On the first day of October, the combat operation to attack Bagh X officially began.

Unlike attack Bus X, firepower preparations are not performed before launching an attack.

In the early morning of the same day, the vanguard of the 7th Armored Division set out from Al'ar and crossed the border before dawn to enter Iraq.

However, the 17th Armored Division fired the first shot.

At around 4 a.m., the 17th Armored Division's assault troops encountered Iraqi troops in the northwest of Semawo, on the north bank of the Euphrates River.

An infantry brigade belonging to the National Defense Forces.

This infantry brigade belongs to the 5th Army guarding Divanier.

Unfortunately, the Iraqi army simply did not have the ability to block the steel torrent of the 17th Armored Division.

The battle lasted less than 2 hours before the Iraqi army was defeated by the 171st Armored Brigade.

The key point is that the commander of the 5th Iraqi Army made a low-level mistake at this time, and determined that only an isolated army was forced to cross the river.

The reason is that it is the rainy season of the year, and the Euphrates River is at a high water level and the water flows are very fast.

In order to prevent the coalition forces from crossing the river, the upstream reservoir opened the gate a few days ago to release floods.

Even if you make sufficient preparations, it will be very difficult for mechanized troops to cross the river.

In addition, on the south bank of the Euphrates River, about 100 kilometers northwest, there is a bridge across the Euphrates River in Shinavye.

In the more than two months before this, the coalition forces did not focus on bombing the bridge.

Although as early as late July, the laser-guided bomb dropped by the coalition's attack aircraft broke a section of the bridge deck, it did not blow up the piers.

Since then, the Iraqi army has been working hard to repair the bridge, and the coalition forces have also come to bombard the bombs many times, but the ones that have been blown up were the bridge decks restored by the Iraqi army.

During this period, the commanders of the Iraqi army always felt that the coalition forces deliberately left the bridge, in fact, in order to eliminate Iraq's engineering troops and engineering equipment, and at the same time deal with the transport convoys that had to pass by and were blocked at both ends of the bridge.

As the ground battle began, the commanders of the Iraqi army must have believed.

The coalition forces left this bridge, but actually wanted to cross the river from here!

That's why the 5th Army placed heavy troops in Shinavye, preparing to block the coalition armored forces coming from Semawo.

In order to prevent the coalition forces from crossing the river here, the Iraqi army even prepared to blow up the bridge.

Obviously, the commander of the 5th Army did not expect that the coalition forces would cross the Euphrates River downstream.

In addition, there was indeed an armored force advancing towards Shinavye on the south bank of the Euphrates River, which was also an assault force of the 17th Armored Division. It was not the 172nd Armored Brigade, but a mechanized battalion. It was just that the formation was very large, and it looked like the main force.

As a result, Iraq's 5th Army missed the excellent opportunity to launch a counterattack.

At that time, there was a very well-hidden armored unit behind Shinavye, even if it was just a reinforcement battalion, and was mainly equipped with some backward T-62 medium tanks. However, the unit could reach it at noon, and the 171st Brigade's crossing operation would last until the evening.

Obviously, if this Iraqi force could arrive at noon, it would definitely cause great trouble for the 171st Armored Brigade.

Unfortunately, the battalion did not set out until noon that day to head to Shinavye to fight the upcoming "assault troops".

Taking this opportunity, the main force of the 171st Armored Brigade crossed the Euphrates River that afternoon, and the reinforcements engineering battalion also built 2 boat bridges and 3 floating bridges.

That night, not only did the 171st Armored Brigade cross the Euphrates River, but the 177th Aircraft Brigade behind also began to cross the river.

Interestingly, on the side of Shinafiye, all the reinforced Iraqi troops arrived on time and were all hit by air during their advancement.

That night, the commander of the 5th Army realized that the main armored forces of the 17th Armored Division had crossed the Euphrates River.

However, the Iraqi military made another very serious mistake at this time.

According to the information obtained after the war, on the afternoon of the 1st, the reconnaissance satellite of the Republic of Newland had discovered the 7th Armored Division that set out from Al'ar into Iraq, and concluded that the force had a force of more than 40,000, and even made a relatively accurate inference on the number of main combat equipment of the division.

Based on this, the Newland Intelligence Agency was determined to be the 7th Armored Division of the Imperial Army.

Actually, there is nothing strange about this.

In order to ensure a fast enough propulsion speed and to reduce the logistics support burden, the 7th Armored Division was advancing along the highway, and the convoys were all driving on the highway. Except for the 701st Armored Brigade who was rushing forward for assault missions, the main combat equipment of several other brigades were transported by flatbed trailers.

Obviously, counting the number of tanks in photos taken by reconnaissance satellites is not difficult for intelligence analysts.

In addition, this information was delivered to the Iraqi authorities in a timely manner.

But the problem is that the Iraqi authorities did not accept this information.

At that time, Hussein determined that it was a feint attack force, and it was the unit of the Royal Saudi Army, with the main force of the coalition forces south of Bagh X.

The reason is also very simple. The distance from the west is too far, so the logistics support is extremely difficult.

Relying on a desert highway that has not been repaired for decades, it is impossible to support the large army's operations.

Besides, except for the Royal Army of Saudi Arabia, which army would use flatbed trailers to transport tanks during assault?

In addition, Hussein's backing was the Tyman Empire, and during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, the Republic of Newland has been supporting the Boi State.

Without the support of the Republic of Newland, the Poei State would have been defeated long ago, and at least it would have lost the crucial lowland province.

Even if the global war has broken out, Hussein may not be willing to believe his former enemy.

That was true, that night, after the 5th Army confirmed that the main force of the coalition had crossed the Euphrates, Hussein sent an armored division of the Republic Guard, who served as the strategic reserve, to be precise, to be precise, to support the 5th Army to launch a counterattack.

However, Hussein did overestimate the 17th Army.

Although the 171st Armored Brigade and the 177th Aircraft Brigade crossed the river separately on October 1 and 2, none of the two troops went north. Instead, after consolidating the beachhead, they went straight toward Shinavye and set out to take over the Euphrates Bridge.

In addition, on the afternoon of the 2nd, the 172nd Armored Brigade also began to cross the river.

Now, the situation of the Iraqi army has become very embarrassing.

With only one Armored Division of the Republic Guard, the 5th Army could only launch a counterattack in one direction, either regaining the bridgehead north of Semawo or guarding the bridge of Shinafiye. With the strength of an armored division, it is impossible to take care of both ends.

Obviously, judging from the situation at that time, the Iraqi army should give up Shinavye.

In this way, we can first concentrate our forces to counterattack the bridgehead north of Semawo, prevent the combat troops of the 17th Panzer Division from continuing to cross the river, and fight a battle around the bridgehead.

Secondly, Shinavye cannot hold on!

Even if the 171st Armored Brigade and the 177th Aircraft Infantry Brigade were not surrounded from the rear, the Iraqi army would give up the town after the feint attack troops on the south bank arrived, and the Euphrates Bridge southwest of the town, and there was no possibility of defending Shinavye at all.

Besides, this bridge is not very valuable.

As the coalition forces headed north to attack Bagh X began, all combat troops deployed south of Divanier began to retreat north.

It can be seen that no matter whether Hussein is willing or not, he can only give up the southern region.

So, is it still necessary to guard this bridge located on the main line of the North-South Highway?

Don't forget that in the past month, the Iraqi army suffered heavy losses from the coalition's air strikes in order to defend the bridge.

Even now, there are thousands of wreckage of tanks and tanks on both ends of the bridge!

The key point is that the Iraqi army only needs to blow up this bridge to prevent the coalition assault forces advancing side by side on the north and south sides of the Euphrates River from joining forces, thereby significantly reducing the defensive pressure of Divaniye and ensuring that there are enough troops to resist the coalition forces crossing the river from Semawo.

As for the two brigades that were assaulted on Shinavye, it was not scary at all.

The reason is also very simple. Without the support from the rear, these two brigades will sooner or later stop moving forward because the logistics cannot keep up.

On Semawo, we only rely on 2 boat bridges and 3 pontoon bridges, and we have to continue to let the armored troops cross the river. The supplies that can be delivered to the north bank must be very limited.

In addition, the early stage was mainly the combat troops crossing the river.

In other words, the logistics support force has not kept up.

In the short term, the 17th Armored Division could only go north from Semawo, and there was no possibility of detouring Shinafiye and then surrounding Divaniye.

To say, making these judgments is not difficult.

Unfortunately, on the night of the 2nd, the forward of the 7th Armored Division arrived in Nuhaib and launched an attack overnight.

Now, whether Hussein is willing to admit it or not, he must believe that the information provided by the Republic of Newland is correct, and the main force of the coalition forces is in the west.

Not to mention anything else, just artillery preparations before the attack are enough to prove that it is a main armored force.

In just 15 minutes, dozens of long-range rocket launchers of the 7th Armored Division covered the entire town with bullets, directly destroying the morale of the defenders.

As a result, the defender commander ordered surrender after sending out a telegram about the fall of Nuhab.

The key is that the commander of the defender Major General Halim is Hussein's nephew!

At the beginning, Hussein arranged him here to keep him away from the battlefield.

It is precisely because Hussein determined that the armored assault force set out from Semavo, that is, the two brigades that were advancing towards Shinavye, were the real main force.

To be precise, that is the main force in the south.

The reason is that the coalition forces focused on the west side of the battlefield, and went north along the Euphrates River from the south, striving to join forces from the west.

In this way, in addition to solving the problem of logistics support, it can also increase the intensity of attacks.

To this point, it is not as simple as blowing up the Shinafiye Bridge.

There are several bridges to the north of Shinafiye!

If two troops want to join forces, not only should they blow up the Shinafiye Bridge when necessary, but they must also block the coalition forces heading north here.

According to the information obtained later, Hussein planned a counterattack plan at the time.

Simply put, first of all, we must block the assault forces of the 17th Armored Division with Shinavye, and strive for three to five days, and then the 3rd Army deployed west to Bag X, with the support of the Republic Guard commanded by Hussein's second son Usey, to annihilate the coalition forces in the west.

As long as this annihilation battle can be successful, there is hope that the coalition forces will give up their attack on Bagh X.
To be continued...