The sun was blazing, and in Temasek, a tropical region, the temperature at this time was over 34 degrees. On the road, an army mainly composed of infantry, accompanied by a few armored units, was marching.
This was the Johor Second Infantry Division, one of Johor's main forces.
Although Johor has a large population, the economy is sluggish. The entire country has only four standing divisions and ten brigades, with 60 PT-91 tanks, 196 towed artillery pieces, and 54 rocket artillery vehicles, but no self-propelled artillery.
This time, to attack Temasek, the Second Infantry Division in Johor and the Third Infantry Division, along with five brigades, totaling nearly 40,000 troops, advanced on two lines, with overwhelming force invading Temasek's territory.
The Johor soldiers were sweating profusely; sparse training made marching under such intense sun torture.
Many soldiers, when unnoticed, sneaked to shady spots to rest. The military discipline, if not a complete mess, was close to non-existent.
The division commander Tik Pu sat in the command vehicle, frowning as he watched the sluggish marching troops: "Have the army speed up; we need to occupy their barracks and cities before Temasek reacts. Speed is crucial in war."
The staff officer showed a troubled expression, saying, "Commander, many of our armored cars and tanks have broken down, coupled with the soldiers' physical exhaustion. If we rush , we'll be at a disadvantage if we encounter battle."
Tik Pu's eye twitched slightly; he knew the staff officer was speaking truthfully.
Their Second Division, or rather the entire Johor, except for the elite Tenth Paratrooper Brigade, was seldom trained, causing soldiers to be extremely unfit for such fully armed long-distance raids.
The armored cars and tanks also broke down here in Temasek due to lack of maintenance, leaving equipment along the way.
As Tik Pu was about to urge, a communications soldier quickly ran over, urgently saying, "Commander, Jieke Group has sent intelligence that satellites have spotted Temasek troops ahead."
Tik Pu was shocked; their surprise attack had been long planned. Yesterday, the Tenth Paratrooper Brigade seized the Xin Ruo Causeway, a vital route. Then, the Rocket Artillery targeted several of Temasek's airports and barracks, destroying many of Temasek's warplanes, damaging runways, impairing their air superiority, and creating chaos in the barracks to give their army a chance.
"Satellites show Temasek is forming a defensive line, with about 3,000 soldiers but no heavy firepower detected."
"Only 3,000? Prepare to engage, pierce through them for me."
Hearing there were only 3,000, Tik Pu immediately became spirited.
His Johor Second Infantry Division numbered 12,000, a four-to-one manpower advantage; he was suddenly thrilled. If he annihilated this Temasek force and won the initial victory, his reputation in the country would soar.
Under Tik Pu's orders, the Second Infantry Division began changing formation, with those armored cars and tanks moving forward.
The Rocket Artillery and towed artillery positioned at the rear began setting up artillery positions.
An hour later, the Johor Second Infantry Division could already see the Temasek troops.
It was a reinforced infantry regiment from Temasek, urgently constructing defenses. But due to limited time and Temasek's flat terrain, with virtually no natural fortifications to guard, their defensive line was just an outline.
Tik Pu excitedly issued the order, and the division artillery regiment in the rear loaded shells into the artillery, then pulled the firing ropes. As the muzzle flashed, rounds of 105 and 155 mm howitzers flew toward Temasek's positions.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Continuous explosions rang out; Tik Pu's face darkened because many shells missed their target.
"What the hell are the artillery doing? Immediately adjust the aim."
Tik Pu cursed loudly; he saw the Temasek troops who had reacted were already dropping their engineering shovels, running and scurrying around, diving into anti-artillery bunkers, losing the sudden attack's effect of causing casualties.
The second round of shells soon fell, more accurately this time, but most Temasek soldiers had already hidden in trenches and anti-artillery bunkers.
Although many trenches were dug shallow and simply, and anti-artillery bunkers were collapsed by explosions, after all, they had some shelter, not exposed on plain ground being bombed, minimizing casualties.
Tik Pu's face was dark, infuriated by his own artillery's poor performance; such a good opportunity was wasted in vain. He wanted to give the artillery regiment commander a crotch kick for being unable to shoot accurately, wondering what use he served.
After the artillery fired a base amount of ammunition, Temasek's land where they stationed was left with scorched craters.
After the shelling ended, Johor Second Infantry Division launched its formal ground attack.
Leading the charge were the pride of Johor Army, the PT-91 main battle tanks.
This main battle tank has a crew of 3, combat weight of 45.3 tons, maximum speed of 60 km/h, and weaponry comprising a 125 mm cannon, a 7.62 mm machine gun, and a 12.7 mm machine gun.
Behind the tanks, armored cars and Infantry Fighting Vehicles interspersed, soldiers riding in Infantry Fighting Vehicles kept pace with tanks, dismounting to provide cover when approaching, unfolding a somewhat irregular armored infantry coordination tactic on the spot.
The irregularity stemmed from the disorganized attack layout of these tanks and armored cars, perhaps due to excessive tension. Many tanks and armored cars didn't follow the intended attack routes, even making blunders like running over their own troops.