Three Kings

“Where are we headed?” Orlov looked to the ex-navigator as the helo rose from Kirov’s aft flight deck and angled away in a heavy wash of churning rotors.

“South,” said Fedorov quietly. “South into the greatest desert on earth, the Egyptian Sahara. You’ll see things there that we’d never find in Mother Russia,” he said. “And this man Popski is our expert guide.”

At this Popski doffed his cap with a smile. Now it was his time to deliver a little lecture. “Scorpions and snakes are the least of it, sun and sand the worst you’ll ever find. The Western Desert is the most dangerous place on this earth, riddled with tombs and ancient grave sites, and haunted by the souls of the dead since the time of the Pharos, and ages past.”

“And will we get to ride a camel?” Orlov gave him a grin.

“Not likely,” said Popski, “but I’ve a squadron of nice rugged jeeps atSiwa if we need to move on the ground, all rigged out with some good 50-caliber machine guns. There’s also a detachment of the Aussie 6th Divisional Cavalry out here watching Giarabub, and they could be handy in a pinch if we need some help. We’ll be right on the edge of the real desert, the deep desert, the Great Sand Sea. Dunes there get to be a thousand feet high, star dunes, rumbling dunes, wind and sand storms that will take the skin right off your face if you don’t have protection.” He gestured to the yellow dyed cloth that he wore around his neck. “Not for decoration mates,” he said, his roots as a long time Anglophile steeped in British culture very evident, even though he was speaking Russian and he used the word ‘comrades’ in that language.

“Egyptians call the Western Desert the ‘Land of the Dead,’ the gateway to the underworld, and most anything you run across built by human hands out there is a temple, to some evil god, a cemetery or a tomb. Think of it as a border zone, a hot desert twilight zone between this world and the next, and believe me, many a man has slipped across that frontier, never to be seen again. You’ll need to keep your wits about you out there, and you’ll need good equipment too.”

He eyed the satchels and backpacks the men had assembled, and the arsenal of weapons. “And you’ll need more than guns and ammunition to survive out here. The heat can be unbearable, unless you have a good source of water. Even the hills are scorched black in places, as if burned by some great fire long ago. The only humans you’ll find where we’re headed will be black clad Berbers, drifting about the landscape like ghouls, and looking for trouble. Some say they’re all in the service of demons, but I’ve managed to persuade a few to work for me instead. They aren’t much good at night, however. Berbers get spooked at night. They say the witches come, digging up the graves of the newly buried dead, and there’s plenty of them in that damn desert. Dig them up they will, and they’ll tear the bodies right apart, making off with a fellow’s head dangling from their mouth like a rabid dog. That’s just Berber talk, mind you, but no sir, you don’t want to get lost out here unless you know what you’re about. God help this General O’Connor if he’s wandered away from his aircraft, and God help him even more if he hasn’t. It will attract Italian patrols like flies on shit.”

All the men were listening, but no one said anything.

Chapter 24

When Rommel moved east after his lightning swift advance from Agheila, Wavell had to make the uncomfortable decision to leave one of his best divisions behind, the Australian 6th. He had meant to recall it to Alexandria for shipment to Greece, but O’Connor had convinced him that replacing it with the 9th Division, already in the Nile Delta, would be a waste of time and much needed fuel. So the 6th stayed on the line, with a Brigade at Benghazi and to others reorganizing as motorized units by trying to get as many captured Italian trucks as possible in good working order.

Two brigades of the division had been part of O’Connor’s column pointed west to Sirte when Rommel struck, and the instant the General realized what was happening, he had given orders for a withdrawal to Tobruk. Thanks to those Italian trucks, the 16th and 17th Brigades made the long journey back across the thin desert tracks to reach the fortress safely. The 19th Brigade had been at Benghazi, and though it had better roads through the mountainous Jebel country, it had to go on foot, barely managing to retreat throughDerna to Tobruk before the Axis columns could cut it off. It joined the other two brigades and took up defensive positions in Tobruk, only to learn that Wavell was ordering a further withdrawal to Bardia and the Egyptian border-but the 6th Division would not be moving. Instead they would be assigned to hold out at Tobruk for as long as possible, supplied by sea, and to be evacuated by that route should their position become untenable.