Chapter 61 Chapter 59 Principles of Engagement

Diggs still had no official orders, and what troubled him even more was that Bison's plans for moving forward were incomplete.The military trains commanders to act quickly and decisively, but if it is a doctor in a hospital dealing with an emergency, it is step-by-step and procedure-based.The general kept in touch with the heads of his two cavalry regiments, the one-star air force commander of the 366th Regiment, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and various intelligence units, trying to grasp the enemy's actual movements , so as to infer the enemy's possible plan based on this, so that he can draw up a more comprehensive action plan in addition to reacting on the fly.

War orders and principles of engagement came into his fax machine at 11 a.m. Washington time, 4 p.m. Zulu time, South Africa, and 7 p.m. Lima local time.This is exactly what he wanted, so he immediately conveyed it to the main subordinate units, called all his subordinates, and gave a brief explanation of the situation.He told the officers that the troops would be under the command of the commander-in-chief. The situation is urgent.According to the information provided by the satellite, Allah Corps is less than 100 miles away from the Kuwaiti border and is approaching along the line.That makes the Saudi deployment all the more important since three of their five brigades can be used to cover the roads leading to the oil fields.

They're still not ready.The 366th Wing is located in Saudi Arabia, but the aircraft are not yet ready at the appropriate airfield.There are a thousand details that need to be ironed out, and not even half of it is done yet.The F｜Sixteen transferred from Israel is in good condition. All of these forty-eight single-engine fighters will be dispatched, and some even have records of destroying enemy aircraft in previous skirmishes.Meanwhile, the 10th Cavalry was well prepared, but the 11th Cavalry was still massing and moving toward its original deployment area, and its 3rd Brigade was just beginning to unload its equipment.An army is not just a collection of weapons, but a team of people who know what to do.Picking when and where to fight is usually the invader's job, but his country isn't very good at it.

He looked at the triple fax again, and it looked like it was about to explode in his hand.His planning staff read the fax through, and an uneasy silence filled the room.Suddenly, the combat staff officer of the 11th Regiment broke the silence and said to everyone: We will gain something. Three Russians have just arrived.Clark and Chavez had to remind themselves that this wasn't an alcohol-induced hallucination.The two CIA officers were aided by Russians on mission orders via Moscow.Actually, they have two tasks.The Russians had taken on one of the more difficult tasks, putting the equipment the two Americans needed into the diplomatic pouch so they could take on the other, easier task.In addition, the Russians also brought a telegram from Washington, which they were opening to read.

Too soon, John.Ding said in a low voice.Then he asked with a serious expression, but what exactly? There were not many people in the news room, many reporters were elsewhere, some were stranded outside the city due to travel bans, and some were missing, and no one knew why. The President will be giving an important speech in an hour, Van Damme told them, but sorry we don't have time to prepare a copy of the speech for you.So please inform your TV stations, this is a very important thing. Van Damme!A reporter shouted, but the chief of staff had already turned away. Journalists in Saudi Arabia, who know more about the situation than their counterparts in Washington, are preparing to depart to join their assigned troops.Tom.Donner was assigned to Company B, 1st Company of the Eleventh Cavalry.He was fully armed, wearing a desert combat uniform, and the twenty-nine-year-old company commander was standing next to his chariot.

Hello.said the captain, half-looking up at him from the map. Where will you put me?asked Donner. The captain smiled and said, never ask a soldier such a question. How about staying with you? I take this chariot.The company commander replied, nodding to the tank, I will put you in a Bradley fighting vehicle. I need a team of photographers. They are already here.the captain told him, and pointed.There, do you need anything else? Thanks, do you want to know how all this is going on?asked Donner.In a hotel in Riyadh, journalists are effectively prisoners. They cannot even call their families to tell their whereabouts, and their companies have signed an agreement not to disclose the truth about their disappearance as a result of this deployment.Like Donner, the company he belongs to claims that he is on a mission. Due to the travel ban, it is very difficult to explain the situation.But they knew in advance that they would be drafted among many soldiers.

We shall find out in about an hour, the Colonel told us.But the young officer is now interested. Honestly, there are a few things you should know by now. mr donner i know you got involved with the president or something If you want to shoot me, please wait a moment.Listen to me, Captain, this is very important. So go ahead. At such moments, it seems that something irrational is taking shape.As usual, Mary.Abbott was doing her job, wearing a mask and gloves, while two cue screens played scripts.Ryan didn't have the time or desire to rehearse.Although the speech was very important, he only wanted to read it once.

They cannot go off-road.Saudi Arabian generals insist they have no training for this and that they still rely on roads. There will be other ways.Diggs said. We are ready. You can never be ready for everything, General, and neither can anyone. Things were tense at the Palm Bowl, but otherwise normal.Satellite photos uploaded from satellites show that the United Islamic Republic's forces are still advancing, and if they continue, they will encounter and engage the two Kuwaiti brigades and the US reserve regiment, while the Saudi army is standing by at any time Provide quick support.They don't know what the outcome of the battle will be. It doesn't look very favorable in terms of strength, but this time it will never be the same as last time, Major Sabah said to himself.He thought it foolish for Allied forces not to strike first.They know what to expect.

Some radio interference detected.A technician reports.Outside, the sun was just rising.The satellite photo the intelligence officer was looking at was taken four hours ago, and more photos will be available in two hours. The path of the storm is near the border between Saudi Arabia and the United Islamic Republic, out of the range of mortars, but not safe for tube guns.Saudi Arabia has a company of 14 combat vehicles deployed between the listening post and the border.And, for the first time in days, it was there to detect radio communications.The signal is encrypted, like a command radio, not like an ordinary tactical radio, which is too large for a simple encryption system.Unable to immediately decipher the message as it was the work of computers located behind King Khalid's military city, they began trying to determine the point of origin of the signal.Twenty minutes later, they found 30 point sources, of which 20 represented brigade headquarters, six represented division command posts, three represented corps commanders, and one represented group army headquarters.The electronic intelligence center judged that they seemed to be testing their own command network.The direction finder found that they were deployed on the road to Al Bassaiah, still heading towards Kuwait, and the radio communication was not very noticeable.Most people agree that the marching discipline of the Allah Corps may need to be strengthened. Although, they did not do badly in the exercise.

At sunset, several Predator drones took off again, heading north.They first flew to the area where the radio signal source was located.After flying ten miles into the territory of the United Islamic Republic, the cameras started to activate, and one of them first photographed an artillery vehicle towing a 203mm howitzer. . Colonel!a non-commissioned officer shouted eagerly. Outside, the Saudi chariot crews were safely hidden behind a small hill, and several crew members were sent outside to serve as observers.As the first observers settled on their observation points, the northern horizon glowed orange-yellow.

Diggs was still discussing the mode of deployment when the first news came in. Sir, the storm track reports they've been shelled. Good morning, fellow citizens.Ryan speaks to the camera.Rehn was seen and heard on television and radio around the world, and his speeches were heard in Saudi Arabia's army, navy and air force.We've been through a lot in the past two weeks. The first thing I want to tell you is our country's progress in dealing with the spread of the virus. I am reluctant to issue an interstate ban, since liberty is the most precious thing, but out of the best medical advice, I must.I can tell you now that this step has had the desired effect.New cases have been trending down for four days.We will give you more details later today, but for now, I can tell you that the Ebola epidemic is coming to an end, probably within the next week.Many new patients will survive.American medical professionals have used great skills to assist patients and help us understand what is happening and how to deal with it.The mission is not yet complete, but we will surely get through it, as we have done before. Just now, I said that we have been hit by a virus. The invasion of this disease is not an accidental event.We are under a new, brutal attack called biological warfare.That is an act prohibited by international conventions.Biological warfare is used to intimidate and severely weaken a people, not to destroy it.We are all outraged and appalled by what is happening in our country because of the randomness with which the disease strikes.My wife, Kathy, is caring for Ebola patients day and night in a Baltimore hospital.As you all know, I visited in person a few days ago.I visited patients, talked to doctors and nurses, and outside the hospital, I sat with a man whose wife was sick. I couldn't tell him then, but I can tell you now that from the very beginning, we suspected that this epidemic was a man-made conspiracy.Over the past few days, our law enforcement and intelligence agencies have managed to uncover evidence.On television around the world, a young African boy and a Belgian nun in a white veil appeared. The disease started in Say a few months ago.The president continued to preach.He had to get everyone to see and hear slowly and carefully, but he found it hard to keep his voice steady. The Saudi tank crew immediately re-boarded the tank, started the turbine engines, and moved to a new location, lest the original location had been discovered.But it was later determined that the artillery fire was aimed at the path of the storm.Their company commander thought this was predictable, since the listening post was a major intelligence-gathering point.It was their job to protect it, but all they could do was resist tanks and infantry, not artillery fire.The Saudi captain was a handsome twenty-five-year-old; he was also deeply religious, but since the Americans were his country's guests, they deserved his protection.He radioed his battalion headquarters, requesting the dispatch of armored personnel carriers to remove the intelligence specialists since using helicopters would be suicidal. So we have a virus that came from Africa to Iran.How do we know this?That, the president asked, was because the disease was being carried back to Africa from the plane.Note the registration number on the plane, HX|NJA.Presumably this is Jane.The missing plane that Sister Baptiste was on We need another day, damn it!thought Diggs.The enemy is presently located nearly 200 miles west of the area where our and allied forces are expected to meet. Which unit is closest to the enemy?he asked. Fourth Brigade.A senior Saudi military officer replied.But the brigade was deployed a hundred miles in front, and although there were some scout helicopters, the attack helicopters were poorly positioned and did not cooperate very well. Da Yelan was very surprised when she saw her picture on TV.To make matters worse, at least 10% of the people in his country are watching the show. In the United Islamic Republic, although CNN in the United States is not available, but Skyline News in the UK is available, no one would think This is the man behind the biological attack on our country, Wren said calmly, that caused the deaths of thousands of our citizens.Now, I'm going to tell you why he did what he did, why he attacked my daughter, Katie, and why he tried to kill me a few hours ago.I think Da Yelan must be watching this program right now.Mamod.Haji, he said, looking straight into the camera, your man Aref.Rahman has been arrested by us.Do you really think Americans are that stupid? Everyone at Dark Horse heard the President, Tom.Donner heard it all over the radio, too, through the Bradley's headset.Combat vehicles don't have much room to move around, so crews have to huddle together.He noticed that their faces were as expressionless as Wren's voice, until Wren's final contemptuous sentence. Dry!A fourth-rank professional sergeant said.He's a veteran, a scout, and a shooter for this armored vehicle. God!Tang Na barely squeezed out these words while being surprised. Wren continued: "United Islamic Republic forces are now preparing to invade our ally, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.In the past two days, we have mobilized troops to support. I must now tell you something very important.The attack on my daughter, the murder of me, and the brutal attack on our country were all done by people who call themselves Muslims.But we all know that religion has nothing to do with these inhuman acts.Islam is a religion.America is a country that prioritizes freedom of religion over freedom of speech and other freedoms.Muslims are not the enemy of our country or any other country just like my family has been attacked by people who claim to be Catholics who distort and desecrate their religion and act like cowards in the name of religion to hide behind.I don't know what God thinks, but I know that Islam, like Catholicism and Judaism, is a religion that teaches us love and tolerance and justice. Well, justice will come.We will go to war with the United Islamic Republic forces deployed on the border of Saudi Arabia if they wait to invade.As I speak now, our armed forces are in the field, and I speak directly to them now: Now you know why you left your homes and your families, why you must take up arms to defend your country, and the nature of the enemy and its The essence of action is gone. But Americans have never launched deliberate attacks on innocent people, and you must always act in accordance with the law.I must now send you into battle, but this is by no means my wish.I was a former Marine and I know what it's like to be in a foreign land.You went there for your country, and here, your country will firmly support you and bless you. To our allies in Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and all of the Persian Gulf states: America stands with you once again to resist aggression and restore peace.Wish ya'll good luck.Wren's voice changed, revealing his emotion.I wish you success soon. The crew in Company B's command vehicle looked at each other for several seconds before speaking. They even forgot the presence of the reporter.One of the youngest corporals looked down at the trembling hands and said: The offal will pay the price.Damn stuff, you're going to pay for it, assholes. Four armored personnel carriers were speeding across the desert at forty miles an hour.They avoided the path of the storm so as not to be the target of artillery fire, which was a sensible protection.Their first impression of the destination was a cloud of smoke, dust rising from the antenna field as the gunfire continued to pour.One of the three buildings that appeared to be standing was on fire, and the Saudi lieutenant who led the scouting platoon wondered if anyone else would survive.Five miles to the north he saw another flash of chariot fire piercing the sky and lighting up the ground.A minute later, the artillery fire pouring down the path of the storm abated slightly, and the artillery fire moved elsewhere, where it was obvious that the chariots were fighting fiercely with the enemy troops who had invaded their country. The listening post had been destroyed, and four armored personnel carriers carefully maneuvered around the fallen antennae.Then the rear door of the personnel carrier was opened, and the soldiers immediately got out of the vehicle and searched around.Thirty people were working at the listening post, but they found only nine uninjured and five wounded.The reconnaissance platoon searched the rubble for five minutes, but found no survivors.The armored personnel carrier drove out of the listening post and headed back to the battalion command post, where the helicopter was waiting to airlift the Americans out. The unexpected fighting took the Saudi tank commander by surprise.He knew that his country's forces were mainly deployed two hundred miles to the east, and that it was here that the enemy was advancing south.They don't want to go to Kuwait or the back of the oil fields at all.This became all the more clear when the first UI tank appeared in his thermal viewfinder, on top of a low hill on the berm, out of range of the guns , because he was ordered not to get too close.The young officer really didn't know what to do; usually he had to radio his superiors for instructions.But his battalion commander is now very busy, with fifty-four tanks and other combat vehicles under his command spread over a thirty-kilometre front, all under indirect fire from artillery, and there are many reports of enemy battles. Vehicles are crossing the border with the support of infantry transport vehicles. The officer then made up his mind at once, and he ordered his chariot to meet the attack.At a distance of 3,000 meters from the enemy, his men began to fire, and eight of the first fourteen shells hit, which is quite good for these non-professional soldiers.So he decided to stop and fight right there, to defend his country from invaders.His fourteen chariots were spread out over a three-kilometre range, a self-defensive disposition, but a fixed defense, in the center of his own line of defense, and he was too rigid about what was laid out in front of him.The second salvo hit six more enemy vehicles, but then one of his own tanks was hit directly by a shell that not only destroyed the tank's engine, but also killed the escaped crew. into pieces.He watched all this happen from four hundred meters away, and watched his comrades die.He knew that there had been a gap in his defense and that it was time for him to take remedial measures. His gunners sought out the enemy T|80 tank with its spherical turret and attempted to engage it.At the same time, the first anti-tank missiles roared from the BMP infantry transport vehicles behind them.The missiles started hitting the tanks, and while the missiles couldn't penetrate the tank's frontal armor, they snapped off the tank's tracks; more engines started to catch fire, and the fire control system was completely destroyed.When half the chariots under his command were on fire, it was time to retreat.The four chariots started again, turned around and drove southward for two kilometers at a fast speed.The captain stayed behind with three others, and one more tank was destroyed before he could start moving.Now there was a scurry of missiles in the air, and one of them hit the rear of his turret, igniting the ammunition storage box.The air in the hatch of the car made the raging flames more vigorous, and the crew members suffocated due to lack of oxygen, and he was even burned to death.Lost in command, the company retreated again after fighting for thirty minutes.The three surviving tanks sped southward at fifty kilometers per hour in an attempt to find the battalion command post. However, the battalion command post no longer exists.Since its position was detected by radio waves it emitted, when survivors of the storm's path arrived with scouting troops, it came under continuous bombardment from an entire United Islamic Republic artillery brigade from undefended positions.In the first hour of this second Persian Gulf war, a thirty-mile-wide gap was torn open in Saudi Arabia's battle lines, creating a direct passage to Riyadh.Allah Corps lost half a brigade for this, which was an expensive price, but one they were willing to pay. The situation was initially ambiguous, which Diggs knew was the attacker's usual advantage, and that it was the commander's job to bring order to the chaos and, in turn, chaos to the enemy.With the storm path destroyed, he temporarily lost the ability to use the Marauder for scouting, which had to be fixed immediately.The 366th Wing did not field the J|STARS airborne radar capable of tracking ground troop movements.There are two E|3B airborne early warning and control aircraft in the sky, and each of them is escorted by four fighter jets at close range.Twenty fighter jets from the United Islamic Republic took off and began to follow them.This is exciting for the Air Force. But Diggs had his own troubles.After losing the storm path and the marauders, he was as blind as a blind man.His first remedial action was to order the Air Cavalry Squadron of the 10th Armored Cavalry Regiment to investigate the situation to the west.Ettington's words came true, and he couldn't bear it.Saudi Arabia's focus may not be on protecting economic goals at all. Our troops have entered Saudi Arabia.The intelligence chief told him they were meeting resistance but were on the way to break through.America's spy stations have been destroyed. The news didn't make Da Yelan any more excited.How did they know how did they know? The chief of intelligence and governance dare not ask how they know what?So he avoids the question: it doesn't matter.We'll be in Riyadh in two days and then everything will be out of the way. What do we know about the outbreak in the United States?Why doesn't anyone get sick anymore?How could they still have troops to send? I don't know.The intelligence chief conceded. What do you know? The US appears to have one regiment in Kuwait, one in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and a third in Dhahran, which the Indians were unable to stop. Attack them too!Mamod.Haji almost shouted.That Yankee also arrogantly pronounced his name on TV, and his people may have heard, seen, or believed it? Our air forces are attacking over the north, and that is a decisive place.Any force scattered there is a waste of time.he replied wisely. Then use missiles! I'll see. The commander of the 4th Brigade in Saudi Arabia was told that only one enemy division was expected to attack in his sector, so the brigade was to prepare to launch a counterattack into the Republic of Kuwait after the United Islamic Republic began its onslaught against Kuwait.Like many generals throughout history, he made the mistake of trusting intelligence too much.He had three mechanized battalions, each covering a field thirty miles wide, with gaps of five to ten miles between battalions.From an offensive point of view, this was a flexible disposition for harassing the enemy's flank, but the premature loss of the battalion in the center split his command in two, making it difficult to command two separate sections.Plus he made the mistake of attacking forward instead of retreating; although a courageous decision, it ignored the fact that the distance from behind him to King Khalid's military city With a depth of a hundred miles, in such a space, he should be able to reorganize for a powerful counterattack instead of counterattacking unpreparedly with fragmented bodies. The attack style of the United Islamic Republic is a replica of the actions of the Soviet Army in the 1970s.The early breakthrough phase is for a heavy brigade to attack immediately after the battery fire.Destroying the storm path is the first task in the plan, because this intelligence station and Palm Bowl they even know the code name is the main eyes of the enemy command organization.They cannot do anything about satellites, but ground intelligence collection stations are good targets.As might be expected, the United States has used some manpower and material resources, but not too many, and half of them seem to be aircraft that can only fly during the day.The United Islamic Republic will have to pay the price, life will be traded for time to achieve political ends before their enemies can react.If the Saudis think Tayran wants their oil fields, so be it, because the royal family and the government are in Riyadh.To achieve this goal, the United Islamic Republic was willing to risk the threat of the left flank, but the Kuwaiti forces would surely manage to make it through the terrain of Wadi Betin, and then across the two hundred miles of desert to where the Allah army had already reached. The key is speed, and the key to gaining speed is to quickly eliminate the Saudi 4th Brigade.Emergency radio tracked artillery fire still focused on the north side of the berm and launched brutal area fire aimed at disrupting communications and cohesion between opposing forces.As long as they are willing to pay the price, this tactic will definitely work. The commander of the 4th Brigade also had his own artillery, but he was prepared to use them for the intermediate breakthrough phase, to punish enemy units that drove straight in.The fire support is mainly used to harass the enemy who has just entered, not to support some mechanized troops who are fighting several enemy brigades.When they were eliminated, the gap on the Saudi border tripled in width. Diggs was in the main command post, receiving a steady stream of information, and he understood everything that had happened.He did this to the Iraqi army in 1991, and he did it to the Israeli army for several years when he was commander of a buffalo regiment.He was also in charge of the National Training Center for a time.Now, he's seeing what he's done in his opponents.Things were moving too fast for Saudi Arabia's military.They were almost semi-paralyzed by the suddenness of the incident. Let the Fourth Brigade retreat thirty kilometers back, he said calmly, you have enough territory to operate. We'll be there to stop them!The Saudi commander replied without thinking. General, that was a mistake.You can't risk that brigade if you don't have to.You can take back lost land, but you cannot take back lost time and lives. But the general didn't listen, and Diggs didn't try to persuade him because his rank was too low.Another day, he thought, just another fucking day. The helicopter arrived slowly.Company M, 4th Company of the 4th Cavalry Regiment, consisted of six OH|58 Chiowa scout helicopters and four AH|64 Apache attack helicopters.They carried more spare fuel tanks than weapons.They were warned that the enemy plane was also in the air and therefore could not fly very high.The helicopter's detectors scoured the skies, looking for radar waves from enemy air defense radars, while the pilots flew cautiously from hill to hill, scanning ahead with the low-light observation system and Longbow radar.After entering the airspace of the United Islamic Republic, they found a few scattered reconnaissance vehicles, probably a company, scattered twenty kilometers from the Kuwaiti border, but that was all.Fifty miles further on, the situation is very similar, only with more traffic.After arriving at the outskirts of Al Baisayer, they only found traces of tracks on the desert and a few groups of support vehicles, and they were mainly oil supply vehicles. This is different from the previous satellite intelligence showing that the Allah Corps has been advancing here. .Their task was not to destroy these vehicles, but to determine the position of the enemy's main body and the axis of its advance. It took another hour for the helicopter to fly low, skid and sprint.With anti-aircraft missile vehicles nearby, the helicopter knew to avoid Russian and French short-range missiles.One of the reconnaissance|strike teams flew close enough to see a brigade-sized column of tanks passing through a gap in the berm a hundred and fifty miles from their starting point.Upon learning of this information, the helicopter withdrew without firing at any targets.They might swarm in next time, but it would be unwise to let the enemy know about the problem before exploiting his air defenses. The easternmost battalion of the 4th Brigade held its position, but suffered most of the casualties.At this moment, the attack helicopters of the United Islamic Republic also joined the battle. Although the Saudi army also fired in the air for a while, they were doomed to fail if they defended their positions.Although Allah Nasional sacrificed another brigade to complete the task, the gap in the Saudi defense line had widened to seventy miles wide. The west side is different.With its colonel dead, the battalion is now commanded by a major.He broke away from contact with the enemy, retreated the remaining half of his forces to the southwest, and then tried to turn east to take the lead in attacking.Lacking strength to resist, he moved as he struck, destroying twenty of the enemy's chariots, as well as many others.They finally reached thirty kilometers north of King Khalid's military city before running out of fuel.But the support vehicles of the 4th Brigade were nowhere to be found, and although the major radioed for assistance, he doubted that anyone would come. This happened a little suddenly.A Defense Support Systems program satellite over the Indian Ocean spotted the launch flash.The message traveled to Sunnyvale, California, and from there to Dhahran.There have been battles like this before, but never a missile fired from Iran.The ship was hardly half unloaded.The war had only been going on for four hours when the first Scud missiles were fired south from the Zagros Mountains. What should we do now?Ryan asked. Now you see why the cruiser has to be there.Jackson replied. Less need for raid alarms.The three cruisers, plus the Jones's radar, scanned the skies for incoming missile tracks from a hundred miles away.National Guardsmen waiting to collect their tracked vehicles watched as the fireball of the surface-to-air missile shot into the sky, and after a process only visible to radar, it flashed again in the sky.The first three missiles fired had each exploded in the dark, but when the three booms came down from a hundred thousand feet, the soldiers wanted to get back into their tanks even more now. On the Anzio, Captain Gamble watched the tracks disappear on the monitor.This is another ability that the Aegis-class warship excels at, although remaining silent under enemy fire is not its will. Another incident that night was a fierce air battle over the border.As a result of observations from the top-of-the-air police and control aircraft, twenty-four fighter jets flew straight at them in an attempt to suppress the Allied air cover, but it turned out to be at considerable expense to the enemy.None of the E|Triple Bs were damaged in any way, instead the UMI Air Force was wasting its own fighters aimlessly.But what does that matter?A senior U.S. controller on an AWACS aircraft remembered an old NATO joke about a Soviet tank general meeting another general in Paris and asking: So who the hell won the air battle?The point of the joke is that wars are ultimately decided on the ground.Here too.