Chapter 1309: Preparations for Counterattack
"Guderian finally made a good move. That's not good for us right now! Guderian's movement to the north naturally could not avoid Huaxia's eyes, whether it was reconnaissance troops, aerial reconnaissance or radio detection, he could clearly feel the opponent's actions. However, it is a pity that Huaxia really can't draw the strength to prevent the other party's convergence now, and the reinforcements raised from the three divisions on the front line have not yet set off. In the face of the German army, which is relatively mobile, they want to go, but there is really no way to stop them!
Once the two Allied forces converged, the pressure on General Gallen increased greatly, and until now, the Russian ** regiment has done its best, and after consuming a large number of armored units of the Austro-Hungarian Legion, it finally broke the opponent's sword, and the Guderian department, which arrived in time, made up for this shortcoming. The Russian ** regiment is exhausted, although there is still an armored battalion left, but this battalion is used in counterattacks and cannot be easily attacked. After the armored forces are strengthened, the second line of defense may not be able to hold!
And more importantly, Guderian's addition also had a great impact on Tian Yong's bag and the sealing gap of the airborne troops. Tian Yong's troops were only a mechanized infantry division when they were full, and it was already a little difficult to deal with the Austrians, and the so-called victory was still based on the fact that the supply base of the Austro-Hungarian Army was destroyed by paratroopers. And after Guderian joined, the assault force of the Austro-Hungarian regiment will be very strong, and it will be too sad if the paratroopers who have just come down meet the armored forces, Xu Jie bets that the Chinese airborne landing will definitely be worse than the historical German airborne landing on Crete and the Allied market-garden operation in the late 2nd World War!
Don't look at Huaxia's plan to airland a brigade this time, but the combat effectiveness of the airborne troops and the fully formed armored troops without too many heavy weapons is not at the same level at all! Historically, in Operation Market-Garden, the disabled German panzers had an overwhelming advantage over the Allied paratroopers. As long as the opponent reacts quickly enough, the paratrooper paratroopers will not be of much use behind the enemy's back, but will send away a group of elite infantry, and once the rear is stabilized, the alliance ** team of several divisions will still have a chance to protect themselves once they are close together.
But the good thing. It will take some time for Guderian and the Austro-Hungarian corps to converge. The two sides need to liaise on specific command and operational coordination, and given the blocking of the Chinese air force along the way and the limitation of its own fuel, it will take some time for Guderian to join up with Schlager. So, if Huaxia launches a counterattack first. Instead, there was hope that the Austro-Hungarian corps would be weakened before Guderian arrived. However, this plan was also a double-edged sword, although the Austro-Hungarian army suffered a certain blow, but it was far from exhaustion, and at this time, it would be self-defeating if the counterattack was not done well. And once Tian Yong's division is severely damaged, the consequences will be too terrible, and the logistics base will be under the enemy's artillery, which will cause the whole line to be shaken. It is difficult to say whether the three armored divisions in the south can return to Iran, and if Operation Babylon fails, then Huaxia's strategy in Iran can also be said to have failed by more than half! It is also difficult for Huaxia to put together such a force in a short period of time.
The huge risks and benefits are like twins, so Peng Yi can never make up his mind. Although the Huaxia Army advocated attack, the grasp of this operation was really not very large. After communicating with Qin Yue, the latter also said that it was impossible to increase the fleet of aircraft on the front line. If the Huaxia Air Force goes all out, it can gain air supremacy. But it is difficult to say how badly the opponent was beaten by aerial firepower.
"It's time for our strategic bomber forces in Central Asia to move! Tell the United States and Britain to share some of the airport's access with us. This time we're going to make a statement! In the end, Xu Jie, who was far away in Beijing, helped Peng Yi and Qin Yue make up their minds. The so-called authorities are confused, and the bystanders are clear. Judging from this battle, Huaxia only inflicted heavy losses on the German army, but it did not hurt the muscles and bones, if the Austro-Hungarian army could not be wiped out, then the Huaxia army in the two river valleys would still receive threats from two directions, and with the preparation of the two German divisions in the north, then the opponent's attack direction would become three. At that time, Huaxia's actions could be described as difficult. As the battle line is further extended, the density of troops will continue to decrease. At that time, in the face of attacks from all directions, how will Huaxia respond?
In Xu Jie's view, the key point of the Middle East campaign has arrived. How long will it take to not fight at this time? The strategic bomber unit placed on the other side of the Caspian Sea is also a deterrent, and before the time to lift the table, Xu Jie does not dare to easily move on the oil fields of the Transcaucasia. Rather than this, it would be better to split up some forces to bomb Schrager's rear bases and transport lines. Although the accuracy will be relatively low, as long as the number is large enough, the height will be reduced. Coupled with carpet bombing. If the tank can't blow up, aim at the infantry and transport vehicles!
Xu Jie's will was soon transmitted to the Iranian Theater of Operations and the Central Asian Military District. Peng Yi and Qin Yue saw that the boss had given the order, so they had nothing to say, especially after receiving help from the strategic bomber unit of the Huaxia Air Force, they were a little more confident. Qin Yue even said that the Austro-Hungarian Air Force could be emptied from the battlefield. At the same time, the airfields of the two military districts were also busy. In order to ensure the bomb load and the time spent in the air, some of the strategic bombers that took off from the airfields along the Caspian Sea will not return directly to their bases, but will return after refueling in Iran. In this way, each strategic bomber can hold at least about 3 tons of bombs. According to the plan of the Huaxia Air Force, after the future campaign is launched, Huaxia will maintain about 150 air raids per day for at least 5 days, that is to say, at least about 400 tons of bombs will be dropped every day! Coupled with the number of front-line attack aircraft to which Qin Yue belonged, each mechanical unit of Schrager could get a few hundred kilograms of bombs!
"Do everything possible to support the army, don't be afraid of damage, the opposing air force will not appear within your line of sight, their anti-aircraft artillery is small and scattered, and the anti-aircraft radar is even rarer. All you have to do is keep the altitude as low as possible, fly over each other's heads and drop the bomb! Before leaving, Colonel Duan Tianming, the commander of the bomber wing who led the load, said to the group leader and squadron leader under his command. The Huaxia strategic bomber squadron has 16 bombers, which can form a complete box formation. Then 4 squadrons were organized into a brigade and 3 battalions into a wing. In order to ensure the victory of this battle, the Huaxia Strategic Air Force was required to maximize the accuracy of bombing, and in addition to bombs, these planes covered with M2 machine guns would also have sweeping ground units. EVEN SOME BOMBERS ARE EQUIPPED WITH 105MM LIGHT HOWITZERS TO DEAL WITH GROUND TARGETS.
In addition to the bomber units, preparations began for the Chinese airborne troops, which first reached Iran by boat. Then at the rear airfield, transport aircraft and gliders arrived at the airborne area. Like the German Airborne Forces, the Fifth Air Assault Brigade of the First Air Force of the Chinese Air Force participating in the war is also the best among the Chinese infantry, although there is no heavy equipment, but the light weapons and light vehicles are top-notch. And considering that this time it is possible to run into various armored units. It is also specially equipped with vehicle-mounted recoilless guns and armor-piercing shells. even came up with a Chinese version of Iron Fist and Tank Killer! And these new weapons were named RPG1 and RPG2 by Xu Jie, a time-traveler (different from the historical ones. RPG1 is a disposable bazooka with a range of 90 meters. THE DEPTH OF ARMOR PIERCING IS 120MM. The latter, on the other hand, is reloadable and has a range of 150 meters. THE ARMOR PENETRATION DEPTH IS 150MM! Such a powerful force can be said to penetrate almost all armored vehicles, of course, provided that it can be punched out.
In order to ensure the mobility of the troops, the gliders of the 5th Air Assault Brigade were also equipped with 1/4-ton small jeeps. These jeeps are very useful. IT CAN BE EQUIPPED WITH A 12.7MM LARGE-CALIBER MACHINE GUN, AN 80MM MORTAR, A GUERRILLA WARFARE WEAPON 107MM ROCKET LAUNCHER AND A RECOILLESS GUN. Basically, it can be equipped with weapons used by paratroopers. The flexibility of the paratroopers has been greatly improved, and a brigade of about 4,000 troops will be airborne in two batches, and the task after they have been lowered is also very simple, without desperately blocking the pace of the opponent's retreat. (You can't stop it.) As long as you can destroy as much of the opponent's supplies and vehicles as possible, and set up minefields on the road to hinder the opponent's retreat. They can even take the initiative and destroy supply depots and depots along the road leading to Kirkuk from the front line. In short, the focus of this operation of the Chinese Airborne Forces was not to hinder but to destroy.
As Xu Jie's orders were transmitted to various grassroots units one by one, the entire airport along the Caspian coast and Iran was in a state of busyness. Ground crews pulled truckloads of bombs from the airport's ammunition depot. The bombs were then carefully placed on the pylons in the belly of the aircraft. THE GROUND CREW IN CHARGE OF THE MACHINE GUN PLACED 12.7MM MACHINE GUN SHELLS, MIXED WITH ARMOR-PIERCING AND INCENDIARY GRENADES, IN THE TURRETS OF THE AIRCRAFT. The crosshair was recalibrated and the remote-controlled turret was tested. Strategic bombers have a greater demand for fuel, and a bomber needs an average of two 3-ton tankers to refuel, which means that an average of about 6 tons of fuel is needed for a sortie. A bomber wing alone would need at least 8,000 tons of fuel for five days of sorties per day (counting the fuel replenished in Iran). Strategic bombing is really something that non-superpowers can't afford to play!
In addition to these 150 strategic bombers, it is also necessary to be equipped with a certain number of electronic warfare aircraft, although from the intelligence point of view, there should be no hard stubble nearby, but a bomber shell alone is worth about 200,000 US dollars. In order to ensure safety, an escort force is still needed, not to mention 8 crew members on a bomber. Strategic bomber wings were rearmament at airfields on the Caspian coast, while transport aircraft and gliders were prepared at Iranian airfields. The first wave transported 2,000 people, and if you add equipment and vehicles, there will be about 100 transport planes and gliders of various types, but considering that one transport plane can tow one glider, only 50 planes actually take off. Two airports are completely sufficient.
China's military communications in Central Asia were generally communicated by telephone. So even if the Germans deployed electronic warfare aircraft in the Caspian Sea, they would not know the specific situation, but from the large-scale dispatch of airfields in Iran, the Germans still rushed to the dangerous approach, but they did not know how Huaxia would do it this time. At this time, the Allies had few means to go, and after the Luftwaffe and Navy had finished Operation Sky Garden, they participated in a war of attrition with the Chinese Air Force with little pause. Until now, the Chinese front-line air force has been unable to bear it. The Luftwaffe was even more exhausted. The main force of the German army on the southern front and the three Chinese divisions faced each other, and neither side could help anyone, so the only hope could only be Schrager's Austro-Hungarian corps. Although the latter is also very tired, it still has strong combat effectiveness.
"I didn't expect that the key to breaking the game in the end was actually on us!" Schrager looked at the telegram from the Germans and couldn't help but be stunned. In the largest battle since World War 1, he actually became the final word, which even Schrager did not expect at first, he was instantly surrounded by a huge sense of honor, and the telegram also said that after the arrival of Guderian's ministry, it would be included in his battle sequence. This is the solution to Schrager's urgent need. With this replenishment, he was finally able to concentrate enough armor to storm the opposing line again, and this time, Schrager played all of his cards, tanks, infantry, long-range artillery, and air support.
At the same time, Tian Yong's troops and the Russian ** regiment are also making final preparations, and according to the newly formulated plan, Tian Yong's corps will attack from the northeast. They will face the Bohemian division of Major General Lu Benin, which has just joined the battle, but this division has greatly reduced its combat effectiveness after being transferred a large amount of heavy equipment, and it should not be a big problem. The remaining 3 divisions of the Austro-Hungarian Corps were left behind as reserves, and the other two divisions would be the main force of the offensive after reintegration, although there were two divisions on paper, but in fact it would be good to be able to put together a full armored regiment (120 tanks) and 3 infantry regiments for the offensive force, and the rest were heavy artillery and logistics units.
As for Guderian? So far, they have not yet been in place, and Schrager has not thought about waiting until the Germans are in place before playing, but considering the time is relatively tight, I am afraid that there will be other variables. Therefore, his plan was for his legion to break through the opponent's last line of defense, and then let Guderian participate in the sweep of the Huaxia logistics base after he was in place, or use it to resist the counterattack of Huaxia's armored forces, if this way, Schrager could launch an attack one day earlier.
In addition to continuing to defend, the Russian ** regiment will launch a counterattack when the strategic bomber unit and the airborne troops are in place. Cooperate with Tian Yong to eat the attacking troops. However, at this time, the combat attrition of the Russian ** regiment was also very serious, and as a last resort, part of the logistics work was handed over to the Iranians who had gathered over. The final showdown is about to begin.
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