When they had finished their meal, Jordan unfolded a map and laid it out on the ground before them. Easing into a prone position, Bannon studied the map as the major went over the information he had received from brigade. The Langen Gap was actually a small valley running from east to west, connecting the main valley the battalion was in and the valley to the east where the Soviet tank regiment was located. The town of Langen itself was in the center of the gap with high ground to the north and south.
After studying the terrain, they discussed the various ways the Soviets could come. Both were in agreement they probably would not try sneaking through the woods again. They had already tried that and failed miserably. Odds were, they would attempt to bull through this time using a high speed avenue of approach that would allow them to fully deploy before making contact, hence Division’s belief that they would come through the Langen Gap, a conclusion both Jordan and Bannon concurred with. If the Soviets did come through the gap with the intent of maintaining the momentum of their attack, they would be forced to veer north or south of Langen. Thus, the village provided a natural strongpoint and breakwater.
In the gap itself there were few natural positions, other than Langen, from which the battalion could defend. Even if he could, Jordan made it clear he had no intention of putting the whole battalion in the town of Langen or anywhere in the middle of the valley leading up to it. Right off it was decided that Delta Company, along with the remnants of Charlie Company, would be the only company given the mission of hunkering down in Langen and turning it into a strongpoint. It was deciding where the two teams, Bravo and Yankee, would go that was difficult. There were very few options. If they were deployed on the eastern slopes of the high ground flanking the valley, they would be out on their own and exposed to Soviet artillery and supporting fires. A team deployed on the southern slope of Hill 358 would be masked by the town of Langen and be at too great a range to be of much use.
After some discussion, Major Jordan decided that they would go with a reverse slope defense. It would be risky, but there seemed to be little choice. It was the only way they could protect the force and deploy everyone where the entire battalion would be mutually supporting. Team Yankee, with its eight tanks, the Mech Platoon, and two ITVs would deploy southeast of Langen on the high ground facing northwest. Team Bravo, with four tanks, a mech platoon, and two ITVs would deploy northeast of Langen facing southwest. Two ITVs would be positioned on the lower slopes of Hill 358 facing southeast and Delta Company would hold the eastern portion of Langen facing east. In this way, as the enemy force approached Langen and turned either north or south, it would be hit in both flanks. Jordan anticipated that the Soviets would turn south, which is why Team Yankee and the majority of the tanks went there. Just in case they turned north, Bannon was given a contingency mission of being prepared to attack into their flank and rear.
In addition to normal artillery fire support, the brigade was allocating several artillery-delivered scatterable minefields to the battalion. These artillery-delivered minefields, known as FASCAM, consisted of submunitions, in this case mines that were released from an artillery projectile that opened up like a clamshell just above the ground. As soon as the mines landed, they armed themselves automatically. While not powerful enough in most cases to kill a tank, the mines could easily immobilize them by destroying the tracks, slow others that were following, and sow confusion. The plan was to save the scatterable mines until Major Jordan knew for certain where the Soviets were going and were about to be engaged by the battalion’s massed direct fire weapons.
The battalion’s scout platoon with its five Bradleys would be deployed well forward as a combat outpost line. In addition to warning of an approaching attack, its mission was to engage the Soviets early, stripping away any security elements they might have in front and causing the main body to deploy early. When the Soviet return fire became too intense, they would pull north into the woods and let the Soviets pass. If, in the opinion of the scout platoon leader, his scout tracks could take potshots at the Soviets after they had bypassed his position, they would come back out of hiding and snipe at the Soviet flank and rear.
After dividing the battalion’s area of operation up into kill zones and doing some initial plotting of artillery, Major Jordan ordered Bannon to recon Team Yankee’s position. He was going to contact the other commanders and have them meet him in Langen. There he would issue his instructions to them and allow them to recon the area. “I want the battalion to be in place and ready by 1800 hours,” Jordan concluded as he was preparing to leave. “Do you think you and the other company commanders can manage that without much trouble?”
“We’ll be ready,” Bannon replied.
“We better be, or I’ll go down in history as having had the briefest tenure of command for 3rd of the 78th,” Jordan muttered as he gathered up his map.
“Don’t worry, sir. The Team will have your back.”
Pausing, Jordan regarded Bannon for a moment before giving him a wary smile and a nod. “I’m counting on that.”
By 1700 hours all platoons were settled in and preparing their positions. Although the brigade could not provide the battalion with replacements to make good its losses in men and equipment, they sent something to them almost as good. A company of engineers with heavy equipment arrived in Langen in the early afternoon. Major Jordan wasted little time in putting them to work digging positions for the two teams and an antitank ditch running from Langen to the northeast. Before the engineers even began the anti-tank ditch, the commanding officer of the engineer company told Major Jordan the chances of finishing it were almost nil. This didn’t dissuade the major. In his mind, the presence of even a partially completed ditch might be enough to cause the Soviets to shy away from the northern route and, instead, turn south, where he wanted them to go. In addition to the digging, a squad of engineers assisted Delta Company in setting up a protective minefield in front of Langen.
While Delta and the engineers were busy preparing Langer, Team Yankee deployed along the tree line south of Langen facing the village. Provided the Soviets obliged them, they would be facing the Soviet’s left flank as they moved to the southwest. Bannon placed the Mech Platoon on the right at the northern tip of the hill the Team was occupying. From there they would be able to protect the Team’s blind side and prevent any dismounted infantry the Soviets might have with them from rolling up the Team’s right flank. Next in line was Uleski with Alpha 55, situated between the Mech Platoon and the 2nd Platoon. The 2nd Platoon was to his left. Bannon placed Alpha 66 between the 2nd Platoon and put 3rd Platoon. Garger in Alpha 31 tank was on the Team’s far left.
During the afternoon, Major Jordan had done some reshuffling of the battalion’s task organization based on his recon. The two ITVs Team Yankee was supposed to have were taken away. Instead, they were placed on Hill 358. The major felt the ITVs would have a better field of fire from there. Because the battalion fire-support officer had been killed when the command group had been hit, Lieutenant Plesset, Team Yankee’s FIST, was taken by Major Jordan to fill in as the battalion’s FSO. As in the first battle, Bannon would have to go through battalion to request artillery. This time, however, it would not be as difficult since the number of options open to the Team and the Soviets were limited and all were well covered with preplanned target reference points.