To the south Nathan Dixon was also reacting. Whatever shock he felt upon hearing the sudden outburst of gun fire was quickly pushed aside. Having caught fleeting glimpses of the defensive perimeter protecting the ammo storage site while still drifting down under his parachute, Nathan determined it would be best to take whatever force he had at hand and swing around to the left to hit the Guard positions from the west. Coming from that direction he would not have to face the larger, more menacing National Guard position that anchored the southeastern corner of the site. With Wahler and the 1st Squad providing a base of fire as he had set out to do, Nathan would be free to maneuver and overwhelm each of the Guard positions in sequence. In coming up with this plan Nathan was totally unaware that Wahler was already dead. But even if he had known he wouldn’t have changed his plan. The 1st Squad already was doing what Wahler had intended it to do.

When the leader of the 2nd Squad reported that his men were ready, Nathan nodded. Turning to Gandulf, the young platoon leader instructed his plainspoken NCO to finish gathering up the rest of the platoon and follow as quickly as he could. With that 2nd Lieutenant Nathan Dixon was off.

To the west King stood in the center of his small command group staring off to the east. Everyone around him could tell that he was becoming concerned about how the overall situation was developing. Only his radiomen didn’t hesitate to interrupt his thoughts. “Captain King,” the RTO called as he reached up with the hand set.

Without taking his eyes off the distant firefight that his 3rd Platoon was involved in, King took the handset, squeezed the receiver end up under his helmet, and pressed it against his ear. It was the 2nd platoon. They had landed nearest to the road that separated them from the National Guard motor pools. In a voice that betrayed his mounting apprehensions, the lieutenant of that platoon reported that he could hear more armored vehicles starting up. As best he could determine there were twenty to thirty armored vehicles moving about. He went on to tell King that he was deploying his platoon as best he could, but doubted if he could hold back a determined, mounted attack on his own.