“Hello One this is One One, long message over.”
“One, send over.”
“One One, estimate that there is now a gun group at location previously given. My sub unit is going frontal in figs five… I suspect that there are enemy in the scrub area to the right rear of our present contact, in expectation of a flanking move by ourselves. I would suggest consideration be given to hooking callsign One Three around to approach that scrub from its own right rear. Mortar fire mission follows… roger so far, over?”
“One roger, over.”
Colin paused for three seconds to allow any other station with a message for the company commander to interrupt, but there was silence so he continued.
“One One, should we encounter enemy in the suspect location my Sunray Minor will call upon the mortars for the following fire mission… grid 4721, 7329… range five hundred… bearing, four three, three zero magnetic, low ridge with scrub… HE… eliminate. My Sunray Minor will give the word if enemy become evident… over?”
The company commander repeated the fire mission details back to Colin before warning him that he was indeed sending 3 Platoon wide right before signing off. 3 Platoons Warriors were summoned from the rear to carry the troops part way, as it would take too long for the platoon to hoof it that distance and still catch any enemy on the wrong foot. Pat Reed was informed and two of the 81mm mortars were set up.
During this time L/Cpl Orden had been controlling his men’s rate of fire, as had the gun group commanders.
Inside the copse, Nikoli and his remaining man waited for the grenades and mortar to cease before shifting left at a low crawl. He didn’t bother to check for signs of life from the gunner, there was not much left of him, and the irreplaceable weapon was bent in the middle.
Their new position was a similar trench in the middle of the copse with a depression in the ground nearby that would offer some protection for them on their way out.
Colin tagged onto the end of L/Sgt Tilly’s section and took a quick look around. His platoon were set, and he could see 3 Platoons Warriors moving slowly forwards to pick up their ‘Indians’. They would wait until gunfire from the assault masked their engine noises and then put their foot down, pick up the platoon and then turn 90’, going wide before curving around so as not to alert the enemy.
The desultory fire of the past few minutes leapt forwards in tempo. Sgt Osgood shot off smoke rounds as fast as he could. There was little in the way of a breeze, so he couldn’t just drop it upwind and let it drift across the desired area. Once the screen was in place Colin pressed his ‘send’ switch.
“Go, go, go!” and 2 and 3 Sections went into the assault.
The choking smoke, rounds whipping through the copse and M203 grenades dropping amongst the trees announced to the pair of Russian paratroopers that the NATO troops were coming. Using his radio he called up the Sergeant who was his second in command.
“Kambra Two, this is One.”
“Go ahead One.”
“Which way are they going, left or right?”
“I can’t tell, they dropped smoke all over.”
“Even to your front?”
“That’s a roger.”
Nikoli knew that the rounds for the light mortar had to be carried by the men and that made their supply limited, until they received a replen. They were used sparingly, so what he was being told made no sense.
“Kambra Two, it was a stray round, yes?”
“Negative… there goes another… they are thickening it up!”
It told Nikoli that they hadn’t taken the bait, he released the radio handset and spat in frustration.
“Mud’a!”
The Paratrooper by his side glanced at him in surprise, before resuming his efforts to see through the smoke.
“Kambra Two, this is One… leave an MG team to cover us, and pull out now. No buts or argument Sergeant, they are wise to us… see you at the RV.”
After a moment or twos pause, Nikoli received a peeved reply.
“Roger… withdrawing.” With a jerk of his head he indicated to his companion it was time to go and they left the trench, scrambling across the snowy carpet.
Oz stopped dropping smoke in the copse when the platoon was a hundred metres from the wood; it would hinder the business of fighting through the objective once they got there. At twenty-five metres out the copse was masking the men from the suspected danger points at the left and right rear, so he allowed the smoke screen to dissipate. As it became too dangerous for the gun groups to continue shooting the men in, the left hand group ceased fire and watched their front, whilst the right switched fire to the scrub to their own front.
Once clear of the copse Nikoli broke into a dead run, half afraid that high explosive rounds would be dropped behind the copse to stop such a move as this. However, the strip of trees was too narrow and therefore the danger to their own troops too great in mortaring this area.
He could tell that the Guards were in amongst the trees now by the shouting of the British NCOs, exercising control to ensure there were no blue on blues and no enemy was missed.
The flash of tracer caught the corner of his eye; it was red and therefore NATO. A GPMG gunner was walking bursts steadily across the low scrubby ridge where his Sergeant had left a gun group to cover himself and his surviving man from the copse. To his great anger his own gunner decided to take on the GPMG, and green soviet tracer arced back in reply, instead of staying quiet until they were needed.
The Russian PK was similar in virtually every manner to the GPMG, which is not surprising as all successful creations have their imitators. Having goaded a reaction from the enemy the Guards gunners put their heads down, and Oz initiated the fire mission.
Nikoli and his man had reached dead ground by the time 1 Platoon had satisfied themselves that the enemy had bugged out, and began to hurriedly dig in. An army generally knows the location of its own positions, and when one is overrun they will call in a fire mission as a matter of course, always providing they have the wherewithal to do it. Even so, the best time to retake a position is immediately after it has fallen, before the enemy can get organised. So the Guardsmen dug in, in preparation for a counter attack.
The mortars of 1CG and their mates in the 82nd had had a lot of practice of late, and their first rounds were 'on', and the next dozen plastered the low ridge.