The crews had nearly two hours of preventive maintenance work before they could bed down. Krylov longed for the days with the old T-62s. They were not as complex, and had four-man crews. The daily maintenance chores were simpler and there was an extra man to help out. The T-80s had only a three-man crew. Their autoloader, improved fire controls, and transmission required much more careful maintenance. And, because of the autoloader, there was one less man to do the work. The real problem in the unit was boresighting the guns. The D-81TM 125mm tank gun was an awesome weapon, but a bit big for a forty-two-ton tank. When it fired, the whole tank reeled. The severe recoil knocked around the fire controls, and could bash the gun out of boresight. If not dealt with, the tank gun lost accuracy at longer ranges.
Some of the battalion had managed to boresight their guns the previous morning after the first skirmish. But not all. And now the 1st Company had been involved in the night's fighting, maybe knocking their guns around a bit. At night, it was too awkward to try to do any boresighting, so Krylov just tried to put the issue aside. The 1st Company had not used much ammunition, but he made certain they filled up their autoloaders for the next day's likely encounters. As a last measure, Krylov checked to be sure that the companies put out sentries. Each tank was expected to keep one of its crewmen awake for guard duty on hour-and-a-half shifts. Every third tank kept one man at the passive night sight, with the tank powered up.
At about 0300, early on the morning of 1 October, Captain Krylov curled up as best he could inside his T-80M tank to try to get some sleep. There were probably another thousand things to check on, but he would need his sleep for the next day's fighting. It was from this sleep that Krylov had been awakened moments before, due to the unexpected enemy patrol. And now there was a visit from the regimental staff to deal with.
The visiting jeep screeched to a halt near the T-80M tank. Krylov recognized the officer as Capt. Maksim Denisov.
"How are things, Pavel Ivanovich?" enquired the captain.
Krylov was surprised he even remembered his name. "A bit tired, Captain Denisov. So what brings you here?"
"We're planning a major attack today, Comrade Captain, and your battalion will be used in full strength. Come on over to my villiys and I'll explain your orders."[24]
Both officers entered the rear seats of the UAZ-469. It was still dark outside, so the staff captain brought out a small flashlight to illuminate the maps.
"We think we finally have the Germans broken in this sector, Captain Krylov. One good push and the road should be free over the Danube at Deggendorf. We should be able to push our reserve motor rifle regiment into the gap, and into the better country beyond. Your assignment is to overwhelm the German positions in the area west of this main approach. At the same time, our regiment will be attacking on a parallel course farther east. When you have secured this ridge line, in Pressbach, your battalion will swing slightly to the right and grab a position astride the river. If we take some bridges at Deggendorf, we won't need to launch a river crossing here. But you never know. This river crossing is vital to the success of our operation."
Captain Denisov handed Krylov a 1:50,000 scale map of the area, and continued his instructions. "The situation is as follows. Your battalion is currently on the fringe of this woods. Beyond the woods is a shallow depression, a bowl if you will, about a kilometer across. Above the valley is a low ridge, about seventy-five meters higher than the depression. There's a small clump of farm buildings there. The ridge continues about two kilometers westward to another rise, where the village of Pressbach is located. We have reason to believe that the village is held by about ten enemy armored vehicles. There are seven or eight tanks, and some infantry transporters. This was the unit your troops encountered last night.
"Colonel Rudnitskiy suggests the following. "You are to move your battalion into the depression, which will give your battalion room to spread out and prepare battle formations. There are two roads leading into the depression. You may have to fight for the clearing, but we think the main enemy defense is on the second ridge, where the village is located. "You should keep one company in reserve, split up between the farm buildings on your right flank at Hill 320 and the farm buildings at the crest of the first hill in the center of your position. You should probably consolidate your Yashcheritsa missiles with this unit to give you overwatch coverage.[25]
The three remaining companies should be spread out, with one moving out of the depression to the left of the main farm, and the other two moving between the main form and Hill 320. Move at top speed. Once you have moved out, the enemy will undoubtedly begin firing on you. Keep moving. You have 2,500 to 3,000 meters to cover. Your overwatch company can probably knock out three or four of the enemy tanks. Don't begin slowing down to fire until you are about 1,000 meters from the enemy. And make sure you know where they are before you begin engaging them.
"Once you have overrun their position, police up the area, and move your battalion south to the edge of the river east of Bogen. The attack will start at 0700. You should have your battalion in the clearing by 0630. We will give you a little artillery prep on the village, but frankly, it won't accomplish much. Any questions?"
"No, Comrade Captain, it's quite clear. But let me ask you this. The tanks my companies encountered last night were not the usual Leopard 1s. They seemed to have thermal sights. Are we facing a Leopard 2 unit, or some new tank unit in the sector?" "Comrade Captain, you forget that the Germans have been modernizing the old Leopard 1s. Some of the rebuilt vehicles do have thermal sights. We have no evidence of any other unit in the sector. But it is possible we will encounter American M1 Abrams a bit farther west beyond Regensburg. Is that all?"
Krylov nodded and crawled out of the back seat of the jeep. He had no time to waste. The regiment obviously expected him to move his battalion through the woods at dark, and into the clearing at just about daybreak. He was not happy with the idea of moving into the woods in the dark. But from the looks of the map, the two roads leading into the woods were very narrow— too narrow for Milan missile teams. The Milans needed a good 350 meters before they could be sure of guidance. Besides, Captain Denisov seemed to know that the Germans had pulled back to the Pressbach Hill. Krylov radioed his four company commanders to meet at his tank promptly. He also instructed them to have their crews off-load any Yashcheritsa missiles from their tanks and pass them over to the tanks of Lieutenant Abdirov's company.
The small group gathered behind Captain Krylov's tank. Lieutenant Abdirov saw the battalion political officer, Senior Lieutenant Gorin, and moved to the other side of the circle. Captain Krylov brought out the area map and hung a small electric lantern on the cradle for the rear fuel drums.
"Comrades, we'll be setting off for our objective by 0600, so we have to make this meeting brief. Our objective is a ridge about four kilometers to the west, just beyond this woods. Regiment informs us that the nyemtsi have pulled back beyond the woods and are occupying the village of Pressbach on the ridge. It's not really a ridge so much as a slight rise. At 0600, we move out from here in two columns. Lieutenant Bogdanov will take the lead with 2d Company through the center part of the woods. The 1st and 3d Companies will follow. Lieutenant Larikov will take 4th Company around the northern end of the woods and move down this path. At 0630, I will give you a radio signal to begin moving into this depression here. It is possible that the enemy has forces in these farm buildings near Hill 320, and over here in the farm at the center of the area. Expect trouble. If we come under fire, the lead elements from 2d and 4th Company will have to deal with it quickly.
24
25
Apparently, however, new types are entering service, using laser guidance rather than radio command guidance.