They laid by the fire. Talking took too much energy. It was cold. Not supposed to be cold and dry, thought Coyle. One or the other but not both. It ain’t hardly fair. Coyle closed his eyes and tried to sleep. It wasn’t easy with a parched throat and lips that felt like they were covered with paper cuts. Finally, he dozed off.
Coyle and the navigator slept. The fire burned down. A snake emerged from underneath a boulder and glided across the sand toward the warmth of the fire. It was a Red Spitting Cobra with a salmon-colored body and a black band near its head. It was nocturnal. It was rare to see one this far north. They preferred the savanna closer to Cairo and bordering the Nile valley where they could prey upon small birds and amphibians.
The cobra had no interest in Coyle or the navigator beyond the heat of their bodies. Certainly, it did not see them as food. Laying down, the size of the humans was not intimidating to the snake. It moved past Coyle’s head. Coyle’s eyes opened a little. They were unfocused and only saw that something long was moving past his face. He jerked back instinctively.
The snake was surprised by the sudden movement and immediately went into defense mode, curling up in a coil and raising its head facing toward the threat. That was what Coyle was… a threat. The snake’s head fanned out and flattened. Coyle watched wide-eyed, unmoving. The snake’s head was less than two feet away. There was no way it would miss him if it struck. The snake hissed.
The navigator stirred and opened his eyes. He saw the snake in front of Coyle’s face. He reached for his pistol. He could easily shoot the snake coiled up just six feet from the end of his pistol’s barrel, but the bullet would most likely go through the snake and into Coyle. He slowly slipped off his flight jacket. He kept the pistol trained on the snake. He used his jacket as a whip, whirling it above his head. He brought his sleeve down into the upper body of the snake. The snake went flying and landed near the navigator’s feet. The snake coiled up again. Coyle reached for his pistol. He could see the snake was ready to strike at the navigator. He didn’t hesitate and pulled the trigger. Coyle’s pistol fired at the same moment the snake spit venom at the navigator’s face. The bullet blew the snake’s head off. The venom landed in the navigator’s eyes. He jerked back and screamed in pain like it was acid. Coyle grabbed the water bottle and sloshed the last of the water into the navigator’s eyes. They were already swelling and turning red as their blood vessels burst. The navigator had saved Coyle’s life but if he didn’t get help soon it could cost him his eyes. He moaned in agony.
November 2, 1956 - Abu Ageila, Egypt
When morning broke, the rest of 37th armor brigade arrived and their tanks were unloaded from their transports. Dayan ordered his two new brigade commanders to attack once again. 37th Armor took the lead followed by 10th Infantry. The men were exhausted and morale was low. The Israelis moved forward and approached the base of the slope. They expected the Egyptian artillery to begin its bombardment once they started up the slope. They were surprised when nothing happened. They kept moving up the hillside with caution wondering when the Egyptians would unleash their Archer anti-tank guns and heavy machineguns, but still nothing happened.
When the first Israelis reached the top of the ridge they looked out at the empty defensive positions. The Egyptians were gone. The Israelis were stunned. Many fell to their knees and offered prayers of thanks to their Hebrew God.
Unbeknownst to the Israelis, the Egyptians had run out of water. They always had control over the dam and its abundant supply of water. It never occurred to the Egyptian commanders to store extra water on the Hedgehog in case the dam was overrun. After two days of battle, the Egyptians were dying of thirst. They spiked their guns and stole away on foot in the early morning before sunrise. They headed northwest across the desert toward Al-Arish and away from the Israelis.
Goder wept when he heard the news.
Dayan was relieved. With the Hedgehog now firmly in their possession, the Israelis controlled the center of the Sinai. The Egyptians could not attack the Israeli border without taking back the Hedgehog or risk having their supply lines cut off. Israel’s southern border was safe for the time being. This allowed the Israeli forces to reposition their troops and vehicles to the front and continue their advance. There was little risk of attack from behind or to their flanks which were now protected with overlapping forces.
November 2, 1956 – Rafah, Egypt
The northern spearhead of the 27th armored brigade started toward their objectives on the Rafah salient just past midnight. The mechanized infantry battalion riding half-tracks took the lead. Egyptian artillery bracketed their positions and unleashed a heavy barrage. Archer anti-tank guns positioned on the hilltops joined in the massacre pouring rounds into the Israeli vehicles. Most of the Israeli half-tracks were hit and destroyed before they ever reached their objectives and over one hundred riflemen were killed riding in back.
While the Egyptian guns were busy picking off the mechanized battalion, the armored battalion of AMX-13 tanks raced forward. The AMX-13’s were lightly armored which made them susceptible to anti-tank and artillery fire. But the light armor also made them fast, reaching speeds of 37 mph across the flat terrain. They were hard to hit while moving. Using the main road they raced parallel to the Egyptian positions, then pivoted and charged up the small hills on the northern flank of the salient launching their smoke grenades to cover their advance. The AMX tanks 75-mm main guns took a heavy toll on the Egyptian Archer anti-tank guns and heavy machine gun positions. Within three hours the Israeli armored battalion overran the hilltop positions and sent the Egyptians fleeing across the desert.
Once the Israelis captured the hilltops on the northern flank they could pour fire into the nearby Egyptian-controlled hilltops assisting the other two spearheads in their advance. The Egyptians collapsed and fled their defenses. The salient was captured and the nearby crossroads were secured.
The city of Rafah fell in a matter of minutes under an overwhelming Israeli assault. The northern Egyptian forces were in full retreat.
The Israeli now had two objectives. The first was to push their advance forward toward the coastal city of Al-Arish, considered by Dayan to be the most important city in the Sinai. The second objective was the destruction of the Fedayeen in the Gaza Strip. With the Egyptians gone, the Fedayeen guerilla fighters didn’t stand a chance against the well-trained and well-armed Israelis forces. Most of the Israelis in the northern infantry and armored brigades had family members or friends that had been killed by the Fedayeen over the years of cross-border attacks. The operation that followed the capture of Rafah was designed to decimate the Fedayeen forces, but for many Israelis it was time for revenge.
Colonel Givli’s 1st Infantry was put in charge of the clean-up in Rafah and anchoring the Gaza Strip operations while Barlev’s 27th Armored raced toward Al-Arish in hopes of capturing the city by nightfall.
27th Armored was divided into three spearheads. The first was a vanguard battalion made up of a dozen AMX-13 tanks backed by a mechanized infantry that would use the main road to form the tip of advance. The second and third spearheads were made up of mixed armored battalions of Sherman, Super-Sherman and AMX tanks accompanied by motorized infantry battalions. They would follow and then spread out to protect the flanks of the vanguard whenever they made significant contact with enemy forces. Dayan had allotted them six hours to cross twenty-five miles of desert. It wasn’t much time.
November 2, 1956 – Sinai Desert, Egypt
The navigator moaned in pain as he walked. His eyes were wrapped with a cloth torn from Coyle’s shirt. The sunlight was excruciating. He kept his hand on Coyle’s shoulder. He let his hand drop. Coyle stopped and turned to check on him. “We have to keep moving,” said Coyle.
“No mas. No puedo,” said the navigator. “Dejame.”
“I don’t know what that means but I ain’t leaving you if that’s what you’re babbling about.”
“Dejame!”
“No. No dejame!”
“Entonces, tirame,” said the navigator reaching for his pistol.
“I ain’t gonna tirame either,” said Coyle pushing his hand away from the pistol. “You’re gonna make it, damn it. Even if I have to carry you.”
“No mas. No puedo.”
“Yes, puedo. Now get your ass in gear and let’s go.”
The navigator collapsed to the ground. He wasn’t budging. “Shit!” said Coyle. “You are a stubborn Spanish bastard.”
“Me dejas,” said the navigator.
“No, dejas. Not without you.”
“Me dejas por ayuda,” said the navigator.
Coyle knew what he wanted. It was the smart move. Coyle could move much faster without him and return with help if he found it. If he didn’t find anyone, they both were gonna die anyway. He looked around. In the distance was another low hill with a rock outcropping. There was little chance there of a water source but it could provide shade. Coyle used all the strength he could muster and picked up the navigator in a fireman’s carry. He set out for the rocks.
It took five minutes to reach the rocks but Coyle thought it was the longest five minutes of his life. The navigator had gone limp half way to the rocks. Coyle was worried he might have died but he heard him still breathing with a kind of raspy-wheezing. He set the navigator down in the shadow of a large boulder. It was getting late in the afternoon and Coyle was tempted to stay with the navigator and set out again in the early morning while it was still cool. He gently shook the navigator awake. “Listen. Listen. I go for help. Ayuda. Like you said. I will come back. I promise… unless I’m dead,” said Coyle removing the navigator’s pistol. “You’re not going to need this. You can’t see anyway. Probably end up shooting me when I return if I leave you with it.”
“Okay. Okay. Ayuda.”
“Yeah. I’ll get ayuda. You stay alive. Deal?”
The navigator grunted and passed out again.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Coyle. “Hang in there, amigo.”
Coyle left his rucksack beside the navigator and headed north once again.
November 2, 1956 - Gaza, Palestinian Territory
The Israelis saw the Gaza Strip as a bridgehead for the Egyptians. As long as the Palestinians controlled the Gaza Strip, the Egyptians could build up ground forces in the northern end of the strip and strike deep into Israel. Gaza was also a sanctuary for the Fedayeen that plagued the Israeli settlements near the border with raids.
Now that Rafah had fallen and the Gaza Strip was cut off from the Egyptian forces that protected it, the Israelis were free to attack the Palestinians and any remaining Egyptian forces within Gaza from the bottom up. The Israelis had closed the box and there was no escape.
Colonel Givli’s 1st Infantry Brigade was in Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border at the southern end of the Gaza Strip. 1st Infantry acted as a block for any Egyptian or Fedayeen forces attempting to escape Gaza.
The Gaza Strip had two major population centers, Gaza City in the north with its fifty thousand inhabitants and Khan Yunus in the south. Dayan planned to focus his assault on both, starting with Gaza City then working his way down to Khan Yunus.
Gaza City had an Egyptian brigade of three thousand five hundred National Guardsmen and several mortar detachments protecting the city. There was also a motorized border patrol company that acted as a reconnaissance and cavalry unit for the Egyptian forces. The city was surrounded by fortified hills including Ali Muntar where British forces fought the Ottoman in a protracted battle during WWI. It was here that the Egyptians placed most of their artillery and heavy machineguns. The hill had a series of deep trenches and the Egyptians had placed mines on its slopes. It would be a tough nut to crack for any infantry-based force.
The six Sherman tanks in the 37th Armored battalion led the Israeli attack just past dawn. 11th Infantry followed close behind the tanks. The Egyptian mines were designed for infantry and were not powerful enough to take out a tank. The Israeli infantry stayed back as the tanks sped up the slope and ran over the mines triggering their explosives and launching shrapnel against the tanks’ heavy armor. The tanks trampled the barbed wire protecting the Egyptian trenches, clearing a path for the Israeli infantry. The Israeli tanks rolled right through the Egyptian defenses and only stopped for a moment when they found a worthwhile target such as an artillery gun or mortar position. They continued toward the city. The Egyptians were powerless to stop them. They had their own problems as the follow-on Israeli infantry reached the top of the ridge and attacked the surviving Egyptian National Guardsmen. Just before noon, the hills and the city were secured by the Israelis. Those Egyptian National Guardsmen that survived, fled throwing down their weapons and removing their boots.
37th Armor and 11th Infantry pivoted south and headed for Khan Yunus, only twelve miles away. The city of Khan Yunus was protected by three battalions of Palestinian 86th Infantry Brigade that had formed a perimeter around the outer boundaries of the city. The Egyptians also had several batteries of heavy mortars and artillery to support the infantry battalions. These were strategically placed to provide supporting crossfire should any of the positions be overrun. Unlike the Egyptian National Guardsmen in Gaza City, the Palestinians were fighting to protect their homes and families. They were much more stubborn and many of the soldiers defended their positions to the death. While the area had few hills from which to fight, the Palestinians had dug deep trenches and surrounded themselves with mines and multiple layers of barbed wire.
The Israelis met light resistance on the road to Khan Yunus but elected not to attack as they took up positions around the Palestinian defenses and night fell. The commanders in Jerusalem were concerned that many of the Palestinians might escape if the Israelis overran their positions during the night. Both the Palestinians and the Israelis were impatient to get at each other and exact revenge for past grievances.
Thirteen
November 2, 1956 - Bay of Aqaba, Egypt
Colonel Yoffe and his 9th Infantry Brigade had been given orders to sit tight after their victory at Ras an-Naqb. Dayan was concerned about Egyptian air and naval assaults on the brigade as it made its way south. The Egyptians had been ravaged but they still had a bite.
The British and French had ignored the timetable in the Sèvres Agreement and delayed their air attacks on the Egyptian airfields for eleven hours. The 9th was ordered to wait until air superiority had been achieved. Yoffe was one day behind schedule and was getting antsy. There was nothing the men of the 9th could do in the meantime but clean their gear and sleep. If there was one thing Yoffe was sure of, it was that he needed to keep his men occupied to keep them out of trouble. The same traits that made them good fighters made them ornery as badgers. Yoffe was also concerned that the more time he was forced to wait before advancing down the coastline, the longer the Egyptians had to prepare for his brigade’s assault.
When Yoffe finally received permission to move out, he thought it came none too soon.
The journey down the eastern side of the Sinai was difficult. There were no roads suitable for a force the size of the 9th Infantry Brigade. The jeeps and trucks that carried the men were forced to travel off-road through rugged terrain of almost two hundred miles. Flat tires and broken wheel rims were common and slowed the brigade’s progress. There was a cool breeze coming off the Gulf of Aqaba making the high temperature more bearable.
Israeli warships sailed down the coast protecting the 9th Brigade with their four-inch guns. The soldiers of 9th saw little action. After Nasser gave the order for a withdrawal from the Sinai, most of the Egyptian forces had fled toward the Suez Canal or down to the port of Sharm el-Sheikh for evacuation by sea. It took sixty hours for the men of the 9th to reach their next objective – Ras Nasrani.
November 2, 1956 - Mitla Pass, Egypt
Brigitte was finishing the last of the goodies that Coyle had brought her. She watched as six Dakota troop transports landed on the desert and pulled to a stop. The Israelis had cr
eated a temporary airfield by clearing away any large rocks that might damage a plane’s landing gear and marking the landing strip with piles of rocks on both sides. It was primitive but it worked well for the air resupply shipments that were coming regularly now.
Brigitte wondered if they were carrying food and water. She wasn’t hungry at the moment but she always liked to plan ahead, especially when it came to eating. The crews of the transports opened the door and unpacked the planes. Among the boxes of ammunition and rations were two hundred parachutes. She immediately realized the implications of such a sight. The 202nd Paratroop brigade was preparing to move south toward the city of Tor. The parachutes meant Sharon was going to send an advanced element into the city. That’s where I will find the story, she thought. Brigitte went in search of Sharon.
She found Sharon talking with a battalion commander. They were going over the last-minute details of the mission. “Colonel Sharon, do you have a moment?” said Brigitte.
“Not right now,” said Sharon.
“If you’re planning a jump. I’d like to go,” said Brigitte not listening to him.
“How do you know what we are planning?”
“I saw the Dakota crews unloading the parachutes. My guess is an advanced para element into Tor. Two companies based on the number of parachutes.”
Sharon grunted. He liked to keep his plans secret and Brigitte nosing around wasn’t helping. He understood she was just doing her job, but these were life and death situations.
“I know how to stay out of the way,” said Brigitte, risking his wrath.
Sèvres Protocol Page 23