by Andy Farman
“The wankers with the Blowpipe…betcha can’t hit this bastard!” Veneer and Troper realised that they were being addressed and two heads popped up above ground level. Troper had a soggy roll-up in his mouth that he spat out on seeing the easy target, 2000m away. Both soldiers looked at one another and said
“My turn!” in unison.
“Fuck off, is it…you missed the last one and I’m senior!” declared L/Cpl Veneer. He jerked Tropers helmet down over the other mans eyes and grabbed the weapon, hauling its 22+kg’s off the ground and scrambling from the hole. Choosing a spot where he had cover from fire from the enemy infantry below, and an unobstructed back blast area, he seated the weapon on his right shoulder. Troper scrambled up beside him.
“You’d better not miss…a fiver say’s you miss?” L/Cpl Veneer was sighting on the target and replied out of the corner of his mouth. “I’m broke…will a photograph of a four pound note and change do?” Troper gave one last look over his shoulder; to check that no one had wandered behind them where the weapons back blast would singe more than eyebrows.
“Done,” he replied, and tapped Veneer on the top of his helmet to indicate he was clear to fire.
The mortar platoon had also been alerted to the presence of the hovering helicopter and lobbed some rounds its way. The impacting mortar rounds were too far away to cause damage but close enough to cause the pilot to pull back on the collective and gain altitude. The Hokum was at a little over two hundred feet up when the 11kg Blowpipe missile impacted above the fuselage in the rotor assembly, shearing the retaining ‘Jesus Nut’ completely off. Fuselage and rotors parted company and both the pilot and staff officer were screaming aloud as the helicopter impacted nose first into the soft soil of a potato field. The impact fractured the fuel cells and aviation fuel poured forth onto the hot metal of the engine, creating a Roman candle of roaring flame in the fields of the flood plain, before exploding in spectacular fashion.
On the crest the four Challengers there withdrew, leaving the infantry to their own devices, ignorant of the fact that the foot soldiers had not received the word to pull back.
Once in position the QRF Warriors wheeled and headed east to a point where they could see the crest, the Challengers passed them on their own way west and Colin called up 2 Company to tell them he was in position. The company commander of 2 Company had received no orders to withdraw and was not prepared to take the word of a mere ranker. Precious time was wasted as he tried, without success to raise the battalion CP by radio and by landline. Common sense should have told the man that a soldier of CSM Probert's calibre was hardly likely to have made the story up so after listening to the man for a few moments, Colin decided to have a one way conversation. There are four categories of officers who hold the Queens Commission, ‘Good’, ‘Bad’, ‘Indifferent’ and ‘Would be good, if only they did not have their heads stuck so far up their own arse’. 2 Company’s OC was in the last group and Colin resorted to subterfuge as he depressed the send button on his radio. When Colin apparently called the battalion CP over air, it sounded to the 2 Company commander that Colin was in radio contact with them, but that for some reason 2 Company could not receive the battalion CPs transmissions.
“Nine Nine Alpha, roger out to you…hello Two, this is Nine Nine Alpha…from Sunray Zero, fall back now in bounds to Three’s location, my call signs will support, over?”
Fortunately, Oz did not have the same problem with the two remaining platoons of 1 Company that were on the crest and the battered remnants of the rifle companies began to leapfrog backwards.
Just before dawn a Battalion a third the size it had been, just 24 hours’ before, withdrew through 2LI and the in-depth 7th/8th Argyll’s, they had far more vehicles than they had soldiers to fill them. The attached RA and REME had also taken losses, the survivors of their knocked out vehicles fought as infantry during the withdrawal. Of the twelve Challengers IIs that began the fight, only eight remained and all bore scars. An hour later they were joined by the RSM and three more empty Warriors. 3 Platoon had not received the order to withdraw, nor a replen of ammunition since the fight started, and the RSM had watched helplessly through binoculars as an infantry attack on the platoons location had reached a crescendo of firing and grenade detonations. A brief silence had followed the enemy assault on the tiny stronghold, before brief bursts of gunfire announced that the enemy was taking no prisoners, whether wounded or healthy.
CHAPTER 5
North Atlantic: 0530hrs, 1st April.
There were fifty-two merchant ships in the first convoy to leave the shores of the United States enroute for Europe, all were carrying war stocks and the 1st (US) Armoured Division. To escort this irreplaceable cargo eastward, NATO had assigned a carrier battle group, led by the Nimitz class carrier USS Gerald Ford.
It was an all US effort and included two Los Angeles and two Seawolf class attack submarines, ranging far ahead and on the flanks. Their inclusion had been debated long and hard due to a late night video summit by the heads of NATO countries, following the fourth use of nuclear weapons in anger, since the birth of the bomb.
Admiral Conrad Mann had the task of delivering the ships to the shores of Europe in one piece and had insisted on having a voice in the political decisions of protecting his charges against the submarine, and later the air threat facing them.
His combat group was larger than any other carrier group since the Second World War when it entered the international waters of the Atlantic Ocean, he only hoped it would be the same size when it got to the Irish Sea. There were fifteen thousand men and women in the Naval and merchant ships counting on him to out-fight and out-think the enemy, the fighting men who would man the vehicles would be waiting on the far shore. At least he would not have their deaths on his conscience if he got it wrong.
700 miles southeast of Iceland, twenty-eight submarines of the Red Banner Fleets 4th, 5th and 9th flotilla’s, were spreading out over an area of 350 square miles of ocean, as they separated and made their way west, south-southwest and south-west, intent on closing their designated areas of the Atlantic to all shipping. Thirty-one vessels had begun the voyage, two were suffering from mechanical problems and were continuing at their best speed, another one had been sunk that morning as the bulk of the flotilla’s rushed the GIUK Gap, the area of water between Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom. NATO had years before laid a sensor field on the ocean bed, the purpose of which was to listen for submarines and surface vessels, which would have preferred to have remained unnoticed by the West. During the Cold War this area would have been a death trap for them to have even tried to negotiate it, but now the maritime patrol aircraft that roamed above it were greatly reduced in number. One of their number had fallen prey to a patrolling RAF Nimrod, whilst two others had evaded the torpedoes dropped by a US Orion and a second Nimrod, but otherwise their tactic of swamping the defences had worked.
The two of their number trailing behind, would be sunk as they tried to cautiously pick their way across the gap unheard in twelve hours’ time, but their comrades anti-ship missiles and torpedoes carried nuclear warheads as well as conventional ones. They were confident in their ability to sink the eastbound convoys three times over, with the weapons they had.
Aboard the Alpha class attack submarine Omsk, Captain Yuri Kelyovich’s chief worry had been that the nuclear mines off the North Cape would not have detonated, their having been laid over fifteen years before, when the Iron Curtain still stood. If that had been the case then they would have been forced to expend some of their weapons in fighting through to open water, leaving fewer with which to attack the ships carrying reinforcements and war stores to Europe. He had in fact fired three torpedoes at a juicy target of opportunity that was too good to pass by, the damaged HMS Invincible and her tow, which had been hampered and unable to cut loose the tows in time. HMS Ardent had blown up and gone to the bottom even before the British carrier had rolled over and sunk. The Omsk was the flagship of the 9th Flotilla an
d led the ten vessels on a south-westerly course to interdict the convoy enroute from New York as she sounded out the way with a superior sonar to that of her sisters.
Near Cottonwood, South Dakota: 1100hrs, same day.
Via video conferencing, the German chancellor was explaining to the president of the United States as to why his forces were determined to fight on alone if the rest of NATO pulled back beyond Leipzig. The 3 (UK) Mechanised Brigade had taken the brunt of the Red Army thrust and blunted it, they were no longer combat effective though and had withdrawn to their next defence line, behind the Germans to reconstitute.
General Shaw had already put his own professional opinion that they should support the Germans. Pulling back now would be the worst possible move to make, setting a bad precedent whilst boosting Red Army morale and lowering that of their own troops. The president had agreed with the general but wanted the chancellor to have his say.
“Herr Chancellor, I do not see that it is possible to retake the city without massive loss of life and damage to its buildings…” he held up a hand to stop the German politician from interrupting him, the man obviously expected a refusal. “…IF that is acceptable then I will recommend that we attack the airborne soldiers within the city and its outskirts, starting with the airport.”
The German looked relieved.
“Mr President, cities can be rebuilt, we have done so before and will do so again. It is not acceptable to the German people that the soviet yoke should again fall upon this land, any part of this land…I thank you for your support. Do you think the other member states will agree?”
“I know that Britain and France do, in principle at least. At present Britain has only a two-brigade division in theatre, one of those got its nose bloodied quite badly two days ago but it is the nearest and has more vehicles than troops to fill them.” He paused for effect before continuing.
“Like it or not Chancellor, my troops, the French and the British...will be withdrawing prematurely later today, to positions behind your own troops. We are not withdrawing past Leipzig, but this move is necessary to disengage units from the fight in order that they may drive out the enemy airborne division in the city.”
The German did not like the idea of surrendering ground, his people’s ground, without a more substantial effort but he had to accept the American’s word.
General Allain, the Canadian commander of NATO forces in Europe, would have preferred to have been conducting the battle rather than explaining his army’s actions to a bunch of politician’s. Like most servicemen worth their salt, he had a dislike of politicians but kept his voice and manner neutral as he reported on the previous 24hrs events, to the leaders of the NATO countries. Even when a government head, whose countries forces were not yet engaged, had criticised the British Guards regiments performance, demanding to know why they had not held for longer, General Allain had deadpanned.
“Senor, that is an answer best discovered for oneself, shall I tell them to have a rifle and pack awaiting your arrival, they will be in action again soon?”
The politician in question did not respond, so the Canadian soldier continued.
“The fundamental problem was not the troops but their equipment, which was inferior to that which should be expected of a government to supply. Added to the fact that they were damned unlucky. Their command and control did not fail, it was destroyed by enemy fire…there is a difference gentlemen. The men did not fail their country; their government failed them long before this crisis came to being. How else can you explain why they ran out of anti-tank weapons and their machine guns failed?”
1CG had kept its Warrior APCs and transport at the rear, in readiness to withdraw the battalion when the time came. The breakdown in command and control had cost them in personnel. The Guards don’t run and many of the dead had stayed in their fighting positions, lacking orders to the contrary until overrun. Had it not been for the command and control problems being equalised by a handheld Blowpipe missile, destroying a Czech two-seater attack helicopter that had strayed too close to the fighting then the entire battalion could have been overrun. Of the four battalions in the brigade the regular Argyll’s battalion had fared best. The motor rifle regiment that had swept to the south of the promontory had received the undivided attention of the MLRS batteries. One hundred and forty one Czech armoured fighting vehicles littered the flood plain, well short of the Scottish battalion. Every single vehicles in the regiment had been taken out in one salvo of what the gunners called ‘grid square removal’, delivering almost 42,000 submunitions to the area occupied by the enemy unit. No. 1 Company, 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards had ceased to exist as a unit and the survivors were divided up amongst the remaining two rifle companies but the majority went to 2 Company.
The 2nd Battalion Light Infantry and 1st Battalion Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders had gained a breathing space whilst the Czech 5th Tanks, 23rd Motor Rifle and tattered remnants of 21st Motor Rifle Regiments secured a bridgehead on the western bank and the follow on division passed through and into the attack. It struck the Light Infantry and Highlanders and the juncture of the two units whilst they were recovering from the obligatory artillery bombardment, overrunning the battalions flank companies before crashing into the part-time soldiers of the 7th/8th Battalion. The weekend warriors held and the Hussars had swept in behind the Czech 11th Tank Regiment from the Light Infantry position, creating havoc and killing the 11th’s commander before withdrawing.
To the north-east of Leipzig the US 10th Mechanised Division had held its ground against the worst that the Russian 8th Motor Rifle Division could throw at it but they were running low on all types of anti-armour munitions. On the right of the NATO line the French 1st Armoured Division had beaten off the first attack against it and had counter-attacked, drawing off enemy air assets that would otherwise have made the British brigades situation worse.
At Leipzig/Halle airport, the fighting had been furious and the US airborne troops soon ran low on ammunition. After five hours’ of fighting the Americans had been encircled and the Russians had called upon them to surrender. The US troops had sent their reply in deed rather than words by closing with their Russian counterparts in the biggest single bayonet charge by American troops since the United States Marine Corps assault on Belleau Wood in the final year of WW1. The Americans had burst through the Russians at their thinnest point to rejoin NATO lines but left half of their number behind, dead or wounded, including their commanding officer.
The 82nd Airborne earned three more Medals of Honour in the space of six hours’ in their fight against overwhelming numbers, two were posthumous.
With the conference out of the way, General Shaw updated the president on the situation in the Pacific. The picture was clearer now that they knew they could trust what their own satellites showed them. Taiwan was about to fall and two PLAN invasion fleets were already enroute to the Japanese islands and the largest island in the Philippines, Luzon. Despite the number of Chinese missiles intercepted by the Japanese defence forces, the Chinese had more missiles with which to attack, than Japan had to defend itself with.
“You will notice also Mr President, that there has been no move made against South Korea, by either the North nor the PRC,” he looked meaningfully at the president before stating. “It is the opinion of the JCS that this lack of action indicates that they intend to starve the ROK’s and our forces out. They have no need to expend any effort on their part sir, because they expect to own the Pacific and all access to Korea by land, air and sea.”
The president was thoughtful for a few moments before he spoke. “I think I know you well enough now general, to know you have some point to make, so spit it out!”
“Sir, we cannot resupply or support our troops there for very much longer, the way things are going. They can be of more use elsewhere…such as defending Australia. We estimate that in one week they will be cut-off and beyond our assistance to help, the Pacific is slowly closing to us, at least we can suppor
t them in Australia, and they will be fulfilling a vital role, rather than waiting to die or go into captivity.” The general could see the hesitation on the chief executives face, they had treaties with South Korea and substantial business interests there, so he added.
“What the PRC are doing to Japan, with their long range bombardment will be done to the forces in South Korea…get them out now sir, fuck congress, fuck the senate and every other critic. Those boys and girls can come back at a later date, and kick the communists out of Seoul.”
“Okay, general …leave the politics to me, give the orders, withdrawal from South Korea to Australia. Let’s hope to hell their next move isn’t from Australia, to defensive positions on Long Island… what news on the John F Kennedy?”
“As you will recall, they have joined up with the Prince of Wales and repairs are on-going, but we expect them to begin launching for their strike on the enemy carriers within the hour. It coincides with a satellite pass but there is a storm front moving in, if you wish you can watch for yourself providing, there is no over cast, sir?”
The president nodded.
“I’m not sure how I feel about watching those men and women go into combat from the safety of this bunker, so I’ll pass on that, ok?” The president knew that if he watched any of his people being killed, it would haunt his dreams to his dying day.
The head of his secret service detail entered the command centre and chose a position where not only could he catch the president’s eye; it would also be hard for the president to avoid making eye contact with him. When that happened he diplomatically pointed to the watch on his wrist before withdrawing to the door, but did not leave the room, the president knew this because he cast a surreptitious eye over his shoulder five minutes later, the man was still there, staring right back at him.