Nearly eight years had passed since the outbreak of the last Yom Kippur War (the Fourth Middle East War). The result of this war was that the Arab Countries caught up with Israel, reversing their previous string of defeats and restoring strategic balance between the two sides.
Following mediation by the United Nations, Egyptian President Sadat proactively established diplomatic relations with Israel, ending the hostility between them. Under the land-for-peace agreement, Israel returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt.
This Operation Babylon was supposed to be the last major mission from the Sinai Peninsula Airbase, intended to conclude perfectly, but instead, it met with a crushing defeat.
Iraq and Israel do not share a border, nor had they declared war beforehand. Sneaking into another country's territory, dropping bombs, and destroying a nuclear reactor that posed a huge threat—if successful, although Israel would face international condemnation afterward, the deed would be done, and Israel would remain Israel. This is the style of a great power.
But now that it had failed, everything was different. The wreckage of the fighter jets had been discovered, and even one pilot was captured. At this point, denial was impossible.
Israel was immediately pushed into the eye of the storm of public opinion.
Attempting a thousand-mile raid to surprise the nuclear reactor, only to return with heavy losses, the Israeli Air Force became the laughingstock of the world.
Even technicians from General Dynamics (the manufacturer of the F-16 fighter jet) publicly stated that the F-16 was an excellent fighter, but attempting such a long-range attack exceeded the performance limits of the aircraft.
Furthermore, violating the airspace of a sovereign nation was blatant aggression. This time, even their biggest backer, the United States, couldn't pretend ignorance. To cooperate with public opinion, the US Congress issued a strongly worded condemnation report, terminating all technical assistance to the Israeli Air Force, including the indefinite postponement of the delivery of the second batch of F-16 fighters ordered by Israel.
Israel wasn't afraid of this, because the Jewish Influence within the United States would soon mobilize, and this sanction would become worthless within a short time.
However, Israel still needed to provide an explanation to the world. Therefore, the Commander of the Israeli Air Force, Avery, took the blame for everything, resigned voluntarily, and accepted full responsibility for the incident.
Internally in Israel, voices opposing Prime Minister Begin grew louder. The overall commander behind this operation was Begin, and to maintain secrecy, he concealed the operation, known only to a select few. This inadvertently offended many people, especially the right-wing Likud Bloc.
Begin was having a tough time, but the Director of Mossad, Hofi, was having an even worse time.
According to the report from Iftachi, the ace pilot and sole survivor of the Chisel Squadron who returned, the enemy had set up an ambush over the small lake exactly when the formation made its final turn and verified landmarks. How could the enemy know this so clearly? There must be an insider!
Hofi set Mossad into full operation, trying to find out who sold the intelligence about the Israeli Air Force's sneak attack to Iraq. This was treason!
He would never find this insider, because there was no insider at all.
Zhang Feng, who had changed all of this, was currently on his way to Basra.
Iraq's geography resembles a horn, narrow in the west, bordering Jordan. To the northwest and southwest are Syria and Saudi Arabia, respectively. The north borders Turkey, and the long eastern border intersects with Iran. At this moment, the situation was complex, with Iraqi forces occupying parts of Iranian territory in both the north and south.
Geographically, Iraq is mainly divided into northern and southern parts. The Southern Military Region, based in Basra west of the border, is primarily responsible for the offensive against Southern Iran. This force had already crossed the Shatt al-Arab river, captured Khorramshahr, and was currently besieging Abadan.
The Defense of Abadan can be considered a turning point. Iraq's initial blitzkrieg strategy was completely defeated. After more than a year of failed attempts to capture Abadan, all morale was extinguished, and Iran's military adjustments were complete, preparing to transition into the counter-offensive phase.
From then on, the Iran-Iraq War continued, entering the eight-year phase of conflict.
History was rewritten here! If Iran's counter-offensive at Abadan had failed, and the Iraqi army had captured Abadan and then taken Bandar-e Emam Khomeini, the course of the war would have been altered.
Abadan is Iran's important oil refining center. Bandar-e Emam Khomeini is Iran's most modern major port, located southwest of a small island in Musallam Bay in the northwest Persian Gulf. To the north, a railway crosses the strait to Tehran and other inland areas. It is about 80 kilometers straight line west of Abadan Port and about 62 kilometers northeast of Mahshahr Oil Port. By capturing this area, Iraq's oil exports would no longer be restricted by the lack of ports, and relying on Abadan's oil refining industry, Iraq's economy would enter a rapid growth phase.
Saddam Hussein's decision to send troops into Iran probably had reasons related to this: compared to Iran's long coastline, which occupies almost half of the Persian Gulf, Iraq only has one outlet to the sea: Fao.
The Fao Peninsula is located at the southern tip of Iraq, the northern end of the Persian Gulf, near the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab river, covering an area of only 850 square kilometers. It is practically the throat connecting Iraq to the Persian Gulf. Should anything happen to Fao, Iraq would lose more than half of its oil export capacity.
Fao is also the center of Iraq's petrochemical industry. Since the Iran-Iraq War began, it has frequently been visited by the Iranian Air Force.
Speaking of the Air Force, Zhang Feng felt a pang of regret. Most of Iraq's military equipment came from the Soviet Union, and the Air Force was no exception. Its main equipment, the MiG-21 and MiG-23, were Soviet products. These planes, when fighting the Iranian Air Force's f－14s, were practically engaging in a one-sided massacre.
The F-14 was the main equipment of the US Navy, the pinnacle of variable-sweep wing fighters, belonging to the third generation of fighter jets. Although the MiG-23 was also a variable-sweep wing fighter, its wings could only be manually maintained at a few angles, while the F-14 was computer-controlled and could adjust continuously. This reflected the air force equipment philosophy of that era: for low-speed maneuvering in dogfights, a small wing sweep angle was needed, but for high-speed flight, the sweep angle had to be as large as possible to reduce drag.
The drawback of variable-sweep wings was the increase in structural weight. In later generations, excellent aerodynamic designs could simplify the airframe structure, so variable-sweep wings eventually faded from the view of aircraft designers.
What made the F-14 even more powerful was its electronic equipment: the formidable AWG-9 radar.
This radar could detect enemy fighters at a distance of 160 kilometers. Compared to the MiG-25's fire control radar, which relied solely on increased power, the AWG-9 radar was superior in resolution, capable of distinguishing and tracking low-flying targets even against ground or sea clutter.
Coupled with the Phoenix missile, which has a range of over a hundred kilometers, it was practically invincible.
Therefore, during the Iran-Iraq War, there was a period where the ground belonged to the Iraqis, but the sky belonged to the Iranians.
This situation continued until 1982 when Iraq introduced the French-made Mirage F1, paired with the advanced Matra R-530F missile, giving the Iraqi Air Force a fighter capable of rivaling the US-made f－14s of the Iranian Air Force.
The tactics of the two air forces were also different. Trained by dogmatic Soviet instructors, the Iraqi Air Force was accustomed to operating under the guidance of ground radar, which was incomparable to the tough-style Iranian Air Force trained in the United States.
Therefore, after entering the Southern Military Region, the first thing to consider was the issue of troop air defense.
Without air superiority, one cannot win a modern high-tech war. This was a bloody lesson: during the Gulf War, the Iraqi army was utterly defeated by the airstrikes of the Coalition Forces.
Of course, rushing things was useless. The most urgent task now was to equip the field units with air defense capabilities.
Getting this dogmatic and rigid army to learn how to fight a modern war—that was Zhang Feng's initial idea.
With this in mind, Zhang Feng entered Basra via Highway 6.
Basra is the capital of Basra Province, located on the west bank of the Shatt al-Arab river, at the outlet of Lake Hammar, 120 kilometers from the Persian Gulf. For convenience, an artificial navigation channel was specifically dug to connect directly to the Persian Gulf, capable of mooring several ocean-going vessels.
Basra consists of three parts: Ashar, Basra proper, and Maqal. The Ashar District is the seat of government and the city's financial and commercial center; the Basra District concentrates schools, hospitals, and residences, along with many mosques; the Maqal District is the transportation hub and external gateway, featuring an airport, seaport, and railway station.
Basra used to be picturesque and historic, but now it has become an industrialized city in Iraq.
Last year, Iraq's first steel mill was established in Basra, making Basra the second largest city in Iraq after Baghdad.
Basra is adjacent to the Fao Peninsula. Its naval base, Umm Qasr, and numerous oil wells and other petroleum facilities on the Fao Peninsula are all covered by artillery fire from Abadan in Iran. When the Iran-Iraq War started, this area was bombarded by Iran. However, because Basra city itself has a large population of Shia Muslims, and Khomeini's policy of exporting the revolution required courting these people, the city center of Basra didn't suffer much bombing.
Wahrih and Ghassar accompanied Zhang Feng to Basra. Zhang Feng did not bring the flashy Ferrari sports car, opting instead for the inconspicuous Beijing Jeep.
Zhang Feng already knew that Iranian planes occasionally came to bomb the area. If he drove a Ferrari, the pilot above might identify him as a wealthy Iraqi, and a single burst of cannon fire could cut him in half.
Low profile. It's better to keep a low profile.
Through the previous battle, Zhang Feng knew that Wahrih was a loyal and brave fighter. Since he himself needed loyal subordinates, he chose to assign Wahrih to follow him to the Southern Military Region as his personal bodyguard.
Upon learning that he was to serve as a guard for President Saddam Hussein's second son, Wahrih felt extremely proud. Through the previous battle, he also understood that His Excellency Qusay was completely different from Uday—not extravagant, debauched, or bullying, and he was skilled in warfare. Serving as his guard was a great honor.
As for Ghassar, he insisted on coming along. He pleaded with Zhang Feng, explaining that he had always looked after Zhang Feng's daily life and had been repeatedly entrusted by Zhang Feng's mother, Sajida Khairallah, to serve Zhang Feng well and follow him wherever he went.
With no choice, Zhang Feng had to drag this 'nanny' along to Basra. However, having a steward was also the kind of life he had once yearned for.
The desert yellow Jeep entered Basra, heading toward the Southern Military Region Headquarters in the Ashar District.