188: Chapter 188 A Step-by-Step Attrition Tactic: A Consistent Method

After the Turkey army retreated in a sorry state to Harim Air Base, Major General Seze immediately ordered his troops into a state of full defense to avoid a surprise attack by the Syria army and the potential loss of Harim Air Base.

At the same time, Major General Seze forcibly ordered local armed forces to divert troops to assist in the defense, strengthening the defensive capabilities of Harim Air Base, and also transferred a portion of troops from several other military bases to Harim Air Base to ensure its security.

Due to the heavy losses sustained in the attack on Safira Military Base, Turkey, upon receiving the news, hurriedly sent reinforcements to Harim Air Base and dispatched new troops into Syria, which finally stabilized the situation.

Colonel Urbi did not actually intend to take Harim Air Base right now.

After all, the current force deployment of Syria in the northwestern region was still insufficient; a portion of the troops had to be used for defense, and there were not many units truly capable of participating in an offensive.

To attack and capture Harim Air Base, at least 8 Mechanized Infantry Brigades were needed.

Colonel Urbi did have that many troops now, but many Mechanized Infantry Brigades needed to be deployed to various fronts to tie down the Turkey army.

He could only divert 4 Mechanized Infantry Brigades to attack Harim Air Base, which was simply insufficient to capture it.

Therefore, Colonel Urbi halted his pursuit upon advancing to a town not far from Harim Air Base and began to shift into defensive operations.

The Glass House troops that Major Jafari had sent to support them also handed over their defensive lines at this time and returned to Raqqa Military Base.

They could support and cooperate with the Syria army in combat, but they would not continuously shoulder defensive tasks for the Syria army.

After all, Major Jafari's forces were not large, and he needed to defend Raqqa Military Base.

Diverting troops to participate in combat occasionally was not a problem, but diverting troops for a long term would put Raqqa Military Base in a passive position.

If they encountered a sneak attack by the Opposition Armed Forces, it was very likely that Raqqa Military Base would not have enough troops for defense.

Colonel Urbi felt quite helpless about this; he could not rely entirely on the Glass House troops and had to rely mainly on himself, as this was the only way to completely control the situation in the northwestern region.

However, his current forces were still insufficient to completely drive the Turkey army out of Syria.

A full-scale offensive could only be launched after Major General Zaha supported him with several Mechanized Infantry Brigades.

By striking Turkey's military bases and the local armed forces it supported from all directions, he could force Turkey to either send more reinforcements or withdraw from the Syria battlefield like the USA.

But all of this had to wait until Major General Zaha finished his operations in the northeastern region.

Colonel Urbi was naturally very happy to learn that he would soon receive another batch of weapons and ammunition, as this could replenish the equipment consumed in previous battles and was very beneficial for enhancing the strength of his troops.

Aside from keeping a portion of armored vehicles in reserve for replenishment, Colonel Urbi allocated all other armored vehicles to the various Mechanized Infantry Brigades to enhance their combat capabilities.

At the same time, he diverted troops from the reserve Mechanized Infantry Brigades to fill the gaps, ensuring that every Mechanized Infantry Brigade was fully equipped and at full strength.

As for the allocated Tianlong Series UAVs, Colonel Urbi decided to form 3 UAV battalions, with each UAV battalion equipped with 20 Tianlong Type II UAVs, while the remaining Tianlong Series UAVs would be distributed to the various Mechanized Infantry Brigades.

After this round of weapons and ammunition replenishment, the strength of Colonel Urbi's troops was enhanced once again, and after rest and training, they should possess stronger combat capabilities than before the battle, which would be highly beneficial for attacking the military bases controlled by Turkey.

...

After Major General Ita and Major General Gonen established defensive lines in the area west of Quneitra, General Faraj had ordered the Syria army to launch several probing attacks, but all were blocked by the Israel army, failing to break through the defensive lines established by Israel.

Seeing this situation, General Faraj had no choice but to abandon the offensive.

After all, the Golan Heights also faced a shortage of troops, so it was better to temporarily maintain a stalemate with the Israel army and wait until troops could be diverted from other fronts before launching an offensive.

Seeing that the Syria army did not launch any more attacks, Lieutenant Colonel Haidari, after seeking the opinion of Major General Rahim, decided to withdraw the 3 battalions of supporting troops and hand over his defensive lines to the Syria army.

Although the Glass House's operations this time were entirely to assist Syria, they still achieved some results.

They destroyed quite a few Israel armored vehicles, and their own losses remained within a controllable range; they did not need Iran to provide new equipment, as they could replenish their full strength by using their own stockpiled equipment.

After distributing the newly purchased weapons and equipment to the troops in the Golan Heights, General Faraj decided to form 4 new Mechanized Infantry Brigades, drawing troops from the reserve Mechanized Infantry Brigades in the Golan Heights and Damascus, and recruiting some soldiers to fill the ranks, ensuring they were fully manned and equipped.

At the same time, he formed 5 more UAV battalions, each equipped with 20 Tianlong Type II UAVs, while the remaining Tianlong Series UAVs were distributed to the various Mechanized Infantry Brigades or kept in reserve.

Considering that the Golan Heights would soon become the focal point of the Syria army's offensive, General Faraj decided to recruit soldiers to form 5 reserve mechanized brigades, reaching a total of 25,000 personnel, and utilize the reserve armored vehicles for training to ensure the soldiers possessed qualified combat skills as soon as possible.

As for the 3 Mechanized Infantry Brigades that had supported the Golan Heights, General Faraj transferred 2 of them back to Damascus, while the remaining 1 Mechanized Infantry Brigade stayed to garrison the Golan Heights and participate in subsequent operations.

Major General Ita and Major General Gonen were a bit worried at first when they saw the Syria army launch several probing attacks, but they felt relieved soon after seeing that the Syria army had abandoned the offensive.

Although this operation did not capture Quneitra, it did seize a significant amount of territory.

For Israel, gradual encroachment was a consistent tactic, and this operation could be considered to have achieved its goal.

It was only after the news arrived that the USA army was withdrawing from Syria that Major General Ita and Major General Gonen felt something was wrong.

If the Syria army could even drive out the USA army, would the Israel army also be driven out?

Major General Ita and Major General Gonen dared not lower their guard easily and hurriedly ordered their troops to build more defensive fortifications, striving to form a tighter defensive line to block the Syria army's offensive.

General Faraj received reports from the frontline troops that the Israel army was fully engaged in building defensive fortifications.

He naturally would not let the Israel army succeed easily and ordered the Syria army to shell the Israel defensive fortifications every day, preventing the Israel army from building them with ease.

For a time, the sound of artillery fire in the Golan Heights rose and fell every day, with both sides firing shells at each other's positions, deterring the other's defensive lines.