with the battalion's main forces, including two companies of paratroopers, and placing a single company at Heneidac. The 139th Sa'iqa Group, having had its mission confirmed by GHQ, began moving southward from Ismailia at sunset. Both battalions advanced in columns, each pushing a company ahead as a vanguard. Col. Ibrahim sent four patrols ahead to reconnoitre, and only one returned; the rest were considered missing. As the Sa'iqa group moved south, they encountered groups of Egyptian paratroopers from the 81st and 89th Battalions, retreating northward under Israeli pressure. When the unit neared Ain Ghasin they were ambushed by an Israeli force. An intense firefight took place as the vanguard engaged the Israelis, after some of their transports had been hit. Soldiers disembarked their vehicles and took cover in nearby farms and orchards. The vehicles and transports were turned back with great difficulty, and the entire Sa'iqa group soon began to retreat to a position south of the village of Abu 'Atwa, itself roughly 3 kilometres south of Ismailia. Ibrahim called for artillery support, but the Israelis were jamming and interfering his radio net, and communicated with him in Arabic. This led to Israeli artillery fire falling on his forces instead. The Egyptians suffered few casualties though, due to the density of the mango trees, which minimized the hit radius of artillery rounds and provided cover from shrapnel. Retreat to Ismailia Canal Meanwhile, Heikal was able to contact Ibrahim and asked him to arrive at headquarters in Ismailia due to a change in orders, and he arrived sometime after midnight. Khalil had managed, after a lengthy and drawn-out conversation, to convince GHQ to cancel the operation and place the 139th Sa'iqa Group under his command to assist in fortifying Ismailia instead of sacrificing the elite force in a suicidal mission, and GHQ finally acquiesced. Ibrahim was now tasked with occupying and defending Abu 'Atwa and Nefisha. He reorganized his force, and occupied both villages with a battalion each by dawn on October 21. Despite the near-debacle, the commitment of the Sa'iqa, along with the paratroopers of the 85th Battalion, had actually reinforced Egyptian defenses and helped defeat the Israeli attack. The battle continued south of Lake Timsah in see-saw fashion, raging back and forth, but by nightfall on October 20 the Israelis had made no progress, and the Egyptian paratroopers were firmly in control of Touscan. According to Trevor N. Dupuy,