 In front of the total failure of the attack , Shlomo Shamir ordered the retreat at 11 @.@ 30 am . But this occurred on open ground under a heavy sun and the soldiers had no water . Numerous men were killed or injured by Arab fire . It was only at 2 pm that the first injured men reached the transport they had left in the morning . However , the Arab Legion didn 't take advantage of this victory while , according to Benny Morris , it could easily have performed a counter @-@ attack up to the Israeli headquarters located at Hulda . 
