The Faithful, North African and Middle Eastern Islamic nations, are plotting to seize the oil resources of the Middle East. By controlling the earth's oil and its major trade routes, they plan to bring the world to its knees. Then, when the entire world is kneeling, the Faithful of Allah will read to them from the Koran, preaching the message of Islam, the True Faith. The Faithful will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. But how far will they go? And how many lives will it cost?

3 Gambits

3.4 Iran

3.4.1 Hammedyanni Strikes

'Where are the Iraqis?' General Tavid Hammedyanni raged to himself as he stared at his maps. 'We have lost two entire regiments and a third is being destroyed. We have lost one-third of our air force. All of this has been lost trying to keep the Saudis engaged. We have taken terrible losses, and my schedule is in tatters. What are the Iraqis doing? Are they waiting until our entire army is destroyed in these infested swamps?'

His plan had been carefully crafted. He had developed the timings, intervals and schedules in meticulous detail. Both countries had agreed to his plan, which was simplicity itself.

After they had seized Mina al-Ahmadi, the two invading armies were to split. The Persians were to continue south on the main road to As-Suffaniyah. The Saudis would counter with a holding action in the marshes. While the Persians held the Saudis' attention, the Iraqis were to march through El-Wafrah moving on the high ground west of the marshes. They would sweep around An-Naqirah and enfilade the entire Saudi army. At that point, the Saudis would either be driven back or driven into the sea. It didn't really matter which happened. Their army would be shattered and on the run with fifteen Irani and ten Iraqi divisions in pursuit. The enemy would have no time to stop, regroup or counter-attack. The door to Jubayl would be wide open!

Hammedyanni's radio operator stiffened as though he were at attention. "Yes, Sir! I shall inform him immediately, Sir." Turning to the general, the R/O reported, "Sir, General Yousoufli has ordered you to headquarters immediately. He said that it was most urgent, Sir."

Hammedyanni’s BTM lurched forward, careened through a turn and reversed direction at high speed. Hammedyanni had said, "fast", so his driver was going as fast as the BTM would move. Minutes later it skidded to a stop at divisional headquarters.

The moment Hammedyanni stepped into the tent, he noticed the young officer who had been so discourteous to him earlier. However, this time the young man was deliberately avoiding any recognition that the general had entered. Hammedyanni had spoken to that one before. This was intolerable! The officer was guilty of insubordination! The general advanced upon the young officer and struck him across the face. The boy turned, throwing his arm up to defend himself.

"Striking an officer!" Hammedyanni screamed, "I will teach you!" He struck again and again, driving the young man to the floor. The boy held his arm up to ward off the hail of blows. The impudence! Hammedyanni kicked the prostrate officer in the ribs. He raised his foot to kick once more when a powerful body crushed him to the ground. "Get off me you oaf!" he cursed. "I shall have you court-martialed and shot!"

"You shall do no such thing, Colonel!" General Yousoufli shouted, standing over him. "Let him up," he ordered the huge sergeant wearing the uniform of the military police.

Hammedyanni slowly rose to his feet rubbing his back. "General, I accuse this man of insubordination and striking an officer in the field. He is guilty and must be punished. Punishment for such crimes is death!"

"Yes, COLONEL! The punishment for such crimes is death. Shall I make your rank that of Major?" General Yousoufli seemed to grow as Hammedyanni shrank before him.

"What is it you are saying, General Yousoufli?" Hammedyanni snarled. "You can not demote me. My father is General Hammedyanni, and my grandfather sits on the Revolutionary Council. You do not have the power.

"Aha! It is all too clear," he ranted. "Now, I understand our losses, our inability to maintain my schedule and the lack of cooperation from our allies. You are a traitor, Yousoufli, working against the Cause of Allah, and for His enemies. Stand aside while I place a call to the General Staff. We will see who is demoted this day." He turning to the young officer who was still lying on the floor, his face bleeding from several long nasty-looking gashes. "And, we will see who dies today."

Hammedyanni reached for the phone that would connect him to army headquarters, but the huge sergeant grabbed his arm in an iron grip, looking towards the Major General. Yousoufli nodded to the sergeant, "Take him to the stockade! He is a prisoner, but an officer. He is not to have any visitors, nor may he communicate with anyone other than yourself or one of the guards. Carry out your orders, Sergeant Major."

The newly promoted Sergeant Major smiled broadly as he bodily removed the colonel, nee general, to the stockade, while thinking, 'This could be enjoyable. I have spent years saluting and kissing officer’s asses. This one’s mine, and I can do anything with him I please, as long as he stays alive.'

General Yousoufli turned to his communications officer, "Get Colonel Rashamani up here immediately!"

Half an hour later, the CO of the Second Regiment arrived. He strode purposefully into the large tent and looked around for Yousoufli. The first person that caught his eye was a sorry-looking lieutenant with a recently broken nose. "Excuse me, Lieutenant, I am looking for General Yousoufli."

The young man looked up, and the colonel saw only a huge nose and two very bleary, darkening eyes. "Sir, he is at the mapping table over there."

"Thank you," the colonel answered, and moved to the crush of people standing around a large table in the middle of the space.

"Rashamani!" the general shouted joyously. "Welcome! We have much to do. Come here and see." The colonel had never been greeted this warmly by any general, and wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The big, hearty general put his arm around the colonel’s shoulder. "See here? Our plan is finally coming to fruition.

"The Iraqis were delayed. The rains this year have been quite extraordinary. It took them an extra day to get into position, but they are now ready.

"They have five divisions massing here, west of An-Naqirah. At 05:00 tomorrow, they will initiate their artillery barrage on the left flank of the Saudi line. We will do the same using our longest-ranged weapons. At 05:30, the Iraqis will attack towards the east. Their left flank will skirt the marshes on the north, while their right will travel along the highway into the Saudi rear. Their objective is the junction where the road to As-Suffaniyah splits off from this main highway. When they have achieved this objective, we will have surrounded the Saudi army and will annihilate it.

"Your task is two-fold, Colonel. First, after the artillery bombardment, you will advance along the highway through Al-Mishab and seize As-Suffaniyah. Second, you will clear the highway for the Kingdom of Allah Division to pass through. They will advance and link up with the Iraqi army coming from the west. This maneuver will complete our envelopment of the Saudi army.

"To do this, I am reinforcing your regiment. Here is your order of battle." The general handed Colonel Rashamani a sheet of paper. "As you know, First Regiment was shattered at Mina al-Ahmadi. Since that time, they have served as my division’s support regiment. Your regiment suffered losses in our attempt to force a passage through the marsh. By reinforcing your regiment with First, we can create a larger and more powerful strike force.

"We will create a fourth battalion, as shown here. We will reinforce your depleted battalions as shown here. You will have four, heavily reinforced battalions to lead our army to victory.

"I will follow you with Third Regiment and the mobile artillery. When you have penetrated the marshes, I will form Third Regiment on your right. The mobile artillery will take up positions as quickly as possible. They will be in support position before the heavy artillery is broken down for the march, so there will never be a shortage of bombardment capability.

"The Warriors of the Prophet Division will follow on our heels. They will move to our right to defend our flank and cut the Saudi’s line here, west of Suffaniyah. The Kingdom of Allah division will follow them and advance behind you. As soon as you have punched a hole in the Saudi lines, they will advance with all possible speed towards the road junction." The general pointed to a V drawn on the map. "Your regiment will follow them, and pivot towards the west."

From his perspective, Rashamani could see three blue arrows advancing south and then west forming an advancing front. He could also see three green arrows advancing from the west to form another advancing front facing towards the east. Inside of these arrows were red rectangles, representing the Saudi brigades, forming into a defensive "egg-shell". The plan was bold, clear and awesome. If it were carried out, the Saudi army would be trapped, and destroyed.

"Yes, General, I see this clearly ... a classic envelopment. I have but one question, Sir. What of Saudi air power? I have seen it, and I do not wish to see it again."

The general laughed generously. "Yes, Colonel, we have all seen it much too clearly. Those devils hurt us badly last time.

"Our air force has been working on this problem along with our allies in Iraq. We believe that we understand how they did it. If they try something similar, we will be prepared for them. Then they will be the ones who are surprised." The general laughed again, like a small child who had a secret, and wanted others to know that he had one, but wouldn’t tell it.

"So, Colonel," the general continued in a more serious vein, "here are your orders. The senior officers of First Regiment are ready to meet with you. You have until tomorrow morning to make the appropriate adjustments in your units. Allah be with you, Colonel. May we meet in As-Suffaniyah, and later in Mecca!"

The colonel departed quickly, wondering what had brought on this remarkable change in his personal fortunes, and what had happened to that poor lieutenant’s face.

3.4.2 Rashamani in Command

Colonel Rashamani worked quickly and efficiently. Within an hour, his command and communications issues had been clarified and everybody was eager for the dawn. Five hours later, his reinforced regiment was in column and ready to advance under their umbrella of steel. He had completed his arrangements so quickly that the troops would be able to get about six hours of sleep before the big push.

Rashamani spent a sleepless night, and 04:30 came all too early. Evidently, his battalion commanders had the same problem, because they were instantly available on the command net. They all reported that their troops were arising, and that their vehicles would be fired up and ready to move by the 05:00 deadline.

Slowly at first, but with a momentum that seemed to build minute by minute, the gigantic T-90s, BTMs and BTRs filtered into line. Rashamani looked at his watch: 04:55. Five minutes later, the skies to the north pulsed as though with lightning. They pulsed again, and again. Then, the horizon to the south was lit with fire.

Rashamani ordered the lead tankers to advance. Blue clouds filled the morning twilight. Engines roared. Dirt flew from tracks and wheels.