Battle of 73 Easting.
The world has experienced a number of serious wars between nations, societies, and even between multi-nations. There are a number of reasons which can lead to a war between nations. Some of these reasons may include lack of common agreement and understanding concerning a particular issue which in many cases tends to result in disagreements. For instance, different countries may be in war because of border issues and so on. This paper will therefore give a detailed description of the Battle of 73 Easting. This was a battle fought in February 1991 during the gulf War between the American Troops and the Iraqi forces. There is also a conclusion which summarizes the significance of this battle.
The Battle of 73 Easting is known to have been a tank battle which was quite decisive, and was fought in 1991, February 26. This was the same period for the famous Gulf War which was fought between the armies of United States against the armies of Iraqi Republican Guard (Krause 37). The two forces were sufficiently armored and the reason the battle has been an historical event. The battle was staged exactly 50 miles on the east of the Gulf, some few hours following the battle of Al Busayyah. This battle is named after a phase line on a reference map reference which occurs after every few kilometers in the measurement of the offensive operation progress.
During the war, the main battle to be staged by the United States unit was the famous second Armored Cavalry Regiment which was an element of reconnaissance for the VII corps (Charles 24). During the battle, these VII corps led a number of elements which included the famous American third Armor Division, 3rd AD, and the First Infantry Division, 1st ID, and backed up by the British First Armored Division, 1st AD. During the February 2324 night, as it should be in accordance to General Schwarzkopfs strategy on the ground, the mission was to come up with a ground assault which they gave the name Operation Desert Sabre. The VII Corps began their race from the east side of Saudi Arabia, and slowly by slowly entered into Iraq. They entered in a maneuver army style which would later be nicknamed as the Hail Mary. The VII Corps has already came up with two major goals one, to end off any Iraqi retreats from the state of Kuwait, and the second mission was to come up with a mission of destroying the five Republican Guarding Divisions which had kept vigilance near the Kuwait-Iraq border. They knew that the group might have decided to attack the Marine Corps or the Arab Corps, which had begun moving into the southern parts of Kuwait. The initial resistance offered by the Iraqi troops had been light and extremely ineffective, and therefore much fighting would only be seen on the 25th day of February the same year.
Plan of the Battle
In order to ensure that success would be realised with the battle, a plan was extremely necessary. The Second Armor Division had to advance into the eastern, locate the place and then begin engaging the enemy from a distance. Having engaged their opponents in the battle, this would allow the highly trained and heavily armored units in the First Division to go through the line and by so doing be able to destroy and finish the Iraqis soldiers (Krause 38). The Second ACR group would have its advance limit at the 70 Easting and the First group would farther push for their overall objectives from the east. Having set the plan, the groups came into contact with the Iraqs Tawakalna Division which was heavily armed. These Iraqi troops had positioned themselves in very well constructed emplacements for defense purposes. The Tawakalna troops had also made preparations for alternative positions for enabling their reorientation towards the west in order to be able to face the American VII Corps should thy attack them from that direction. Why is it that the battle became very great so that it can still be known till this day Having learned that American troops had the mission of attacking them, and having put in place extensive artillery and aerial bombardments, the United States forces had to admit that that most of Tawakalna Division elements still remained effective against them (Krause 46).
Before staging the 73 Easting Battle, there were other combats that were staged, and an example is the 67 Easing battle. The 67 Easting battle had been fought in a very damaging weather condition. In the early hours of the day, a very ground smog and fog and been witnessed, and later as the day aged the fog was lifted by winds which were gusting to over 40 knots. After a few minutes following the heavy winds, there was a very heavy downpour which later started to blow away sand, thereby reducing the visibility to something less than a hundred meters (Macgregor 68). The sky ceiling had been rendered extremely low for any Army aviation programs or even for any Air Force mission to be launched. This made a bad beginning for the great battle.
On that very day, at around one in the broad daylight, one of Second Cavalry Units for the American side, known as the Ghost Troop, launched an attack which destroyed a number of armored Iraqi carriers and also destroying three major Iraqi tanks by 3 PM the same day. By around 4 PM, the Second Eagle Troop reported having received immense fire which had been launched by the Iraqis dismounted outposts. The Iraqis had dug a ZU-23 which constituted of a number of Iraqi villages. Having received fire from the Iraqi troops, the American troops also returned fire from the tanks thus silencing the Iraqis. They took prisoners from the villages and continued farther eastwards. Any enemy fire received was returned by a similar amount of fire and attack, and finally they came to the 70 Easting Line (v 69), three kilometres from 67 Easting.
The 73 Easting Battle
Having been able to go beyond Easting 67, the American troops reached 70 Easting at around 4.20 PM. At Easting 70, the Eagle Troops held a second squadron which knocked out an Iraqi screen constituted of eight T-72 Iraqi tanks (Macgregor 72). Beyond Easting 70, the troops could see the T-72s which had been prepared in strategic positions at the 73 Easting. The 73 Easting had been made by the Iraqis to be their area for their Brigade Assemblies. Having thought of it keenly, it occurred to Captain H.R. McMaster who was in charge of the Eagle Troops that fear would engulf should they wait for the Iraqi troops to take a better position. Therefore the Troops Captain decided that he would not wait for the Iraqi troops to form some heavier units which would come forward, go through his lines, and attack his troop. The right thing at that particular moment was to engage the Iraqis in battle. McMaster as the Captain ordered the Troop to move quickly and engage the troops and Iraqi tanks in a fierce attack (Biddle 48).
Looking at the Eagle Troop, it was in itself very strong since it consisted of exactly ten M1 Abrams Tanks, 2 M107 Mortar Carriers, thirteen M3 Bradleys, a M981 FIST, and a One M577 tacking command system. From most of the battles that have been fought by different nations and troops, any form of armored battles being staged in an open area like in a desert tend to be very quickly decided. This being the case, 73 Easting battle would not be an exception (Charles 63). The Second Division troops surprised the Iraqis after very technically penetrating the Iraqi placements and positions in a much quicker way so that they were absolutely unable to recover or recollect themselves. The Superior American which has the capability to night visionary turned the already bad weather into the favour of the U.S. troops.
The troop under the command of McMaster charged and then destroyed all the Iraqi tanks from a very close range at the 73 Easting. Having seen that their tanks had been severely destroyed by the Eagle Troop, the Iraqis never surrendered as they had always done in the previous combats and battle engagements. In the past battles and engagements, the Iraqi troops had been opted for wholesale surrender. Having seen their tanks being destroyed by the American Troop, the Iraqi soldiers decided to stand firm on their ground, and therefore they decided to get other tanks and personnel carriers that had been heavily armored by the Tawakalna Division in an attempt to fight after successfully maneuvering into the US troops (Macgregor 85). Eagle Troop staged a battle which destroyed over twenty Iraqi tanks and some other vehicles that had been heavily armored. Also, a number of bunkers and trucks were also destroyed in the attack. At the same Easting 74, the American troops took many prisoners with them, and had not encountered even a single loss or damage to their side (Biddle 79). In about twenty minutes later, the Eagle Troop then advanced its heavy and constant contact to the Iraqi troop from Easting 67 to Easting 73.
At Easting 73, a total of three other troops known as the ACR Troops Iron, the K, known as the Killer, and the G, known as the Ghost, joined this battle as well. At around 440, the Ghost Troop assumed a strategic position which would be fixed and based on a ridge for overlooking Wadi, and was parallel to it. This led to the famous phase line 73 Easting, which was on the northern side of the battle already staged by the Eagle Troop (Krause 81). During this fight, the Tawakalna Division constituting the Republican Guards got tangled up with their counterpart Twelve Iraqi AD, and now the two enemy troops were busy trying to retreat their course through a very narrow terrain. This was a small and narrow valley which stood between the two ridgelines, and what happened was that the troops were led straight into combat with the Ghost Troop. At 630 on the dot, the first wave of the Iraqi T-55 and T-72 tanks had advanced farther into Wadi in an effort to escape, and they directly jammed into the hands of the Ghost Troop (Macgregor 47). Having come into close contact, a fierce fighting began as subsequent waves of tanks infantry continued to charge the Ghost Troop (Biddle 57).
Different groups jammed into different troops and the fight then began. The fighting that sprung up was very great and in a very short time duration so that so that a calling of helicopters and artillery would be the only solution that would save the Ghost Troop. The battle continued for about six hours with the Ghost Troop support calling in over 720 rounds. At exactly 9.00 PM, the Ghost Troop desperately ran short of rounds of ammunition as well as tanks. After many minutes in the battle, the Hawk came in order to relieve the troop. The Ghost Troop had to lose a M3 Bradley to the Iraqi fire as well as one soldier who died during the battle. The victim who was killed was Sgt. Moller A. Nels, who was the Bradleys gunner. Also, it was reported that the Bradley had been depleted of its missiles supply and had remained under fire together with its cannon. The Bradley had been hit by cannon fire that had been launched by one of the Iraqi T-55.
Beyond 73 Easting
By around 9.30 PM, the Second ACR front went ahead to 74 Easting. This was a little quiet First Infantry Division of the American troops began its passage forward and off the lines. This First Infantry Division successfully completed its crossing passing into the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment, and then advanced farther for the Objective Norfolk. This is an area encompassing the IPSA Road-Pipeline intersection, having a number of desert trails, and a depot for Iraqi army supplies (Macgregor 55). At this moment, instead of having three armored squadrons, both 18th and 37th Iraqi Armored Brigades came into contact with the six heavy American battalions and the infantry with their fighting vehicles, and then there were other battalions having 155 mm artillery for field attack. Having noted that they had come into contact with the American army, the Iraqis, once again, never surrendered or ran away, but instead decided to man their weapons and vehicles in order to competently face the Americans army which was advancing slowly by slowly. In order to ensure they held the Iraqi into a constant battle, the Americans assembled their units and advanced closer, and past the Iraqi crews and tanks. The Iraqis had not moved out of their shelters, or most probably they had turned off all their engines and tanks, and therefore it never at all appear as a threats for the Americans and their thermal sight which empowered them in the dark (Macgregor 68).
At this point, it happened that there was some kind of confusion which had ensued, as the enemy tank infantry and anti-tank crews appeared to operate in the rear, closer and closer trying to attack the American units, and so a number of fire attacks were staged. The commander of the Brigade, David Weisman, therefore announced that they would pull backs, try to consolidate themselves, and involve the use of his artillery in destroying the Iraqi infantry which had been aggressive (Krause 97). Having been attacked, the Iraqis then halted at the Infantrys Division initial, temporarily keeping a constant watch of the Americans. Half past midnight, February 27, the two major attacking brigades in the American First Infantry Division positioned themselves along Easting 75 which lies about 2 kilometres on the east of Easting 73. Having gone beyond 75 Easting, the Iraqis combated the Americans in a battle which later became known as the Battle of Norfolk. The American Troop crossed 75 Easting and moved for over ten kilometers in order to accomplish their already stated objectives. Objective Norfolk was one of their agendas and the reason they were not going to fail, a success which was realised in the next three hours past midnight. That day, by dawn, the First Infantry Division had already taken control of Norfolk and so the fight had to shift away, farther from 73 Easting, and head to the north.
The Second ACR, which is the only American army to have advanced closely between Iraqi troops and the Twelfth Armored Division as well as the Tawakalna Division, it was only group in the American ground crew which had been decisively outnumbered by the Iraqi forces, and it had also been greatly out-gunned (Biddle 98). Nonetheless, the group had been in the company of three squadrons, and one Infantry Division which had two brigades, and that way they had greatly destroyed the two major Iraqi brigades. These Brigades are the Eighteenth Mechanized Brigade and the Thirty-seventh Armored Brigade, both part of the Iraqis Tawakalna Division. The other Second ACR had alone been able to destroy over 85 Iraq tanks, about 40 carriages and over 30 vehicles belonging to the Iraqis. They had also managed to destroy a number of Iraqi anti-aircraft systems and artilleries during the entire battle period. Generally, an equivalent of one Iraqi brigade had been totally destroyed during the 73 Easting battle. This became the historical first defeat of the Iraqis Republican Guards operating from the ground (Kagan 78). Within an average of twenty-four hours, majority of the other brigades belonging to the Iraqis had been totally destroyed. Therefore, the battle proved the superiority of the American troops and the desire to attain their mission and objectives in their military practice.
The Battle of 73 Easting is known to have been a tank battle which was quite decisive, and was fought in 1991, February 26. This was the same period for the famous Gulf War which was fought between the armies of United States against the armies of Iraqi Republican Guard (Krause 37). The two forces were sufficiently armored and the reason the battle has been an historical event. The battle was staged exactly 50 miles on the east of the Gulf, some few hours following the battle of Al Busayyah. This battle is named after a phase line on a reference map reference which occurs after every few kilometers in the measurement of the offensive operation progress.
During the war, the main battle to be staged by the United States unit was the famous second Armored Cavalry Regiment which was an element of reconnaissance for the VII corps (Charles 24). During the battle, these VII corps led a number of elements which included the famous American third Armor Division, 3rd AD, and the First Infantry Division, 1st ID, and backed up by the British First Armored Division, 1st AD. During the February 2324 night, as it should be in accordance to General Schwarzkopfs strategy on the ground, the mission was to come up with a ground assault which they gave the name Operation Desert Sabre. The VII Corps began their race from the east side of Saudi Arabia, and slowly by slowly entered into Iraq. They entered in a maneuver army style which would later be nicknamed as the Hail Mary. The VII Corps has already came up with two major goals one, to end off any Iraqi retreats from the state of Kuwait, and the second mission was to come up with a mission of destroying the five Republican Guarding Divisions which had kept vigilance near the Kuwait-Iraq border. They knew that the group might have decided to attack the Marine Corps or the Arab Corps, which had begun moving into the southern parts of Kuwait. The initial resistance offered by the Iraqi troops had been light and extremely ineffective, and therefore much fighting would only be seen on the 25th day of February the same year.
Plan of the Battle
In order to ensure that success would be realised with the battle, a plan was extremely necessary. The Second Armor Division had to advance into the eastern, locate the place and then begin engaging the enemy from a distance. Having engaged their opponents in the battle, this would allow the highly trained and heavily armored units in the First Division to go through the line and by so doing be able to destroy and finish the Iraqis soldiers (Krause 38). The Second ACR group would have its advance limit at the 70 Easting and the First group would farther push for their overall objectives from the east. Having set the plan, the groups came into contact with the Iraqs Tawakalna Division which was heavily armed. These Iraqi troops had positioned themselves in very well constructed emplacements for defense purposes. The Tawakalna troops had also made preparations for alternative positions for enabling their reorientation towards the west in order to be able to face the American VII Corps should thy attack them from that direction. Why is it that the battle became very great so that it can still be known till this day Having learned that American troops had the mission of attacking them, and having put in place extensive artillery and aerial bombardments, the United States forces had to admit that that most of Tawakalna Division elements still remained effective against them (Krause 46).
Before staging the 73 Easting Battle, there were other combats that were staged, and an example is the 67 Easing battle. The 67 Easting battle had been fought in a very damaging weather condition. In the early hours of the day, a very ground smog and fog and been witnessed, and later as the day aged the fog was lifted by winds which were gusting to over 40 knots. After a few minutes following the heavy winds, there was a very heavy downpour which later started to blow away sand, thereby reducing the visibility to something less than a hundred meters (Macgregor 68). The sky ceiling had been rendered extremely low for any Army aviation programs or even for any Air Force mission to be launched. This made a bad beginning for the great battle.
On that very day, at around one in the broad daylight, one of Second Cavalry Units for the American side, known as the Ghost Troop, launched an attack which destroyed a number of armored Iraqi carriers and also destroying three major Iraqi tanks by 3 PM the same day. By around 4 PM, the Second Eagle Troop reported having received immense fire which had been launched by the Iraqis dismounted outposts. The Iraqis had dug a ZU-23 which constituted of a number of Iraqi villages. Having received fire from the Iraqi troops, the American troops also returned fire from the tanks thus silencing the Iraqis. They took prisoners from the villages and continued farther eastwards. Any enemy fire received was returned by a similar amount of fire and attack, and finally they came to the 70 Easting Line (v 69), three kilometres from 67 Easting.
The 73 Easting Battle
Having been able to go beyond Easting 67, the American troops reached 70 Easting at around 4.20 PM. At Easting 70, the Eagle Troops held a second squadron which knocked out an Iraqi screen constituted of eight T-72 Iraqi tanks (Macgregor 72). Beyond Easting 70, the troops could see the T-72s which had been prepared in strategic positions at the 73 Easting. The 73 Easting had been made by the Iraqis to be their area for their Brigade Assemblies. Having thought of it keenly, it occurred to Captain H.R. McMaster who was in charge of the Eagle Troops that fear would engulf should they wait for the Iraqi troops to take a better position. Therefore the Troops Captain decided that he would not wait for the Iraqi troops to form some heavier units which would come forward, go through his lines, and attack his troop. The right thing at that particular moment was to engage the Iraqis in battle. McMaster as the Captain ordered the Troop to move quickly and engage the troops and Iraqi tanks in a fierce attack (Biddle 48).
Looking at the Eagle Troop, it was in itself very strong since it consisted of exactly ten M1 Abrams Tanks, 2 M107 Mortar Carriers, thirteen M3 Bradleys, a M981 FIST, and a One M577 tacking command system. From most of the battles that have been fought by different nations and troops, any form of armored battles being staged in an open area like in a desert tend to be very quickly decided. This being the case, 73 Easting battle would not be an exception (Charles 63). The Second Division troops surprised the Iraqis after very technically penetrating the Iraqi placements and positions in a much quicker way so that they were absolutely unable to recover or recollect themselves. The Superior American which has the capability to night visionary turned the already bad weather into the favour of the U.S. troops.
The troop under the command of McMaster charged and then destroyed all the Iraqi tanks from a very close range at the 73 Easting. Having seen that their tanks had been severely destroyed by the Eagle Troop, the Iraqis never surrendered as they had always done in the previous combats and battle engagements. In the past battles and engagements, the Iraqi troops had been opted for wholesale surrender. Having seen their tanks being destroyed by the American Troop, the Iraqi soldiers decided to stand firm on their ground, and therefore they decided to get other tanks and personnel carriers that had been heavily armored by the Tawakalna Division in an attempt to fight after successfully maneuvering into the US troops (Macgregor 85). Eagle Troop staged a battle which destroyed over twenty Iraqi tanks and some other vehicles that had been heavily armored. Also, a number of bunkers and trucks were also destroyed in the attack. At the same Easting 74, the American troops took many prisoners with them, and had not encountered even a single loss or damage to their side (Biddle 79). In about twenty minutes later, the Eagle Troop then advanced its heavy and constant contact to the Iraqi troop from Easting 67 to Easting 73.
At Easting 73, a total of three other troops known as the ACR Troops Iron, the K, known as the Killer, and the G, known as the Ghost, joined this battle as well. At around 440, the Ghost Troop assumed a strategic position which would be fixed and based on a ridge for overlooking Wadi, and was parallel to it. This led to the famous phase line 73 Easting, which was on the northern side of the battle already staged by the Eagle Troop (Krause 81). During this fight, the Tawakalna Division constituting the Republican Guards got tangled up with their counterpart Twelve Iraqi AD, and now the two enemy troops were busy trying to retreat their course through a very narrow terrain. This was a small and narrow valley which stood between the two ridgelines, and what happened was that the troops were led straight into combat with the Ghost Troop. At 630 on the dot, the first wave of the Iraqi T-55 and T-72 tanks had advanced farther into Wadi in an effort to escape, and they directly jammed into the hands of the Ghost Troop (Macgregor 47). Having come into close contact, a fierce fighting began as subsequent waves of tanks infantry continued to charge the Ghost Troop (Biddle 57).
Different groups jammed into different troops and the fight then began. The fighting that sprung up was very great and in a very short time duration so that so that a calling of helicopters and artillery would be the only solution that would save the Ghost Troop. The battle continued for about six hours with the Ghost Troop support calling in over 720 rounds. At exactly 9.00 PM, the Ghost Troop desperately ran short of rounds of ammunition as well as tanks. After many minutes in the battle, the Hawk came in order to relieve the troop. The Ghost Troop had to lose a M3 Bradley to the Iraqi fire as well as one soldier who died during the battle. The victim who was killed was Sgt. Moller A. Nels, who was the Bradleys gunner. Also, it was reported that the Bradley had been depleted of its missiles supply and had remained under fire together with its cannon. The Bradley had been hit by cannon fire that had been launched by one of the Iraqi T-55.
Beyond 73 Easting
By around 9.30 PM, the Second ACR front went ahead to 74 Easting. This was a little quiet First Infantry Division of the American troops began its passage forward and off the lines. This First Infantry Division successfully completed its crossing passing into the Second Armored Cavalry Regiment, and then advanced farther for the Objective Norfolk. This is an area encompassing the IPSA Road-Pipeline intersection, having a number of desert trails, and a depot for Iraqi army supplies (Macgregor 55). At this moment, instead of having three armored squadrons, both 18th and 37th Iraqi Armored Brigades came into contact with the six heavy American battalions and the infantry with their fighting vehicles, and then there were other battalions having 155 mm artillery for field attack. Having noted that they had come into contact with the American army, the Iraqis, once again, never surrendered or ran away, but instead decided to man their weapons and vehicles in order to competently face the Americans army which was advancing slowly by slowly. In order to ensure they held the Iraqi into a constant battle, the Americans assembled their units and advanced closer, and past the Iraqi crews and tanks. The Iraqis had not moved out of their shelters, or most probably they had turned off all their engines and tanks, and therefore it never at all appear as a threats for the Americans and their thermal sight which empowered them in the dark (Macgregor 68).
At this point, it happened that there was some kind of confusion which had ensued, as the enemy tank infantry and anti-tank crews appeared to operate in the rear, closer and closer trying to attack the American units, and so a number of fire attacks were staged. The commander of the Brigade, David Weisman, therefore announced that they would pull backs, try to consolidate themselves, and involve the use of his artillery in destroying the Iraqi infantry which had been aggressive (Krause 97). Having been attacked, the Iraqis then halted at the Infantrys Division initial, temporarily keeping a constant watch of the Americans. Half past midnight, February 27, the two major attacking brigades in the American First Infantry Division positioned themselves along Easting 75 which lies about 2 kilometres on the east of Easting 73. Having gone beyond 75 Easting, the Iraqis combated the Americans in a battle which later became known as the Battle of Norfolk. The American Troop crossed 75 Easting and moved for over ten kilometers in order to accomplish their already stated objectives. Objective Norfolk was one of their agendas and the reason they were not going to fail, a success which was realised in the next three hours past midnight. That day, by dawn, the First Infantry Division had already taken control of Norfolk and so the fight had to shift away, farther from 73 Easting, and head to the north.
The Second ACR, which is the only American army to have advanced closely between Iraqi troops and the Twelfth Armored Division as well as the Tawakalna Division, it was only group in the American ground crew which had been decisively outnumbered by the Iraqi forces, and it had also been greatly out-gunned (Biddle 98). Nonetheless, the group had been in the company of three squadrons, and one Infantry Division which had two brigades, and that way they had greatly destroyed the two major Iraqi brigades. These Brigades are the Eighteenth Mechanized Brigade and the Thirty-seventh Armored Brigade, both part of the Iraqis Tawakalna Division. The other Second ACR had alone been able to destroy over 85 Iraq tanks, about 40 carriages and over 30 vehicles belonging to the Iraqis. They had also managed to destroy a number of Iraqi anti-aircraft systems and artilleries during the entire battle period. Generally, an equivalent of one Iraqi brigade had been totally destroyed during the 73 Easting battle. This became the historical first defeat of the Iraqis Republican Guards operating from the ground (Kagan 78). Within an average of twenty-four hours, majority of the other brigades belonging to the Iraqis had been totally destroyed. Therefore, the battle proved the superiority of the American troops and the desire to attain their mission and objectives in their military practice.
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