171: Chapter 171 The Army Reorganization Strategy of the Camel Kingdom

After Li Yi delivered the weapons and equipment to Libya, Colonel Beka immediately deployed the procured gear to the units of the Libyan National Army. Although the quantity purchased was not large, it was enough to equip two mechanized armored battalions, one anti-aircraft battalion, and one UAV battalion.

Once the various units had completed their reorganization and training, Colonel Beka immediately threw them into the mopping-up operations against other armed forces around Benghazi. In the area of Marj, they engaged a militia unit belonging to the Opposition Armed Forces known as the Libya Shield.

The two mechanized infantry battalions, deployed for the first time, demonstrated powerful combat capabilities against the Libya Shield militia. After all, the Libya Shield was merely a militia organization with limited manpower and inadequate weapons and equipment, leaving them completely unable to withstand the assault of the Libyan National Army.

Under the assault of the Fierce Lion series Artillery and Fierce Rhino series Tank, the Libya Shield collapsed rapidly. Subsequently, pursued by the Fierce Tiger series Armored Vehicle, the Libya Shield militia was forced to retreat from Marj, and the Libyan National Army successfully occupied the city.

Seeing the powerful combat capabilities the mechanized infantry battalions displayed in battle, Colonel Beka quickly ordered his troops to begin expanding their territory around Benghazi, driving other Opposition Armed Forces out of their controlled areas.

Afterward, there were quite a few sporadic battles, though they were all relatively small in scale. Upon learning that the Libyan National Army had received reinforcements in the form of armored vehicles, the Opposition Armed Forces were unable to respond in time and could only choose to retreat after their operations failed.

Colonel Beka was naturally very pleased with this favorable situation. As long as the Libyan National Army controlled more and more territory, they could extract more oil and natural gas, which would then allow them to produce more oil and natural gas and purchase even more weapons and equipment.

Ultimately, Colonel Beka hoped that the Libyan National Army would gradually develop, drive out the other Opposition Armed Forces in eastern Libya, and secure control over the northern oil fields. At that point, they would have greater leverage to vie for national power in Libya.

However, everything was just beginning. There were still quite a few Opposition Armed Forces organizations in eastern Libya, controlling territory of varying sizes, and the territory actually controlled by the Libyan National Army was not particularly prominent. In the short term, the focus would remain on driving out and annihilating the Opposition Armed Forces.

...

After receiving a large shipment of UAVs, armored vehicles, and anti-aircraft missiles at the Az Zubayr Air Base, Major General Maliki immediately deployed these weapons and equipment to various units of the Iraqi army.

The acquisition of these weapons and equipment alleviated the situation of Iraq's scarcity and outdated weaponry to a certain extent, but the defect of insufficient combat experience still remained.

In particular, Iraq relied heavily on the USA for intelligence support, air support, and logistical guarantees. If the army were to be separated from the US military, it would sometimes be unable to conduct military operations on its own.

Major General Maliki knew about the flaws in the Iraqi army, but these problems could not be solved by one or two purchases of weapons. This time, they had purchased quite a few Tianlong Series UAVs, which could, to a certain extent, help them break free from the control of the USA's intelligence support.

As for air support, Iraq did not have many of its own fighter jets and could only temporarily rely on the Tianlong Series UAVs to provide a certain level of air support; for everything else, they still had to rely on the US military.

Major General Maliki felt quite helpless about this situation. Although he desperately wanted to break free from the control of the US military, Iraq did not have its own military industrial production enterprises, and there were not many weapons and equipment it could purchase. Furthermore, the domestic economy was not developing well, having only just recovered to the economic level of 30 years ago, and there were insufficient funds for purchasing arms.

It was unrealistic to expect to comprehensively improve Iraq's military strength in a short period of time. Major General Maliki could only slowly find ways to replenish various weapons and equipment, gradually perfect the equipment deployment of each unit, and begin the creation of a mechanized army.

Major General Maliki designated the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 12th Divisions of the Iraqi Army as the primary targets for building mechanized forces. He replaced the original third-generation tanks, artillery, and armored vehicles with Fierce Rhino series Tank, Fierce Lion series Artillery, and Fierce Tiger series Armored Vehicle, and transferred the phased-out weapons and equipment to other units.

According to Major General Maliki's reorganization plan, each army division was planned to be equipped with 220 Fierce Rhino series Tank, 500 Fierce Tiger series Armored Vehicle, and 70 Fierce Lion series Artillery, as well as 30 Tianlong Series UAVs, various anti-aircraft missiles, and anti-tank missiles.

Each army division included five mechanized infantry regiments, one artillery regiment, one UAV regiment, one anti-aircraft regiment, and one logistical support regiment, with a total strength of about 15,000 personnel. Each mechanized infantry regiment included one mechanized tank battalion and one mechanized infantry battalion, with a total strength of about 1,500 personnel.

The artillery regiment had a strength of about 1,800 personnel, divided into two artillery battalions. The UAV regiment had a strength of 1,200 personnel, divided into three UAV battalions. The anti-aircraft regiment was divided into four anti-aircraft battalions, with a strength of about 2,000 personnel. The logistical support regiment was divided into five battalions, with a strength of 2,500 personnel.

Of course, since the weapons and equipment for these four army divisions had not yet been fully delivered, it was naturally impossible for the divisions to be fully equipped. For now, they could only set up the framework and use the weapons already in their possession for training; once all the weapons and equipment were in place, these four army divisions could rapidly increase their combat effectiveness.

Major General Maliki was also quite helpless about the fact that he could only complete the equipment for four army divisions for now; after all, Iraq had only purchased so many armored vehicles and UAVs, and it was impossible to equip any more troops.

There was an excess of Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile, but they also had to be used to defend the airspace of Iraq's major cities and various important military bases. They could only barely scrape together enough equipment for 16 anti-aircraft battalions, and in fact, these anti-aircraft battalions were still not fully deployed with the Tianlei Series Anti-Aircraft Missile.

After Major General Maliki's distribution and deployment, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 12th Divisions of the Iraqi Army soon began the re-equipping process, transferring out some of their old tanks and armored vehicles and equipping themselves with the newly purchased tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery.

After the re-equipping, the army displayed a different atmosphere, but thinking about getting these troops to actually demonstrate combat effectiveness was not something that would happen overnight. In particular, the problems of corruption and dereliction of duty within the army still required Major General Maliki to expend great effort to resolve; otherwise, there was no telling where some of the weapons and equipment might end up.