Empire Conquest-Chapter 775 - 59 Facing the Difficulty_3
Compared to this, the logistical support on the side of Boss Bay mainly relied on sea transport, with the troops stationed in coastal regions, meaning the burden of logistical support was much lower.
Even if the combat efficiency was a bit lower, it wouldn’t have too much impact.
As for the Air Force’s Tactical Air Force, there wasn’t much to expect.
According to the response from the Air Force headquarters, apart from the "War-16A" Plane Group intended to counter Scud missile launch vehicles, and one "Attack-11" squadron for key bombing missions, other combat units were all to be successively transferred to the Northwest Battlefield, although most support planes would stay behind.
It wasn’t that support planes weren’t important, but there was simply no need for them in the Northwest Battlefield for the time being.
They would be called away when necessary.
As for the "Attack-9" attack aircraft essential for initiating ground warfare, there wasn’t a single one!
For this reason, the Air Force headquarters also gave a clear statement.
Comparatively speaking, the demand for attack aircraft was more significant over at the Northwest War Zone, whereas on the side of Boss Bay, the armed helicopters of the Land Air Force and the Navy’s attack aircraft were enough to cope.
Besides, armed helicopters from the Marine Corps could be redeployed if necessary.
In fact, this was a solution that Ding Zhennan had thought of.
The Marine Corps had its own Air Force, a not-insignificant size, with the main force being hundreds of Z-7 series armed helicopters, of which the newest model, the "Z-7W," numbered more than a hundred.
More importantly, the "Z-7W" was actually a standard Heavy Armored Helicopter.
Compared to earlier models, the "Z-7W" was equipped with two engines, the take-off weight was nearly twice as heavy, allowing for the installation of thicker armor, carrying Heavy Anti-Tank Missiles like "Ballista," and it had been fitted with a 30 Millimeter Machine Gun.
In terms of combat power, the "Z-7W" was not much less capable than the "Z-10A."
The main difference lay in the electronic equipment, which, in a complex battlefield environment, meant that the "Z-10A" had significantly greater operational capabilities.
Luckily, the battlefield environment on the Boss Bay side could not be considered complex.
To be strict, it could even be regarded as quite ideal.
Additionally, the Marine Corps had not engaged in combat operations in the Northwest War Zone.
Although it was not possible to dispatch more ground troops in a short period, like the fifth Marine Division, deploying more Air Force was not a substantial problem.
The reason was simple: those helicopters from the Marine Corps could be entirely transported by aircraft carriers!
Similar operations weren’t something the Imperial Navy hadn’t done before.
A few years ago, during the suppression of the rebellion in Sri Lanka, the Imperial Navy had used a large carrier to transport helicopters, executing a low-intensity low-altitude assault mission.
In fact, it only took Ding Zhennan one day to get these matters settled. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
What remained was tactical planning.
This was the part that gave Ding Zhennan the most headaches.
To put it bluntly, it’s tough to cook without rice.
No matter how capable Ding Zhennan was, without sufficient troops, he couldn’t come up with many tricks.
With only 50,000 ground troops, totaling less than 20 battalions of assault forces, he was expected to defeat hundreds of thousands of Iraqi troops and capture Baghdad within three months.
To say, no one dared to guarantee this!
But what could be done?
Ding Zhennan knew very well that Shi Shouliang had assigned this task to him not only because of trust but also as a test.
In Shi Shouliang’s words, the task of a staff officer was to solve problems, and a staff officer who could not solve problems was definitely not a good one.
Regardless, Ding Zhennan still had one week’s time.
On the Northwest War Zone side, the fighting had already reached a fever pitch.
