The lieutenant saw a likely spot but before he could indicate it to his men he was forced to roll to one side to avoid being crushed.
Through his sight Bill observed a BMP-3 almost run over the form he had already tagged as being a leader, if not an officer. He let the vehicle pass and lay quite relaxed, as the leader of the group Stef had directed him to send a rifle squad out of cover and across open ground. These men were not yet of any great importance to him and he let them go on unhindered, and it was only after they had dropped into fresh cover that he pulled the rifle butt into his shoulder just that little bit more firmly. The Sagger crews came next, although not both at once and he allowed the first trio to leave cover, burdened down with sights, launcher and a pair of missiles they moved much more slowly than the infantry squad had. Once they were twenty feet from the bank the second crew hauled themselves into view. The second crew was twelve feet from the bank before Bill fired; he worked the bolt, aimed, fired again and again worked the bolt. Six shots rang out with barely over two seconds between each as he first killed the rearmost man before working forwards. The first Sagger crew had still been on their feet, oblivious to the danger they were in and unaware that the second crew were lying sprawled in the mud behind them when Bill shot their gunner. A cry of alarm alerted the leading man who had looked back to see one of his mates face down and the other with a look of surprise on his face. That surprise was turned briefly to shock when Bill’s fifth round made a small hole in his helmet, just level with his forehead. The leading man did not have time to begin the dive for the ground that his brain had told him was vital for survival, Bill’s last round punched through his sternum and carried on through his chest to exit out the small of his back.
It was with horrified awe that 1CG’s commanding officer regarded the sniper, but the staff sergeant was oblivious of the attention, focused as he was on his next target.
Aghast at the way his anti-tank crews had been killed to a man it took the lieutenant a moment to collect his thoughts and decide on his next course of action. His most effective weapons were lying in the mud between himself and the next position he had chosen, and clearly those weapons must be recovered. Acutely aware of the attention of an enemy sniper on this piece of the battlefield he raised his head above the level of the bank for one brief look. No shot rang out and he was able to judge that the wind had been in his face, so although he could not throw a smoke grenade as far as the first crews launcher, someone in the infantry squad across the way, could.
Spread out along the bank, lying on their stomachs, were the men he had designated the role of ammunition carriers, but even though the nearest was only four feet behind him, when he looked back at them he had to shout, loudly, to attract their attention as they seemed reluctant to make eye contact with him.
“Men, make sure you’ve a hand free because we are going to work in pairs.”
Glances were exchanged amongst the men but the young officer continued unabated.
“We are going to have the cover of smoke, and as soon as it has reached this bank you all follow me. When we get to the first sight unit or launcher, the nearest two men grab it and carry on running. We will do the same for all the sights and launchers, ok?”
After a moment’s hesitation one of the men spoke what was on all of their minds.
“Well actually sir, that sniper is a bit bloody deadly…is this really a good idea?”
The officer huffed in exasperation.
“I just said that we would have smoke cover, didn’t I? He can’t shoot what he can’t see, so get set now because we go when the smoke arrives.”
He gave quick instructions to the NCO in charge of the rifle squad by radio and then readied himself, his fingers dug into the soft earth for leverage and one knee drawn up as he stared fixedly up at the lip of the bank.
Bill had lain for long moments with his sights on the exact spot that he had last seen the leader/officer, his breathing was controlled as Stef told him a smoke grenade had gone off upwind of his aiming point. When the smoke appeared at the edge of his sight picture he took up the first pressure on the trigger and allowed his last breath to slowly escape. He was at the bottom of the breathing cycle as the man-made fog flowed across the bank, and he gentle squeezed, firing without seeing a target and absorbing the kick of the butt into his shoulder. Ejecting the spent case and jacking a fresh round into the chamber he then remained perfectly still, allowing the sights to settle back onto the same spot and waited.
It took over a minute for the grenades smoke to clear, drifting eastwards with the breeze it thinned first to reveal the first two crews with all their equipment, still lying in the mud where they had last been seen. As the smoke cleared downwind it revealed a single motionless figure slumped across the banks lip. Bill lay there for several minutes in the aim, but none of the ammunition bearers appeared.
Pat was not witness to the demise of the Czech officer, the first enemy vehicles had reached 3 Company’s forward positions and were driving through 7 Platoon and 8 Platoon apparently unchallenged. The occupants of the trenches were out of sight, awaiting the enemy fighting vehicles presenting their most vulnerable side.
On the reverse slope a fire mission from 3 Companies CP was received by 2 Section, Mortar Platoon, and was quickly converted into a language the No. 1s understood.
“Charge three, elevation eleven zero zero, bearing seventeen thirty…two rounds smoke, normal fire!”
A T-90, Four BTR-60s, two BTR-70s and a pair of T-72 tanks penetrated the platoon positions, driving through toward the ground held by the in-depth platoon. From the firing ports along the sides of the BTRs the troops inside the vehicles kept up a sustained barrage of small arms fire, but there were no NATO troops visible.
Although Pat and the company commanders had covered this eventuality at the O Groups, he still felt uneasy watching enemy fighting vehicles traversing his lines uncontested.
The smoke began to land beyond the platoon positions; it was not a thick screen, not as thick as the screen used earlier to cause the pile-up at the sunken lane, but enough to provide some cover to 7 and 8 Platoons 94mm men.
Shrewd US Paratroopers and British Guardsmen threw smoke, adding a little more cover before they stood up in their firing bays, exposing their backs to the second line of Soviet vehicles.
Sixteen men stood and lifted the bulky weapons onto their shoulders, two were cut down almost immediately by automatic fire coming from firing ports in the BTRs rear troop doors, and one was decapitated by a 23mm cannon shell from the approaching second line.
It had proved difficult for the section and platoon commanders to coordinate and as such there was some duplication effort.
A single 94mm anti-tank round was quite able to destroy a BTR, as indeed the manufacturers claimed it was all that was required to kill any modern main battle tank, but experience had taught the men who used the weapons to fire in salvo’s of at least two rockets be sure of knocking out even a T-72.