“That’s what we think they’re counting on. That attack is being made by their Andan and Al Faw divisions, also Republican Guard, but light motor rifle brigades, with one armored brigade in the mix. That said, at noon we saw movement south from An Nairyah, and we’ve now identified yet another Republican Guard division moving south on 75, the Baghdad Division, with three mech brigades. So that makes it a six pack, gentlemen—six of the eight Republican Guard divisions committed to this one offensive. Their intention is obvious. The two groups want to meet and shake hands at Rivet Joint One, but that isn’t going to happen—not on our watch. This is going to be the biggest fight the 82nd has had since the German counteroffensive in 1944. What happened there, Skip?”
“Sir, the 82nd Airborne Division faced off against 1st SS Leibstandarte, 2nd SS Das Reich, and 9th SS Hohenstaufen Divisions as they attempted to reach and relieve Kampfgruppe Pieper.”
“Well, did the Germans get through?”
“No sir—not on our watch.”
Chapter 21
As it approached the industrial city if Al Jubayl from the northwest, Highway 85 intersected with Highway 95 near the town of Abu Hadriyah, which then ran parallel to the coast southeast to Dammam. About 25 kilometers from this intersection, southeast on Highway 95, the road is flanked by two large industrial plants, the Kursaniyah Gas Plant east of the highway, and the Fadahili Gas Plant to the west. These sprawling facilities stretched for nearly a mile, an ugly gaunt mass of pipes, tanks and metal grating. In addition to recovering gas from both on and offshore fields, the facilities had cogeneration plant with the capacity to produce 1.3 gigawatts of power and 3.2 million pounds of steam per hour.
On the night of November 28th, the Fadahili Plant suddenly erupted in fire from a massive artillery barrage from seven battalions, the flames towering up into the black sky with an evil orange glow. In that ghastly landscape, with the terrain scored by years of excavation to the east, it seemed as if the earth itself had split open and demons had risen from hell. Dark silhouettes of the firefighting teams danced before the flames like vagrant spirits, and soon a deathly black smoke rolled up into the night, blotting out the stars.
Two strong brigades from the U.A.E. had set up defensive position forward of the plant, and now they looked over their shoulder at that massive inferno, which seemed deliberately ignited there to prevent their withdrawal.
Before the barrage, some debate had been held to consider whether the plant should be defended or simply abandoned. Even if taken by the Iraqi’s, it would still be intact, some argued. If defended, it might incur severe damage, and that was exactly what had happened. There were very many similar plants in Saudi Arabia, and this one had been utterly destroyed as an example of what would happen if the Saudis and their allies decided to defend them.
Now the beleaguered U.A.E. brigades fell back south of that burning wreck of twisted metal and reorganized, the men coughing and gasping for clear air after that brief retreat. If the Iraqis wanted what they had just destroyed, they could have it. It was just one of five separate attacks they had launched that night at the witching hour.
In the south, they had rumbled up to Hill 853, now held by the US 73rd Cav Regiment, and there the vaunted Republican Guard brigades would meet with a bloody and costly repulse. There were twenty M1A2 Abrams tanks in the defense, and they easily stopped, and badly mauled, the Iraqi T-85 tanks purchased from the Chinese.
An older, under gunned tank dating to the late 1980’s, the Type 85 models had all been discontinued decades ago in China, and the older inventories sold off to client states. The Chinese had recovered T-72s in the first Siberian War, and learned its main gun could defeat the armor on every tank model in that series, a sobering discovery that led them to develop something better in their Type 90 models.
In another history, even the older M1A1 tanks had routinely devoured the Iraqi T-72’s which made this encounter at Hill 853 an even more jarring experience for the Republican Guard units that had tried to take that position. Here they had armor that would have been beaten by older T-72’s, let along the modern M1A2 tanks that had joined the 73rd Cav. The attack raged on for two hours, with the mech infantry advancing into the US Javelin fire and taking heavy losses. The 82nd Airborne Division stood like a rock, and it could not be moved.
North of that sector, the Andan and Al Faw Divisions, reinforced by the Baghdad Division, were trying to bull their way past the Saudi 12th Armored and 6th Mech Brigades on Highway 75 south. Known as the battle of Hill 732, the Iraqi forces clawed their way forward, gaining about five kilometers, but the Saudi line, battered and bleeding, nonetheless held. Like a grinding football game, the Iraqi team had reached the ten yard line, and now it was going to the fullback with its Republican Guard divisions simply trying to pound their way through the defense, but without success.
At dawn, US forces at Rivet Joint One were pleased to see that four battalions from Qatar had arrived, two mech and two more of armor, which put another 41 Leopard II tanks on the field. The Iraqis in the south now had 61 T-85 Tanks left after their failed assault, and they fell back on the high ground around Hill 1007 to the west. They had expended a great deal of ammunition, and many of the brigades were simply burned out. Unfortunately, they were a very long way from a good supply source now, and the Iraqi commanders began to realize the precarious nature of their situation.
Before them stood a hardened, implacable enemy, with much better equipment, command of the skies above, and troops that would not give an inch. Behind them there was nothing but the stony desert and a single dirt road winding its way west through a forsaken valley.
Everything depended on the 2nd Corps on Highway 75. They simply had to get through and flank the American position from the north, which might force it to withdraw. And that road was the only way the weary 1st Corps would ever get replenished with fresh supply. The 20th and 8th Saudi Mech Brigades in front of 2nd Corps were equally battered, their battalions down to 50% strength. All it would take was one more push, and so the Andan and Al Faw Divisions came at them again at noon, under a hot, merciless sun.
Not needed behind the US 82nd, the Qatari battalions were sent north, swinging through the desert east of highway 75, and arriving just as the 4th Al Faw Brigade was getting up steam and making a good advance. Realizing the crucial nature of this sector, the US asked the Emir of Bahrain to release his armor brigade for action, and that was granted, sending those 60 M60A3’s into the fight. Those, with the 40 Leopard IIs in the Qatari battalions, would be enough to stop that attack. It was like good linebackers slamming into the runner to support the tackles, and there would be no first down.
The yardage, when it finally came, did not come at Rivet Joint One, or along Highway 75. Far to the northeast, near that burning gas plant at Fadahili, the withdrawal of the U.A.E. brigade had left a crack in the line that was quickly exploited by hordes of Iraqi Infantry. They pushed through, west of that raging fire, and began overrunning the 6th King Fahd Armor Brigade. That breakthrough now put a big question on the table for General Kamel Ayad. He had held one division of his Republican Guard in reserve, the best of the lot. The Hammurabi Division was sitting at Abu Hadriyah, 35 kilometers north of the burning gas plant, and if committed now in the wake of that swarming attack, the breakthrough might be exploited enough to unhinge the entire Saudi defense further west. The division still had 72 tanks, in two brigades, and a pair of very strong mech brigades, and it went storming down a secondary road, passing the burning gas plant to the west, and grinding on into that breach.