by Harold Coyle
"Wait a minute! What about the people across the valley from us? What are they doing now and what do you expect them to do?"
For a moment, the S-2 looked at Bannon as if he didn't understand the question. "Oh. Well, I don't think they will be doing much after the pounding we gave them." He continued to his seat.
Bannon was livid! The pounding we gave them! "What kind of a bullshit answer is that? And what's this we shit? Except for a few shots from the scouts, I only know of one team that engaged the 'hostile forces' yesterday."
In a flash, the battalion commander jumped up and turned to face Bannon. With his index finger almost touching Bannon's nose and his face contorted with rage, he laid into him.
"That will be enough, Bannon. If you got a burr up your ass about something, you see me after this. We got a lot to cover and not a lot of time. Is that clear?"
Bannon had overstepped his bounds, lost his cool, and offended Colonel Reynolds and his staff. But he wasn't going to buckle under either. The S-2 hadn't given him a single piece of useful information that would contribute to the success of the upcoming mission.
Bannon wanted that information. "Sir, with all due respect, the S-2 hasn't told me squat about the enemy now facing me or those we will be attacking. I need to know what they are doing and where they are if we're going to pull this attack off."
"With all due respect, Captain, I recommend that you shut up and pay attention." The battalion commander had spoken, and the conversation was terminated. Without waiting for any sign of acknowledgement, he turned around and sat down, instructing the S-3 to proceed. Chances were the S-2 really didn't know what was happening anyway. Bannon dropped the matter. The battalion S-3 stood up, prepared to present his portion of the briefing. Maj. Frank Jordan, the S-3, was an outstanding officer and a professional by any measure. He more than made up for the shortcomings of the other battalion staff officers and was the real driving force behind the battalion. Colonel Reynolds might make the final decisions and do the pushing in the field, but it was Jordan who developed the battalion's game plans and made all the pieces fit. He also was easy to work with. After waiting a moment until everyone was settled again, he began his briefing. The organization of the battalion, or task force, as a battalion with tanks and infantry companies combined is called, remained as it had been from the beginning. The friendly situation, or the mission of the units to the battalion's left and right as well as the mission of the battalion's higher headquarters, hadn't changed from what the S-3 had briefed last night. "Our mission is as follows: Task Force 3-78 Mech will attack at 0400 hours Zulu 6 August to seize the town of Amsdorf. The task force will then continue the attack to the north to seize the high ground south of Unterremmbach, northeast to the bridge at Ketten am Der Hanna or west against objects yet to be determined."
Jordan then began to explain the plan of how the battalion would carry out its new mission. It was basically the same plan that he had explained the night before. The main difference was that he tied together a lot of the loose ends and explained what would happen after the battalion got to Arnsdorf. They would be relieved in place that night by the divisional cavalry squadron starting at 2400 hours Zulu. One company at a time would pull out of line and begin to move north toward the new area of operations.
Team Bravo, now in reserve, would lead the battalion. Team Yankee would be the first unit to pull out of line, followed by company C and company D in that order. Once the battalion was closed up on Team Bravo, it would move north. The route was not the most direct, as division wanted to deceive the Soviets as to the intent of the battalion and the point of attack for as long as possible. If all worked out as planned, they would arrive at the line of departure, or LD, on time and would roll straight into the attack without stopping.
The battalion would attack in columns of companiesone company behind the other. When they approached the town of Kernsbach, they would leave the road and move cross-country.
Just east of Kernsbach they would pass through the U.S. front lines and begin to deploy.
Team Bravo would move to the high ground northeast of Kernsbach and take up overwatch positions in the northern edge of the Staat Forest, from which it would be able to cover the movement of Team Yankee. Major Jordan did not expect that Team Bravo would encounter any sizable enemy forces during this maneuver. If there were any enemy force, they would be reconnaissance and would give ground quickly. Once Team Bravo moved into position, Team Yankee would be in the lead. Team Yankee, followed by company C and overwatched by Team Bravo, would first attack and seize an intermediate objective called Objective LOG located midway between the line of departure, Team Bravo's location, and Arnsdorf. Once Team Yankee had cleared Objective LOG, company C would turn west and seize the village of Vogalburg. Company D, the trail company, would close up behind Team Yankee once company C was out of the way. Team Yankee was not to stop but was to continue to move north to Hill 214, called Objective LINK. From the north slopes of Hill 214, Team Yankee would take up positions to overwatch company D, much the same as Team Bravo had done for Team Yankee before, and cover the attack of company D as they moved in and seized Amsdorf. Once in Amsdorf, the brigade commander would then decide where the battalion would strike. This would depend upon the situation at that time and the reactions of the Soviets to an attack into their flank.
There were aspects of the plan that made Bannon uneasy. The total lack of information on enemy strength and disposition was number one on his list. The seizure of Vogalburg by company C appeared to be unnecessary and dangerous. They would be out there alone, unable to receive support from other battalion elements. Their presence in Vogalburg would, however, protect the left flank of Team Yankee as it was moving to Hill 214. So he didn't raise any objections over that issue.
The issue he did object to was the lack of artillery preparation on Objective LOG. That position was just too good a position not to be occupied by the Soviets. When the S-3 finished and asked for questions concerning the execution of the mission, Bannon recommended that a short but violent artillery prep followed by smoke be put on that objective. Both the S-3 and the colonel denied the request, stating that the element of surprise would be lost. Apparently, they expected the attack to be so fast that anyone there would be unable to react in time. Besides, they assured Bannon that Team Bravo would be in overwatch and artillery would be ready to fire if needed. Unger and he exchanged glances. After his tiff with the S-2, anything Bannon said was bound to be wrong, and he was not in the mood for another public flogging by the colonel.
The S-3 was followed by the battalion S-4, who briefed on the current status of supply and maintenance, supply routes, and a myriad of other details. As they were all covered in a written order that they had been handed, Bannon tuned him out. He began to go over the map sitting in his lap, looking at the operation again from beginning to end in an effort to make sure he understood all of the missions and tasks Team Yankee had to perform. There is nothing worse than to leave a battalion briefing, go back to the company, give an order, then have one of the platoon leaders ask a question on a point that had been missed. As they were playing for real this time, Bannon wanted to make damn sure that he didn't miss anything.
The colonel's rousing "Let's go kick ass and take names" speech at the end of the briefing brought Bannon back to the here and now. Reynolds knew he had not been paying attention to the last portion of the briefing and especially to his "go get 'em" speech. Bannon didn't really care. His Team was only an attachment, a very bothersome one at that, and therefore he was expected to be somewhat different and a bit of a maverick. Today had been a good case in point. With the company C commander chanting obscene ranger chants, the briefing broke up.
On his way out, Bannon briefly stopped in front of the intelligence map to see if there was any useful information he could glean from it. The S-2 watched him as if he expected Bannon to turn and attack. After studying the red lines and symbols for a couple of minutes without being able to find a
nything of use, he gave up and left. Team Yankee would find out soon enough what was there, the hard way.
The balance of the day passed rather slowly. After arriving back at the Team position, Bannon made another analysis of the terrain they would be covering. Satisfied that he had gotten as much as he could from his map, he rewrote those parts of the plan that had changed because of the briefing at battalion and the second map study. In reality, not much had changed. A few new artillery targets, a better concept for crossing the stream west of the village of Lemm, and some more information on what would happen after Arnsdorf was all. With that finished, he sent Kelp with word to the platoon leaders that they were to assemble at 66 at 1300 hours for an update and further instructions.
Throughout the morning the Team had gone on about its business in a slow and deliberate way. After stand-to, the checks and inspections that had not been performed while waiting for the dawn were completed. All problems that turned up were reported to the platoon sergeants, who in turn reported them to the first sergeant, who in turn reported them to maintenance personnel.
There were several tanks being worked on when Bannon returned from battalion.
Once the checks were complete, the weapons were cleaned. First, the crew-served weapons. Every tank and personnel carrier had one M2 caliber .50 machine gun, called a Ma Duce. It was the same heavy machine gun the Army had used in World War II and was still one of the best. This was the tank commander's weapon. Then there were two 7.62mm machine guns, M240s, on each tank. These were of Belgian design and were good weapons. One was located next to the main gun, mounted coaxially with it, hence its nickname "COAX." The second M240 was mounted on a free-swinging mount outside the loader's hatch. The loader had little need for a weapon as his primary job was to feed the main gun. But since the loader's M240 was interchangeable with the COAX, it had value. Besides, it gave the loader something to hang onto when the tank was moving.
While some of the platoon were working on the machine guns, three or four of the men went around cleaning out the main guns with a twenty foot rammer staff topped with a bore brush.
It took three to four men to maneuver the staff and then ram the tight-fitting brush down the gun tube. Rather than have each crew assemble its own staff, the platoon sergeant had one tank, usually his, put one together and then had one man from each crew on the detail. It was efficiency and teamwork in action.
After the tanks and the personnel carriers with all their crew-served weapons were squared away, each man's individual weapon was cleaned. For the tankers, this was a caliber .45 pistol for the tank commander and the gunner. The driver and loader each had a .45 and a caliber .45 M3 submachine gun. This last weapon also was a veteran of World War II, but it had not aged as well as the M2 machine gun. Some said the M3 was worthless. Bannon always considered that rating too generous.
Only after all the equipment had been squared away were the men free to tend to their personal needs and hygiene. The Team worked under the old cavalry principle, "The horse, the saddle, the man." The men understood this and for the most part abided by it. The majority on the second day wished they were elsewhere, but they were not elsewhere, and the war wasn't going away. They didn't know what was going to happen next, but they did realize that their best chance of survival was to stay with the Team. They knew what the Team was doing, and there was safety in numbers. What lay behind the hills to the front and rear was now a mystery that none were interested in exploring. They wanted to stay with the Team, and to stay with the Team, their track and weapons had to work. There was no false patriotism, no John Waynes, only tankers and infantrymen doing their jobs and surviving.
Except for some sporadic shelling by the Soviets, the afternoon passed quietly. The tank commanders and squad leaders kept half of their men on alert while the rest slept. After the 1300 hour meeting with the platoon leaders, Bannon was able to catch up on some personal needs. Washing from head to toe was a priority. After twenty-four hours in the chemical protective suit, he was ripe. The only reason no one else had noticed was because they were equally dirty and smelly. It had only been at the battalion CP that he had noticed how filthy he was in comparison to people who were not-the battalion staff. At battalion, however, he really hadn't cared if he had offended anyone. Once clean again, he let Uleski know that he was checking out of the net and finally took time to get some sleep. His sleep lasted exactly forty-five minutes. The cavalry troop commander and platoon leaders from the troop that would be relieving the Team that night showed up for coordination and a reconnaissance. They were from B troop 2nd of the 14th Cavalry, the divisional cavalry squadron. He had met the troop commander several times before so he was surprised when a tall, lanky first lieutenant introduced himself as the troop commander. Bannon asked what had happened to the man he had met and was told that he was missing in action.
The former troop commander had given the order for the troop to withdraw and after that was not seen again. He, his personnel carrier, and its crew had all disappeared while they were moving back to their next position. This put a chill on the coordination meeting and the recon. Conversation was limited to simple questions and answers as to the positions, enemy activities, and the lay of the land. As soon as the first lieutenant was satisfied that he had all the information he needed, he and his platoon leaders left.
Towards dusk the Soviets became really restless and began a massive shelling to the rear of the Team. Everyone either buttoned up in his tracks or made friends with the bottom of his foxhole as scores of shells screamed overhead, searching for targets in the battalion's rear.
Their fears were only partially relieved by the fact that it could have,been worse; those shells could be hitting the Team itself. They waited patiently, alert and ready for either a ground attack or a shift in the artillery fire onto their positions. Given a choice, the ground attack was the more inviting prospect. At least they could do something to the attacking troops. The enemy was in the open. He could be seen, hit, and destroyed. That wasn't true of artillery. Of course friendly artillery could direct counterbattery fires against the Soviet guns. But that wasn't the same. The Team, the target, would not be able to do anything but hunker down and pray. A ground attack would be better.
As it turned out, neither occurred. As the day finally ended, the Team began to prepare for the move. While the rest of the crew prepared, Bannon pondered the meaning of the prolonged artillery attack. Had the Soviets somehow gotten wind of the planned move? Had they destroyed the roads and bridges to the rear? Had Team Bravo been hit again, or had it been the turn of the battalion CP to see the elephant? Would Soviet artillery strike again while they were moving? He, of course, did not have the answers, and the silence on the battalion radio net remained unbroken. He therefore turned his efforts to a more useful pursuit, dinner.
At 2345 hours the Team started their engines and revved them up to as near normal operating RPMs as possible. As they were not going to have friendly artillery fire cover the noise of the movement, they hoped that by running the engines all together, the Soviets might not notice any change in established habits. Chances of that working for long were slim, however; the high-pitched squeak of a tank's sprockets and the crunching noise of tracks in motion could not be covered. But it was worth a try.
The cavalry troop began to arrive on schedule for the relief in place. They came up along a small trail that ran west to east to the rear of the 2nd Platoon. The 2nd Platoon began the relief by pulling back from the tree line and moving south along the trail. As soon as the 2nd was out of its position and cleared the trail junction, the first cavalry platoon moved in where 2nd Platoon had been. As the 2nd moved farther down the trail, Bannon counted the tanks passing in the darkness. When the fifth passed, he gave Ortelli the order to move. The 66 fell into line behind the last 2nd Platoon tank. The movement of 66, followed by Unger's FIST track, was the signal for the 3rd Platoon to begin its move, and they too swung out onto the trail and began to follow. As with 2nd Platoon,
as soon as the last 3rd Platoon tank pulled out, the second cavalry platoon began to move into 3rd Platoon's vacated positions.
The process was repeated with the Mech Platoon, which followed the 3rd. In this way, two companysized units changed places in the dark without a single word other than that between the track commanders and their drivers.
Uleski, leading the Team, hugged the tree line on the northern side of the small valley that the Soviets had tried so hard to reach. When he reached a point about three kilometers west of the village, he moved onto the road and slowly began to pick up speed at a predetermined rate. Had he gone too fast at the beginning, the Mech Platoon at the tail of the column would have been left behind, as they were still hugging the tree line. When the column finally reached the designated march speed, Bannon began to relax. So far, all was going well. The relief had gone off without a hitch and the Team had gotten out of the line without drawing fire. Now they were on the route of march about to hit the first checkpoint along the route on time. This was a good omen.
If the rest of the operation went off this well, it would be a piece of cake.
The drive through the dark countryside was quiet and eerie. The only lights visible were the small pinpricks from the taillights of the tank in front and the blackout drive lights of the tank behind. The steady whine of the tank's turbine engine along with the rhythmic vibrations caused by the tracks had a hypnotic effect. Bannon had to make an effort to pay attention to where they were as the column moved along. Reading a map with a covered and filtered flashlight on a moving tank while trying to pick out terrain features on the darkened countryside was difficult but not impossible. Although Uleski was leading, Bannon needed to monitor exactly where they were at all times as a check on Uleskifs navigation and in case something unexpected popped up. The platoon leaders and platoon sergeants were expected to do the same.