Trusov came to attention. “My officers and men will do their duty, Comrade General.” Inside, though, he felt vomit rising to his throat. Swallowing, he contained the bitter stomach acids, feeling true fear for the first time in his life.
“I know, Colonel. That is why I have chosen you.” Abramov beckoned the officers forward to look at the map spread out on a large farm table, nearly three metres long, purloined from one of the local houses, no doubt.
“We cross here.” He made the mark of a cross on the River Leine, between Schulenburg and, at the high ground, Marienburg.
“Sir—”
“One moment, Pavel, let the General finish,” advised Pushkin.
“I know you have lots of queries, Comrade Colonel, but at least allow an old General to anticipate some of your questions.” Abramov smiled. “Our motor rifle regiment has one operational battalion, perhaps sixty to seventy per cent strength at the most, and one that is a battalion in name only, which can barely pull together a company. But, they have one last task to complete: they are to occupy Rossing. They shouldn’t get much opposition. There are only a few old men there left to fight.”
He turned to Colonel Maxim. “Charkov, you have to secure Rossing and bring as much fire as you can to bear on Schulenburg.”
“Yes, Comrade General.”
“With the death of Colonel Yegor, what is left of the 63rd Tank Regiment I will put under your command, Colonel Trusov. So, with your current strength and what is left of the 63rd, it should give you over sixty operational tanks. The infantry have less than a company, so I shall use them here at Barnten, to the north of Rossing.”
His finger moved down the map and he pointed to Nordstemmen. “Although I shall be keeping what’s left of the 61st in reserve, I shall need the remnants of your infantry battalion,” he said, turning to Colonel Konstantin, “in Nordstemmen. I need our flanks covered. You are to bring your regiment forward to Emmerke to act as the division’s reserves.”
“Sir.”
“Back to you, Pavel. I will call the engineers in shortly, but I wanted to cover your task first. What is the state of your infantry?”
“I’ve amalgamated the three companies to make two, sir. Pretty much at full strength, but they’ve not had much time to work together as a consolidated unit.”
“They’ll have to learn on the job, Pavel. They will be crossing with you. You will also have an independent battalion from 3 Shock Army under your command. The commander is being flown in by heli and will be here in the next thirty minutes.” He held his hand up as Trusov went to speak. “I know this is all happening very quickly, and you are getting very little time to plan. But speed is our best ally. NATO will already be figuring out where we are going to strike next and will be marshaling reinforcements to come to their aid. Their division that has come across from the mainland to slot in behind the British Corps’ rear is starting to get organised, and some units are already starting to dig in. Get across this river now, and we can smash right into their rear area. As you predicted Colonel, the first bridge, north-east of Schulenburg, has been blown, along with the second next to the high ground further south. You have to get your tanks across and secure a bridgehead. It doesn’t matter how small, so long as it’s there.”
“GSPs?”
“Yes,” answered the General. “Six from the division and another six have been brought forward from 12th Division. You will have two K-61 platoons and PTSs to get your infantry across. Once you have secured the other bank, two pontoon bridges will be laid, one kilometre apart.”
“What’s the ground like here, sir?” Trusov asked, pointing at the eastern bank of the river.
“Recce and our engineers have checked it out. Although marshy in winter and spring, it is reasonably dry, and capable of taking a pontoon bridge and supporting units.”
“Will we be making the initial assault to secure the eastern bank, sir?”
“No, the independent tank regiment has that task. They will secure the bank along a two-kilometre stretch and provide covering fire while you cross. You will naturally have artillery and ground attack aircraft in support. The anti-tank battalion will dig in as well and you will get the majority of the Air Defence Regiment.”
“We’ll be watching your back, Pavel,” added Pushkin. “General Zavarin has personally spoken to the air boys. You should have a constant flight of ground-attack aircraft hitting the west bank almost without a stop. But we can only maintain this level of support for a few hours. You have to press hard.”
“You must be at the river’s edge by six,” continued the General. “The Air Assault Battalion will land on and around the Marienburg at six. 7th Airborne Division will be dropped in two waves. One regiment will complete a heliborne assault west of Pattensen with the second airborne regiment conducting a descent, a parachute assault further west, securing the western end of the gap near the Mittleland Kanal, acting as a blocking force. Stavka have also authorised the release of special weapons, so you will need to ensure your tanks’ chemical defences are operational and that your men have full NBC suits available.”
“Surely we’ll be using non-persistent, sir?”
“Of course, Colonel Trusov, but it may not have all cleared by the time you get across.”
“I see, sir. Are there any other actions to keep the British occupied?”
“There will be another push at Gronau,” answered Pushkin.
“Has the Air Assault Brigade closed in on the Gronau bridge yet, sir?” asked Colonel Konstantin.
The General frowned. “No, they haven’t. It’s been twelve hours and they’ve moved about 500 metres. It seems there were two British armoured units close by, and German reserve units are putting up a stiff resistance at Gronau. The paratroopers have moved west though and should be at Coppenbrugge by early hours tomorrow.”
“All in all,” added Pushkin, “the British forces are in for a hard time.”
The General interrupted before the conversation could continue. “Comrade Colonel, I will leave you to take Comrade Trusov and his comrades through the finer details. I need to speak to the Chief of Rocket Troops.”
The group braced and saluted, the General leaving them to reflect on the mission that had just been handed to them.
Trusov instructed Kokorev to position the command tank on the southern outskirts of the small battered village of Rossing, and when he heaved his shoulders through the tank hatch, he could hear the occasional crack of small-arms fire from the centre. The remnants of the divisional motor rifle regiment were clearing up the last bit of resistance before lining their BMP-2s on the western edge where they could launch anti-tank missiles at any enemy tanks they could see across the river.
He called down to his gunner that he was moving to the MTLB-RkhM-K command vehicle that had pulled up behind his T-80. He disconnected the cables from his padded helmet, climbed out of the turret, then down, dropping onto the ground, gripping his AK-74 in his right hand, and ran over to the command vehicle where he was met by Major Chadov.
“They’re moving forward now, sir.”
They both climbed into the back of the MTLB, and Trusov immediately tuned in to the sounds being emitted from the speaker above his head.