The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

The moment the Iraqi soldiers crawled out of the tunnel, they were drenched in flying mud. The originally dull sound of explosions became particularly clear in an instant. The ground was shaking, artillery fire was roaring, and the flames of burning napalm bombs were everywhere. Black smoke and gunpowder mixed with rain and darkness filled the entire Kumchat Mountain.

At this moment, the moonlight lost its color.

Thousands of American soldiers dispersed and moved toward the Iraqi positions. Wearing helmets, bulletproof vests, night vision equipment, and holding guns, they were armed to the teeth. They moved along the gentle slope, occasionally hiding in the bomb craters beside them to avoid the enemy.

Throughout the battlefield, the continuously falling shells rolled up a large amount of soil and exploded on the positions. Some trenches had been destroyed and could only reach the knee level. The falling shells made a shrill whistling sound, and the roar continued to explode. The soil continued to fall on the helmets of the Iraqi soldiers.

The Iraqi machine gunners set up their machine guns and fired at the underground. The Iraqi soldiers held their rifles and fired at the figures underground.

The thick smoke blocked everyone's vision, and the continuous explosions and the darkness made it difficult for the soldiers to see clearly what was happening on the battlefield.

The combined forces' artillery shells rained down, and the battle was everywhere.

"Boom boom boom~~" The soldiers picked up the grenades, pulled the fuses and threw them on the ground, and the sound of explosions continued.

The grenade exploded, and the broken shrapnel flew everywhere, splashing onto the American soldiers' bulletproof vests. The bulletproof vests helped them absorb most of the force, but it still pierced into their flesh and blood, making them scream.

The brutal siege of the mountain was vividly displayed at this moment.

Even though the U.S. military has air superiority, firepower advantage, and elite soldiers, attacking from above is not beneficial to the attacker.

Facing the fierce firepower of the Iraqi army, the attacks from the west and north were repelled. The Iraqi army replenished its troops and ammunition, and if they were hungry, they would eat beef jerky or compressed biscuits and drink some water.

Not long after, after a brief rest, the U.S. military used artillery fire to plow the Iraqi army's surface positions again, and once again assembled two battalions of troops to launch an attack.

"Boom~~"

Shells kept falling, and the rolled-up soil was scattered all over the place.

There were also shells that landed in the trenches, killing some soldiers.

In this situation, the Iraqi soldiers fired at the bottom, then waited to the back, threw grenades at the enemy again, pointed their guns at the enemy, and poured bullets at the enemy.

The Iraqi army continued to repel the enemy's attacks, while the US military organized wave after wave of attacks.

As the two sides fought, the sky in the distance turned pale.

It's going to be dawn soon.

The battle finally ended, the Iraqi army began to clean up the battlefield, and the wounded were bandaged by medical staff!

Although it was daybreak, the joint forces' artillery was still fiercely bombarding the Kumchat Mountain position. From 3:30 when the artillery fire began until now, there had been no pause at all.

Finally, daybreak!

When the sun slowly rose, the joint forces assembled four battalions of troops and launched another fierce attack on Mount Kumchat under the cover of a large amount of artillery fire, tanks, armored vehicles and aircraft. At this moment, the US military was rampant and fierce!

The tanks could not go up, so they bombarded the Iraqi positions on the gentle slope. The US heavy machine guns kept firing, one after another, forming a long chain of fire to attack the Iraqi defense positions.

The US military's heavy artillery emitted a shrill scream in the sky. After the napalm bomb exploded, the entire Iraqi position quickly turned into a sea of ​​fire. After a brief test in the early morning, the US military's most violent attack arrived.

All positions were attacked fiercely by the US military.

At the same time, 240 armed helicopters and US strategic transport aircraft flew close to the Iraq-Syria border, carrying soldiers, and then soldiers and equipment were airdropped.

In three days, the U.S. military airdropped the 18st Airborne Division and the 101nd Airborne Division of the 82th Airborne Corps into Iraq.

However, we have to use the airborne division to cut off the Iraqi reinforcements. Otherwise, the Iraqi army has a constant supply of troops and weapons and ammunition, and I am afraid that we will not be able to take down the Iraqi defensive positions no matter what.

When Rashid learned that the United States was airborne, he immediately mobilized troops to encircle and destroy these two isolated forces.

Rashid had sufficient troops in the rear, and they were all elite. Although the US 101st Airborne Division and the 82nd Airborne Division were elite and had air fire support, they were unable to destroy the Iraqi army that was several times larger than theirs in a short period of time.

At this time, the news that the joint forces dispatched ground troops to attack the Iraqi defense line quickly spread throughout the world, shocked the world and attracted global attention.

News from the battlefield continued to be reported, some true and some false. Some said that the powerful ground forces had broken the Iraqi defense line and were launching a large-scale attack on the northern theater of Iraq and were about to destroy the northern theater of Iraq. Others said that the US military was marching straight in and was about to reach the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

Of course, there are also reports that the Iraqi army inflicted heavy damage on the joint forces and blocked the joint forces' attack.

The whole world's focus was inevitably placed on the Iraq War.

Even Liu Tao was paying attention to the Iraq War every day.

Once the U.S. military tears open Iraq's northern defense line, the coalition forces will have more manpower, weapons and equipment than Iraq's million-strong army.

Once the US military's attack is blocked, it will be a heavy blow to the joint forces.

Liu Tao was still very shocked that the US military airdropped two airborne divisions at one time, because this was an organized airdrop, not only personnel, but also weapons and equipment, which was very commendable.

We have to admit that the U.S. military is indeed the world's number one air force, and its ability to carry out large-scale airdrops through strategic transport aircraft is truly shocking.

"The 82nd Airborne Division is worthy of being called the 'First Airborne Division of the US Army', and the 101st Airborne Division is worthy of being called the 'Howling Eagle' and the 'Eagle Division'!" Liu Tao exclaimed in admiration.

第82空降师有着‘美军第一空降师’，编制中包括一个师部、3个旅部、9个伞降营，装备M551型‘谢里曼’轻型坦克，一个战斗航空旅、师属炮兵（辖3个M119型105毫米牵引榴弹炮营和一个‘复仇者’地空导弹营）、一个侦察及电子战营、一个通信营、一个工兵营、一个宪兵连、一个大规模杀伤武器防护连、师后勤司令部，总兵员1.3万人。

The 101st Airborne Division is well-equipped and is also known as the 101st Air Assault Division. Because there is a howling eagle head on the armband, the division is called the "Eagle Division". Its motto is "Always ready to fight anywhere". It consists of a division headquarters, 3 brigade headquarters, 9 air mobile infantry battalions, two aviation combat brigades, division artillery, a surface-to-air missile brigade, a reconnaissance and electronic warfare battalion, a communications battalion, an engineering battalion and a medical battalion, a military police company, a weapons of mass destruction protection company, a logistics headquarters, and a deep reconnaissance squadron. The entire division has 1.7 people! (End of this chapter)