With the Brigade's recon company deployed to his front and his own security element to his flank, Hafez prepared to drive his unit into the night, seeking to rip out the heart of his enemy and avenge his honor.
Chapter 15
When I am without orders, and unexpected occurrences arise, I shall always act as I think the honor and glory of my King and Country demand.
Struggling with the heavy tow cables, the crew of the BTR managed to free them from General Uvarov's BTR-80 armored personnel carrier. In a ditch on one side of the road, the crew of an overturned BRDM-2 armored car waited. On the other side of the road a lieutenant from Uvarov's BTR was bandaging the driver of the armored car. The BRDM-2, escorting and providing security for General Uvarov's command group, had run off the road in the darkness and flipped over. Standing between the two vehicles, Neboatov watched. The crew of the armored car had been lucky: only the driver had been injured, and he, in Neboatov's mind, deserved it. That would be the last time, no doubt, that the man would fall asleep while driving.
Neboatov, of course, could not blame the driver for falling asleep. Unable to suppress it, he yawned. He considered curling up in the BTR and catching some sleep while the crews worked on recovering the armored car. Just as quickly as he thought of that, he dismissed the idea. The general, no doubt, would need something as soon as he fell asleep, and Neboatov would look like a lazy sod in his eyes. Instead, he stretched his arms over his head, then, bending at the waist, reached down to touch his toes in an effort to fight off the urge to sleep.
Straightening up, Neboatov looked around for the general. Stepping over to where the lieutenant was finishing his work on the driver, Neboatov asked if he had seen the general. The lieutenant pointed to a lone figure standing off in the desert. Neboatov watched for a moment, trying to decide whether to disturb the general. Everyone, generals included, needed time alone.
The clatter of the tow cable falling to the road followed by a stream of cursing caused Neboatov to turn. The commander of the overturned car had stumbled, tripped, and dropped the cable. He was tired; they were all tired. Rest was what they needed more than anything else. The lack of regular sleep and the need to execute endless tasks, coupled with the cold, the harshness of the desert, and the stress of participating in combat operations, were taking their toll. People were beginning to make mistakes, like the driver of the armored car, and the captain who had managed to get the general's BTR lost while they were looking for the 24th Tank Corps command post. Rest and a good night's sleep was what they needed. But that was the last thing that they were going to be able to get.
Cranking up the BTR, the commander of the overturned armored car prepared to guide the BTR to where it could turn the armored car over, then back onto the road. Since he was in the way where he was standing, Neboatov went over to where the general stood.
"Are they finished yet?" Uvarov asked, without turning to see who was approaching.
Neboatov stopped. "No, General. It will be another fifteen, twenty minutes, at least."
Uvarov took a deep breath. The cold night air filled his lungs and cooled his temper. Slowly he exhaled. "Time is one commodity we don't have much of. Did General Boldin acknowledge the order to stop his advance?"
"Yes, Comrade General. Lead element of the 24th has assumed hasty defenses northeast of Gabr Saleh."
Waiting for more, Uvarov turned toward Neboatov. "And his response, Major? What was his response to the order?"
Neboatov hesitated before he told Uvarov Boldin's response.
Turning away from Neboatov, Uvarov sighed. "Never mind. I can imagine what it was. At least he stopped."
Boldin, after Uvarov, the senior Soviet officer in Libya, commanded the 24th Tank Corps. Seeing the opportunity to reach the coast of the Mediterranean in a single thrust and not understanding the reasoning behind Uvarov's orders, Boldin had spurred his corps forward that afternoon. Uvarov, in turn, slowed, then stopped him. In a lively radio conversation Uvarov became convinced that Boldin couldn't be trusted to act appropriately unless he knew what the political situation was and what was at stake. He did not want to trust such a conversation to an open radio net, even though it was secured. Uvarov suspected that all nets were being monitored by the KGB. At the first opportunity Uvarov left front headquarters for Boldin's, to talk to him face to face. It was, in Uvarov's mind, critical that Boldin understood how things stood and the role Soviet forces would play.
It was not that Boldin was disloyal. Boldin was in fact an outstanding officer, perhaps the best tank general in the Red Army. His selection for command of the 24th Tank Corps ahead of several dozen generals with greater seniority spoke well of his abilities. Boldin, however, was politically naive. Dedicated to his profession, he had no time for political considerations. He saw all problems through the eyes of a professional soldier. In all things he applied the accepted formulas and doctrine, as he had been trained, to achieve the desired results. In a war in Europe, Uvarov knew, Boldin would excel. In Africa, where the political sands were shifting faster than the sands beneath his feet, Boldin's approach to war could be dangerous.
Believing that the general wanted to be alone, Neboatov backed up, turned, and prepared to leave. Uvarov stopped him. "Don't go, Major. I could use some company. This night is very lonely, and very long."
Neboatov trudged through the soft sand up to the general's right side. He stood there for several minutes before he spoke. "Are you going to relieve General Boldin?"
"No. There's no need to relieve him. I just have to do a better job explaining my intentions to him. General Boldin is a fine soldier, one of the best. He just needs to understand that this is not a purely military problem." Uvarov paused for a few moments. "I have no doubt he will try to convince me to let him push on. It makes sense, militarily, to encircle the Egyptian 1st Army."
Neboatov was both fascinated by the general's conversation and flattered that the general had taken him into his confidence.
"But politically, such a move would be dangerous. It would force the Egyptians to have to make one of two bad choices. They would either have to accept a military defeat or bring more forces to bear against us in order to save their surrounded army, and their honor. There is always the danger they might even convince the Americans to intervene. Even without direct military intervention by the Americans, however, we cannot win a long war in Africa." Uvarov turned to look at Neboatov. "You see, the Egyptians are a proud people. So long as they have the means, they will fight to save their surrounded forces. Politically, the president of Egypt cannot allow the 1st Army to be eradicated. So we keep him from having to make a bad choice by allowing the Egyptians to escape. We stop at the border and tell the Americans that politically, we are even. Their surrogates attacked one of our surrogates, and our surrogate defended itself. Common sense prevails, and peace breaks out."
They stood there for a few moments in silence. Neboatov, taking the liberty, spoke first. "I must admit, General, I do not fully understand the dynamics of the situation. But what you say makes sense. Do you believe the Egyptians will see it that way?"
Uvarov was about to answer but paused. In the distance he heard the squeaking and grinding of metal on metal. Tanks!
The commander of Hafez's lead company was surprised to see the small group of armored vehicles clustered on the road. The Republican Brigade's recon company, supposed to be well ahead, hadn't reported any contact. Therefore he reported to Hafez before he gave his company the order to engage. There was, after all, the possibility that the BTR, the BRDM, and the people he saw in his thermal sight were Egyptian.