“The problem with such a simple plan is that once the battalion started rolling, the Soviets would be able to figure out where it was going and what it intended to do,” Damato pointed out when Major Shell paused. “It won’t take them long to figure out what we’re up to, if they don’t already know.”
“What we can do,” Shell continued, “is confuse and deceive them as to where the main effort was going. To this end, a reinforced company team will create a diversion for the purpose of deceiving the Soviets as to what thrust constitutes our main effort.”
At this point, Shell took to staring at Bannon with an expression that told him that was where Team Yankee came in.
“Team Yankee, with three tank platoons, a mech infantry platoon and the battalion Scout Platoon attached will conduct a supporting attack on the battalion’s right,” Shell informed Bannon. “Your mission is to give the appearance that Team Yankee is the battalion’s main effort by driving hell-bent for leather for a highway bridge on the Saale. While the Soviets will drop the span before you get there, the area near the bridge offers several excellent crossing points. A threat to that area can’t be ignored. It’s hoped that your attack will draw the Soviets’ attention and reserves while the true main effort farther to the west is ignored. With the exception of where you’ll be going and that you’re to make as much noise as possible on your way there, you have a free hand as to how you go about accomplishing you mission.”
Shell stopped for a moment and took a step back, allowing Bannon to take a closer look at the map and considered the task he’d just been given. “Where do you anticipated we’ll be passing through the 2nd of the 94th?” was the first question he asked.
The major showed him a point about twenty kilometers south of the Saale. “What will I have in the way of fire support and close air support?” was his next question.
“There are several target areas that will be hit near the bridge by the Air Force at first light in order to support this ruse. In addition, the Team would be supported by the better part of an artillery battalion until one of the other battalions is in a position to began crossing the river. At that time Team Yankee will lose priority of fire.”
Bannon looked at the major, then the map, then back to the major, shaking his head as he did so. “You brought me all the way here to give me this nightmare?”
“What are friends for?” Major Shell quipped. “The colonel thought you’d be thrilled. After all, we’re giving you a chance to excel.”
At the moment Bannon’s reserve of humor was exhausted. He found nothing funny about what the Team was being asked to do. Once more, Team Yankee was going to be on its own, rolling into the unknown. Compared to what he and Team Yankee had been, and was being asked to do, he reasoned the Light Brigade had it easy. They’d only been asked to do the impossible once. Team Yankee was having to do it over and over again. “If you want to give me something, give me four tanks, a dozen trained infantry replacements, fuel, ammunition, and a four-day rest in the rear. Do you know what kind of shape the Team is in?”
Major Shell sensed Bannon’s change in mood. When he spoke, Bannon was able to tell he was now being deadly serious “Sean, I’m sure you saw the burned-out tracks along the battalion’s route of advance on your way here. We’re all in bad shape, with no prospect of getting any stronger any time soon. Our war reserves in Europe have been used up. It will be another month before the Guard and Reserve units get over here. If we wait for them, the war will be over. We either do it now with what we have, or we lose. It’s that simple.”
Bannon took to looking down at his boots as he considered what Major Shell had said before sighing. “I know, I know. Major Jordan went over the same thing with me before I came here. It’s just that since the war broke out, the Team has been getting the smelly end of the stick every time we turn around. Everyone, including me, is getting tired of putting his nuts out on the chopping block whenever a new mission comes up. So far we have been lucky, damned lucky. That luck isn’t going to last, though. One of these times the Russians are going to come down fast and cut us to pieces. Why can’t someone else get a chance to excel?”
“Sean, whether or not you know it, your Team has one hell of a reputation. When the Old Man was given this mission by brigade, Colonel Brunn specifically designated Team Yankee as the force to conduct the supporting attack. Everyone agreed that your Team was the one that could pull it off if anyone could. You’re it. You can moan and groan all you want, but in the end, you’ve got your orders.”
The rest of the meeting was conducted in a curt, businesslike manner. Shell provided additional details, answered Bannon’s questions, and asked if there were anything he needed that he could provide. Bannon decided to end the meeting on a lighter note, pointing out to Major Shell that in the future he could save the saddle soap and come up with easier missions. When he was finished in the TOC, Bannon sought out the battalion commander and talked with him for a few minutes about the condition of the Team and its new mission. There was no point going over arguments he’d already put forth with Shell. The decision was made, and he wasn’t going to get it changed no matter what he said or did. All Bannon could do now was give the commander a “Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full” and drive on. There was much to be done and not much time.
Before he returned to the Team, Bannon stopped by the assembly area the Team would occupy before attacking. He found the scout platoon already in position. The platoon leader, Sergeant First Class Flores, and Bannon discussed the mission and his role. He assigned Flores the task of selecting positions for the rest of the Team in the assembly area and instructed him to provide guides when it arrived. With that taken care of, he started back for Langen and Team Yankee.
The Team never made it to the assembly area. The 2nd of the 94th, in one last push, succeeded in smashing their way through the Soviet’s last defensive belt before destroying a half-hearted counterattack by an understrength Soviet tank battalion. This set in motion a change in mission, issued to Bannon over radio while the Team was still en route to its assembly area. Those orders required it to move immediately to a passage point where they were to be met by the Scout Platoon, which Major Shell had sent ahead, and an officer belonging to the 2nd of the 94th who would be on hand to affect and expedite Team Yankee’s passage through his unit and a marked lane through a Soviet minefield that had been breached earlier. Once through the minefield, Team Yankee would be on its own.
Lieutenant Weiss’ 1st Platoon was the first through the minefield. After giving his platoon the order to deploy into a wedge, he took to surveying the terrain to his front with the aid of his night vision goggles. Upon seeing no sign of the enemy, he glanced over to his right and watched as the Scout Platoon, which had been following his platoon through the minefield, begin to deploy. Like his platoon, it also was forming a wedge. The Mech Platoon was next, followed by Alpha 66. Before turning to his front, he watched as 66 pulled into a position between his platoon and the scouts, waiting to see if his Team Commander signaled him to slow down or change the direction in which his platoon was moving. Only when he was satisfied that all was in order did Murray Weiss leaned back in the cupola and allowed himself a brief moment to relax before focusing his entire attention back to the front and what lay ahead.