"Soldier, where is your gas mask?"
"I lost it, Comrade Captain, when our BMP burned."
Probably a lie, thought Chazov. "Soldier, you know you must keep your chemical protective gear with you at all times!"
"Yes, exactly so, Comrade Captain!" Chazov didn't see any more point in berating the private. Maybe he did lose it in the BMP fire.
Chazov returned to his BMP-2. His two platoon commanders, Lieutenant Shepel and Lieutenant Khalkin, were there waiting for him along with his zampolit, Lieutenant Sudro.
"Well, gentlemen, how's Dudkov's bunch doing?"
Pavel Sudro, the senior of the trio, answered. "Well, they've lost all three platoon commanders. The highest ranking trooper left is Senior Sergeant Vasilev. You know, that guy you talked to on the radio. He's a real makaroniki.[65]
He's completely gone… useless. There's a young squad leader, a Ukrainian kid named Burak, who seems pretty decent. He took charge of the platoon that dismounted during the fighting and he kept them together. The other soldiers seem to have confidence in him. There's about fifty of them, so I gave some of the extras to the 1st and 2d platoons."
Chazov asked, "Can't we shift one of our sergeants over there?"
"Pyotr, we need our guys," Khalkin replied. "I really don't think we can spare anyone, especially with Dudkov's leftovers. A lot of those guys are really demoralized. Our sergeants are going to have to sit on them. Besides, there's no real hotshots in our platoons. You know what they're like. They're not a bad bunch, but taking care of a new platoon? No chance. We have our hands full as it is."
Chazov nodded in agreement. "Sorry, Pavel Aleksandrovich. You're stuck with them." Sudro shook his head.
"Now listen," said Chazov. "The brass from Front HQ are planning to gas those fucking nyemtsi tomorrow before we attack. They're going to dump a big load of insecticide on the town using a few salvos of Grads. They want to soften them up. This isn't going to be like fighting the dushmani with gas.[66]
The nyemtsi probably have gas masks. If we catch them by surprise, we might panic them.
That'll make our job easier. The main trick is to keep our troops calm. We'll be using Agent AC. It's not persistent. It's only lethal if you breathe it in. The gas boys tell us most of it will be gone by the time we reach the town. So we only need masks. You two, check out your platoons and make sure everybody has a mask,
I'll go with Sudro and check the situation with Dudkov's old bunch. Also check on the slime suits. We'll meet back here in an hour."
As Chazov had feared, a lot of Dudkov's troopers had thrown away their gas masks. Fortunately, one of the platoons had thrown most of the masks into the compartment behind the engine in their BMPs where spare Fagot missiles are carried. Out of the fifty-four troops, Chazov counted forty-four gas masks and only twenty OP-1 protective suits. The divisional chemical officers had told him earlier in the evening that he could expect no additional gear from them. All the units had the same problem. But he had scrounged a half-dozen masks and some slime suits from one of the divisional artillery units. Khalkin's and Shepel's platoons were in much better shape. Both had a full load of gas masks and about ninety percent of their OP-1 suits.
The three officers met near Chazov's BMP at about 2200 to plan the attack. The BMP has a chemical filtration system to protect troops inside from chemical weapons. Chazov decided that the squad without gas masks would remain inside the BMPs during the attack. The extra two squads of men from Dudkov's old outfit would ride to the dismount point up on the roof of the BMP, wearing their masks. It was risky, but better than leaving the extra troops behind. It was going to be a tough fight, and Chazov needed all the men he could get. He decided against having his troops don the OP-1 suits. There were not enough to go around, and he didn't want any trouble over that. The troops without the suits might act gun-shy of entering the town. Besides, the OP-1 suits would make the attack very difficult to carry out.
The OP-1 slime suit consists of a chemically impregnated set of long johns, which is worn under the normal uniform. On top of this is worn a coverall made of rubberized fabric. It's called a slime suit because when you decontaminate it with caustic soaps, it feels slimy to the touch. There are also clumsy rubber mittens for the hands and a hood to go over the helmet. The suit works well to keep out chemicals, but the outer rubber coverall is impenetrable to moisture, so sweat does not evaporate. This is acceptable for an hour or so if the troops are riding in vehicles. But strenuous activity can lead to rapid heat exhaustion and unconsciousness. Troops wearing the OP-1 suit would have a hard time carrying out an attack on foot on a hot day. The face masks would soon steam up, and the men would have a hard time seeing. Heat prostration would set in rapidly, and the soldiers would be useless in forty minutes.
It was risky either way. Wearing the suits would cause all sorts of problems. Not wearing the suits would cause problems only if the Germans retaliated with gas at some point during the fighting. Chazov hoped that his company would be warned by division HQ if such a retaliatory gas attack was expected, so he'd have time to get his troops into protective suits or into the BMPs. There's damn little certainty in war.
The attack on Geiselhoring was scheduled to begin at 0530. In the autumn, the area has early morning mists, which would help hide the attacking Soviet forces. The gas attack would not be preceded by normal artillery fire. The artillery officers hoped to catch a lot of German troops in their sleep, not wearing protective gear.
In Geiselhoring, at least, this was not to be. The first salvo of BM-21 Grad rocket projectiles began slamming into the town at 0515. Or at least near the town. Multiple rocket launchers like the BM-21 Grad have bad dispersion problems at long ranges, and this attack was no exception. Many of the rounds fell to the south of the town, where they killed a lot of the livestock abandoned when the civilians fled two days before. As soon as the first rounds struck Geiselhoring, Chazov started to move his company out of the woods and toward the town, five kilometers away. The plan called for the regiment's tanks to lead the attack, about 1,000 meters in front of the BMPs. There would be one tank company attached to each BMP battalion. If resistance was light, the BMPs were to proceed right up to the edge of town and dismount their troops. If any heavy antitank fire was encountered, the BMPs would dismount their troops 2,000 meters from the town, outside the range of the Milan antitank missiles. The tanks would suppress the Milan sites with gunfire, supported by the woodpeckers on the BMPs.
Major Barchuk's BMP battalion, to which Chazov's company belonged, had only two companies left. Chazov's company was the best equipped, so it was directed toward a built-up area at the southern edge of the town. Captain Savin's understrength company was to his left, aiming for the road on the southern edge of the town. An understrength company of six T-80M tanks was right in front of Chazov's company. He warned his troops to stay away from these tanks during the fighting. The T-80Ms were covered with reactive armor, and if the reactive armor went off near infantry, it could kill unprotected foot soldiers nearby (see Chapter 3).
To his right, Chazov could see the other battalions forming up for the attack. The area in front of the town consisted of fairly flat farm fields, and there was little cover for the infantry except for a few irrigation ditches. The main German positions were in the rubble at the edge of town. More troops could be expected inside. The day before, they had knocked out the four Leopard tanks supporting the infantry company in the town, but who knew what reinforcements the Germans had managed to scrape up the night before. Maybe they had even abandoned the town last night! Fat chance.
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