US V Corps’ primary role was the defence of the Fulda Gap and, ultimately, Frankfurt. On its right flank, US VII Corps was also battling with an advancing Soviet force, where 4th Armoured Division was digging in. Further right again, 2nd German Corps was holding. On their left flank, 3rd German Corps was fighting a bitter battle to hold ground. 1st Belgian Corps, having finally taken up their position to the German’s left flank, took considerable pressure off the German Corps that had effectively been fighting a two Corps front. Although under the command of the Central Army Group (CENTAG), and following the orders of their American Army Group commander, the German Bundeswehr was impatient to hit back. Having been forced to constantly retreat towards the west, watching their soldiers and civilians suffer from horrendous injuries and the devastating effects of chemical agents launched by the Soviet army, they were ready to release a brigade to support a counter-attack, catch the Soviets off guard, blunt their advance, and take the battle to the enemy. Their argument was that it would force the Soviets to halt and take stock, taking some pressure off the mauled Bundeswehr brigades, giving them time to consolidate and rearm. But, for now, their American commander was holding firm and reining them in.
“Looking good, sir.”
“It does Ed. But for us, it all starts tomorrow. Let’s mosey and check out the crews.”
They both left the berm where one of the HQ’s M1s was hull down, and moved off to check on the lieutenant’s platoon of five tanks.
Of the three platoons in Two-Company, Lieutenant Kendrick’s platoon held the centre, covering the gap between Gomfritz, off to their front left, and the wooded area to their front right, the high ground of Drasenberg behind them. The crews were edgy, knowing they were about to meet the enemy for the first time. They had seen the remnants of the Cavalry Regiment, bruised and battered, pulling back. Some of the men who were suffering from the effects of nerve agent poisoning had been pulled well back, way behind the front line, closer to the city of Frankfurt. Casualties had been high: losses of up to sixty per cent for some of the squadrons. And those that had survived were in no fit state to fight. Also the survivors of the chemical attacks were still suffering from the consequences of the absorption of the lethal toxins, the after-effects persistent. Those that had survived, through being appropriately protected and with a small amount of luck, were exhausted and traumatised. Their recent battle was over, but there was no way they would entirely be released from duty by their generals. They had an opportunity to eat and sleep, rearm and repair their vehicles, then rest some more. There was no doubt that if Frankfurt was threatened, they would be quickly designated as a reserve and brought back into the fight, used as fire brigade troops or a stopgap to cover any Soviet breakthroughs. Should the battle go well for the US forces, they could also be pulled in and used as part of any counter-attacking force.
The terrain to the platoon’s front was good, but not perfect. The few buildings of Gomfritz to the northeast were in their line of sight, so Lieutenant Hendricks’ platoon were unable to see the Autobahn as it passed the other side of the village. But Two-Platoon, further to the left, had a clear line of sight and would be able to target any enemy tanks fool enough to charge down the road, or either side of it. However, Hendricks’ platoon did have a view out to their front that was well over four kilometres. They could see as far as the village of Ruckers where the forward elements of the Brigade, 12th Cavalry, had already pulled back too, disentangling themselves from the enemy. To the right, a small wood about a kilometre long restricted their view, but the Third-Platoon had that covered. The Third could also switch their fire east, towards the village of Elm. The high ground of the Ebertsberg, east of Elm, was covered by elements of the 2nd Armoured Battalion. The platoons were also equipped with the M1 Abram’s, a tank the men had confidence in after changing the old M-60 for it. Whatever Soviet forces came at them, they would put up a good fight. This time, it wasn’t a mere cavalry squadron, as powerful as it was, but a full armoured brigade of some 4,000 men.
Hendricks looked over his spot again. They had a good hull-down position, and all his crew knew the location of a further two should they need to pull back. To his right was a second position for his tank, a shallow ditch with a fallen tree perpendicular to it. Once they had fired a couple of rounds from his current berm, he would shift to this new location, covered by other tanks in the platoon as he did so. They, in turn, would conduct a similar manoeuvre while Tango-One-One and Tango-One-Two covered them. There was nothing out in front of them now but the enemy would be here soon. Two Medium Atomic Demolition Munitions, small nuclear devices of one kiloton each, had been detonated between Eichenzell and Neuhof on the valley floor along the Autobahn route. Other areas, north and south, had been treated in the same way, using nuclear landmines, powerful demolitions, to degrade the route the Soviet forces would have to take. Two more had been detonated west of Hutten and Gundhelm, obstructing the entrance to two further valleys. Before detonation, German civilian police and Jaeger troops had evacuated civilians in the local areas. Although many civilians had earlier become refugees, flooding west in front of the wave of Soviet forces behind them and fleeing the battle before they became engulfed in it, a few had decided to remain with their homes. When advised of what was about to happen close to their villages, to a man and a woman, they chose to leave.
Hendricks’ men had felt the earth shake when the devices had exploded, tearing the earth apart, even vibrating the sixty-ton main battle tanks. They had received a warning when the detonations would be initiated, giving them time to ensure their eyes were protected. Even facing away from the location of the blast, night suddenly turned to day. The estimate of casualties had been as few as ten killed and thirty injured at each ground zero. In the immediate vicinity of the blast, the fireball would have expanded to a radius of nearly 100 metres, and a powerful blast out to four times that distance which would easily destroy heavy buildings, and most residential buildings would collapse. Anyone within three quarters of a kilometre from ground zero would be exposed to a high rem radiation dose and, without swift medication; it was likely that the mortality rate would be as high as ninety per cent. More importantly, torn up trees and disturbed earth, deeply rutted, would degrade the route that the Soviets would have to take.
Fallout would also be an issue for the advancing Soviet soldiers. The wind, blowing a steady five to ten kilometres per hour, would take the fallout away from the US troops and towards the enemy. From each ground zero, there would be a cloud moving slowly east, out to about twenty kilometres, where exposure would drop to around one rad per hour. In total, over fifty square kilometres would be affected.
Hendricks mounted his M1 and dropped down into the turret, checked in with his crew, and confirmed there had been no messages from HQ. He laid his map on the rim of the hatch and ran his finger along the stop-line they were defending. Moving his finger further east, he picked out the areas designated as artillery targets, committing them to memory as best he could. A FIST, Fire Support Team Vehicle would be close by, ready to call in fire when needed. M109s, nine kilometres to the rear were ready to support him, and the rest of the battalion, when called upon.
He then picked up his binoculars and scanned those sectors, making sure that, if it were up to him to make the call, he would get it right. The night was drawing in and he had been warned by his battalion commander that the Soviet unit, elements of 8th Guards Army Division, once 12th Cav had pulled right back, might probe their positions during the hours of darkness. Scouts in vehicles and on foot would shortly be sent out ready to interdict any such reconnaissance, replacing the helicopters of the 2nd Attack Helicopter Battalion that would attempt to track the Soviet armours’ progress right up until the last minute. He’d heard reports that the aviation regiment was getting a hard time. The ZSU-23/4s were proving to be an excellent weapon of choice for air defence, taking out three helicopters, two AH1Fs and one OH58C in the last few hours. All he could do now though was wait.