“Berta here, roger, go ahead with further, over.”
“Anton to Berta, Julius will…”
The next part of the message was lost as a huge force struck the Panther tank, rocking it like it weighed no more than a kilo.
“Berta to Anton, message lost, say again, over.”
“Anton to Berta, Julius will hold in position and cover. Friedrich will move up through Leningrad and engage flank, over.”
Uhlmann acknowledged his leader’s information, pausing only to draw the gunner’s attention to a flank shot on an IS-II.
‘Excellent, that should do it. Now, the artillery.’
“Berta to Nordpol, over.”
The slight correction brought the artillery of ‘Camerone’ closer to his tank line, creating a beaten zone to prevent the enemy from closing further, as well as causing casualties amongst those foremost.
Braun was getting vexed.
“Die, you bastard, die!”
For the eighth time the gunner put a 75mm AP round on target, and yet again it failed to have any apparent effect.
The IS-II seemed to have a charmed life.
“Again!”
The shell sped on its way, and struck, sticking hard in the gap between the turret and mantlet and jamming the gun in a raised position.
Another shell hit the nearside track, which came apart slowly, bringing the huge tank to a halt.
Braun encouraged the hull gunner to help the abandoning crew on their way with a burst or two of machine-gun fire.
An exploding shell flipped a T-34 onto its side, the crew popping the hatches and exiting slowly, injured and in shock. Braun’s machine-gunner had an easier target, and only two men made it safely to cover.
Seeking out another target, Braun spotted what looked like an ISU and ordered the gun laid on it. It burst into flames before he could fire, victim of one of 1st Company’s Panzer IV’s in Dagersheim.
This flanking fire drew the attention of a number of Soviet tanks, and the Panzer IV decided to retreat back into the town and relative safety.
Numerous enemy tanks lay smoking on the field. The legion tankers had certainly slowed up the advance, but the Soviets did not lack courage and still pressed on.
Their commanders got a grip, and the IS-II’s became a wedge, moving inexorably forward, shrugging off many hits.
The range was now down to four hundred and fifty metres and the situation was desperate, with legion casualties mounting.
The lead IS-II, driven forward hard by the commanding Major, seemed to stagger, speed falling away and slewing off the direct path. A second shower of sparks betrayed a further hit, a solid shot boring into its flank and bringing havoc to the men inside.
The next IS-II in line required only one shot, its wrecked engine stoking up into a roaring fire within seconds, the stunned crew baling out, only to fall victim to vengeful machine-gunners in the Legion tanks.
The damage was being done by two anti-tank guns positioned in the hedgehog.
Von Arnesen controlled the larger gun’s fire, and directed the 100mm anti-tank gun to shoot into the flanks of the heavy tanks. The other weapon, an ex-German 75mm Pak40 under the command of Lieutenant Durand, reached out at the T-34’s with equal success.
Some Soviet tanks turned to meet this new threat, exposing their sides to the tank line and paying the price for their stupidity. Others halted, trying to angle themselves to best effect against the two threats. Some lumbered on and some retreated.
Suddenly, the organised Soviet attack became a mess, one crew even quitting their intact vehicle and running back towards their lines.
The Soviet attack had quickly transformed from a serious threat to a shooting party, although the ‘game’ in question still packed a serious punch.
Taking advantage of the confusion, the Legion tanks repositioned, just in case, although the normally excellent Soviet artillery was proving strangely ineffective.
Uhlmann popped his head out of the hatch and gulped in the fresh air. The Hetzer beside him burned brightly. He hadn’t even noticed that it had died, so intense had been the fight.
His gunner made his seventh kill, putting a solid shot into a reversing T-34.
4th Company’s Sturmgeschutz vehicles moved up and over the hedgehog, finding a choice of suitable firing positions, and lashing out at the trapped Soviet armour.
Knocke’s experienced eye understood the field, and the fact that the enemy was on the verge of sheer panic.
However, mercy was not on his agenda.
He called the various elements, pushing them hard to finish the job, solely choosing to give his artillery the cease-fire order, and that only because his ammunition supplies were strung out for some kilometres and could not be up to the field in good time.
By the time he had finished with the artillery, the battlefield looked completely different. Everywhere Soviet tanks lay smashed or abandoned, burning or just silent.
About twenty or so tanks had made it back into the relative safety of the built-up area, but still men died, as the Sturmgeschutz and Panzers sent their shells into tender rear and side armour.
Shortly afterwards, Knocke ordered his panzers forward, following in the wake of the retreating tank units.
Moving up with his reconnaissance force in the lead, and an infantry group from the RDM’s 1st Battalion, plus the Brigade’s Assault Engineer force, the Legion Brigade found that the enemy force had melted away. It had left behind some wrecked vehicles, a few wounded men, and a few hastily laid booby traps.
Uhlmann organised the refuelling and reammunitioning of his tank companies, sought out the living and the dead, and began the process of putting his wounded regiment back together.
Elsewhere, other commanders, or in too many cases their deputies, began similar processes.
Knocke, his command Panther parked under the only stand of trees left in the park adjacent to Allgäuer Straβe, consulted a map in harness with Von Arnesen, combining their talents to extricate the Stuttgart garrison.
Uhlmann was still busy with his unit, and Lange was on his way to the rear with a twisted ankle and a nasty head wound, earned when leading an assault on Rostov-8.
Knocke’s mind posed a question.
‘Maybe I was wrong to have doubts about him?’
A radio transmission broke through his thoughts, bringing him quickly back to the problem in hand, and how to pass the 3rd Algerians through his positions.
The senior radio operator turned to report, but Knocke stopped him with a soft gesture.
“Thank you Lutz, I heard. Acknowledge and inform Commandant Uhlmann to direct them across the tank battlefield to pass south of ‘Leningrad’, where they will be met by elements of Julius and Otto with further instructions.
“Zu befehl, Standartenfuhrer,” and he returned to his radio before he caught his commander’s admonishing look.
Moving to the other radio operator, Knocke dictated a simple report to be passed to an expectant Lavalle.
Stuttgart had been successfully relieved.
With that simple message, ground-attack aircraft that had been husbanded for the secondary purpose, swept out over the surroundings kilometres, seeking out the Soviet artillery, which could yet inflict heavy casualties on the escaping Algerians.
Most Soviet artillery units deliberately misconstrued their orders and kept silent. Those that didn’t experienced a long enforced silence, as fighter-bombers visited themselves upon the ground forces with great effect.
Kowalski purchased his normal pastries and tendered up his cash.
The standard procedure was for him to say ‘Keep the change’, which indicated that the notes that seemed stuck together actually were sealed and had a message inserted between them.