Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (54 page)

The former had r
ecently been recommissioned and sent to sea
, carrying 822 and 853
Royal Naval Air Squadron’s
, Fairey
Firefly I’s
and
Vought Corsair Mk IV’s
respectively.

The latter brought the experienced Seafire F/VX’s of
802 Squadron RN, along with 848
Squadron RN’s
Mark III
Grumman Avengers.

The Seafires of 802 were leading the mission, seeking out enemy fighter responses to the Fleet Air Arm
excursion
.

Intent on
bomb
ing
the ra
ilway line north of Scharnebeck, the new target was bypassed by 802 and 848.

822 and 853 were to support the attack
,
but were permitted to attack targets of opportunity, and it was the considered opinion of Lieutenant-Commander Steele, officer commanding
822’s
Fireflies
, that fifteen enemy tanks and well over twenty
-five
trucks
were
suitable for their undivided attention.

A solitary ZSU-37, in the rear of the tank column, put up its shells in an effort to ward off the attacking aircraft, failing to even damage one before it became a victim
.

Sending Yellow and White sections into the attack, Steele remained with the rest of his squadron, half watching the attack, half seeking out threats in the unfriendly air space.

Six Fireflies swept down and discharged their weapons,
each aircraft capable of firing a salvo of sixteen RP-3 rockets, twice the normal payload of Allied ground attack aircraft.

Aiming at the stalled column of
seventeen
tanks was child’s play
,
and each attack was greeted with explosions and secondary explosions as the two
Soviet
tank companies were
ripped to pieces, as well as massive
casualties
inflicted on the lead elements of the engineer battalion.

Behind them came Red section of 853, backed up by another two Corsairs from the reserve section.

No
organised fire opposed them as they swept over the sky above the
remaining
lorries, from which tumbled scores of bewildered
Soviet
combat engineers.

Each aircraft dropped
its load
, each adding two aerodynamically shaped containers to fall erratically but unerringly to earth amongst the
Soviet
troops.

Twelve containers discharged their awful contents and turned the sky yellow in an instant, as
fire
flew in all directions, consuming everything in its path.

Napalm.

The casualties were
horrendous;
the lucky ones killed instantly, those for whom luck played no saviour’s role ran amongst their comrades screaming, the sticky napalm ensuring that fire destroyed them despite their efforts to escape it.

It was war at its most horrible.

The Fleet Air Arm aircraft went on their way, satisfied that their intervention had helped their ground colleagues,
and knowing that
they had given Ivan a bloody nose.

In reality, 3rd Battalion of the 66th Engineer-Sapper Brigade was wiped out, save the few men that Onichenko had with him in Jork. The survivors on the road were either wounded or so shocked as to be out of the war for some time to come.

Surprisingly,
four of the 517th’s
T34’s were still runners, although their crews
were
similarly in shock.

The
lone
IS-III did not
survive;
its turret lay blackened some hundred yards from its smashed and twisted hull.

Stelmakh was distracted by
the
events to the south, firstly by the explosions
,
and secondly by the wall of flame that sprang up so awfully.

He suspected that the reinforcements were having a hard time but had no time to consider it further as he reached the corner at the same time as an M5 Stuart tank of the Polish Mounted Rifles.

The enemy tank fired first, the range a ridiculous thirty yards at the most.

The puny 37mm hard shot hit the turret of the IS-III and flew off into an adjacent building, one of the few
left
undamaged by the passage of
the previous
war.

The recon tank threw itself into reverse in an effort to survive, the driver skilfully performing the task without losing a track or fouling the debris lining the road.

A second shell missed the
Soviet
leviathan
but struck one of the infantry group
as they were jumping off their mount.

The distorted body was thrown back, coming to rest hanging upside down from a small balcony on a ruined house behind the IS-III.

The 122mm gun boomed out and the Stuart virtually disintegrated as the heavy high-explosive shell detonated on its front plate, killing the whole crew instantly.

Pulling into cover behind a pile of
building
debris, Stelmakh keyed his radio, intending to inform Evanin that half the Allied Army was coming down the road towards him. The message was not received as his commander had been forced to evacuate his tank when it was immobilised by enemy fire.

One of the infantry section sprinted up the side of the road, bent double, in an effort to be as small as possible. He disappeared thru a battered doorway, re-emerging ten seconds later without the satchel charge he had been carrying.

His sharp-eyed Sergeant had spotted another US light tank hiding behind the building
,
and sent the soldier on a mission to destroy it.

An explosion threw a mixed load of debris up and out from behind the building, some of which was clearly identifiable as parts of a vehicle, indicating a successful kill.

Stelmakh had no time to do anything but fight his tank, his vision filled
with a force of enemy tanks stru
ng out on the road in front of him. Approximately five hundred metres to his front the road curved, exposing
the
side armour
of the Allied vehicles,
but also permitting more than the front
tanks to bring their guns
to bear.

He selected a tank with a bigger looking gun and ordered the killing to start.

The shell streaked past the stationary vehicle, its own 17-pounder returning fire instantly.

The APDS shell clipped the side of the turret close by where the first hit had been sustained, again ricocheting off.

The IS-III fired again and was rewarded with an immediate explosion and fire in the target vehicle, a Sherman Firefly of the Polish Armoured Regiment’s ‘A’ Squadron.

Flashes from the roadway indicated
more
enemy shots but none struck the heavy tank, although infantry that had been close by in support decided to exercise discretion
,
moving
further away from the object that was attracting so much attention.

Selecting another target, Stelmakh yelped with
fear
as a shell clanged heavily off the turret, again failing to penetrate the thick armour.

His bladder held and he ordered the shot, being rewarded with yet another ‘kill’ as the armour-piercing shell easily bit through the hull armour of a
Sherman
to their front.

Smoke started to thicken in his line of sight and he swiftly popped his head out of the open hatch, noting that the Allied troops were either throwing smoke grenades or small calibre mortars were putting down a screen.

In fact, both
things
were happening, as Krol tried hard to get his men to keep pushing.

The smoke was a good idea, as it screened the Poles from the deadly 122mm, but it also did the reverse, and Stelmakh swiftly ordered Stepanov to relocate forward
.

The IS-III slid into the newly selected firing position and waited for the smoke to disperse.

It didn’t, seeming to continue to grow rather than dissipate.

An unearthly squeal marked the arrival of artillery shells, hammering the corner of Westerladekop where the IS-III had
just
moved from.

The
Soviet
tank crew appreciated that their youthful commander had acted quickly and saved them from the dangers of the artillery.

However, the Polish artillery claimed four of the infantry section, one shell bursting within the huddled group and leaving no identifiable trace of their existence.

Out through the smoke came two
S
hermans
, side by side, charging like Napoleonic
lancers
.

Both 75mm’s fired together and their shells landed
commendably close to where their
gunners
intended
.

White phosphorous shells burn but also produce smoke and the two shells landed near the IS-III, one to the front and one to its left side.

Both tanks disappeared in the new cloud almost immediately.

“I can’t see!”

The gunner was strangely calm, perhaps because he was in one of the most heavily armoured tanks of the time, or perhaps because he had faith in his commander.

“
Shift your aim to the bend, right of the smoke, see it?”

“Yes
,
Comrade
Commander
.”

The turret moved until the long gun was pointed at the spot Stelmakh had selected.

“If you have a target and can hit it, fire without my command
. C
lear?”

No answer came for two seconds, and then the breech flew backwards as the 122m lashed out again.

One of the
Shermans
lay askew,
its
offside running gear in ruins, track in pieces.

Bravely the crew stayed with the vehicle and got off another WP shell.

“Are you still sighted
,
Yuri?”

The gunner noted the use of his name.

“Yes
,
Comrade Commander.”

“Then kill him.”

Again the monster gun boomed and a shell streaked off into the smoke, disappearing quickly from view. The other side of the screen of chemical smoke, the heavy shell drove into the base of the tanks turret, killing the commander and gun crew. The hull crew abandoned immediately.

Off to the right edge of his vision, Stelmakh noticed a small movement.

“Gunner, machine gun, target right, infantry on foot.”

“Comrade, the machine gun is useless.”

In the heat of the moment, Stelmakh had forgotten.

“Govno! I forgot!
Engage any tank you see on the road without my order.”

He popped his head up through the hatch, exchanging the smoky, propellant tainted air of the interior for the phosphorous smoke outside the tank.

Grabbing for the machine-gun, he became aware of ‘insects’ buzzing round him, deadly insects fired from a Bren gun
supporting
the small group of infantry.

He cocked the 12.7mm machine-gun, feeling a tug at his collar as a bullet passed close.

Again he conquered his bladder
’s desire
, controlling his fear and focussing on the task he had set himself.

The heavy
DShK
machine gun hammered out its bullets, throwing up earth and stones as he directed his first burst wide of the target.

Stelmakh adjusted
,
but felt the sting of pain before he fired again, a bullet clipping a lump of flesh out of his left forearm.

His fear left in an instant, replaced by a professional anger and his finger pulled the trigger
again
.

The Bren gunner, waiting whilst his number two set a new magazine in place, was the first to die, three of the heavy
calibre
bullets striking him and claiming his life instantly.

The loader was struck in the wrist as he placed the new magazine on the machine-gun, both hand and magazine flying away, leaving him screaming in pain.

Next to die was the radio operator, four bullets making a perfect line across his back as he turned to run.