The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 327 A War We Can't Afford to Lose
"Where are our new tank units? When can they go to the battlefield?"

Khomeini roared angrily.

He overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty, established a new regime, and ruled Persia.

However, before the whole country could be sorted out, and there were still many opponents, the Iran-Iraq War broke out.

The Iran-Iraq War was a war that Persia could not afford to lose.

Once the war is lost, the new regime will inevitably collapse.

Khomeini knew that Iraq had the support of the Arab world, the Soviet Union and the United States!

The United States hoped that this method would bring down the new regime and restore the overthrown Pahlavi dynasty, thereby regaining this staunch ally.

Khomeini was well aware of the Soviet Union's plan. They intended to force Persia to agree to lease ports to the Soviet Union and even reach an alliance, so that the Soviet Union could move south to the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea and project its military power directly in the Middle East, the South Asian subcontinent and Africa.

But Khomeini has been hesitating because the condition is too great and the backlash will be extremely terrifying.

The Persia at that time will not be the Persia of today, nor the Persia of the past, but a Persia that implements the Soviet model.

So he continued to import weapons, equipment and supplies from the East, gritted his teeth and persevered, and took back the territory bit by bit.

"We currently have a small number of new tanks, and the delivery time is short. Our troops are still familiarizing themselves with them under the guidance of the enemy's technical staff. It will take at least three months before they can be deployed on the battlefield." The chief of staff looked a little grim.

The destruction of the two tank and armored divisions was a huge blow to Persia's military strength in Khuzestan Province.

This meant that Persia had almost no mobile forces in Khuzestan province.

Although both sides deployed hundreds of thousands of troops on the battlefield, it does not mean that all of them were fighting. On many fronts, both sides were in a stalemate, and there were very few mobile forces.

Moreover, Persia had to maintain a large number of troops in the east, imitating the polar bear and directly attacking Persia from the direction of Afghanistan.

Ever since polar bears entered Afghanistan in 1979 and the Afghan war broke out, the terrifying combat style of the mechanized troops shocked the whole world. No one can help but be on guard next to polar bears.

If you are not careful, the flag may have changed when you wake up the next day.

"Let our people in China contact them and urge them to deliver the tanks ahead of schedule. We need these powerful tanks!" Khomeini looked unhappy. "Tell the frontline troops not to fight the Iraqis head-on, but to fight more guerrilla warfare and attack their supply lines!"

Khomeini knew how difficult the situation in Persia was now.

If it were not for the Pahlavi dynasty, which left behind a large amount of foreign exchange, Persia might not have survived the Iran-Iraq War until now.

"Find a way to contact the Americans and ask them to unfreeze our funds!" Khomeini said in a deep voice.

There is not much foreign exchange reserves left. Even though Persia has oil revenue, the consumption on the battlefield is too great.

If this continues, with Persia's foreign exchange reserves and oil revenues, it may only last for two years.

And this premise is the current oil price.

If oil prices fall, I'm afraid we can't hold out for even longer.

If the funds frozen by the Americans could be unfrozen, Persia would be able to hold out longer.

Khomeini and others had a consensus that Persia had greater war potential than Iraq, and as long as the war continued, the Iraqis would inevitably be driven out.

Unlike the dark clouds in Persia, the victory news caused a great sensation when it reached Baghdad. This was the second Persian tank armored division that Rashid had annihilated.

It can be said that Iraq’s passive situation in Khuzestan Province has been changed to a great extent.

Although Iraq occupies half of Khuzestan Province, the enemy's troops continue to attack its supply lines, which makes Iraq very uncomfortable.

The amount of ammunition and supplies delivered to the front line was 100 tons, and at least one or two hundred tons of ammunition and supplies were lost behind the scenes.

Not to mention, Iraq is overwhelmed by the daily attacks.

The daily losses may not seem large, but the accumulated losses over a few months or a year will be huge.

The Persians continued to wage guerrilla warfare, causing great headaches for the Iraqi army.

But the terrain of Persia is very suitable for guerrilla warfare.

The Iraqi army occupied relatively flat land, but was powerless in places like plateaus.

After the Persians succeeded in their attack, they quickly retreated to the mountains, and the Iraqi army was completely powerless to stop them.

"Well, good job Rashid!" Saddam was very excited.

Originally, Saddam was considering whether to stop the war.

It was just a negotiation between the delegation and Persia. Saddam was very angry about Persia's tough attitude. It was obvious that Iraq had the advantage on the battlefield, and its losses were far less than Persia's. Iraq also occupied a large amount of land, and the Persians were in a position of being beaten. However, Iraq had such a tough attitude and even demanded that Iraq pay 40 billion US dollars in war reparations.

Those who don’t know would think that Iraq was a defeated country and had to pay war reparations to the victorious country.

Now, with two consecutive resounding victories, Saddam's gloom about the Iran-Iraq War has been swept away and his pre-war ambitions have been restored.

As long as Iraq forces the Persians to recognize the situation and sign the agreement, then with so much land and so much oil, it will only take one year for Iraq to fully recover its strength and become the true overlord of the Middle East.

This Iran-Iraq War was a struggle for dominance in the Middle East.

During the Pahlavi dynasty, Persia was the overlord of the Middle East and had the strongest army. Its population was as high as over 30 to nearly 40 million. The Persians were also good at fighting and were known as the "Lion of the Middle East."

Iraq is a newly emerging country. If it wants to become the overlord of the Middle East, the best way is to defeat Persia, the old overlord.

Moreover, as long as Persia is defeated, Iraq will not only gain huge prestige, but Saddam will also surpass Nasser to become the greatest hero in the Arab world. At the same time, Iraq can increase its land by at least 50,000 square kilometers. These lands are fertile and rich in oil, which can just make up for the disadvantages of low oil production in southern Iraq's oil fields and narrow coastline.

"Damn Persians, they should have realized the situation now!" Saddam was very proud. "Sure enough, these weapons and equipment are really advanced. They can even destroy the American M60 tanks and the British Chieftain tanks with one shot."

"Once I have built a few tank and armored divisions, who in the entire Middle East will be a match for Iraq?" Saddam's heart was full of ambition.

In his heart, he always wanted to be like Nasser and become a hero of the Arab world.

He even had an ambition in his heart, which was to establish a Babylonian Empire and restore the glory of the ancient Babylonian Empire.

To this end, he took out a large sum of money from oil revenues every year and invested it in military construction, allowing Iraq to have millions of lions and become a powerful country in the Middle East.

Up to now, the battlefield of the Iran-Iraq War has not been in Iraq, and with the help of self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and various anti-aircraft machine guns, Persian planes no longer dare to easily enter Iraqi airspace, which makes the impact of the war on Iraq very small.

Iraq is still implementing a high welfare policy to maintain domestic stability.

(End of this chapter)