The night grew deeper. Only after the helicopter that had been circling overhead flew away for half an hour did Qusay dare to let the convoy set off back to the base.
The tanks and armored vehicles drove back without turning on their headlights, like ghosts in the darkness.
Marching at night with headlights on during wartime is absolute suicide. Moreover, who knew when the enemy aircraft might return for a sneak attack? Helicopters are infantry killers, and the vehicles currently carried important leaders of the Thirty-Fifth Brigade, as well as big figures like Qusay. If they were destroyed by a single rocket fired from an enemy helicopter, it would be an immense loss.
Every soldier who had experienced war understood the rules of night marching. Fortunately, the faint moonlight illuminated the swamp, preventing total blindness.
With night vision goggles, they could move freely even on a dark and stormy night, but current technological levels hadn't reached that point.
Inside the armored vehicle, Muhammad and his staff officers had already begun their analysis.
The reconnaissance conducted this afternoon was truly a case of 'an unintentional act bringing unexpected success.' Discovering enemy helicopters here was definitely a phenomenon that required attention.
What were the enemy helicopters doing here? Flight training? Impossible. Lost? Even more impossible.
What was it then? They all reached a shocking conclusion: the Iranians might truly be planning an unprecedented attack through the seemingly impassable swamp.
The Thirty-Fifth Brigade would bear the brunt of the attack.
If it weren't for the arrival of His Excellency Qusay, and his insistence on scouting the swamp, they truly would not have uncovered this astonishing conclusion.
Initially, they had all believed His Excellency Qusay was just a second young master who had been parachuted in simply to gain experience. They thought he was nitpicking at the firing range, and that his trip to the swamp was merely a momentary whim. Now, they had all changed their minds.
His Excellency Qusay was practically the savior of the Thirty-Fifth Brigade!
If they had only discovered the Persians' intentions when the Iranian army launched its major offensive, the troops would have been hit first and likely routed.
Now, things were different, because they were prepared.
"Your Excellency Qusay, I never expected you to be so prescient," Muhammad said.
The armored vehicle continued to bounce, but Qusay did not show any signs of smugness over predicting the enemy's moves: "Not at all. Everything has precursors. We just need to collect as much battlefield intelligence as possible. Only by knowing ourselves and knowing the enemy can we win every battle."
Qusay was also patting himself on the back by saying this. Of course, he knew the enemy best: the Iranians would clash fiercely with the Iraqi armored forces here next month. Half of the tanks involved in that battle in the swamp would never make it out. Following that, the Iranians would counter-attack at Abadan... However, since he was here, all of that had to be rewritten.
"Those despicable Persians want to launch a surprise attack here! We absolutely cannot let their plot succeed!" a staff officer said angrily.
"So, how do we give them a lesson they'll never forget?" Qusay said. "By God, I'm not confident in the combat effectiveness of our armor corps. Remember, the Chieftain Main Battle Tanks equipped by the Iranians can accurately hit us from a distance of 1,500 meters."
They all knew that when His Excellency Qusay proposed shooting from 1,500 meters today, it wasn't a sudden burst of enthusiasm but had a deep meaning. They also knew the state of the troops' training—1,500 meters was genuinely difficult.
"Rest assured, Your Excellency Qusay, I swear on behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the brigade that we will certainly train hard for long-range shooting." Muhammad said. He finally realized he had made a serious mistake: his concept was still stuck in the WWII era, where the tank crew's job was to charge forward and eliminate enemy tanks and infantry, without recognizing the vital importance of destroying enemy tanks from a long distance.
"I don't want our brave tank crews to be wiped out by the Persians before they can even get close to them. We must achieve a hit rate of over eighty percent at 1,500 meters!" Qusay stated.
"Yes!" the high-ranking officers of the Thirty-Fifth Brigade replied. "We guarantee mission completion."
"Also, the soldiers of the Motorized Infantry Battalion must intensify their training, especially in infantry anti-tank techniques. Our Motorized Infantry Battalion is equipped with quite a few rocket launchers, correct?" Qusay asked.
"Yes, most of them are RPG-7 rocket launchers imported before the war," Muhammad replied.
"Have our infantry quickly master the firing essentials of this rocket launcher. This thing isn't very stable; if mishandled, it could injure our own people," Qusay said. Rocket launchers weren't as awesome as they appeared on TV in later generations—where a terrorist would shoulder one, a streak of smoke would fly, and a US Humvee would explode sky-high. If not mastered properly, this weapon could easily burn the user upon firing.
The Motorized Infantry Battalion was essentially just infantry protected by armored vehicles. During combat, the armored vehicles followed the tanks; tanks led the way, armored vehicles followed, and upon reaching the engagement zone, the infantry dismounted to protect the advancing tanks—that was all.
Since they were infantry, they had to master the fundamentals of infantry combat.
"If Persian tanks appear in the swamp, Brigadier General, what defensive strategy should we adopt?" Qusay asked.
"Your Excellency Qusay, upon our return, I will immediately begin preparing defenses for the swamp area. At the same time, I will dispatch small reconnaissance units for infiltration and quickly draft a suitable operational plan for your review," Muhammad said.
Deploying reconnaissance units, infiltrating, and setting up defenses here were all steady, conservative approaches. However, this tactic was too ordinary; it lacked the creativity of the Iranians attacking from the Susangerd Swamp Area.
Helicopters are not affected by ground swamps. If they could transfer helicopters from the Southern Military Region, that would be the best approach. However, air superiority was currently held by the Iranians, whose Tomcats reigned supreme in the sky.
Inside the bumpy armored vehicle, Qusay's thoughts gradually became clearer: What defines modern warfare? It's logistics and comprehensive national power.
If their armored formation wanted to break through the swamp, essential fuel supplies were indispensable. The British-made Chieftain Tank was notoriously known as a gas guzzler.
If they could find a way to destroy the enemy's fuel supply, that unit would collapse without a fight.
Another idea suddenly flashed through Qusay's mind: Special Operations.
If the enemy had a fuel supply center in the swamp, the easiest method would be to have the Air Force conduct a targeted strike. However, the Iraqi Air Force lacked precision-guided ground attack weapons, as was evident from the very first day of the Iran-Iraq War.
President Saddam Hussein wanted to destroy the Iranians' air power at the start of the war, but the Air Force shamefully adopted a strategy of bombing runways first and then aircraft. By the time the runways were bombed, they realized they had no ground attack weapons left. While large numbers of aircraft remained on the ground, they could only use autocannons to fire upon them.
As a result, Iraq suffered a retaliatory counterattack from the Iranian Air Force that very afternoon.
In that case, the Thirty-Fifth Brigade would have to handle it themselves. These areas would certainly be heavily guarded, meaning only special operations could resolve the issue.
They needed to select outstanding soldiers from the Motorized Infantry Battalion to form a strike force and destroy the enemy's logistical supply!
"Brigadier General, I need your assistance," Qusay said.
"Please speak." Hearing that His Excellency Qusay needed his help, he naturally couldn't refuse.
"Please select fifty agile and tactically proficient soldiers from the Motorized Infantry Battalion to form a special detachment. I have a special use for them," Qusay said.
"Does Your Excellency Qusay mean something similar to the Thunderbolt Forces?" Muhammad asked.
The Thunderbolt Forces are an Egyptian special operations unit that gained great prominence during the Fourth Middle East War.
Qusay nodded: "Yes, certain missions can only be entrusted to special, formidable teams."
"Your Excellency Qusay, our Thirty-Fifth Brigade is deeply honored," Muhammad said excitedly.