Operation Iron Road, Part 1

Situation

By September the American posture had hardened. Pressure around Al Safyrah was constant, and both eastern routes out of Dayr Hafir were contested.

7th Reconnaissance Platoon stepped off with mechanised support: infantry fighting vehicles, carriers and rocket artillery. 2 KRA reconnaissance teams went ahead, one on each route, marking confirmed American positions.

The standing order was that unmarked ground counted as unknown, not clear. The routes proved the point.

How it played out

On the Ma'Arat axis the platoon pushed friendly infantry onto the bridges and on toward the American forward operating base.

A ZSU-23-4 was reported recoverable in the sector. It was not reached. The vehicle sat too far into American ground to be brought out with what the platoon had. It is still there.

On the Saloren axis friendly infantry and armour were under heavy pressure. KRA tanks held in storage near Siano were brought forward, put back into running order and committed.

With enough armour running, the advance pushed to Sanobar and set the blocking position the operation had been built around. The point was never to hold Sanobar. It was to make the Americans pay to pass it, and to force more troops and armour onto that axis than they had meant to spend.

They paid. The fighting there was the heaviest the platoon has been part of. Roughly 15 Chieftains were lost, against a comparable number of M1A1 Abrams destroyed.

The platoon broke contact before the position could be enveloped.

Outcome

All 3 route objectives were met. The Americans were forced to commit at Sanobar and made to pay for the ground they took.

Against that, 15 Chieftains is a real price, and the ZSU-23-4 is still standing in American-held ground. Both carry forward.