Slow Drift to War Europe 1984
- Thread starter Farmer12
- Start date
Warday Pacific and Anatolia thru Chelb
The death of Captain Haines suddenly, left 1st Lieutenant McGuire in command of A troop, right in the middle of a withdrawal. McGuire had been in command of a platoon of two tanks but the other tank of his platoon had been destroyed. He orders the troop to pull back to the fallback position near the village of Ruelbach. Captain Haines had been of the opinion that the Soviet troops would advance down the open valley as the best way to rapidly to the MLR. At the same time an artillery fire mission that had been called for lands amongst Motorized Rifle battalion. McGuire did not take any time to see what damage had been inflicted on the Soviet troops but it did delay the attacking force since the battalion changed direction.
The four surviving tanks with three TOW armed tracks and three CAV tracks and one trac carrying a team operating a Redeye and one carrying the mortar. in moving along road with the trees on one side providing cover from observation. McGuire, was somewhat happy right up until someone scream over the radio “Hinds to the south,” Looking to the south and he could see a formation of at least four Hind Ds were forming up in an attack formation unfortunately they could see the little column of armored vehicles. The track carrying the Redeye team changed direction toward the Hind D’S. The track halted while the Redeye team dismounted. They were hoping to do at least some damage to the Hinds. McGuire just ordered the tanks to turn to the south and spread out he was hoping to make life just a little harder for the Hinds.
The Captain Alver was the commander of the Hind D’s smiled to himself. A veteran of Afghanistan he enjoyed to catching the fedayeen with their pants down. A quick order and the helicopters slowed to a stop. Fresh meat was all he was thinking.
Captain Will Czechowitz was heading to the last reported location of a formation of Soviet Armored vehicles. Contact had been lost with whoever had called in the air support. He had not been able to raise anyone about the call. Suddenly his copilot who had been looking around called out helicopters to the front. Captain Czechowitz growled a reply the helicopters were actually stopped. He did not take the time to look and see what the Hind D’s were going after. He took a quick look around to see if there was a soviet fighter hanging around then he and his copilot went in for the kill. Each man picked a helicopter and headed in. Smiling Captain Czechowitz readied to use his GAU8/A. Then he headed in for the kill. This looked like a couple of easy kills and two less Hind D’s could only be a good thing.
One of the helicopter pilots took a quick look around like Captain Alver he had spent time in Afghanistan. It only took him a minute to realize what he was looking at and he immediately swung the Hind around. At the same time, he called out a warning, but it was to late for Captain Alver one Hind D’s took a blast from the wingman utterly ripping the helicopter apart. Czechowitz picked off one for himself. The remaining HIND D took off like a rabbit the only mistake he made was offering the waiting Redeye team a side view of his Hind. The Redeye went off and the Hind D went down.
1st Lieutenant McGuire could not believe his luck, he remembered someone once telling him I would rather be lucky that good. He had to agree but in the back of his mind he to himself that he needed to be more careful about what routes he would take. McGuire quickly turned his attention to reforming his troop and moving to the fall back position.
The start of the war from around the world.
4am New Zealand The K-42 was patrolling off of the coast of the North Island when the war started, he picked off a small coastal freighter. It was not a strategic target but it was hoped that if an enough pressure was applied to New Zealand, the government would be forces to call back ships to defend New Zealand. Across the rest of the South Pacific there were other submarine attacks
Shortland Island Soviet Airfield Five of the six Badger bombers were operational as were three of the four Bears, all take off looking for enemy ships both military and civilian. While patrols of floggers from both the Shortland Airfield and the Wakunai Airfield.
Korea The Korean peninsula was quiet the glorious leader had decided that the attack would begin on 4am the next day.
The Fighter force defending Cam Ranh bay was up and patrolling the immediate area. The Badger bombers headed out into the South China Sea looking for allied merchantmen. The idea was to inflict as much damage on shipping in the South China Sea concentration on tankers carrying oil to Japan. Cut the supply lines to Japan then the Japanese would have a choice surrender or send ships and planes to fight in the South China Sea. Most of the Soviet Submarine force is in the southern sector of the South China sea with some units in the Straits of Malacca.
The two exceptions were the Juliet and the Charlie I. Those two submarines were supposed to be hunting the Carl Vincent. The two sub commanders had a plan they were betting that the Carl Vincent would enter into the South China Sea via the Bubayan Channel. It was the most direct route into the South China Sea and given the arrogance of the American Soviet naval command had made the decision that the Soviet Surface Action Group would head to the south, deeper into the South China Sea. The two submarines were sitting in shallower waters closer to the Philippine Coast line waiting for the Carl Vincent to pass through the channel.
The New Jersey battle group with the Carl Vincent Carrier Battle Group following behind headed into the Babayan Channel. Both Battles groups ASW forces were of the opinion that they could handle anything that the Soviet could through at them. Besides the Soviets would not expect the American navy taking the direct route.
At the same time the Soviet Surface action group with a pair of Vietnamese Naval frigates were doing a sweep of the South China Sea. The idea was for the two submarines were to take out the Carl Vincent and then there would be a surface battle. The one fly in the ointment was that the Permit class submarine the Hado was tracking the task force. The other submarine where all patrolling their own patrol boxes.
Over the Sea of Japan, American Air units both Air Force and Naval backup by the Japanese Air Self Defense Forces, began to hammer patrolling Soviet air units as well as picking the odd Soviet warships that had by some misfortune had left itself out in the open. At the same time American Carrier Battle Groups were making their first probes against the air defenses of the Kuril Islands as well as Kamchatka Peninsula.
7am Anatolia Front The Soviet began a series of attack all along the front. Most of the attacks were designed to hold the Turkish and NATO forces in place while the main attack went in. Over the last few days several Soviet divisions had been moved into place. It was now obvious that the main attack would to north of Edirne Turkey. But it would take time to shift forces.
The 9th Infantry division was expecting some sort of an attack but nothing happen. The Bulgars appeared to be on the defensive. It was looking like the Bulgars were not going to make things easier for the Americans by attacking. In fact, the Bulgars had abandoned their frontline positions that were right on the border for what they obviously regarded more defensive positions further from the border. For now, the 1st Corp was considering its options.
The Austrian front The all along the borders with Hungary and Czechoslovakia the WARSAW PACT forces began to move forwards.
6AM Chelb Sector The artillery barrage on the force that was supposed to attack, had delayed but in this case the artillery barrage did not affect the attack but not as much as had been hoped the Soviet Commanders had made the decision to have their troop in bunkers to wait out the bombardment. That meant that troops who would be carrying out the attack were well protected. The force sat in their bunkers waiting for the WARSAW Pact bombardment to finish. When the bombardment finished the 19th and 20TH MRD moved out of their bunkers and began to advance, while the 14th Tank division that had been held further back waited for information on how well the advance was going.
A second operation had been organized to the north of what was supposed to be the main attack. The East German Army had come up with an alternate plan. First the 385th division would begin an advance with 1266th and the 1268th regiments were spread out as they moved against the Canadian 3rd Brigade. While the 1270th regiment supported by the divisions army was consolidated to attack the town of Rehau which was under the control of the American 1st Armored. In support of the 1270th Regiment the 385th Rifle Division armored battalion was in support. At the same time Loyalist elements of the East Germany Army 4th MRD the 4th Tank regiment armed with a mixture of T-55’s and T-62’s and the 22nd Motorized rifle Regiment also crossed the Czech border passing through Czech terrain to avoid the American defenses along the inner border. This shortened the distance that these units had to travel while the remainder of the 4th MRD crossed over the inner border. The 23rd Motorized Rifle Regiment was also making for the town of Rehau. The plan was to hit the American and Canadian troop in and around Rehau from three directions. While the 24th Motorized Rifle Regiment covering the flank of the division.
As commander of the 3rd Brigade General Delacroix was well aware of the fact that the brigade was trying to cover to much territory with too few troops. But he was consoled by the fact that the Brigade was facing what could charitably be called second line troops. As commander of the 3rd Brigade, Delacroix set the line with the 1er Bataillon le Regiment de Saguenay with a tank company minus to cover the southern sector of some four kilometers in length made up of forested terrain.
Next the Grenadier Guards of Canada with a full company of tanks was covering the shortest section of the line with a full tank company for support. The belief was that this would be the most likely avenue of attack. The units were setup on the edge of a tree line with open terrain to the front giving the units a good field of fire.
Finally the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch of Canada covered the longest part of the line with a tank company minus protecting the line. The unit was setup in forested terrain for its entire distance.
The Recon Battalion the Sherbrooke Hussars was out in front 3rd brigades positions. This battalion was a mixture of Cougars Grizzly, Husky with some M-113’s were out in front. While the two units in reserve behind the front line one was the Sherbrooke Hussars with two reconnaissance companies. The two reserve companies were from the composite battalion. One company from the Le Fusilier de Sherbrooke with a tank platoon. The other company from the 1st bataillion les Voltiguer de Quebec also with an attack tank platoon. The fusilier de Sherbrooke were setup in the village of Spielberg. The final reserve force made up of the Voltiguers is setup on the southern end of brigades position to cover the southern flank of the brigade.
600am 3rd Brigade Canadian Col Henri Caron as second command of the brigade he had been listening to the reports from the Recon Units. General Delacroix was talking the second in command of the 1 Canadian Division. The units had been instructed to not become engage and only in the brigade on what they were seeing. The reports that had arrived so far were a mixed bag, to the north a force estimated to be in regimental strength infantry force with a large number of what where being identified as assault guns were crossing the border and moving to the brigade position. Other report where that an infantry force also identified as roughly as greater than regimental in strength was headed toward the center of the brigade position. So for no reports had been receive on the southern section of the brigades position. But since the Soviets were attacking through a forest and the recon units had setup about three kilometers from the Czech border. The first calls for fire missions from the recon units were being made.
630am 3rd brigade Canadian Both Delacroix and Caron were now listening to the reports coming in. One surprise was that the Soviet artillery was hammering the recon units on the north end of the brigade’s front. Those same recon units were reporting that the Soviets were getting close to their part of the line and they would have to pull back. On the positive side some of the Assault guns had been hit. It was reported that an old German who had spent most of his time in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front had identified the assault guns SU-85’s. It was looking like the Russians were concentrating on the northern part of the brigade’s front. Then the first reports from the southern part of the line arrive. Contact had been made with the Soviet Infantry but it was looking like these troops were not acting very aggressively what information on combat strength was reported as less than regimental strength.
The weight of the attack was obviously on the northern end of the brigade’s front the commitment of the armor in that section of the line made Delacroix believe that. The information by the Black Watch that the town of Rehu held by American troops was being heavily shelled by Soviet artillery. The was really a surprise, he had been told by the American commander of the 1st Armor’s 1st brigade that the main attack would be toward the town of Hof not Rehu. After a few minutes of thought he made a decision.
7am Looking at his communications officer he told him, “First put me in contact with the Voltiguer’s then I need to speak to the commander of the Saguenay battalion.” In less than a minute the commander of the Voltiguer’s was on the line. The conversation was short and to the point. The Voltguer’s were to move to the north and take up initial positions near the village of Schwarzenbach and he was to take his resupply detail with him to have it close to his unit if resupply was needed. He also told the Commander of the Voltiguer’s that he would see if any reinforcements could be sent. Then the commander of the Saguenay battalion was on the line. Verifying that one platoon of tanks and a platoon of infantry had been organized as the battalion’s reserve. He informed the commander of the Saguenay, he was taking that reserve force from him and moving it to the North. When the commander of the Saguenay complained he told the officer that it was looking like the brunt of the WARSAW pact attack was on the northern section of the Brigades line.
It was then that a new message arrived the northern Soviet attack force had changed direction to the north and west and it appeared that this force was headed toward the town of Rehu. Then another officer get into the conversation. Division was reporting that it had monitored radio activity of the American 1st Brigade that an attack was moving across the Czech border in greater than regimental strength. Or that was at least what the brigade’s recon units were telling the 1st Brigade.
Getting back to the commander of the Saguenay battalion he told him that it looked like the hammer was coming down on the Americans in Rehu and if the Soviets broke through that all hell would be out for noon. The battalion commander suddenly stopped complaining and he asked where the reserve force was needed. The reply was simple, send them to the village of Schwarzenbach to join up with the Voltiguers. By the time the Delacroix was able to try to contact the Voltiguers he was informed by the officer who was finishing the breaking down of its headquarters that the reinforcement where already on the way. Delacroix give the officer the news about the reserve force from the Saguenay and the officer replied he would make sure that his commander would be informed with that the conversation was over and then the line went dead. It was obvious that the officer in charge of moving the headquarters want to get the job of moving the reserve force HQ done.
The four surviving tanks with three TOW armed tracks and three CAV tracks and one trac carrying a team operating a Redeye and one carrying the mortar. in moving along road with the trees on one side providing cover from observation. McGuire, was somewhat happy right up until someone scream over the radio “Hinds to the south,” Looking to the south and he could see a formation of at least four Hind Ds were forming up in an attack formation unfortunately they could see the little column of armored vehicles. The track carrying the Redeye team changed direction toward the Hind D’S. The track halted while the Redeye team dismounted. They were hoping to do at least some damage to the Hinds. McGuire just ordered the tanks to turn to the south and spread out he was hoping to make life just a little harder for the Hinds.
The Captain Alver was the commander of the Hind D’s smiled to himself. A veteran of Afghanistan he enjoyed to catching the fedayeen with their pants down. A quick order and the helicopters slowed to a stop. Fresh meat was all he was thinking.
Captain Will Czechowitz was heading to the last reported location of a formation of Soviet Armored vehicles. Contact had been lost with whoever had called in the air support. He had not been able to raise anyone about the call. Suddenly his copilot who had been looking around called out helicopters to the front. Captain Czechowitz growled a reply the helicopters were actually stopped. He did not take the time to look and see what the Hind D’s were going after. He took a quick look around to see if there was a soviet fighter hanging around then he and his copilot went in for the kill. Each man picked a helicopter and headed in. Smiling Captain Czechowitz readied to use his GAU8/A. Then he headed in for the kill. This looked like a couple of easy kills and two less Hind D’s could only be a good thing.
One of the helicopter pilots took a quick look around like Captain Alver he had spent time in Afghanistan. It only took him a minute to realize what he was looking at and he immediately swung the Hind around. At the same time, he called out a warning, but it was to late for Captain Alver one Hind D’s took a blast from the wingman utterly ripping the helicopter apart. Czechowitz picked off one for himself. The remaining HIND D took off like a rabbit the only mistake he made was offering the waiting Redeye team a side view of his Hind. The Redeye went off and the Hind D went down.
1st Lieutenant McGuire could not believe his luck, he remembered someone once telling him I would rather be lucky that good. He had to agree but in the back of his mind he to himself that he needed to be more careful about what routes he would take. McGuire quickly turned his attention to reforming his troop and moving to the fall back position.
The start of the war from around the world.
4am New Zealand The K-42 was patrolling off of the coast of the North Island when the war started, he picked off a small coastal freighter. It was not a strategic target but it was hoped that if an enough pressure was applied to New Zealand, the government would be forces to call back ships to defend New Zealand. Across the rest of the South Pacific there were other submarine attacks
Shortland Island Soviet Airfield Five of the six Badger bombers were operational as were three of the four Bears, all take off looking for enemy ships both military and civilian. While patrols of floggers from both the Shortland Airfield and the Wakunai Airfield.
Korea The Korean peninsula was quiet the glorious leader had decided that the attack would begin on 4am the next day.
The Fighter force defending Cam Ranh bay was up and patrolling the immediate area. The Badger bombers headed out into the South China Sea looking for allied merchantmen. The idea was to inflict as much damage on shipping in the South China Sea concentration on tankers carrying oil to Japan. Cut the supply lines to Japan then the Japanese would have a choice surrender or send ships and planes to fight in the South China Sea. Most of the Soviet Submarine force is in the southern sector of the South China sea with some units in the Straits of Malacca.
The two exceptions were the Juliet and the Charlie I. Those two submarines were supposed to be hunting the Carl Vincent. The two sub commanders had a plan they were betting that the Carl Vincent would enter into the South China Sea via the Bubayan Channel. It was the most direct route into the South China Sea and given the arrogance of the American Soviet naval command had made the decision that the Soviet Surface Action Group would head to the south, deeper into the South China Sea. The two submarines were sitting in shallower waters closer to the Philippine Coast line waiting for the Carl Vincent to pass through the channel.
The New Jersey battle group with the Carl Vincent Carrier Battle Group following behind headed into the Babayan Channel. Both Battles groups ASW forces were of the opinion that they could handle anything that the Soviet could through at them. Besides the Soviets would not expect the American navy taking the direct route.
At the same time the Soviet Surface action group with a pair of Vietnamese Naval frigates were doing a sweep of the South China Sea. The idea was for the two submarines were to take out the Carl Vincent and then there would be a surface battle. The one fly in the ointment was that the Permit class submarine the Hado was tracking the task force. The other submarine where all patrolling their own patrol boxes.
Over the Sea of Japan, American Air units both Air Force and Naval backup by the Japanese Air Self Defense Forces, began to hammer patrolling Soviet air units as well as picking the odd Soviet warships that had by some misfortune had left itself out in the open. At the same time American Carrier Battle Groups were making their first probes against the air defenses of the Kuril Islands as well as Kamchatka Peninsula.
7am Anatolia Front The Soviet began a series of attack all along the front. Most of the attacks were designed to hold the Turkish and NATO forces in place while the main attack went in. Over the last few days several Soviet divisions had been moved into place. It was now obvious that the main attack would to north of Edirne Turkey. But it would take time to shift forces.
The 9th Infantry division was expecting some sort of an attack but nothing happen. The Bulgars appeared to be on the defensive. It was looking like the Bulgars were not going to make things easier for the Americans by attacking. In fact, the Bulgars had abandoned their frontline positions that were right on the border for what they obviously regarded more defensive positions further from the border. For now, the 1st Corp was considering its options.
The Austrian front The all along the borders with Hungary and Czechoslovakia the WARSAW PACT forces began to move forwards.
6AM Chelb Sector The artillery barrage on the force that was supposed to attack, had delayed but in this case the artillery barrage did not affect the attack but not as much as had been hoped the Soviet Commanders had made the decision to have their troop in bunkers to wait out the bombardment. That meant that troops who would be carrying out the attack were well protected. The force sat in their bunkers waiting for the WARSAW Pact bombardment to finish. When the bombardment finished the 19th and 20TH MRD moved out of their bunkers and began to advance, while the 14th Tank division that had been held further back waited for information on how well the advance was going.
A second operation had been organized to the north of what was supposed to be the main attack. The East German Army had come up with an alternate plan. First the 385th division would begin an advance with 1266th and the 1268th regiments were spread out as they moved against the Canadian 3rd Brigade. While the 1270th regiment supported by the divisions army was consolidated to attack the town of Rehau which was under the control of the American 1st Armored. In support of the 1270th Regiment the 385th Rifle Division armored battalion was in support. At the same time Loyalist elements of the East Germany Army 4th MRD the 4th Tank regiment armed with a mixture of T-55’s and T-62’s and the 22nd Motorized rifle Regiment also crossed the Czech border passing through Czech terrain to avoid the American defenses along the inner border. This shortened the distance that these units had to travel while the remainder of the 4th MRD crossed over the inner border. The 23rd Motorized Rifle Regiment was also making for the town of Rehau. The plan was to hit the American and Canadian troop in and around Rehau from three directions. While the 24th Motorized Rifle Regiment covering the flank of the division.
As commander of the 3rd Brigade General Delacroix was well aware of the fact that the brigade was trying to cover to much territory with too few troops. But he was consoled by the fact that the Brigade was facing what could charitably be called second line troops. As commander of the 3rd Brigade, Delacroix set the line with the 1er Bataillon le Regiment de Saguenay with a tank company minus to cover the southern sector of some four kilometers in length made up of forested terrain.
Next the Grenadier Guards of Canada with a full company of tanks was covering the shortest section of the line with a full tank company for support. The belief was that this would be the most likely avenue of attack. The units were setup on the edge of a tree line with open terrain to the front giving the units a good field of fire.
Finally the 1st Battalion of the Black Watch of Canada covered the longest part of the line with a tank company minus protecting the line. The unit was setup in forested terrain for its entire distance.
The Recon Battalion the Sherbrooke Hussars was out in front 3rd brigades positions. This battalion was a mixture of Cougars Grizzly, Husky with some M-113’s were out in front. While the two units in reserve behind the front line one was the Sherbrooke Hussars with two reconnaissance companies. The two reserve companies were from the composite battalion. One company from the Le Fusilier de Sherbrooke with a tank platoon. The other company from the 1st bataillion les Voltiguer de Quebec also with an attack tank platoon. The fusilier de Sherbrooke were setup in the village of Spielberg. The final reserve force made up of the Voltiguers is setup on the southern end of brigades position to cover the southern flank of the brigade.
600am 3rd Brigade Canadian Col Henri Caron as second command of the brigade he had been listening to the reports from the Recon Units. General Delacroix was talking the second in command of the 1 Canadian Division. The units had been instructed to not become engage and only in the brigade on what they were seeing. The reports that had arrived so far were a mixed bag, to the north a force estimated to be in regimental strength infantry force with a large number of what where being identified as assault guns were crossing the border and moving to the brigade position. Other report where that an infantry force also identified as roughly as greater than regimental in strength was headed toward the center of the brigade position. So for no reports had been receive on the southern section of the brigades position. But since the Soviets were attacking through a forest and the recon units had setup about three kilometers from the Czech border. The first calls for fire missions from the recon units were being made.
630am 3rd brigade Canadian Both Delacroix and Caron were now listening to the reports coming in. One surprise was that the Soviet artillery was hammering the recon units on the north end of the brigade’s front. Those same recon units were reporting that the Soviets were getting close to their part of the line and they would have to pull back. On the positive side some of the Assault guns had been hit. It was reported that an old German who had spent most of his time in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front had identified the assault guns SU-85’s. It was looking like the Russians were concentrating on the northern part of the brigade’s front. Then the first reports from the southern part of the line arrive. Contact had been made with the Soviet Infantry but it was looking like these troops were not acting very aggressively what information on combat strength was reported as less than regimental strength.
The weight of the attack was obviously on the northern end of the brigade’s front the commitment of the armor in that section of the line made Delacroix believe that. The information by the Black Watch that the town of Rehu held by American troops was being heavily shelled by Soviet artillery. The was really a surprise, he had been told by the American commander of the 1st Armor’s 1st brigade that the main attack would be toward the town of Hof not Rehu. After a few minutes of thought he made a decision.
7am Looking at his communications officer he told him, “First put me in contact with the Voltiguer’s then I need to speak to the commander of the Saguenay battalion.” In less than a minute the commander of the Voltiguer’s was on the line. The conversation was short and to the point. The Voltguer’s were to move to the north and take up initial positions near the village of Schwarzenbach and he was to take his resupply detail with him to have it close to his unit if resupply was needed. He also told the Commander of the Voltiguer’s that he would see if any reinforcements could be sent. Then the commander of the Saguenay battalion was on the line. Verifying that one platoon of tanks and a platoon of infantry had been organized as the battalion’s reserve. He informed the commander of the Saguenay, he was taking that reserve force from him and moving it to the North. When the commander of the Saguenay complained he told the officer that it was looking like the brunt of the WARSAW pact attack was on the northern section of the Brigades line.
It was then that a new message arrived the northern Soviet attack force had changed direction to the north and west and it appeared that this force was headed toward the town of Rehu. Then another officer get into the conversation. Division was reporting that it had monitored radio activity of the American 1st Brigade that an attack was moving across the Czech border in greater than regimental strength. Or that was at least what the brigade’s recon units were telling the 1st Brigade.
Getting back to the commander of the Saguenay battalion he told him that it looked like the hammer was coming down on the Americans in Rehu and if the Soviets broke through that all hell would be out for noon. The battalion commander suddenly stopped complaining and he asked where the reserve force was needed. The reply was simple, send them to the village of Schwarzenbach to join up with the Voltiguers. By the time the Delacroix was able to try to contact the Voltiguers he was informed by the officer who was finishing the breaking down of its headquarters that the reinforcement where already on the way. Delacroix give the officer the news about the reserve force from the Saguenay and the officer replied he would make sure that his commander would be informed with that the conversation was over and then the line went dead. It was obvious that the officer in charge of moving the headquarters want to get the job of moving the reserve force HQ done.
710am Headquarters 1st brigade 1st Armored Division
The commander of the 1st brigade, had a couple of major problems, first the East German 7th Tank division was supposed to be the reserve force for the East German 1st Corp. He had been expecting the just the East German 4th MRD to attack his brigade. That he believed he could have handled with the two designated reserve battalions for the 1st Armor Division 2nd brigade backing his brigade up. Instead he had two division attacking the 1st Brigade. The East Germans were not following the normal procedure of having an Operational Maneuver Group. The commander of the 1st Brigade could not believe that there was no Operational Maneuver Group.
The second in command of the Brigade was getting a little nervous, Colonel Tolliver was more of a politician and not soldier. True as a tanker he had seen combat in Vietnam, but that been a long time ago and he had always been part of a company or as in his second tour commander of a platoon of tanks providing fire support and helping to defend a firebase that had never been hit. His third tour had been staff position with no time in the field. Since then he had basically played the game and essentially collected the points necessary to be promoted. If the war had not happened in five or six years, he would have made general of that there was no doubt. But the war had happened.
Now the 1st Brigade of the 1st Armored was getting a taste of his combat leadership or more to the point lack of leadership. What was worse as far as Lt. Col. Boudreau was concerned, Col. Tolliver had a hard time getting his mind around the fact that no plan survived contact with the enemy. As second in command Lt. Col Boudreau, mission was to help his commander carry out the brigade mission. But if the Brigade commander was clueless as to what to do then the brigade was in a world of hurt. Lt. Col Boudreau had to figure out how to get Col. Tolliver to do what was needed to do.
The situation facing the 1st brigade was blurry but clear enough to makes some intelligent decisions. The 3rd brigade to the north was being hit by the 1st MRD of the East German Army. But instead of the expected 4th MRD attacking the 1st brigade. Almost two complete divisions on tank and one a motorized rifle division had attacked. The 7th Tank division hit the northern half of the 1st brigade. There three separate regimental strength attacks were being carried out on the 1/37th Armored battalion and the 2/70th Armored battalion and the 1/51st Infantry. The first two attacks were being made by armored regiment while the infantry battalion was being hit by a Motorize rifle regiment. The remaining battalion 1/6th infantry was being hit by a motorized rifle regiment. They had also received unconfirmed reports that single motorized rifle regiment had passed through Czechoslovakia and through the Czech Bavarian border to attack C company 1/6th. Where the two other regiments where they had no idea but the idea that one mechanized infantry company with no tanks attached was getting attacked by a full regiment was not good. Lt. Col. Boudreau suspected that the two as of yet uncommitted regiments were behind the first two regiments of conducting the attack and were attacking as the operational maneuver group. But he was not sure.
But he did have some ideas about what need to be done First thing that needed be done was to shift one of the two reserve battalions to a location closer to the town of Rehau. 1/6th C company was not going to holdout for long against the reported units that were headed in the company’s position. D company of the 1/37th was a tank heavy company and it was the reserve company for the 1/6th and the battalion commander had ordered D company to move to Rehau. But one company was not going to do the job. We need to send the 2/81st Armored which is located in and around the village of OberKotzau. Moving it to the east to reinforce the C and D companies. That should be enough to should be enough to stop or slow down the East German attack. Now he had to get the Brigade commander to do what he suggested.
Taking a deep breath Lt. Col Boudreau considered his approach, right now all he wanted to be was back in Louisiana eating a Crawfish broil. But he was not and he had better act like some sort of a leader unlike his commanding officer. “Sir, we need to consider what to do now that the East Germans have attack.” Col. Tolliver looked at his second in command, you could see the fear in his eyes. This meant making a decision one that could be wrong. Col Tolliver simply repeated himself, “Intelligence told us that the Warsaw Pact force would send the 4th against our position and the 1st MRD was supposed to attack the 3rd brigade with the East German 6th Panzer in reserve. There was no mention that the 1st Brigade would be facing two full divisions of troops.”
Col. Tolliver then called out for Major Snyder the brigades S-2, when the officer arrived, Tolliver began to berate him about the intelligence failure. Lt. Col. Boudreau just shook his head, this was the time to act not look for someone to blame. Then the S-3 Maj. Carter stepped in to the fire, “Sir, it’s obvious that the we all got snookered by the commies but we need to begin to respond the changed situation.” Tolliver simply looked at Carter and he began to angrily stutter. It was then that Lt. Col. Boudreau stepped into the conversation.
“Sir irrespective of whose to blame for the intelligence failure, we need to respond to what is happening. We need to send reinforcements to Rehau, I would suggest that the 2/6th needs to be move closer to the battle. We could send the battalion to Rehau or if you would rather not commit the 2/6th to battle. We could move the village of Wurlitz and then wait and see what is happening. We should also consider contacting division HQ let them know what is happening and requesting that at least one of the reserve battalions that are setup behind the 2nd Brigade be shifted to our area of responsibility.”
Col. Tolliver considered what his second in command had suggested. He shied away from making a decision about the 2/81st but requesting the additional battalion made sense. “I could call division and see what they think about moving the 2/81st and at the same time requesting the additional battalion.” Lt Col. Boudreau was pissed the bastard needed to make decisions himself. Taking a breath Lt. Col. Boudreau replied, “Well sir, division will be less incline to give us the additional forces if we have not committed at least one of the battalions.” Major Carter agreed and he pointed out that, “The divisions commander was a take charge sort of guy and he might wonder about our asking for reinforcements without us having tried to do anything about it. “
Col. Tolliver considered what he had been told so far, he really did not want to make a decision only to find out it was a bad decision. At the same time the Division commander was a real prick, he was always looking for something to complain about. With a sigh he made a decision, “Alright order the 2/81st to move to Wurlitz but that it was not to become decisively engaged.” There was flurry of action and while waiting for the call to the divisions commander another phone call came in. It was the second in command of the Canadian 3rd Brigade he wanted information on what was going on in Rehau. Boudreau immediately offered to take the call for the Col. Tolliver. In his mind Tolliver was all to likely to just blow off the call.
Col. Caron was happy to speak to Boudreau, as a French Louisan who had descended from a family that had been expelled from Acadia. It gave Caron a sort of mental connection that and the fact that both he and General Delacroix considered Col. Tolliver to be a less than effective combat officer while Boudreau was much more to their idea of a good officer. Boudreau had served in Vietnam and he had commanded, a platoon of Sheridan’s during his first deployment. While other tour he had been the XO of a tank company of M-48C’s. He had seen some action and he had a Purple heart. Boudreau had commented that comes from walking around the jungle and not staying in your tank.
Col Caron, “ How, is Rehau, doing from what we can tell your boys are holding on but we would like to know for how long. Boudreau replied, Well, we are not sure how long they can hold but we are getting hit all along our front by two divisions and at Rehau they hit us with a Motorized Rifle Regiment. “Col. Caron, replied, “Well add on a rifle regiment with a battalion of Assault guns some world war two pieces of crap. Aah SU-85’s is what we were told. They are coming in from the east. But, our artillery thinned them out a bit not all that much and we have had to shift fire to other units from the 385TH. “This was the first that Boudreau had heard of a second regiment even if it was a bunch of light infantry and some seriously obsolete assault guns and he knew what a SU-85 even if he had no idea about how combat effective it would be. The SU-85’s could take out a track with not problem. He decided that he needed to let Col. Tolliver about the second regiment.
Picking up a grease pen, and in front of the rest of the staff he marked an arrowhead on the map and putting the symbol of a regiment and a battalion, with a brief comment. Light infantry and some SU-85’s. That bit of news went over like a lead balloon, Col. Tolliver just turned a bit paler than he had been. It was then that the phone call came from division and Boudreau returned to his phone call to Col. Caron. Boudreau asked “What else can you can you tell me?” Caron replied, Well as for the rest of our line the Russian are not doing so well but if we lose Rehau it would open a hole in the line and possibly turn our flank we have already move a mech infantry company and two platoons of tanks into a defensive position in the village of Schwartzenbach. We also are moving another mechanized infantry company and a platoon of tanks. To Schwartzenbach. We are keeping the recon battalion as our reserve for now.
General Delacroix has called division HQ, we are trying to them to move one of the reserve battalions from the 4th Brigade to the north. Also, Delacroix thinks that it is possible that if they breakthrough at Rehau they could commit the Czech’s 14th Tank Division to the forces attacking Rehau. That is if they do not breakthrough further to the south. Boudreau, “Any other good news to give me. Caron laughed and replied, Not, for now but give me some more time. Boudreau grunted and then he told Caron that we are moving a tank heavy battalion into a holding position near Wurlitz. We are also trying to get another battalion shifted from 2nd brigade to help hold our position.” With that the call was over.
Col. Tolliver was not looking forward to this phone call, it meant he had to tell Major General Kemper something had gone wrong. He hated telling a superior officer that something had gone. Especially General Kemper, who he believed hated him. The two of them had never ever got along.
General Kemper was looking at the frontline held by the 1st Armored. It was looking like the East German 1st Corp was throwing everything they had at the 1st Armored. He also knew that the division was rather thinly spread. He and the Corp commander had gambled that the Soviets would follow normal procedure and keep one division in reserve. It was obvious that the two of them had been wrong. What was worse was that Col. Tolliver was getting hit by two divisions. It would figure that the East Germans would pick Tolliver’s brigade to hit. Tolliver was the weakest of his three brigade commanders. If it had not been for the fact that Tolliver brigade had two infantry and two armored battalions while the 3rd brigade had three armored and one infantry battalion his brigade would have ended up being broken up into the reserve battalions.
His staff were standing around the map table looking at the current situation, 2nd Brigade had reported on the various attacks but nothing with any detail. All the reports indicated that the 2nd brigade was holding but he expected Tolliver to contact him about what was happening. Then his secretary informed him, “General, its Col Tolliver on the phone, he would like to talk to you about what is going on.
That bit of news made General Kemper a lot happier, at least he would know what was going on. “Col Tolliver, what can you tell me about what is going on.”
Col Tolliver did not see a way to sugarcoat what was happening, so he decided to go with the facts and hope that the General would not blame him. “Well sir, you are of course aware of the fact that the 6th Tank division hit three of my battalions. One regiment each on the 1/37th and the 2/70th armored as well as the 1/51st Infantry. But the 1/6th Infantry is where we really have a problem, its being hit by two regiments three of the companies are being hit by one Motorized Rifle regiment. While the C Company is on its own, holding Rehau attacked by Motorized Rifle regiment from the North. That’s based on the last reports we received from 1/6th before they lost contact with C Company. Commander of 1/6th sent in his tank heavy company into Rehau to help hold the town.
We also have contacted the 3rd Canadian Brigade and they are telling us that a rifle regiment reinforced by a battalion of obsolete assault guns are hitting Rehau from the east. I have ordered the 2/81st to the east. That battalion is supposed to move to the area around Wurlitz and hold for now. I would like you to order one of the reserve battalions behind 3rd brigade over to my sector. “
General Kemper was actually pleased with Col. Tolliver’s performance so far. How much if it depended on his XO Boudreau, he did not know but he suspected it had been decisive. “Well given the fact that the commies picked your brigade to hit the hardest, you have responded fairly well to the situation. But let me look at the maps and I will see what I can do. “
Col. Tolliver watched as Lt. Col. Broudreau came bent over the maps and added a few more bits of information it looked like two companies of infantry and three tank platoons as well as it looked like a section of Recon. This collection of units was setting up a blocking position to the south Wurlitz. Then Boudreau commented that Gen Delacroix is trying to get one of the two reserve battalions the 1st Canadian division has moved north. He is worried that the Czech 14th Tank could be used as the OMG for the German attack and remember we still don’t know where two regiments from 4th are at this time and I know for a fact that those regiments will be part of the OMG. Add on the 14th and we will have real problems stopping the WARSAW forces.”
General Kemper then came back on the phone commenting that one of the battalions currenting assigned to supporting the 3rd Brigade would be shifted to the east and that he would be contacting Corp about further reinforcements. Col. Tolliver then told the general about the information that Broudreau had just told them. Kemper was silent on the other end of the phone and then he told Tolliver. I am sending 2nd brigades headquarters unit to take control of the two reinforcing battalions and I may detach the 1/6th from your brigade and give it to 2nd brigade. I will considering, that option doing so is not a reflection on you but given the fact that three of your battalions being hit by the 6th Tank and then this attack dividing up responsibility may be a good idea. But keep control of the situation until I make a final decision. “
Col. Tolliver was not sure whether this would be a good thing for him or a bad. But it did mean that if responsibility was given to 2nd Brigade and it failed he could at least obscure his part in the situation. Then General Kemper commented, “I and the Corp commander discounted the East German army and that appears to have been a mistake. We believed the revolt damage the over moral of their troops but it looks like they found enough fighting me for this operation. The WARSAW Pact forces have two routes of attack the Cheb and Hof gaps. If I were them, I would head south to Bayreuth and flank our forces along the Czech border. Luckily, we have the 49th Armored moving into the area. Those Texas boys may just save our ass. Col Tolliver, I need you to hold the current position as long as you can understood. “
The commander of the 1st brigade, had a couple of major problems, first the East German 7th Tank division was supposed to be the reserve force for the East German 1st Corp. He had been expecting the just the East German 4th MRD to attack his brigade. That he believed he could have handled with the two designated reserve battalions for the 1st Armor Division 2nd brigade backing his brigade up. Instead he had two division attacking the 1st Brigade. The East Germans were not following the normal procedure of having an Operational Maneuver Group. The commander of the 1st Brigade could not believe that there was no Operational Maneuver Group.
The second in command of the Brigade was getting a little nervous, Colonel Tolliver was more of a politician and not soldier. True as a tanker he had seen combat in Vietnam, but that been a long time ago and he had always been part of a company or as in his second tour commander of a platoon of tanks providing fire support and helping to defend a firebase that had never been hit. His third tour had been staff position with no time in the field. Since then he had basically played the game and essentially collected the points necessary to be promoted. If the war had not happened in five or six years, he would have made general of that there was no doubt. But the war had happened.
Now the 1st Brigade of the 1st Armored was getting a taste of his combat leadership or more to the point lack of leadership. What was worse as far as Lt. Col. Boudreau was concerned, Col. Tolliver had a hard time getting his mind around the fact that no plan survived contact with the enemy. As second in command Lt. Col Boudreau, mission was to help his commander carry out the brigade mission. But if the Brigade commander was clueless as to what to do then the brigade was in a world of hurt. Lt. Col Boudreau had to figure out how to get Col. Tolliver to do what was needed to do.
The situation facing the 1st brigade was blurry but clear enough to makes some intelligent decisions. The 3rd brigade to the north was being hit by the 1st MRD of the East German Army. But instead of the expected 4th MRD attacking the 1st brigade. Almost two complete divisions on tank and one a motorized rifle division had attacked. The 7th Tank division hit the northern half of the 1st brigade. There three separate regimental strength attacks were being carried out on the 1/37th Armored battalion and the 2/70th Armored battalion and the 1/51st Infantry. The first two attacks were being made by armored regiment while the infantry battalion was being hit by a Motorize rifle regiment. The remaining battalion 1/6th infantry was being hit by a motorized rifle regiment. They had also received unconfirmed reports that single motorized rifle regiment had passed through Czechoslovakia and through the Czech Bavarian border to attack C company 1/6th. Where the two other regiments where they had no idea but the idea that one mechanized infantry company with no tanks attached was getting attacked by a full regiment was not good. Lt. Col. Boudreau suspected that the two as of yet uncommitted regiments were behind the first two regiments of conducting the attack and were attacking as the operational maneuver group. But he was not sure.
But he did have some ideas about what need to be done First thing that needed be done was to shift one of the two reserve battalions to a location closer to the town of Rehau. 1/6th C company was not going to holdout for long against the reported units that were headed in the company’s position. D company of the 1/37th was a tank heavy company and it was the reserve company for the 1/6th and the battalion commander had ordered D company to move to Rehau. But one company was not going to do the job. We need to send the 2/81st Armored which is located in and around the village of OberKotzau. Moving it to the east to reinforce the C and D companies. That should be enough to should be enough to stop or slow down the East German attack. Now he had to get the Brigade commander to do what he suggested.
Taking a deep breath Lt. Col Boudreau considered his approach, right now all he wanted to be was back in Louisiana eating a Crawfish broil. But he was not and he had better act like some sort of a leader unlike his commanding officer. “Sir, we need to consider what to do now that the East Germans have attack.” Col. Tolliver looked at his second in command, you could see the fear in his eyes. This meant making a decision one that could be wrong. Col Tolliver simply repeated himself, “Intelligence told us that the Warsaw Pact force would send the 4th against our position and the 1st MRD was supposed to attack the 3rd brigade with the East German 6th Panzer in reserve. There was no mention that the 1st Brigade would be facing two full divisions of troops.”
Col. Tolliver then called out for Major Snyder the brigades S-2, when the officer arrived, Tolliver began to berate him about the intelligence failure. Lt. Col. Boudreau just shook his head, this was the time to act not look for someone to blame. Then the S-3 Maj. Carter stepped in to the fire, “Sir, it’s obvious that the we all got snookered by the commies but we need to begin to respond the changed situation.” Tolliver simply looked at Carter and he began to angrily stutter. It was then that Lt. Col. Boudreau stepped into the conversation.
“Sir irrespective of whose to blame for the intelligence failure, we need to respond to what is happening. We need to send reinforcements to Rehau, I would suggest that the 2/6th needs to be move closer to the battle. We could send the battalion to Rehau or if you would rather not commit the 2/6th to battle. We could move the village of Wurlitz and then wait and see what is happening. We should also consider contacting division HQ let them know what is happening and requesting that at least one of the reserve battalions that are setup behind the 2nd Brigade be shifted to our area of responsibility.”
Col. Tolliver considered what his second in command had suggested. He shied away from making a decision about the 2/81st but requesting the additional battalion made sense. “I could call division and see what they think about moving the 2/81st and at the same time requesting the additional battalion.” Lt Col. Boudreau was pissed the bastard needed to make decisions himself. Taking a breath Lt. Col. Boudreau replied, “Well sir, division will be less incline to give us the additional forces if we have not committed at least one of the battalions.” Major Carter agreed and he pointed out that, “The divisions commander was a take charge sort of guy and he might wonder about our asking for reinforcements without us having tried to do anything about it. “
Col. Tolliver considered what he had been told so far, he really did not want to make a decision only to find out it was a bad decision. At the same time the Division commander was a real prick, he was always looking for something to complain about. With a sigh he made a decision, “Alright order the 2/81st to move to Wurlitz but that it was not to become decisively engaged.” There was flurry of action and while waiting for the call to the divisions commander another phone call came in. It was the second in command of the Canadian 3rd Brigade he wanted information on what was going on in Rehau. Boudreau immediately offered to take the call for the Col. Tolliver. In his mind Tolliver was all to likely to just blow off the call.
Col. Caron was happy to speak to Boudreau, as a French Louisan who had descended from a family that had been expelled from Acadia. It gave Caron a sort of mental connection that and the fact that both he and General Delacroix considered Col. Tolliver to be a less than effective combat officer while Boudreau was much more to their idea of a good officer. Boudreau had served in Vietnam and he had commanded, a platoon of Sheridan’s during his first deployment. While other tour he had been the XO of a tank company of M-48C’s. He had seen some action and he had a Purple heart. Boudreau had commented that comes from walking around the jungle and not staying in your tank.
Col Caron, “ How, is Rehau, doing from what we can tell your boys are holding on but we would like to know for how long. Boudreau replied, Well, we are not sure how long they can hold but we are getting hit all along our front by two divisions and at Rehau they hit us with a Motorized Rifle Regiment. “Col. Caron, replied, “Well add on a rifle regiment with a battalion of Assault guns some world war two pieces of crap. Aah SU-85’s is what we were told. They are coming in from the east. But, our artillery thinned them out a bit not all that much and we have had to shift fire to other units from the 385TH. “This was the first that Boudreau had heard of a second regiment even if it was a bunch of light infantry and some seriously obsolete assault guns and he knew what a SU-85 even if he had no idea about how combat effective it would be. The SU-85’s could take out a track with not problem. He decided that he needed to let Col. Tolliver about the second regiment.
Picking up a grease pen, and in front of the rest of the staff he marked an arrowhead on the map and putting the symbol of a regiment and a battalion, with a brief comment. Light infantry and some SU-85’s. That bit of news went over like a lead balloon, Col. Tolliver just turned a bit paler than he had been. It was then that the phone call came from division and Boudreau returned to his phone call to Col. Caron. Boudreau asked “What else can you can you tell me?” Caron replied, Well as for the rest of our line the Russian are not doing so well but if we lose Rehau it would open a hole in the line and possibly turn our flank we have already move a mech infantry company and two platoons of tanks into a defensive position in the village of Schwartzenbach. We also are moving another mechanized infantry company and a platoon of tanks. To Schwartzenbach. We are keeping the recon battalion as our reserve for now.
General Delacroix has called division HQ, we are trying to them to move one of the reserve battalions from the 4th Brigade to the north. Also, Delacroix thinks that it is possible that if they breakthrough at Rehau they could commit the Czech’s 14th Tank Division to the forces attacking Rehau. That is if they do not breakthrough further to the south. Boudreau, “Any other good news to give me. Caron laughed and replied, Not, for now but give me some more time. Boudreau grunted and then he told Caron that we are moving a tank heavy battalion into a holding position near Wurlitz. We are also trying to get another battalion shifted from 2nd brigade to help hold our position.” With that the call was over.
Col. Tolliver was not looking forward to this phone call, it meant he had to tell Major General Kemper something had gone wrong. He hated telling a superior officer that something had gone. Especially General Kemper, who he believed hated him. The two of them had never ever got along.
General Kemper was looking at the frontline held by the 1st Armored. It was looking like the East German 1st Corp was throwing everything they had at the 1st Armored. He also knew that the division was rather thinly spread. He and the Corp commander had gambled that the Soviets would follow normal procedure and keep one division in reserve. It was obvious that the two of them had been wrong. What was worse was that Col. Tolliver was getting hit by two divisions. It would figure that the East Germans would pick Tolliver’s brigade to hit. Tolliver was the weakest of his three brigade commanders. If it had not been for the fact that Tolliver brigade had two infantry and two armored battalions while the 3rd brigade had three armored and one infantry battalion his brigade would have ended up being broken up into the reserve battalions.
His staff were standing around the map table looking at the current situation, 2nd Brigade had reported on the various attacks but nothing with any detail. All the reports indicated that the 2nd brigade was holding but he expected Tolliver to contact him about what was happening. Then his secretary informed him, “General, its Col Tolliver on the phone, he would like to talk to you about what is going on.
That bit of news made General Kemper a lot happier, at least he would know what was going on. “Col Tolliver, what can you tell me about what is going on.”
Col Tolliver did not see a way to sugarcoat what was happening, so he decided to go with the facts and hope that the General would not blame him. “Well sir, you are of course aware of the fact that the 6th Tank division hit three of my battalions. One regiment each on the 1/37th and the 2/70th armored as well as the 1/51st Infantry. But the 1/6th Infantry is where we really have a problem, its being hit by two regiments three of the companies are being hit by one Motorized Rifle regiment. While the C Company is on its own, holding Rehau attacked by Motorized Rifle regiment from the North. That’s based on the last reports we received from 1/6th before they lost contact with C Company. Commander of 1/6th sent in his tank heavy company into Rehau to help hold the town.
We also have contacted the 3rd Canadian Brigade and they are telling us that a rifle regiment reinforced by a battalion of obsolete assault guns are hitting Rehau from the east. I have ordered the 2/81st to the east. That battalion is supposed to move to the area around Wurlitz and hold for now. I would like you to order one of the reserve battalions behind 3rd brigade over to my sector. “
General Kemper was actually pleased with Col. Tolliver’s performance so far. How much if it depended on his XO Boudreau, he did not know but he suspected it had been decisive. “Well given the fact that the commies picked your brigade to hit the hardest, you have responded fairly well to the situation. But let me look at the maps and I will see what I can do. “
Col. Tolliver watched as Lt. Col. Broudreau came bent over the maps and added a few more bits of information it looked like two companies of infantry and three tank platoons as well as it looked like a section of Recon. This collection of units was setting up a blocking position to the south Wurlitz. Then Boudreau commented that Gen Delacroix is trying to get one of the two reserve battalions the 1st Canadian division has moved north. He is worried that the Czech 14th Tank could be used as the OMG for the German attack and remember we still don’t know where two regiments from 4th are at this time and I know for a fact that those regiments will be part of the OMG. Add on the 14th and we will have real problems stopping the WARSAW forces.”
General Kemper then came back on the phone commenting that one of the battalions currenting assigned to supporting the 3rd Brigade would be shifted to the east and that he would be contacting Corp about further reinforcements. Col. Tolliver then told the general about the information that Broudreau had just told them. Kemper was silent on the other end of the phone and then he told Tolliver. I am sending 2nd brigades headquarters unit to take control of the two reinforcing battalions and I may detach the 1/6th from your brigade and give it to 2nd brigade. I will considering, that option doing so is not a reflection on you but given the fact that three of your battalions being hit by the 6th Tank and then this attack dividing up responsibility may be a good idea. But keep control of the situation until I make a final decision. “
Col. Tolliver was not sure whether this would be a good thing for him or a bad. But it did mean that if responsibility was given to 2nd Brigade and it failed he could at least obscure his part in the situation. Then General Kemper commented, “I and the Corp commander discounted the East German army and that appears to have been a mistake. We believed the revolt damage the over moral of their troops but it looks like they found enough fighting me for this operation. The WARSAW Pact forces have two routes of attack the Cheb and Hof gaps. If I were them, I would head south to Bayreuth and flank our forces along the Czech border. Luckily, we have the 49th Armored moving into the area. Those Texas boys may just save our ass. Col Tolliver, I need you to hold the current position as long as you can understood. “
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The key question, at least on the NATO side, is will those in senior positions be willing to prune the inefficient quickly before they can do too much damage. On the Soviet side, pruning is prompt and IMHO overused, and you are sent to a plot of ground not some posting where you might still be of use but not endanger combat troops.
Jack Brisco
Banned
Yup, happens all the time. But in this case there's precious little time on either side to cull the dead wood and get some live wires in there. Tolliver's worrying only about his career.
Brings to mind the quote, "When they get in trouble they send for the sons-of-bitches." Let's hope the Allies have enough of them to get the job done
Jack Brisco
Banned
I enjoy every installment of the story. Makes me think, and I always enjoy stories that make me think.
British 6 Corp under attack
5am 29th Combined Arms Army As the commanding general of the 29th Combined Arms Army, he was not on the fore front of the offensive. He was fighting a campaign in the background. He was determined that he would make a place for himself in the fore front of the campaign. To do that he needed to breakthrough the British 5TH Corp and take the city of Kassel. He was quite prepared to make an example of anyone showed less than a totally commitment to the success of the 29th Combined Arms Army.
Each of the British brigades that was holding frontline position would be hit the 43rd Wessex Division the 43rd Wessex brigade would have been hit by two attacks while the 160th Brigade would be hit by a third attack. The hope was to tie up all of the 43rd Wessex division reserve units. One Rifle division is attacking the 160th Brigade to the north and south of the Sontra, the five thousand penal troops would be used in attack on Sontra. At, the same time the 6th Infantry division Lowland brigade would be hit by the fourth attack near the village of Wehretal. While the Highland Brigade would be hit by one Rifle divisions with the plan of keeping the Highland Brigade busy.
Two Motorized Rifle Divisions were setup in reserve. He had the reserve divisions placed so that they could be move back and forth behind the lines. Support which ever attack was successful. He had also spoken to the commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army about moving his Army to his section of the Front. The commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army had looked over the roads planning the movement of the army to move on Kassel.
630 AM Pre-assault The 52ND MRD attack would be broken up into two separate attacks the first attack would be carried out by 362nd MR regiment would be in the lead with the 459th MR regiment following behind would attack from the village of Dankmarshausen. The attack would be in the direction of the village of Ranshausen. Then the 206th MR regiment armed with BMP-1’S would lead the attack on Nentershuasen with the 253rd Tank regiment following behind the first regiment the attack originated from the village of Werra. The 198th MRD is being held in reserve in and around the village of Marksuhl.
The 355th Rifle division would be more of a support role it to provide flank security for the 245th MRD on its attack. With the British defensive line over twenty kilometer away the division did not expect much the way of resistance.
The 245th Motorized Rifle Division the 39th regiment is setup near the village of Ifta, with the 507th Tank Regiment following behind will attack in the direction of the village of Bischhausen. While the 153rd follow by the 376th setup near the village of Kella the initial attack would be on the town of Eschwege and then onto the Vierbach. Since the River Werra ran along the edge of the city of Eschwege.
The 29th Combined Arms Army had placed helicopter regiments at the disposal of the 245th. A regiment from the 356th was detached to carry out the heliborne assault on the city of Eschwege. The 1085th which was the reserve regiment of the 356th was assigned to the mission.
The river Werra was an impediment to any attacks that would be made in this section of the line. The decision was made to concentrate the 356th Rifle Division in an attack on the village of Witzenhausen. The attack was not going to be very fancy two regiments up front with one regiment in reserve. The 1081st will be on the southern flank attacking out of the village of Lindawerra with the 1083rd on the northern flank attacking out of the village of Bornhagen. While the 1185th Rifle regiment was assigned to a special mission in cooperation with the Spetsnaz.
645AM The British and US National Guard artillery commanders came up with a series of attacks that would do the most damage. The 362nd regiment would be hit by the 45th artillery brigade three battalion of 8” SP’s and the 103rd Field artillery two battalions of 155’s would artillery barrage hit the 362nd. Second attack would be on the 206th. With the115th Artillery brigade with the XI Corps artillery both hitting the 206th. While the attack on 459th 39th Regiment, would be hit by the 6th Infantry divisions artillery, it would be the weakest artillery attack. The idea was that by crippling the attack on the 52nd. The 5th Corp would be able to concentrate on defeating the other divisions attack.
Sitting in a BTR-60 the squad was tense, they knew perfectly well that they would soon be in combat. They had only two bits of good news, a vodka ration had been given to them a cup full for each man. Also everyman had been given an extra pack of cigarettes and everyone was smoking in an effort to relax a bit. Then they all heard the sound of the air being ripped apart and a direct hit cause the BTR-60 flipped over. The bombardment was short and very violent. The 362nd was very badly hit, the Regimental headquarters was almost totally wiped out. The 1 battalion setup area was a mass of destroyed armored vehicles, the second battalion had not faired much better while the 3rd battalion heavily battered. The various support units took varying degrees of damage. What was worse there was no messages sent to the Army HQ letting them know about the delay. On the other hand, the Commander of the 459th could see what had happened to the 362nd but he has not as of yet send a message to the division headquarters about what he had seen.
The other attack being carried out by the 52nd Rifle division had faired slightly better. The 206th MRR its first battalion setup area was , with the other battalions took damage in the . But the Regimental commander had survived and he was almost immediately went to work putting the regiment back into order. With his second in command contacting division headquarters about what had happened. But it would take at least hour or longer before the regiment would be able to move. The 253rd tank regiment had witnessed what had happened to the 206th Regiment immediately received orders from division to begin the attack.
One of the 245th Divisions attacks was also hit by artillery. The 39th Regiment had been the lead unit and its 1st battalion was somewhat battered by the barraged When the various barraged the units that could easily move did so moving to alternate positions
7am The commander of the 52nd Rifle division headquarter was near the village of Dippach was upset the smashing of the 206th was bad with it out of action for at least an hour. The 259th was moving but he would rather of had the 206th leading the attack. But with 206th out of action he had to send the 259th Armored into action. The 362nd had not send in any sort a message about what had happened to it. A quick phone call to the 459th commander infuriated him. The regimental commander had not taken the time to let him know what had happen. Screaming at the regimental commander to take over the attack from the 362nd. Shocked it took the commander a minute to comprehend what was happening. But added threat of being shot got him moving. Then the commander of the 52nd sent his second in command to bring the 362nd back into order.
The 355th Rifle division began to moving forward covering the flank of the 245th Motorized Rifle Division. Six battalion strength columns of troops passed through the inner border sweeping forward. With the reserves following behind. The first reserve unit to pass through the border was a battalion of T-34/85 with a battalion of infantrymen riding the vehicles with the rest of the reserves like most of the division moved forward on foot. The troops of the 355th Rifle division were looking forward to a long walk.
The 39th MR regiment moved forward on scheduled with the 507th Tank regiment following behind. The initial advance was not receiving much in the way of resistance. The rest of the 245th MRD is located just over the Inner Border from Eschwege less then seven kilometers away from the town and the all important bridges over the Werra River. To maintain the schedule the bridged had to be taken intact.
Along the Werra River the German Territorial Army had the mission of holding the bridges and they could not blow the bridges until the fighting started. There had been some discussion about blowing the bridges the day the ultimatum expired but the German leadership had been against the idea since it would inhibit sending patrols across the river.
This had given the Spetsnaz an opening to take the bridges. Over the last few days members of the Spetsnaz assault teams slowly infiltrated into the city taking advantage of the Eschwege, being evacuated. There were three bridges in the area of the city that needed to be taken so that the attacking Soviet forces could cross the river without delay. The commander of the Spetsnaz had one ten-man teams attack each bridge. Then one companies of heliborne troops would land close to the bridge and then carryout an attack the each of the bridges. The infantry where from the 1085th and the three companies were made up of picked troops from the regiment.
Of the remainder of the 1085th, a total of three companies of troops would be given the mission of seizing bridges without the support of Spetsnaz troops. Those bridges were from east to west the bridge at Wanfried, the bridges at Frieda. These companies would be unloaded right on top of each bridge. These attacks were not fancy but the hope was to take additional bridges to aid in the attacking regiments of the 245th could have alternate crossing points. The remaining battalion of troops from the 1085th along with the support personal would walk from the Inner Border to the river.
For the Spetsnaz the attack plan was simple in every case the units that were supposed to blow the bridges were on the south end of each bridge. The teams of Spetsnaz would hit the demolition detail by surprise while the company would be landed as close as possible to the bridge so that the company could relieve the Spetsnaz teams.
At the same time the 153rd follow by the 376th would move out of Kella East Germany. To the river and then across the river to drive on the British defensive positions. But everything depended on seizing the bridges. The attack on the bridge at Wanfried was a total flop, a flight of four M-8’s the ground attack variant flew over the rooftops of the village and then what bunker made up of sandbags came into view. The lead helicopter opened up on the bunker while at the same time the bridge blew. The bunker was now destroyed and then the following transport helicopter were told that the bridge was blown. The transport flight leader immediately headed for the next bridge near Frieda. The plan had allowed for failure and if that attack failed go to the next bridge and so forth and so on.
The helicopter attacking Frieda pretty much followed the same attack plan coming over the roof of the village but the lead attack helicopter had the bunker right in its sights. The pilot unloaded the rockets it was carrying and the attack ripped the bridge apart. The men inside the bunker never even knew an attack was taking place. While the troops outside the bunkers watched helplessly as the bunker blew up. Then four troop carrying MI-8 helicopters delivered the company of infantry as a firefight broke out.
The other bunker seeing what had happened to the other bunker set off the demolition charges on the bridge it watching. The attacking helicopter gave the bunder pounding while the troop carrying helicopter landed. Then a short fire fight broke out, back at the bridge that had been taken the company commander sent a message informing the battalion headquarters one bridge had been taken. With that the battalion commander and other battalion support personal headed toward the village of Frieda. While he sent orders out telling his companies to consolidate near the one standing bridge. Shortly after that the Company assigned to attack Wanfried landed and the troop were off loaded. All three companies went on the line in a semicircle.
The fighting in Eschwege was short, brutal and decisive, the first attack was on the bridge north side of the island. The attacking Spetsnaz team had a bit of very bad luck. The assault team had been split into two groups one team to attack the men guarding the bridge. While the second team would hit the house where the exploder was. The second team leader sent the best man he had with a knife up to take out the guard watching alley behind the house. The man had no problem sneaking up on the West German Territorial. Sliding the knife between the man’s ribs and into his heart. The guard stiffened for a moment and then went limp. The Spetsnaz specialist slowly lowered the body of the man to the ground making sure to make no sounds.
Smiling the man looked up and then he realized that another West German Territorial had witnessed the attack. Although initially surprised the Territorial finally reacted, with first a burst from his rifle into the chest of the Spetsnaz operative and then the cry alarm went out.
At the same time a patrol made up of British Saladin’s was returning, initially someone had come up with the bright idea of having them on the north side of the river. But when the Recon Battalion commander found out what was happening, he had ordered the patrol back to the south side of the river. The two Saladin’s pulled up to the guard post was the shooting started. The Spetsnaz team covering the bridge opened up and the reaction from the lead Saladin was quick and violent. Its gun fired at a window where the gunner could see what looked like two rifles firing. The explosion destroyed the room the men were in. Another one caught a burst in the chest and went down. Realizing that the attack had gone bad the remaining two men changed position to provide covering fire for the team attacking the house.
The other team attacking the other house, two men moved across the alley and that proved to be a mistake the same man who had given the alert had move to a spot behind a truck in the alley. He had not made any more noise. Then the two men carrying grenades moved to beneath the window they were attacking. A quick burst dispatched one of the men while the other threw the grenade at the man behind the truck. The only problem was that he had over shot the man behind the truck. The grenade blast did not affect the man behind the truck. Firing another burst that other Spetsnaz operative he was cut down. The two remaining men in the second team knew that the attack had failed.
But they did not have a lot of time to think about what to do. A West German Territorial in the house tossed his grenade into a window from which the Spetsnaz had been firing. The blast from the grenade killed the last two member of the second the team. With their deaths the firing died down and the two men in the covering position decide to retreat. They least their overview position and went out into the back alley which was a big mistake since several of the West German Territorials had move into the alley to check on the dead Spetsnaz. A volley of shots killed on of the Spetsnaz and left the other man shot in the leg and shoulder.
While securing the position around north bridge the Saladins moved off of the bridge one turning its turret to cover the bridge while the other moved up even with the alley. It was then that the first of the troops from the company that was supposed to support the attack arrived. With that the commander of the bridge detail blew the bridge. He immediately tried to call his superior in charge of the second bridge but no one answered. Stepping out of the house the talked to the British NCO who commented that he was going. Panicking slightly the Territorial officer suddenly decided to leave to after all the bridge had been destroyed. Asking the British NCO to wait until he loaded his men up to follow him. In less than two minute the trucks were loaded including the prisoner and a few of the Territorial move onto the tops of the Saladins with a man on each Saladins manning the mg on the turret.
Then the column of vehicles began to move to the south. At the southern bridge the Spetsnaz had caught the guards by surprise. They had heard the fighting from the northern bridge and the sound of the bridge blowing. The team knew then that while they had been successful the other team had failed. Their success had been for nothing. The reinforcing company had landed and was on its way but it had not arrived. The unit had went from being keyed up to relaxed and then the sound of vehicles approaching could be heard. With the two Saladins in front the Spetsnaz. The main guns fired and the machine guns roared at the column of vehicles rolled through. It was strangely enough a one-sided fight, the men of the Spetsnaz caught by surprise and knowing that the bridge had been blown they had not seen much reason to shoot it out with a retreating column of troops.
The final bridge was almost an anti-climax, the commander of the bridge guards had awakened an hour before and he had been waiting by the exploder prepared to blow the bridge. This team concentrated on the house where the demolition team was located. Tossing grenades and opening fire on the house the Spetsnaz attacked. The commander of the bridge guards immediately blew the bridge. The Spetsnaz took the building but it was for nothing and the bridge commander died with a smile on his face.
The advancing 153rd regiment received orders directing them to the village of Frieda. With only one bridge secured and the fact that it was only a two lane that meant it would take two or three hours before the brigade could cross the bridge. While the regiment had not been involved in any fighting the failure to take the bridges would slow down its advance. At the same time bridging units went to preselected location to begin the process of building additional bridges to support the attack. At the same time the commander of the 1085th was still moving on the river.
The attack of the 356th with its moving on the Highland Brigade but with four to six kilometers, so while the division was attacking it had not as of yet made contact with the Highland Brigade.
8am 29th Combined Arms Army The general commanding the 29th Combined Army Army, listened to the reports as they came in. First was the briefing on the 52nd Division. The 459th Regiment was finally at the Inner Border and was just beginning to pass through the cleared gaps. While the 253rd was actually a kilometer or two passed through the Inner border.
As for the two regiments that had been shelled. The report on the 362nd was depressing. The first battalion had been reduced to roughly half strength out twenty-three BTR-60’s and seven T-55’s. the second battalion had twenty-nine BTR-60’s but only five T-55’s were left and the third battalion had only twenty-five BTR-60’s with nine T-55’s. The support units were similarly battered.
The 206th was in slightly better shape, the first battalion had twenty-six BMP-1s left and eight T-55’s, the second battalion had twenty-one BMP-1s and ten T-55’s left and the third battalion was the least badly hit unit with thirty-one BMP-1s with eleven tanks left.
The 356th rifle division reported that it had not had much in the way of contact. A few long distance shots from British recon units a mixture of Land Rovers and Saladins taking pot shots.
As for the 245th MR division. The attack being carried out by the 39th MRR and the 507th tank regiment were advancing into West German territory. So far outside of an occasional skirmish with Recon units there had been no real combat. But everyone at the briefing knew perfectly well that the main line of resistance had not been reached.
That the attack being carried out 153rd and the 376th was slowed to a crawl. The 153rd was crossing the river as fast as it could but it would take time. At the same time the 376th was waiting for its turn to cross the river. The 245th MR bridging troops were working to build the bridges.
The 356th with its 1081st and 1083rd Rifle Regiments and the divisions tank battalion was still moving forward to the British mainline of resistance but as of yet they had not reach it.
The General was not looking forward to the response from High Command about his armies lack of success.
Each of the British brigades that was holding frontline position would be hit the 43rd Wessex Division the 43rd Wessex brigade would have been hit by two attacks while the 160th Brigade would be hit by a third attack. The hope was to tie up all of the 43rd Wessex division reserve units. One Rifle division is attacking the 160th Brigade to the north and south of the Sontra, the five thousand penal troops would be used in attack on Sontra. At, the same time the 6th Infantry division Lowland brigade would be hit by the fourth attack near the village of Wehretal. While the Highland Brigade would be hit by one Rifle divisions with the plan of keeping the Highland Brigade busy.
Two Motorized Rifle Divisions were setup in reserve. He had the reserve divisions placed so that they could be move back and forth behind the lines. Support which ever attack was successful. He had also spoken to the commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army about moving his Army to his section of the Front. The commander of the 2nd Guards Combined Arms Army had looked over the roads planning the movement of the army to move on Kassel.
630 AM Pre-assault The 52ND MRD attack would be broken up into two separate attacks the first attack would be carried out by 362nd MR regiment would be in the lead with the 459th MR regiment following behind would attack from the village of Dankmarshausen. The attack would be in the direction of the village of Ranshausen. Then the 206th MR regiment armed with BMP-1’S would lead the attack on Nentershuasen with the 253rd Tank regiment following behind the first regiment the attack originated from the village of Werra. The 198th MRD is being held in reserve in and around the village of Marksuhl.
The 355th Rifle division would be more of a support role it to provide flank security for the 245th MRD on its attack. With the British defensive line over twenty kilometer away the division did not expect much the way of resistance.
The 245th Motorized Rifle Division the 39th regiment is setup near the village of Ifta, with the 507th Tank Regiment following behind will attack in the direction of the village of Bischhausen. While the 153rd follow by the 376th setup near the village of Kella the initial attack would be on the town of Eschwege and then onto the Vierbach. Since the River Werra ran along the edge of the city of Eschwege.
The 29th Combined Arms Army had placed helicopter regiments at the disposal of the 245th. A regiment from the 356th was detached to carry out the heliborne assault on the city of Eschwege. The 1085th which was the reserve regiment of the 356th was assigned to the mission.
The river Werra was an impediment to any attacks that would be made in this section of the line. The decision was made to concentrate the 356th Rifle Division in an attack on the village of Witzenhausen. The attack was not going to be very fancy two regiments up front with one regiment in reserve. The 1081st will be on the southern flank attacking out of the village of Lindawerra with the 1083rd on the northern flank attacking out of the village of Bornhagen. While the 1185th Rifle regiment was assigned to a special mission in cooperation with the Spetsnaz.
645AM The British and US National Guard artillery commanders came up with a series of attacks that would do the most damage. The 362nd regiment would be hit by the 45th artillery brigade three battalion of 8” SP’s and the 103rd Field artillery two battalions of 155’s would artillery barrage hit the 362nd. Second attack would be on the 206th. With the115th Artillery brigade with the XI Corps artillery both hitting the 206th. While the attack on 459th 39th Regiment, would be hit by the 6th Infantry divisions artillery, it would be the weakest artillery attack. The idea was that by crippling the attack on the 52nd. The 5th Corp would be able to concentrate on defeating the other divisions attack.
Sitting in a BTR-60 the squad was tense, they knew perfectly well that they would soon be in combat. They had only two bits of good news, a vodka ration had been given to them a cup full for each man. Also everyman had been given an extra pack of cigarettes and everyone was smoking in an effort to relax a bit. Then they all heard the sound of the air being ripped apart and a direct hit cause the BTR-60 flipped over. The bombardment was short and very violent. The 362nd was very badly hit, the Regimental headquarters was almost totally wiped out. The 1 battalion setup area was a mass of destroyed armored vehicles, the second battalion had not faired much better while the 3rd battalion heavily battered. The various support units took varying degrees of damage. What was worse there was no messages sent to the Army HQ letting them know about the delay. On the other hand, the Commander of the 459th could see what had happened to the 362nd but he has not as of yet send a message to the division headquarters about what he had seen.
The other attack being carried out by the 52nd Rifle division had faired slightly better. The 206th MRR its first battalion setup area was , with the other battalions took damage in the . But the Regimental commander had survived and he was almost immediately went to work putting the regiment back into order. With his second in command contacting division headquarters about what had happened. But it would take at least hour or longer before the regiment would be able to move. The 253rd tank regiment had witnessed what had happened to the 206th Regiment immediately received orders from division to begin the attack.
One of the 245th Divisions attacks was also hit by artillery. The 39th Regiment had been the lead unit and its 1st battalion was somewhat battered by the barraged When the various barraged the units that could easily move did so moving to alternate positions
7am The commander of the 52nd Rifle division headquarter was near the village of Dippach was upset the smashing of the 206th was bad with it out of action for at least an hour. The 259th was moving but he would rather of had the 206th leading the attack. But with 206th out of action he had to send the 259th Armored into action. The 362nd had not send in any sort a message about what had happened to it. A quick phone call to the 459th commander infuriated him. The regimental commander had not taken the time to let him know what had happen. Screaming at the regimental commander to take over the attack from the 362nd. Shocked it took the commander a minute to comprehend what was happening. But added threat of being shot got him moving. Then the commander of the 52nd sent his second in command to bring the 362nd back into order.
The 355th Rifle division began to moving forward covering the flank of the 245th Motorized Rifle Division. Six battalion strength columns of troops passed through the inner border sweeping forward. With the reserves following behind. The first reserve unit to pass through the border was a battalion of T-34/85 with a battalion of infantrymen riding the vehicles with the rest of the reserves like most of the division moved forward on foot. The troops of the 355th Rifle division were looking forward to a long walk.
The 39th MR regiment moved forward on scheduled with the 507th Tank regiment following behind. The initial advance was not receiving much in the way of resistance. The rest of the 245th MRD is located just over the Inner Border from Eschwege less then seven kilometers away from the town and the all important bridges over the Werra River. To maintain the schedule the bridged had to be taken intact.
Along the Werra River the German Territorial Army had the mission of holding the bridges and they could not blow the bridges until the fighting started. There had been some discussion about blowing the bridges the day the ultimatum expired but the German leadership had been against the idea since it would inhibit sending patrols across the river.
This had given the Spetsnaz an opening to take the bridges. Over the last few days members of the Spetsnaz assault teams slowly infiltrated into the city taking advantage of the Eschwege, being evacuated. There were three bridges in the area of the city that needed to be taken so that the attacking Soviet forces could cross the river without delay. The commander of the Spetsnaz had one ten-man teams attack each bridge. Then one companies of heliborne troops would land close to the bridge and then carryout an attack the each of the bridges. The infantry where from the 1085th and the three companies were made up of picked troops from the regiment.
Of the remainder of the 1085th, a total of three companies of troops would be given the mission of seizing bridges without the support of Spetsnaz troops. Those bridges were from east to west the bridge at Wanfried, the bridges at Frieda. These companies would be unloaded right on top of each bridge. These attacks were not fancy but the hope was to take additional bridges to aid in the attacking regiments of the 245th could have alternate crossing points. The remaining battalion of troops from the 1085th along with the support personal would walk from the Inner Border to the river.
For the Spetsnaz the attack plan was simple in every case the units that were supposed to blow the bridges were on the south end of each bridge. The teams of Spetsnaz would hit the demolition detail by surprise while the company would be landed as close as possible to the bridge so that the company could relieve the Spetsnaz teams.
At the same time the 153rd follow by the 376th would move out of Kella East Germany. To the river and then across the river to drive on the British defensive positions. But everything depended on seizing the bridges. The attack on the bridge at Wanfried was a total flop, a flight of four M-8’s the ground attack variant flew over the rooftops of the village and then what bunker made up of sandbags came into view. The lead helicopter opened up on the bunker while at the same time the bridge blew. The bunker was now destroyed and then the following transport helicopter were told that the bridge was blown. The transport flight leader immediately headed for the next bridge near Frieda. The plan had allowed for failure and if that attack failed go to the next bridge and so forth and so on.
The helicopter attacking Frieda pretty much followed the same attack plan coming over the roof of the village but the lead attack helicopter had the bunker right in its sights. The pilot unloaded the rockets it was carrying and the attack ripped the bridge apart. The men inside the bunker never even knew an attack was taking place. While the troops outside the bunkers watched helplessly as the bunker blew up. Then four troop carrying MI-8 helicopters delivered the company of infantry as a firefight broke out.
The other bunker seeing what had happened to the other bunker set off the demolition charges on the bridge it watching. The attacking helicopter gave the bunder pounding while the troop carrying helicopter landed. Then a short fire fight broke out, back at the bridge that had been taken the company commander sent a message informing the battalion headquarters one bridge had been taken. With that the battalion commander and other battalion support personal headed toward the village of Frieda. While he sent orders out telling his companies to consolidate near the one standing bridge. Shortly after that the Company assigned to attack Wanfried landed and the troop were off loaded. All three companies went on the line in a semicircle.
The fighting in Eschwege was short, brutal and decisive, the first attack was on the bridge north side of the island. The attacking Spetsnaz team had a bit of very bad luck. The assault team had been split into two groups one team to attack the men guarding the bridge. While the second team would hit the house where the exploder was. The second team leader sent the best man he had with a knife up to take out the guard watching alley behind the house. The man had no problem sneaking up on the West German Territorial. Sliding the knife between the man’s ribs and into his heart. The guard stiffened for a moment and then went limp. The Spetsnaz specialist slowly lowered the body of the man to the ground making sure to make no sounds.
Smiling the man looked up and then he realized that another West German Territorial had witnessed the attack. Although initially surprised the Territorial finally reacted, with first a burst from his rifle into the chest of the Spetsnaz operative and then the cry alarm went out.
At the same time a patrol made up of British Saladin’s was returning, initially someone had come up with the bright idea of having them on the north side of the river. But when the Recon Battalion commander found out what was happening, he had ordered the patrol back to the south side of the river. The two Saladin’s pulled up to the guard post was the shooting started. The Spetsnaz team covering the bridge opened up and the reaction from the lead Saladin was quick and violent. Its gun fired at a window where the gunner could see what looked like two rifles firing. The explosion destroyed the room the men were in. Another one caught a burst in the chest and went down. Realizing that the attack had gone bad the remaining two men changed position to provide covering fire for the team attacking the house.
The other team attacking the other house, two men moved across the alley and that proved to be a mistake the same man who had given the alert had move to a spot behind a truck in the alley. He had not made any more noise. Then the two men carrying grenades moved to beneath the window they were attacking. A quick burst dispatched one of the men while the other threw the grenade at the man behind the truck. The only problem was that he had over shot the man behind the truck. The grenade blast did not affect the man behind the truck. Firing another burst that other Spetsnaz operative he was cut down. The two remaining men in the second team knew that the attack had failed.
But they did not have a lot of time to think about what to do. A West German Territorial in the house tossed his grenade into a window from which the Spetsnaz had been firing. The blast from the grenade killed the last two member of the second the team. With their deaths the firing died down and the two men in the covering position decide to retreat. They least their overview position and went out into the back alley which was a big mistake since several of the West German Territorials had move into the alley to check on the dead Spetsnaz. A volley of shots killed on of the Spetsnaz and left the other man shot in the leg and shoulder.
While securing the position around north bridge the Saladins moved off of the bridge one turning its turret to cover the bridge while the other moved up even with the alley. It was then that the first of the troops from the company that was supposed to support the attack arrived. With that the commander of the bridge detail blew the bridge. He immediately tried to call his superior in charge of the second bridge but no one answered. Stepping out of the house the talked to the British NCO who commented that he was going. Panicking slightly the Territorial officer suddenly decided to leave to after all the bridge had been destroyed. Asking the British NCO to wait until he loaded his men up to follow him. In less than two minute the trucks were loaded including the prisoner and a few of the Territorial move onto the tops of the Saladins with a man on each Saladins manning the mg on the turret.
Then the column of vehicles began to move to the south. At the southern bridge the Spetsnaz had caught the guards by surprise. They had heard the fighting from the northern bridge and the sound of the bridge blowing. The team knew then that while they had been successful the other team had failed. Their success had been for nothing. The reinforcing company had landed and was on its way but it had not arrived. The unit had went from being keyed up to relaxed and then the sound of vehicles approaching could be heard. With the two Saladins in front the Spetsnaz. The main guns fired and the machine guns roared at the column of vehicles rolled through. It was strangely enough a one-sided fight, the men of the Spetsnaz caught by surprise and knowing that the bridge had been blown they had not seen much reason to shoot it out with a retreating column of troops.
The final bridge was almost an anti-climax, the commander of the bridge guards had awakened an hour before and he had been waiting by the exploder prepared to blow the bridge. This team concentrated on the house where the demolition team was located. Tossing grenades and opening fire on the house the Spetsnaz attacked. The commander of the bridge guards immediately blew the bridge. The Spetsnaz took the building but it was for nothing and the bridge commander died with a smile on his face.
The advancing 153rd regiment received orders directing them to the village of Frieda. With only one bridge secured and the fact that it was only a two lane that meant it would take two or three hours before the brigade could cross the bridge. While the regiment had not been involved in any fighting the failure to take the bridges would slow down its advance. At the same time bridging units went to preselected location to begin the process of building additional bridges to support the attack. At the same time the commander of the 1085th was still moving on the river.
The attack of the 356th with its moving on the Highland Brigade but with four to six kilometers, so while the division was attacking it had not as of yet made contact with the Highland Brigade.
8am 29th Combined Arms Army The general commanding the 29th Combined Army Army, listened to the reports as they came in. First was the briefing on the 52nd Division. The 459th Regiment was finally at the Inner Border and was just beginning to pass through the cleared gaps. While the 253rd was actually a kilometer or two passed through the Inner border.
As for the two regiments that had been shelled. The report on the 362nd was depressing. The first battalion had been reduced to roughly half strength out twenty-three BTR-60’s and seven T-55’s. the second battalion had twenty-nine BTR-60’s but only five T-55’s were left and the third battalion had only twenty-five BTR-60’s with nine T-55’s. The support units were similarly battered.
The 206th was in slightly better shape, the first battalion had twenty-six BMP-1s left and eight T-55’s, the second battalion had twenty-one BMP-1s and ten T-55’s left and the third battalion was the least badly hit unit with thirty-one BMP-1s with eleven tanks left.
The 356th rifle division reported that it had not had much in the way of contact. A few long distance shots from British recon units a mixture of Land Rovers and Saladins taking pot shots.
As for the 245th MR division. The attack being carried out by the 39th MRR and the 507th tank regiment were advancing into West German territory. So far outside of an occasional skirmish with Recon units there had been no real combat. But everyone at the briefing knew perfectly well that the main line of resistance had not been reached.
That the attack being carried out 153rd and the 376th was slowed to a crawl. The 153rd was crossing the river as fast as it could but it would take time. At the same time the 376th was waiting for its turn to cross the river. The 245th MR bridging troops were working to build the bridges.
The 356th with its 1081st and 1083rd Rifle Regiments and the divisions tank battalion was still moving forward to the British mainline of resistance but as of yet they had not reach it.
The General was not looking forward to the response from High Command about his armies lack of success.
That surviving bridge must be a nice target for the NATO artillery with all the Soviet troops around it.
I expect that one bridge will be a priority target, as will any engineering units trying to put pontoon bridges across. The initial units equipped with second line (or worse) gear are serving their function as battering rams and bullet sponges. I wonder if/where the penal units have been brought in to play. In spite of the KGB there will be some who manage to surrender, and the intelligence folks will have a good time with them.
Can I ask for one thing:
As you give a time/place jump, can you highlight it in bold and skip a line for the text to restart as that is easier to follow/read/parse.
8am 29th Combined Arms Army The general commanding the 29th Combined Army Army,
VS
8am 29th Combined Arms Army
The general commanding the 29th Combined Army Army,