The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara

Author:Jeff Shaara
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 0345495330
Publisher: Random House
Published: 2010-01-02T04:28:56+00:00

T he American commanders had drawn the obvious conclusion that, since the enemy had not continued their pursuit of the battered American armor, the enemy’s immediate goal would be the mopping up of the American infantry, hundreds of men stranded high up on the djebels, the islands of tall rock in the wide valleys now firmly controlled by German armor and increasing numbers of infantry. In the Allied command centers, what Parnell had heard was finger-pointing, the passing of blame, evolving into urgency, to stop whatever thrust the Germans intended to make. West of Sidi Bou Zid, the good roads led straight to key supply dumps and airfields, critical positions spaced far apart, causing the American defenses to be stretched thin, protecting the different routes the Germans might strike. To counter their vulnerability, the Americans intended to push hard toward recapturing the area around Sidi Bou Zid, hoping to rescue the infantry, as well as to drive the German armor back through the mountain passes to the east.

At dawn, the armor rolled forward again, this time in a different formation, a more narrow column, the pointed shape of a V. The tanks led the way, followed closely by antitank guns, half-tracks, armored trucks heavy with fresh troops. The land between Sbeïtla and Sidi Bou Zid was more cut up than the billiard table flatness they had experienced farther east, steep-sided wadis that ran thick with muddy water, soft boggy holes that could trap anyone trying to cross. The tight formations allowed the tanks to approach the uneven ground on a narrow front, saving them time as they moved toward the roughest ground, where the scouts and engineers had found the good crossings. If they moved quickly, they could cover the ten miles toward Sidi Bou Zid and surprise the enemy forces, the enemy who might still be reveling in their complete victory from the day before.

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