USSR 1991

Page 255

"I finally understand why this army was sent to Cyprus in the first place. It is said to be a retired volunteer army, but it is much more terrifying than the regular army. It turns out that the Soviet Union was able to flatten the torrent of steel in Europe back then. It is not a legend. According to the current strength , It is completely easy to crush the northern garrison of Turkey, as long as the Soviet Union is willing to invest a division of troops here. Fortunately, they are our allies, not our enemies."

Clerides breathed a sigh of relief, but Alkasha, who was standing beside him, said with some disdain, "With such strength, it doesn't take a single division to annihilate the Turkish army stationed in Cyprus. Half a division is enough for them Suffering. One division of armor could liberate all of Cyprus in a week."

Alkasha said to Clerides, "We have opened up the key point to Morfu for the Cypriot army, and then we will encounter the Maginot Line that Turkey is proud of. Of course, the Turkish army was building This line of defense did not consider the issue of fighter jets at all, because Turkey is not mainly targeting us, but the Cypriot army. When you do not have air supremacy, Turkey does not have to worry about air strikes at all, so it uses such outdated weapons defensive approach."

In fact, this Maginot Line is not a real fortification built with bunkers, walls, ditches and barbed wire. It is simply a line of defense built by armored forces and set up firepower points in certain key areas.Because the terrain in the southeast of Morfu is a plain area, it is easy to attack but difficult to defend.That's why the Turkish army needs such a seemingly outdated method to cover up its weak defense.

"Then how can we tear through this Maginot Line? Are we still using rockets to wash the ground?" Clerides stared at the map. He believed that the experienced Alkasha knew more about war than the Cyprus army. Art.Especially after seeing the combat methods of the Soviet army.

"No, no, no." Alkasha shook his head, denying Clerides' thoughts, "This line of defense is different from Fort Curleon. Its width is much wider than we imagined. In this way, It means that the enemy's forces are not so concentrated. Maybe the effect of artillery fire washing the ground is not great, it is just a waste of shells. We need a more direct way to disrupt the rhythm of Turkey. In other words, we need the support of the Greek Air Force .”

"Greek air force support? Can't your fighter jets work?" Clerides asked back.In fact, the Greek Air Force is not very willing to perform combat missions over Cyprus at this time.After all, he still needs the consent of the British side.

"No, no, it's too obvious that we use Soviet-made fighter jets. Moscow doesn't really want to get involved in this dispute in Cyprus, so we hope to use Greek fighter jets to use air strikes to tear through this line of defense and provide armor for the armored forces." Breaking through the Maginot Line creates opportunities."

Clerides asked, "Why are you so sure that the Turkish side did not use anti-aircraft weapons?"

Alkasha said with a disdainful smile, "Because their cognitive level is still in the 1974 war. They expected that Greece would fear the attitude of the British side, so they did not dare to intervene in this dispute on a large scale. But the Soviet Union It’s different, as long as there is a layer of identity cover, we are just a volunteer army helping Cyprus liberate the national regime.”

Clerides nodded and said, "We will try to communicate with President Stephanopoulos and let them send the air force to support us in taking back Morfu."

"Please be sure to tell President Stephanopoulos that whether the Cypriot army can recapture the two important cities depends on the support of the Greek Air Force. If the Maginot Line is resolved, then the punishment battalion and the October battalion will take the lead The way the troops inserted a wedge into the heavily fortified Morfu opened up a safe battlefield for the two T80 battalions. Then they carried out street fighting and gradually wiped out the resistance forces of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."

After sending Clerides away, Alkasha sat alone on the tank and smoked a cigarette, looking melancholy at the slowly setting sun.When he turned around and saw Gordon standing behind him, he beckoned him to sit down.

Alkasha said slowly, "Maybe in the next few days, we will have a very difficult war. It may be as tragic as Stalingrad. Are you all ready?"

"Huh?" Gordon was taken aback by Alkasha's words, and he replied, "Isn't our attack going smoothly? Why is there a fierce battle? And Turkey's strongest elite troops have been beaten too weak to fight back." Now, the regime in Northern Cyprus is in a panic."

"Successful?" Alkasha threw the cigarette butt on the ground, turned his head to face Gordon, and said with a mocking arc at the corner of his mouth, "Morfu is different from the town of Culion, it is a densely built city. , without the support of rocket launchers and the cover of air fighters, the weakly armored T72 tanks are simply living targets in the streets and lanes. They can destroy our tanks as long as they use TOW anti-tank missiles. At that time, we can only rely on rocket launchers to attack Carrying out a carpet strike in the direction of our attack, as for the effect, I don't think it will be very useful. So what will we do as the vanguard? There is only one possibility, and the loss is heavy. But our intelligence shows that Morfu's defenders It's just the militias in Northern Cyprus, that is to say, as long as they can advance to occupy a third of the city, the remaining militias have no power to fight back at all, but this third may need blood to fill every step. That's why I say it's another version of Stalingrad."

Gordon was silent, and he replied after a while, "Then what should we do then? Slow down the pace of attack? Or readjust the strategy?"

The setting sun reflected on Arkasha's side face, outlining a sad outline.

"No, everything is going according to the original plan. The Soviet armored forces can only advance, not retreat."

He knew his mission as a soldier, and it was Alkasha's honor to die in battle, and it was also his final destination.

Alkasha's voice was a bit sad, and he said silently, "If possible, I hope to be buried in the cemetery closest to the New Virgin Cemetery after I die. This is the honor I dream of as a soldier. I want to tell my motherland ,I have already done my best."

"It's an honor to die for my country."

Chapter 567 Air Attack Support

President Stephanopoulos finished his last meeting, and when he sat in the office of the Presidential Palace exhausted, he received a cordial "greeting" from the Kremlin.

When receiving Yanayev's call, President Stephanopoulos' excited hands trembled a little. He didn't expect the Soviet employment team to have such a high execution efficiency.Almost within a few days of entering the battlefield, a beautiful beheading operation was completed, suppressing the so-called elite troops of Turkey and annihilating nearly half a battalion of tanks.President Stephanopoulos even regretted that more retired Soviet soldiers should be formed into mercenaries and put on the battlefield. In front of these invincible Red Army, not to mention Turkey, I am afraid that the elite of Western Europe will also be in front of steel chariots shivering.

However, Yanayev did not call specifically to celebrate the victory with President Stephanopoulos. He has more important matters to declare to Stephanopoulos, which is related to the Greek Air Force's attack on Turkey. The so-called "Maginot Line" bombing mission.After all, this is the family matter of NATO member states themselves, and the Soviet Union's dispatch of volunteer troops is the bottom line that Europe can tolerate.Once you send your own air force into the battlefield, it's not as simple as a family matter.It will directly rise from the civil war to the severity of the conflict in the Aegean Sea region, so in this battle, both the United States and the Soviet Union appear cautious.

The Greek Air Force has 75 F-16 fighters, 87 F5 fighters, 90 A-7H Corsair fighters, and 27 Mirage F-ICG fighters.This kind of strength is not inferior in terms of the entire Eastern Europe.Yanayev believes that Greece is fully capable of this offensive task.What's more, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus that year, Greece had a glorious record of defeating Turkish fighter jets.

"General Secretary Yanayev, you mean to send fighter jets to bomb the Turkish defenses in Morfu to create a good opportunity for the Cypriot armored forces to break in?"

Stephanopoulos loosened the tight tie a little, allowing his neck to stretch freely.Stephanopoulos stretched his waist, the exhaustion of the day left him with no time to think about other issues.

"However, in order to maintain restraint, Greece and Turkey do not want to send air force to fight over Cyprus. If Greece starts this, it may cause further fierce conflict between Turkey and Greece. This is what I am most worried about. Will If the situation escalates, Greece will not be able to stand up."

"Oh? I thought the Greek government had already decided to have a head-to-head contest with Turkey." Yanayev said with some sarcasm, "Or does it mean that the Greek government wants to see the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus change from a strategic defense stage to a Has it become a strategic counterattack?"

Stephanopoulos, whose eyes were slightly closed, opened his eyes, and asked in a deep voice, "General Secretary Yanayev, what do you mean by this sentence?"

Yanayev shook a piece of paper in his hand. This was information from the front line, which clearly recorded the recent situation of the war. Yanayev recited it to Stephanopoulos word by word. "According to the reconnaissance plane, the Cyprus army is gathering armored forces and personnel, and is defending against the attack of the Cyprus coalition army near the Turkish defense line. According to the intelligence analysis of our staff, the army of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will enter after a certain amount of consumption. In the counter-offensive stage, not only the two cities that have changed hands several times have been stabilized, but they will also continue to go south to capture more towns and create a buffer zone for the Northern Cyprus regime. At that time, it will not only be Cyprus, but may even threaten the British air force base .”

"Then I'll tell you what the Turkish army would do without air support. They would go all the way south and destroy all the cities and slaughter the remaining Greeks. When things got out of control, the US would pretend to order The two sides stop fighting and sign a treaty. At that time, Cyprus will find that under the instigation of the United States, they have lost far more land than the two cities at the beginning. Then, President Stephanopoulos is willing to see To this situation?"

Stephanopoulos coughed and replied slowly, "I don't want to."

Greece had already lost once in 1974, and this time it cannot continue to lose.On the one hand, the voice of the people may affect the approval rate of the Greek President at any time.Secondly, he had to consider how much loss Greece would suffer if it went into a war when it was not ready.

"Yes, none of us are willing, so I hope President Stephanopoulos will think about whether to help a Soviet Red Army that can take back strategic places for you, or consider making peace with Turkey and losing most of it territory?"

"Only if you beat the northern Cyprus regime too late to fight back in the shortest possible time, can you gain more bargaining chips at the negotiating table. Whether it is the Soviet army or political dogma, attack is always the best way, Stefan President Nopoulos, so we need support from the Greek Air Force."

"We don't want to see a tragedy happen."

After being silent for a while, Stephanopoulos said slowly, "We will notify the Cyprus army at that time, and the Greek Air Force will cooperate with Cyprus to carry out air strikes."

"Then I will trouble you, President Stephanopoulos."

After hanging up the phone, Yanayev sighed, turned around and said to Primakov, "President Stephanopoulos seems to be just a qualified politician, not a good one. The thinking of politicians is always to consider the balance of the interests of all parties, rather than directly crushing each other to the point where they cannot fight back like the army.”

After finishing speaking, Yanayev said with some self-mockery, "Sure enough, all politicians have such similar problems."

"What's the matter?" Primakov asked, who had just returned from Cyprus. He was going to Washington in a few days to negotiate with the United States on the issue of Cyprus.

Yanayev waved his hand, showing a helpless expression, "He has been calculating what kind of losses the Greek army will cause after being involved in the Cyprus civil war, and what kind of consequences will be caused to the already sluggish Greek economy. So Greece just stays at the interface of aid, rather than direct integrated strikes."

"But Stephanopoulos forgot one thing, and that is the strategic significance of this island country to Greece. Although in name, almost the entire Aegean Sea belongs to Greece, everyone knows that Turkey has been trying to Get involved in the Aegean Sea and regard Cyprus as a springboard. Once it loses this dispute, Turkey will quickly expand its sphere of influence in the Aegean Sea."

"They have already been deported from Asia Minor to the Balkan Peninsula. Do they still want their own inland sea to become someone else's bay?"

Regarding the hesitation of the Greek President, Yanayev felt a kind of indignation that he hated iron and steel. He pointed to the position of the Aegean Sea on the map and said, "Actually, in terms of political interests, the Cyprus dispute has little connection with the Soviet Union. The only The interest is that the establishment of the Soviet air base in Cyprus can threaten the security of Turkey. In this war, the S300 and bastion systems sold by the Soviet Union, as well as light frigates, are the focus of this dispute.”

This arms deal alone can bring nearly three billion US dollars in profit to the Soviet government, and the Soviet Union is just using the mouth of political strategists to control the situation.This is enough for Yanayev. Since the Americans sold the Perry class to Turkey, the Soviet Union has to give some benefits to its allies.So Yanayev just regards the conflict in Cyprus as a business of selling arms.

"Is that why General Secretary Yanayev asked me to discuss the Cyprus issue with the United States in such a hurry?"

Yanayev sighed, "Yes, let the UN army intervene now, at least Cyprus is just a situation of neither losing nor winning. Of course, I also hope that the situation will improve in the next week. Otherwise, in the At the negotiating table, the Soviet Union will appear very passive."

Chapter 568 Breaking the Line of Defense

Yanayev's anti-customer-oriented method gave the Cypriot army a head start. When Kurion fell, the Turkish army, which originally wanted to continue the offensive, canceled its hasty offensive plan.Instead, wait until a series of backups arrive before launching a counterattack.For Turkey, the last thing they lack is time.And every minute the Cyprus army passes, they lose valuable opportunities.

The longer the delay, the greater the advantage for Turkey. Clerides will organize the Thunder offensive plan for armored troops to break through the Maginot Line of Defense, and directly use tanks to tear through the opponent's defense line.Capture the city of Morfu.He blocked the two tank battalions in the city of Morfu. In other words, Clerides was determined to take it and wash away the shame of the war over the years.

As a mercenary force fighting in Cyprus, the armored force led by Alkasha naturally became the first choice to break through the line of defense. The T72 tanks would break through the so-called line of defense frontally under the cover of air support and artillery fire, and then carry out sweeping strikes.

Everyone couldn't bear it anymore. After annihilating the elite Turkish troops, they desperately wanted to take down the city that was far away and plant the flag of victory on the top floor of the government building.

In this regard, the Greek Air Force dispatched at least five F-16 fighter jets to bombard Turkey's direction indiscriminately, and bombed Greek defensive positions no less than four times in one day alone.Because the Turkish regime in Northern Cyprus did not expect the Greek Air Force to suddenly join the battle, they did not prepare powerful anti-aircraft artillery fire to resist air strikes.In the end, I could only watch helplessly as the built bunkers and trenches turned into ruins and ashes.

The Turkish regime in Northern Cyprus knows that a real war is about to start.At the beginning, they fantasized about attacking south. In the end, they could only choose to defend the last city.The No.30 Ninth Division, which was retreated by the First World War, did not choose to take the initiative to attack, but used passive defense to block the advance of the Cypriot army.

However, the Soviet Red Army would not leave them too much time. After the first round of air strikes was completed, the armored battalion began to attack.After several rounds of artillery fire, a small number of tanks deployed by Turkey have been transferred to the rear to accumulate strength, perhaps seeing that the proud Maginot Line of Defense can no longer hold on.Only the militiamen of the Northern Cyprus regime are still waiting here for the arrival of armored troops.

These people armed with RPG or TOW anti-tank rockets and missiles have no idea who they are facing. Perhaps the 1974 war gave them a taste of sweetness. Their T80 tank is simply a live target.