Mitla Pass - Leon Uris [189]
Gideon became serious. “Maybe that’s why I’m out here. To see how Jews fight in rocky places. Shlomo, I meant to tell you, this patrol is not a Foreign Office assignment. I really don’t think you ought to come. It’s not really your business, but it is mine.”
“I’ve got nothing else to do tomorrow,” he answered.
“You sure?” Gideon asked.
“I’m sure.”
Gideon rolled up in his blanket fairly close to his mate. “I think I’m too damned excited to sleep,” he said.
“Who is Pedro?” Shlomo asked abruptly.
“Why did you ask that?”
“You’ve called me Pedro a half-dozen times since we’ve been here.”
“Freudian slip, I guess.”
“So, who is he?”
“Just a buddy in the Marines.”
“What happened to him?”
“Let’s get some sleep,” Gideon answered.
“I thought you said you couldn’t sleep. What happened to Pedro?”
“I didn’t get to him fast enough.”
“What do you mean?”
“I hesitated. He was killed.”
Shlomo heard Gideon’s hard, nervous breathing. Just before the battle, Mother, he thought. Oh boy, Gideon had come home. “Don’t do anything foolish tomorrow,” he said.
November 1, 1956
0515 HOURS D DAY PLUS THREE
ORDERS OF THE DAY 11/1/56 The following units will fall in at 0530 in full combat gear:
Company A Lion’s Battalion
Company B Lion’s Battalion
Company C Lion’s Battalion
Recon Unit—Para 202—with full rock-climbing gear
Tank Squadron B—remaining three tanks
Heavy Mortar Platoons—Para 202
Companies A and B will proceed into Mitla Pass in half-tracks.
Company C will be in ready reserve west of Parker Monument.
Medical and Command Post units will follow into Pass and establish communications center in secure area around map coordinate A-16.
Recon unit will enter by heavy truck to map coordinate C-17 and then proceed by foot to climb to the top of cliffs and attack enemy from above.
All messages by voice in Hebrew.
OBJECTIVE: To secure and maintain defensive positions inside Mitla Pass to prevent an Egyptian breakout into Sinai proper.
Major Ben Asher in command.
SIGNED: Colonel Amos Zechariah, Commander Para 202.
Ben Asher marched briskly, at a half trot, into the command tent, ordering his officers to wait outside.
“Good morning, Ben Asher,” Colonel Zechariah said, “I’ve been expecting you. Have the units formed?”
“They are forming now, Colonel, but I think we’d better talk about this so-called patrol.”
“As I said, I was expecting you.”
“Last night you and I and Command Central agreed to send in a patrol to probe for better defensive positions. This is not a patrol you’ve ordered. This a full combat team. I think you have deceived us, and I believe you are planning to capture the Pass.”
Zechariah remained calm to belie his reputation. “Read this,” he said. “I was making up an order during the night, when this message arrived.” He handed the message to Ben Asher.
Command Central to all ground, air, and naval units STOP 0330 Hours URGENT URGENT URGENT Anglo-French Expeditionary Force has been forced to cease all operations due to pressures from Washington and Moscow STOP We will continue operations on all fronts until objectives have been reached SIGNED D. Ben-Gurion, Prime Minister SIGNED Dayan, Chief of Staff
“Jesus Christ,” Ben Asher mumbled. He read the communiqué again, dropped it on the map table, and stared at it.
“We’re all alone now,” Zechariah said. “Jordan may take a crack at entering the war. So might Syria.”
“Can our units reach their objectives before America and Russia force us into a cease-fire?”
Zechariah shrugged. “We have to move very fast. On the Northern Axis, the Seventh Armored has probably reached El Arish. They’ll get a fight there. They’ll have to go like hell to reach the Canal. Central Axis ... we’ve broken through at Jebel Livini and are probably now facing opposition at Kfar Gafafa. We are here at Mitla. Yoffe’s Ninth Brigade is just kicking off. They’ll reach Taba by tonight and then their fun begins. They’ve got close to a hundred and fifty miles of mountainous, untracked desert before they reach Sharm al-Sheikh. How do you say it ... there’s good news and bad news.