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?

6. World War

6.6 Tunisia

6.6.1 Father & Son

"But, father," Commander Tafid Kamsanni pleaded, "how can we? It is over two thousand kilometers. Our Navy has been destroyed, our Air Force shattered. How can we possibly march our armies for two thousand kilometers to attack Egypt?"

General Yusuf Kamsanni answered sternly, "My son, I do not make these decisions. The Council, in its wisdom and with Allah's guidance, has decided. You will escort the ships filled with our troops to join the Libyans at Tubruq. You will attach yourself and your command to the Libyan Navy in order to support our troops in this Jihad against the Fallen Ones."

"But, father, the Council has not fought the Yankees, nor have you. I have. I saw our mighty armada mass under a cloud of aircraft that darkened the skies. I saw the great plan and carried out my part in it. Allah did not smile upon us, even though the newspapers and television propaganda called that battle a victory.

"I watched as a storm of missiles reached up from their fleets. I watched as they destroyed our planes before they were even in range to launch their weapons. I saw their planes swoop down on our gunboats and destroy them as a giant would swat a fly.

"I turned on my radars for only two sweeps at a time to see them, and I ran from their missiles. My main battery destroyed one of them so close that I thought my ship would capsize. It killed my gun crew and knocked out my gunnery radars. It was only by the skills of my gunners that we managed to down one of the attackers. It was only by running at full speed, zigzagging across the sea, that we were saved from being destroyed along with all the others. If this was victory, let us declare it and retire from the battle while we still live!"

General Kamsanni drew himself up and glared angrily into his son's eyes. "I will not have a son of mine speaking this way. You speak like a coward! A woman!" Calming himself, he continued, "No, my son, it is the will of the Council and of Allah. You will go to Libya, and escort me and my troops upon this Holy War. One more contrary word, and I shall turn you over to Minister Dingjatha for speaking treason. Go, and make your ship ready, Commander."

Tavid Kamsanni's face reddened with anger and shame. He knew that he was right, and that his father and the Council were wrong. But, the Chief of Staff had given him an order, and he was required to obey, even if it meant his death.

6.6.2 Sailings

It had taken a surprisingly short time to assemble the ships needed to embark the army. In spite of its small size, Tunisia had an immensely long coast and, in Tunis, it had one of the world's busiest ports. It also helped that Tunisia had a small army.

On paper the Tunisian Army consisted of five divisions. One of them was armored, one was armored infantry and three were infantry divisions. Formed under the old Soviet doctrine, each division consisted of three regiments of roughly two thousand troops. When combined with all the support troops, including engineers, signals, intelligence, motor pools, and medical teams, the entire army contained only fifty thousand. The ten ships that Ahab Dingjatha, Minister of the Interior, had somehow gathered were more than enough.

Four days after the great battle, they sailed from seven ports and gathered in the lee of the Island of Jerba. With the Tunisian destroyer Admiral ben Ahmeed in the lead, they sailed in a loose, strung-out formation at fifteen knots towards Tripoli. Thirty ships and escorts from the Libyan Navy joined them en route. Protected by two destroyers and a frigate, the fleet continued to sail eastward, reaching Tubruq on the third day. There, the troops disembarked, mated with their equipment and headed east to the border town of Bardiyah.

The Tunisian Chief of Staff, General Yusuf Kamsanni, had flown ahead to meet with the Libyan Chief of Staff at Benghazi. Fortunately, both the Tunisian and the Libyan Armies had learned from the same Soviet textbooks. Their formations, their equipment and their tactics were the same. They even spoke the same language, which made communications far easier. The combined staffs studied, planned and played their war games for three days. They were sure that their tactical plan and their logistics could withstand the test of battle.

On the fifth day after the great battle in the Sicilian Straits, a second battle fleet passed by, heading east. It was a powerful armada, even more powerful than the fleet they had battled less than a week earlier. Not only did it have a British aircraft carrier fully as large as the American one they had damaged, but it also had another American carrier of equal size and a smaller one.

They longed to attack this fleet, but they could not. It was critically important to let it pass into the East and become involved in the wars against the Assyrians, Syrians and Persians. It would be two weeks before other fleets or American divisions could arrive from across seas. In those two weeks, the combined forces of Tunisia and Libya would crush the ill-prepared Egyptians, and wrest the Suez Canal from the grasp of the Godless West and the Faithless.

It was a good plan indeed. To succeed, it only needed a smile from Allah.