European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 1, 1991 the stars and stripes a. A Page 7trench warfare 8 Media Pool with a Brilliant Flash that lit up the nighttime sky two British soldiers with the 4th Trench. Allied coalition forces continued their assault on dug in iraqi troops wednesday army brigade hug the ground after tossing a grenade to Clear out an iraqi occupied. Just hours before the cease lure was announced in Washington by i Rcsidein-fliish.3 . Armoured units destroy 700 Republican guard tanks Washington a three . Armoured divisions hammered the remnants of Saddam Hussein a Republican guard on wednesday in a series of fierce Battles that destroyed More than 700 iraqi tanks . Officials said. Quot . Forces were a putting the Republican guard out of business Quot Gen. Ii. Norman it Schwarzkopf the desert storm commander said wednesday of the iraqi units considered to be Saddam a Best. Pentagon officials described the can Quot Flint West of the key iraqi military City of Basra As the largest . Tank Battle since world War hand one official said it was a mostly Over by Early wednesday  it looked  the last major Battle of the War just hours before president Bush announced a cease fire in the War. A Quot another Quot senior military official  relentless . Armoured drive against the Republican guard had a fragmented Quot most of its eight divisions and destroyed its communication networks. The iraqis appeared so confused on the Battlefield. That . Commanders a a ire wondering where their officers Are a the officer said Quot wednesday night. Ave Are predicting the demise of the Republican guard within hours a he said then. Schwarzkopf called the engagement a a Cla in tank Battle. Fire and Man Euver a he said that a your forces Are in the business of out flanking them while a Ira Kuwait Cit is Are continuing to shoot at  a amps on the fourth Day of the ground War. . Military officers had planned to encircle and destroy what was left of the 150,000-member Republican guard in Southeast Iraq thereby stripping Saddam of his last viable military Force. More than 100,000 . Troops were involved. Despite rain that turned the desert into mud and Low Cloud cover that hampered air support elements of the  Vii corps and xviii corps had been Able to defeat at least Lour Republican guard divisions in two Days of fighting Pentagon sources said. The . Troops had swept North from saudi Arabia since saturday in an Teflon to trap five Republican guard divisions that had been poised on the iraqi Border North of Kuwait. V the encounters had Cost the Republican guard More than 700 tanks. Schwarzkopf said at midday wednesday As fighting continued. A a a the Core of the. Days  Ved hundreds of tanks and armoured fighting vehicles from three . Armoured units of the Vii corps a the 1st and 3rd army divisions and the 2nd Arm Cav regt. Their main target was the Hammurabi division of the Republican guard which was attempting to protect the retreating elements of other Republican guard divisions a senior Pentagon of i Ocial  three . Divisions employed More than 470  mini tanks on the Battlefield As Well As 330 s Bradley fighting vehicles. An iraqi armoured division such As the. I Hammurabi has Between 250 and 300 tanks Many of them soviet made t-72s. A Pentagon official who  Basra tank Battle said . Armoured units backed by Apache attack helicopters and Mobile howitzer guns had been driving East toward Basra in Southeastern Iraq. _. The Republican guard units trapped Between the euphrates River Delta to the. North and the . Attacking forces to the West , offered determined resistance  Quot official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Some of the forces were mounting a counterattack the source said while ill h e is attempted a f High t i n g re t Rea t to Basra. A a a. A a. A a. In an  flee across the euphrates River near Basra the iraqis had thrown up Pontoon Bridges he Saiu. Such a a Maneu Verwold have been doomed to failure he said because the Republican guards heavy tanks  have been Able to survive a River crossing under the air attacks mounted by tank killing helicopters. Bombing raids earlier had destroyed All Bridges on the River. In overnight fighting with the southernmost Republican guard unit a the. Tawa Kalna a that occurred on the Western iraqi Kuwait Border . Vii corps units took id 000 pos and destroyed More than 1,200 pieces of armoured equipment such As tanks trucks and Artil cry he  v11 corps Defeated Hie mechanized Republican guard division inside Iraq near the Western Kun Dart Border and encountered a Light to heavy clashes with the remaining units of a second Republican guard division he said. A a a in a separate clash he said 57 of Iraq s top tanks the soviet made t-72s, had been destroyed in overnight fighting along tie euphrates. A the tanks bad attempted to flee toward Baghdad in a Convoy that was attacked by elements of the 24th inf div the official said. A it