It was 4th down and seven, the endzone tantalizingly close. It was either one more running play with that Republican Guard division, or the Iraqi Army was going to have to give up the ball. General Ayad knew a field goal would not be enough. The Iraqis could smell the oil burning, and it was like a shark smelling blood.
The exploitation began at sunset on the 29th, the tanks and APC’s of the Hammurabi Division surging through the gap in the line and forging a way into the desert to the south. If they turned east towards the coast, they would be cutting off everything at Al Jubayl, and might force their enemies to give up that big industrial center, which would be a great plum. If they turned west they could sweep behind the Saudi lines, potentially cutting off their defense in the desert as it extended west to Highway 75. If they kept on straight ahead, the way to Dammam was wide open.
Lt. General Conyers in Dammam was not going to have it either way. He had every confidence that he could hold Jubayl, even if it was cut off, but he was worried about the Saudi forces in the desert.
“They have some good units out there, the King Salman Armored brigade being the best of them. What they have to do now is maneuver and counterattack this breakthrough on its western flank, and we’re going to block it on the eastern flank with 1st BCT.”
“They just have the 1st and 2nd Battalions left, sir. Everything else went to Rivet Joint One.”
“That will be enough. What we’ll do is pull the other two battalions from 2nd BCT in to reinforce. They’re holding the airfields at Ras Tanura and King Fahd, but there’s no threat there. This is for the money, gentlemen. Get those battalions moving.”
By midnight, four battalions from those two BCT’s put a full brigade strength force in front of the Hammurabi Division, and it was joined by the King Faisal Armored Brigade, really a battalion sized unit now, with 18 tanks, but it was backed up by the strong King Khalid Mech Brigade. Another mech battalion also crossed the causeway from Bahrain to add further support.
The Hammurabi Division would not go without a fight. It directed three brigades to a point in the blocking enemy line, and they were going to fall on 2/504 Battalion, of the 1st BCT, but they just could not move them.
The US troops were dug in well, and the Iraqi’s had come too far south in their headlong exploitation, outrunning their own artillery. The American battalion had 18 anti-tank launchers, Javelins and TOW’s, and they were putting them to work. They could see the Iraqi infantry dismounting from their AFV’s, and crouching in small groups behind them. Out in front, the big T-85’s lumbered forward like war elephants, the 125mm guns on this variant began switching to HE rounds, as they could not see any enemy armor ahead.
Then the US infantry opened up on them, the squad leaders calling the tune. “Javelin!” The missiles were suddenly dancing out over that deadly space between the two sides, and there would come loud explosion, ending the life of one T-85 after another. In 1997, just before the first Sino-Siberian war, it was the best tank the Chinese had. Now those stocks had mostly been sold off, and it was the best the Iraqi’s had in 2025, but it had met its match, and then some.
The Javelin was a lightweight, shoulder fired weapon, weighing just under 50 pounds, and consisting of a launch tube and a 127mm missile. It could range out 2500 meters, with good accuracy, a fire and forget system that used an imaging infrared seeker to find its target. One “gunner” and a second ammo carrier made up the two man firing team, and together they could send out a tandem warhead that had two shaped charges. The first would detonate any reactive armor that may have been applied to the tank, the second was for the dirty work, and it could penetrate the equivalent of 750mm armor. The missiles would scoot out from the launcher, then arc up into the sky to look down and find the targets, then they would dive for the kill at a near 90 degree angle, striking the thinner top armor of the targets.
That was enough.
2/504 was holding, the Javelins getting kills and the infantry putting down lethal anti-personnel fire to stop the Iraqi infantry. As more and more tanks and APC’s became smoking holes in the ground, the ardor of the dismounted Iraqi infantry flagged, and things seemed to be more preferable to the rear.
It would only get worse for the Hammurabi division. The last remnants of the Kuwaiti armor, two Chieftains and three Challengers, came rumbling up behind the 82’nd, and they were a welcome sight. A US Sergeant leapt on top of one, and shouted orders for the gunners inside to track their turrets left or right and engage targets, and more help was not far off. Some “experts” were on the way.
General Conyers had determined his position at Rivet Joint One was solid as a rock, so he detached the two battalions of the 73rd Cav he had sent there earlier, and they would ride through the pre-dawn hours, racing east to support their brothers, each with ten US M1A2 Abrams tanks. That was going to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The Hammurabi Division Commander could see that his hour of glory had passed. He had gained five yards, but no first down, and no touchdown. It was time to huddle and see what was left to be done.
General Kamel Ayad, knew he had lost the ball. His prized halfback had made a daring dash through the enemy line, but it was stopped. Enemy fighters and dark winged bombers were now circling overhead like desert vultures. They would begin pounding his prized division, and the futility of his position now became apparent.
“We cannot get through,” he said to an aide. “Those damnable American airborne troops will simply not break! And now their fighters pick off our tanks and APC’s like carrion. The entire 1st Corps of the Republican Guard is now sitting in the desert east of the Americans, and they cannot break through to the fields at Ghawar!”
“Must we retreat, sir? Is it over?”
“Nonsense,” said the General. “We need time, that is all. Our troops are weary. They have come all the way from our own border, some 320 miles for 1st Corps in just five days. What other army has done such a thing? We have all of Kuwait, and good positions inside Saudi Arabia. We have also showed them what we could do to their precious gas plants and refineries. While they may have stopped us, I do not think they have the strength to mount any serious counterattack. So we will consolidate, dig in, and resupply. I am sitting in the parlor while the Saudis think to have their dinner, but I will be a noisome and unruly visitor. Just you wait and see.”
That was a fairly accurate assessment of the situation. The Iraqi attack was played out. In its most reaching moments, it had found the 82nd Airborne Division in front of it in both key attacks, and they had given no ground. The Saudi Army had fought like tigers, and they had taken severe losses, but still remained a cohesive force, battle hardened by these last five days. Soon the brigades of the Sultan of Oman would come west to join their ranks, making any further offensive plans by the Iraqis unfeasible.
Yet General Ayad was correct. The Arabian coalition did not yet have the strength to mount a real counterattack. For that it would take heavier units coming from the United States, and the closest was the 1st USMC Division, waiting at Diego Garcia for the outcome of the great naval battle for control of the Arabian Sea.
Part VIII
The Lion’s Den
“One will not break through to the enemy with theory. Directness is most important, when in front of the lion’s den…”