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“That’s excellent news.” The president turned to the director of the CIA. “What about Mourad, have we located his headquarters?”
“Not yet, Mr. President. We’re certain he’s near the front. Beyond that we haven’t a clue.”
“Okay, Chet, keep looking for the sorry bastard. Original orders remain—find him and kill him.”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Unfortunately, Mr. President,” the secretary of defense said, “not finding Mourad isn’t the only bad news, I’m afraid.”
“How so, Mr. Secretary?”
“We’ve got a major problem on our hands, sir. One that could spell disaster if the Chosen One identifies it and moves swiftly to press his advantage.”
“I’m almost afraid to ask,” the president said.
“In order to keep Cairo from falling, we put every unit we could get our hands on inside the city. That left our flanks totally exposed. Both north and south of the capital there are only a handful of Egyptian infantry guarding the Nile. It would take no effort for Mourad to defeat them. We know his ultimate goal’s to drag Israel into this war. If he takes advantage of the situation and succeeds in attacking Israel, we’re going to have a new set of problems on our hands.”
The smile was gone from the president’s face.
“I knew General Greer’s news was too good to be true. Have there been signs of enemy buildups near the weak points?”
“Not yet. Maybe we’ll get lucky and Mourad’s intelligence folks won’t spot the opening we’ve left.”
“What do you and General Greer propose we do?”
“There’s not much we can do for the next day or so. If we pull rifles from Cairo to protect the flank, we’re making ourselves vulnerable within the city. Despite the good things that have happened, Egypt may fall if the Chosen One launches a massive assault and we’ve weakened our forces inside the capital. So that’s no option. We’ve got to leave our units where they are.”
“There’s no one we can use to reinforce the flanks?”
“Not if he strikes soon. All we’ll have is airpower to harass his tanks as they cross the Sinai. That’ll slow them. And I’m positive we’ll exact a heavy toll. But I’m also certain it won’t stop them. Airpower alone never will. You’ve got to have boots on the ground.”
“What do you suggest we do, Mr. Secretary?”
“For the next forty-eight hours pray Mourad doesn’t figure out how tenuous our position is. Because if he does, we’re in serious trouble. Beyond that, we may be okay. We’ve been holding the 1st Infantry for such an emergency. They’ll have to go without the majority of their heavy equipment, of course. But along with the arrival of the Gerald Ford and John F. Kennedy off the Egyptian coast, we should be able to hold the line against all but the most determined attacks once they get there.”
“All right, Mr. Secretary. Get the 1st Infantry on the move. Let’s look at the next topic. Where do we stand in northern Egypt?”
“We’re fifteen miles closer to Cairo than we were yesterday, Mr. President,” General Greer said. “Both British armored divisions have landed. The first entered the conflict sixteen hours ago. The second moved south a few hours later.”
“Fifteen miles in sixteen hours, that’s impressive. At that pace we should reach the city in three or four days, right?”
“Mr. President, I wish it were true. Despite the progress our forces made, they’ve been stopped cold by an endless succession of minefields. They’re absolutely everywhere. British tanks armed with minesweeping equipment have moved forward to clear them. But some of the minefields are quite extensive. It’s going to take hours to create safe passages. And no one’s anxious to undertake such delicate operations in the dark. They’re going to wait for sunrise to begin establishing paths through them. And Mourad’s using that to his advantage. He’s finally recognized he’s on the defensive. His armor’s digging in. So unless I’m mistaken, the northern Egyptian battlefield’s going to turn into a time-consuming war of attrition.”
“That doesn’t sound the least bit encouraging. Even so, you haven’t answered my question. What’s the best estimate of when the Marines will reach Cairo?”
“Based upon what we’ve run into today, it’ll be anywhere from five days to two weeks before we defeat Mourad.”
“Not exactly the answer I wanted. But we will win, won’t we, General? No more of that ‘fifty-fifty’ stuff, right?”
“There are lots of variables, but yes, Mr. President, we should win. That, of course, is contingent upon what happens in the next few days. If the tactical situation stays where it is and the Chosen One doesn’t attack Israel, we should be okay.”
“All right, I guess I can live with that. Let’s move on. How are we doing in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait?”
“Iraqis and Iranians are keeping the pressure on, but with the entire 3rd Infantry and most of the 1st Armor Division in place, we’re more than holding our own. The enemy’s not made any progress in the past three days.”
“That’s good to hear. Anything else?”
“Lots of things, Mr. President. The interrogation of the Iraqis and Iranians we’ve captured has provided some real insight into what’s going on with our adversaries.”
“How so, General Greer?”
“There’s apparently a rift forming. We’ve always known the Iranians were far more fanatical than the Iraqis. That is causing the two sides to bicker over the proper course of action. The Iranian leadership continues to push for one attack after another. They don’t appear to care how suicidal their efforts are. The Iraqis are more concerned with staying alive. They’ve been advocating for a more cautious approach. They only want to attack when the odds are in their favor. The Iranians are frustrated with the Iraqis’ refusal to continue taking the fight to us. And the Iraqis are upset with the Iranian insistence they keep fighting even when there’s nothing to be gained.”
“Can we use that information to our advantage?”
“We believe so, Mr. President. The Iranians are so upset they’ve taken matters into their own hands. They’re gathering a half-million men with lots and lots of armored vehicles near the front lines in Saudi Arabia. Their best units, spearheaded by five divisions of Revolutionary Guards, are involved. It looks like they’re planning a huge attack. The prisoners told us the Iranians are expecting the Iraqis to hold the flanks while they unleash their massed army on the center of our defenses. They’re certain with so concentrated an attack they can smash through our lines and race to capture Riyadh and destroy the Saudi oil fields before we figure out what hit us. The final Iranian units should be in place and the attack undertaken within the week. Our satellite photos confirm what the interrogations told us about the Iranian intentions. We’ve suspected they might try something like this. So we’ve been perfecting an approach to counter it.”
“The ships carrying the rest of the 1st Cavalry Division, 101st Airborne, and 25th Infantry will arrive in Saudi Arabia in three days,” the secretary of defense said. “Once they do, we’re going to put our plan into motion to destroy the Iranians. We’ll launch an attack on the thin Iraqi flanks five days from now. Our forces will breach the Iraqi lines and race to encircle the Iranian army. The trap will be sprung before they know what hit them. With the Iranians surrounded, the 1st Armor and two French armored divisions will hit them head-on. The destruction of half a million of Iran’s best soldiers will be under way.”
“And the best part,” General Greer added, “is we’re going to make sure what few Iranians survive know the Iraqi failure to hold the flanks was the cause of their slaughter. That should put an end to their questionable partnership.”
“Are our divisions and the French units enough to handle the task, General Greer?”
“Along with the airpower we’ve assembled, it’s more than enough. Our forces will destroy the Iranians with relative ease
. And we’ll keep the 3rd Infantry in reserve to protect the Saudis should our efforts come up short. If the Iranians break through and the 3rd Infantry somehow fails to stem the tide, we’ve got another answer. The 4th Infantry’s ships are scheduled to arrive the day after the battle begins. The 10th Mountain Division’s a day or two behind them. So the Iranians will run head-on into two fresh divisions. The M-1 tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles of the 4th Infantry and the highly trained soldiers of the 10th Mountain will stop them in their tracks.”
The president turned to the secretary of defense. “You’re certain this will work, Mr. Secretary? I’d sure hate to have to explain to the public that we’ve lost the Saudi oil fields.”
“It’ll work exactly like we said it would. We’re going to move fast and hit hard. The enemy’s got a snowball’s chance in hell of surviving our ambush, Mr. President. And even if they do, we’ve got two top-notch divisions arriving to finish them off.”
“In fact, Mr. President,” General Greer said, “we’re so certain of success we’d suggest not unloading the 4th Infantry and 10th Mountain until we see how the battle’s progressing. If things go as we suspect, we probably won’t need them in Saudi Arabia. If that’s the case, we’d like to divert their ships to Egypt. Have them rush across the eastern desert to hit the Chosen One south of Cairo. We figure they’re just the force necessary to put an end to things.”
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