Thunder Strikes Back

Chapter 68
"The only premise of this attack is suddenness. This is also my opinion with the Minister. You have already seen that our main attack direction is here."

Lieutenant General Spanga spoke, pointing at several places below the map.Everyone couldn't help standing up and walking to the map.

"Across the Thar Desert?"

"That's right, the main direction is just south of the Suttledge River. Choosing this area can absolutely guarantee the suddenness of the battle. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the attack location where the enemy's command system is most likely to be paralyzed. For this purpose, we He does not hesitate to set himself the harshest geographical obstacles, just as Manstein chose the rugged mountain road in southern Belgium as his route to the Meuse River; The natural direction to attack, because our enemies also look at maps."

"It's hard to do, massive movements, secrecy is a problem, mechanized columns are deployed on the deserted Rajasthan border, enemy satellites are clearly visible. If there were satellites in 1940, I believe Manstein It is impossible to bypass the Maginot Line," said a senior officer.

"Major General Mani, you are quite right. This is the second point of this battle plan. We must conduct fake moves in other directions. To this end, we need to conduct a decent feint attack in the north. The frontal penetration of the enemy is 20 to 50 kilometers deep. It is best to have a force that can penetrate deep into the city of ***. It is necessary to attract all its reserves to Kashmir, the traditional combat area between us and them. In addition, the main attacking force, It is not necessary to deploy close to the frontier of the country before the attack. At the same time, measures to paralyze the enemy's reconnaissance satellites can be used to make abnormal movements; in my experience, true and false information will make their staff officers unable to judge. .Once the attack begins, it must advance to the deep area at the fastest speed, making it impossible to organize defenses, so the offensive forward must invest in the most elite mechanized infantry and armored troops."

Someone below began to nod. This plan seems to have inherent advantages. Although the environment in the desert area is harsh, there are no mountains that armored troops cannot cross, and there are no rivers that cause headaches for tanks.If the breakthrough went well, the armored division would not need to stop and wait for the engineers to build a bridge before reaching the east side of the Indus River.Of course, the problem is also obvious. The hot climate and logistical supplies will undoubtedly become the most serious problems."

"We need to tear open several openings in the front of the enemy with a width of 40 to 60 kilometers, and then the armored forces will break through here and here at the fastest speed. You may have noticed that this area happens to be where the entire eastern border of Pakistan comes from. It is the midpoint from south to north, and it is also the narrowest section of land in Pakistan, less than 500 kilometers from east to west." As the lieutenant general said, he gestured with his right hand to cut off the middle, and everyone suddenly understood his intention. It's too bold. The armored officers who saw it in their eyes, even though they still had many doubts in their hearts, they were not indifferent at the moment.

"Moreover, the defense here is also very weak." Singer interjected below, and he spent no less time studying the deployment of enemy troops in this area than any general present.

"Your Excellency the Minister is right. There is still only one 16th Infantry Division here. This division guards a long frontal defense line about 350 kilometers wide, and the 16th Division still owes a regiment until April."

"However, to the south is the fully equipped 18th Infantry Division." A division commander said. "And connecting the 16th Division defense area to the north is the Pakistani 2nd Army, which has the strongest armored force in Pakistan - the 1st Armored Division, which has just been strengthened by new Chinese tanks."

"Okay, let's first talk about how this plan will contain the enemy forces in the south. According to my overall plan, our navy and the southern tactical air force will completely destroy the Pakistani navy in the port of Karachi a week before the operation. The possibility of landing on the southern coast." Spanga said, his tone now is not at all like a military commander, but more like an army chief of staff.In fact, even Pasard could not command the Marines, but Spanga had Defense Secretary Singh behind him, so a naval component could be added to his plans.

"To be precise, what the Navy is doing is not a feint," Singh interjected triumphantly again, encouraging his beloved general, "Guys, as soon as the time is right, the Marine Corps will go ashore in Karachi or other coastal places in Sindh Province. ...can completely destroy their terrorist training camps and submarine bases in this area. You must know that every terrorist infiltration of theirs is launched from this coast."

"That's right, so the southern threat can be lifted. Looking at the north again, if the 2nd Army of Multan or the 1st Armored Division of Shujaabad go south, that's very good. We must fight with them in the desert. A decisive battle of armor. Better than letting them retreat into the Suleiman Mountains and spending months with us."

"Where is the specific breakthrough location?"

"The destination of the first stage is here, to capture Khalpur within 72 hours, a medium-sized city with a depth of 80 kilometers, this is the first important point of attack, if I guess correctly, Pakistan's initial defense will appear here, of course , must be very slight, and the second stage of the assault must reach Sukkur, where we seize the bridge across the Indus. If they blow up the bridge, we can use engineers to put up a few pontoon bridges and continue west. "

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, if Pakistan sees through your attempt, it will definitely use part of the Northern Group's reserve force to retreat south to the Kilt Mountains to form a new defensive zone. At that time, our front will be far longer than theirs. They will gradually overwhelm us in the summer war of attrition, relying on new forces and material assistance from China."

A major general expressed his views. Lieutenant General Spanga has always been open-minded, and has always allowed junior officers to refute himself, and his officers have also dared to express their opinions.

"General Brahmas is right, if we put more than 10 divisions of offensive force here, logistics will become the biggest problem, but I promise, it will not enter the summer war of attrition. This is what we attacked recently, Jeh The reason for the Ram Dam. You see, the mobile reserve of the entire northern group is the 30th Army in Gujravalam. It plays a role in connecting Kashmir from the north to Punjab. Our strong offensive in Kashmir earlier, It is inevitable that the Pakistani 10th and 1st Group Armies will be firmly trapped around Fort ***. At that time, they will be able to use the highway from Fort *** to Jacob Abad to quickly maneuver, only the 30th Army However, once the dam on the Jhelum River is destroyed, it will cause floods like in 08, and the road will be cut into hundreds of sections by the flood, so that the movement of the 30th Army in the surrounding areas will be hindered. Once they are stuck in the road, they will become the target of our tactical air force."

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, are you sure that the enemy has not noticed this intention?"

"Obviously not yet, we have detected that they are lowering the water level of the dam, but the rainy season starting in mid-May will cause the water level in the entire Jhelum River to rise to the level before they took measures. Also, they are mobilizing the first in Karachi. The 5nd Mechanized Brigade went north to increase the defense forces around the Fort. It can be seen that the Pakistani Army did not understand our intention at all. Obviously, Pakistan and their Chinese allies currently only think that the attack on the dam has only a general tactical effect. "

"I have one last question personally," Major General Brahmas stood up, the commander of the 33rd Armored Division, who seemed deeply moved by the plan of relying on armored forces. "If you need to use a strong feint attack to hold down the two army groups in the northern mountainous area, and all the reserves in other directions, you need to invest at least 2 times the enemy's strength. Otherwise, the whole plan is still in danger of collapse."

"Hehe, you are really my best friend. You saw the essence of this problem at the first time. I think what we need is not 1.5 times, but 2 times the strength. For this reason, we must draw 5 to 6 troops from the eastern defense line." The mountain division with nothing to do, went to the front line of Kashmir to carry out a decent offensive. The rumble of artillery must be heard by the Fortress before they will be completely hooked."

"I always feel that it is impossible for Admiral Pasade to agree to such a plan. He doesn't like too risky plans. He doesn't like someone mobilizing troops from the east." Major General Bramas said.

"The Army Staff will agree. I promise." Singer sat aside and said solemnly, as if waiting for a fierce fight with full fighting spirit.

(End of this chapter)