99: Chapter 96 General Mobilization

On November 3rd, Reza left Tehran and returned to Ahvaz.

As the motorcade drove out of the Tehran urban area, Karimi handed him a piece of intelligence.

"News from inside Iraq. Saddam Hussein already knows about Iran's general mobilization order. He stated at the Revolutionary Command Council that Iran's mobilization will take at least three months to be effective, and Iraq must launch a decisive offensive within these three months."

"Where would he get the troops to launch an offensive?" Reza asked.

"Soviet Union military aid has arrived," Karimi said. "The first batch includes two hundred T-72 Tanks, fifty Mi-24 Helicopters, and five thousand AT-3 Anti-tank Missiles. These weapons are enough to equip three armored brigades."

Reza remained silent for a few seconds.

The T-72. This was the Soviet Union's most advanced main battle tank at the time, a generation stronger than the T-62 and Chieftain Tanks in Iran's possession. The Mi-24 was even more of a problem—the armor of this attack helicopter was so thick that an RPG couldn't pierce it, and its firepower was strong enough to destroy an entire armored company at once.

"When can Fatima's anti-air missiles be mass-produced?"

"November 15th. The first batch will only have two hundred missiles."

"Not enough," Reza said. "Tell Fatima I need a thousand. And I need something that can hit the shoulder armor of a tank—the T-72's front armor is too thick for an RPG to penetrate."

"That thing is called the AT-4," Karimi said. "It's Soviet gear; we can't get the technical data."

"Then target the Soviets," Reza said. "Find a way to get a few sets from Afghanistan. The Soviets have left plenty of weapons there; if you find the right person, you can buy them."

November 5th, Ahvaz.

The first thing Reza did upon returning to Khuzestan was to inspect Fatima's weapons factory.

This factory was hidden in a valley twenty kilometers south of Ahvaz. From the outside, it looked like an abandoned farm, but inside was an underground facility covering thirty thousand square meters. Fatima had spent two years building it, gathering over three hundred engineers and technical workers from all over the country.

Fatima greeted him at the factory entrance. She was wearing greasy overalls, her hair tied up casually with a headscarf, and her expression was a mix of exhaustion and excitement.

"Your Highness, let me show you something new."

She led Reza into a long underground corridor, lined with laboratories and production workshops on both sides. The air was thick with a pungent chemical smell.

The first stop was the anti-air missile production line.

"A copy of the SA-7, we call it the Persia-2 Missile," Fatima said, pointing to rows of missiles being assembled. "It has a range of four kilometers and can hit an Mi-24. The downside is that the seeker is easily fooled by infrared flares, but as long as one shot hits, the helicopter is finished."

"What is the hit rate?"

"For a well-trained operator against low-altitude, slow-moving targets, it's about forty percent. For high-altitude, fast-moving targets, it's less than ten percent."

"That's enough," Reza said. "The Mi-24 must fly at low altitude and low speed when attacking; that's when the hit rate will be highest."

The second stop was the anti-tank weapon production line.

"This is an improved version of the RPG-7," Fatima said, picking up a launcher that looked similar to an ordinary RPG. "The warhead has been replaced with a tandem-charge, which can hit reactive armor. After the T-72 is equipped with reactive armor, an ordinary RPG can't pierce it, but this can."

Reza took it and weighed it; it was about two kilograms heavier than a standard RPG.

"And the range?"

"The same, three hundred meters. But the effective range is only two hundred meters; beyond two hundred meters, the accuracy drops significantly."

"Two hundred meters is enough," Reza said. "Our tactic is to fight at close range."

The third stop was something Reza had never seen before.

"What is this?" he asked, pointing to something that looked like a mortar shell.

"A simple guided bomb," Fatima said. "We dismantled a batch of Soviet radio proximity fuses and installed them on five-hundred-kilogram aerial bombs. When a bomber drops the bomb from five kilometers away, the bomb corrects its trajectory based on radio signals. The accuracy is about fifty meters."

"Fifty meters isn't enough for precision strikes, but it's enough for area coverage," Reza said. "How many have you made?"

"Only twenty. We're missing a key part—the transistors for the radio proximity fuses, which we can't produce ourselves."

"Where can we get them?"

"Eastern Europe. Czechoslovakia or Poland; they have Soviet licenses and can produce these parts."

Reza noted this down in his notebook.

On November 8th, Reza held the first military meeting in Ahvaz since the general mobilization.

The meeting was attended by Hassan, Karimi, Rajai, Rezai, Sadiq, Fatima, and Rafsanjani, who had rushed from Tehran.

There was only one topic for the meeting: how to prepare before Iraq's three-month offensive.

"Saddam Hussein's plan is clear," Reza said. "Use new Soviet weapons to launch a decisive offensive before Iran's general mobilization takes effect. The time he chooses will likely be between late January and early February of next year."

"Why that time?" Rafsanjani asked.

"Because that's when the rainy season in Khuzestan ends, the ground hardens, and tanks can move. Furthermore, Iran's general mobilization won't be completed until late February, giving him a window of one to two months."

"Then how do we respond?"

"Two ways," Reza said. "First, destroy their new weapons before the Iraqis attack. Second, prepare our own defensive lines so their new weapons cannot be effective."

"Destroy their new weapons first," Hassan said. "How?"

Reza walked to the map and pointed to a spot in southern Iraq.

"This is the new weapons warehouse for the Iraqi Southern Military District, located in a military base twenty kilometers south of Basra. The Soviet T-72s, Mi-24s, and AT-3s will all be transported here first before being distributed to combat units."

"You want to blow it up?" Rafsanjani asked.

"Not blow it up, but infiltrate," Reza said. "Send a small unit to sneak into the base and tamper with the new weapons. Make the T-72 engines suddenly stall on the battlefield, make the Mi-24 hydraulic systems leak oil after takeoff, and make the AT-3 seekers unable to find their targets after launch."

Fatima's eyes lit up: "Technically feasible. The T-72's engine fuel system has a component that is very easy to sabotage—the high-pressure fuel pump seals. Using seals soaked in a special chemical solvent, they won't show any problems for two weeks after installation, but once on the battlefield, the seals will be corroded by the fuel, the fuel pump will fail, and the engine will stall."

"What about the Mi-24?" Reza asked.

"The seals used in the Mi-24's hydraulic system are rubber; treated with the same solvent, they will start leaking oil after one to two weeks. Once the hydraulic fluid leaks out, the helicopter will lose control."

"And the AT-3?"

"The AT-3 seeker is infrared-guided; an infrared filter can make it blind. If the filter is replaced with ordinary glass, the seeker will still work during the day, but it will be useless at night."

After listening, Reza turned to look at Hassan.

"Can you find someone to do this job?"

Hassan thought for a moment and said, "I have a few informants inside Iraq, but their rank in the military isn't high enough to enter that base."

"Then develop new informants," Reza said. "Karimi, your people are responsible for finding an insider in that base. No matter how much money it costs or what means are used, I want someone who can get in within two weeks."