Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 839 Operation Heavenly Sword
The Iraqi pilots were also frightened by the Chinese formation. Although they knew very well that Kirkuk would inevitably be captured, they still bravely launched a fierce air battle with the opponent. Absolute advantage, their bravery is impossible to change the situation of the battle.On the contrary, most of these pilots became the down marks of Chinese fighter pilots.

When they reached the skies over Iraq, the Dragon Army bombers began to bomb important targets. The Lanxiang bombers used heavy bombs to destroy the office buildings, communication facilities and military command centers of Kirkuk agencies, making Kirkuk's The supreme command organization was severely damaged, and the command system here was ruthlessly cut off from various field strongholds in Iraq. At the same time, more Dragon Army bombers and fighter planes began to carry out carpet bombing on residential areas.

"Boom, boom, boom" All the windows and doors were ruthlessly torn apart by the huge shock wave, the glass of each window was shattered into pieces, the curtains were blown straight out of the window, and when they fell back, they were broken into pieces cloth.There was silence after the thunderous explosion, and soon bursts of strange sounds came out, similar to the sound of cloth being quickly torn, which was also the sound made by the house before it collapsed.Many were killed in their own homes, and many were buried in flimsy bomb shelters. The roads were littered with burning cars and twisted telephone poles. Many large trees were uprooted and their branches were scattered everywhere. Human arms, legs and heads.

That afternoon, the Dragon Army Air Force launched a "flame offensive" to Kirkuk. 240 Predator heavy bombers dropped about 500 tons of napalm bombs and other high-explosive bombs here. , so that all Iraqis in Kirkuk felt that hell was so close to them for the first time.

At night, the burning fire was still not extinguished, and the bombers of the Dragon Army continued to fly over the city.Now Kirkuk has completely lost the ability to resist, just like a helpless girl being bullied by a villain.Hundreds of tons of napalm bombs have completely turned this place into a huge torch. At night, Chinese planes are guided by this torch and keep dropping bombs on this unlucky city.Afterwards, a Chinese bomber pilot recalled the situation that day and said: "The whole of Kirkuk has become a sea of ​​flames. The tongues of flames that sprang out from time to time burned fiercely for a while and then suddenly extinguished slowly. Kirkuk It's like a huge blazing furnace. Everyone is roasting like hell in it."

The Dragon Army's air strikes on Kirkuk lasted for two full days, with an average of 1587 sorties of various fighter planes per day. The violent bombing caused the deaths of 17000 French soldiers and Iraqi civilians, and injured 50000.Such huge casualties surprised most senior officials, including Feng Xianghua, but they still approved of the air force's strategy, as Air Force Minister Feng Ru wrote in his diary: "From time to time, from Kirkuk Terrible news comes, but I think they deserve no pity, for their daring to defy our Emperor deserves their punishment.

When the Chinese Air Force launched the "Heavenly Sword" operation, many troops who were ordered to rush to the front were still a few days away from Kirkuk, which caused Feng Yuxiang, who had just returned to Iraq not long ago, a headache.Fortunately, nothing major happened in the end, and the troops advanced smoothly, especially the armored troops and mountain troops who were the main attackers. Their speed was very fast.By March 3, the main force had all arrived at the main starting position, including the three main attacking armored divisions of the Second Army also entered the predetermined location.

The dragon army soldiers who had been there for a long time were unwilling to wait for their comrades idly. They seized the opportunity to occupy some bridges in Kirkuk and established defensive positions.

On March 3, Feng Yuxiang and his staff officers appeared in Mosul. This frontier of the battlefield, which is only 2 km away from the Tigris River, was originally a material transfer station in northern Iraq, but after two days and two nights of fierce fighting , and now it has a new owner.At this time, Feng Yuxiang was listening to reports from several field commanders.

"Commander-in-Chief, we have just sent a reconnaissance force to conduct a tactical reconnaissance along the upper reaches of the Tigris River." The commander of the First Armored Division of the Western Expeditionary Army "Imperial Banner Guard" pointed to the clearly visible Tigris River on the opposite side and whispered to Feng Yuxiang : "We found that the defense of the Iraqis on the opposite side was very lax.For example, Maribor, which is 10 kilometers away from here, and Erbil, which is 15 kilometers upstream from that place, should have been a very important city, but when our reconnaissance troops arrived there, there was no one In other words, there was no resistance there. I really don't understand why? "

"Hehe!" Seeing the bewildered look of the Armored Master, Feng Yuxiang smiled slightly, and then said: "It's actually very simple, that's because there are mainly Kurds here, and these Kurds are pro-China. The French and the Islamic sects in Iraq don't like it very much, so they won't take any drastic tactical actions, and our attack will go well this time. Trust me. We will take Erbil without bloodshed. "Feng Yuxiang loudly told his subordinates about his prediction.

"Really?" The armored division commander scratched his head and said, "I didn't think so, I thought it might be a trap by the other party, so I didn't give the company commander any reward!"

"Hehe, give him a medal. Although he went deep into the enemy's city alone, it was a bit risky, but his courage and wisdom are commendable. Well, since you have so little confidence in my prediction. Then we will fight Let's gamble, how about a bottle of Laobaigan?"

"It doesn't matter!" At this time, Chen Jitang came over, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "We don't believe it anyway!" At this point, the people present looked at each other and laughed loudly.

Although Chen Jitang and others did not believe in the commander-in-chief's prediction, they did not believe that Erbil could be captured in just two days.Although the straight-line distance from Erbil to here is only 25 kilometers, it is the fourth largest city and military fortress in the Republic of Iraq. Even if the Iraqis really can't hold it, they will not give up Erbil of.

Iraq is located in the southwest of Asia and the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of ​​44 square kilometers. Muslims account for about 95 percent of the population, of which Shia Muslims account for 54.5 percent and Sunni Muslims account for 40.5 percent. * 73 percent.Arabs account for about 21 percent of the country's total population, and Kurds about [-] percent.The official language is Arabic, the official language in the northern Kurdish region is Kurdish, and some tribes in the eastern region speak Persian.

The Kurds are nomadic people in the West Kurdish region, mainly distributed in the Zagros Mountains and the Taurus Mountains: from Kermanshahan in Iran in the east, to the Euphrates River in Turkey in the west, to Yerevan in Armenia in the north, and to Yerevan in the south. Kirkuk in Iraq, as far as Aleppo in Syria, belongs to Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, and a few are scattered in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Jordan, and other countries.It is the fourth largest nation in the Middle East after the Arab, Turkic and Persian nations.

In the later period of the Arab Empire, the Kurds established several feudal dynasties.Afterwards, the Turks and Mongols invaded Kurdistan several times.The Kurdish settlement is known as Kurdistan.Most of this area was originally ruled by the Ottoman Empire. In the 12th century, Seljuk Sultan Sanjar first established Kurdistan Province. From the beginning of the 16th century to the 17s, the feudal system gradually took shape.Until the 30th century, the Kurds remained semi-autonomous within the Ottoman Empire, serving as a buffer zone between Turkey and Iran.Since then, due to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Kurds have been divided into several countries.Kurds in Iraq have been given special cold shoulder, trying to deprive Kurds of their identity and call them Mountain Turks, Kurds also feel strong assimilation pressure, and endure religious persecution by Iraqi Shia Muslim majority.After the Iraqi dynasty was overthrown, the Republic of Iraq failed to meet the political rights and social welfare wishes of the Kurds, which aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Kurds, and ethnic conflicts intensified.

At present, the Kurds are mainly distributed in northern Iraq, including Duhuk, Sulaymaniyah and Erbil provinces, as well as Kirkuk, Mosul and Diyala provinces, with an area of ​​about 8 square kilometers and a population of about 400.The terrain here is dangerous, the oil output accounts for more than half of the country in Iraq, and the agricultural and animal husbandry products are abundant, so it is called "granary".The Kurds mainly live on agriculture and animal husbandry. With the rise of the oil industry, some Kurds have become oil workers.The Kurds have a strong desire for national independence.After the establishment of the Iraqi Republic, the Kurds conducted many negotiations with Iraq.Iraq signed an agreement with the Kurds to establish the Northern Iraqi Autonomous Region, including Sulaymaniyah and other three autonomous provinces. However, Iraq only made a promise and has yet to introduce truly effective measures.

Although the Kurds have nominally gained autonomy, they are not welcomed in Iraq, and they are still so-called second-class citizens.As a result, some Kurds began to seek to establish their own country, and various Kurdish independence movements began to rise in various places.This includes the most famous Kurdish Democratic Party.

(End of this chapter)