Free Casca 20: Soldier of Gideon by Barry Sadler

severing limbs, smashing skulls.
    The gun sights roved on along the line, Casca motioning to him to try for the farthest target, the lead Egyptian tank. Harry readily complied with Casca's order, moving up the gun barrel along the line of Egyptian tanks, but continuing his fire. Each successive shot landed somewhere along the line of enemy armor, every so often one of them taking effect on either the machines or the accompanying infantry.
    Then the heavy, British built Centurion was in his sights, and he was bouncing round after round off its thick armored hide.
    But even the thickest steel is no match for high explosive, and soon the Egyptian column was fanning out to avoid the smoking wreck of the Centurion.
    Now Wardi Nathan and Atef Lufti had a recoilless rifle firing from the adjacent bunker, and the two guns between them took heavy toll of the Egyptian armored column.
    Billy Glennon stationed the Bren gun carrier to the rear of the two conquered bunkers, and the men on board were able to quickly wipe out the handful of Egyptians who attempted to rush the bunkers when they realized what had taken place. Each bunker was equipped with a number of machine guns, and these, too, were now turned to their rear as more and more Arab troops tried to take back the captured positions. But the Egyptians had left few infantry in reserve behind the gun emplacements, and these few were spread thinly all along the line.
    The Israeli troops had been ordered always to concentrate their fire on officers and NCOs, and as each charge on the bunkers failed, the retreating rabble of unblooded young boys served to spread confusion and terror amongst the succeeding groups of Arab youth.
    Some of the younger officers, and even some of the non -coms, caught the contagion of fear, and the two bunkers were soon secure, the Egyptians only firing at them from a small distance from the protection of other bunkers, or from behind the next dune line.
    Out in the general battlefield, the two lines of armor had now met, and men and machines were milling about in a confusion of explosions, smoke, screams, and gunfire. The confusion grew as Egyptian tanks turned to chase Israeli armor that had broken through their lines, and some of the Israeli tanks swerved back to protect the rear of their main attacking force.
    Harry Russell shook his head to Casca as he stopped firing his cannon. "Can't tell who I might hit," he shouted.
    Casca nodded. The mix up of camouflaged armor was all the greater, because both sides were using many vehicles of the same make. British, French, Russian, U.S. and Czech armor were milling about in a hideous cocktail of noise and death
    "Spike it," Casca shouted, and Russell quickly destroyed the cannon's firing mechanism.
    Casca shouted to where Moynihan's crew were keeping the Arab infantry busy from within the Bren carrier's protective armor.
    Glennon put down his Uzi and jumped into the driver's seat, backing to the edge of the bunker. Every man that the vehicle could carry clambered aboard and Billy gunned the car out into the dunes behind the bunkers, then brought it back in a tight curve aimed at the rear of the nearest bunker still held by the Egyptians.
    At the same time, Wardi Nathan's men were pouring machine gun fire into the bunker from their position.
    Outnumbered and under attack from two directions, the hapless Egyptians were offered the chance to die neither bravely nor well, but only quickly.
    If all the reserve Arab infantry had just then rushed the captured bunkers, they might well have dislodged the Israelis. But they lacked both the will and the leadership, and as Casca repeated the tactic on yet another bunker even this opportunity evaporated.
    An Israeli officer produced a flag and stood atop the bunker waving it.
    "Come down, you stupid fool," Casca shouted at him, but the young Sabra shook his head and died with a delighted grin on his face as he was almost cut in two by Egyptian gunfire.
    But the blue and white