"Comrade Lieutenant, Warrant Officer Varakin is over in Stephans-posching with three more men. There are some German troops in the town. It looks like some sort of engineer unit with bridging equipment on trucks. Varakin said he thinks they are only staying there for the evening."
Isakov told Gudkov to sent a runner to Varakin and tell him of the radio problems. If the problems continued, Varakin should send a runner with a report to Uttenkofen. Isakov got back into the truck and drove back down to Uttenkofen. He wished his men had not been so methodical in ripping down phone lines. It might have been possible to use them to communicate with his scattered scouts.
At about 0815, a tan German taxi began approaching Uttenkofen. Konchin's squad prepared to ambush it if necessary, but guessed it was a runner from the 1st Squad. It was Varakin himself.
"Good morning, Comrade Lieutenant!" Varakin seldom used the prescribed military greetings, but he and Misha Isakov were good friends. "The Germans have left Stephans-posching. But we will have to keep an eye out there. They seem to use that road pretty regularly. There are still some Germans in the town, mostly around a hotel and filling station. I've positioned one team in the church belfry, which looks out over the Danube River ferry. I've left another at the other end of the town, and one near the ferry. I've told them to stay under cover and keep their eyes open. I'm sorry I had to drive up here myself, but I was the only one who knew how to drive except for Gudkov."
Isakov nodded. "Nice car you picked out."
He turned to the map and pointed out the disposition of the squads. The unit was very scattered — too much so if there was any fighting to be done. The two men talked over plans to hold this sector while the airlift brought in troops later in the day. The drop area seemed suitable. There was very little evidence of German forces here. But things might change if the Soviet tank forces on the other side of the river began approaching. The fields would provide little defense against tanks. But it would probably be possible to hold a narrow bridgehead at the river itself from the small towns dotting the riverbank.
To get around the radio jamming, Isakov instructed one of the radiomen to use the R-350 burst-communication set to reach the HQ. A message came through about five minutes later indicating that someone from HQ would be visiting Uttenkofen in a short time to determine the situation. They requested information on whether it was safe to pass through Stephans-posching. Isakov had the cipher operator reply that there were civilians present, but no military.
About thirty minutes later, a small postal truck appeared on the road from Steinkirchen, and the company zampolit, Captain Gelman, stepped out. He was brought into the small house where Isakov had set up shop. "Good morning, Misha!"
"Good morning, Comrade Captain." Isakov was more polite in his response. He was always careful with the "organs," as they called the "Organs of State Security." Zampolits were often a contact point between smaller army units and the KGB.
Isakov explained the situation of his unit. So far, so good. Very few signs of heavy enemy military presence. Considerable evidence of enemy activity all around the area. Heavy artillery firing, jet aircraft, and truck traffic on the autobahn. The area over the river seemed to be the scene of very heavy fighting, judging from the smoke and sound. Gelman indicated that the situation in the other sectors also seemed favorable. The only problem area was the main town of Strasskirchen, a large town that sat astride Route 8 at the northwest edge of the area. There was a lot of military traffic through the town, MPs to control traffic, and some permanent military presence. However, Irlbach, near the river, was quiet. Gelman indicated that Major Danilov was recommending that the air assault proceed on the basis of the scouting, but they would have to wait until later in the afternoon for the final verdict. The Germans might move more equipment into the area later in the day.
Aside from a few German military trucks passing through Stephans-posching, the day was mostly quiet. The scouts near the A92 autobahn reported continuing military traffic-mostly trucks, but an occasional tank column. Most were moving toward Deggendorf, where a major fight seemed to be brewing. In the early afternoon, a German Bo-105 scout helicopter appeared in the area, snooping around, but it continued on without incident. Isakov pulled back some of the scout teams from the southeast edge of the area, and deployed Konchin's missile teams to cover the A92 autobahn exit near Michaelsbuch and the approach from Deggendorf on Route 11.
Trouble showed up at about 1430, when a German artillery unit pulled off Route 8 and began setting up shop outside the Stephans-posching train station. The enemy unit consisted of a battery of M109 self-propelled howitzers, a command vehicle, and a few trucks. At 1500, the company headquarters radioed Isakov to get a final situation report before the decision was made to proceed with the assault. Isakov mentioned the artillery. Major Danilov recommended that he keep an eye on it. Once they fired, they would probably move, to avoid counterbattery fire. If the artillery remained in the area, Isakov's platoon would have to eliminate them before the helicopters arrived at 1600. They would have to act quickly, and probably would have surprise in their favor at least.
Isakov drove into Stephans-posching in the Unimog truck. He assumed the Germans would treat the truck as a "friendly." Isakov collected four more riflemen to add to the two in the back, along with Warrant Officer Varakin. Gudkov was instructed to capture any remaining German civilians in the area over the next few minutes, in anticipation of the helicopter assault at 1600. The artillery battery was located in a small clearing on either side of the road. The building hid the road the Soviets were traveling on from their view. The Germans had been very careless. Scanning the area with his binoculars, Isakov could see no evidence of a perimeter defense. His plan was to drive to the edge of the railroad station buildings and dismount the squad there, where a clearer view would be possible. His squad would be considerably outnumbered, but a lot of the artillerymen would probably not be carrying their small arms.
The Unimog bumped along down the road. It was a little more than a kilometer from Stephans-posching to the railroad station, but the drive seemed much longer. After crossing the railroad tracks, Varakin pulled the truck into a small parking lot, and the troops disembarked. Isakov entered a switching building that overlooked the enemy artillery unit, and went upstairs. The artillery battery was scattered in a field unloading ammunition and preparing to fire. They were about fifty meters from the road at the closest. If they tried to attack the artillery on foot, they would have to cover a fair amount of open field, and they'd probably be spotted by the Germans. Isakov and Varakin decided instead to drive the squad out to the side of the German position. Four of the men were told to get their RPG-22s ready by pulling out the tube and cocking them. As they got off the truck, they were to fire at the self-propelled howitzers. The rest of the squad would use their assault rifles and charge the German positions.
Varakin was driving the truck as they pulled out into the open. The Germans seemed to be paying no attention at all. They probably did not suspect that any Soviet troops were operating on this side of the river, and so had not taken even elementary defense precautions.
"Misha, what do you say we try to get closer?" asked Varakin.