Isakov's platoon could not see the German tanks, but could hear them. There was a slight flash of light as the smoke mortars were fired. Isakov gave Varakin the signal to fire several flares. All that was evident was a billowing white cloud from the German smoke grenades. One flare dropped slowly to the ground, casting an eerie glare on the scene. From out of the mist came the ugly snouts of several tanks. One of Konchin's Metis crews fired at it, but lost the tank due to the lack of light. Varakin tried firing more flares, but it was too late. The missile impacted harmlessly on the ground. Konchin's fire provoked the German tanks to begin firing. A Leopard 2 had spotted Konchin's missile team and obliterated it with a single 120mm high-explosive round. The German tanks alternated between cannon fire and machine guns as they charged forward. Another Metis team fired at a Leopard 1 tank that had outrun the smoke cover. It made a solid hit on the hull, stopping the tank. But again, the missile launch gave away the team's position and it was hammered mercilessly by tank fire.
The platoon had lost two of its three ATGMs in the first minute of fighting, and the German tanks were still 800 meters away. The RPG-22s were useless at more than 150 meters, especially at night. The German fire seemed to be directed mainly at Michaelsbuch, but three tanks had peeled off and were heading for Hettenkofen. All three were out of the smoke cloud and completely exposed, and the last surviving Metis team could see them clearly as long as the flares lasted. The missile spurted out of its tube and strack the Leopard squarely on the turret. It was a Leopard 2, however, and the puny nnssile warhead was ineffective against the thickskinned beast. The Leopard 2 swung its turret toward its tormentor and snuffed out the last Metis team with a single fiery blast. As the German tanks continued to fire, the buildings where Isakov's troops were crouched were relentlessly pulverized. Casualties were mounting fest. The lightly armed infantry was unable to respond until the tanks reached point-blank range, if any of them survived that long!
The tanks reached the edge of the village in another minute, firing all the way with machine guns. Three RPG-22s were fired, one hitting. It did little damage, and the machine gun fire from the tanks intensified. The tanks seemed to be probing for a location to pass through the village. Eventually they headed for the opening between Hettenkofen and Michaelsbuch. Varakin was at the southern edge of the perimeter where the German tanks were passing through. He got a clear shot against the rear of a Leopard, setting its engine on fire. But the blast from the rocket gave away his position, and he was cut down by a Marder infantry transporter that had been following behind. The German infantry transporters then disgorged their foot soldiers, who charged into the village. Isakov was in the center of the perimeter. He fired his RPG-22 at one of the infantry carriers, without success. The Marder turned its 20mm cannon on the building he was in. One round clipped away a large chunk of masonry, which smacked Isakov in the head.
He was knocked unconscious.
Lieutenant Misha Isakov regained consciousness about twenty minutes later. He could feel the sticky traces of blood congealed on bis forehead. Standing in front of him was a German soldier with an assault rifle pointed squarely at his face. The German motioned him to move over to the wall. Sitting there were three members of his platoon, including Bohdan Donchuk of the 2d Squad. For Misha Isakov, the war was over.
The Soviets have a wide range of special forces, many of which would be used in any war with NATO. The fictional scenario takes a look at two of these forces, the spetsnaz and the heliborne air assault units. Of the two, the spetsnaz are the more controversial. Elite forces are an enduring source of fascination, even though their actual combat records are often dubious. In an age of computerized precision-guided munitions, it's satisfying to think that a well-trained band of brave men can change the course of wars.
Spetsnaz comes from the Russian words spetsialnoye naznacheniye, which roughly translated means "special purpose." Spetsnaz are the special operations forces of the Soviet GRU. The Soviet Union, like the U.S., has two intelligence agencies, the GRU, which corresponds to the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and the KGB, which corresponds to the CIA and FBI all wrapped up in one. The GRU is a part of the military establishment, while the KGB is separate from both the Communist party and the Soviet Army, although deeply involved with both. The spetsnaz forces are intended to bridge the gap between conventional intelligencegathering personnel such as spies, and tactical reconnaissance units attached to tank and motor rifle divisions.
The exploits of spetsnaz have been trumpeted by Viktor Suvorov, a former Soviet GRU officer who defected to the West in the late 1970s. Until Suvorov began writing his books on the subject, little attention was paid (publicly at least) to Soviet special forces aside from rather obvious elite units like the Soviet airborne divisions. Certainly, there has always been some appreciation for Soviet partisan warfare and unconventional tactics, but not for the extensive types of special operations portrayed by Suvorov. He luridly depicts spetsnaz as a bunch of highly trained professional, multilingual sportsmen-killers, with a bent for assassination and other mayhem. He has elevated spetsnaz to mythical proportions, suggesting that they will be used in missions to eliminate VIPs within NATO in the event of war, as well as to carry out more conventional commando-style operations against key NATO facilities. However, there is a lack of evidence as to their real importance, and many contradictions can be found in his claims about their activities.
Suvorov has suggested that the Soviet Army would have up to 30,000 spetsnaz troops available for operations in the event of war with NATO. These consist of spetsnaz brigades at front level, spetsnaz companies at army level, and various types of naval spetsnaz forces. In judging the quality of special forces, there is always a conflict between size and elite training. The larger the force, the more likely that its recruitment and training will be less demanding. While no one would deny the quality of the U.S. Marines as a fighting force, they do not compare in training and specialized skills to a unit like the Navy's SEALs. Likewise, British Paras are among the world's finest light infantry, but they are not equivalent to the SAS (Special Air Service), nor are they intended to be. The type of force described by Suvorov is an elite force, but its sheer size suggests that it is more like the U.S. Army's LRRPs (long-range recon patrols) or Rangers, rather than a Delta Force, and probably not even that well trained.
It must be remembered that spetsnaz, like most of the rest of the Soviet armed forces, is still largely a conscript force. In a spetsnaz company like the one depicted in the fictional scenario, fifteen of the twenty men are conscripts, three are conscript sergeants, and only two are professional soldiers. The scenario presumes that the Soviets will gradually upgrade spetsnaz training by including professional praporshchiks (warrant officers) rather than conscript sergeants. But it's worth noting that in the late 1980s 90 percent of spetsnaz tactical units were made up of eighteento twentyyear-old conscript soldiers with less than two years of military training. This does not imply the sort of James Bond characters that many people in the West now associate with the word spetsnaz.