Episode chapters:
00:00 introduction
01:48 Explanation on interactive maps
03:54 Defense lines and artillery ramparts
06:34 Jasim River and Utbah village
07:24 Attaba School
08:27 Aerial photography and explanation on battle maps
14:53 The battlefield and minefields
16:55 Al Bidda Channel Project
17:48 Fish Lake Cutter
Shalamcheh, Iran-Iraq War, Battle of Jasim River, Duaji River, Greatest Harvest, Siege of Basra, Iran-Iraq War
The Battle of the Greatest Harvest 1987 in brief.
🔺 The Iranians called it Karbala 5 and the Iraqis called it The Greatest Harvest. It is the largest, bloodiest and most violent battle of the Iran-Iraq war. It began on the night of January 8-9, 1987, and the actual fighting ended on April 12 and stopped on the 28th of the same month.
🔺 The Iranian goal was to control the city of Basra by crossing and penetrating the Iraqi Third Corps that defends the region and then isolating Basra and Al-Faw and eliminating the Iraqi army present in the south and declaring victory before the Persian year on 3/21 as stated by Khomeini .
🔺 The Third Corps defends the area in the Shalamja area and west of Lake Al-Asmak with 5 infantry divisions (one of which is mechanized infantry), the 66th Special Forces Brigade, and two armored divisions from the Fourth Corps and the Baghdad Forces Command, Republican Guard, and in reserve the 10th Armored Division, with support from the Army Air Force The Iraqi and the Air Force The Iraqi forces were organized within 3 defensive lines, interspersed with artificial barriers such as the fish lake, the earthen dam, and other barriers. As for the Iranian attackers, their forces were the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards, under which the forces of Najaf, Karbala, and Jerusalem were included, as well as the regime’s army units, such as artillery and the Iranian air force.
🔺 The Iranian attack began with the call of Ya Zahraa, and through the tactic of human waves on the night of January 8-9, through the axes of Shalamcheh and Lake Al-Asmak, and they achieved gains in the front defensive lines of the Third Corps, including the Al-Daiji line, which failed in its counterattack due to the muds that prevented it, and in In this small area, the fighting was intense. The two sides clashed in a very violent and harsh manner, and it was a battle of attrition for both sides. The Iranians were able to control 2 of the Iraqi defensive lines on the 18th and 21st of January, including the Jasim line, and on the 31st of January, the Iraqi forces (12th Armored Division and 5th Mechanized Infantry Division) launched a counterattack north of Lake Al-Asmak and recaptured it from the Iranians Through it, it made it difficult for the Iranians to penetrate the Iraqi units due to their depth and the use of large units to defend the region.
🔺 With the exception of Shalamcheh, whose liberation was later postponed to complete the appropriate preparations, the Iraqis regained most of the lands that were controlled by the Iranians after launching a series of corresponding attacks, including the attack of the Republican Guard on 4/7, which restored the block 1000, and the 12th Armored Division and the 5th Mechanized Infantry Division launched attacks Recovered by the areas around the fish lake.
🔺 The fighting in the Jassem River (a river that extends from the Shatt al-Arab to the southern end of the fish lake) was one of the fiercest and fiercest battles between the two sides. And it is possible to know the intensity and cruelty of the battle, so that the age of the next brigade to participate in the battle was only one day.
🔺 The Iranians used a Swedish air defense system of the type RBS-70, which contributed to shooting down a large number of Iraqi fighters and gave Iranian helicopters and fighters a valuable opportunity to support the advanced units. Tehran should push the Iranian opposition in Iraq to demand a cessation of the missile strikes out of compassion for the Iranian citizens.
🔺 The Battle of the Greatest Harvest - Karbala 5 was named after the Iran-Iraq War (which is an analogy to the Battle of the Somme in World War I between France and Britain on the one hand and Germany on the other, and the losses of both sides were very huge) and the high losses of both sides prompted Iraq to bring in forces from The Ministry of Interior and Iran asked for the need to volunteer to fight, and it was another major attack launched by Iran during the war with Iraq and the beginning of the end of the Iran-Iraq war.
🔺 The battle witnessed the loss of many military commanders by both sides, including Colonel Ali Al-Shukhaili, commander of the 37th Armored Brigade, along with a large number of its officers and soldiers, as well as the loss of the Iranians to Hussein Kharrazi of the Imam Hussein Div.
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