The
desperate struggle of two isolated aircrews cut off in downtown Mogadishu.
The various warring factions of Mogadishu have been roused by a warring
Dervish tribe from the North East. The disparate tribes hold a meeting
in Mogadishu to determine the best way to rid themselves of the Italian
occupation troops.
A crack unit of Bersaglieri troops raids the meeting and captures the main warlords. As this happens, an Italian reconnaissance aircraft is brought down by gunfire and crashes downtown.
Initially,
the plane settles in the wide dusty street that the pilot was able to successfully
steer his cripple plane to. The pilots strip the Lewis gin from the front
mount and survey their surroundings.
Initially, things don't look too bad. From the air, they had seen the Bersaglieri unit not may blocks away with vehicle support, and they confidently expect a quick extraction form the potentially dangerous downtown area.
Back
at the Bersaglieri arrest sight, the unwanted prisoners are summarily executed,
and the important warlords are bundled into the trucks to be taken back
to base camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu. The commander decides that
he will send the Bersaglieri ahead on foot to the crash site.
The armored trucks will collect reinforcements and return to the crash site with Lancia armored cars from base camp and rendezvous at the crash site later.
Meanwhile,
back at base camp the camp commander realizes that there is unrest building
and finds that he is unable to communicate by telegraph to the train station
downtown (the wires having been brought down by Yellowbird).
The Somali native police and Italian regulars are marched out of base camp to determine the nature of the problem.
However,
the commander is very nervous and finds as soon as he reaches the first
block of buildings that the roads have been blocked.
He immediately orders his units to dismount from their trucks and occupy the buildings.
Greenbird,
the fighter support from the airfield flies overhead to provide help. Much
to the pilot's horror, he sees several huge warbands pouring out of the
surrounding buildings converging in the crash site.
Greenbird cuts swath after swath through the attacking warrior band to support the desperate aircrew who are fighting off the attackers at close quarters.
A
Black shirt sniper team bravely attempts to make their way to the crash
site in order to support the aircrew.
The hordes of Somali warriors is more than they can handle, even with deadly fire from their motorcycle mounted Lewis gun.
Expending all of their ammunition, and despite picking off several leaders with the high powered sniper rifle, they are forced to head back toward the Bersaglieri team.
At
this point, the worse thing for the Italians, as fate guides a lucky round
into the engine of Greenbird, which pours smoke and goes down.
Miraculously, the pilot survives the crash, but by this time, the area that he lands in is surrounded.
Meanwhile,
the Bersaglieri are prevented from reaching the crash site by attacking
warbands. In fact, they are prevented from leaving the spot they started
from.
Their MG armed scout car is riddled with bullets turning it into a bid steam cloud, and its crew are brought down by musket fire.
Having
been summoned form the docks by telegraph from the base camp, three Italian
Heavy Infantry squads make their way up the railroad tracks to the Bersaglieri
that are rapidly being cut off.
Being unaccustomed to the climate they are rapidly worn down under their heavy load of sub machine guns and rifle grenades.
The
armored trucks are able to return the prisoners to base camp.
They pass two Lancia armored cars on their way to relieve the Bersaglieri.
By this time, downtown Mogadishu is alive with Warbands. At least 7 different warbands have emerged, road blocks are everywhere and the Italians find themselves complete bogged down.
The
armored cars are recklessly attacked time and time again by spear armed
warriors. They are mowed down remorselessly to the point that there are
so many bodies in the street, maneuver becomes difficult for the Lancias.
The heavy infantry squads smash their way building by building to the action, but their movement is hampered by their cautious commander's desire to stop and grenade every window, one after the other on its way to the action.
In
the center of town, the Somali Native Police and Italian Garrison are going
nowhere, as their cautious commander dare not step out of the buildings
he has occupied due to the hordes or roaming natives in the streets.
Eventually both crash sites are overrun and the surviving crews taken hostage by the warbands.
Several
assaults later, the Bersaglieri are reduced to a shadow of their former
strength as the bodies pile up amid the impromptu square.
Unable completely destroy them or render the Lancias inoperative, the warbands withdraw with massive casualties - but content that they have bloodied the Italians greatly.
The
battle is, in terms of casualties inflicted, a huge Italian success, but
in terms of political considerations, it's a disaster.
The Italians must relinquish their prisoners in order to recover the surviving aircrew.
The Italians failed to meet any of their objectives and many of the Warbands improved their political status greatly.