178: Chapter 178 Attack on the Sefila Military Base

Major General Seze soon received orders from Turkish Ministry of Defense, instructing him to launch an offensive against military bases controlled by Syria in coordination with the USA's military operations.

Major General Seze had no choice but to accept the order. He mobilized officers and soldiers from Harim Air Base and surrounding military installations, gathering over 10,000 troops and organizing more than 15,000 local militants to prepare for the attack on the Syrian army.

Capturing a few military bases would be a pleasant surprise for Major General Seze; even if they failed, he could shift the blame to Turkish Ministry of Defense, as he hadn't initiated the offensive himself.

Small military bases like Ariha and Al-Bab were the first to be attacked. Upon receiving news of Turkey's impending offensive, Colonel Urbi deliberately abandoned these smaller bases to redeploy his forces to more critical ones.

After all, small military bases lacked sufficient defensive capabilities and had limited troops, making it nearly impossible to withstand an assault from the Turkish army. It was more effective to concentrate forces on defending key bases and wait for Major General Zaha's offensive to yield results before launching a counterattack.

Faced with bases that the Syrian army had intentionally abandoned, the Turkish army found the offensive remarkably easy. They occupied the Syrian military bases without encountering any significant resistance, which significantly boosted Major General Seze's confidence.

Major General Seze decided to launch a direct assault on Safira Military Base, which had previously thwarted an airstrike. Capturing Safira Military Base would break through the defensive line established by Syria and open the path to attack Raqqa Military Base.

He immediately ordered all military units and local militants to complete the encirclement of Safira Military Base as quickly as possible, aiming to take it in a single strike.

After a preliminary assessment of Turkey's offensive direction, Colonel Urbi concluded that the likely targets included Safira Military Base as well as two other important bases to the north and south.

If these three military bases were occupied by Turkey, the path into Central Syria would be open, allowing them to coordinate with the USA. This would mean that Northern Syria would never know peace.

Colonel Urbi deployed most of his troops and weaponry to these three bases, intending to block Turkey's advance and make the defensive lines as solid as possible.

Once the Turkish forces reached their designated positions, Major General Seze immediately ordered the attack on Safira Military Base. The engagement between the two sides instantly reached a fever pitch.

Colonel Urbi had deployed two Mechanized Infantry Brigades and one reserve Mechanized Infantry Brigade at Safira Military Base, equipped with over 200 tanks, more than 350 armored vehicles, over 200 artillery pieces, and about 30 drones. Of course, these weapons were not all distributed to the frontline; some were kept as replacements.

After Turkey launched the attack, both sides' artillery began pouring shells onto each other's positions. The entire battlefield thundered with the roar of cannons, shaking the earth and sending soil and the limbs of those who couldn't take cover in time flying in all directions.

Turkish Air Force fighter jets also appeared over the battlefield, attempting to bomb the Syrian army positions. However, they gained little advantage against the prepared Syrian Air Defense Battalion. While they destroyed several anti-aircraft missile positions, they also lost four or five fighter jets.

The airstrikes did not achieve the expected results. Major General Seze had anticipated that the Syrian army would have strong air defenses, so he could only order a pause in the air raids on Safira Military Base until a way was found to destroy the Syrian air defense positions.

As both sides committed more artillery, daily shell consumption exceeded 6,000 rounds. Turkish tanks and armored vehicles also moved out, launching assaults on enemy positions in an attempt to break through the Syrian defensive lines.

The Syrian army responded with a tit-for-tat counterattack, using their own tanks and armored vehicles to strike Turkish armor. They also utilized "Sky Arrow" series anti-tank missiles to ambush Turkish armored columns, achieving excellent results.

After nearly three days of bombardment, Turkey's tank and armored vehicle offensive failed to achieve its goals and was instead met with a crushing blow from the Syrian army. Despite having a numerical advantage, they were simply no match for the Fierce Rhino series Tanks and Fierce Tiger series Armored Vehicles.

After several failed attempts, Major General Seze had to order a halt to the offensive and adjust the direction of the attack, trying to find another way to secure a victory at Safira Military Base.

Meanwhile, Colonel Urbi noticed that the other two key military bases were not being attacked. Realizing that Turkey had focused its offensive on Safira Military Base, he quickly redeployed one Mechanized Infantry Brigade from each of those bases to Safira and requested reinforcements from Raqqa Military Base.

Major Jafari had already received word from the Glass House to coordinate with the Syrian army's actions. Upon seeing Colonel Urbi's request for support, he immediately dispatched two armored companies, one tank company, and supporting units toward Safira Military Base.

Just as Major General Seze was preparing a new wave of attacks, the two reinforcing Mechanized Infantry Brigades and the reinforcements from Raqqa Military Base formed an encirclement around the Turkish forces. Colonel Urbi then ordered five Mechanized Infantry Brigades to immediately launch a counteroffensive.

The Turkish army was caught completely off guard. They had been in an offensive position, but in the next moment, they became the ones under attack. Caught unprepared, they struggled to respond, allowing the Syrian army to seize the opportunity and storm the Turkish forward command post.

Following a storm-like assault, Turkey's command system was completely disrupted. Many command personnel were killed, leaving the leadership of the Turkish troops and local militants in a state of chaos and paralysis, as they had no idea how to respond.

Many soldiers began to retreat and flee, and seeing the regular troops running, even more local militants joined the rout. This provided the Syrian army with a perfect opportunity for pursuit. Colonel Urbi naturally wouldn't let it slip by, ordering all tanks and armored vehicles to pursue at full strength to annihilate the Turkish forces and militants.

After two days of pursuit, the Turkish army completely retreated to Harim Air Base, losing the military bases they had previously captured along the way, and even losing some of Turkey's own original bases.

Fewer than 3,000 regular soldiers returned to Harim Air Base. The local militants fared even worse, with only about 2,000 managing to escape back. The operation to attack Safira Military Base ended in failure, leaving Major General Seze bewildered as to how it had collapsed so quickly.