He turned the map board around to show them what he had been studying and to give the captains and senior NCOs a reference point to refer to while he spoke.
“The commanders from on high have decided that now is the time for us to launch our summer offensive. Some of our infantry units have pushed a handful of kilometers ahead of us and secured a crossing of the Songhua River nearly forty kilometers east of Harbin. Our objective is not Harbin — that’s going to be handled by the infantry. We’ve been tasked with going after the enemy armor force further to the south, between the cities of Harbin and Changchun.” He used his pointer a few times as he spoke to show their position in relation to where the enemy units were located.
“Right now, intelligence has the PLA 4th Armored Brigade here, roughly ten kilometers south of Harbin. They appear to be in a holding pattern, waiting to see where best to be deployed. Forty kilometers to the south, and just north of Changchun, is the PLA 8th Armored Brigade, along with the 68th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. What concerns us most, however, is the 46th Motorized Infantry Division, which is sixty-eight kilometers to the west of Changchun. If we make a move toward either of those armor brigades, that division could start heading our way.”
Captain Jason Diss raised his hand, and Lieutenant Colonel Johnson nodded to allow him to speak. “It sounds like we can handle the armor, but what kind of infantry support do we have to deal with the mechanized infantry we’re bound to run into?”
The others perked their heads up, interested to hear the answer.
“We have the 162nd Infantry Regiment that will be moving along with us,” Johnson answered. “They’re part of the Oregon National Guard. In addition to the guard unit, we’ll have the 3-16 AR with us. This’ll be a full 2nd Brigade Combat Team move, gentlemen—1BCT is being held in reserve in case we need them, and 3BCT will be to our right. This is going to be a tough fight, but I’m sure we’ll be able to handle it.”
He paused. “Now, our objective is simple. We’re to press the enemy until we obtain a breakthrough, and then drive fast and hard to the outskirts of Changchun. However, we are not going to pursue the enemy into the city. We aren’t going to do anything with the city except go around it. Once our infantry forces have caught up, they will encircle the city and deal with whatever enemy units are left.
“Then the Brigade CO wants us to head west. Our next waypoint is a city by the name of Shuangliao. Once there, we’ll rally up with the rest of the brigade, figure out what forces we have left, and collect up on our supplies before making our next push.
“If there are no further questions, then I want you guys to stick around and study the map a bit more. Make sure you plot down the various navigational waypoints and note all the call signs we’ll be using. As most of you know from our previous conversations and briefings, comms is about to get all sorts of screwed up in the next few days.”
Captain Diss and his first sergeant, Bo Adams, looked over the map and the rough distances they’d be traveling. It was a lot of ground to cover and most likely would result in a lot of enemy engagements. They were one brigade, going up against several PLA brigades. Besides this obvious challenge, it looked like it would be difficult to stay properly supplied — the farther out they went, the farther their supplies would have to stretch.
“Air cover is going to be an issue,” First Sergeant Adams stated.
“Right, but it doesn’t look like the enemy has a lot of air assets in the area to harass us with either,” Diss countered.
After spending twenty minutes looking everything over and marking up their own maps, the two of them headed back to their company area to get the rest of the guys ready.
“What’s the main priority you have for me, Sir?” asked First Sergeant Bo Adams as the two of them walked toward their bivouac site.
First Sergeant Bo Adams was new to the company. Diss’s last first sergeant had died in the Battle of Kursk, so he had been without one for a few weeks. Captain Diss had already decided that Bo was a decent enough guy. He hailed from the backwoods of Mississippi and was no stranger to roughing it. He’d hold things together in the company, and that was all Diss wanted.
Captain Diss thought about Adams’s question for a minute. “I think the most important thing, Top, is making sure our supply lines are keeping up with us, and that they know where we are. We’re going to burn through a lot of ammo, and we can’t be running out,” he asserted. “Next, stay on top of casualties…we’re bound to take `em. Focus on the ones that can make it, and mark the ones that can’t. Either we’ll come back for them, or Mortuary Affairs will get to them at some point.”
“Copy that, Captain. I’ll make sure we stay on top of those issues. If I need anything else, you want me to go through you or the XO?” he asked.
“Go through me unless I tell you to go through the XO. If things get hairy, that could happen, but let’s not start out that way,” Diss replied.
First Sergeant Adams nodded and walked off to get his own vehicle and troopers situated.
Captain Diss took a few minutes with his platoon leaders and made sure they knew the big picture of what was happening, as well as how and why. When they broke up a few minutes later, they soberly headed back to their platoons to get their own men ready. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day for them all.
The following morning, Captain Diss stood next to the right side of his tank, Warhorse, admiring the sunrise. He thought about the juxtaposition between the beauty before him and the death and destruction that was about to be unleashed.
A voice suddenly intruded in on his thoughts. “Are we good to go, Captain?” inquired his gunner, Sergeant Jesus Cortez. Cortez had been a driver on one of his other tanks four months ago. After continued attrition, he’d been promoted to gunner and taken over for Staff Sergeant Dakota Winters when Winters had taken command of his own tank.
Diss smiled, his way of offering an olive branch to the newbie. “Yup,” he answered.
Cortez nodded and, without any further hesitation, climbed up the side of the tank and through the hatch. Diss followed suit.
Despite the fact that he was working with a new gunner, Captain Diss and his team functioned like a well-oiled machine as they followed their training to complete the necessary checks before the coming battle. Before long, all crewmembers of Warhorse had reported ready, and Diss had moved on to checking on the rest of the company.
Everyone called in Redcon One and acknowledged the standard order to begin in a wedge formation, with Blue Platoon in the middle. Diss noticed that the young and previously overly zealous Lieutenant Spade was much more subdued this time around; more than likely, the Battle of Kursk had eroded some of his enthusiasm for combat. Word from the guys was that he had turned into a good combat commander after all.
“If losses stay high, he’ll have his own company to command soon enough,” thought Captain Diss.
“Roger, Mustangs, begin your movement,” said Captain Diss, changing his focus back to what was in front of them.
The platoon of tanks gathered into formation and began their journey. Near the small village of Xindianzhen, they expected to find multiple pontoon bridges that had been set up by the engineers to cross the Songhua River, a formidable body of water and one of China’s longest rivers.
As anticipated, when they reached the banks, the engineers guided the tanks across, one at a time. Each tank slowly crossed the first part of the pontoon, sinking into the water until it settled and then rose again as it moved its way across the bridge. With four bridges set up, Diss was able to get one full platoon across at a time.