Empire Conquest-Chapter 696 - 22: Union of the Open Ground_2

Actually, this had nothing to do with Liu Zunshan.

Last night, after confirming the battle plan, Liu Zunshan approached Ding Zhennan, asking him for a way to complete the mission.

At the time, Ding Zhennan simply told him to ask Rommel in Alaman.

Actually, that was enough.

In the last major battle, specifically before the Imperial Army attacked the Xifan Canal, Rommel of the Tiaoman Empire, in order to withdraw his main forces without giving the enemy a chance to counterattack, had hundreds of unarmed transport vehicles drive back and forth in front of the Bulan defense lines, kicking up clouds of dust. As a result, the Bulan Army couldn’t discern what was happening on the other side, and they remained stationary. It wasn’t until Suez City was besieged by the Tiaoman armored forces that the Bulan Army defending Alaman realized that the Tiaoman armored forces opposite them had already vanished.

Liu Zunshan was doing the same thing by rote.

But, it was good as long as the goal was achieved.

After advancing for about another half an hour, they finally reached the forward positions near the border line.

All 34 of the battalion’s main battle tanks were already deployed in position.

Because there were so few tanks and the defensive line they needed to guard was over a hundred kilometers wide, Liu Zunshan could only hope for early reconnaissance.

These tanks were all deployed in platoons, scattered behind four small sand dunes, well concealed, with only their turrets exposed.

A sand wall couldn’t stop an armor-piercing bullet, but it could provide some camouflage and reduce the tank’s exposure to being hit.

Of course, if the fighting really started, the tanks definitely wouldn’t stay immobile.

Behind the tanks, there were more than a dozen infantry fighting vehicles responsible for reconnaissance tasks.

Since this was an armored battalion, there were only two cavalry companies.

However, the value of these vehicles should not be underestimated.

Their value lay in the vehicles themselves, and not in coordination with infantry tanks.

Strictly speaking, what the armored battalion’s cavalry companies were actually equipped with was Cavalry Chariots. Compared to infantry fighting vehicles, Cavalry Chariots are characterized by a stronger independent operational capability and are equipped with better sighting and communication equipment, making them better at reconnaissance tasks.

Actually, this is also the main difference between Cavalry Chariots and infantry fighting vehicles.

In terms of tactical use, Cavalry Chariots are the vanguard of the armored forces, performing reconnaissance and search tasks ahead of the tanks, while infantry fighting vehicles operate alongside tanks, relying mainly on the infantry they carry, and provide cover for the infantry during combat, with an emphasis on coordinated infantry-tank warfare.

These Cavalry Chariots were all equipped with the latest generation of thermal imaging night vision devices, which, under ideal conditions, had a detection range of up to 4000 meters for targets like tanks.

Clearly, this was also the fundamental guarantee for detecting the enemy first and carrying out reconnaissance tasks.

In comparison, the thermal imaging night vision devices equipped on tanks only had an observation distance of 2000 meters on a clear night.

This is why the Marine Corps’ night tactics actually revolved around Cavalry Chariots, which would search for targets, followed by tank assaults.

In last year’s "Westward 149" joint exercise, the Marine Corps caught the Army off guard with this tactic.

The soldiers of the Army didn’t know that this tactic was proposed by Ding Zhennan and, after facing resistance within the Army, was then tested with the Marine Corps.

However, there was a very critical part of the tactic.

Early reconnaissance.

Actually, this was also the key reason the Army resisted this tactic.

Tactical reconnaissance could rely on Cavalry Chariots, and battlefield reconnaissance could be done by reconnaissance helicopters like the Z-13, but expanding further to campaign-level reconnaissance actions, that was far beyond the capabilities of the Army and had to rely on reconnaissance aircraft from the Air Force or Sea Air.

Of course, mainly the Air Force.

Shortly after the Boi War, the Air Force proposed the concept of "Air-Ground Joint Operations" and even developed a dedicated ground reconnaissance platform based on this concept.

Unfortunately, the Army was firmly opposed.

According to the views of the Army generals, "Air-Ground Joint Operations" was actually centered around the Air Force, making the Army subordinate to the Air Force.

The Air Force had thousands of combat aircraft, including over a thousand that were dedicated ground attack aircraft, so when would it be the Army’s turn to take the stage?

This viewpoint was indeed biased, but it was not without reason.

The longest range rocket artillery in the Army could only reach out to 30 kilometers, and tactical missiles could reach 300 kilometers, but they were pitifully few in number. The combat aircraft of the Air Force had at least several hundred kilometers of operational radius, with heavy fighters over 1000 kilometers.

If enemies hundreds of kilometers away could be detected, the Air Force’s attack aircraft and fighters would have swarmed over long ago, what need would there be for the Army?

It was unfortunate that the Army’s resistance was futile.

After more than a decade of development, the Air Force not only acquired stronger specialist attack aircraft but also obtained dedicated "Joint Command Aircraft" used to search for ground targets and command ground attack operations.

Indeed, it was the "Zhi-10A".

With its advanced synthetic aperture radar, the "Zhi-10A" could detect tanks up to 300 kilometers away, and the detection range for armored clusters was even greater.

In fact, the "Zhi-10A" could also detect helicopters flying at ultra-low altitudes.

Simply put, low-altitude and ground targets that reconnaissance command aircraft like the "Zhi-8C" could not detect, all fell within the surveillance scope of the "Zhi-10A".

However, relative to the "Zhi-8C" and "Zhi-6C", the "Zhi-10A", which only entered service last year, was not very famous.

Because it had entered service too late and needed training and testing thereafter, the "Zhi-10A" had not participated in last year’s "Westward 149" joint exercise.

According to the plan, this year’s "Westward 150" joint exercise was supposed to be the debut of the "Zhi-10A".

However, with the outbreak of the Boss Bay War, the debut stage had turned into a battlefield.

Just last night, a "Zhi-10A" arrived at King Khalid Military City, but for the time being, it was commingled with the Air Force’s refueling aircraft.

Of course, no related news was disclosed to the public.

Because, unlike the "Zhi-8C", which has a dedicated radar dome fitted on its back, the "Zhi-10A" looks very similar to the refueling aircraft of the same platform in appearance.

After dark, that "Zhi-10A" had already taken off following the refueling aircraft.

If nothing unexpected happened, it would now be hovering in the southeastern direction of the No. 2 temporary base.

In fact, the Tiaoman Air Force only had four "Zhi-10A" in total, one of which was undergoing electronic equipment testing, leaving only three available for use.

Deploying the "Zhi-10A" into combat was not only to deal with Iraq’s Armored Forces, but it was also related to another extremely crucial combat operation.

Indeed, it was responsible for searching for Iraq’s ballistic missile launchers.

Although Ding Zhennan had never been to Iraq before, during his studies at the Joint Military Academy, he became acquainted with many officers who had been to Iraq.

These officers had secretly gone to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War to serve as military advisors and instructors.

Several of them had come into contact with the Iraqi missile units.

According to these officers, Iraq’s tactical ballistic missiles were more like psychological warfare weapons, with their political value far exceeding their military value.

Simply put, the Iraq authorities regarded missiles as a trump card weapon against superpower hegemony.

Although their accuracy impacted their practical combat value, as long as they were in hand, the psychological threat they posed to the adversary could not be underestimated.

Furthermore, the best means of defending against ballistic missiles was actually to destroy them on the ground.

Using these officers’ words, the fixed missile launch installations were easy to destroy; the key was the dozens of mobile launch vehicles.

With advance preparation, it would only take 15 minutes to half an hour to launch the missiles.

This amount of time was simply not enough for the Tiaoman Air Force to respond!

In reality, even if the preparations were not made, it would only take 2 to 3 hours to fuel the missiles, which would equally throw the Air Force into disarray.

Intercept ballistic missiles with "Divine Archer"?

Clearly, that was also psychological warfare.

To say it plainly, this was the primary reason why the Air Force had invested heavily in the development and procurement of the "Zhi-10A".

The most troublesome aspect of destroying tactical ballistic missiles was reconnaissance, the timely detection of missile launch vehicles.

In theory, only large reconnaissance platforms like the "Zhi-10A" were capable of performing this arduous task.

Just how well the "Zhi-10A" performed was a matter that remained theoretical.

In the contingency plans for the "Westward 150" joint exercise, there were exercises designed for the "Zhi-10A" to search for enemy forces impersonating missile launch vehicles and to direct cooperating attack aircraft to initiate attacks, to test the value of the tactical reconnaissance command system based on the "Zhi-10A".

Unfortunately, the joint exercise had been canceled.

Of course, actual combat would be a more conclusive test.

This was the main reason Ding Zhennan had come to the front lines.

Although the public always believed that Shi Shouliang was the supporter of the "Air-Ground Joint Operations", in reality, the actual promoter was the inconspicuous Ding Zhennan.

Now, the battle to test the "Air-Ground Joint Operations" theory was about to commence.