"Once we're safely out into the bowl, we will take up battle formation. We are going to attack in a line formation with 2d, 3d, and 4th Company. Nurken Ivanovich, your 1st Company is going to serve as overwatch. When we move out of the bowl, you divide up your company in two, half over here at Hill 320 and half here in the main farm. You keep us covered with missile fire."
Krylov could see that the little Kazakh was upset.
"Comrade Captain, I am very sorry for the shameful performance of my men last night," said Abdirov. "I can assure you that it will not happen again. You do not have to fear for the valor of my men. We would be pleased to be in the vanguard of the attack."
Krylov realized that the honor of the Kazakh had been offended. "Comrade Lieutenant, I did not select your company to play the overwatch role because of the troubles last night. That kind of action can be expected from inexperienced troops in difficult circumstances. I picked your men because your company has consistently done the best of our battalion in gunnery exercises. As we all know, you have more crew with tank sniper distinctions than any other. We are depending heavily on you for our safety. Regiment insists that we use a fest approach to the objective. Hold the firing until we close to 2,000 meters. We have to get in close and wade into the enemy positions. We cannot afford to engage them in long-range duels from a halt. So in each of your companies, let one platoon halt their fire around 2,000 meters, while the other two platoons continue to close with the enemy at top speed. Don't use smoke unless you really need it. Abdirov, you will be responsible for destroying as many German tanks as possible while we make this approach. "Your fire must keep their heads down."
Abdirov was a bit concerned when Captain Krylov mentioned the use of smoke mortars. If any of the tanks did use smoke, it would make his job of providing overwatch much more difficult. The smoke might obscure the target. But Abdirov, never prone to question the instructions of his superiors, was even less so after the embarrassing performance of his company the night before.
Before the meeting had concluded, a tanker from Vasilev's company approached the group. "Comrade Captain, I wish to report."
"Proceed," replied Krylov.
"Comrade Captain, we attempted to inspect the wreckage of the enemy vehicle. It appears to have been an American vehicle of some sort from the markings on its parts. The damage was too great to tell exactly what it was."
Krylov concluded it was probably an American-built M113, in German service, which they had been encountering for the past few days. (Had he seen the thin barrel, as had his gunner, Ossipovich, he would not have come to this conclusion.)[26]
He ended the meeting.
"Is everything about our objectives understood?… Fine…. Mount up and let's move. The regiment and the division are counting on us to take these positions."
Krylov used the foothold on the right side of his T-80M to lift himself up. The back of the tank was littered with tarps and equipment, so he had to clamber over the reactive armor bricks to get to the turret roof. He tried to be careful not to dislodge any of the bricks. These funny little blocks could save his tank.
The hatch was open, and his gunner nodded when he climbed into the turret. Krylov hadn't realized how bad the inside stank. There was the Ungering smell of cordite from the firing earlier, mingled with the smell of sour soup and sweat. He had spilled a ration of soup on the floor, and by now it reeked. He plugged the cord from his helmet into the tank intercom and radioed the driver to start up the tank. The T-80M began with its characteristic whine. Krylov stood up on his seat to see how the rest of the battalion was doing. There was just about enough light to see the dark silhouettes of the tanks. A few hatches were open, and a pale blue light shone out. Most of the tanks had their small formation lights on. The drivers had switched on their infrared driving lights, unseen to the naked eye, to guide themselves through the dark.
The tank column winded its way through the woods, Krylov's tank about five tanks back from the head of the column. As the lead tank approached the opening into the bowl, it halted. Lieutenant Bogdanov got out, as did Krylov, and walked along the woods to the opening. The terrain in front was ploughed farmland. There was considerable evidence of armored vehicle traffic, crisscrossing the fields. To the left, the outline of a large farm could barely be seen in the early morning mist. There was just enough light to see the other, smaller form at the foot of Hill 320 on the right side. Krylov had a pair of image-intensification night vision binoculars, and used them to survey the high country in front of his tanks. He saw no evidence of enemy forces on the rise in front of him, but then even if they were there, he probably wouldn't be able to see them.
Moving out of the woods would be risky. Krylov told Lieutenant Bogdanov to move out a single platoon of tanks very quickly, and to fire then smoke grenade launchers as soon as they cleared the opening, in order to create a cloud in front of the opening. If they were engaged, they were to eliminate the opposition. At this point the rest of the battalion would exit. Krylov radioed Lieutenant Larikov, whose company would be pushing out of the other road to the right near the foot of Hill 320. He was to follow the same procedure.
At 0630, the two platoons came charging out of the woods, spraying out smoke grenades. There was a slight ground fog, and the flowering smoke grenade cloud blended imperceptibly into it. The action did not seem to elicit any fire from the main farm, but when Lieutenant Larikov's platoon turned around the edge of the woods, a few antitank missiles came in their direction.
Two hit, but the reactive armor panels defended the tank against penetration. What was odd is that the missiles struck the roof bricks, not the usual front or side bricks. Larikov had heard of top-attack missiles, but this was the first he had seen of them. Larikov's platoon fired into the farm buildings near Hill 320 with high explosive, and after a dozen rounds, they halted. No more missile fire came from the farm. Larikov radioed to Krylov that his men had spotted two armored vehicles pulling back from the main farm. He said they looked to him like American Bradleys or German Marders, not M113s. Krylov thought for a moment, worrying that the unit they faced might be a fresh American or German armored unit, and not the remnants of the roughed-up German territorial brigade they had been fighting. He hoped this wasn't the case.
With the bowl safe, the battalion moved forward. When the war had started, the battalion had numbered fifty-one T-80M tanks.[27]
There were ten tanks in each of the five companies, plus Krylov's command tank. Each of the companies had ten tanks — three platoons with three tanks each and the company commander's tank. Three companies in formation would stretch out about a kilometer and a half. The battalion was down to thirty-seven tanks. Ten tanks had been lost when Dmitryev's company had been wiped out the previous evening, and four other tanks had been lost in other fighting or due to mechanical problems.
The usual battle formation was three platoons in line, about fifty meters between each tank.
There would be thirty tanks in the initial attack, stretched out over a distance of about one and a half kilometers. The 2d Company, commanded by Sr. Lt. Leonid Bogdanov, was expected to use the gully to the left of the main farm to approach the Pressbach Hill. The 3d and 4th Companies would attack across the main pastures. They would have the toughest time. Krylov would follow these two companies.
26
The vehicle was an American M3 Bradley cavalry scout vehicle. Vehicle recognition is a common problem in both the Warsaw Pact and NATO.
27
Soviet tank battalions vary in size. The standard tank battalions serving in tank regiments have 31 tanks. Independent tank battalions are larger, having five companies of tanks instead of the usual three.