to lead, but he was advanced from being Brigadier Shahruz Khohollah's adjutant to the post of chief of staff. This was a prestigious assignment in which he would wear a bright yellow aiguillette attached to his left epaulet as indication of his important new position.
Major Arsalaan Sikes, while not promoted, was given the command of no less than forty tracked infantry fighting vehicles, which meant he would lead a total of ten platoons consisting of more than 520 men. His vehicles were MT-LBs, which had formerly been in the Soviet Army's inventory but had been mothballed for a decade after loan to East Germany. Each had a driver and gunner and could transport eleven infantry soldiers. Sikes Pasha truly felt he was back on the career track to the glory he had dreamed about since his desertion from the British Army.
Newly promoted Major Khadid now had fifty vehicles under his command. These were self-propelled 2S3 Akatsiyas howitzers, which sported both a 152-millimeter main gun and a 7.62-millimeter antiaircraft machine gun. The TO of this newly activated unit gave Khadid a bit more than 400 men, including both the weapons crews and a small command and service unit to aid in the logistics and administration of the equipment-heavy outfit. This command would take him out of Special Forces and into the conventional segment of the Iranian Army, but he could rightly expect to make quick rank either during or immediately after the invasion of Afghanistan. That, of course, would also mean an even more prestigious place in the national army's chain of command.
But the happiest of those old sweats from Zaheya was Brigadier Shahruz Khohollah. Along with the outfits of Sikes and Khadid, his expanded command responsibilities now included an entire battalion of T-72 tanks. Like Sikes' IFVs and Khadid's SPAs, these armored vehicles had begun their service life as part of the Soviet Union's army before transfer to East Germany's armed forces. This new development meant Khohollah would be leading a grand total of sixty-four of the armored monsters, along with a Headquarters and service battalion, making his spearhead invasion force number 2,500 men, along with all those vehicles. This was not a large command when compared with other great land battles, but was enough to punch deep into Afghanistan. And a strong combined arms corps- size force would be coming right behind them to mop up and consolidate the gains. After that the operation would turn south, into Pakistan. And that would mean a division or corps would be placed at the brigadier's disposal.
The great invasion was set for 20 September.
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HARRY TURPIN'S QUARTERS
13 SEPTEMBER
HARRY Turpin was seventy years old, and he looked every day of it plus a hell of a lot more. The old Cockney was tired. Decades of bartering international arms deals with the risks, stresses, and uncertainties were finally taking their toll. No less than a dozen contracts had been taken out on his life by rivals, and that didn't include government agents from nations that had grown disenchanted with some of the deals he had made with their enemies. These unpleasant individuals had been charged with assassinating him, and had come close to succeeding half a dozen times.
In fact, the whole arms dealing business had become more complicated in the past decade, what with computers keeping track of transactions and having permanent, accurate entries in their databases. This electronically stored information had caused a couple of his less than honest arrangements to collapse when certain facts surfaced at very inopportune moments.
Of course, there had been good times too. Harry owned villas in Switzerland and Italy, not to mention luxurious hideaways in Singapore and Monaco. The arms broker had never been lacking for the companionship of beautiful women. He had even had spasms of romantic affections in which he kept some particularly charming and beautiful females with exotic sexual talents stowed away in deluxe apartments in several European capital cities. One of these affairs lasted almost a year, but eventually ended, like all the others, when he paid for a final six months of residence, a rather generous farewell bonus, and some lavish presents. Harry wasn't required to be so generous, but he had a soft side to him when it came to his sexual playmates, even if he wasn't really in love with any of them.
But as the years passed, he began to have spells of erectile dysfunction. Of course, the several drugs available to jump-start his lovemaking abilities took care of that small problem. Lately, however, he had begun not to care when those old desires couldn't be satisfied, and this was mainly because he wasn't having too many of those erotic cravings. The passing of several decades had brought about a 'been there, done that' attitude on his part when it came to sexual liaisons with women.
This last deal for the Iranians, with all the preparation, bribery, cajoling, threats, and logistical nightmares of gathering up infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and those goddamned tanks, had really drained the old boy. The officers of the Ukrainian and Russian armies were a rotten bunch and very difficult to set decent prices with. He had to admit this Iranian caper was the crowning achievement of his entire arms-dealing career, but it left him spiritually exhausted. The millions of Euros he made on the transactions soothed his anguish to a great degree, but he finally reached a conclusion: Things were getting too big and too complicated for even the great Harry Turpin to handle alone.
.
2300 HOURS
HARRY had a special guest that evening. Archibald Sikes--he would never be Arsalaan or Sikes Pasha to his compatriot-had been invited over to take pleasure in something he hadn't enjoyed in a long, long time.
English beer!
Harry had several cases of Tetley's with him that were neatly stacked in the rear of his tent. The crates that held them were labeled with the Farsi words 'mive ab,' so that any casual glance by an Iranian Muslim would make him think the Englishman had brought in some fruit juice. Even though the arms dealer had done a lot of business with the Iranians in the past, he still had to be careful about bringing alcohol into one of their military garrisons. Imbibing was seriously frowned on in the Islamic religion, and even enjoying a few brews by himself was considered taboo.
It was because of this that he had invited Sikes over at such a late hour. They could safely enjoy a few pints if they kept the lantern turned low, the tent flaps shut, and their conversation quiet. Sikes seated himself in a camp chair.
Englishmen prefer to drink their beer warm, so there was no need to ice down the goodies. Sikes seemed almost orgasmic as he took the first few tentative sips. After smacking his lips, he quickly consumed three deep gulps.
Harry grinned at him. 'So 'ow's that then, Archie lad?'
'Have I died and gone to heaven?' Sikes replied with a wide grin.
'Well, I thought you needed a taste o' Blighty after all the time over 'ere,' Harry said.
'I must admit I've missed those good times in the pub,' Sikes said. He took a deep breath, then drained the mug. 'Gawd! I ain't never gonna see England again, am I, Harry?'
'It's 'ard to tell, lad.'
'But things'll look up for me after this invasion,' Sikes said. 'I'll have a large command and a promotion along with a couple of medals, I should think.'
'D'you miss 'ome much?' Harry asked.
'O' course.'
'I don't want to make you no worry, lad,' Harry said. 'But yer mum and dad 'as been 'aving a terrible time of it.'
'Oh, Gawd!' Sikes exclaimed. 'I was afraid o' that. I ain't heard nothing from the old folks, o' course, but I had a notion that the Army would be going after 'em because o' me.'
'It's more'n the Army, Archie,' Harry said.
'The antiterrorist coppers have been coming 'round too. They took your dad in one time and kept him under interrogation for a whole bluddy night. It liked to 'ave drove him to an 'eart attack.'
'How'd you know about all that then?'
'I got me eyes and ears in Blighty, lad,' Harry said, 'along with a lot o' other places. Yer folks is worried Mr. Sikes might get the sack at his job.'
Sikes grinned and shook his head. 'That's not gonna happen, mate. The union looks after their own in a case like that. There'd be plenty o' trouble. I know, 'cause I worked there meself for a year or so. I wasn't worth much, let me tell you, but the foreman didn't dare do nothing about it.' Archie laughed. 'Management was real happy when
