Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (32 page)

A
Soviet
force had struck out north-west from
Hannover
whilst others reduced the city. Hood expected to have to report its loss to Eisenhower when the General was roused at 0430.

A dangerous pincer movement seemed to be forming, the northern jaw based upon
Kassel
, the southern part
on
Giessen
. Bradley’s command was desperately pulling their troops out of the way but it would be a close run thing.

Taking up the newly arrived mug of coffee
,
his eyes sought the next major threat.

The thrust could be going to a number of places, one or all of
Mannheim
,
Karlsruhe
or
Stuttgart
. That it was already threatening the rear of
Nurnberg
was a severe issue and one that Bradley was addressing by the only means available to him
; g
iving up ground to preserve his force.

Hood gulped the caffeine laden drink down as he found the final problem.

Munich
.

Thrusts north and south of the city threatened to surround it but it had not yet been abandoned. Fighting was severe
,
but the
Soviet
s were being bled white for every yard and the commanders on the ground were optimistic that the advance could be stopped.

The situation map reflected other smaller successes for the Red Army but the five
that
stood out had exploded into life with their renewed offensive last Monday morning.

             
Two more reports arrived in front of Hood, which
matters he
would include
in a folder for Ike’s morning brief if important enough.
Unless they were absolute dynamite
,
he would not wake his commander in Chief.

             
Finishing the last of his coffee
, he examined
the preliminary reports of RAF night attacks on numerous river crossing points on the Elbe, Leine,
Main
, Donau and Tauber
.

Seeking out a refill, he waited as the orderly did his job.
The document
seemed encouraging, although initial reports of aircraft losses
dented his enthusiasm. RAF Bomber Command had suffered fearful losses since the start of hostilities, from flak to sabotage, night-fighters to accidents. Losses were certainly exceeding the ability to replace, both in crews and aircraft.

USAAF squadrons would do their work in daylight
.
but they too were suffering high losses.

None the less,
the
Soviet
advances were slowed by
the
Air force’s
efforts
to interdict
their logistic and support infrastructure, unless something hitherto unsuspected was causing the
Soviet
s problem
.

Drinking more coffee, he started to re-read the report, a useful habit he had acquired following a small error in his early staff days.

Movement caught Hood’s eye
,
and he noticed the expansion of the Russian advance to the outskirts of
Heilbronn
.

‘
Stuttgart
then?’

H
e posed the question without being able to confidently answer
.

From the look of the allied dispositions
,
the
Army C
ommander was protecting the Rhine in preference, whilst still holding as much of the
Neckar
River
barrier as he could.

An extremely tired looking USAAF Major placed another air combat report in front of Hood, turning and walking away like a zombie.

‘
The staff are out on their feet here. We need to get the people rested.
’

Immediately snorting at the words of his inner compassionate voice, his sensible and realistic side reminded him
of a military maxim, the origin of which was lost in time.

‘We
can
all rest when
we
are dead.’

In the meantime, there was a war to be won.

Hood downed the hot drink in one, hoping the caffeine rush would give him the kick start he still needed.

Skimming the
new
report
,
the Colonel
noted with satisfaction that the
Elbe
bridges at Lauenburg were
believed totally
wrecked.

He assembled the paperwork and i
nto the morning brief folder it went
,
and the
tired officer
went in search of
yet
more coffee.

Allied forces –
Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 255th Infantry Regiment, Battalion HQ and HQ Battery, 861st Artillery Battalion, all of 63rd US Infantry Division
, US 23 Corps, US 15th Army, 12th US Army Group.

Soviet
Forces
–
2nd and 3rd Battalions, Anti-Tank companies 179th Guards Rifle Regiment, 127th Guards Artillery Regiment, 59th Guards Rifle Division of 34th Guards Rifle Corps, 242nd Tank Brigade of 31st Tank Corps, all of 5th Guards Army of 2nd Red Banner Central European Front.

             
The soldiers of
Fox Company had received the order to pull back
, abandoning their position
s
between the two
villages of Werdeck and Heroldhausen
,
covering
the road south from
Beimbach
. Despite suffering
grievous
casualties, the unit had not seen a single
Soviet
ground soldier from day one of the new war. None the less,
just under
half of the men alive on the 6th were still capable of carrying a rifle, the rest succumbing to air and artillery attack
, either filling hospital beds or shallow graves
.

Morale was low
. 2nd/255th had advanced with the 12th Armored
,
only to be caught up in the debacle of Reichenberg, covering the retreat of the shattered CC’B’.

Yet again, with no enemy in sight, the company was ordered back.

Captain Pritchard consulted his map and drew his surviving
commander’s
close.

“Regiment wants us back at
Diembot
soon as, securing the river crossing. No immediate thr
eat
is known,
but they want us there by 063
0 latest.”

He made sure each of the six men could see where he was pointing.

“Once there
,
they want us to
send vehicles
down
to here,” he dabbed his finger at
Eichenau
, “Where some of our engineers are wiring the bridge. We bring some of them back and prep the
Diembot
Bridge
for
the same.”

“I intend to go through
Eichenau
and pick up the engineers on our way.
It’s a better
route
and even though
it’s longer,
we should make good time, plus we stay together. Questions?”

Five of the faces suggested nothing but compliance, all of them young and inexperienced. Only one seemed to have doubts.

“Sergeant
Hässler
, you don’t agree?”

Long before the Russians had launched their attack
,
Hässler
and Pritchard
had hated
each other.

O
ne because he saw an incompetent
officer
who
would
some
day cost men their liv
es, the other because he saw a G
erman from the same breeding stock as put his father
in a soldiers grave in the Great War.

“No Sir
,
I don’t. This route is far and away the quickest to
Diembot
. Falling back through
Eichenau
leaves the road
south
to Diembot
wide open. It’s simply a bad idea
,
Captain.”

Tact was never the German-Moravian’s strong suit, particularly when it came to Pritchard.

“Don’t agree
,
Sergeant
?
” in itself a veil
ed insult as Hässler was a Master-S
erge
ant and the battalion’s top NCO.

“Right then, noted, Sergeant.”

The Captain turned to face the others.

“That’s that covered. We do it as stated, for the reasons stated, p
lus
,
it has the advantage of getting the engineers to
their
work quicker.”

Rolling the map up
,
Pritchard indicated that the briefing was over
and that his orders stood.

Hässler stood his ground none the less.

“Perhaps you could consider splitting your force
then
,
C
aptain? Send the artillery boys to get the engineers
,
and drop Fox back down the quickest route?”

“Perhaps I could
,
Sergeant.”

Ordinarily
,
Pritchard would have left it at that, openly undermining his NCO
,
as he did at every opportunity. This time he saw an opportunity of a different sort.

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea
for a change
. You take your track and the boys of the MG platoon
,
and go straight to
Diembot
. I will take the rest of the company via
Eichenau
. If you get there before us you can start digging in and securing the bridge.”

His look challenged the Master-S
ergeant to d
isagree. For his part, Hässler
could see the advantage of being out from under the idiot’s
feet, even if only for a moment, so he nodded his agreement in such a way as that no-one there thought he agreed for one moment.

“Oustanding.”

Pritchard spoke in such a way as that no-one there thought he was changing his orders for any reason other than to put the NCO out in the cold.

‘T
hat gets the kraut bastard out of my sight for a while.
’

“OK, let’s get the troops mounted up and moved out. Sergeant, you will remain and cover out withdrawal.”

Looking at his watch he made a swift calculation.

“Ten minutes from the time the rear vehicle gets out of sight. Clear?”

The German-American
smiled without smiling.

“Crystal
,
Captain,” and turned on his heel leading the group out from the flimsy lean-to in which the meeting had been held.

The smaller man hawked and spat as the Captain shouted orders at the top of his voice, unnecessarily harrying those that were doing their best to strip down weapons and load up vehicles.

“Oy vey, but that man is the biggest schmuck I’ve seen since Uncle
Solomon circumcised Rollo the Elephant at the Ringling Circus!”

The comment hit the spot intended.
Hässler snorted
spontaneously
and was forced to wipe away the products of his nasal passages.

“Corporal
Rosenberg,
I agree with the sentiment but
for a god-fearing man you are one hell of a lying bastard!”

The wiry little Jew held his hands up in mock horror.

“
F
eh! Not only do I have a commanding officer
who is an idiot
,
but
the
Gentile Master S
ergeant is calling me a liar! I did so have an Uncle Solomon
, may he rest in peace.”