“Stop whinging. What did they say?”
“A code word: Yellow Jack.”
“Any numbers?” asked Tag.
“Yes,” responded Wilf as he pulled out a map and spread in on the ground in front of them.
“Yellow Jack is the word for a tactical nuclear strike. The numbers are telling us six locations. That means we’ve got fourteen hours to get out of range.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Yellow Jack is targeted here, here and here. Bad Nenndorf is the closest. So if we stay on the southern edge of the Deister, we should be safe.” He looked up at Tag who was scratching the dark stubble on his chin.
Before Tag could respond, Hacker interjected. “I can hear something.”
“What?” Challenged Wilf.
“I don’t know… it’s a chopper, a bloody chopper.”
“There’s more than one,” added Badger. “Look, there are four of them.”
“They’re looking for us,” suggested Tag. “We need to take cover, or run.”
Chapter 16
The General climbed up onto the glacis of an M1 main battle tank and surveyed the officers gathered around below his position. “At last, we’ve got our orders from on high, men. Central Army Command have stopped dithering and 7th US Army have finally made a decision.”
The assembled officers smiled, used to the general bitching about higher command. The man’s uniform was immaculate, his boots a deep gloss shine, his uniform almost more starch than material. God help any officer he came across who didn’t meet his exacting standards. At only five foot five, with a crew cut that nearly went to the bone, and a bristled moustache, his head gave the impression of being too big for his body. But he was a good soldier, highly respected by his men.
“As you all know, III Corps’ task is to reinforce the Northern Army Group of Forces. Well, they can’t expect to fight the war without us now, can they?”
Another chuckle from the assembled officers.
“Well, can they?!”
“No, sir!” responded the jubilant soldiers, the odd whoop in the background.
“Now that we have finally got our equipment issued and sorted, we can fulfil that mission. But, we’ve had a further delay. Who do we support? Where do they need some real muscle to help knock those red bastards right back to where they belong in Moscow?”
This time, the grins were broader and supported by more laughter and whooping from the group.
“It has been decided, against my better judgement I might add… ” More laughter. He held his hand up for silence. “It has been decided that the Corps is going to be split. The 1st Cavalry Division, along with the 5th Infantry Division, are going north, to support the Dutch and Germans. The Germans are doing OK, but the Dutch are in a bit of a mess. They were late getting to the party, and the Soviets took advantage of that landing an air assault brigade behind them and kicking ass. There’s also a Polish army pushing hard up against them. Higher command believe that the Warsaw Pact are ready for a big push, so we have to get these two formations ready to blunt that attack. Otherwise, the northern flank will collapse, and we’ll have reds running all over us.”
“What about us then, sir?” called one of the Brigade commanders.
“Patience has never been one of your strengths, has it, Brigadier Daniels? Your Fort Benning report said you were too smart for your own good.”
Laughter ensued, and some of his fellow commanders backslapped the Brigadier.
“Just want to get into the fight, now we’re ready, sir.”
The US III Corps had flown all the way from the United States. The 1st US Cavalry Division headquarters was based in Fort Hood, Texas, and the 5th US Infantry Division in Fort Polk with the 2nd US Division, consisting of three brigades, an aviation brigade and an artillery regiment, also from Fort Hood in Texas. The 2nd US Division had been in country for twenty-four hours. The soldiers, flown in by civilian airliners, had gone straight to their respective POMCUS sites in Monchengladbach and Straelen, West Germany, to be reunited with their equipment, stored in Germany for this very event. The 1st Cavalry and the 5th had also collected their heavy equipment, M1s, M2s, etc to be ready for battle. Their respective POMCUS sites were based in Belgium and the Netherlands.
“A fight I can promise you, Teddy. Your Brigade has the honour of leading the way.”
“Hey, now you’ve done it, Teddy. Do you want to borrow my map?” Heckled one of the officers in attendance.
The General calmed his officers down again. He encouraged their high spirits, not always welcomed by the senior officers of the Corps. But it was him and his men that would have to fight. They might as well do it with some style.
He lowered his voice. “We have two missions. The first is to get as close to the Weser as possible. We have been tasked with supporting the Brits.”
He saw their heads nodding. They had done field exercises with British units during various Reforger exercises, and although they thought the British food was lousy and they never seemed to have enough equipment, they held their fighting capabilities in high regard. The one message he did give to his men in regard to the Brits was: don’t get into a drinking competition with them. You will lose.
“Once there, especially for you, Teddy, 2nd Brigade will take part in a multi-force counter-attack.” There was a broad grin across Brigadier Daniels’ mouth, but a groan from the other senior officers.
“Now, now, boys, you know I wouldn’t leave the rest of you out. Once the 2nd Brigade, along with a Brit Division and a possible Bundeswehr Brigade, have punched a hole in the Soviet front line, 1st and 3rd Brigades can help push them all the way back to the Inner German Border. To start with, anyway. Eventually, we’ll have a drink together in the Kremlin.”
More cheers from the assembled officers.
“Teddy, I want you boys on the move within the hour. The remaining two Brigades will follow later tonight, early tomorrow. Let’s go and give those red sons of bitches a boot up the ass.”
Chapter 17
The commander of the 25th Tank Division was far from happy. His division had been allocated a staging area that was less than satisfactory. There just wasn’t enough room to deploy his force. 32nd Guards Tank Division was on his left flank, and the 90th Guards Tank Division and the 35th Motor Rifle Division were behind him. Ahead, he had the 12th Guards Tank Division, from 3rd Shock Army, which was in the process of preparing for an assault river crossing. He was expected to exploit the breakthrough. On top of that, the remnants of 10th GTD were camping on his doorstep. One of his tank regiments was attempting to use south of Haste as a staging area, using the forested area south of the Mittellandkanal, but elements of the 12th were still moving out. A second regiment was dispersed through the town of Wunstorf. His motor rifle regiment had been allocated south-east of Dedensen with the third tank regiment amongst the battered buildings of Garbsen, while his senior officers competed for space to accommodate his artillery, engineers and resupply. 20th Guards Army high command was in complete chaos. A recent attack by British bombers on the forward headquarters had seriously impacted on the command and control of this huge army, with in excess of 900 tanks at its disposal. Although still some thirty kilometres away from the Forward Line of Enemy Troops to the west and twenty to thirty kilometres to the south-west, the risk of NATO air strikes had significantly increased. His Soviet commanders from on high continued to push them to move ever faster, which conflicted with the General’s desire to move more slowly, leapfrogging, keeping his air defence assets available and in a position to defend the units from fast-moving ground attack aircraft.