“There has been a setback,” the Bear continued. “Our forces have been unable to cross the River Leine as planned.”
The skinny Political Officer, his ill-fitting uniform measured and cut to fit his gawky frame, looking so unlike an officer let alone a senior one, interrupted. “Their failure has not gone unnoticed by our superiors. Their efforts will be redoubled… ” He left the end of the sentence hanging in the air.
The look from the Bear would make any officer wilt. The Political Officer, although confident in the legality of the statement he had just made, confident in his authority and support from his political masters, still winced. On a one-to-one basis with the man, Yolkin’s confidence was even less. Many of his officers though reflected, knowing that a failure by this division would see them up in front of the dreaded MVD to explain that failure in full. If found guilty of failure, they knew they would likely face an execution squad.
The Bear continued, nonplussed by the Political Officer’s statement. “There are currently two main axes for 3rd Shock Army. 7 Guards Tank Division is targeting a crossing at Gronau, and as we speak, an assault brigade is battling with British forces to secure the western bank of the river. The assault from the east will continue tomorrow. The Division is waiting for ammunition and supplies to be brought forward, and an artillery barrage will start early tomorrow. Opposite our location, at Rossing, our 10th Guards will be upping the tempo.”
A cloud of foul-smelling fumes interrupted his speech as he puffed on his fortieth cigarette of the day.
“There will be a full assault tomorrow. An air-assault battalion will be landing east of the river, south of Schulenburg. And, there will be a full airborne division assisting us. The 7th Guards Airborne Division will be assaulting to the west of Hanover, holding the ground for our passage through the gap between Hanover and the high ground of the Deinster. They will also disrupt reinforcements and supplies getting to the enemy. With the Air Assault Battalion directly behind the enemy and the 7th Guards Airborne Division attacking from behind and cutting the enemy’s supply route, this time we cannot fail.”
“We will not be allowed to fail,” added Yolkin.
The General’s broad shoulders shifted left slightly, ignoring his Political Officer’s outburst, and he pointed a finger at Colonel Yuri Kharzin, Commander of the 48th Guards Tank Regiment. “You will be first to move again, Yuri. When the 10th assault and force a river crossing, you need to be ready to roll. You are not to get involved in the fighting until you receive my orders. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. But, if they get bogged down, wouldn’t it be best if we lend a hand?”
“Quite possibly, Yuri, but I don’t want your men and equipment exhausted, out of ammunition as a result of doing their dirty work. I have it on good authority that the 10th will use every man and tank they have to force a crossing. I know Major-General Abramov well. He is a good soldier and a good leader. He will get us our crossing. We burn them out first. They will throw everything they have at the enemy wall until they batter it down. The more of the enemy forces they destroy, the easier will be our passage through. They will secure a crossing no matter what the cost. Our priority is to exploit that breakthrough. Anyway, with an Assault Battalion and Airborne Division kicking the Brits up the arse, the 10th will succeed. And if needed, they will switch units of the 47th Guards Tank Division from supporting the 7th, to supporting this crossing.”
This brought a laugh from his officer corps, as he had expected it would.
“Yes, Comrade General, my regiment will be ready,” responded Kharzin.
The General turned to the Deputy Commander ‘Rear’, who was sitting to his right. “Have the special ammunition stocks been brought forward, Borislav?”
“Yes, Comrade General. They have been kept well away from out troop lay-up points.”
“We have one other asset in our armoury. The use of chemical weapons has been authorised, by the Stavka.”
Almost as one, the group took a deep breath. They had trained for it and always knew it was an option. In fact, they used chemical weapons whenever they conducted a military exercise, and as a consequence considered it as conventional munitions and therefore could be used in a conventional war. NATO, on the other hand, and the senior officers present were aware of this, saw it as an escalation that warranted a severe response.
“Comrade General, I have already ordered stocks to be distributed amongst the divisional artillery group,” the Chief of Rocket and Artillery Troops informed him.
“Good,” responded General Turbin. “The brigade of BM-27s from the TVD will also be in support, along with FROG-7s and Scuds. Our own Divisional Artillery Group (DAG), along with the SS-21s, will participate in the barrage tomorrow.”
He paused while he lit another cigarette from the one that was now nearly burning his yellowed fingers. “I know that some of our soldiers have slit the underarms of their rubber suits to help keep them cool when taking part in military exercises, so this needs to be addressed. Repairs made or replacements found. Take them from some of the rear units if necessary.”
“Abusing military equipment that has been provided for their protection is a military offence that shouldn’t go unpunished, Comrade General.”
“Yes, yes, I know, Colonel Yolkin. When we come back from this mission, we will take the names of those survivors who have damaged their personal equipment. OK?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “So, you need to check all your men. If any suit is too badly damaged then draw fresh from stores. We can worry about the accounting aspects when this is all over. I want our soldiers to be well protected. They are no good to me dead. I want them to fight.”
“Will we be using persistent agents or non-persistent, sir?” asked Akim Yermakion, Commander of the 200th Guards Motor Rifle Regiment. It would be his troops that would be exposed the most, should they need to dismount from their BMP-2s.
“All the crossing points will be hit with non-persistent, as will some areas further east. There are some maps available showing the areas that will be targeted. We will go through these later. One or two areas will be bombarded with persistent chemicals, where we want to permanently deny the enemy safe access. Those are yet to be determined, but will be where they have stocks of ammunition. We will also hit their airfields. The Army’s Spetsnaz will be feeding back information over the next twenty-four hours. At least twenty teams of up to ten men each have been dropped behind the British 1st Armoured Division.”
He leant forward, adding emphasis to what he was about to say. “We are a unique unit. As the army’s Operational Manoeuvre Group it is our task and our honour to be the first unit that completes a full breakout.” He thumped the table and then spoke in a strong whisper, his officers leaning forward to catch his every word. “We will not get bogged down. If we come across any stiff enemy resistance and we can get around it, we will. We will wend our way through the weak points in their defences, pushing west.” He sat up. “Once in their rear areas, we can tear up their communications centres, supply lines, ammunition depots and artillery. The further we push back their artillery, the harder it will be for them to target our follow-on forces, and it will take away their opportunity to stop and target us. Targeting reserves, unprepared as they arrive in theatre, we will smash all opposition.” He stood up and stretched his legs, tipped the contents of the now full ashtray onto the floor and pointed in the direction of Colonel Yolkin.