Casca 20: Soldier of Gideon by Sadler Barry

Author:Sadler, Barry [Sadler, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Brigadier General Israel Tal invited his field officers to a working breakfast in the luxuriously appointed Egyptian general officers' dining room.

"Fruits of victory," he said ironically as he passed around a plate of fresh figs. "A brutal battle, but we have set the stage, as we planned to, for the victories that are to follow.

"I have just been advised that an Egyptian relief column is on the way here consisting of an armored brigade and a brigade of mechanized infantry." He paused for effect. "I must also tell you that we will not be waiting for them as they will not get here: They had the misfortune to encounter Avraham Yoffe's men at Bir al Lahtan." He grinned happily as his officers cheered. "So we will be pushing on immediately to Suez."

There was another general cheer. "Some of us, that is. Some of you I am sending to the assistance of General Sharon, who is about to attack Abu Agheila. He is at present, encircling the whole area, which is, as you know, an extremely complex maze of fortifications that has been built up over many years, and will not be easy to take.

"But we must have it. It commands the central axis through the Sinai. Ariel Sharon will launch a coordinated attack of infantry and armor at nightfall today. Colonel Weintraub's regiment will join him. The force will be lifted from here by helicopter."

"Sounds like a fun way to start the night," Moynihan said when Casca told him the news. "I suppose they'll put us down right in the middle of it all."

Moynihan had guessed right. The helicopters swooped into the center of a ring of fire.

General Sharon's concerted attack was occupying the Egyptians at every point of the compass. For an hour every gun that he could bring to bear had been firing as hard and as fast as the barrels could stand.

Shells were landing all along the perimeter of the fortress's outer defenses while other guns were pouring more and more shells into every corner of the inner perimeter. The Israeli Air Force had spent the last two hours of daylight plastering the entire area.

The attacking bombers and strafing fighters had the sky to themselves as there was not an Egyptian plane left in condition to fly.

Wave after wave of Vautour bombers pounded the fortifications. The Arab antiaircraft gunners tried valiantly to make up for their lack of air defense, but only succeeded in exposing themselves as targets for the escorting fighter planes. By the time Colonel Weintraub's helicopters arrived there was scarcely a gun crew left that could fire into the air.

The timing was meticulous. The incessant bombardment cloaked the arrival of the airborne force and ceased only half a minute before the first choppers set down and troops leaped from them.

The dazed, bewildered, and thoroughly scared defenders barely registered that the helicopters were coming. Their attention was entirely devoted to the desperate effort of trying to answer the encircling artillery barrage.

Casca deployed his men

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