Hammer of God

Chapter 13

The Germans had done everything possible to move men and equipment to the shores of the Levant. In spite of the sudden turnaround forced upon planners by Hitler, the OKW staff adapted with characteristic efficiency. Much of the work for the assault on Crete would form a sound basis for Operation Anvil. They already had obtained good aerial reconnaissance photos of Cyprus, and identified the best potential landing sites for Student’s troops. The men of the 5th Gieberg’s division had already been assigned to makeshift convoys from Greece, where the Germans had scraped together small flotillas of Greek “Caiques,” wooden motor cutters used for fishing and other commercial purposes. The engineers had skillfully adapted them by adding wooden ladders, iron reinforced ramps, and rope nets to allow them to function as landing craft. A few old captured steamers were added to this to move the infantry in what one soldier called “ an assortment of scarcely seaworthy Greek coasting tramps and some larger rusty death traps.”

Yet there had also been extensive planning and preparation for the invasion of England, and there an aircraft designer named Fritz Siebel had been working at an airfield in northern France when a Lieutenant Colonel from a Pioneer battalion asked him if he could haul off a store of old gasoline containers.

“What in god’s name for?” Siebel asked. “Tell me that and you can have the entire lot.”

“We need a way to get over that damn channel,” said the officer. “Maybe we can get these to float beneath some light welded beams and wood planks. We’re trying everything we can find, wine barrels, canvas sacks, even tree trunks.”

“Why not just use river bridging pontoons?”

“We tried, but the beams and bolts are too weak and they can’t stand up to the wave action.”

“I see…” Siebel had a sudden idea. What about the schwere Schiffsbrucke, he thought to himself? These were much bigger heavy bridging pontoons, and the army had accumulated a good number. So Siebel got hold of a few and joined them with beams and a wood plank deck to build a kind of catamaran raft. He mounted a couple surplus aircraft engines, but found them inadequate. But he kept strengthening and modifying his design, improving the deck and adding four more diesel truck engines. In time he doubled the speed to 8 knots and had a platform that could stand up to force 6 wave strength.

The “Siebel Ferry” had been born, and twelve of them had been constructed and moved to Greece by rail for this mission. They would prove themselves in Operation Anvil as stable ferries to move the artillery, flak guns, and light vehicles of the 5th Mountain Division to the Levant. The only question was whether they could slip past Royal Navy patrols, particularly with the moon still near full.

The first convoy of wooden Caiques made it through undetected, landing at Tripoli. The Siebels followed soon after, narrowly running afoul of a British destroyer, which had the crews unlimbering several 88mm flak guns to use in defense, but the destroyer was hotly attacked by Stukas flying night cover, and driven off. This allowed the 5th Mountain Division to get its 85th Regiment to Tripoli, along with the division recon battalion and a battalion of twelve 105mm howitzers. They were onto the waiting trains and quickly en route to Damascus to arrive in the nick of time. The 100th Regiment, formerly with the 1st Mountain Division at Gibraltar, was re-assigned to the 5th and soon followed. Their assignment would be to backstop the French defense before Beirut, another full regiment of veteran troops, with the division Pioneer battalion and flak units.

While this was going on, the Ju-52 transport planes had not sat idle. A massive air ferry operation was constantly underway, with planes returning to Rhodes from their successful air drops on Cyprus, refueling and then flying on to Greece, where the crack 22nd Luftland Division was waiting in reserve. They would then reverse this journey, hopping to Rhodes, refueling, and then flying by night to the big French Aerodrome at Rayak in northern Lebanon. Situated midway between the two anchors of the French defense, Damascus and Beirut, the base would be a perfect mustering point for the steady buildup of German troops.

Like a fire that was slowly building in strength, the plan for a “quick campaign” in Syria to dispatch the Vichy French was now becoming a growing vortex of war. The German plan called for the whole of the 22nd Luftland Division to be deployed, and as soon as Cyprus was secure, the Ju-52s would base there to make the 7th Flieger Division the new theater reserve.

On the British side, the 7th Australian Division had already been reinforced by one brigade, and the single 5th Indian Brigade was now to be joined by the rest of that division, the 7th and 11th Brigades. Beyond that, O’Connor’s plan to discretely move elements of the 7th Armored Brigade was met with hearty approval from Kinlan.

“I like the plan,” he said. “It certainly beats trekking through that damn desert. It will take some management, but that rail line is a godsend.”

So it was that the 7th Brigade turned over its post at Siwa and Giarabub to the 18th Indian Motor Brigade, and returned to Bir el Khamsa, the scene of its first stunning victory over the Germans. From there, selected units could be moved to Mersa Matruh, the place Kinlan had thought to go to all along. The railhead was cleared out, and secured by Kinlan’s forces, and a special train soon arrived from Alexandria.

Kinlan had decided to mix up his battalions into smaller combined arms combat groups. He took the 1st Highland Mechanized Infantry Battalion and split it into three companies of 15 Warrior IFVs each. To each of these he added a troop of five heavy Challenger II tanks for support, one Titan bridge layer and a Trojan engineering tank. A number of FV432s, several tracked Javelin ATGM carriers, and a maintenance and supply unit of Royal Engineers in Mastiff Armored trucks finished things off. It was basically a heavy Mech company with the addition of the armor troop, and he was sending all three companies.

Fifteen more Challengers went to strengthen the three companies of the Mercian Mech Battalion, but this unit was retained near Sidi Barani. That left him 30 more heavy Challenger IIs in the Royal Scots Dragoons, and this unit was also retained in Egypt, along with Reeves’ 12th Royal Lancers. Whether the addition of the Highlanders to the order of battle for Operation Scimitar would make a significant difference was soon to be seen.

The French defense had been more tenacious and spirited than anyone expected, and now that German troops were arriving, they fought all the harder. By the time that the British and commonwealth troops began to approach Damascus, they found well entrenched positions behind the river, and occupying the heights beyond. To make matters worse there, the little civil war between Senegalese troops on both sides had begun to dampen the ardor of the Free French brigades. Wavell’s decision to send in the last two brigades of the 4th Indian Division was both timely and necessary. These troops would join the Free French to plan an attack across the river at Kiswah, but the real danger on this front was massing on the left flank near the small village of Qatana-a village that Popski and Troyak were now approaching in a thin column of trucks and jeeps.

The column sped along the rough dirt road, the engines of the jeeps and trucks laboring, gears shifting to negotiate the difficult terrain. Popski and Troyak were in the van, riding together with Litchko on the machinegun in the back of the lead jeep. They had approached the old village of Qatana on a winding mountain road, working their way around a high 1800 meter hill to a place where the original settlement had clustered around Jandal Castle. The name meant “stone,” and the old fortress was made of Jurassic limestone brick, with wrought iron bars on the windows. It had been built in a depression between the high brown hills, meant to bar the way to a pass that led west. There the mountains rose in steep, stony terraces to the icy peaks of Mount Hermon, ‘the Mountain of the Chief,’ which was the highest point in the region at 2,814 meters, over 9200 feet.

The main town of Qatana was on the lowlands below, a small settlement of fewer than 3,000 people in WWII, with orchards and vineyards on its southern approach, and the high ridge of Jabal al W’ar to the northwest. It occupied a very strategic position, for roads ran due east to Artuz in the valley leading up to Damascus, and due north where the main road and rail links wound through the high pass at Jebel Mazar.

“Stop here,” said Troyak, his eyes puckered with the dust kicked up by the jeep. He reached for a pair of field glasses, studying the terrain ahead and the town below.

“That’s Qatana,” said Popski. “Gurkhas will put a company in there within the hour.” They could see the column moving on the road below. “Their remaining two companies will deploy east to Artouz with some of those tanks.”

“We’ll need at least one troop here,” said Troyak. “Too open on the left flank, but I think we can cover it if we occupy that hamlet there.” He was indicating the small outlying village of Mabayya, a little over a kilometer west of Qatana. “See those orchards. They must follow a wadi bed or a stream running off from this high ground. Put your Argonauts there. They can spread three squads along that orchard, and put the last two in the village on the right flank. We’ll deploy in that other settlement just behind their extreme left.”

“See those dust columns out there?” said Popski. “That will be the Germans coming from the last report I received-several battalions. “Nice to be out of the thick of things up here.”

Troyak just gave him a hard edged smile. “German mountain troops coming? Well, don’t get comfortable. This is where they’ll try to flank that hamlet. We’ll need the Scimitar troop between our position and the Argonauts. The Germans will come tonight and try to take this ground to flank Qatana. They’ll get a nasty surprise if we’re ready for them, and we will be. Then tomorrow they’ll reorganize for a deliberate attack. So tonight you need to have those X-3 helicopters up looking for their artillery. That’s the one thing we have to worry about.”

“Good enough,” said Popski. “I’ll see if I can get through to their Lieutenant Ryan. “They did a hell of a job against the Iraqis.”

“These aren’t Iraqis,” said Troyak with an edge of warning. “We fought these devils before, and they’re good.”

The column moved out, down the winding road to the villages they had planned to occupy. The ‘orchards’ were thin and scrubby at this time of the year, but they did offer the Argonauts some cover, and they dug in. The locals were none too happy to see these tough looking men in black appear in their strange vehicles. War was coming to their sleepy villages, and they hastened to gather up their animals and melted away in the dusk, off to find relatives further east towards Qatana and Damascus. There would be no peace their either.

It started just after sunset, as Troyak predicted. Small squads of German mountain troops were rushing forward to occupy a few scraggly outlying vineyards north of Mabayya. Troyak could see the men moving on his night vision goggles, and told Popski they should hold their fire, until the enemy made a closer approach. He could see the Germans move in well coordinated groups. A machine gun team deployed, then a rifle squad moved up to scout the way ahead. These men knew what they were doing, but they had not yet taken the measure of the men they were now about to face.

The Germans waited until they had what looked to be two platoons forward, with a third back. Then they began to advance on the positions held by the Argonauts. He watched, breathlessly, and the first assault teams began to move toward the long orchard straddling the wadi. The Argonauts were lying low, their black camo suits blending into the shadows beneath the trees, then at 200 meters they opened fire with their automatic weapons and the battle began.

Though they were few in number, these were no ordinary troops. Each five man squad had L85A2 Automatic Rifles with under-slung grenade launchers. Two men carried the L108A1 Light Machinegun, two others had the AT4 84mm Anti Tank weapon, and the fifth used the L115A3 Sniper Rifle. Each man had both H.E. and smoke grenades. They had tritium powered illumination sights on their assault rifles for daytime use, and Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights with up to 6x magnification. In darkness, the men were equipped with head mounted night vision systems, and VIPER 2 thermal imaging weapon sites. Three light laser modules allowed for pinpoint target acquisition. And every man wore both Kevlar reinforced helmets, body armor and a personal radio receiver. In terms of firepower, situational awareness and command control, they were an order of magnitude above even the very best of their enemies, but there were just those 50 men, backed by Troyak’s 20 Russian Marines.

The advancing German infantry thought they had the cover of darkness, but they were easily seen, and the first German squad was cut down on the move. Most of the second squad went to ground and immediately began answering with rifle and SMG fire. It was soon apparent that they were outgunned, and too exposed, and they heard the harsh shouts of non-comms barking orders to fall back.

The fire died down, then ten minutes later Troyak saw a long line of troops on his night goggles. The scout platoon had done its job, sent to merely probe the position and find out if the village was defended, and in what strength. The Germans had assessed that they must have a heavy MG unit in front of them, and now they were coming in company strength, at least 150 men against the 50 men of the Argonauts. A second company was maneuvering to flank the hamlet on the defender’s left flank, just as Troyak knew they would.

“Tell the Scimitars they can fire up their engines now,” he said with a smile. The tanks had been lying in wait, engines off, waiting for Popski’s signal. Then machine guns and rifle fire split the night, the hot tracer rounds zipping through the darkness.

“Now!” Troyak yelled, as the Germans were moving, going to ground, firing and then making short rushes, but the terrain was too exposed and the defensive fire from those 50 assault rifles was too withering. The company attempting to flank the hamlet ran right into the 30mm auto cannon and MG fire of the eight Scimitars that had been assigned to Popski’s flank. They could make no headway, and were eventually beaten off with heavy casualties, falling back in disarray, but then quickly re-assembling in small groups, still a cohesive, disciplined force.

“That was the surprise,” said Troyak. “They did not expect that kind of firepower here, nor did they think we might have armor. Now they’ll hit us with their heavy weapons.”

As if in answer, well aimed fire began to fall on and around the town from the German 50cm mortars. The Russians quickly put both their 82mm mortar teams into action in reply, and for some time the mortar duel continued, but no further ground attack materialized. When the first round of combat was over, the Germans had lost 27 men, with another 18 wounded. Two Argonauts has sustained shrapnel wounds from the mortar fire and were moved off the orchard line to the covered housing on the back right flank of the position. The Russian position had not yet been discovered or fired upon.

“It’s the tanks,” said Troyak. “They didn’t expect those, and they’ll have to haul up their AT gun teams tonight. I think we should see nothing more than a few scouting details further west into the high ground. I’ll have Zykov patrol out there tonight. The main attack won’t come until just before dawn, so now is the time to get those helicopters out after the German artillery.”

Popski was on the radio in a minute, sending the code word out for ‘Black Lightning,’ and it was a good name for what was now about to be unleashed on the unsuspecting German troops. The three helos moved like bats, swift and stealthy shadows looming overhead. A few German troops caught sight of them, dark noisome shadows in the starry sky as they ran with all lights off, scanning the terrain ahead with infrared optics. As before, they had little difficulty locating the battalion of German artillery that had been deploying much farther back, and soon the night sky was ripped apart with the hot streaks of the rocket pods.

Lieutenant Ryan and his sidekicks were having another field day, blasting away at the German gun positions and knocking out seven 105s in rapid succession before their pods were empty. The rattle of their machineguns went on for a while, shooting up trucks and anything else on the ground around the three batteries. It was soon clear that the night had gone to the defense, and the X-3s broke off and swept south to their designated LZ where a Mastiff armored truck had been carrying their ammo reloads. They had been busy that day, and found the ammo running lean when they got there.

Popski got the word on the radio and passed it on to Troyak. “Lieutenant Ryan says they’ll need to return to their ship for fuel and supplies, but they’ve done their job tonight. He reckons they took out a good number of enemy gun positions.”

“Good to hear it,” said Troyak. “Because anything they missed will be wanting a piece of us in the morning.”