Empire Conquest

Chapter 673 - 13 Blockade Tactics_2

If the deterrent effect was not achieved, expanding the no-fly zone would be asking for trouble.

With only 6 tactical squadrons, totaling a mere 48 fighters, even an all-out effort might not fare well against the Iraqi Air Force, which possessed over 600 fighters.

According to the simulations conducted yesterday, if the Iraqi Air Force was determined, they would only need two large-scale assaults to overwhelm the Empire’s air defenses.

Even though the Iraqi Air Force would suffer heavy losses, the Iraqi Army’s Armored Forces could then advance to the south of the border line without significant threats, and with hundreds of tanks, drown the Marine Corps’ two Armored Battalions.

Strategic bombing wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Due to the lack of fighter cover, the bombers stationed at Diego Base could only launch cruise missiles from afar.

Setting aside whether the Empire Air Force had enough cruise missiles, even if they did, the strike efficiency wouldn’t be high.

Cruise missiles are more suited for stationary targets, not for engaging advancing Armored Forces.

Having cruise missiles fly over 1000 kilometers for more than an hour and still hit a moving target precisely was a technology the Empire’s researchers were still exploring.

According to the worst-case scenario derived from the simulations, Iraqi forces, after paying a heavy price, would capture King Khalid Military City before the Empire’s reinforcements arrived.

Even if it didn’t reach that stage, the Iraqi forces could still push the front line southwards by hundreds of kilometers.

Either situation had consequences too dire to bear.

It was precisely for this reason that the Air Force advocated for a different set of tactics, namely reducing the no-fly zone’s size to enhance control.

As for specific tactics, they involved a resolute and decisive counter-strike after the outbreak of hostilities to break the enemy’s morale.

This was a deterrent strategy as well.

However, the core idea of the Air Force’s deterrent tactics was not merely to deter, but to take actual action to disabuse the enemy of any notion of attack.

To put it bluntly, it meant fighting a few battles!

Setting the no-fly zone to a width of 100 kilometers and extending it 50 kilometers on either side of the national border was in fact "enticing" the Iraqi Air Force into combat.

According to the Air Force’s simulations, at the beginning of the engagement, especially without a clear understanding of the opponent’s capabilities, the Iraqi Air Force would certainly not venture far south but would first probe by sending combat aircraft into the no-fly zone and plan their next move based on the Empire Air Force’s reaction.

This was the key.

If they could deal a blow to the Iraqi Air Force’s arrogance in the first few battles and crush its fighting spirit, there was a high chance of dissuading them from the idea of moving south.

At its core, it was substituting battle for intimidation.

Even if the Iraqi Army sent reinforcements to the border region, they would stop advancing north of the border due to the lack of air cover and support.

As the saying goes, morale can be boosted but not deflated.

Once the Iraqi forces stopped, launching a new offensive would not be so easy.

From a political standpoint, the halting of the Iraqi military’s advance would be equivalent to abandoning their campaign against Saudi Arabia.

Of course, the heart of the Air Force’s tactics was to leverage the small-scale combat prowess of the "Expeditionary Mixed Wing".

Let’s not forget, the "Expeditionary Mixed Wing" is actually best at this type of small-scale aerial combat.

The 6 tactical fighter squadrons of the 3 "Expeditionary Mixed Wings" could ensure that at least 2 squadrons, totaling 16 fighters, were combat-ready at all times within 7 days.

Clearly, more forces were bound to arrive after 7 days.

And importantly, as long as they could control the scale of the engagement, they had an absolute chance of victory.

When presenting this point of view, Li Tianling didn’t rely on theory, but brought up the performance from the past few years’ exercises, especially during the "Westward" joint exercises.

To say nothing of the Iraqi Air Force, none of the forces within the Empire Air Force had ever defeated the "Expeditionary Mixed Wing" in exercises.

However, this tactic had one very serious problem.

If sufficient deterrent effect was not produced, or if the relationship between the Iraqi Air Force and the Iraqi Army wasn’t harmonious, there was a possibility that ground combat might commence earlier than expected.

At that point, what could be used to resist Iraq’s million-strong army?

This was precisely the key reason why the Marine Corps was vehemently against it.

Forget about a million-strong army; if the Iraq authorities were determined, deploying just one Armored Division would be enough to obliterate the Marine Corps’ two Armored Battalions.

As for air support, it might not play a decisive role.

Because of this issue, Air Force and Marine Corps officers had argued for a full day yesterday, and no conclusion was reached.

Today, the same issue was still being discussed.

However, Shi Shouliang seemingly had little patience.

After dinner, as the meeting resumed, he first let the officers of the Air Force and Marine Corps present their respective tactical propositions.

Afterwards, he made his arrangements.

The initial phase of the battlefield interdiction operation was divided into two stages. First, the no-fly zone was to be set to a width of 100 kilometers, with an implementation period of 7 days, and then the no-fly zone would be expanded to 300 kilometers. During execution, adjustments would be made based on changes in the battlefield situation.

In addition, Shi Shouliang assigned the Marine Corps a new task.

During the first stage of 7 days, they would deploy deceptive tactics against the enemy to strengthen the effect of the deterrent strategy.