Avia S-199 | samolot, który uratował Izrael

When I think of Israel's 1948 War of Independence, I usually think of the story of a certain ravine where an Egyptian motorized column was stopped. Its mission was simple. The soldiers, using vehicles and armored cars, were simply to advance and reach areas devoid of any Israeli forces, not even the pistol-wielding fighters of the Israeli Irgun and Haganah. Under these circumstances, this would have meant the collapse of the Israeli front, which in turn could have led to the rapid collapse of Israel, which was just beginning to strive for independence. It must be admitted that initially, the holding, or more precisely, the destruction, of the Ad Halom Bridge over the Lachish River was crucial to the state's existence. The first mentions of a bridge in this area date back to the Roman Empire. The Roman builders, like the famous animated film character Bogusław Łęcina, did not commit sloppy work, and the foundations of their bridge remained in use for many years until, finally, in the late 19th century, the Ottoman rulers of Palestine rebuilt the bridge using surviving Roman-era structural elements. In the 1920s, when Palestine became a British possession, the bridge was expanded as part of the League of Nations mandate – a railway crossing was built alongside the road crossing. Meanwhile, as time passed, Palestine became increasingly dangerous due to the escalating Jewish-Arab conflict. Between 1936 and 1939, regular riots broke out in Palestine, which were suppressed by British troops. The British expected that Irgun and Haganah fighters, as well as their Arab opponents, would begin destroying the crossings, so between 1936 and 1939 they began securing key crossings in case of an attack. One such location was the Ad Halom Bridge, which was lined with bunkers from which machine gun fire could be directed at the opposite bank of the river as well as the crossing itself. However, the solitary bunker posed no significant obstacle in May 1948, when Haganah fighters managed to blow up two bridges to halt the Egyptian forces advancing from the south. Shortly thereafter, the enemy resumed combat operations. Admittedly, the Egyptians had at their disposal an impressive force, consisting of at least 1,300 motor vehicles and, according to various estimates, around 3,000 soldiers, although some historians believe the number of Egyptian troops should have been significantly increased, while others believe it should have been significantly reduced. Generally, however, I support the theory that there were slightly more of them, because with 1,300 motor vehicles, 3,000 soldiers is a bit better than three men per vehicle. Remember, the Egyptian vehicles also included tanks, armored personnel carriers, and other vehicles, and I can't imagine an armored personnel carrier carrying a single soldier. In any case, after the two bridges built during the British era were blown up, Haganah units were deployed nearby to deter a potential Egyptian attack. The problem was that against enemy forces equipped with tanks, artillery, and significant amounts of machine guns, the Haganah fighters could only match the relatively modest forces assigned from the rest of the Israeli forces as part of Operation Flistia, carried out between May 29 and June 3, 1948. The commander of the Israeli forces was Shimon Avidan, who faced approximately 3,000 men under Muhammad Najib. Najib had all the advantages on his side. I'm also here: https://odysee.com/@Balszoi:5?r=CmuKJ... I invite you to support the channel: Virtual Coffee https://buycoffee.to/balszoi Patronite: https://patronite.pl/Balszoi #aviation #aircraft #military #war #history #military #history #army #israel #coldwar #fighter #fighteraircraft