To have bragged about their deeds would have seemed out of place, not right somehow.
But the kill rings gave the crews a chance to show what they had done without overtly blowing their own horn. Avery suddenly found himself wanting to go into combat. This revelation shocked him because the first reason that popped into his mind when he thought about it was not to defend freedom or to do his duty in the defense of his country. The reason that drove this desire was a longing to belong to the Team as an equal, to be accepted. Avery wanted kill rings too.
The battalion seemed to have a knack for screwing up breakfasts. On the morning of the fourth day in the assembly area, the eighth of the war, a messenger from battalion came up to the Team with word that there would be an operations order given at battalion headquarters in an hour. All the platoon leaders, the XO, the first sergeant, and the Team's new FIST chief, a second lieutenant by the name of Plesset, were having a working breakfast with Bannon. After finishing green eggs that were once warm, bacon strips that were as crispy as wet noodles, and toast that could have doubled as shingles, they were about to go into the day's training schedule when word of the pending change in mission came. Bannon promptly cancelled all activities that had been planned except those involving maintenance and preparation.
Instead, the platoon leaders were to conduct precombat inspections and start a sleep plan for the majority of the crews. He had no idea when they would move but the odds were it would be at night, probably tonight.
Bannon wanted the Team to be ready and rested.
Uleski and the FIST went to the meeting with Bannon. They arrived a few minutes before the briefing was scheduled to start so that Bannon could talk to the S-3. Major Jordan was at the front of the classroom that served as the battalion's conference room talking to Colonel Reynolds. The three of them walked up to the front of the room to the operations map. The graphics depicting the new mission were on it, ready for the briefing. A chill went down Bannon's spine when he saw that it was another attack. He and Uleski exchanged glances. Physically, the Team had recovered from the last attack.
Mentally, though, Bannon had his doubts. Especially about himself. He wasn't sure if he could deal with another horror show like the last one. Images of the dead and dying flashed through his mind. No, he wasn't ready.
It was an ambitious plan, involving the entire brigade striking deep into East Germany-driving at the heart of the enemy. The arrows depicting the axis of advance that the brigade was to use went through a German panzer grenadier battalion that had already crossed the inter-German boundary, as the border between West and East Germany was called. They were to advance up a narrow valley in the Thuringer Wald, in the direction of Leipzig, north of the
Thuringer Wald and on the North German Plain. The arrow showed the brigade going past the city and pointing to an objective to the north. The map the battalion was using was too small to show the ultimate objective they would probably go for. But that wasn't necessary.
Berlin, the heart of East Germany and center of communications, was the objective they were aimed at. The S-3 saw Bannon studying the map. When he came over, he paused a moment before speaking, "Well, what do you think?" "Let's see if I can guess who's leading-C company?"
"Sean, you know damned well who's going to lead the attack, at least initially. Team Yankee is the best company we have, and you have most of our armor. It would be stupid to put anyone else in the lead." Bannon looked at the S-3 for a moment, considering his answer.
"Sir, are you attempting to win me over with logic or flattery?" "A little of both, I guess."
The battalion XO started the briefing by telling everyone to take their seats. Colonel Reynolds called Bannon to sit next to him. His friendly attitude and smile reminded Bannon of the cat who praised the canary for his beautiful song before eating him. When everyone was settled, the battalion XO gave the briefing sequence and told the S-2 to start. The last six days of war had done nothing to improve the Intel officer's skills in preparing a useful briefing. He started by summarizing the progress of the war to date and the gains the Soviets had made in the north. These gains were indeed impressive. Denmark was isolated. Despite the efforts of the NATO allies in the Northern Army Group, the Dutch border had almost been reached. Most of the German sea coast was in Soviet hands. In the central and southern portions of Germany, German, French, and American forces had, for the most part, held the Soviets to minor gains. In one area, a German panzer division found a weak point between two Soviet armies and had driven into East Germany before the drive spent itself. It was this drive that would provide the springboard for the attack the battalion was about to undertake. The S-3, as usual, provided the meat of the briefing. The entire division would be involved in this effort. Brigade would lead off, widening the breach the Germans had made and going north into the enemy rear.
French units deploying from the interior of France were replacing those divisional units still in contact as well as another U.S. division. If the brigade and then the rest of the division were successful in widening the breach, eventually the attack would grow into a corps-size operation. The brigade was to advance along two axes, along two valleys running south to north. The 1st of the 98th Mech would lead the attack up one valley to the west while I st of the 78th Mech, followed by 1st of the 4th Armor, would advance up a valley called the Nebal Valley. The battalion's scheme of maneuver called for two company teams to lead the attack, Team Yankee on the right and Team Bravo on the left. The two infantry pure companies, C and D, would follow, C company behind Team Yankee. At this point in the briefing, the urge to take a cheap shot at C company was too strong to suppress. Bannon interrupted Major Jordan.
"Excuse me, sir, but I seem to remember trying that before. I don't know if
Team Yankee is ready to be supported by C company again."
There was a moment of silence. Everyone looked at Bannon, then they looked at the battalion commander, waiting for his reaction. Colonel Reynolds exchanged glances with the S-3, then smiled. "Sean, I can assure you, there will be no rat fucks like the last time. I will personally assure you that C company is where it is supposed to be." The colonel turned to Cravin, the C company commander, "Isn't that right, Captain Cravin?" Cravin, smarting from the exchange and visibly upset, simply replied yes in a low voice. Major Jordan winked when he and Bannon exchanged glances, then continued with the order.
The battalion had learned its lessons from the last attack well. While it was moving at night, as before, it would temporarily occupy an assembly area to the rear of the German unit it was to pass through. There they would sort out any last-minute changes, refuel, allow the accompanying artillery time to deploy, and conduct last-minute preparations. They then would be escorted through the German lines by a liaison officer from the German unit. To expedite the actions in the assembly area, the battalion XO would leave at noon with representatives from each company, the battalion's Scout Platoon, and the fuel trucks. The scouts would be used as road guides where needed. When the S-3 finished, the colonel got up and emphasized certain points that he felt were important. The first one was that the battalion was going for the deep objective, Leipzig. Any resistance that could not be overcome in the first rush was to be bypassed. The second was that he wanted to keep the battalion closed up and tight so that if there was a major fight, the full weight of the battalion could be brought to bear on the enemy rapidly and with maximum violence. The last point he made was that there would be no tolerance for screw-ups as in the last operation. He was looking straight at Cravin as he covered the last point.