salvo now and again. This explains some of our success. The enemy fires like a madman with everything he has got, without having a def-inite target. We reply with a few bullets, but only when we can see clearly what we are shooting at. Not for nothing did they tell us the story of comrades who ran out of ammunition while they were sur-rounded by the enemy, and who used their last hand grenade to evade capture.
Suddenly we hear a new instrument in the orchestra. A kind of explosion we haven’t heard before. I raise my head and see a cloud of smoke. Shlomo and Yakov also get up and look around. For the first time we are being bombarded by artillery.
The heavy guns fire without interruption, for almost two hours. They are methodically covering the whole area. The instinct for self-preservation tells me to stay on the ground. But curiosity demands the opposite and wins. My ears get used to the shells. As soon as I hear the whistling, I throw myself on the ground. And after the explosion I raise my head again. That way I can follow the impacts exactly.
The fire is now concentrated on the road to Hulda and on the field in the south. The intention is clear: they want to cut off our retreat. The explosions take place directly in my field of view, but don’t approach our position closer than thirty meters. Apparently the enemy doesn’t know that we have taken this position.
Now we begin to shoot with everything we have. Heavy machine guns, automatic weapons, and mortars. We aim for the centers of concentration of the enemy, but can do nothing about the artillery. All our vehicles have been destroyed.
I crawl to Nachman Shmueli, who is now in command of fourteen people. We have a machine gun which fires regular salvos at an enemy artillery piece. He too has no contact with HQ. I ask him what he is going to do. He gives me a typical soldier’s answer: he will not withdraw without orders, but will provide cover for the other units. He has already sent out a runner to find the HQ. If he finds them maybe he will return with new orders.
I return to my position. For some reason I am not worried about the situation. I am not even excited. There is nothing for me to do apart from observing the impacts of the shells and occasionally to duck.
One unit withdraws from the field that lies in front of me. They are