On the morning of the third day of Operation Desert Saber, the 18th Airborne Corps prepared to continue advancing toward Basra, Iraq's second largest city to the east. Before a full-scale battle can begin, the army must first seize Talil Airport and Jelibah Airport, which are still in the hands of the Iraqi army. Since the Medi Mechanized Division was located close to the two airports when the battle ended the day before, this task was assumed by the division. At 6 o'clock in the morning that day, the American Mechanical Division dispatched the 1st Brigade to support the 2nd Brigade in attacking Jelibais Airport, while the 197th Infantry Brigade attacked north to capture Tellil Airport. By 10 a.m., Jelibah Airport had been seized by multinational forces. Soon, Tellil Airport also fell into the hands of the US 197th Infantry Brigade.
At 2 noon, the 10l Air Assault Division arrived at the newly built Viper Forward Operating Base, which had just been captured by the 2nd Brigade of the 10l Air Assault Division at 10 a.m. and is located 20 kilometers east of the Cobra Forward Operating Base. The US 10l Air Assault Division operated from here. Two armed helicopter battalions first arrived at the Hamar Causeway northwest of Basra and launched a fierce attack on various types of Iraqi military vehicles on the causeway. The wreckage of destroyed Iraqi vehicles quickly blocked the Iraqi army's escape route, making subsequent attacks by the US military more unimpeded. Soon after, another two battalions of armed helicopters crossed northward across Lake Hamar to attack Iraqi military vehicles that had passed the causeway.
The 7th Army launched a large-scale joint offensive operation against the armored and mechanized divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard (Tawakarna Division, Medina Division and Hammurabi Division). After the attack began, the U.S. 1st Mechanized Division located on the southern flank of the military front immediately launched a fierce battle with the Iraqi troops after overtaking the U.S. 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in front of it. On the left wing, the U.S. 1st Armored Division, in cooperation with the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, also launched a powerful offensive against the Iraqi Republican Guard.
In this operation to encircle and annihilate the Iraqi Republican Guard, the 7th Army put all its combat forces into battle for the first time. Originally, there were 2 Pei, a heavily armed force of more than 20,000 people, along the way, but the US military's calculations were clattering, and the Chinese army was eventually eliminated from this ranks. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, which recently joined the 7th Army, has quickly advanced to the left flank of the corps' offensive zone, thus greatly increasing the combat effectiveness of the 7th Army. The 1st Cavalry Division suffered losses at the hands of the 113th Division in North Korea. Someone originally suggested that the two armies cooperate to show that they could clear up their old grudges. However, it was obvious that neither the 1st Cavalry Division nor the 113th Division were interested in this, and still regarded each other as enemies.
From left to right, the 7th Army deployed the US 1st Cavalry Division, 1st Armored Division, 1st Armored Division, 1st Mechanized Division, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the British 1st Armored Division. During the offensive, the GPB global positioning system receiving device equipped by multinational forces played a great role in maintaining contact and identifying each other with friendly neighboring forces. The successful application of the Beidou system and the GPB system has given the world a new understanding of precise military positioning in the new era.
The 2nd Brigade of the U.S. Armored Division launched a fierce attack on the Iraqi 2nd Armored Division. After a fierce battle, the brigade broke through the Iraqi defense positions and invaded Kuwait. At dusk, the U.S. Armored Division launched another attack. First, it dispatched AH64 armed helicopters. Under relatively severe weather conditions, it inserted into the rear of the Iraqi 10th Armored Division to carry out strikes. These insertions and maneuvers directly destroyed the continuity of the Iraqi army's defense, prompted chaos in the Iraqi army, and forced them to abandon their positions and a large amount of equipment. Subsequently, with the support of multiple rocket launcher firepower, the 1st and 1st brigades of the U.S. Armored Division attacked the Iraqi army defending frontally, forcing the Iraqi army's front-line troops to retreat, so that they mixed with the rear troops, causing chaos. . This joint combat operation by multinational forces and various services shattered the Iraqi army's attempt to reorganize its defenses and caused the complete collapse of the Iraqi 10th Armored Division.
At the same time, the U.S. 1st Armored Division engaged in fierce battles with the Tawakarna, Medina and Adnan divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard. Its 2nd Brigade destroyed 61 tanks and 34 armored vehicles of the Medina Division of the Iraqi Republican Guard. The U.S. 1st Mechanized Division on the right wing also achieved greater results. The division first defeated the resistance of the Iraqi 2nd Armored Division, and then cooperated with the U.S. Armored Division to annihilate the Iraqi 6th Armored Division. Finally, it severely damaged the Iraqi 6th Armored Division. Army - an infantry division. In order to achieve the grand goal of annihilating the Iraqi Republican Guard, Schwarzkov readjusted the deployment of the 7th Army. He planned to use the 1st Cavalry Division as the left wing and the 1st Mechanized Division as the right wing to encircle the Republican Guard on both sides. The Iraqi army, which had completely retreated to the north, was blocked in this encirclement.
Subsequently, the 7th Army continued to advance eastward. The U.S. 1st Mechanized Division established blocking positions on the north-south highway connecting Basra and Kuwait City, completely cutting off the Iraqi army's way of escaping north, making the Iraqi army a turtle in a jar. In the early morning of February 2, the artillery unit of the 7th Army used various artillery and tactical missiles and other long-range fire support weapons to carry out considerable artillery preparations on the Iraqi army positions. Multinational armed helicopters also conducted repeated attacks on suspicious targets in the Iraqi army positions. attack. The Iraqi army was like a rag doll that was about to be played with, being repeatedly ravaged by a brutal man with chest hair and clawing his feet.
On the other side, the 2nd Marine Division on the left wing of the U.S. 1st Marine Expeditionary Force began the fourth day of ground operations. On this day, the division's task was to hold on to the captured positions and make contact with the northern coalition forces on the left to ensure that the Arab forces entered Kuwait City in advance. 6 a.m.,?The army made contact with the Egyptian troops. Hours later, the Northern Front coalition troops crossed the positions of the U.S. 2nd Marine Division in columns. The Marine Division remained in the Mutrah Ridge and Bear Line areas until the end of the war. The U.S. 1st Marine Division on the right wing of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, after consolidating the occupied area, eliminated the last few groups of Chinese friendly forces that were still resisting near Kuwait International Airport, and fought with the Chinese troops who had arrived in Kuwait City in advance. The armies converge. Saudi Arabia's leading Arab coalition forces on the eastern front later joined this team.
At 9 a.m., the Egyptian army crossed the attack site of the US 2nd Marine Division and arrived at Ali Salem Airport on the outskirts of Kuwait City. At the same time, Kuwait's "Shahid" Brigade and the 4th Armored Brigade of the Royal Saudi Ground Forces also crossed the US Marine Corps and approached Kuwait City and captured the "Hotel" target. The Syrian 9th Armored Division at the rear used one brigade to guard the Iraqi prisoners of war captured by the northern front coalition forces. Also doing this job was Qi Yiming's Red Alert Rapid Reaction Brigade. Another Syrian brigade continues to protect the cluster's lines of communication. On this day, another brigade of the division responsible for protecting the Saudi border area rushed northeastward to join the main force of the division. The Syrian Army's "Teli" regiment was ordered to enter Kuwait City and prepare to occupy the western district of the city.
After the Eastern Front Joint Forces located on the east flank of the multinational force front captured the last batch of targets during the offensive, its leading troops entered Kuwait one after another and joined the Northern Front Joint Forces entering Kuwait City from the west.
By the 4th day of the ground battle, the Iraqi defense system had been completely destroyed by multinational ground forces, and the path for the Iraqi army in the Kuwait theater to return to the homeland had been cut off. Only the divisions of the Iraqi Republican Guard and armored units with light losses blocked the advancing multinational ground forces, but they were quickly annihilated or defeated by the multinational forces in an absolutely superior position. By the end of the third day, the organized resistance of the Iraqi army in the entire Kuwait theater no longer existed, and the organization was almost disbanded. Only some die-hards were still resisting sporadically. Despite the rapid advance of the multinational forces, some Iraqi troops were able to escape before the encirclement closed and returned to the country through the blockade.
When the order for the multinational forces to stop the offensive took effect at B o'clock on the morning of the fourth day, the 18th Airborne Corps plus the 113th Division had completed their advance into Iraq, cut off the Iraqi army's retreat, and participated in the final annihilation battle against the Iraqi Republican Guard. During the battle, the U.S. 8th Airborne Division continued to eliminate the Iraqi troops at "red" targets, "gold" targets and "orange" targets. The 10l Air Assault Division continued to operate along Highway B to ensure the safety of the Cobra and Viper forward operating bases, and at the same time, cut off the road north of Basra for the Iraqi army returning north. At 0:00 B on the morning of the fourth day, the leading troops of the US Mechanized Division stopped along the adjustment line west of Basra, only 6 kilometers away from the city. This was also the final offensive stop line of the 18th Airborne Corps.
On the central battlefield, the divisions continued to attack in the early morning of the fourth day, with the main goal of destroying the remnants of the Iraqi army divisions west of Bashi. During the attack, the U.S. 1st Armored Division and the U.S. 1st Armored Division occupied the designated combat target under the resistance of the Iraqi army, and destroyed more than 20 Iraqi army tanks and armored vehicles. Then, according to the order, they pointed to the next target to pursue the remaining Iraqi troops. .
The British 1st Armored Division continued to advance eastward, clearing out the Iraqi troops near its designated target. After annihilating the remnants of the Iraqi Republican Guard, the US 7th Army established blocking positions with its 1st Mechanized Infantry Division and 1st Armored Division along the supply line from Jahla to Basra. In the battle that lasted for more than ten hours, the US 7th Army dealt a devastating blow to the most elite Iraqi troops, annihilating more than 10 Iraqi divisions, destroying about 136 Iraqi tanks, more than 26 armored vehicles, and more than 20 artillery pieces. and 100 sets of air defense weapon systems, and captured nearly 22,000 Iraqi officers and soldiers.
Such a massive battle should have involved the Chinese army, but Schwarzkov saw through the Iraqi army's resistance that it was no longer a problem, and the Chinese army was not inferior to the US military in terms of tactics and tactics, and even had some tactics. Strong, in such a war, Schwarzkov could not see the Chinese stealing all the limelight, so he deliberately moved 2 Pei to the battlefield on the eastern front in advance, and the US military and a British army were mainly responsible for attacking Iraq. The main force of the army launched an attack.
On the last day of the ground offensive, the US 1st Marine Expeditionary Force stayed in the defensive position outside Kuwait City and did not take any major combat actions. The US 1st Marine Expeditionary Force was also ordered to stop. During attack operations, only helicopters are provided to deliver food supplies and other logistics materials to forward troops, and they conduct air combat patrols within the Marine Corps' combat areas.
However, the two Chinese Army divisions would not stop acting like the Marines. Especially the 2 Pei, who had been holding back their anger and basically did not fight much, even refused the order of the Joint Operations Command to stand still and instead Persuading the Chinese generals in the joint operations headquarters prompted Erpei to act together with the Arab forces to carry out the final blow against the Iraqi army.
On the last day, the Arab coalition forces on the eastern front stopped their offensive operations and consolidated their positions south of the Seventh Ring Road in Kuwait City. A contingent of Saudi Arabian special forces seized the Saudi embassy in Kuwait. A unit of the Saudi Royal Marines,???Under the escort of the amphibious assault ship Fujian of the Chinese Navy, we successfully landed and occupied the Minasaoud Port. Other units of the Eastern Front Joint Force continued to eliminate the remnants of the Iraqi army in the combat area. At the same time, the coalition forces on the northern front also stopped advancing. The Egyptian Einsatzgruppe it formed occupied the Egyptian Embassy. The 6th Brigade of the Egyptian 4th Armored Division was ordered to clear out the Iraqi troops in the western district of Kuwait City. The Egyptian 1st Mechanized Division performed security missions northward along its position in Arak.
There were not very intensive exchanges of fire in the city, but they were all about clearing out the last remaining enemies. At this time, Kuwait was finally successfully captured by multinational forces.