"Let’s go, friends!" he shouts and climbs with me into the jeep. The infantry has met strong resistance. Our supporting fire is needed.
After the battle in Isdud, Kotzer was appointed chief training offi-cer of the battalion. But he can’t sit around at HQ. Actually it is none of his business going along with us. But we are pleased with his "interference." This man has a strange power - when he is next to you, you don’t feel any danger.
This time the tempo is something else. Kotzer won’t let us stop. We keep driving in wide figures of eight, from right to left and from left to right. And we shoot on the move. The enemy is bewildered and fires bullets and shells with no definite aim. The air is full of whistling noises. We are going wild and our hearts are laughing. If the enemy fires to the right, we are on his left-hand side. And when he aims to the left, we are back on the right. It is a real sport.
"Forwards!" shouts Kotzer. We are about a hundred meters away from the village. "Left!" "Backwards!" "Faster!" We are drunk with speed. My gun jams. A cartridge is stuck in the breech. I manage to free it with my knife. Frantically I reload the cartridge belts.
Gradually the village quietens down. Has the infantry completed their task? Kotzer decides to drive back to HQ and find out what the situation is. Damn these stupid radios.
* * *
At HQ they are celebrating. Asher, the commander of the first com-pany, has just reported the capture of most of the village. Six Bren carriers1 and other vehicles have been taken. Since he intends to withdraw from the village before sunset, he asks for the "Foxes" to be sent to recover the booty. A truck accompanies us, driven by Tzvi Melnowitzer, our tall baby. This time we will drive into the village along the main road.
It is three o’clock. So we have plenty of time. I am content. An ideal operation. Bombardment, assault, capture - and without any unnec-essary incidents. I remove the belt from the weapon, stretch my legs out on the place next to mine (Kotzer is now sitting in another jeep), and enjoy the drive. What a change - the day before yesterday it looked as though the whole front might collapse, and now we are dri-ving along the main road to Beit Affa. There are the first houses already...
A sharp whistling. A red rocket flies up and lands near us.