Von Hardegen listened to the reports that some 45mm anti-tank guns had been engaged and destroyed in front of Trendelburg.
He checked the position of the bridge layer and silently cursed the slowness of the British-made vehicle, wishing it would move quicker. Further up river, a platoon of engineers had accompanied the recon troops and, equipped with inflatables, had moved over the river into Stammen.
The flashes and sounds of exploding grenades followed by automatic fire indicated that close quarter fighting was in progress.
The radio sang in his ear as the recon commander relayed the contact report to the lead echelon commander, who responded by ordering a platoon of sturm-grenadiers forward, intending that they should cross the river, using the inflatables, and back up the engineers in Stammen.
A pair of Allied aircraft swooped on something out of sight well to the east of the river, and it quickly died, whatever it was, flames and smoke indicating its fate.
A quick look at the map allowed von Hardegen to work out that it had been somewhere around Exen, on the raised ground overlooking Trendelburg.
At various points along the bank of the Diemel, Panthers and Jaguars had taken up position, intent on watching for any sign of movement on the east bank.
One Jaguar had thrown a track, and von Hardegen observed as the venerable Bergepanther recovery vehicle made its way forward to assist.
“Wotan-six, Wotan-six, Walküre-six, over.”[9]
The message was from the panzer battalion’s commander, Oberstleutnant Fürth, who had served with the 21st Panzer Division in North Africa, where he had been taken prisoner.
“Wotan-six, phase two complete. Request permission to execute Otto, repeat, request permission to execute Otto.”
Von Hardegen took a moment to see where the Churchill had got to, and made the same assessment as Fürth.
“Walküre -six, Wotan-six, execute Plan Otto. Out.”
Although he knew what was about to happen, von Hardegen was still extremely impressed with the discipline of the manoeuvre that turned the First Company of the panzer battalion sharply to the right, suddenly not heading towards Trendelburg, but instead towards Stammen, where the Churchill was just starting the process of bridging between the two stubs of the damaged bridge.
In Stammen itself, the engineers had overcome the modest resistance encountered, without the need for the extra firepower of the sturm-grenadier platoon, and to mark their success, a pair of green flares rose into the sky.
“Driver, advance.”
Von Hardegen repositioned himself once more, moving his headquarters quickly through the choke point, but keeping to the left edge of the slope, well away from the focus of the panzer battalion.
Up front, Third Company, with a mix of Jaguars and Panther Gs, had taken up a line abreast advance, still facing Trendelburg, intent on keeping any defenders fixed on them, rather than the flanking manoeuvre being undertaken at Stammen.
A familiar voice announced itself in his ear.
“Wotan-six, this is Siegfried, situation report, over.”
The Battlegroup commander, Major General Hyacinth Graf Strachwitz, was a no nonsense type with huge experience and an array of medals to reflect his combat experience.
“Siegfried, Wotan-six, all is proceeding to plan. Executing Otto now. No major resistance encountered, over.”
“Received. Out.”
Von Hardegen understood that his own report would trigger actions by other units in the battlegroup, and he took a moment to remind his commanders that they should be aware of friendly forces moving forward on their flanks.
As he spoke, the air cover again fell from the sky, clearly working over some enemy unit south of Deisel.
He concluded his warning but remained focussed on the air activity, as more and more aircraft seemed drawn to the area northwest of Trendelburg.
Puzzled, von Hardegen sought out the air liaison officer.
“Mime-two, Mime-two, Wotan-six, over.”
The DRL Captain responded immediately.
“Mime-two, Wotan-six, report on air activity northwest of Trendelburg, over.”
“Wotan-six, Mime-two, situation unclear. Reports state enemy armoured column under attack. We’ve no information on any armoured column in that area. The flight leader states they are Soviet tanks and vehicles. I’m trying to find out more, over.”
“Mime-two, received. Keep me informed. Out.”
Von Hardegen had a sense of something not right, and made a quick decision.
“Walküre-three-six, Walküre-three-six, Wotan-six, over.”
The response was swift and he gave the halt order, which was also speedily acknowledged.
“Walküre-three-six, Wotan-six, maintain your present position until further orders. Be aware of enemy armoured force northwest of Trendelburg, in the vicinity of Deisel. Out.”
One of the attacking aircraft, bearing the new German state’s markings, pancaked onto the ground spewing smoke and flame and bounced three times before flipping on its back.
For the briefest of moments, Stelmakh considered making an attempt to rescue the man frantically pushing at the canopy, but abandoned the idea, understanding that he would not reach the man in time.
There was also a part of him, the part that had lost much of its humanity in the meat grinder that was war, that discarded the notion on the principle that the man had it coming, given what the German pilot and his comrades had done to the column of T34s and infantry.
The mechanised unit had no business being where they were, and had brought unnecessary attention to the area where the small group of survivors from the 6th Guards Independent Breakthrough Tank Regiment were hidden away.
Fire consumed the cockpit within seconds, removing an doubt or guilt before it set in.
6th GIBTR now consisted of nine IS-IIIs in total, organised into two groups, one of five and one of four, plus an headquarters of two T-34s.
The now Captain Stelmakh commanded the larger group of heavy tanks, reflecting his position as the third senior rank within the ‘regiment’, and his growing reputation as an excellent tank commander and leader.
Two days beforehand, his Order of the Red Star and Order of Kutuzov 3rd Class were supplemented with the presentation of the Order of Suvurov 3rd class.
The young warrior who had once bemoaned his lack of decorations had, in a few months, become the most decorated officer in the regiment, something of which his unit and, in particular his crew, were extremely proud.
Stelmakh returned to scanning the ground ahead of him, his binoculars picking out the advancing enemy tan…
‘They’ve stopped… the bastards have stopped…’
He tightened his grip as he saw another movement, this time slightly off to the right, and behind the leading force.
‘Their leader has sensed something.’
He looked into the sky, seeking answers amongst the whirling Allied aircraft, but found none, so he thought things through.
‘They don’t know we’re here… or they’d be attacking us.’
He picked up the handset to make a report, but checked himself as another of the fighter-bombers took hits from the mechanised units SPAA guns.
It simply exploded in mid-air less than a hundred feet above the ground, showering his concealed infantry with a deadly mixture of fast moving metal pieces and burning fuel.
Watching the horror unfold, he made his report.
“Cherepakha-krasniy-odin, Chorniy-odin, over.”
The major commanding 6th GIBTR responded immediately.
9
The German Army began introducing a radio regime similar to that of the Allies in early March 1946.