Re: Nagorno-Karabagh: Military Balance Between Armenia & Azerbaijan
On 20/21 March 2000, they had a holiday, called Novruz (they share with Kurds and Iran).
The commander of their sector got drunk, and ordered a section of 40 to 'go and bring an armenian, they would cut the throat in place of a sheep, as an offer to their god'... (turkish 'habit' from old days, at least they try to replicate...)
So their unit left their most advanced position regarding Omar pass, called by us the 'crescent', since it looks like one with 2 upper parts on each side.
And they decided to attack not the main post, wich is well fortified, like a WWII bunker, already then, but the next post, wich had much lower strategic importance.
Since even if they managed to capture it, they could not keep it, since the highest post on top of Mrav (you saw a band posted by Federate a couple of days ago from the Martakert side ), and the main pass positions would still remain in our hands, and once spotted, they would have been eliminated by these 2 positions cross fire.
I say this, to show that the operation could not have any military, strategic value.
It was purely criminal, sadistic instinct of theirs.
Nevertheless, when they began to move, they have been spotted rapidly by our young conscripts.
They had first to come down their own position, then climb to ours.
It takes some time, in such high terrain..
In normal conditions, when such move is spotted, during black night conditions, there are a lot of clouds, fog, freezing blizzards, frosty, and all the place full of snow and ice that never melts..., our guys begin to shoot, some rounds of AK, they may be hit or not, they may have one or two wounded, ... and they pull back to their trenches, a hell lot of fire, etc.. and business as usual.
Usual night in Mrav posts.
But that night, it happened that an 'old' , experienced officer of the NKR army was in that very moment, in the trench, next to our young 18 years old, while he was willing to open fire.
He forbid anyone to open fire.
It is a very scary thing, for young, 'unexperienced' guys, (no matter how well trained they might be), to do the job of basically highly trained commando ambush.
It took all the self confidence, determination, charisma of that small, short and skinny, moustashed, 'old' kharabakhtzi, to impose total silence, and for more than an hour, let the enemy climb to them.
Of course our young guys were scared, since this is not supposed to happen ever.
In normal condition they should have opened fire long ago.
Anyway, they waited to the last moment, and opened fire on order, while the first enemy was at the entrance of the trench.
They opened fire with all guns, not only AKs, but also bigger calibers, cross fire, etc...
Next morning they counted 33 corpses left in the no man's land.
They offered the azaris to take their Navrouz present home, but no one came.
The corpses remained there, in the snow for some time.
After that incident, they kept calm for a very long period on that sector.
On 20/21 March 2000, they had a holiday, called Novruz (they share with Kurds and Iran).
The commander of their sector got drunk, and ordered a section of 40 to 'go and bring an armenian, they would cut the throat in place of a sheep, as an offer to their god'... (turkish 'habit' from old days, at least they try to replicate...)
So their unit left their most advanced position regarding Omar pass, called by us the 'crescent', since it looks like one with 2 upper parts on each side.
And they decided to attack not the main post, wich is well fortified, like a WWII bunker, already then, but the next post, wich had much lower strategic importance.
Since even if they managed to capture it, they could not keep it, since the highest post on top of Mrav (you saw a band posted by Federate a couple of days ago from the Martakert side ), and the main pass positions would still remain in our hands, and once spotted, they would have been eliminated by these 2 positions cross fire.
I say this, to show that the operation could not have any military, strategic value.
It was purely criminal, sadistic instinct of theirs.
Nevertheless, when they began to move, they have been spotted rapidly by our young conscripts.
They had first to come down their own position, then climb to ours.
It takes some time, in such high terrain..
In normal conditions, when such move is spotted, during black night conditions, there are a lot of clouds, fog, freezing blizzards, frosty, and all the place full of snow and ice that never melts..., our guys begin to shoot, some rounds of AK, they may be hit or not, they may have one or two wounded, ... and they pull back to their trenches, a hell lot of fire, etc.. and business as usual.
Usual night in Mrav posts.
But that night, it happened that an 'old' , experienced officer of the NKR army was in that very moment, in the trench, next to our young 18 years old, while he was willing to open fire.
He forbid anyone to open fire.
It is a very scary thing, for young, 'unexperienced' guys, (no matter how well trained they might be), to do the job of basically highly trained commando ambush.
It took all the self confidence, determination, charisma of that small, short and skinny, moustashed, 'old' kharabakhtzi, to impose total silence, and for more than an hour, let the enemy climb to them.
Of course our young guys were scared, since this is not supposed to happen ever.
In normal condition they should have opened fire long ago.
Anyway, they waited to the last moment, and opened fire on order, while the first enemy was at the entrance of the trench.
They opened fire with all guns, not only AKs, but also bigger calibers, cross fire, etc...
Next morning they counted 33 corpses left in the no man's land.
They offered the azaris to take their Navrouz present home, but no one came.
The corpses remained there, in the snow for some time.
After that incident, they kept calm for a very long period on that sector.
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