Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (20 page)

The old NCO took aim but s
omeone else in Hüth’s group put the sergeant down
,
so
he switched targets to the next in line, killing a submachine gunner with a shot through the chest.

The action of his rifle stiffened
as brick dust gathered upon it
,
and he worked it hard, chambering the next round before sending it on its way, missing a running soldier who dropped into a shell hole.

Working the
near-rigid
bolt
once more
,
he searched for another target, and
saw a
head pop up from the shell hole, firing
more in reaction than calm aim. None the less
,
Hüth
hit the target, blowing the top of the man’s head off and sending the ruined helmet flying.

Two riflemen and an officer were charging straight at him now, and he discarded the empty Mauser in favour of the MP
40 and
sent
a stream of bullets at the running men, missing badly with the unfamiliar weapon.

The three were on him in an instant.

The leading rifleman lunged with his bayonet, which Hüth parried with the submachine-gun and shoved the man to the ground, using the Russians
’
forward momentum against him.
The second man had no bayonet and swung his rifle like a club, a blow glancing off the German’s shoulder.

Squealing with pain
,
Hüth fired his weapon again, this time pumping seven bullets through the man’s abdomen at point blank range. As he fired
,
the recoil pushed him back
,
causing him to lose
balance
.
Hüth
fell to the floor on top of the first assailant.

Before he could move
,
the officer shot him dead.

Not one man from First S
ection survived the battle.

Yarishlov watched
satisfied
as the 1st Battalion of 1195th Rifles swept into the village
,
and then turned his attention on the advance of his left flank units.

1197th Rifles had quickly reformed, its butchered second battalion being absorbed into the other units bringing both up to nearly 70% strength. Reports from reconnaissance teams operating in advance
of the main force
indicated enemy positions at Riepshof and Tiefenbruch, which information has already cost them two BA-64 armoured cars.

One company of 3rd/1195th had walked into Quellen without opposition and
now
waited for further instructions. The ot
her companies were
pushing
to the south of Quellen, intent on capturing T
iefenbruch. 2nd/4th Guards Tank
s provided some close support
,
but they were under orders not to become closely engaged so as to be ready to attack in depth when the enemy line was broken.

Further south-east two companies of tankers from the Guards had delivered their grapes of rider infantry
from the 1195th
into Otter, again undefended, whilst the 1st/1197th motored down the Dreihausen road, intent on delivering Yarishlov’s intended left-hook, supported by the rest of the 4th’s 3rd Tank Battalion. 1st/1197th was quite mobile, its enterprising regimental commander having acquired, stolen, requisitioned or captured numerous vehicles, from American Studebaker lorries through to a once pristine Wanderer
W23
Cabriolet
.

By accident
,
the
Russian
Tank Colonel had
aimed
his first effort straight into the weakest of the Canadian infantry units in front of him,
Carleton & York’s
C Company having been badly handled during its defence of Tostedt.

The situation
had
seemed stable enough to Lieutenant-Colonel
Lascelles, although his
fiv
e mile frontage was considerably more than accepted practice
it
was manageable because of the river lines.

Neither river was broad but
days of heavy rainfall and considerable efforts by engineers and service personnel had made it into an obstacle that
was
more than
enough to deny tanks and vehicles access and
certainly
deep enough that
any
infantry would be seriously slowed up
swimming across
it. A few mines scattered on the home banks also helped to make him feel secure.

The Carleton & York’s
w
ere
bordered on the north-west by the Royal 22
e
Regiment, the famous Van-Doos of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade. They were anchored in Tiste and maintained a contact with
Lascelles’
own ‘A’ Company
,
whose flank extended to Burgs
ittensen. To the south-east was the Loyal Edmonton R
egiment of
the 1st Canadian Division’s 2nd Infantry Brigade
, positioned at Konigsmoor
,
and running all the way to
Luneburg
heath and beyond.

The arrival of
most of
Kommando Tostedt had been a boon
,
as he had been expecting them to be lost in the hopeless defence of Wistedt. He assigned them a reserve position in
Tostedt
Land
, where the carrier Platoon was also situated.

His perception changed, and t
he situation now seemed less than stable, as
a report
from ‘B’ Company indicated a large number of Russian infantry with tank support pressing hard against their positions around Tiefenbruch.

Lascelles had little idea that his whole battalion would be but a memory within two hours.

Yarishlov had halted the advance west from Otter on nothing more than intuition, sensing rather than knowing that he was missing something.

Calling his officers together for a brief orders group
,
he laid a map on the ground and dropped onto his haunches to examine the land once more.

Before he could address the group
,
the 4th’s Communications officer interjected, barely controlling his breathing from his run.

He passed over a message form
that
confirmed Yarishlov’s intuition.

“Comrades, we have an opportunity here
,
and I intend for us to grasp it.”

Passing the message back to his signals captain
,
he continued.

“The 79th Motorcycles has found Tiste unoccupied and the bridge over the Oste intact.”

Officers leant
over and checked the map, developing immediate understanding of the enemy omission.

Such errors happen in war
,
and the Royal 22e’s had been withdrawn
on orders, a mistake that left
the Carleton & Yorks vulnerable.

“I am going to order,” he looked up to check that pencils were hovering over notebooks, “79th Motorcycles, my 1st Tank Battalion
,
and the Guards Engineers south over this Bridge.”

He checked the name on the village he was looking at.

“The engineers will occupy Burgsittensen and these woods
,
and hold.”

Moving down the map
,
he
tapped a point approximately 1500 metres north of Stemmen.

“I want 79th to set a screen here running from these woods across to the river. This bridge,” he indicated the apparently intact bridge north of Stemmerfeld, “I want this under observation so we can drop artillery on them if they gather to cross it. That will be a priority target
,
Mayor, clear?”

The artillery officer nodded his understanding.

“1st Tank Battalion and its grapes will sweep up the river line and into Wümme. No further forward than that for now. I want anyone in this area to be an enemy,” he placed his hand over the land between the two rivers centring on
Tostedt
Land
.”

“1st will take Everstorfermoor under fire and prevent westward movement.”

Checking the unit
markings closely, Yarishlov made a quick note before speaking to the Infantry commander. He looked up and
noticed the young infantry officer standing next to his
temporary
Divisional Commander, noting with satisfaction the new bandage on
the
recent
arm
wound.

“Your wound is treated satisfactorily, Comrade...?”

“Zvorykin, Comrade Polkovnik. Yes, thank you.”

Yarishlov grunted by way of reply and moved on, a
ddressing the senior man
, illustrating his words with gestures at the map
.

“I want this unit, 2nd Battalion of your 1195th
,
to head to Vaerlon as quickly as possible
,
and then push south. I wish to test the possibility that
the river can be forded
. If it can then I want them in Avensermoor and no further. If it cannot then harass from as close to the river as they can comfortably achieve.”

The Infantry
Lieutenant-
Colonel understood perfectly.

“These units opposite Everstorfermoor, I want them noisy and harassing the enemy but no more for now. I want to keep them interested and confident in their positions.”

The
acting
Divisional Commander of the 360th smiled.

“Yes
,
Comrade
Polkovnik
, we can do that.”

The man, so often let down in the past by fanatics
,
whose ideas were no more than ‘charge and die’
,
found it wholly refreshing to be under the command of someone who was extremely competent.

“I want half of my 2nd Battalion here as soon as possible, leaving the other half to support the infantry around Tiefenbruch as before.”

Looking at his watch
,
he did the mental arithmetic.

“Units near Tiste must go now
,
so get those orders out.”

Two men hurried away to the radio to pass on the new orders.

“I want to start knocking on the door very soon
,
so I will go with what we have here
,
and the 2nd Battalion will have to catch up.”

Catching Major Zvorykin’s eye
,
he continued.

“You suggested the artillery change in case the enemy had defences on our flank here,
” t
apping the bloody mark the young man had left some time before.

             
“I shall give you an opportunity to test that. Your infantry will take the
Dreihausen
Bridge
and hold it. Then you will take a force down the river on the south bank, linking up with my tanks at W
ü
mme.”

The young officer kept his expression fixed.

“If there are enemy forces there, where you suspect, I want you to bring our artillery down on them.
I want nothing of note on my left flank while I am pocketing these British clear?”

“Yes
,
Comrade
Polkovnik
,” a grin
finally
splitting his face.

“Right then
,
Comrades, any questions?”

The artillery officer chipped in with two suggestions on additional targets and offered some rapid fire plan call signs
,
but that was that.

“Then we will go now and pull the
enemy in towards us. T
he trap can shut on a fat bag of
Tommies
. Good luck comrades.

An under-pressure
Lascelles started to receive reports as the Russian plan swung into action.
Artillery and mortar fire had intensified all along his front
,
and troops had appeared opposite most of
his positions.

It seemed that only
the ends of his line, namely
‘A’
and ‘C’ Companies
,
were
not affected
at the moment
,
so he focussed his attention elsewhere. The bridge at Everstorfermoor had not yet been blown, despite the efforts of a
platoon
of engineers. Orders went out to ensure the job was done.