"How are they doing in this high mountain altitude?"
"They have to stay low and run up the valleys. No going over the top for these guys. The choppers just aren't powerful enough to gain the altitude needed in this thin air.”
"I personally think the Reds are ready to break. They haven't had supplies in 3 weeks and you can tell that their volume of fire has slackened.”
“How long have they been in these mountains any way. We just got here three months ago and I’m already going bonkers from the lack of air and good food. Shit, I’d surrender in a flash if I were in their shoes.”
“Really? You think that you would be willing to give up and go into a POW camp 3,000 miles from your wife and kids just because of crappy food?!?!”
“Well, I guess if you put it that way…maybe not. But I’d still be tempted.”
Once again all practical conversation is drowned out by the incredible noise the helicopters generate. The two men will just have to wait until the machines are gone or the pilots turn off the engines.
Finally, they get a chance to continue their discussion.
“I wonder how long the novelty of those things is going to last? They look pretty vulnerable to me. Why I could easily pick off the pilot while they’re hovering. It would be an easy shot for any boy from Kentucky.”
“You from Kentuck? Where abouts? I’m from over by Mingo County way…”
Cousins
The date was 3 October 1947. After maneuvering marching 1,450 miles The Freedom Force Army led by Zhukov, finally confronts the remnants of the Red Army of the USSR led by Nikita Khrushchev. The Slavic Freedom Force consists of units from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Hungry, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Lithuania. Already the Freedom army was self-organizing into units based on nationality.
The Red Army overwhelmingly Russian or Rus' plus a host of committed communists. These communists still haven't realized that the USSR was never an experiment in Communism but a good old-fashioned Oligarchy led by a ruthless dictator.
Todays fight would truly be a clash between cousins and possibly brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers, much like America's Civil War or the Revolutionary War with the British. The scale will dwarf the original Battle of Kursk which was the largest tank battle in history.
In the 1943 battle between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht over 10,000 tanks and armor vehicles were involved. In that titanic struggle the Soviets lost 5 vehicles for every German machine destroyed yet the Red still were considered the victors. At the end of the confrontation the Communist controlled the battlefield and were able to repair many of the nearly demolished vehicles. Some were repaired and returned to the field several times following major damage.
For the Soviets, the battle of Kursk was the true turning point in World War Two. After Kursk the Germans never regained the initiative. The Soviets dictated where and when the battles would be fought from 1944 on and were constantly advancing towards Berlin.
The Freedom Forces continued to control when and where to engage. Ever since Zhukov had taken command the ex-communist fighters were steadily advancing on Moscow. NATO was supplying air support and equipment with the Freedom Fighters providing the boots on the ground, backed up by blood and guts.
The eastern Republics were more reluctant to attack their former tormentors. Proximity and familiarity made it difficult to demonize friends and neighbors. A good percentage of the citizens in these adjoining lands were of Russia origin.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan started to settle their own feuds and old scores. Stalin had encouraged animosities as he pitted peoples and countries against one another. Zhukov was probably the only military leader who could keep this diverse group focused and sustain their military momentum.
The armored forces supporting the Freedom Fighters were a mixed lot consisting of American Shermans, Stuarts, a few Pershings and the new Pattons. The Brits contributed to the mixture with their Centurions, Cruisers, Churchills and Valentines. Even a couple of hundred German Tigers, Panthers and Panzer IV were being thrown in.
The Reds responded with the venerable T-34-85, T-44, and the T-54 in large numbers.
The upcoming conflict would be a struggle of main battle tanks. The infantry and artillery would have a negligible impact due to the fluid nature of the encounters.
The air forces of both sides were not in position to intervene in any concerted effort. The Freedom Forces and the Stalinists had armor piercing rounds that could easily kill any tank on the battlefield from 1000 yards. Under these conditions it was tactically expedient to be hull down waiting for the enemy to advance. Unfortunately for the tankers on both sides neither Khrushchev nor Zhukov wanted to be on the defensive.
Flanking maneuvers followed counter attacks which followed head on rushes on a six-hundred-kilometer front. Breakthroughs would be summarily cut off and destroyed.
The Battle of The Sosna
The titanic battle of metal beasts was given a name by each side. The Loyalists Reds or Stalinists named their defeat after the small city of Livny. The Freedom Forces chose the neighboring town south of the Sosna River. History has now named it "The Battle of The Sosna".
To the victors belonged the spoils. There were many perfectly good but disabled tanks that the Freedom Force could repair. The process was fairly easy. The Cleaners (for lack of a better term) entered the vehicle first. The inside of a breached tank is a biological mess. If all was safe, they commenced cleaning up any remnants of the crew left behind, brains, hands, toes, etc. You get the idea I'm sure.
Next the mechanics checked out the engine. If they could get it running, they drove it to a recovery area. Occasionally a piece of human debris would roll or vibrate out of some hiding place that the Cleaners missed but for the most part the journey was uneventful.
After the Mechanics were done the Armorers took over and replace or repaired all the guns, external mortars, and grenade or smoke launchers. They also fixed the pieces of armor that had been damaged. compromised or had a hole melted in it by a HEAT round.
Once the tank was lethal again the Electricians went to work on the radios, control panels, hookups for the heating and cooling systems, etc. Any time after the tank was able to move and shoot the new crew would show up and assist in the renovation. The men would crawled[HK3] all over the vehicle, whistling and shouting exclamations to each other in awe of the damage that killed the previous crew.
Then it was back to the front as the crew tried their hardest to not become hamburger and to make the other guy into the same.
A general rule was that 50 percent of the vehicles could be restored on a division level. Another 25 percent would have to be sent back to levels above the division maintenance shop and or even the factory. The remaining 25 percent were either destroyed or had burned up and were scrapped.
As you can see occupying the battlefield was a major goal. Fully 75% of the tanks previously inert found new life. These tanks could once again win new territory and terrorize the enemy.
Following the largest tank battle in history the defeated Stalinists retreated towards Moscow. Zhukov's Freedom Fighters were always close on their heels with the NATO forces bringing up the rear and keeping Zhukov in supply.
The prevailing attitude of the Western soldier was let the Stalinists retreat. We'll surround them in Moscow and starve them out. No need for house-to-house fighting and mass casualties. What was another few months of siege duty compare to death far from home? A Captain was overheard commenting, "It is 5,327 miles from Moscow to Rolla, Missouri for example."
The vast majority of anti-Stalinists and people from former enslaved republics of the USSR wanted none of it. They wanted to finish off the architects of the most brutal regime in history. The Freedom Fighters wanted to make the monsters who had killed, tortured and maimed their loved ones, suffer.
The perpetrators of Stalinism would not go unpunished.
/> Outside Man
On a tactical level the best cover for a tank on a large open battlefield was another destroyed tank. The best way to gain an advantage was to have someone outside of your vehicle with field glasses and a good pair of ears, informing you of targets of opportunity and possible ambushes. Unfortunately, these brave souls who were outside the protective armored cocoon, were prime targets for the hungry machine gunners that all main battle tanks had.
One lucky man was Vova Klimenko. He lasted the whole three-day battle against the Stalinists, while outside the hulls of his compatriots. He assisted his fellow tankers by being their eyes and ears.
Being inside a metal box that has a very noisy diesel engine strapped to it is not conducive to situational awareness. You can’t use any of your senses very well even when the engine is idling. Hearing is out of the question and sight is very limited when the tank is buttoned up. Tanks never, ever sneak up on anything else but another tank. Anybody with halfway decent hearing can literally hear a tank coming from a mile away.
Vova was constantly being shelled and shot at by machine gunners yet managed to seek revenge on anyone who dared attempting to end his life. He is credited with assisting in 54 kills by various tanks in D squad-Third Company - 1st Regiment - of the Tenth Ukrainian Volunteer Division. Corporal Klimenko directly assisted his division commander on one occasion.
The General was visiting the front lines in his command tank. Vova Klimenko heard a long wolf T-54 engine idling somewhere nearby and informed the General after locating the enemy. The General decided to contribute directly to the war effort, went out, and did an exemplary job of ambushing the hidden tank.
After that encounter Klmenko had a standing invitation to join the Division staff. He declined the position and continued to defy the odds throughout the war against Stalinism.
Two of the tanks he was instrumental in destroying were crewed by his own distant cousins. Vova never knew this and it wouldn't have made any difference. He would have done almost anything and killed almost anyone to rid the Ukraine of the dreaded Rus' and Stalinism, including his cousins three times removed.
Vova survived the war had six children and died in a car accident on his 78 birthday.
Figure 46 - Vova Klimenko using the outside intercom. All of the uniforms and small arms were supplied by the US Army.
Deaf, Smart and Blind
As usual the noise was deafening and Lieutenant Egorov couldn’t hear a thing. That part hadn’t change with the introduction of the newer tanks. The T-54 was little better than the T-34 decibel level wise. When the tank commander had to close his hatch his ability to see and his lane of observation was cut by 60%. With the clang of a hatch one of the oldest tools nature had given man stopped.
He had to rely on looking thru view ports and his periscope. Many a fighter pilot and common soldier’s life was saved by catching something moving using his peripheral vision. The use of this elemental of all abilities of the Mark One Eyeball was all but eliminated in a buttoned-up tank.
An individual’s situation awareness was markedly reduced as one’s sight lane was drastically reduced. A Squad Leader’s effectiveness was greatly hampered when inside the tank. He had to take it on faith that his tank commanders were following their training and orders.
In this, the largest tank battle in history, there was no hope of sitting back and observing your opponent from afar, devising a plan and watching with pride as your men carried it out. There were so many tanks in such a relatively small area that you very often became aware of your next opponent in single combat, at a distance of 100 meters or less.
All of the tanks in this battle could kill any other tank with one shot at 100 meters. With the new armor piercing rounds fired by both sides even the venerable Sherman or T-34 could easily take out the newest model Patton or T-54.
The combatant’s equipment was a collection of many nations and tank models. NATO was reluctant to give Zhukov’s units many of the new M-50 Patton. Eisenhower was not confident in the outcome of the battle and didn’t want to face reconditioned Pattons in the future. What Ike wanted…Ike got.
The bulk of the Freedom Force was the ubiquitous M-4 Sherman 76 using armor-piercing capped ballistic capped or APCBC round almost exclusively. This round could penetrate up to 2.5 times its at 100 meters. Thus, a 76-mm round could kill a tank with up to 190 mm of armor. The only tank in the world that could withstand this round at 100 meters was the Soviet IS-3.
The British did see fit to supply the FF with earlier versions of the Centurion. Armed with a 17 lber, (76mm) main gun, it too could defeat any tank but the S-3. The remainder of the tanks were T-34 85s with the 85-mm gun, which using the APCBC round could destroy an IS-3 at 100 meters at any angle.
The real tank killer would end up being the fighter bomber using a combination of napalm, rockets and conventional bombs. At the insistence of the former armorers and VVS pilots thousands of PTAB bomblets were adapted for US fighter bombers ad used as well.
The PTAB was by far the most potent tank killer of the battle. The Stalinist forces failed to learn the lessons of the German panzers and maneuvered in columns and tightly packed groups. This earn them the final designation, of casualty. One flight of four P-38 Lightnings destroyed 10 Stalinist tanks in one pass.
The two opposing forces were of roughly equal size with Zhukov’s men being better trained. 2354 main battle tanks of the FF faced off against 2689 of the Stalinist Force.
The night before the battle the FF that friendly fire would be a bigger threat than lack of camouflage and elected to paint Invasion stripes on all of their armored vehicles similar to what the Allies did to their planes flying over Normandy on D-Day.
Three big and bold bright yellow stripes adorned every FF tank to help everyone quickly identify to which army the vehicle belonged. It was hoped that painting the stripes within hours of the commencement of hostilities would forgo any skullduggery by the enemy using copycat stripes. The enemy would have a hard time finding yellow paint in large quantities and distributing it in a few hours’ notice.
Figure 86 - M4 Sherman with Sosna Stripes
The Battle for Moscow 1947
I'm not going to bore you with specific details concerning the battle for Moscow. The battle has been written about extensively in other venues with more than 50 books being dedicated to the subject. I'll give you a brief overview and let it go at that.
Both Napoleon and Hitler attacked Moscow in the early fall. They were defeated by a combination of "General Winter", moral and lack of supplies.
Once again, a large army is threatening Moscow in the early fall. This army is different. It is well supplied, consisted of numerous former denizens of the city and most have lived through many a Russian winter.
Commanding the attacking force is Marshall Zhukov, the hero of Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kursk. He was possibly the most battle tested leader in modern warfare. Opposing him was Nikita Khrushchev, a former commissar who Zhukov had just defeated at the Battle of The Sosna.
Zhukov's Freedom Force had close to three times as many men as Khrushchev's Stalinists. Almost every Stalinist, still alive, had migrated to Moscow hoping against hope that Khrushchev could win and save their lives. Every other option had been taken away from them. Gathering in Moscow was their only chance at survival and left without options made them especially dangerous.
Many were not soldiers but many had killed before. Some were experts at torturing helpless women, men and children. Not many had fought an enemy hand to hand. They would have to learn fast or die.
Zhukov did not mount the usual massive artillery barrage. In his experience when fighting in the city, shelling an area on an immense scale did little but create rubble which the enemy used as cover.
He did unleash his ground attack IL10 Sturmoviks behind enemy lines with particular emphasis on heavily defended areas in the enemy's rear. The Stalinists were without an air force but they did have a supply of the proximity fuse. The alti
tudes flown on ground attack missions were low. Consequently, the VT fuse was not of much use. A good old fashioned Bofers was more of a threat.
As each building was cleared Zhukov's men took their revenge on any prisoners or wounded. The Stalinists were given no quarter and retaliated in kind. They were fighting for their lives and it is amazing how valuable life is to a murder of women and children. They probably fear the afterlife more than most because of their sins.
They fought tenaciously as only Russians can, taking as many other souls with them as they could when they died. The one thing they didn't do was to sacrifice themselves for their fellow fighters and that is probably why they lost. Unlike the fighters in Leningrad or Stalingrad there was no altruistic behavior and no martyrs. The Stalinist fighters usually ended up dying alone after abandoning their fellows to live another ten minutes.
To someone who believes he's damned, ten minutes is worth any betrayal or the sacrifice of others.
The ease with which the lives of others were forfeited led to a deep mistrust of your fellows. Not only did you have to watch for the enemy in front but for betrayal from behind.
Building by building and block by city block, the Stalinists were eliminated or found places to hide abandoning their fellows. As the Freedom Fighters worked as teams, the Stalinists died alone.
Khrushchev died rather early in the fight. He stepped on a Bouncing Betty or German S-mine. The S-mine was introduced in 1935 and became one of the most successful mines of modern times. Instead of just exploding when triggered it was propelled 3 feet in the air and then detonated showering a much greater area with lethal shrapnel.
Nikita was almost severed at the waist and took 15 minutes to die.
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 132