Exodus - Leon Uris [281]
The evacuation of the children was a doubly painful thing for these pioneers, for it became symbolic of further retreat. Most of them had fled from former horror to come to this place and their farms were the last line of retreat. Beyond Palestine there was no hope.
Each settlement made its decision. Some of the older and longer-established places simply refused to let their children go. Others vowed they would all stand and die together: they did not want their children to know the meaning of retreat. Others in the mountains already isolated and undergoing hardships managed to bring children out for removal.
Gan Dafna was everyone’s responsibility.
Ari’s spies reported that Kawukji was bringing unbearable pressure on Mohammed Kassi to make an assault on Gan Dafna. Food was getting low in the village and fuel was all but gone. The water tank had sprung several leaks from near hits. The hardship of bunker life was wearing down the community, although there were no complaints.
The commanders in the Huleh Valley agreed that the younger children had to be taken out of Gan Dafna. The question was—how! A truce would involve a double danger: first, Kassi would never recognize it; second, it would be a costly show of weakness to the Arab commander. If Ari tried a convoy through the roads or an outright attack on Abu Yesha he would have to pull out and mass his entire Huleh strength—then he could be only half certain of success. It was not merely a matter of winning or losing a battle. To lose would lead to the death of the children.
As so many times before, Ari was called upon to evolve a desperation measure to counter crushing odds. And because there was no choice, again he conceived a fantastic plan, this one more daring than anything he had ever tried in his life.
After organizing the details of his scheme, Ari left David to mobilize a task force and he set out for Gan Dafna. The climb up the mountainside was painful every inch of the way. His leg throbbed constantly and collapsed several times during the night. He was able to compensate for the handicap by his intimate knowledge of the route, for he had climbed it a dozen times as a boy. He reached Gan Dafna at dawn and immediately called a meeting of the section heads at the command post bunker. Zev, Jordana, Dr. Lieberman, and Kitty Fremont were among them.
“There are two hundred and fifty children here under the age of twelve,” Ari said without introduction or preface. “They will be evacuated tomorrow night.”
He looked at the dozen surprised faces.
“A task force is now assembling at Yad El moshav,” he continued. “Tonight, four hundred men from every settlement in the Huleh will be led up the west face of the mountain by David Ben Ami. If everything goes according to plan and they are not discovered they should be here by daybreak tomorrow. Two hundred and fifty of the men will each carry a child down the mountain tomorrow night. The balance, a hundred and fifty men, will act as a guard force. I may add that the guard force will be carrying all the heavy automatic weapons in the Huleh Valley.”
Ari’s listeners in the bunker stared at him as though he were insane. There was no sound or movement for a full minute.
Finally Zev Gilboa stood up. “Ari, perhaps I did not understand you. You actually plan to carry two hundred and fifty children down the mountain at night?”
“That is correct.”
“It is a treacherous trip for man by himself in daylight,” Dr. Lieberman said. “Carrying a child down at night—some of them are certain to fall.”
“That is a risk that has to be taken.”
“But Ari,” Zev asked, “they must pass so close to Abu Yesha. It is certain that Kassi’s men will detect them.”
“We will take every precaution to see that they are not detected.”
Everyone began to protest at once.
“Quiet!” Ari snapped. “This is not a forum. You people here are not to speak of this to anyone. I