FM 100-5 Operations - Survival Ebooks Military Manuals Survival ...

WWW.SURVIVALEBOOKS.COMOPERATIONSBy the evening of 26 February, the VII Corps had turned 90 degrees to the east, fixed the RepublicanGuard, and opened a corridor for the XVIII Airborne corps to continue their attack to the east afterhaving secured the coalition’s west flank. The 24th Infantry Division had reach the Euphrates River,blocking Iraqi western routes of withdrawal, and had turned east with the 3d ACR to engage the RepublicanGuard. Throughout the theater of operations, coalition forces held the initiative.Coalition forces attacked on the night of 26 February, with VII Corps making the main attack againstthree Republican Guard Armored Divisions (Figure 6-3) and parts of other Iraqi formations, to includethe Jihad Corps. In the south of the corps sector, the 1st Infantry Division conducted a night passage oflines through the engaged 2d ACR and immediately made contact. To their north, the 1st and 3d ArmoredDivisions pressed the attack east while the 1st Cavalry Division, released for USCENTCOM reserve,moved almost 200 kilometers in 24 hours to an attack position. XVIII Airborne corps pressed the attackeast to the north of VII Corps, with attack aviation of the 101st Airborne Division and ground and airattacks of the 3d ACR and 24th Infantry Division. The allies pressed the attack relentlessly through thenight and during the day of 27 February toward the Iraqi city of Basrah and the coast of Kuwait.Figure 6-3. Operation Desert Storm 24 February 1991By the morning of 28 February, the Republican Guard divisions were effectively routed and incapable offurther coordinated resistance. At 0800 hours on the 28th, after the coalition achieved the militaryobjectives of the operation, President Bush called for coalition forces to cease offensive operations.6-18