position to sit in, check the machine guns one last time - and we’re off. Our tiredness is gone. We are wide awake. The jeep leaps along the road, which has been severely damaged by shelling, toward Julis - our starting point in the direction of Negba.
The jeep stops. Czera, the battalion commander, is taking part in the operation this time. He talks quietly with a mysterious figure that has slipped out of the darkness. The infantry there are getting ready for their part in the operation: our company number one under the command of Asher Dromi. We slide forwards. Our tension is rising. It must be somewhere around here. I press the machine gun against my shoulder, ready for action.
* * *
A red Egyptian rocket. The vehicles stop. A short moment of quiet while the landscape is dimly illuminated by the reddish glow. And then the order, in the calm, clear voice of Aryeh Spack:
"Fire!"
All the machine guns start rattling simultaneously. The red flames from the barrels are visible a long way away. The noise is deafening, despite our ear plugs.
I empty one cartridge belt after the other. Two hundred, three hun-dred, four hundred rounds. The weapon is working fine. The Egyptians are shooting at us, and we can identify their positions very clearly. We can’t hear the whistling of the bullets, but we know that they are flying all around us. The distance is fifty meters at the most.
"Hold your fire!"
I hardly hear the command when the jeeps drive off. We heave a sigh of relief. With one hand we hold on, with the other we refill the cartridge belts.
The commanders confer. Czera thinks that one volley is
insufficient. The infantry is in difficulties. So - once again into action. The Egyptians are still shooting. They have a lot of firepower. That must be several companies over there. And this time we won’t have the advantage of surprise - the most important thing in engagements with the jeeps. But we have no choice: Negba and Ibdis are fighting for their life.
* * *
We arrive back where we were before. About twenty meters ahead of us is a red rocket, directly on the road. "Forwards! " calls the battalion