Sword of the Caliphate by Clay Martin

Sword of the Caliphate by Clay Martin

Author:Clay Martin [Martin, Clay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948239318
Publisher: WildBlue Press
Published: 2019-08-31T22:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Fifty miles later, we were approaching the South side of Tallil Air Base. Crossing the Euphrates had taken longer than expected, but darkness was still on our side. We found a hole up spot in the wadi’s that offered a decent field of view, though we were careful to stay well away. This wasn’t some objective we could by pass, it was the home run. We needed this to go smoothly, or else the Islamic Caliphate was eventually going to run us down in this desert, leaving our corpses for the ravens. Or whatever passes for ravens in the Middle East.

Once in place, we repeated the procedure from the night prior. The North side observation post, directly overlooking Tallil, we managed to emplace in a saddle. This was important because of the heightened threat of direct observation. We would need to change out our crew in that position throughout the day, at least ideally. Twelve hours of daylight is a long time for one man to be on overwatch. The problem you generally run into with a set up like this in open terrain is sky lining. If you have to cross a ridge with blue sky behind you, you’ll stick out like ass less chaps at a black tie party. If you can find a spot that keeps dirt behind you though, most of your problems are solved. We set up on the back side of the saddle, so that only the observers heads would be visible, through a narrow gap under the tarp. Someone would have to look right at them, and know what they were looking for, to spot it.

Stand to wasn’t a problem, even after the adrenaline soaked night prior. The whole crew was antsy to get their eyes on the Airbase, to see for themselves if we were on a fool’s errand. We finally drew numbers for who had to take security to our rear for the first shift. Steve drew the weakest hand, but we promised to tell him as soon as we spotted a functional transport. I was on the glass as the sun came up, finally revealing what I hoped was an oasis.

What I saw instead was a nightmare. As the first of the daily calls to prayer emanated from the base, hundreds of IC fighters swarmed from the buildings, forming up prayer rugs on the runway in never ending lines. It was a shock to my system, after the limited presence we had seen so far. Apparently, the Caliphate was taking no chances on a full up Airbase. Whether they expected a counter attack and understood Americans need airfields, or simply grasped that Tallil had significant military value, I do not know. But they were taking the defense of it seriously. Very seriously. I tried to get a count as the wailing in Arabic continued, but soon gave up. The Takbir recitation was so loud, I could hear it even at this distance. So much for a cake walk.

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