The division’s fifty-four 2S-3s, twenty-eight ton, armoured 152mm self-propelled artillery moved into position closer to the Inner German Border so that their eighteen-kilometre range could provide the necessary support for 10 GTD’s assault in the morning. The crew of four had settled down for the night in the fighting compartment, within its rotary turret, hoping to catch a couple of hours’ sleep before they started their preparations at two in the morning. Once the firing started, two additional gunners would join them, feeding rounds through the two hatches at the rear. 744th Guards Artillery Regiment was split up into three battalions of eighteen each: one north of Beendorf, one south of Waldeck, and the third had moved to the west of Marienborn. There was no British military train at Marienborn today, swapping an East German locomotive for a West German one, or vice versa, after their trip between West Berlin and Braunschweig. The trains had been suspended the day before, further increasing the tension between the Warsaw Pact and the West. The regiment’s BM-21s were also deploying ready for the early start the next day. 12th Guards Tank Division, one of 3rd Shock Army’s four divisions, had also sent their fifty-four 2S3s forward, ready to support the attack, along with eighteen BM-21 missile launchers, capable of firing a barrage of 720 122mm missiles, swamping its target over an area of one square kilometre.
Along with a battalion of 160mm mortars from the artillery reserve of the Western TVD, a fighter-bomber division and a ground-attack fighter division, it didn’t bode well for the British 4th Armoured Division.
Chapter 29
The RKZ-1 radiosonde, attached to a balloon, was released by the Scud Brigade’s meteorological section, an operator tracking its progress with the RPS-1 Bread Bin radar. The operator was sitting in the back of a 9S436 Zil-131 box-body truck, confirming the information was being transmitted. The system also carried out the requisite computations that would be necessary to programme the missiles with the appropriate guidance corrections. Wind could have a serious, detrimental effect on the missiles’ trajectory. The operator was satisfied with the feed; the data would soon be ready to be transmitted to the SCUD TELs.
There was now a buzz of activity around the SCUD launchers as the missile erection process began. It was less than an hour before the missiles would be launched onto their targets in the West. But there were still checks that needed to be completed before they were ready to be fired off. The crew, now dressed in their NBC suits, looked like ghouls in the barely perceivable light of the early morning. The Soviet Army’s nuclear, biological and chemical suit was a heavy, rubberised one-size-fits-all with elasticated sleeves and hood. It was hot, heavy and uncomfortable. The GP-5 mask, like a large swimming cap that extended over the face, with small, round glass eyepieces and a large canister-shaped filter at the end by the mouthpiece, was also worn. It wasn’t because they suspected a chemical attack by NATO missiles or aircraft, or even because the warhead could have contained a chemical or biological compound, but because of the toxicity of the fuel used with the SCUD’s R-17 missile.
The missile of Launcher-one slowly rose, lifted up on its cradle, projecting a look and feel of menace around it. It took three minutes before it was fully vertical, in its final launch configuration. There was a slight clunk as the missile cradle returned to its horizontal position, the tip connecting with the roof of the cab. The crew lowered the rear stabiliser jacks, large circular pads at the base ensuring the stability of the vehicle’s launch platform. Other crew members, led by one of the two Praporshchik, a warrant officer rank, looked over the missiles’ batteries and electrics, and pumped starter fuel to the engine turbo-prop. The Praporshchik, responsible for aiming the missile, adjusted the artillery panoramic sight fitted close to the access port, ensuring the missile was properly aligned. For the projectile to accurately hit its intended target, a precise survey and aiming was essential. Once the warrant officer was satisfied that his task was finished, he informed his commander, who in turn informed brigade command that all the checks were complete and they were ready for the final launch preparations.
The liutenant looked up at the missile that towered above him, the warhead over eleven metres high. It stood there, dominant, waiting for the ignition sequence that would set it off on its journey to cause mayhem and death. With a range of 300 kilometres, the warhead could be launched at numerous NATO targets, from communication centres and airfields to what the Soviets believed were storage sites for NATO nuclear warheads. As part of the 3rd Shock Army, the targets to strike would be specifically in support of the initial advance by the 10th and 7th Guards Tank Divisions. The lieutenant in command of the TEL checked in with brigade one more time, confirming that they were now at Readiness Level 1. The two Praporshchiks joined their commander in the combat cabin; the rest of the crew sat in the main vehicle cab. All they could do now was wait for the call that would spring them into action. Close by, three other SCUD-Bs sat, immobile, waiting for the command to launch. Half a kilometre away, four more SCUD-Bs sat lingering, and 400 metres in the opposite direction, four more. The Warsaw Pact had nearly 600 SCUD-B TELs. Nearly a quarter of those would be targeting the NATO forces opposite, across the Inner German Border, this morning. It was three thirty in the morning of 5 July 1984.
A BRDM-2 and BMP-1 negotiated the tracks through the Lappwald Forest. Further south and further north, moving parallel, a second and third group made their way wast through the forest. Behind the central column, a BRM-1K reconnaissance vehicle followed close behind, with the motorcycles following up at the rear. Although the motorcycle platoon of the regiment’s reconnaissance company would be better able to weave in and out of the forest, the noise they made was very distinctive, and stealth was important. Although thirty tanks were creeping through the forest, the trees were able to dampen much of the low growls of the engines as they moved through at a crawl.
The reconnaissance company of the 62nd Tank Regiment of 10th Guards Tank Division was leading the way. Five hundred metres behind the recce company, Lieutenant Colonel Trusov’s tank battalion was following. Trusov’s T-80BK command tank was leading one of the platoons of his first company. Although the battalion commander, he preferred to lead his men from the front, not only setting an example but also ensuring that his lead company of ten T-80s got to the right position for when they launched the attack. They were already across the Inner German Border, north-east of Helmstedt, probably no more than three kilometres from the town itself.