( CNN ) -- We were told to be awake and ready to move at 4 a.m . The National Transitional Council fighters we were with were planning to launch a dawn assault on the Saharan city of Sabha . All predictions indicated it would be one of the bloodiest battles yet . NTC officials said loyalist forces would use weaponry they had n't used before . They did n't go into detail but it sounded ominous . Western intelligence sources told CNN the fighters in Sabha still loyal to Libya 's ousted leader , Moammar Gadhafi , had heavy artillery and would likely use it . Sabha was frequently described as loyalist and pro-Gadhafi . The night before the assault there was an edgy , giddy atmosphere on the air base where we were camped along with the force that had traveled more than 600 kilometers from Tripoli . The fighters were shooting more ordinance than usual into the air , and they flocked to our campsite behind the officer 's club , eager to chat , and even more eager to use our satellite telephones . One after another , they shyly asked if they could make a call . Each one had a special reason for calling -- reassuring parents , a brother getting married , a sick baby daughter , an angry girlfriend . Many talked about their expectations for the coming day . It would be a bloodbath . It would be easy . `` Maybe I 'll die tomorrow , I 'm ready for it , '' declared Mohamed , a toothy young man from Sabha who had spent several years in Manchester , England , where he had picked up the local accent . `` But if I do n't die , you are all welcome to stay at my house in Sabha . '' Mohamed , like many of the fighters from Sabha , insisted most of the people in his home town sided with the revolution . But there was concern about possible resistance from members of Gadhafi 's Gadadfa tribe . Despite a month of impressive advances by the anti-Gadhafi forces , it 's clear not everyone has gone over to the revolution . That afternoon we had gone into the nearby town of Birak Al-Shati . I had seen scattered green flags flying over some of the houses earlier in the day . Unlike other towns we had been through , few people in Birak Al-Shati waved or flashed the v-for-victory sign . They just glared at us . As CNN 's Cairo camerawoman Mary Rogers was taking pictures of the town , a car drove up to me in the town 's main roundabout . The driver , a young man in his early 20s , shouted to me : `` Allah , Moammar , Libya , wa bas '' -- ( God , Moammar and Libya only ) -- the standard slogan of Gadhafi supporters , then began to pull away . `` Wait , '' I told him . `` Talk to me . We 've been speaking to pro-revolutionaries ( Gadhafi opponents ) , but not your type . '' In the passenger seat sat a boy , maybe 10-years old , who repeated the slogan several times , pumping his fists in the air . `` No camera , '' the driver told me . `` Everyone around here feels the same , but we 're afraid to say anything with all these thuwar ( revolutionaries ) around . '' He then drove away . I crossed the street to a cigarette shop where there were about half a dozen people inside . The shopkeeper , a chunky man in his early 20s wearing a jalabiya , echoed the same sentiments . As did another man , who identified himself as Jamal , a businessman . `` If there were free elections here , and we had a choice between voting for Gadhafi or the new regime in Tripoli , 90 % would vote for Gadhafi , '' he said . `` And none of this would have happened if NATO was n't bombing Libya . '' A young fighter with an AK-47 walked into the shop to buy cigarettes . Surprisingly , the discussion over the new Libya carried on . `` We do n't want these guys here , '' he said , pointing to the fighter . `` They are going around , breaking into houses , stealing people 's possessions . That 's what they did to my cousin 's house . '' `` If that 's what happened , your cousin deserved it , '' replied the fighter , who said he was from Tripoli . By now a fairly large crowd had gathered to listen and take part in the conversation . Suddenly a man pushed through the crowd and grabbed Jamal by the shoulder . `` Get out of here and stop talking like that ! '' he shouted , clearly angry , pushing Jamal out of the shop . `` Are you an idiot ? '' It was getting tense , so I stepped out of the shop . `` Do n't worry , '' the shopkeeper told me . `` It 's his brother . He just does n't want trouble . '' As I stepped to the side of the road , anther car drove up , this time with three occupants wearing baseball caps emblazoned with the pro-Gadhafi Libyan flag . When I peered into the car , I saw that the driver had a bottle of clear brown liquid in his lap . In the back seat a teenager with a machine gun in his lap was rolling a joint . `` We are the revolutionaries of Birak Al-Shati , '' the driver said , a big grin on his face . `` What 's that ? '' I asked him , pointing to the bottle . `` Whiskey ! '' he proudly declared . `` You want some ? '' I declined . I knew we had a big day ahead of us . Although we had been told to be awake and ready to go at 4 a.m. , I woke up two hours later . Having spent much of the last seven months in Libya , I knew these guys were not strong on punctuality . We ended up leaving the base around 10 a.m. behind the ambulances , and met the main body of fighters heading to Sabha . An hour later , after an uneventful drive though the desert , we arrived on the outskirts of Sabha . I could see some smoke on the horizon , but could hear no gunfire . Small clumps of people by the side of the road were cheering and waving . Driving further into the city , the crowds grew larger . There was gunfire but it was all in the air , the ubiquitous celebratory gunfire . Up above , a man tore down the green flag from the city 's main water tower and sent it fluttering to the ground . We were the only journalists in Sabha . Wherever we stopped cheering crowds mobbed us . Most asked if we were with Al-Jazeera . The huge , bloody battle for Sabha was n't to be . No one was disappointed . `` We are now in Sabha and we were not expecting this , '' one of the doctors shouted . `` This is the best moment of my life . '' There was fighting , of course , in the Sabha neighborhood of Manshiya . We watched as cars and ambulances rushed to the emergency ward in the city 's main hospital . It was pandemonium . The medical team we had traveled with arrived at the hospital just minutes before the first casualties began to arrive . Along with the wounded , came the dead , more than 10 in the two hours we were at the hospital . Suddenly the bravado of the young fighters was gone when they drove up with the bodies of their dead comrades . They cried like children in one another 's arms . Others just sat on the curb and wept quietly as their friends tried to console them . For many it was their first real encounter with combat . Others vowed to carry on the fight and avenge their friends . By contrast , the loyalist dead were received without fanfare . A pickup drove up to the main entrance to the hospital with two bodies covered with a light blue cloth splayed in the back . On the side of the pickup truck the fighters were smug with satisfaction . `` We killed the rats , '' one told me , pointing his gun toward the bodies at his feet . That night we slept next to a NATO-bombed VIP guesthouse at the airport , which had become the main base for the hundreds of NTC fighters who had taken part in the conquest of Sabha . The next morning we ventured out into the city . Mid-morning , and there were few people out on the streets , and still plenty of green flags . In front of the administration building at Sabha University , a still intact portrait of Gadhafi featuring the odd slogan , `` High you are above every ceiling , proud you are above every height . '' Within minutes , a group of gunmen showed up , backing their pickup up to the poster , which they proceeded to rip apart with a knife . We then went to Al-Gurda , a tight neighborhood composed of families from all over Libya . People look after their neighbors , keep an eye out for strangers , and never , as residents told us , dabbled in the dangerous business of politics . The streets are dusty , the asphalt crumbling . The roads in this corner of Sabha were paved once , in the 1980s and never since , they told me . We sat down with the neighborhood men , each one cradling his machine gun . They explained that the last straw was when armed strangers -- they called mercenaries -- arrived on their street . `` We shot one , he died right over there , '' one of the men told me , pointing to the corner . He then showed me the video of the dying man he had shot on his cell phone . Dentist Abdel Majid Tijani said he had learned to use a gun in school . Gadhafi `` forced us to train on this , '' he said , patting his AK-47 assault rifle . `` He intended to change us to fighters to fight for his dreams in Africa and in other places . But God decided the reverse . He forced us to train on this thing to fight him . '' Afterwards , we went to the nearby home of Khadija Tahir , a strong-willed English teacher at Sabha University . I asked her why Sabha , despite its reputation for being a Gadhafi stronghold , had fallen to the opposition in less than 24 hours . People `` realized that this man is not right . So many people came 180 degrees from being pro-Gadhafi to protesting Gadhafi , '' she told me . `` The other reason is that people got fed up -- lack of electricity , lack of water . So they wanted to get out of this situation . I am one of them . '' There are still a few parts of Sabha where the `` thuwar , '' the revolutionaries , are hesitant to tread . But most parts of Sabha were like Al-Gurda . They 'd simply had enough .
CNN 's Ben Stein placed the NTC fighters close to Sabha . In the days before the attack fighters showed signs of nerves and confidence . The city , despite its reputation as a Gadhafi stronghold , fell to the rebels in less than a week . There are still a few parts of Sabha where the revolutionaries are hesitant to tread .