The A-l0s returned in strength at 0750. Their main target this time was the pontoon bridge itself. After having been stung by the 2S6 antiaircraft vehicles, they stood off at a distance, firing Maverick missiles against the bridge. Two missiles seemed to strike the bridge, and it began to lazily break apart. Portions of it began to move downriver with the current as the Soviet engineers set out in small boats in an attempt to repair the rapture and prevent the bridge from disintegrating.
At this point Belov received a message from the battalion to move his vehicles away from the bridgehead toward the deployment area near Aiterhofen. The column passed through the rained streets of Ainbrach. There was nothing but rabble. The road headed south through a small woods. Passing through it, they entered the remains of Schambach, a small town that had been caught up in the original fighting two days before. It was largely in rains. There had been little time to clean up, and the road in the village was littered with rabble and debris. This created a bit of a problem: The road heading westward was supposed to be in the center of town, but because the area had been so obliterated by artillery shelling, there was no evidence of the road. The PRP-3 scout vehicle had pressed ahead and found an opening in the rabble.
The battalion spilled off the road into a large pasture to the east of Aiterhofen. They had been informed that targets were likely to be in the Geiselhoring area, and the three batteries deployed accordingly. The battalion commander, Major Yefimov, and the battalion reconnaissance vehicle set off to find the "assault group" they were supposed to support. Assault group was a fancy name for a collection of tank and motor rifle troops that had been cobbled up from the remains of other units. The assault group was about the size of a motor rifle regiment, but did not have as much equipment. It was using the radio call sign Perina (feather-bed) and so was being called the Group Perina.
Group Perina was holding the western edge of the Straubing-Deggendorf bridgehead. The main direction of the Soviet attack was out of Deggendorf, south along the A92 autobahn. Group Perina was attempting to hold a large chunk of farm pasture running south of the city of Straubing. The NATO forces had no interest in fighting in the streets of Straubing itself, which were held by another improvised Soviet battle group. Attacking across open fields wasn't too appealing either. However, on the southern edge of Group Perina was a small cluster of low hills, no more than 400 meters high; this area had been the scene of most of the fighting. Group Perina had a battalion of motor rifle troops and some tanks holding the small village of Metting in the hills. They were requesting artillery support urgently.
The battalion was ready to begin firing about thirty-five minutes after having reached the fields. Captain Gonchar placed the battalion in a triangular formation, with each battery deployed in a simple line. This was bad if the enemy should decide on counterbattery fire, but the urgency of the moment demanded a simple fire plan. Normally the battalion would deploy its reconnaissance team forward to locate the objective precisely and to observe the impact of the battalion's fire. Since it would take the PRP-3 and its scout team more than forty-five minutes to reach the vicinity of Metting, the deputy battalion commander, Captain Gonchar, decided to rely on a team from the divisional artillery group that was already nearby. The target was Hill 394 to the west of Metting. The NATO forces had seized the hill from Group Perina the night before. The hill overlooked Metting. The NATO forces had a small number of armored vehicles and appeared to be preparing for an attack on the town itself.
The main problem facing the artillery battalion was the matter of ammunition. The 2S1 carries forty rounds of ammunition, but this would be expended rapidly if the fighting became serious. Everyone in the battalion had seen what had happened at the bridgehead; no one expected to see their twenty Ural 375 trucks anytime soon. The big Urals contained all the reserve ammunition for the battalion. They would also be a bit shorthanded. The 2S1 carries a four-man crew, but the trucks carry additional troops who perform loading and other chores. The weapon could be fired with four men, but it would slow their rate of fire.
Gonchar had already radioed back to the divisional artillery group, explaining their predicament. An officer there had promised to send up some ammunition from Deggendorf, but the roads were crowded, and the main attack elements were clamoring for more ammunition as well. Gonchar told the battery commanders to have their drivers assist in firing the howitzers. It was a risk, since enemy counterbattery fire might catch them just sitting there. But the vehicles were armored, and Gonchar decided against moving the batteries around unless there was evidence of enemy artillery.
Major Yefimov was in transit to the headquarters of Group Perina, and had left it to Gonchar's judgment how the initial artillery strike should be configured. In view of the situation, Gonchar decided to register the target with a round from each battery. There was no sense wasting precious ammunition. A single howitzer from each battery fired a registration round. Gonchar waited in his command vehicle for word from the forward observers. There was nothing but the squawking of radio jamming on the line, which continued for several minutes.
Finally, the radiomen managed to reestablish communication. "Lev, this is Belka… you are short 100 meters… repeat, you are short 100 meters… confirm, over."
"Belka, this is Lev, adjusting plus 100, repeat, plus 100, over."[57]
Gonchar had the computer operator calculate the necessary changes, which were passed on to the three firing batteries. One of the radio operators was assigned to stand on the roof of the command vehicle and use flag signals to tell the batteries to open fire. The target was an area of two hectares, and the firing norms called for 300 rounds of 122mm ammunition for adequate suppression. This meant 100 rounds from each battery, about 15 percent of the ammunition on hand. At his signal, the batteries began firing. The fire strike would take about five minutes.
The forward observers reported that the artillery strike appeared to be successful. The enemy attack had been halted, although there was still sporadic tank fire. Gonchar was pondering whether to move the battalion; enemy counterbattery radar could have located them.
He was interrupted by one of the radiomen in his vehicle. "Comrade Captain, it's Major Yefimov, he wishes to speak to you urgently!"
"Pavel, the attack at Metting is just a feint. The enemy is launching
a major attack against the center of our positions at Feldkirchen. Tanks, infantry vehicles… the works. We will need everything you have to break up the attack. Stand by for coordinates."
Viktor Belov was listening in on the radio net and signaled to his six artillery vehicles to prepare for a rapid fire engagement. They could expect frequent adjustments to keep pace with the momentum of the enemy attack. In moments, the fire control computer in Captain Gonchar's vehicle had prepared the firing solutions and the data was passed to the batteries.
The first salvo was fired in less than two minutes from the original receipt of target data. The battalion had been firing for about a minute when the first adjustment came in. The NATO attackers were obviously moving very fast. Belov was observing the firing from the outside of the command vehicle when he saw what looked like small airbursts explode over the battalion. He lunged for the rear door to try to get inside the protective armor of the command vehicle. Enemy counterbattery fire!
The American forces launching the attack against the Straubing bridgehead were well prepared to deal with the Soviet artillery. They had moved a Firefinder radar into position the night before. It was directing a battalion of M109A2 155mm howitzer vehicles to the west of Geiselhoring. The Americans expected the Soviets to use armored artillery vehicles. Normal artillery would not be very effective against these, so they used M836 SADARM ammunition instead. The SADARM projectiles contain two submunitions about the size of a soup can. Each submunition separates from the projectile and is slowed by a special parachute configured to allow the submunition to rotate in a spiral pattern. At the front of the submunition is a millimeter wave and infrared sensor, which looks for a large, metallic, and actively infrared target (like an artillery vehicle). When it finds the target, it fires an explosively formed slug capable of punching through the thin roof armor of most armored vehicles.