"Your Excellency Brigadier General, may we go take a look at the marshland?" Qusay asked.
Marshland? Muhammad was very surprised. "Your Excellency Qusay, that place is full of knee-deep swamp. What is there to see? You must be tired; you should rest first!"
"Your Excellency Brigadier General, since you have been ordered to be stationed here, you must be as familiar with everything here as you are with your own body. This marsh is just a marsh, but does it have a contour? How long is it? How wide is it? Is there any solid path through the middle?"
"There's no need? That marsh, except for birds flying over..." Muhammad suddenly realized something. "Your Excellency Qusay, are you suggesting...?"
"allah is Great. No one knows where the Iranians might emerge from. We are, after all, fighting on Iranian soil, and we are unfamiliar with the terrain here. If we encounter an ambush or a skirmish, we might suffer a great loss," Qusay said.
The Iranians would attack through the marshland? That's too outlandish! Muhammad gasped sharply. If the Iranians really came through here, his army would surely suffer a devastating defeat under such circumstances!
If the Iranians occupied this place, they could use it to directly flank the troops besieging Abadan, and the entire Southern Military Region would face a major defeat.
However, doesn't this seem like worrying about something that will never happen? How could the Iranians possibly come through the marshland?
Qusay, however, knew for sure that the Iranians would come.
Warfare is the Way of Deception. Attacking from this location would absolutely catch the defenders completely off guard.
"Alright, then let's go take a look together," Muhammad said, calling for an armored command vehicle.
This was converted from a Type 63 Armored Personnel Carrier. Ordinary off-road vehicles would likely be useless for traversing the marshland.
As the Brigadier General of the Armored Brigade, Muhammad had his own command tank, but too few people could ride inside, and tanks were too cramped and small, so he was also equipped with an armored command vehicle.
Qusay boarded the armored vehicle with his two subordinates: Wahrih and Marwan. Ghassar had already gone ahead to prepare his food and lodging.
Muhammad took several staff officers and also boarded the armored vehicle. A dozen people rode the armored command vehicle together toward the marshland.
To prevent getting stuck in the marsh, a tank driven by Ali followed the armored vehicle. If anything went wrong, it could drag the armored command vehicle out, and if they encountered the enemy, the tank's firepower could provide cover.
Muhammad had originally been worried that Qusay would not be able to handle the bumps of the armored vehicle, but unexpectedly, Qusay secured himself to the seat and sat very steadily.
Back then, the first time he rode an armored vehicle, Qusay was tossed around by the unscrupulous driver until he was dizzy. Though he never got motion sickness, he threw up bile. Later, after repeated training, this level of bumping was nothing to Qusay.
Upon reaching the edge of the marshland area, Qusay got out to examine it. The ground here had clearly started to soften, and with thick vegetation, it was like a muddy road in the countryside after a rain—extremely slippery.
If he didn't know history, Qusay truly wouldn't believe that even tracked vehicles would have trouble passing through here. Sometimes, those bearded Iranians really dared to innovate.
Looking at the thick marshland, the driver felt a headache coming on, but at Qusay's insistence, the armored vehicle driver pushed the control stick, stepped on the accelerator, and drove into the marshland.
The engine roared loudly. Since it was uncovered and placed to the driver's right, the noise inside the vehicle was immense. Even so, the driver pricked up his ears. The sound he least wanted to hear right now was the tracks spinning freely, which would mean trouble!
Qusay had already opened the hatch on top of the armored vehicle and stood there, allowing him to see everything clearly around them.
This was an uninhabited area, where soil and vegetation were intricately interwoven. Because the terrain was low-lying, accumulated rainwater could not drain out, making the area extremely muddy.
However, the mud flung up by the tracks behind them clearly indicated that the armored vehicle was perfectly capable of traversing this terrain.
As for the tank following behind, it was struggling a bit.
The tracks of the T-62 Tank appeared wider, but its self-weight was nearly forty tons, resulting in a much higher ground pressure than the Type 63 Armored Vehicle. Therefore, dealing with this kind of road seemed somewhat strenuous.
Ali felt very uncomfortable. This Excellency Qusay, who had been parachuted into the brigade headquarters, was the son of President Saddam Hussein and might become the new President of Iraq in the future. He had originally wanted to perform well, but reality made him look like a clown, turning his carefully prepared performance into something awkward.
Now, he drove the tank with complete concentration, terrified of any further mishap. Although the Brigadier General was covering for him, if he accidentally got the tank stuck in the marsh, resulting in a non-combat loss, it would be extremely detrimental to his future career.
"Your Excellency Brigadier General, although the marsh here is daunting, our armored vehicle can still pass through. This means that if the despicable Persians truly choose this as their breakthrough point, their tanks might choose to tear through our defenses here," Qusay stated.
You must investigate something before you have the right to speak about it. Muhammad had originally dismissed this marshland, as everyone knew vehicles couldn't pass through it. But now that his own armored vehicle could pass through without too much effort, he had to re-evaluate the defensive deployment here.
He suddenly remembered that this Excellency Qusay was quite miraculous, having accurately predicted the route of the Israeli air raid. Could he have predicted that the Iranians would attack from here?
allah is Great. These lands were seized by the Iraqi army through bloody fighting and absolutely must not be lost! Muhammad made up his mind.
Looking at the fading yellow sunlight, as the sky darkened, Muhammad said, "Your Excellency Qusay, it's getting late. Let's head back!"
Qusay knew that rushing wouldn't help. There were still about half a month left before the Iranians' operation. This half month was enough time for him to thoroughly scout the entire marshland area, identifying where passage was easy and where the swamp was thicker. He needed complete confidence, and sacrificing a few armored vehicles for this purpose would be worth it.
Also, he needed to train the tank crews quickly, making sure the gunners mastered the essentials of long-range shooting. Otherwise, their tanks would be very passive once a tank engagement began.
"Turn around, let's go back." Qusay finally agreed.
After a whole day, Qusay felt exhausted, as if his body was falling apart. This small body of Qusay's had not yet been trained. It seemed he needed to seize the time to exercise in his spare time and build up muscles just like before.
The driver pulled the left steering lever, and the armored vehicle smoothly made a wide turn, heading back.
Ali saw the armored vehicle ahead start to turn around, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Today's mission was finally complete. He stepped on the brakes, and the tank stopped.
Next, Ali performed a special maneuver. He wanted to show His Excellency Qusay that he was no amateur and that his tank driving skills were formidable.
For this type of tank, achieving a pivot turn was impossible because it couldn't control both tracks to reverse. However, it was possible to stop one track from turning while the other spun quickly, achieving a minimum radius turn.
Ali shifted into low gear, stepped on the accelerator, and pulled the control stick. One side of the tank's tracks began spinning rapidly while the other side rotated around a central point, allowing for a quick turn.
Just then, the Type 63 Armored Vehicle completed its turn, and Qusay, standing on it, saw the tank ahead performing this maneuver, causing his heart to jump.
How stupid! This arrogant Captain Ali!