge over the Sutlej River!

If you really want to be held responsible, the Van Rowe Air Force is definitely the culprit.

According to later declassified information, before the start of the war, the Van Rowe Army received four sets of "Pershing-2" medium-range ballistic missile systems with very advanced performance assisted by the Nuland Republic, with a total of 32 mobile launchers and 64 missiles, all of which were equipped with terminally guided warheads.

This missile can be said to be very advanced!

To put it bluntly, "Pershing-2" is the world's first ballistic missile with precision strike capability!

It's just that the "Pershing-2" developed by the Republic of Nuland is not used to deal with ground targets, but against the Liangxia Navy, to be precise, the aircraft carrier of the Imperial Navy.

The firing range of up to 2100 kilometers allows it to be deployed outside the strike range of carrier-based aviation.

With an error of less than 50 meters, the accuracy of a single shot is as high as 80% when dealing with aircraft carriers with a length of more than 300 meters and a deck width of up to 70 meters.

A warhead weighing 1,000 kg and having a terminal velocity of more than Mach 6 can hit a supercarrier with 1 shell.

The ability to change orbit at the end is enough to break through the most advanced fleet air defense system available today.

All in all, this is a weapon capable of changing the face of naval warfare.

If anything, it is these missiles that contributed to the participation of the Van Luo country in the war.

With these missiles, for the first time, the Van Luo Kingdom has the ability to be based outside the country, that is, to directly confront the Imperial Navy and strike at the Imperial Navy fleet!

At least it seems.

For the ambitious Commander Van Luo, it is obvious that he will not consider the problem of aiming, that is, how to find an aircraft carrier battle group 1,000 kilometers away.

Because "Pershing 2" is on the "ban list" of the Republic of Nuland, neither side has made a big noise.

For the sake of secrecy, the ships carrying these missiles all enter the port at night, and they go to small ports in remote areas.

In addition, the Van Rowe Army hid these missiles in underground caverns.

In order to make these missiles work at critical moments, the Nuland Army also arranged for hundreds of officers and soldiers to go to Van Luo Country as instructors.

Missiles capable of hitting aircraft carriers are certainly more than enough to deal with the bridge.

Even if there is no guarantee that the bridge pier will be hit, there is a great deal of certainty that the bridge deck will be blown up. If several missiles are used against a bridge, it is equally possible to destroy the piers.

When drawing up the plan, the Van Rowe Army also specifically mentioned that the use of "Pershing 2" against strategic targets could be considered.

Unfortunately, the Van Rowe Air Force was too arrogant, and Instructor Nuland was also firmly opposed, so the proposal to use Pershing 2 was vetoed.

"Pershing 2" is so expensive that the Nuland army is only equipped with 10 sets, and after aiding 4 sets to Van Roe, only 6 sets remain.

Since it is a "trump card" weapon, it should definitely not be used casually.

Crucially, these missiles were all deployed in the southern part of the country before the war.

The deployment site is more than 2,200 kilometers away from the frontline battlefield.

Just outside the maximum range!

It can be seen that if the Van Rowe Air Force had not lied about the results of the battle, then these ballistic missiles would have been able to play a role in the morning of the 4th, or at the latest in the afternoon.

Because of the delay of these few hours, coupled with the delay caused by the decision-making system of the Van Rowe army, it was not until the afternoon of the 4th that the decision was made by the army to destroy the bridge over the Sutlej River with "Pershing 2", and it would take several hours after that, and it would not be ready until the early morning of the 5th.

That is, a whole day of delay!

With the mobilization system of the Eastern Bloc, the Imperial Air Force was able to send troops to reinforce Pakistan within 24 hours, even without warning. If relevant preparations are made in advance, such as deploying support equipment in place, the mobilization time can also be shortened to less than 12 hours.

As soon as the afternoon of the 4th, and the most delicious in the early morning of the 5th, the combat planes of the Imperial Air Force will appear on the battlefield.

The key is the strategic bombing of major military facilities.

All in all, because of their own problems, Van Rowe's army did not destroy 8 vital bridges immediately after the start of the war.

At the strategic level, Van Roe's army has embarked on a path of no return.

In fact, it is also lackluster in terms of tactics.

Because the Pakistani Railway has already raised the combat readiness level of the troops, and the air battle started two hours earlier, to be precise, the artillery attack of the Van Luo Army started one and a half hours late, so the artillery bombardment that lasted for 30 minutes was more like telling the Pakistani Railway Army that the ground battle was about to begin.

If you want to say it, the thickness of the face of the Van Roe Army is not much thinner than that of the Van Rowe Air Force.

According to the first battle report released by the company, in the artillery preparation before the attack, 80% of the fortifications on the Pakistan-Railway border defense line were destroyed, the five border garrison divisions were reduced by 40 to 60 percent, nearly half of the main battle equipment was destroyed, and the defenders in the main offensive direction were routed.

This is not the case.

In this half-hour, less than 200 officers and men were killed or wounded in the five border garrison divisions of Pakistan Railway, and mainly engineers were responsible for repairing communication lines. As for the main battle equipment deployed in the front, there is not much in itself, after all, the border garrison division is a second-level unit of infantry nature.

It is true that many of the fortifications have been blown up, but the Pakistani army has never expected to rely on them to defend against invasion.

Relying on positional defense, that was still the way of fighting in the First Global War.

As early as the Second Global War, field warfare, dominated by armored forces, replaced positional warfare, and the value of its existence, no matter how strong, was destroyed by offensive weapons. Even if you are strategically on the defensive, tactically you must focus on the offensive.

In fact, in the Northwest Theater, that is, on the mainland battlefield, the Eastern Coalition has proved that counterattack is the most effective means of defense.

Of course, before launching a counterattack, it will definitely take time to prepare, which will also require delaying the enemy's advance.

If you want to say that, this is also the main task of the Pakistan-Railway Border Garrison Division.

Like the Iraqi army, on the east bank of the Sutlaij River, the Pakistani defenders relied mainly on landmines.

In the more than 20 years since the end of the Second Southern Subcontinent War, the Pakistani army has laid about 3 million mines on this side!

It is certainly the highest mine density in the world.

Fortunately, the Thar Desert is inaccessible and there is no need to worry about accidentally injuring civilians.

Unlike the Iraqi army, the Pakistani railway army did not passively lay mines, but used carefully arranged minefields, under the cover of aviation and long-range artillery, to build a labyrinth-like defensive position in the border area, so as to achieve the purpose of blocking and delaying the enemy.

It can be seen that the purpose of the Pakistani railway army is very clear.

Never counting on 5 garrison divisions to hold the border, but in the border zone to gain 3 to 5 days for the main forces in the rear to complete the mobilization.

After receiving the battle report and knowing that the Pakistani Air Force had thwarted the first round of assault operations of the Van Roe Air Force, Ding Zhennan realized that unless the Nuland Republic immediately sent troops to the war, the battle situation on the southern subcontinent would change 180 degrees in three days at the earliest, or five days at the latest.

However, the premise is that the Imperial Air Force can enter the war in time.