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The Soldiers of Muhammad bin Mansur

       First off, besides our own crew, we had to take 10 soldiers from Hofuf with us, which meant we needed an extra Autocar truck to haul them. Salih’s eyes got wide when he saw the contingent arrive. He said, "The field parties have never seen soldiers like these before. These are soldiers of war."
        Their Emir was one Muhammad bin Mansur, chief tax collector for Bin Jiluwi, sent by special designation of the King himself. Of his nine soldiers, all tough-looking customers, four were also Emirs occasionally sent out from Hofuf in charge of their own detachments. They had on their Sunday clothes and in addition to knives and cartridge belts, (practically standard dress for a desert Arab) most of them wore bandoleers and carried Mauser pistols.