Bannon was livid! The pounding we gave them! “What kind of a bullshit answer is that?” he growled. “And what’s this we shit? Except for a few shots from the scouts, I only know of one team that engaged the hostile forces yesterday.”
In a flash, the battalion commander was on his feet and staring down at Bannon. With his index finger almost touching Bannon’s nose and his face contorted with rage, he laid into him. “That will be enough, Bannon. If you got a burr up your ass about something, you see me after this. We got a lot to cover and not a lot of time. Is that clear?”
Bannon had overstepped his bounds, lost his cool, and offended Colonel Reynolds and his staff. But he was in no mood to buckle under, either. The S-2 hadn’t given him a single piece of useful information that would contribute to the success of the upcoming mission. He wanted that information.
“Sir, with all due respect, the S-2 hasn’t told me squat about the enemy now facing me or those we will be when we move into the attack. I need to know what they are doing and where they are if we’re going to pull that attack off.”
“With all due respect, Captain,” Reynolds snapped, “I recommend that you shut up and pay attention.”
The battalion commander had spoken, and the conversation was terminated. Without waiting for any sign of acknowledgement, he turned around and resumed his seat, instructing the S-3 to proceed. With the odds being that the S-2 really didn’t know what was happening, Bannon let the matter drop.
In the tense silence that followed, Major Frank Jordan stood up and took his place in front of the map displaying the graphics for the battalion’s attack. Jordan was, In Bannon’s opinion, an outstanding officer and a professional by any measure. In the past he had always done all he could to make up for the shortcomings of the other battalion staff officers. By doing so, he became the real driving force behind the battalion. Colonel Reynolds might make the final decisions and do the pushing in the field, but it was Jordan who developed the battalion’s game plans and made all the pieces fit. He was also easy to work with, a quality that made the time Bannon spent with the 3rd of the 78th a bit more tolerable.
After waiting a moment until everyone was settled again, Jordan began his briefing. The organization of the battalion, or task force as a battalion with tanks and infantry companies combined is called, remained as it had been from the beginning. The friendly situation, or the mission of the units to the battalion’s left and right as well as the mission of the battalion’s higher headquarters, hadn’t changed from what the S-3 had briefed the previous night. “Our mission is as follows. Task Force 3-78 Mech will attack at 0400 hours Zulu 6 August to seize the town of Arnsdorf. On order, the task force will continue the attack to the north to seize the high ground south of Unterremmbach, northeast to the bridge at Ketten am Der Hanna, or west against objects yet to be determined.”
From there, Jordan went over the plan as to how the battalion would carry out its new mission step-by-step. Little had changed from what he’d told Bannon the night before. The main difference was that he tied together a lot of the loose ends and explained what would happen after the battalion got to Arnsdorf.
The operation would kick off with a relief in place that night by the divisional cavalry squadron starting at 2400 hours Zulu. Team Bravo, already out of the line, would be the first to move. Team Yankee would follow once it had been relieved in place. Next would be Charlie Company, then Delta Company. Once the battalion was closed up on Team Bravo, it would make its way north. The route the battalion would move along was not the most direct, as division wanted to deceive the Soviets as to the intent of the battalion and the point of attack for as long as possible. If all worked out as planned, they would arrive at the line of departure, or LD, at 0400 and roll straight into the attack without stopping.
The battalion would attack in columns of companies, with one company behind the other. When they approached the town of Kernsbach, they would leave the road and move cross-country. Just east of Kernsbach they would pass through the US front lines and begin to deploy. Team Bravo would move to the high ground northeast of Kernsbach and take up overwatch positions in the northern edge of the Staat Forest. From there it would cover Team Yankee’s advance. Major Jordan did not expect that Team Bravo would encounter any sizable enemy forces during this maneuver. If there were any enemy force, he pointed out as a subtle sop to Bannon, they would most likely be reconnaissance elements who would give ground quickly. Once Team Bravo moved into position, Team Yankee would be in the lead.
Team Yankee’s first task was the seizure of an intermediate objective called Objective LOG, which was located midway between the line of departure, Team Bravo’s location, and Arnsdorf. Once it had cleared Objective LOG, Charlie Company would turn west and seize the village of Vogalburg. Delta Company, the trail company, would close up behind Team Yankee once Charlie Company was out of the way. If all went without a hitch, Jordan explained, Team Yankee was to continue to move north to Hill 214, called Objective LINK, without stopping. Once on Hill 214, Team Yankee would take up positions to overwatch Delta Company, much the same as Team Bravo had done for Team Yankee before in order to cover the attack of Delta Company as they moved up and seized Arnsdorf. Once in Arnsdorf, the brigade commander would then decide where the battalion would strike. That decision would depend upon the situation at that time and the reactions of the Soviets to an attack into their flank.
As he listened, Bannon became mildly alarmed. There were aspects of the plan that made him uneasy. Chief amongst them was a total lack of information on enemy strength and disposition. From an operational stand point, the seizure of Vogalburg by Charlie Company appeared to be unnecessary and dangerous. They would be out there alone, unable to receive support from other battalion elements. The only thing that kept him from raising any objections over that issue was their presence in Vogalburg would protect the left flank of Team Yankee as it was moving to Hill 214.
The issue he did feel strong enough about to voice his concern was the lack of artillery preparation on Objective LOG. In his mind, that hill was just too good a position not to be occupied by the Soviets. When Jordan finished and asked for questions concerning the execution of the mission, Bannon recommended that a short but violent artillery prep, followed by smoke, be put on that objective. Both the S-3 and the colonel denied the request, stating that the element of surprise would be lost. “I expect the attack to be so fast and such a surprise to the Soviets that anyone there would be unable to react in time,” Reynolds pointed out. “Besides, Team Bravo will be in overwatch, ready to smother that hill with direct and indirect fire if it’s needed.
This statement caused Unger and Bannon to exchange glances. The temptation to press Reynolds on this matter, in the wake of his tiff with the S-2, caused Bannon to conclude that no matter what he said, someone was bound to tell him he was wrong. He therefore kept his peace. There’d be time later, he told himself, to get together with his own FIST and make sure he drafted up a backup plan just in case Bravo failed to cover them.
The S-3 was followed by the battalion S-4 who updated the gathered commanders and staff on the current status of supply, maintenance, supply routes, and a myriad of other details. As they were all covered in a written order they had been handed, Bannon tuned him out, turning his attention, instead, to the map sitting in his lap and going over, in his mind, the operation from beginning to end in an effort to make sure he understood all of the missions and tasks Team Yankee had to perform. To him, there is nothing worse than returning to the company after a battalion briefing to give his order only to be confronted by one of his platoon leaders who asked him a question he could not answer. As they were playing for keeps this time, Bannon wanted to make damn sure that he hadn’t miss a thing.