The General was quiet for a moment before turning to his SO1 G2. “What’s the latest on the Soviet advance?”
Colonel Stevens pointed to the River Leine. “They’ve crossed here, sir, south of Schulenburg. Our forces have pulled back, but they have an airborne regiment right behind them.”
“Just the one?”
“Yes, sir. Immediately behind, that is. A second regiment has also been dropped north-east of Bad-Nenndorf. But the forces across the river are also swinging south, moving forces further south. They clearly intend to threaten Gronau from the north. The Soviet Air Assault Brigade west of Gronau has increased its tempo and is now aggressively attacking Gronau from the south. They are also pushing a battalion here, towards Coppenbrugge.”
“What do we have around Coppenbrugge?”
“Just a beefed up platoon and some German reservists in Marienau.”
“Christ, how have we let that happen?”
“We were lucky to have them, sir. They are part of the Royal Green Jacket’s Battlegroup. 1st Division decided to keep an element of 4 Div in the local area as a reserve.”
“Just as well they did. How are they doing?”
“They’ve repulsed the first attack and are now pulling back into the centre of Coppenbrugge. The Soviets’ intention is to cut Gronau, and our forces there, off.”
“What have we got in that area?” the General asked his deputy.
“22nd Brigade is responsible for Gronau, but the 14/20th are under a lot of pressure. We need to get their forces back across the river and pull everything back to Coppenbrugge.”
“What do you make of the enemy’s intentions in general, Colonel Stevens?”
“I think they’re after these three gaps, sir: here, between the high ground of Deinster and Hanover, the route through Coppenbrugge, where they can push for Bad-Munder, and then Bisperode south-east of Hameln.”
“That would take them across the Weser and head for Osnabruck?”
“Yes, sir. They have the option of going north or south of Osnabruck.”
“Or both.”
“Yes sir.”
“Won’t 3rd Shock Army have run out of steam by then?”
“Undoubtedly, sir, but with 20th Guards Army in the fight, the Soviets will probably go for where we are at our weakest. They would be less than 100 kilometres from the Dutch border. I’m not sure of their intentions to the south, but in the north they’ve made it pretty obvious. An airborne regiment has parachuted close to the Mittleland Kanal, and a second landed by helicopters west of Pattensen here. A bridgehead has been secured on the Leine, and an armoured division is crossing it now. Through one of our Corps Patrol Units, we’ve identified it as the 12th Guards Tank Division, of 3 Shock Army. This has to be an Operational Manoeuvre Group, sir. We believe it has been training for this very role for some years now. Its objective, once across the Leine, is to link up with the regiment at Pattensen, push through to the Mittleland Kanal, linking up with the second airborne regiment, and then crossing over the Weser and getting deep into our lines, sir. Once across, they will go wherever we are at our weakest. They won’t be looking for a fight. That OMG will want to get as far west as possible. Then, of course, we will have their second echelon coming at us. We know 20th Guards Army is on the way and their Military Districts, their 2nd Strategic Echelon, are bound to be moving their forces west.”
“And the other two gaps?”
“I’m not so sure about those two, sir. Once they’re across at Gronau, they are likely to push a division up through Coppenbrugge and then to Bad-Munder. As for Hameln, we’re not sure at the moment. But we need to know what the 20th Guards are up to.”
“The CPU can help us with that. Clifford, what do we have covering this gap by Coppenbrugge?”
“Just that reinforced platoon from 4th Armoured Division. We have the remnants of the Battlegroup in the area still.”
“Two Div?”
“The 15th Infantry Brigade, with five battalions, is in position, along with the Queen’s Own Yeomanry recce. Three battalions of the 49th Infantry Brigade are digging in along the Weser. 49th Field Regiment with their FH-70 guns are in position.”
“The rest of the 49th?”
“The last two battalions are en route.”
“Four Div?”
“Apart from the Battlegroup left to act as a reserve, they are currently resting around the area of Petershagen.”
“What about the Territorial battalions?”
“Three have been brought across, sir. Two have been hit quite hard on the way by Soviet interdiction and a Spetsnaz ambush. They have no armour, just soft-skinned trucks.”
The General remained quiet for a moment, clearly running through his options. He would have liked to have his divisional commanders here from the 1st and 3rd Armoured Divisions, but to take them away from their units at this moment in time would be madness.
The 1 BR Corps Commander turned towards his aide. “Make a note. I want a stop line along the Mittleland Kanal. Raven. That will run south towards Hameln. I need to go through the plans with the Brigade commanders before I finalise the stop-line further south. The second one, Magpie, will be the Weser. The 24th Airmobile Brigade will deploy, with the 1st Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regiment and the 1st Battalion King’s Own Royal Border Regiment, south-east of the E-36, from here at Wunstorf to Bad-Nennendorf. I’m going to assign the parachute battalion to the brigade, but we’ll hold them in reserve. I’ll talk through the final dispositions with the Brigade Commander when he gets here. I want a blocking position in that area. We can liaise with 1 German Corps and get them to plug the gap north-west of Hanover. You say they’ll take the weakest route, possibly using 20th Guards. Well, let’s give them a fight in the north of our sector; encourage them to deploy 20th Guards further south. 3rd Division are still pretty intact, so if we can push the Soviets to go up against them, we may hold them up at least. Pull 1st Division back. We need to set up a Stop-Line though, to slow the Soviets down and give the division a chance to regroup. Blackbird will run from…” He tapped the various points on the large map. “Hameln, Bisperode, Coppenbrugge, Eldagsen, Springe, Volksen, Bredenbeck, Gehdren and Seelze.”
“Units sir?” Asked the deputy commander.
“I’ll work out their positions once I get an update on the situation down there. Clifford, I want you to take a heli ride to the front. I need to know the true situation down there. I need to take action before it all falls apart. I want a Brigade from Four Div on alert for moving to plug any gaps. I want 15th and the 49th to be left alone to dig in.”
“I’ll leave as soon as we’ve finished here. What about the Kanal? Who are we going to put there?”
“Those three infantry battalions. Move them there immediately.”
“But, sir. They probably haven’t recovered from their recent attacks, nor had time to orientate themselves.”
“Clifford, none of us have time. We need good defences along the Weser. I need to leave those brigades to get on with their preparations. Find me a good Colonel from Four Div, make him acting Brigadier and put him in command of those troops, but get them on the Kanal”
“Understood, sir.”
The General turned to Major Castle. “How far away is the American Division?”
“Probably two days, sir. Advance elements could be here in twenty-four hours, if pushed.”
“Right, I’ll get NORTHAG to release them to us. We have to put in a counter-attack as soon as possible.”