Chapter 1169 Casualties
The sky was gloomy.
The joint forces' bombardment was extremely fierce, and the positions were filled with smoke.
The joint forces' terrorist attack, with the cooperation of aircraft, artillery, tanks and armored vehicles, caused the Iraqi army to lose one position after another. Now the Iraqi army only has the last high ground left.
Once this high ground is lost, it means that the defense line of Mount Kumchat will be lost.
And the Iraqi army only has the last company of troops left on the last high ground.
Even if it was the last position, the joint forces first sent aircraft to bomb the position, and then artillery bombarded it.
The Iraqi artillery positions on Mount Kumchat had long been destroyed.
No one expected that the joint forces' offensive would be so fierce. Not only was the entire Kumqat Mountain shrouded in artillery fire, but the two parachute divisions of the joint forces also brought great trouble to the Iraqi army. Under the support of air firepower, the Iraqi army mobilized more than 100,000 troops, but failed to destroy the two parachute divisions. After the US Marine Corps 1st Division advanced, it was defeated by the US Army, and the entire reinforcement and logistics supply line was turned upside down.
Kumqat Mountain had long lost reinforcements and logistics supplies.
Otherwise, there would not be only the last high ground left now.
For more than a month, the air force and artillery of the joint forces seemed to have endless energy, whether it was day or night.
At this time, a new round of offensive by the joint forces was organized again. The black American soldiers pressed up from the bottom of the mountain, like a swarm of locusts covering the sky and the sun. They launched an attack from all sides. They carefully set up various types of light and heavy machine guns, recoilless guns, and tanks in the rear with the help of rocks and potholes. The infantry in front held guns and grenades on their bodies and began to move towards the position.
It was a dark mass of people, and they were aggressive.
The U.S. military wanted to capture this high ground in one fell swoop and completely take down Mount Kumqat.
The 35-day battle had made the U.S. military extremely angry.
Although the Iraqi army was defeated, the U.S. military paid a heavy price.
Only by taking this last high ground can we truly take down Mount Kumqat, and the joint forces can move forward in large numbers!
The shells fell on the last high ground without cost.
Finally, the U.S. military captured the high ground and fought a life-and-death battle with the Iraqi army.
In less than half an hour, the gunfire in the position had stopped.
The Iraqi army was either killed in battle or injured and captured.
The U.S. soldiers cheered excitedly, celebrating this hard-won victory.
The US war correspondents were filming, taking pictures one after another, and the camera captured the entire process of the operation.
These will be precious war film and television materials.
Soon, the news that the US military captured the last high ground of Mount Kumqat and controlled Mount Kumqat spread all over the world.
The US military publicized this victory and defined it as strategically significant.
As long as the second line of defense of the Iraqi army, Mount Fishchapur, is captured, the joint forces will completely enter Iraq.
And Mount Fishchapur is not as dangerous as Mount Kumqat!
Hong Kong.
This year's "ASEAN 10+3" and "ASEAN 10+1" meetings were held in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is also a place where wealth gathers in Southeast Asia. Many wealthy people in Southeast Asia buy real estate and invest in Hong Kong, and the children of wealthy businessmen in Southeast Asia often choose Hong Kong as their first choice for studying abroad.
After attending a forum, Liu Tao and others were in a conference room, and relevant staff were introducing the latest situation of the Iraq War.
It was them who paid attention to the Iraq War every day.
"According to the latest news, an hour ago, the joint forces captured Mount Feshchabur and opened up the passage to the south!"
This news made everyone in the conference room silent.
This line of defense was torn, which means that the joint forces will launch a large-scale attack on Iraq, and will not fight those difficult mountain battles, but will send a certain number of troops to block the main traffic routes to prevent the Iraqi army in the mountains from making trouble, and other troops will attack other parts of Iraq.
It can be said that at this point in the war, Iraq's defeat is certain.
Next, it is nothing more than how long Iraq can fight!
"The soldiers are elite, not numerous. No matter how many soldiers there are, what is the use if they are not elite soldiers!" An old man couldn't help but say: "The troops must maintain daily training and be prepared to fight at any time. Sweat more in peacetime, so that less blood can be shed in wartime!"
Iraq has a million soldiers, plus reserves and militias, that is a scale of several million.
In the northern theater of Iraq, there are 400,000 regular troops alone, and they are all elite troops of Iraq!
But after the joint forces launched a ground offensive, they failed to stop the joint forces.
The Iraqi army was unable to defeat the first two US airborne divisions, so the US airdropped more and more troops, and the Iraqi army was disrupted and unable to support the Kumchat Mountain defense line.
Now, the two most important defense lines have been lost, and the Iraqi army has lost more than 100,000 regular troops!
As for the reserve troops and militia, their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the regular army.
"How much has the Iraqi army really lost so far?"
Liu Tao said: "As of yesterday, the Iraqi army lost 2,332 tanks and 4,379 armored vehicles, about 49,000 people were killed, 72,000 people were captured, and 36,000 people were injured. The reserve troops and militia have been dispersed in that area."
In terms of the most realistic and fastest understanding of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, Liu Tao is the best.
Liu Tao knows the losses of the Iraqi army very well.
"In the joint forces, the US military lost 32,000 people, 72,000 people were injured, 2,674 tanks were lost, 4,899 armored vehicles were lost, 289 helicopters were lost, and 49 fighter planes were shot down. The troops of other countries lost 31,000 people, 83,000 people were injured, 895 tanks were lost, and 1,698 armored vehicles were lost." Liu Tao said.
The joint forces lost 63,000 people and 155,000 people, with an astonishing 218,000 casualties.
In unfavorable terrain, airborne and assault, the casualties were more than those of the Iraqi army.
And because of sufficient medical resources, most of these injured can survive, and most of them can return to the army after recovery.
"It seems that the combat effectiveness of the US allied forces is far behind that of the US military!" said an old general.
A glimpse of the leopard can show the true military strength of various countries.
The joint forces launched a ground offensive, and the Americans fought the hard battles, whether it was the mountain attack, the first two airborne divisions, or the attack of the Iraqi army that was several times larger, the Americans fought hard battles.
Other countries did not fight hard battles, but the losses were very large.
This shows that the combat effectiveness of the armies of these countries is far behind that of the US military.
This makes people sigh, thinking that many of them were Western powers at the beginning, but now, most of these countries are actually not great powers.
As time goes by, the status of various countries has changed greatly. (End of this chapter)