158: Global Focus: Large-scale Corps Operations!

October 1980.

The Iran-Iraq War officially broke out with fierce exchanges of fire between the two countries along their border!

The war between these two Middle Eastern countries immediately triggered global unrest!

Because the conflict between these two countries could potentially cause an international energy crisis!

Southern Iran borders the Persian Gulf, controlling the Strait of Hormuz, the lifeline of global oil transportation.

This waterway, with its narrowest point only 48 kilometers wide, is known as the maritime oil lifeline, handling 20% of global oil shipments.

Once there are problems with the global oil supply, economic development in the Soviet Union, USA, and other Western countries will be severely hampered.

Iran and Iraq also possess the world's largest group of onshore oil fields, and the two countries' oil reserves account for 8% of the global total.

The war between these two countries will directly lead to a reduction in global oil supply, a surge in international oil prices, and a sharp increase in manufacturing costs!

It could even lead to a drastic depletion of foreign exchange reserves in many countries, triggering a chain reaction of debt crises!

Oil is the lifeline of the global economy!

Therefore, this war directly tugs at the nerves of countries worldwide!

Making the entire international community pay unprecedented attention!

Although Dragon Country currently has a predominantly inward-looking economy, due to the booming sales of Dragon Country's weaponry in the international arms market in recent years, it is also paying close attention to this war!

In particular, Iraq has fully equipped five Dragon Country light combined arms brigades, one heavy combined arms brigade, and one army aviation brigade, almost representing the global debut of Dragon Country's combined arms forces!

This is equivalent to a buyer's show!

Dragon Country and Peng Lin, as sellers, are naturally extremely concerned about the performance of the "products" they sold!

...October 11th, early morning.

After learning about the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War, Peng Lin quickly rushed to the Ministry of National Defense building.

In the conference room on the fifth floor, Marshal Xu Yong'an, the Minister of National Defense, Liu Yufei, the Air Force Commander, Zhou Zhenbang, the Army Commander, Li Yuanyang, the Navy Commander, representatives from the logistics and equipment department, and representatives from the strategic intelligence unit, among other high-ranking military officials, all attended the meeting.

And Peng Lin, as the chief expert, was also specially invited to attend this meeting.

At the beginning of this war, both Iran and Iraq each mobilized hundreds of thousands of elite armored troops to assemble at the border, making it the largest modern war in recent years.

Not only Dragon Country, but almost all countries' defense ministries and high-ranking military officials around the world are closely monitoring the situation of this war.

Everyone wants to know about the military combat capabilities of other countries around the world and compare them with the development status of their own armies!

"This is a very typical large-scale armored war!"

"It is also our and Pretty Country's military's second indirect engagement after thirty years!"

Marshal Xu Yong'an watched the movements of Iranian and Iraqi troops along the border via satellite imagery and couldn't help but exclaim.

"Yes, Iran is almost entirely equipped with Pretty Country and British Empire equipment."

"As for Iraq, apart from a few units primarily equipped with Soviet Union weapons and tanks, its elite units are almost all based on our combined arms construction plans and equipment."

"Now, thirty years after the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, I wonder how our equipment and Pretty Country's weaponry will fare when they clash again?"

Army Commander Zhou Zhenbang said, both nervous and expectant.

His words caused the atmosphere in the conference room to become somewhat silent.

On the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in 1950, the equipment gap between the Dragon Country army and Pretty Country's army was like a chasm!

A Pretty Country infantry division was equipped with 70 tanks, 1,400 artillery pieces, hundreds of trucks, and had F-86 Sabre fighters providing all-weather air support, with a daily ammunition delivery capacity of up to thousands of tons!

In contrast, a Dragon Country army had only 36 old artillery pieces, almost no tanks, relied on manual labor and animal power for transport, used "multinational" rifles, and had less than 20 rounds of ammunition per person!

On the battlefield, Pretty Country's artillery firepower density was 40 times that of Dragon Country, and a single artillery bombardment could cover the equivalent of Dragon Country's entire army's ammunition reserves.

Dragon Country soldiers often faced a torrent of steel with their flesh and blood, with night raids and close combat becoming their only chance of victory, sacrificing hundreds of men per kilometer of front line to create a breach.

On the bitterly cold battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Dragon Country soldiers almost all wore single layers of clothing and lay in the snow in ambush, while the Pretty Country 1st Marine Division could wear down jackets and drink hot coffee; the equipment gap between the two sides was bone-chilling!

That war was absolutely a tragic clash of flesh and steel!

Although Dragon Country won at that time, who knows how many young soldiers' lives were forever left there!

If Dragon Country had had so much advanced weaponry at that time, the war and sacrifices would definitely not have been so tragic!

Therefore, that war became an eternal pain in everyone's hearts!

"Back then, the enemy had planes and cannons, we only had iron will!"

"But now we also have a torrent of steel!"

"Although we don't have the opportunity to personally engage Pretty Country again, let our advanced weaponry clash with Pretty Country's tanks and cannons one more time, and see if Pretty Country has made any progress over the years!"

Peng Lin saw the somewhat silent atmosphere in the conference room and took the initiative to speak.

After his words, Marshal Xu Yong'an and the others immediately collected their thoughts and focused their attention on this war.

The confrontation between Iraq's combined arms brigade equipment and Iran's Pretty Country weaponry can, to a certain extent, reflect the development level of the two countries' armaments!

Therefore, the high-ranking military officials of Dragon Country are both nervous and expectant about the situation of this war!

...Meanwhile.

Pretty Country, the Pentagon.

The White House National Security Advisor, the Secretary of Defense, and a host of other high-ranking military officials were also monitoring the developments in the Middle East.

"Currently, along the border, Iran has assembled a total of 240,000 armored troops!"

"The elite units assembled by Iran are almost entirely equipped with advanced weaponry from us and our Western allies!"

"They not only have 450 of our M-60 A1 tanks, 875 'Chieftain' tanks produced by the British Empire, but also possess 78 F-14 A 'Tomcat', 162 F-4 E 'Phantom', 200 F-5 E 'Tiger' and other advanced fighter jets!"

"Even 20 C-130 'Hercules' strategic transport aircraft, 40 CH-47 'Chinook' heavy transport helicopters, and 100 AH-1 J 'Cobra' attack helicopters have been deployed by them in this war!"

"In contrast, Iraq, apart from some old Soviet Union equipment, only has five Dragon Country light combined arms brigades, one heavy combined arms brigade, and one army aviation brigade; it does not hold an advantage!"

The White House National Security Advisor said with a deep frown as he analyzed the front-line forces of Iran and Iraq.

From a military and emotional perspective, the White House and the Pentagon naturally hoped that Iranian forces, using entirely Pretty Country-made equipment, would severely chastise the Iraqi forces, which use Dragon Country and Soviet Union equipment.

This way, Pretty Country's weaponry would undoubtedly become a hot seller in the international arms market again!

However, from a national strategic perspective, Pretty Country and the White House found it difficult to accept a victory for Iranian forces!

Although Iran was once Pretty Country's closest ally, and the Pentagon sold the most advanced equipment of all types to the Iranian military, that was during the reign of Iran's former Pahlavi dynasty.

But in early last year, Iran experienced the Islamic Revolution, and the Pahlavi dynasty was subsequently overthrown.

From that time on, Iran began to draw closer to the Soviet Union!

And, in conjunction with Syria, its influence in the Middle East continued to expand!

To prevent the expansion of the Soviet Union and Iran's influence in the Middle East, Pretty Country began comprehensive sanctions against Iran!

Therefore, facing the war between Iraq and Iran at this moment, the Pentagon was very conflicted!

They hoped that Pretty Country's weaponry could defeat the weapons of Dragon Country and the Soviet Union!

Yet, they also hoped that the Iraqi forces would not suffer a crushing defeat against Pretty Country-made weapons; ideally, Iraq would be able to prevent the expansion of Iran and the Soviet Union's influence in the Middle East!

"I hope Dragon Country's weaponry is as good as advertised and doesn't lead to a crushing defeat for the Iraqi army!"

"Otherwise, facing the expansion of Iran's influence in conjunction with Syria and the Soviet Union in the Middle East, our front line will be very passive!"

The Pentagon's Secretary of Defense muttered to himself.