“Standby boys. We have aircraft about to hit the enemy.”
“A-10s, LT?” asked Tate.
“Not this time. I’ve been told the navy is coming to the rescue.”
“I’ll shout when I see the first destroyer.” Tate laughed.
Moments later, any chatter was disturbed by the roar of jet bombers roaring overhead as the A7-Es flew in, two at a time, dropping their ordnance on top of the targets they had been designated. Above, F/A-18 Hornets battled it out with the Soviet air force. They were unable to do too much, only carrying two air-to-air missiles, the long range reducing the weapons load they could carry so they could loiter while the bombers did their job. Once finished, the surviving bombers returned to ‘the boat’ where they could prepare for their next mission: protecting the convoy as it returned stateside.
It’s getting close, Hendricks thought as he secured the hatch and squinted through the vision blocks. He didn’t need his binoculars to see the two Cobras hovering up ahead, waiting to ambush the Soviet T-64s. That will give them something to think about. He hoped that he and his platoon would give a good account of themselves. He had confidence in his M1 but was fully aware that their 105mm main gun was disadvantaged by the Soviet tank’s 125mm-calibre smoothbore gun. The tank’s armour was solid and he felt safe within its confines. We will sure give the invaders a bloody nose.
Way out to the front, probably in excess of 3,500 metres, he watched as a cloud slowly rose up across the horizon. The Lance battalion, subordinated to the heavy artillery brigade, was also showing its teeth in the ongoing battle. The Lance missiles, with their M251 warheads carrying hundreds of sub munitions, sprayed the advancing Soviet forces with a deadly storm. They might not defeat the enemy, but they could sway the forthcoming battle shifting the advantage to the defending US forces. The crew were now quiet as the tank commander settled himself in the fighting compartment. There had been some inane chatter, guessing at the location where the T-64s would appear first, reiterating the tactics they would apply once the fight started. Even families had been a part of the four-way discussion between the crew, and at one point politics came into the frame, at which time they had all laughed, realising they had been babbling about anything and everything for the last thirty minutes. It had helped to ease their nerves, but now they were silent, deep within their own thoughts, preparing themselves in their own way for what was about to transpire. Only the throbbing of the tank’s engine could be heard.
Hendricks opened the hatch again and pushed himself up for one last look. Somewhere out there, not too far away, a giant, possibly unstoppable, steamroller was heading in their direction.
The nearest Cobra flared, and a trail of jet exhaust left one of the rails as a TOW anti-tank missile headed towards its target.
“Tango One-One. The flyboys have contact. Recce, three 64s and two BMP. Over.”
“Understood, Tango-Zero. Over.”
“You are clear to engage, you are clear to engage. Hit the big boys first. Leave BMPs to the TOWs. Over.”
“Roger that, sir. Out.”
Hendricks switched his comms to internal and pulled the hatch down again, sealing him and his crew in their armoured shell.
“They’re on their way, boys. Keep your eyes peeled.”
The gunner, sitting at the feet of the tank commander, watched as another missile left the Cobra. Less than a minute later, the attack-helicopter banked and headed back behind the line of American armour, ready to pick off the enemy tanks as they battled with the Abram’s below.
The first T-64 rolled into view, and the Abrams’ laser rangefinder detected the enemy tank, the on-board computer determining the correct elevation and angle of the gun.
“Standby,” called the commander.
The gunner, with narrowed eyes, peered into his scope.
“Gunner, sabot, tank, designate,” ordered the Hendricks.
“Up,” informed the loader after shoving a sabot round into the breech.
“Fire and adjust.”
“Away.”
The barrel shot back as the round left, the hardened penetrator hitting the Soviet tank in just over a second. It hit, but the tank kept moving.
“Gunner, same target, sabot, designate.”
“Up.”
“Fire and adjust.”
“Away.”
This time, they were more successful as the enemy tank was struck by the penetrator, turning the steel of the tank to molten metal, igniting the interior, and causing a catastrophic explosion that wrenched the tank apart.
The commander was already calling out a new target, but soon they would need to move.
A second T-64 was hit, along with two BMPs. The Soviet recce platoon had just been wiped out. It was time to move.
“Gunner, take over. Driver, back, back, back.”
Malone, the driver, reclining in a space that wasn’t much bigger than his frame, accelerated and, under the guidance of his commander, shifted position ready for the inevitable much larger wave of tanks.
Chapter 8
The two Scimitars, followed by two Scorpions, tore down Route 5, putting aside the risk they were taking in travelling along a road in broad daylight. They had just crossed the water feature of Arlau that cut across from the coast, west to east, for about ten kilometres. The troop was roughly five kilometres from the village of Hattstedt. Their first checkpoint, the town of Husum, a further ten kilometres away. Five minutes behind them, a second troop raced south. Two-Troop, Second Squadron, of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars, part of the British 1st Infantry Brigade, had disembarked from ships docking at Esbjerg in Denmark the previous night. The Brigade, part of the United Kingdom Land Forces and under the command of NORTHAG Landjut, had been sent in to support the Territorial Command Schleswig-Holstein. 6th Panzer Grenadier Division, supported by an array of German Jaeger units, was hard-pressed and there was a real danger of the front line collapsing, threatening the Landjut and eventually Denmark. The Soviet and East German forces had broken the Kiel Canal defence line to the west and were racing to the River Eider. If the East German army crossed that barrier, there was a danger that the Landjut forces would end up in constant retreat, never able to establish a proper defence, eventually being pushed up into Denmark threatening NATO’s northern flank. NATO forces in place along the Kiel Canal had not been expected to hold the line for long, depending on West German reservists to support 6th Panzer Grenadier Division. But the canal had now been breached.
A new stop-line was being rapidly set up from the west of Rendsburg, following the section of the canal still being held west where it met the River Eider, then north-west to Tonning where Schleswig-Holstein butted up against the North Sea.
1st Infantry Brigade, led by the reconnaissance regiment, had been given the responsibility of defending the ground between Tonning and Suderstapel. It was a task the Brigade could achieve with its four battalions and tank squadron so long as they had the time to prepare. But, as usual, it was a race against time. The 5th German Army, consisting of the 8th Motor-Schutz Division and 9th Panzer Division, along with the Northern Group of Soviet Forces (NGSF) consisting of the 6th Motor Rifle Division and the 20th Tank Division, were advancing rapidly. NGSF had been reunited with their helicopter attack regiment with its remaining twenty-seven MI-24 Hind and fourteen MI-8 Hip helicopters that had previously been tasked with other duties. The Warsaw Pact forces in this sector were ready for the next big push. Should they cross the stretch of the Kiel Canal between the east of Rendsburg and the east coast, the enemy was confident that the NATO defence would crumble, and their entire northern flank would quickly fold.