11:03 (Algeria Time)
Wednesday, September 12, 1956 ‘B’
Headquarters of the French Forces in Algeria
Algiers, North Africa
General Raoul Salan, Commander of the French Forces in Algeria, was both pleased and frustrated as he was reading the latest intelligence and operational reports from his units in the country. Pleased because his army units had been able to nearly completely seal the border with Morocco, thus starving the FLN
guerrillas of weapons and ammunition and also preventing the entry of more guerrillas into Algeria. While the French forces had suffered some casualties in return for that success, they had thankfully been light up to now. However, the situation inside Algeria itself and particularly in the larger towns and cities was far less satisfactory. While the more elite troops of the French Army, like the paratrooper and mountain units, had performed admirably to date along the borders, the French gendarme units and their Algerian auxiliaries controlled by the General Government of Algeria, which was still directed by France, had done a much less satisfactory job of preventing terrorist attacks
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in the various towns and villages inside Algeria and in providing security to the ethnic-European settlers. While frustrated by that, Salan was not really surprised to see such poor results. For one thing, the number of French Gendarmerie units in country was way too small in his opinion in view of the immense task of providing security inside such a large country. Another thing was the fact that the Algerian auxiliary troops supporting the gendarmes were both poorly armed and equipped and were also poorly trained and supported by the General Government. In turn, Salan could blame the French government for being miserly in its financial support to the General Government of Algeria. Because of all this, the FLN guerrillas operating inside Algeria had been able to continue their campaign of intimidation, terror, torture and massacres against the ‘Pieds Noirs’, the settlers of French origin established for generations in Algeria, and against those Algerians seen as collaborating with France. Salan was sure that the FLN could be defeated in the long run if adequate resources and support would be provided by France in this war. The problem was that he still didn’t see such commitment from the French government towards winning the war. In fact, French public opinion was more and more showing signs of being tired of this war and of wanting to see a quick end to it, even if that meant that the nationalists of the FLN would win control over the country.
Salan was still reading the reports when his telephone rang, prompting him in grabbing its receiver and speaking in it.
‘’General Salan here!’
The voice which he heard then made him instantly stiffen: it was that of Guy Mollet, the Prime Minister of France! That the Prime Minister would call him directly like this, instead of passing through the normal chain of command, was highly unusual and probably meant bad news for him. In that, Salan was quickly proven right.
‘’General Salan, this is the Prime Minister. I know that calling you directly like this is both unusual and outside of your military chain of command, but I wanted to give you a heads up about something before you get a brick on the head from Paris. As you must know, the war in Algeria is quite unpopular here in France, with many complaining about the drain on resources it causes to our country and also about the apparent lack of long-term satisfactory conclusion to it.’
‘’I do know about the popular opinion in France, Mister Prime Minister. However, we could have had a satisfactory solution to the war and a comprehensive defeat of the
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FLN by now, if France would have provided adequate support to our troops in country and to the General Government of Governor Lacoste.’
‘’Well, there was little that my government could do about that, General. The Parliament has been systematically opposing and cutting down our military budgets concerning Algeria and have been blocking most of our legislative attempts at supporting the General Government. However, things are about to get worse for us: a majority in the Parliament is now pushing for a vote of non-confidence concerning the situation in Algeria. If that vote succeeds, then my government will fall and will probably be then replaced by a leftist coalition led by the PCF15. If that happens, then such a new government will most probably order an immediate and complete military withdrawal of French forces from Algeria.’
‘’But that would be pure folly!’ exploded Salan, instantly angry. ‘’You realize the kind of mass massacres of European settlers which would follow such a withdrawal?
We would then have the blood of tens of thousands of people on our hands.’
Discouragement then appeared in Mollet’s voice.
‘’I know, General, but few people in France seem to care much about our settlers. In fact, a clear majority of the French public is of the opinion that those ‘Pieds Noirs’ are only a burden on France and that they should either live with a FLN-sponsored government of leave the country.’
‘’Leave the country? To go where? France? You saw as well as me what kind of reception such refugees would get on arrival in France: they would most probably be sent to so-called relocation camps, where they would basically be forgotten and left to rot. As for living under a FLN-sponsored government, that would only deliver them with their hands tied to the torturers and executioners of the FLN. Just yesterday, a group of farms in which a number of settlers were living was attacked and stormed by FLN
guerrillas. When one of our regular army units was finally able to get to those farms, they found a total of 83 dead men, women and children. The men and women had been tortured and mutilated before being killed, while the children had their throats cut. Many of the young girls had also been raped before being killed. And our government would be ready to condemn our settlers in Algeria to such a horrible fate?’
There was a noticeable pause before Mollet replied to Salan’s objection.
15 PCF : Parti Communiste Français (French Communist Party).
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‘’Look, General, I do not like this any more than you do but both the Parliament and the French public opinion are against us on this. The chances of seeing the Parliament ratify supplementary budgets for the military effort in Algeria are nil, while protests are growing about the losses of French soldiers in this war. My only alternative to letting the PCF gain power soon and then see them order an immediate and complete withdrawal of our troops from Algeria is to compromise, to at least effect a gradual and controlled withdrawal which would allow us to relocate the settlers who will wish to leave the country. I am already in secret negotiations with the Communist and Socialist Party leaders in order to effect a gradual and controlled withdrawal of our forces from Algeria, along with effecting a humane resettlement of our citizens to France. I am sorry but that is the best we can do right now, General.’
Salan repressed with difficulty his anger and frustration then but had to concede that Mollet was truly in a bad spot.
‘’Alright, Mister Prime Minister. What do you expect from me then?’
‘’First, my government will soon announce that French military units rotating out of Algeria at the end of their six-months tour period will not be replaced and that, in compensation, the local auxiliaries of the General Government will get more equipment and weapons, in order to be able to control the internal situation in Algeria. You do have some of your units due soon to rotate back to France, correct?’
‘’Correct! Two mountain battalions and two paratrooper battalions are due to rotate out by the end of this month, having completed six months of service in the country. Those battalions, like the rest of our army here, have performed admirably here and have managed to strangle the guerrillas’ supply lines across the Morocco border.
They have thus amply deserved to be relieved. However, their departure will open a wide hole along the Northwest border, in the Atlas Region, a hole that the FLN will quickly exploit to send in more weapons and combatants. I doubt very much that the armed auxiliaries of the General Government will be able to plug that hole, Mister Prime Minister.’
‘’Well, as I said, there is little that we could do about that, General. Proceed with the rotation out of those four battalions as if it is a routine movement of troops but don’t publicize yet the fact that they won’t be replaced by regular army units along the border.
With luck, the FLN will believe that it is still facing regular French troops along the border and will not try to infiltrate through the Atlas Mountain.’
Salan nearly laughed out in derision at Mollet’s wishful thinking.
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‘’With all the French leftists who had been supporting the FLN from the start and who have been spying on behalf of these bastards? The FLN will know what is happening the moment that our troops will start to withdraw. Remember the way that French Communists in France and in Indochina opposed and directly sabotaged our military efforts there, even attacking trains in France which were carrying our wounded soldiers back from Indochina and beating our men as they lay on their stretchers?16 The truth is that too many leftist French politicians and their supporters would easily deserve to be called ‘traitors’, in my opinion.’
‘’Be careful about voicing such an opinion in public, General: it could cost you dearly.’
‘’So what? Maybe it would be time for us to grow some backbones and to deal properly with such leftist traitors.’
Salan then slammed down his telephone receiver, cutting the line with the Prime Minister of France. Still furious, Salan thought over for a long moment about what he could do next. Unfortunately, his options right now were strictly limited.
15:11 (Algeria Time)
Friday, September 14, 1956 ‘B’
Field command post of the 27th BCA
Ain Sefra, Atlas Mountains Region
Lieutenant-colonel Laurent Genest was still wondering what this surprise visit by General Salan meant for his unit as the helicopter carrying Salan was landing in the empty field behind his battalion command post in Ain Sefra. The radio message he had received only half an hour ago had specified to keep General Salan’s visit discreet, so Genest had done without the kind of guard of honor that such a high-ranking visit would normally warrant and was thus alone to greet his commander, save for four armed soldiers providing protection for the landing area. However, Genest had no illusions about this visit staying secret for very long: the FLN assuredly had spies and sympathizers living in the village. Walking to the landed helicopter, Genest was able to greet Salan with a salute and a handshake as soon as he stepped out of the helicopter.
16 Such outrageous incidents actually occured during the Indochina War, when French troops were still fighting the Communist Vietminh.
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He however had to nearly shout over the noise of the helicopter rotor and engine in order to be heard by Salan.
‘’Welcome to Ain Sefra, General. If you will follow me inside my command post, we will then be able to discuss in a quieter environment.’
‘’Then lead the way, Colonel Genest.’
Both officers then walked to the guarded entrance of the building used by Genest as his battalion command post, entering it and going to the private work office of the battalion commander. Once in that office, Salan made a point of closing its door before looking somberly at Genest.
‘’Colonel, I have both bad news and a request for you. First, the bad news.
Prime Minister Mollet called me two days ago to warn me that, due to a pending vote of non-confidence being prepared by the leftist parties in Parliament against our military intervention in Algeria, his government is being forced to start gradually withdrawing our army units from Algeria. The Prime Minister intends to do that by not replacing our units due to rotate back to France after completing six months of service in-country. I strongly objected to that, telling him that this would leave the FLN free to gain control of Algeria and to commit more atrocities and massacres against our settlers, but that did not deter him. Technically, I am obliged to obey his directives but I have thought of a possible way to at least mitigate the worst future consequences of such a short-sighted move. I have already visited the other three battalions due to rotate out with your battalion at the end of this month and I am now going to ask you the same request that I asked of them.
My plan is to delay the departure for France of our army units by a few months, in order to gain enough time to properly train and equip our auxiliary territorial units and make them able to resist future pushes by the FLN. As new equipment and weapons to refit our auxiliary units, we will use the weapons and ammunition captured to date from the FLN, plus will use any reserve stocks we still have in country. Some of our senior NCOs will also train those auxiliaries to at least an acceptable basic standard of military proficiency. Now, my request to you, Colonel, is to keep your unit in place here for at least a few more months and to hold the line along the border while our auxiliaries are being trained and reequipped. I know that this may come as a bitter pill to swallow by your soldiers, who have performed admirably to date and who amply deserved to go back to France and see their families, but this is the only way I can see to prevent some horrible tragedies to our settlers at the hands of the FLN. So, do you think that your men
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would be able and willing to lengthen their stay in Algeria by at least two to three months?’
That left Genest silent for a moment as he mulled that question over in his head. He finally nodded his head once while answering Salan in a firm tone of voice.
‘’I have full confidence in the commitment and sense of duty of my men, General.
We will hold our line along the border for as long as you need.’
‘’Excellent! Now, do you have some stocks of captured enemy weapons and ammunition here which could be distributed to the local Harki17 defense unit?’
‘’We did capture a sizeable quantity of weapons and ammunition from guerrillas we killed as they attempted to cross the border inside our sector, General. I have already distributed those weapons and ammunition to the Harkis and UT units in my sector and had my more senior NCOs here train them in their use and care. We were able to reequip and train a total of 156 men, who are now actively protecting Ain Sefra and the villages surrounding it.’
‘’Even better!’ said Salan, grinning with approval. ‘’I must commend your sense of initiative, Colonel. Thank you for accepting to stay a few more months on the line: I could have simply ordered you to do so but you and your men deserved to have a say in this. Well, I will now leave back for Algiers before my presence here attracts too much attention. Keep doing your good work, Colonel!’
Salan shook hands with Genest before the latter saluted him and accompanied him back to his helicopter. Genest sighed as he watched the helicopter lift off and fly away towards the Northeast.
‘’Let’s hope that our extended stay will indeed prevent a tragedy in this country.
Now, I have to break the news to the men.’
10:08 (Algeria Time)
Saturday, September 14, 1956 ‘B’
Position of Detachment Alpha, Mortar Group of the 27th BCA Hill of Senn Ez Zgag
17 Harki : Name of Algerian armed auxiliaries used by the then General Government of Algeria to defend against FLN attacks.
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Kin Comeau, who had been promoted in the field to the rank of corporal two months ago, was resting in his detachment’s improvised camp, located under a large rock overhang, when Captain Robert Théoret, accompanied by Lieutenant Louis Montreuil and by Chief Warrant Officer René Fonck, walked in, having been dropped by helicopter some distance away. Having been warned by radio of their arrival, Sergeant Dubreuil greeted them with a salute.
‘’Sir! To what do we owe your visit to my mortar detachment?’
‘’To some important news which I need to pass to all. Are all your men present here at this moment, Sergeant?’
‘’No, sir! Two of my men are presently manning an observation post some fifty meters to the west of our camp. Do you want them to return to the camp, sir?’
‘’Yes! However, what I have to say won’t take long, so have them come back here for a few minutes.’
‘’Right away, sir!’ replied Dubreuil before walking to the field telephone laid inside the low stone wall protecting the camp and calling the observation post to tell the two soldiers there to return temporarily to the camp. Less than four minutes later, Corporal Harcourt and Hunter Vaillant arrived in the small camp site, where they lined up with the other members of the detachment in a semi-circle facing Captain Théoret. The latter looked briefly around him at the seven men facing him before starting to speak in a sober tone.
‘’Men, I have some unsettling news to pass to you. We will not be returning to France at the end of this month. Instead, we will stay here along the border for at least another two to three months.’
Despite being a bit shocked by that announcement, nobody exclaimed himself or interrupted Théoret as he continued on.
‘’By the way, the same thing will happen to all our field units stationed along the border. We can thank a political decision made in Paris for that. To make a long story short, our present government got cold feet after Parliament threatened a vote of non-confidence if our army units were not withdrawn from Algeria, letting the General Government of Algeria alone to fight off the FLN. If you will think that this was an act of rank cowardice by our politicians, then I would agree with you. However, we military men are supposed to obey our politicians’ directives, even when they don’t make sense.
When General Salan got the word about this by telephone, he decided on a compromise that could avoid a horrible disaster if we withdrew to France too precipitously. Basically,
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General Salan decided to continue to hold our lines along the border with Morocco for a few extra months, time for us to rearm, refit and retrain our Harkis and Territorial Units, so that those units could have a chance to contain and stop by themselves the FLN and to prevent the massacre of civilians. That may not sound much of a solution but it is our only solution, short of abandoning Algeria in the hands of the FLN.’
Many of the soldiers, including Kin, shivered at the thought of what that would mean.
During the over five months they had been deployed in Algeria, they all had heard about the multiple atrocities committed by the FLN against European settlers and against the Algerian Muslims supporting the government. Théoret then went on further.
‘’I know that you were all anxious to see your families again after those five rough months in the field, but tens of thousands of lives may depend on this ultimate effort by us. I know that you are able of such an effort and I have full confidence in your dedication and professionalism. Now, do you have any questions or comments, men?’
‘’Yes, sir!’ answered at once Kin, never one to be subtle about his opinions.
‘’Our politicians make me shit!’
A concert of laughs greeted that statement, with Théoret also laughing before he smiled to Kin.
‘’Always direct and to the point, Corporal Comeau. I like that and, yes, our politicians also make me shit. However, they are OUR politicians and we have to follow their instructions…to a point. Now, here is an important point for all of you. We will do our best to hide the fact that we are not rotating out as previously planned. On the scheduled date initially set for our departure, our battalion command post and support unit will vacate Ain Sefra and will do as if they are leaving town in order to return to France. In reality, our command and support echelons will reroute once out of sight and at night, then will travel along trails towards the border before establishing a new command site not far to the East of us. As for us in the frontlines, we will hide in position as much as possible, so that those FLN bastards will think that we are gone and will then rush in to occupy in force this region. Fulfilling this ruse will necessitate that we use our fieldcraft and stealth to the maximum, so that we could suck the FLN into our trap. This will mean for us no camp fires, no smoking at night and no loud noises or talk while in position. Tomorrow, helicopters will start dropping near each of our position extra quantities of water, rations and ammunition, so that we could give the appearance of a complete lack or resupply activity after the coming week. With some luck, the FLN and its local spies will then think that we withdrew at night from our positions. Well, that’s all
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I had to tell you, men. Again, congratulation for your field performance to date and keep up the good work.’
Théoret, again accompanied by Lieutenant Montreuil and by Chief Warrant Officer Fonck, then turned around and left the small camp to return to his waiting helicopter.
Once the trio was gone, Sergeant Dubreuil walked in front of his men and addressed them.
‘’Alright, you heard the poop from our bosses. Starting this evening, we will avoid shining any light at night, while we will move as stealthily as possible during the day.
Harcourt, Vaillant, you can now return to our observation post. Fortier and Bonséjour will replace you for the evening shift, while Panetton and Comeau will take the graveyard shift. Dismissed!’
‘’Well, since our politicians make me shit so much, I will go have a dump.’
announced Kin, making the others laugh again.
Ostensibly grabbing first a roll of toilet paper and a shovel, Kin then walked out of the small camp, climbing up the steep slope to the ridgeline, then climbing down the opposite slope for a few meters before arriving near a large boulder. Making a show of pulling down his pants before crouching behind the boulder, Kin then opened the canvas and Velcro band covering his ‘wristwatch’, which was in reality the advanced temporal communicator unit given to him by his adoptive mother before he left the Annecy train station five months ago. Opening the upper plate of the unit and uncovering both a small screen and a tiny keyboard, Kin activated the communicator and punched in a call number, using the point of a pen to use the miniature keyboard. His call, relayed by one of the secret orbital satellites put around Earth by the Time Patrol, nearly instantly linked up with the Paris outpost of the organization. Kin smiled with satisfaction on seeing the pretty face of Field Agent Frida Winterer appear on the tiny screen.
‘’Hello, Frida!’
‘’Hello, Kin!’ replied Frida in a most friendly tone. ‘’I see that you are wearing a helmet. Are you in the frontlines in Algeria?’
‘’Yes, I am! I am presently in a field position atop a hill Southwest of the village of Ain Sefra, in the Atlas Mountains. But don’t worry about me: the situation around me is presently calm. I am calling instead to warn the Time Patrol about a worrying development.’
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Kin then took a minute to tell Frida about the news brought by Captain Théoret and the possible consequences of the French government’s decision to withdraw its troops from Algeria. That made Frida’s face quickly sober up.
‘’Damn politicians! Ready again to stab their soldiers in the back and to abandon people to a cruel enemy. You did well to warn us of this, Kin. I am sure that Mike will act on this.’
That made Kin nod his head with satisfaction: Mike Crawford, the Chief of Operations of the Time Patrol, was a decisive man and a very effective field agent and commander.
‘’Good! Frida, I also wish that Natai, in Jerusalem, be warned about this. The potential for atrocities and human suffering here is sickening me. Algeria definitely could use an intervention by her.’
‘’She will also probably want to kick some asses around the French government and Parliament when she will hear about their cowardice and selfishness. Count on me to pass the word. Stay safe, Kin: we love you!’
‘’I know, Frida, and it warms my heart to have such good friends around me. I will call again if things get too hot.’
Kin then terminated the call and closed his wrist communicator before pulling back up his pants and returning to the detachment’s camp, feeling better now that someone of consequence could come to the help of the Algerians if things soured up.
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CHAPTER 9 – DOING THE RIGHT THING
19:55 (Algeria Time)
Saturday, September 29, 1956 ‘B’
Village of Ain Sefra, Atlas Mountains
Near the Algeria-Morocco border
Ahmed Krim felt triumph as he watched discretely from the corner of a window the long convoy of French military vehicles starting to roll out of Ain Sefra, apparently heading North. The Infidels were finally on their way out of Algeria after years of murderous fighting and violence, and that mostly thanks to the cowardice of their politicians. Ahmed, who had spoken in passing with many French soldiers during the last few days and weeks, had heard them swear at their political leaders, and for good reasons. That had in fact invalidated the long-established FLN policy which said that, however powerful and dangerous the French Army was, perseverance on the part of the FLN fighters would eventually wear down France’s will to fight. Now, that day had come and the departure of the French soldiers was going to open Ain Sefra and its surrounding area to the valiant nationalist combatants of the FLN. Then, the traitors who
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had supported the French, along with the French settlers living in Algeria, were going to pay with their lives. Once the French motorized column was all out of the village and out of sight, raising a dust cloud along the road heading North, Ahmed went to his telephone and formed a number, then waited for someone to answer him.
‘’Yes?’
‘’This is Ahmed, in Ain Sefra. They’re now gone, heading North. What is your situation?’
‘’The local soldiers also left town via a road convoy and headed North. I will now be able to pass the good news to all our friends.’
‘’Excellent! I can’t wait to greet them here in Ain Sefra. Allah will soon smile on us.’
Ahmed then hung up and returned to his window. The only soldiers he could now see were some of those hated Harkis, traitors to their country, who were now alone to defend the village. Those Harkis looked very nervous indeed, and for very good reasons.
01:16 (Algeria Time)
Monday, October 01, 1956 ‘B’
Observation post of Mortar Detachment Alpha
Hill of Senn Ez Zgag, 3.5 kilometers east of the Algeria-Morocco border Kin had started his night watch duty with his friend Daniel Vaillant a bit over an hour earlier when his sharp night vision alerted him to some movement downslope, to the West of his observation post. At nearly the same time, the wind brought a faint noise of vehicle engines, also coming from the West. He gently elbowed his friend’s right-side shoulder and spoke to him in a near whisper.
‘’Hey, Daniel! I think that we have someone below us, near the foot of the hill. I also can hear a bunch of vehicles approaching from the direction of the border.’
‘’Are you sure, Kin?’ asked his friend while squinting his eyes. ‘’I can see or hear nothing.’
Kin could not help repress a sarcastic smirk then: Homo Sapiens were definitely behind Neanderthals in terms of sensory skills and physical strength and endurance, if he could judge by his personal experience.
‘’Yes, I am sure, Daniel. You better call our camp and signal that someone is coming.’
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Despite still not detecting anything yet, Daniel took Kin at his word and cranked the hand lever of their field telephone while picking up its handset. He quickly got Sergeant Dubreuil, who had elected to sleep during the day and stay up at night because of the higher danger of an enemy attack then, to answer him.
‘’Sergeant Dubreuil here!’
‘’Sergeant, Kin is telling me that he can see people approaching our hill and that he can also hear vehicles approaching from the West.’
‘’If Kin says so, then I believe him. I’m going to get our team on full alert, then I will come and join you at the observation post. In the meantime, stay sharp!’
Putting back down the telephone’s handset, Daniel tried to see if he could detect those incoming men but failed at that.
‘’What can you see, Kin?’
‘’We have about twenty men, advancing in two parallel columns and climbing our hill towards us.’
‘’How could you have such a good night vision?’ asked Daniel, a bit jealous, making Kin smile to him.
‘’Easy: I’m a Neanderthal and you are a mere Homo Sapiens, Daniel.’
Daniel cringed at that barb from his friend but didn’t reply to it, instead concentrating on trying to see by himself those climbing the hill. By now he could finally hear them as they made small rocks roll down under their feet. A minute later, Sergeant Dubreuil joined them at the observation post and lay down behind the low stone wall built as protection during the last weeks, taking place between Kin and Daniel. Dubreuil, on top of carrying on his back the detachment’s tactical VHF backpack radio, also had in his hands the lone, somewhat bulky night vision scope of the detachment. Raising his night scope to one eye and scanning the slopes and terrain below the OP, he smiled after a few seconds.
‘’You were right, Kin: there are men climbing our hill while trying to be as quiet as they can. I can count 22 of them, split in two files, and they are all armed: these are no shepherds.’
‘’I can still hear vehicles approaching from the West, Sergeant.’ said Kin, making Dubreuil nod once.
‘’I am also starting to hear them, Kin. I better alert the lieutenant about this: his own position could also be in danger.’
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Grabbing his radio handset, Dubreuil called his officer while keeping his voice down, and then described to him what he could see. After a one-minute exchange on the radio, Dubreuil hooked back the radio handset to his web gear and spoke to Kin and Daniel.
‘’We will wait a bit before engaging those assholes climbing our hill. The lieutenant wants to see what size of vehicle convoy is approaching from the border.
Those 22 men climbing towards us were probably sent to check if our hill is occupied or not. Hold your fire for the moment, guys.’
Now quite tense, the three men observed and waited as the noise of engines became clearly audible. Dubreuil, who was constantly using his night scope, suddenly spoke up.
‘’I can now see a bunch of trucks led by a jeep turning the bend of the trail some 400 meters ahead… Damn! I can count over a dozen vehicles now approaching, with more probably following. This is major! I am going to call back the lieutenant on this.’
After another quick radio exchange, Dubreuil spoke to his two young soldiers, some tension visible in his voice.
‘’The lieutenant wants to concentrate the fire of our two mortars on that vehicle column, which means that we will have to take care by ourselves of those men climbing our hill. However, we won’t fire a single shot before our first mortar bombs explode.’
‘’Then, those approaching could be quite close to us by then, Sergeant.’ replied Daniel.
‘’I know, but those trucks are now the priority targets for our mortar group and the lieutenant wishes to keep the element of surprise for as long as possible.’
‘’I could lob a few grenades then, Sergeant.’ suggested Kin. ‘’I can throw a grenade easily past fifty meters. Maybe those assholes will then think that they also are coming under mortar fire.’
Dubreuil did not laugh at Kin’s suggestion, knowing from experience that he was not bragging. Back in Annecy, Kin had easily won the competitions for weight-lifting, weight-throwing and javelin-throwing, with some of his throws approaching or even equaling standing Olympic records. His suggestion also proved that he was no idiot either.
‘’Kin, if I could get a whole squad of Neanderthal men like you, then I would be as happy as a pig in shit.’
Both Kin and Daniel had a chuckle on that before falling silent and concentrating on the approaching enemy. Dubreuil, again using his radio while observing the incoming trucks, passed the grid coordinates of the first vehicle to Lieutenant Montreuil, then smiled to his two soldiers.
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‘’Shit is about to hit the fan! Kin, you think that those assholes are now close enough for you to greet them with grenades?’
‘’Are you kidding, Sergeant? I could have started throwing grenades a full minute ago.’
‘’Then, here: take my two hand grenades and throw them as soon as our first mortar bomb will fall.’
‘’With pleasure, Sergeant!’
‘’Vaillant, give as well your grenades to Kin: let those bastards think that they are under sustained and rapid mortar fire.’
‘’Have fun, Kin.’ said Daniel while giving to his friend his two hand grenades.
‘’I will!’ replied Kin while adopting a kneeling position behind their low stonewall, so that he could better throw the four grenades now lined up in front of him.
‘’Incoming!’ said Dubreuil in a low voice as the soft whistle of a falling projectile passed overhead. There was however nothing soft about the explosion of the first 81mm mortar bomb, which hit the ground a mere twenty meters from the leading jeep of the enemy convoy. The 3.13 kilo high-explosive projectile, its fuse set on ‘instant’
detonation, exploded against the rock and sand surface of the ground, projecting deadly fragments around in a wide radius. One of those fragments pierced the front right tire of the first truck, while another fragment hit one of the passengers in the lead jeep, gravely wounding him. As the FLN combatants were left confused and terrified for a moment, Dubreuil sent a correction by radio to Lieutenant Montreuil, so that both mortars of the group could adjust their fire. The guerrillas climbing the hill occupied by Kin and his comrades, not knowing for sure what was happening, flattened themselves to the ground at once and waited anxiously what would happen next. What came some twenty seconds later was a second registration mortar round. Dubreuil barely held in a scream of triumph when that round achieved a direct hit on one of the enemy trucks, sending pieces and bodies around and creating a big fireball as the truck’s fuel tank ignited.
Another twenty seconds later, a rain of mortar bombs started exploding among the FLN
convoy, causing panic in their column. That was when Dubreuil looked at Kin.
‘’Start throwing, Kin!’
Kin did not reply to that, instead pulling the safety pin of his first grenade before throwing it. Even though he had personally witnessed Kin’s exploits during the Alpine Corps competitions in Chamonix, Daniel Vaillancourt was still stunned to see Kin’s first grenade land and roll in the middle of the group of climbing men, now some sixty meters away
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from the OP. Kin’s second grenade was in the air before his first grenade exploded, with a third one following a mere three seconds later. Those grenades exploded in quick succession among the guerrillas and sent both steel fragments and lose pebbles around at the same time as the truck convoy was bracketed by exploding mortar bombs. Most of the climbing men fled in panic despite the angry orders shouted by their team leader, who kept his ground with only three other men. Kin’s fourth grenade interrupted the FLN
team leader in mid-sentence when it exploded a mere two meters from him. The blast overpressure was sufficient by itself to kill instantly the guerrilla, with his shredded and dismembered body projected in the air. Seeing the remaining three climbers give up and flee downhill, Dubreuil gave at once an order to Kin.
‘’HOLD THE GRENADE THROWING, KIN. GET THOSE FLEEING BASTARDS
WITH YOUR SNIPER RIFLE!’
Kin obeyed at once, lying back down on the dirt and grabbing his FRF-1 scoped rifle.
His first shoot downed one man, prompting the remaining two guerrillas in climbing down the hill even faster. Still, that did not save them, as Kin shot them down before they could get to the foot of the hill. Kin then looked at Dubreuil while still shouldering his rifle.
‘’Permission to snipe at that convoy, Sergeant. It is within my effective range and those burning trucks are providing plenty of illumination for me.’
‘’Go ahead, Kin!’
Raising his scope to eye level, Kin carefully aimed at the head of a man who had jumped out of his damaged truck and who was trying to find some shelter from the mortar bombs in a shallow depression. Dubreuil nearly applauded when he saw that man’s head explode, hit from a distance of over 500 meters. Instead, he continued directing the mortar firing of his group, sending short radio messages to Lieutenant Montreuil, who was positioned with the other mortar of the group on top of the adjoining hill to the North.
Then, the noise of gunfire from another firefight came in from a distance, punctuated by dense salvos from heavy machine guns marking the opening of a separate battle a few kilometers away. Dubreuil had a mean smile on hearing that gunfire: the traps prepared by the various companies of the 27th BCA were now being sprung, with the FLN being the mice getting stuck in them.
01:59 (Algeria Time)
Southern outskirts of the village of Ain Sefra
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The leader of the FLN Katiba18 unit about to stealthily enter Ain Sefra hesitated and slowed down his pace as the noise of a distant battle, including what sounded like artillery fire, started resonating from the West. However, going over his surprise and confusion, he then signaled by hand to his guerrillas to continue advancing, with himself picking up the pace. He was about to get to the first house of the village when something appeared out of nowhere in front of him. The thing now blocking his path was about the size of a big man but you could not mistake it for a man for an instant. Rather, it looked like a sort of machine mounted on a set of double tracks, with a wide metallic torso from which protruded four articulated arms. Instead of a head, it was crowned by what looked like a machine gun turret sporting a number of lenses.
‘’Wha…’
The FLN man did not have time to complete his first word before the machine gun pointed at him erupted, puncturing him in the chest with a salvo of three 7mm bullets and killing him nearly instantly. The 112 men of his unit did not survive him for long, as three more combat robots appeared out of nowhere and started firing their machine guns nearly non-stop. The few FLN guerrillas who managed to shoot once their rifles or submachine guns saw their bullets ricochet against some kind of invisible walls surrounding each of the four robots. Before the small contingent of Harkis tasked with protecting the village could even start to react, all 112 FLN guerrillas, who had expected to easily take the village, lay dead in the dirt just short of the first houses. Six guerrillas who were still alive but wounded were unceremoniously finished off with head shots before the four robots disappeared in brief flashes of light.
The same scenario basically repeated itself that night in the various villages of the region attacked by FLN Katibas of the Wilaya 519, with a total of 1,863 of its guerrillas massacred that night by combat robots of the Time Patrol. Added to that were the 771
other FLN combatants ambushed and killed near the Moroccan border by French Army units in the Atlas Mountains. However, more painful losses to the FLN quickly followed around the whole of Algeria and in Morocco as well that night.
18 Katiba : Regional commando unit of the FLN which normally numbered around 120 men.
19 Wilaya : Numbered operations sector of the FLN inside Algeria. The FLN operated in six such sectors inside Algeria. The Wilaya 5, which covered the northwest part of the country next to Morocco, counted a maximum of 3,750 combattants around 1956-57.
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04:03 (Algeria Time)
FLN border area headquarters and rear base in Oujda Morocco
‘’Colonel! Colonel! Please wake up!’
Shaken progressively harder by someone, Houari Boumediene opened his eyes, groggily recognizing one of his officers.
‘’Uh? What is it, Abdi? What time is it?’
‘’It is just past four in the morning, Colonel. We have lost radio contact with all the units which we sent out on operations tonight.’
That made the thin, 24-year-old revolutionary wake up in a hurry, anger flaring in him.
‘’What? How could that be? We had nearly 2,600 men ready to assault the border areas vacated by the French two days ago. We can’t possibly have lost contact with all of them!’
‘’Well, we did!’ replied Houari’s aide. ‘’The last radio contact was made around one o’clock. After that…nothing! We did get reports from villagers in Figuig of noise of short but intense battles on the Algerian side of the border. I am afraid that our men may have fallen into ambushes prepared by the French.’
‘’That’s impossible! The French Command is too obtuse and inflexible to come up with such devastating ambushes. Alright, give me a minute to dress and wash up a bit.’
With the aide then leaving his small room, Boumediene got up from his camp cot and walked to a dresser on which a wash basin and a pot of water lay. Quickly splashing some water on his face and rubbing it, he then grabbed a folded towel and dried his face. He was turning around with the towel still in his hands when he froze in alarm: a woman now stood in the middle of the room. She was very tall for a woman, much taller than Boumediene in fact and, contrary to the skinny revolutionary, appeared quite strong and fit. She wore a white and gold embroidered robe and a pair of laced sandals and had a sort of gold crown on her head. Her expression was hard as she stared down at Boumediene, who could only stutter a question, stunned by her apparition.
‘’Who…who are you? How did you get inside my headquarters?’
‘’You may know me as the Queen of Jerusalem and Overseer of the Holy Land of Palestine. I am your death!’
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Before Boumediene, now frozen with fear as he recognized her as possibly the most powerful human being presently living on the planet, could say or do anything more, the woman pointed an index at him, from which a small, crackling blue ball of energy shot out, hitting Boumediene at the speed of lightning. The ball then exploded on impact, incinerating the guerrilla leader and turning him into ashes. Natai coldly looked down at what was left of the murderous psychopath she had just killed, then vanished from where she stood.
A few seconds after that, as a number of FLN men were reacting to the thunder-like noise that had come from Boumediene’s room, the massive shape of the Time Patrol battlecruiser CERBERUS appeared in the sky, high above the headquarters building. Two of its three heavy caliber electro-magnetic rail guns then pointed down at the building and fired, sending out two 250-kilo shells at a muzzle velocity of 4,000
meters per second. Their kinetic impacts were enough by themselves to vaporize parts of the building before the shells exploded after digging themselves deep underground.
The whole two-story building, along with its various annexes, was then projected high in the air and blown to pieces, killing all the FLN members working inside it. Its task done in Oujda, the CERBERUS then disappeared, heading towards its next target.
04:18 (Algeria Time)
Royal Suite, Royal Palace
Rabat, Morocco
King Mohammed V of Morocco was gently shaken awake by someone standing next to his bed. Thinking that it was his wife, the sovereign looked up, then jerked in surprise and fear: the tall woman near him was neither his wife nor one of his maids.
Looking quickly at the place where his wife had been sleeping, he saw that she was still in bed, unmoving. The intruder then spoke to him in Arabic.
‘’Do not worry: your wife is presently in a deep sleep and won’t wake up for another twenty minutes. I came to give you a warning, a warning that you better heed for your own good.’
Slowly sitting up in his bed, King Mohammed looked up at the tall woman, whom he now recognized.
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‘’Queen Nancy of Jerusalem? Why did you come to my palace like this? And why are you threatening me?’
‘’I am not the one threatening you, King Mohammed, as I came as a messenger of The One. Know that those murderers from the FLN paid the price for their crimes earlier this morning. In turn, The One is enjoining you to stop supporting them and to stop letting them attack the French in Algeria. If you ignore this warning, then I won’t be the one coming back to see you: The One will! His patience with the tin pot dictators, religious fanatics and crime lords of this World has run out and he has decided to become more active, a lot more active in fact, in dealing with those who inflict so much misery and pain around them. He also knows exactly who would deserve punishment around Earth. Remember that all the persons on Earth harbor a tiny part of The One inside them, something often call ‘the Human Soul’. Thus, hiding from The One or denying one’s bad deed would be futile. You remember when tens of millions of racists around the planet suddenly saw their skin turn black, pushing many of those racists to commit suicide? Well, something on the same scale could happen again if The One’s advice and warnings are ignored. So, have your army and police put a rein to the FLN
members and sympathizers who will survive this day and abandon your projects for taking by force territories from your neighbors.’
‘’What about the French?’ hotly replied Mohammed, getting angry. ‘’They took plenty of territories from others in the past and are still trying to cling to Algeria, despite their pious promises to grant independence to it.’
‘’Don’t worry about the French, King Mohammed.’ replied calmly Natai. ‘’They are next on my visiting list. Now, make sure that the FLN stops being able to use your country to attack Algeria, and don’t take forever to take the appropriate actions. If you don’t do that or prove lax in that task, then you will get another visit.’
Natai then disappeared from where she stood in an instant, leaving behind a seriously shaken King Mohammed V.
17:40 (Algeria Time)
Headquarters of the French Forces in Algeria
