Defense of Hill 781 (16 page)

But in the seeds of the disappointment was the recognition that it had been a close run, that with just a little more luck, with a little more coordination, perhaps with a little more leadership, the enemy might have been stopped. The survivors sensed how close it had been, and being good soldiers in a good unit, resolved to rededicate their energies to the “next time,” to learn from their mistakes and observations, and to wrench from defeat the fruits of victory.

Lieutenant Colonel Always recognized all of this and sensed that herein lay the key to solidifying his unit. A fever began to bum in him, a fever born in part of fatigue and frustration but born more of a zeal to win. The recriminations were over for Always. He had reached that stage where he was no longer the detached and aloof commander developing his command. The command and he had blended into one. The battalion was an extension of his will. As he willed himself to redouble his efforts, so too he willed the battalion. It would become an unstoppable
force; as long as the fire burned in Always, it would burn in every one of his soldiers, a single force driving to the relentless objective of victory.

Lieutenant Colonel Drivon was merciless in the after-action review that took place at 1100. Always did not care. He was indifferent to the jibes, unbothered by the cataloging of his failures. His ego had been bruised beyond the point of feeling. But he did seize upon the kernels of truth, recognized what could have been done better, and branded the lessons learned into his own brain:

Defense is tough; not a minute can be wasted in the preparation. Make the plan early and get forces in motion. Revise the plan as a greater appreciation of the terrain and enemy intentions is achieved. Coordination is critical—engineers, artillery, air force, air defense, and maneuver forces must have the exact same plan in mind, on the exact same piece of ground.

Rehearse all movements, in gas masks, with no communications, and at night. Assume that confusion will reign at the moment of execution, and rehearse all procedures accordingly. Share the plan so that every last leader can assume responsibility for its implementation.

Time the movement of the enemy and adjust indirect fire accordingly. Anticipate the arrival at target grids and call for the fire on the spot to which they are heading, not where they are.

Use deceptive techniques in defense. Use smoke to cover obstacle preparations. Shift companies after dark; assume they have been sighted and reported by enemy reconnaissance. Commit heavily to finding, killing, and blinding enemy reconnaissance. Move the TOC before the fight and provide for an alternate TOC during the fight. Dig in all command and control vehicles that join the maneuver companies for the
fight. Put a ranking leader in charge of the bulldozers. Don’t allow any deviations from their work schedule.

Preposition ammunition and protect it from indirect fire. A single platoon may make the critical fight against the bulk of the enemy forces. With well-prepared positions and ample ammunition that platoon can turn the battle.

Be bold and aggressive. An enemy seeking only to get past you can avoid a fight. Don’t let him. Go to him and make him pay the price. Movement is important to the defense. Any uncommitted element must be prepared to fight as the reserve. In the absence of orders it must determine where the enemy is and go after him. Every resource must be brought to bear on the enemy; spare him nothing. Then and only then will you stop him, and that is what you must do.

With these lessons seared into each of their minds, the battalion operations group left the after-action review. Already an order was waiting for them. Always was eager to get it. He wanted another crack at the enemy.

CHAPTER 5
Deliberate Attack

The battalion would be attacking at dawn across the forward edge of the battle area, past Hill 876 and onto Hill 780. As usual, intelligence was sketchy, but Always had an advantage this time in that Lieutenant Wise and some of his scouts were deep into the enemy area. In fact, the outpost atop Hill 876 was ideally located to see the enemy dispositions. The commander had the S-2 signal Lieutenant Wise to get himself in position with all caution taken to prevent his being discovered by the enemy. Surely he would immediately expect a reconnaissance effort and commit forces to pick it up.

It was already past 1300 by the time the battalion leaders were free of the after-action review. Not much time was left to develop a plan, reconstitute the task force after the morning’s fight, get elements in position, and mount the reconnaissance effort it would take to probe the soft spots of the enemy.

Major Rogers had passed a warning order immediately to all companies, and even before the commanders made it back to their respective units the company executive officers were cross loading the vehicles and platoons so that they would be ready to fight on short notice. The commanders themselves were dog tired, but they would have to put that aside in order to get
their people in motion. For the moment they could concentrate on reconstitution, as it would be a while before Always and his staff would decide what the plan of action would be. They would need every minute they had to pull off an attack at dawn.

The colonel went forward to Bravo Company’s position in Battle Position 2 hoping to gain a vantage point from which to look into the enemy’s sector. With him was his S-3, the artillery officer, and the S-2. Captain Baker joined them for a few minutes, offering his views on the problem before them.

“The ground is wide open, sir. Hill 876 and the ridge line marking the northern ring on the hidden valley across from my position are the dominant pieces of terrain forward in their sector. It seems like any approach along the south is sure to be caught in a murderous cross fire.”

“You’re probably right, Captain Baker,” Always answered him, “especially considering that peanut-shaped hill to the south of 876. Yet it is the shortest approach, particularly if we use your position here as our last cover before we launch.”

For a few minutes the party shared ideas. Lieutenant Colonel Always asked to see the operations overlay passed to him from Brigade. The northern boundary of his zone of attack seemed to close out any opportunity of using the ground up there to avoid 876. The zone was too narrow and pinched him in against the dangerous ground where he was sure he would find the enemy. Yet in its very unattractiveness he saw an opportunity. “Let’s work our way north along the FEBA. I want to take a closer look at those two little knobs that jut out of the desert floor just north of Hill 876. Major Rogers, call Brigade and see what kind of latitude we have on moving our left boundary.”

The small party worked their way cautiously along the FEBA (forward edge of battle area), having to cut back toward Hill 910 before they could move in on Echo Company’s position. The enemy was able to observe deep into Always’ sector, and
the colonel saw no sense in drawing artillery fire. The last thing he needed to have happen now was to lose one of his key men or to strap the command group with a casualty or two.

Brigade was firm. There would be no alteration of the boundary. Using his binoculars and map, however, Always was able to see what he was looking for. He reflected for a moment or two, then bounced his ideas off the command party.

“It seems to me that the enemy has got to expect us to attack in the south. While he doesn’t know exactly where our boundaries are, he can probably figure them out with good approximation. If he does that, then he will deduce that without cover in the north I can’t mount an attack there.”

“Well, he probably has at least one company in defense, and probably two or more.” It was the S-2 speaking. “That gives him enough forces to hedge both bets.”

“You’re right on that, but it’s not his first line of defense that worries me as much as his reserves. If I can delude him long enough to bust through his line, then maybe I can get deep before he can react.”

Always had looked hard at the map and determined that getting to Hill 780 would unhinge any defense by the enemy, provided he could get there with adequate forces. “Where do you think he’ll put his reserve?”

Major Rogers fielded the question. “Can’t tell for sure, sir. Maybe our scouts can give us a better picture over time. It’s most likely, though, that he’ll put them in that valley in the south of our zone.”

“I think so too,” the S-2 chimed in excitedly. “Although it’s not a great place to put them, he does have to worry about us coming into that valley, and it offers him some cover from artillery fire and observation as well. So, like as not, that’s where he’ll put them. If he does that, then he’s got a problem coming out of it, since the only exit is looking into the face of Hill 780.”

“What can we do about that with artillery?” Always was looking at his fire support officer.

“Sir, if there ever was a place to put in an artillery-delivered mine field, that’s the place for it.”

“And how long would it take you to get it in?”

“If the guns were preset and laid, slightly more than five minutes, running up to ten.”

“And if they were in action, firing other fire missions?”

“Then a few minutes longer, sir.”

The conversation continued in this vein for twenty minutes, during which the essence of the plan was sketched out. That done, the party departed for the TOC, now reestablished in the vicinity of Charlie Company’s position of the morning. Already it was past 1530 and much coordination had yet to be done. The order would be given after dark.

Always had been learning, however, and he remained in place while he called his commanders up to him. They would get the order later at the TOC, but now while it was still light he wanted them to see the ground over which they would attack in the morning. As precious as their time was, this was as wise an investment of it as any. Shortly after 1700 the assembled commanders returned to their companies. The orders group would meet at 1930.

On the way back to the TOC Always ran into Command Sergeant Major Hope, who was talking to two soldiers recovering mines from one of the obstacles emplaced the previous day.

“Good evening, sir.” Hope greeted the colonel for his small group.

“Evening Sergeant Major, evening men. How are you all making out?”

“Just fine, sir,” one of the men responded as he gingerly put aside an antitank mine he had just defused.

The sun had baked the men to a dark hue. Chapped skin hung from their lips and noses. Eyes looked as if road maps
had been drawn on them, the red lines careening off in every direction. Always noted that their hands were raw and blackened by heavy labor in the arduous climate. Yet they looked cheerful enough, as if they were making picnic lunches instead of picking mines out of the ground. The sergeant major had that effect throughout the battalion, raising spirits even as the soldiers redoubled their efforts to get the job done. He came over to talk with his commander for a few minutes.

“How are you doing, sir? You look awful.”

“Thank you, Command Sergeant Major, you’re looking great yourself.” Always smiled.

“We almost had them this morning, you know, Colonel.”

“Yeah, I know. But that’s not good enough. Tomorrow is another day. I think we’re ready to really do it now.” The smile on Always’ face had turned to a set grimace. “How are the men looking to you?”

“They’re ready, sir. They want to kick butt, and they feel that you can make it happen. Show them the way, and they’ll knock walls down getting there.”

Again the sergeant major had given his commander the lift he needed in precisely the right way. He was gladdened by the expression of solidarity and support, challenged by the expectations of victory, and resolved to deliver to his command the success they deserved. All this in a few words, a few casual gestures. No wonder the men of the battalion responded to Hope the way they did. He could move mountains.

For an hour Always brainstormed the plan with his staff. Ideas were exchanged, critiqued, restated, critiqued again. All the while reports were coming in from the scouts, filling in the details on terrain, and just as importantly, on the enemy.

Lieutenant Wise had gone to ground atop Hill 876. The enemy had committed the better part of a dismounted company to look for him and his men, and 876 had been an obvious spot. For two hours Wise and two of his men had buried themselves
with dirt, sand, and rocks, allowing the patrols to pass within a few meters of them without their being detected. It had taken amazing stamina; the heat of the day and the stifling weight of the earth on their entombed bodies had severely drained them of essential fluids. But they had hung on and were now gaining a clear picture of the enemy sector.

A motorized rifle company, reinforced with tanks and a dismounted element of more than fifty men, was digging in around the base of 876, the two hillocks to the north, and the peanut-shaped ridge to the south. Along the north face of the ridge dominated by Hill 955 another motorized rifle company and two platoons of dismounts were preparing a gauntlet defense, ready to rip apart anything that tried to run it. There had been movement in Hidden Valley, but as yet no scout was in position to get a good count of how many enemy were there. Based on the noise and the dust raised, it seemed like tanks were in there, at least a platoon and maybe a company. Hill 780 was uncovered save for a few support elements coming and going. Obstacles were in everywhere; across the width of the sector from north to south stretched concertina wire, barbed wire, and an elaborate mine field. Another more intensive mine field stretched from the peanut-shaped hill to the ridge line in the south. The entrance to Hidden Valley was a maze of tank traps, mines, wire, and trenches. Each enemy vehicle was dug in to turret level, and the approaches to them were wired and mined. The road south of 876 was cut with wire and mines and covered by cross fires from both sides of the road. So far as the scouts could see, there was not an inch of ground uncovered by fire once an attacker came within range.