150: Chapter 150 Operational Deployment

After receiving the weapons and equipment from the arms dealer, General Faraj immediately engaged in discussions with Major General Rahim to coordinate their operational cooperation.

Currently, the military forces being organized by Syria include 41 mechanized infantry brigades and 23 reserve mechanized brigades, in addition to over 10 drone battalions and other units.

Glass House has organized 8 heavy armored battalions, 10 drone battalions, and 1 air defense battalion, with all weapons and equipment already in place.

General Faraj and Major General Rahim communicated the status of their respective forces, gaining a preliminary understanding of the units available for combat.

General Faraj said, "Syria can deploy about 250,000 troops for combat, and there are another 130,000 reserve troops that need training, which will take at least three months before they can be committed to combat."

Major General Rahim introduced, "Glass House only has over 6,000 troops available for combat, and another 2,000-plus are reserve personnel who need to complete training before they can be deployed."

In other words, only about 300,000-plus troops would be committed to the initial combat, which is not a large number. This presents significant difficulties for Syria and Glass House.

After all, Syria is facing combat missions in several directions. Not only in the northeastern and northwestern regions of Syria but also in the Golan Heights, it faces attacks from the USA, Israel, and others. Other areas near Iraq must also prepare for defense.

Fortunately, the number of USA troops currently in Syria is not high, and it is unlikely that they will deploy large-scale forces to Syria in the short term. The main enemies to attack at present are the USA and the Opposition Armed Forces it supports, while also defending against harassment and attacks from Israel and Turkey.

General Faraj said, "In northeastern Syria, we will deploy Major General Zaha's 15 mechanized infantry brigades and 3 artillery brigades, with 10 reserve mechanized infantry brigades serving as reserves. Therefore, we need Glass House to dispatch troops to conduct interceptions, so that the USA and Turkey cannot support each other."

Major General Rahim, who is stationed at Raqqa Military Base, which is located exactly in the area between northeastern and northwestern Syria, said, "We will dispatch 2 heavy armored battalions and 2 drone battalions to Raqqa Military Base to carry out interception missions, blocking Turkey from going to support the USA. However, when we come under attack by Turkey, Syria must send troops to assist us in combat."

General Faraj naturally agreed, saying, "If Turkey attacks Raqqa Military Base, we will withdraw troops from northwestern Syria to launch an offensive, holding down Turkey's forces and preventing them from easily passing through your defensive zone."

General Faraj continued, "In the northwestern region of Syria, we have arranged 12 mechanized infantry brigades as offensive forces, with another 8 reserve mechanized infantry brigades as reserves, mainly to engage in combat with Turkey and the local armed forces it supports. Combat in this direction does not require cooperation from Glass House."

Major General Rahim naturally had no objections upon hearing that they were not needed for combat in northwestern Syria. After all, Glass House only had so many troops and could not participate in combat across all of Syria.

General Faraj looked at the Golan Heights region and said, "In the Golan Heights region, we have arranged 6 mechanized infantry brigades as a defensive force, focusing on defending against potential attacks launched by Israel, and have arranged 3 reserve mechanized infantry brigades as reserves. However, we feel this number of troops is still insufficient and need Glass House to dispatch troops to assist in the defense."

Major General Rahim considered this and said, "Glass House can dispatch 3 heavy armored battalions and 2 drone battalions to participate in the defensive operations. I just don't know if this force is enough."

The Golan Heights region is where Glass House is primarily stationed, and where it has the most troops, so dispatching 3 heavy armored battalions would not cause any problems for Glass House's force deployment.

General Faraj, seeing that Glass House had dispatched troops to assist with the defense, said, "As long as Israel does not dispatch large-scale forces to attack, a force of 40,000 to 50,000 is basically sufficient. I don't think Israel will withdraw a large number of troops to attack the Golan Heights."

Major General Rahim also did not believe that Israel would dispatch large-scale forces to enter the Golan Heights; unless Israel gave up control over the territory of Palestine, it would simply be unable to withdraw enough troops to the Golan Heights.

General Faraj pointed to the southeastern direction of Syria and said, "The southeastern direction of Syria borders Iraq and has had some areas occupied by the USA. This direction is not a key defensive area for the USA, mainly because of the inconvenient transportation. We plan to dispatch 2 mechanized infantry brigades to prepare defenses, and hope that Glass House will also dispatch troops to participate in the defense."

Major General Rahim deliberated and said, "Glass House can dispatch 1 heavy armored battalion and 2 drone battalions to participate in the defense of the southeastern region of Syria. Any more than that, and the remaining troops at Glass House headquarters would be too few."

General Faraj frowned slightly at Glass House only dispatching so few troops to participate in the defense of southeastern Syria, but he had no way to demand that Major General Rahim dispatch more troops to the southeastern region of Syria.

General Faraj said, "We have reserved 3 mechanized infantry brigades and 2 reserve mechanized infantry brigades as a general reserve force. I wonder how many troops Glass House has left in reserve?"

Major General Rahim calculated and said, "Only 2 heavy armored battalions and 4 drone battalions remain as reserves at Glass House headquarters. There is also one air defense battalion that will not participate in combat and will remain stationed at Glass House headquarters."

Given the strained military strength, General Faraj could only reluctantly make these arrangements. If he had more troops at his disposal, he could send additional forces to participate in combat in every direction and end the battle sooner. However, the troops he controlled numbered less than 380,000, and he simply had no way to mobilize enough troops for a full-scale offensive.

General Faraj said, "Our plan is to first launch an offensive from the northeastern region of Syria, and after annihilating the USA and the Opposition Armed Forces it supports in the northeastern region, then launch offensives in other directions. Therefore, in other directions, at the beginning, we will only conduct probing attacks, focusing on preparing defenses and holding down the opposing forces."

Major General Rahim agreed, "No problem. I will convey the relevant orders to each unit."

As long as Syria does not ask the Glass House troops to launch active attacks, Major General Rahim does not want to cause trouble. Reducing participation in combat means preserving more troops; wouldn't it be better to use them for seizing the final spoils of war?