Sèvres Protocol

by David Lee Corley

  The women were kept in the center of the canyon near the fire where they could be watched. It was impossible to reach them without the men knowing. Their hands remained tied and had been further tethered to a stake that one of the men had driven into the ground. The women knew that if they tried to pull up the stake and the men discovered them, they would be beaten. On top of everything, Coyle and the navigator were greatly outnumbered and had no weapons beyond the survival knife and the flare gun. The Bedouins, on the other hand, were armed with pistols, rifles and nasty-looking curved knives that Coyle imagined were kept very sharp. This is gonna be one tough pickle to get out of the jar, thought Coyle.

  The fire burned down to orange embers and the Bedouin slept. The half-eaten goat carcass sat beside the fire for breakfast in the morning. The Bedouin felt safe within the canyon walls and saw no need to post a guard. They all needed their strength for tomorrow’s journey.

  Coyle and the navigator emerged from their hiding place and moved quietly into the camp. The women were asleep and Coyle wanted them to remain asleep until the time was right. The navigator picked up several hand-sized rocks and slipped them into his pocket. Coyle and the navigator moved to the camels and carefully removed the rope hobbles from their hooves. The camels didn’t like the smell of the foreigners and grunted their displeasure. Coyle looked over at the Bedouin, concerned they would wake at the noise, but the Bedouin were used to the camels complaining and thought nothing of it.

  Coyle and the navigator removed the last hobbling rope from the camels and moved back to their hiding place among the canyon walls. Coyle removed the flare gun from his rucksack and slid in a cartridge. He took aim and fired a shell into the rock wall above the camels. The magnesium burst into a bright star like a meteor. It bounced off the rock face and landed at the camels’ feet. The frighten animals bolted. The Bedouins woke, unsure of what was happening and startled by the bright light. The women were also frightened. The camels took off down the narrow trail toward the mouth of the canyon. The Bedouins chased after them and ran past Coyle and the navigator without noticing them hiding behind a small inlet of rock. The leader ordered two of the men to stay behind to guard the women and the camp. The rest of Bedouins disappeared around a canyon wall to chase down the camels.

  “Shit,” said Coyle under his breath.

  The navigator motioned that it was okay and that he would take care of the problem. He retrieved one of the rocks from his pocket and peeked around the corner. The two guards were stomping on the flare trying to put it out. The navigator wound up and threw the rock like a baseball pitch. It hit the closest Bedouin square in the back of the head. He collapsed unconscious. The other Bedouin saw him collapse and knelt by his side to see what had happened. He touched the back of his head and felt blood. He picked up the rock beside him and inspected it. He pulled out his pistol and moved to search the canyon.

  As the Bedouin turned toward the natural spring, the navigator stepped out from behind the rock cliff, wound up and threw another rock. The Bedouin heard the noise and turned. The rock hit him on the side of the nose, breaking it, but not knocking him out. He collapsed to his knees with blood pouring out of his broken nose.

  Coyle peeked out from behind the rock and saw him. The navigator prepared to hurl another rock. Coyle pushed him out of the way and ran straight at the Bedouin. The Bedouin saw him and reached for his pistol on the ground. He raised the pistol toward Coyle and pulled the trigger. The gun’s hammer jammed from too much sand. Coyle jumped into the air feet-first. He hit the Bedouin in the face with both his boots, knocking him out. Coyle landed with a thump.

  The women stared at him, surprised. He was white. “Howdy,” said Coyle with a smile.

  The women exchanged curious glances with each other, then nodded back to the white man. The navigator ran over to the other guard near the fire and removed his pistol and knife. Coyle grabbed the pistol and knife from the Bedouin he had knocked out. They cut the women’s bonds. They were free. They grabbed everything that looked useful, including the water bags, the half-eaten goat carcass and three of the rifles the Bedouins had left behind along with spare ammunition in the pockets of the camels’ saddle bags. Coyle motioned for the women to follow them. They were hesitant. They didn’t know these two white men and weren’t sure if they were slavers too. Coyle shrugged and said, “You wanna stay? Stay.”

  They again exchanged looks as if they were voting as a group. Their facial expressions demonstrating what was on their minds to each other like a silent conversation. They turned back to Coyle and nodded. “I guess that means you’re coming with us. Vamanos,” said Coyle moving toward the canyon trail.

  Coyle knew the situation. He had played it out in his mind. If the Bedouin were still in the canyon or returning with the camels, then Coyle, the navigator and the women were probably dead. He believed the Bedouin would not ask a lot of questions before shooting. Coyle and the navigator would put up a fight with the guns they had taken but the Bedouins were known for shooting long distances with amazing accuracy. There was a possibility they would be taken prisoner and sold as slaves like the women. Coyle didn’t like the sound of that either. He and the navigator would fight to the death if it came to it.

  They moved to the mouth of the canyon and looked out. Nobody was in sight. Coyle found that strange. At the very least the Bedouin should be running after the camels across the desert. But there was nothing. No camels. No Bedouin. Spooky, he thought. One of the women knelt and studied the footprints in the sand. She pointed south. “Best news I’ve heard all day,” said Coyle.

  Another woman pulled a small dried up bush from the ground by the mouth of canyon. She motioned for everyone to step in the direction of the Bedouin footprints mixing the footprints together. They followed her instructions, then stepped backwards to their starting point. As they walked away from the canyon in the opposite direction of the Bedouin she brushed the sand to hide their footprints. She had a real knack for it like she had done it before. The sand looked natural and undisturbed.

  They moved north along the edge of the mountain until they were out of sight of the mouth of the canyon. Coyle was sure the Bedouin would chase after them. What he wasn’t sure of was how long they would pursue them until they gave up. They walked for four hours straight and there was no sign of the Bedouin following them. The woman’s trick with the bush might have worked, thought Coyle.

  The three women stopped. “We ain’t got time for a potty break right now,” said Coyle. “We’ve gotta keep moving.”

  One of the women pointed east like that was the direction they were headed. “You’re leaving?” said Coyle.

  The woman nodded. She looked at the rifle Coyle was holding. He handed it to her. “Sure. Why not? Probably a better shot than me anyhow,” said Coyle.

  They divided up the supplies, ammunition and guns. The women motioned their thanks with a bow and took off across the desert toward the east. Coyle and the navigator headed north again.

  October 31, 1956 - Abu Ageila, Egypt

  In the predawn light, Colonel Avraham Adan commanded the 82nd Armored Battalion of the 7th Armored Brigade as it made its way toward the hidden gap that Frischman and his men had found. Adan wondered if the whole thing was set up as a trap by the Egyptians. Once his Battalion of eighty halftracks was single-file in the narrow gap, it would be almost impossible to defend them if the Egyptians attacked. There was also the possibility of bombing by the Egyptian Air Force. A thousand ways to die came flooding into his mind. It wasn’t so much that he was afraid of death, he just didn’t want to look like a fool while dying. It all just seemed too easy and convenient. A secret gap through the Hedgehog was discovered at the exact moment the Israeli forces needed it? Come on, he thought. We ain’t that lucky.

  His men knew what they would be up against if the Egyptians attacked. They kept a sharp eye out for any signs of an ambush. If Adan’s battalion made it through, it would be followed by a battalion of tanks and artillery. T
ogether they would assault the village of Abu Ageila and then, God willing, the slope up to the Ruafa Ridge on the western side of the Hedgehog. At the same time, another armored battalion would attack up the Umm Qataf Ridge on the eastern side of the natural fortress. The Egyptian commander would need to divide his forces. Hopefully, one of the two Israeli fronts would make a breakthrough. The plan was complicated. Adan didn’t like complicated. If something can go wrong, it will go wrong, he thought. The only question is what?

  Keeping a battalion of halftracks quiet was a hopeless task. Adan made sure the treads and gears on his vehicles were greased up before they left. It didn’t help much. The engine noise was enough to give them away. If that didn’t give away their position, then the series of tremors created by a column of nine-ton halftracks would surely do the trick. Stealth was not his battalion’s strongpoint.

  As the battalion approached the mouth of the gap, Adan took a deep breath. The walls were steep and the path was narrow. Frischman’s platoon had done their best to clear the way but Adan had borrowed an engineer platoon to ensure that the gap was passible. He also ordered two heavy machine gun fire teams and an anti-tank gun squad to join the first group through the gap.

  He studied the entrance to the gap. He didn’t like it much. He ordered one of his companies to dismount. They would go in on foot. If it was a trap, the Egyptians would probably shoot down from the heights. His halftracks were unprotected from overhead fire. His men would stand a better chance on foot where they could seek cover if there was any.

  He knew it was stupid to lead the mission himself. If he went down, they all went down. He had confidence in his company commander and the platoon leaders. But he also knew that if the shit hit the fan, he was the most experienced commander in the brigade and would likely be the best officer to help his men get out of a tight situation. It was worth the risk.

  Frischman already had men positioned all the way through the gap, but Adan knew that the Egyptians would wait for bigger fish before they attacked. He and his men were the bigger fish. If the Egyptians were going to attack Adan wanted them to do it before his armor entered the gap. In many spots, there was no place to turn around if the Egyptians blocked them. The tanks and half-tracks would be sitting ducks. Better his men on foot took the brunt of any attack. They could retreat quickly if need be, although they would probably take heavy losses. It was a shit-sandwich no matter how he looked at it.

  The company’s scouts moved into the mouth of the gap. Adan and the rest of the company followed, keeping their eyes on the heights above.

  They moved into the canyon where the Egyptians had blown up the bridge. They were leapfrogging all the way as they advanced – one platoon moving up, taking defensive positions, then followed by another platoon that would do the same, all the time watching both the path in front of them and the heights above. “They don’t even need bullets or grenades. They can just drop rocks on us,” said a platoon sergeant.

  Adan was going to tell him to shut up but he knew the soldier was just stating the obvious. He pushed his men further into the narrowing gap. The walls were sheer cliffs of sand and stone. A small rockslide grabbed everyone’s attention. He ordered his men to take cover wherever they could find it. All weapons pointed upward. There was no movement beyond the sand and small rocks tumbling down to the ground. He ordered several of the engineers to stay behind and clear the way. The company moved on.

  It took twenty minutes to move through the gap. Adan could see the mouth on the northern side of the canyon and the open space beyond. They had made it… so far.

  He ordered his men to take up defensive positions at the mouth of the canyon. The fire teams set up the heavy machineguns and anti-tank gun facing outward from the canyon. An Egyptian attack was most likely to come from the direction of the village. They kept close to the walls to hide their positions.

  Adan took out his binoculars and scanned the village to the north. He could see a half-dozen Archer anti-tank guns and several heavier artillery guns in reinforced defensive positions. Ruafa Dam was to his right. It was even more heavily armed than the village and the defensive positions were higher giving them greater advantage against any attacking force. Adan would need to take out both the village and the dam before he could advance on the Hedgehog from the western side. One at a time, he thought. Be patient and most of your men just might live through this. Patience was not easy for Adan. He was aggressive and understood the need to keep the Israeli advance moving forward. But in this case… patience.

  There was a second problem with the layout at the mouth of the gap. There wasn’t much room. Once his half-tracks exited the gap, they would be in range of the Egyptian guns from both the dam and the village. He decided to bring up all the vehicles into a tight formation inside the gap like a compressed spring. It was a risky move. It could be what the Egyptians above were waiting for before they revealed their positions and attacked. But moving the vehicles out of the gap one by one was also very risky. He had the element of surprise and he wanted to keep it as long as possible while deploying his forces.

  Adan also had a big resupply problem once his forces cleared the gap. Only tracked vehicles could make it over the rough ground through the defile. All his trucks carrying ammunition, food, water and engineering equipment were stuck on the opposite end. Anything coming through the gap had to be hand-carried. They could use a half-track but he needed all his half-tracks for the assault. That made resupply for the two battalions difficult until they could secure an alternate supply route.

  Even with all the challenges, Adan knew the Israelis would be in a far better position to assault the Hedgehog if his task force could secure the second front by taking the Egyptian positions in both the village and dam.

  During the early morning hours, the Israeli armor moved into a tight formation inside the gap. Adan held his breath and wondered if he would have a heart attack from the stress. When a vehicle moved into its pre-attack position it turned off its engine and the crew caught whatever sleep they could muster before the attack. They would need their strength and would remain sleepless until they either won… or lost the battle.

  As the sun cracked the dawn, the Israeli drivers started their engines and the soldiers chambered rounds into their guns. Adan took one last look at the village that he would attack first. It was still except for a few people milling around. He gave the signal and the tightly packed vehicles sprung out of the gap as fast as possible. Everyone had strict instructions not to fire or even turn toward the village until the last tank was out of the gap or the Egyptians opened fire. Adan hoped for the former. With a little luck, the Egyptians would think the Israeli forces were Egyptian and pay little heed. And why not? thought Adan. They aren’t expecting an attack from that direction. Just a little luck. That’s all we need. A little luck.

  Luck met the Israelis halfway. All of Adan’s half-tracks made it out of the gap before the Egyptians realized that they were about to be attacked and opened fire. The tanks were just starting to appear through the western mouth of the gap when the first shell exploded nearby. Adan cursed but he knew he had tickled the dragon and had no right to expect more than he had received from fate. The Israelis returned fire with everything that was available. It would take the armored battalion thirty minutes before all their tanks were in position and available to support the attack.

  Adan chanted the mantra, “Patience,” under his breath as the battle intensified. Ten of his half-tracks were hit by Egyptian anti-tank gun shells and exploded into flames. “Fuck it,” said Adan to nobody.

  With only half of the tanks available, Adan ordered his men to advance on the village. The other tanks would just have to join the battle as they emerged from the gap. The Israelis were being torn to shreds and Adan saw little to be gained by delaying his attack. A long line of half-tracks followed by tanks sped toward the village. The treads kicked up a thick cloud of dust that acted as a smoke screen but caused the Egyptians to focus their fire on th
e half-tracks leading the charge because they were the most visible. Shells rained down from the village in their front, while shells from the dam positions rained down from the Israeli right flank. It didn’t stop them. Stopping meant sure death. They had to make it to the village and overrun the Egyptian positions. Adan wasn’t sure what the Egyptians at the dam would do once the Israelis entered the village but something inside told him they would continue their shelling even though it meant the lives of Egyptian civilians. It was war after all. Friendly fire and collateral damage were inevitable.

  As the Israelis drew closer, the anti-tank guns from the village became more accurate and intense. Every ten seconds another half-track exploded, killing its driver and passengers. Doesn’t matter, Adan told himself. It is God’s will. But it was a lie. It did matter. Those were his men. He would mourn their loss later.

  As the Israeli half-tracks approached the Egyptian positions in the village, the Egyptian gunners abandoned their guns and ran for their lives. The Egyptians were pragmatic. They had fought the good fight, but little would be gained by their deaths. If they lived, they could fight the Israelis again. So, they ran through the village and into the desert. Many took off their boots and discarded them so they could run faster on the sand.

  The Israelis captured the village and quickly dispatched any pockets of resistance that were brave enough to face them. Just as Adan had thought, the Egyptian artillery and guns from the dam continued to fire. At least now, the Israelis could use the buildings for cover until they consolidated their position.

  The last of the Israeli tanks exited the gap and roared toward the town. As they did, Israelis scouts reported that an armored column from the north had appeared and was advancing on the village from the rear. The Israeli tanks shot past the village and continued to meet the Egyptian threat. The tank battle that followed was short and violent. The Egyptians thought they were only facing dismounted troops and were not prepared to face the tanks racing towards them. The two sides clashed head on. The Israeli aggression surprised the Egyptian tank crews. With tank turrets twisting hard in opposing directions, each side lost several tanks from close-up shots. At close range, it got down to who fired first. The Egyptian commander heard a report over the radio that a squadron of Israeli jets had been spotted heading toward their position. In reality, the Israeli jets were heading toward the Mitla Pass on a mission to defend the paratroopers and had no intention of attacking the Egyptian armored column. But reality mattered less than fear in this case. The enemy line broke and the Egyptian tanks retreated going back the way they came. Running low on ammunition and fuel, the Israelis did not pursue the fleeing Egyptians. The Israelis didn’t understand what had happened but were grateful that the battle ended when it did. They were victorious twice in one morning. That was enough and they returned to the village to join the rest of the task force.