SSGT Lewis guided the driver as he eased the tank gently into position. Situated on a small piece of ground where the slope levelled off for a short distance, but the undulating surface provided natural berms to hide behind. One such mound was in front where they could pull forward and be in a hull-down position. Lewis and his men had investigated this area and many like it. In fact, they knew this entire area like the back of their hands and had every intention of making the Soviet Army pay the price for even thinking of attacking their zone of control. Once they had destroyed a number of enemy tanks, they could reverse further up the gentle slope, the scattering of trees providing them with much needed cover from the enemy, turn around, and make their way west to the next deployment area. Other elements of the squadron would be waiting for them to pass, and the enemy would drive into yet another ambush.
Along the line of the forest edge, the four tanks, along with two M3 Bradleys, there to provide support in the likely event infantry would be used to winkle them out, adjusted their positions until the vehicle commanders were satisfied. Once happy, SSGT Lewis ordered the M1 to be pulled back, until it was in a turret-down position, then camouflaged. They would stay hidden until called forward to take on the enemy’s armour.
The Bradleys would also keep watch, but slightly further up the slope. The M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle could certainly pack a punch. A heavyweight at twenty-five tons, with its Cummins VTA-903 engine, it could still travel at a top speed of sixty-kilometres an hour on roads. Its 25mm M242 chain gun would do serious damage to approaching mechanised infantry combat vehicles such as the BMP-1 and BMP-2. But with its dual TOW anti-tank launcher, it was equally as deadly for the Warsaw Pact’s main battle tanks.
SSGT Lewis informed his crew that he was moving forward to complete a visual reconnaissance of the area out in front, instructing them to break out the cool box, packed with ice and bottles of Coke that were chilling inside. He climbed out of the turret, dropped down off the front glacis, and made his way to the natural berm ahead. Looking back, he shouted to the crew, reminding them to get the cam-net erected. Looking up, he could see the much higher hill behind him, covered in dense forest. Where they were now was decidedly sparser, but enough cover for them to hide in. His platoon commander would no doubt be along soon. He clambered up the shallow side and lay partly on top of the edge, his elbows supporting him as he moved his binoculars in a sweeping arc. Before he had chance to zoom in on some of the key areas, a body crashed down beside him.
“Well, Troop, are the Reds on their way?” The Lieutenant laughed, panting, wiping sweat from his brow after tabbing hard and fast. Even though he was twenty-five years old, he still retained some of his puppy fat and had the sort of soft-skinned face that belied his age, often being mistaken for an overgrown teen. Lewis liked him, even though he felt he could be a liability at times. But that wasn’t a problem. Most of the time, the Lieutenant deferred to his Senior NCO, which suited Kyle Lewis who had been driving, commanding and competently firing a tank’s main armament since he had first trained in an M-60.
“Hi, sir. We’ve got it pretty much covered here. With eight M1s and the Bradleys, we can certainly give them a bloody nose.”
The officer punched his NCO’s arm. “So, is the bet on then, Staff?”
Lewis laughed. “You know my tank’s got the best gunner in the squadron, sir. It would be like taking candy from an infant.”
“We’ll see. So, what have we got?”
“They’re going to send recce forward first, a mix of T-64s and BMPs probably. They can either use the L3170 and swing north-west, or take the 84 and head west. Either way they will have to go across our arc of fire, and we should be able to hit them hard.”
“It’ll look like a tank graveyard by the time we’re finished.”
Lewis smiled, choosing to ignore his senior officer’s display of naivety. “The likelihood, sir, is that they will hit the edges of the forests with arty fire first, so it will only be our surviving tanks that get to hit back. Once we’ve picked off their recce, the chances are we’ll get hit again and again. Probably ground attack aircraft will have a poke at us.”
“How long, then?”
“We hit as many as we can, move further up the slope and have another go; then we’ll probably be pulled back.”
“It’s seems a waste of a good firing position.”
Lewis looked at his baby-faced commander. “They will throw everything they’ve got at us to dislodge us from here. We couldn’t hold back a tank regiment, or motor rifle regiment, if that’s what they send. Eventually they’ll push us off here, or outflank us…” He hesitated for a moment. “Or wipe us out.”
Chapter 25
Tank after tank sped along the E8 dual carriageway, a road regularly used by West German civilians going east to visit their families and friends in the western sector of Berlin. The British, and their allies, also used this, one of three corridors to transit through East Germany and join the rest of the troops guarding Berlin and the sovereign territory of the four occupying powers: Britain, United States of America, France and the Soviet Union.
The road now though was swamped with military vehicles — Soviet military vehicles. T-64As raced west, the 18th Independent Reconnaissance Battalion leading the way. There were two platoons of BMPs, mechanised infantry combat vehicles, a tank platoon, a BRDM-2 company, and a BRDM-2 Rkh, a chemical defence recce vehicle. The battalion rattled along the road, clearing a path for the rest of the division following on behind. One lane of the dual carriage on the opposite side was also being used for western flowing military traffic. Very little was moving east. The tail extended as far back as Magdeburg.
The entire division was on the move: three tank regiments, one motor rifle regiment and an air defence regiment thronged the roads. Behind them, engineers, signals, transport, maintenance and chemical defence units. The artillery regiment along with the SSM battalion, the self-propelled artillery and surface-to-surface missiles, had moved forward the previous day, to be in a position to support 10GTD in its assault. The roads were choked, making a perfect target for NATO had the two organisations been at war. But, as yet, they weren’t.
Even further back, but equally as important to the division, there were over 100 POL trucks carrying fuel vital for supplying the armour and infantry in maintaining their advance. Sixty further trucks carried ammunition, equally as important. Across the entire division, over 500 trucks would provide support for the teeth arms, acting as the arteries to feed an ever hungry giant. Two parallel routes had been chosen; more simply weren’t available as the entire Warsaw Pact was starting to move its forces forward: one route crossing the River Elbe to the south of Magdeburg, and the second to the north. All would end up in the forests of Feichtinger Hohenzug and Bartenslebener Forst. Effectively, as 10GTD moved out, 12GTD would move in. They would then wait to be tasked. The division had already received a warning-order, directing the unit to prepare to act as an operational manoeuvre group (OMG) that would track 10GTD’s progress and, when the opportunity presented itself, strike deep into NATO’s rear.