Team Yankee: a novel of World War III (16 page)

But that person knocks himself out to do his job and helps you get on with yours. Lawson and his engineers had done their job and done it well. Now Team Yankee could go about theirs.

Crossing one at a time was a slow process. Uleski kept the pace down until he had determined that the Team had cleared the bridge. He then began to pick up speed slowly until he

reached, then slightly exceeded, the former march speed. All together, Team Yankee was forty-five minutes behind schedule. It was now 0430 hours, Alpha time. The sky in the east was becoming light. They were supposed to be crossing the line of departure in another thirty minutes. Even at best speed, they would not be able to make it. But the tanks could not travel at top speed. If they did, the personnel carriers would not have been able to keep up. It would be useless to arrive on time without the infantry or the FIST. So the Team stayed together and made the best possible speed. What concerned Bannon more than being late, however, was the failure of C company to close up at the bridge. Even as the Team left the bridge site, he kept looking back across the river in the gathering light, searching for a glimpse of anyone else in the battalion. But there was no sign of C company, D company, the battalion CP, or trains. C company was thirty-five minutes behind schedule for some reason. Perhaps the battalion had learned about the problem at the bridge and had diverted C company to another route. If that were the case, C company could be in front of Team Yankee. Or C company could be lost. Or they could be held up in a massive traffic jam in one of the small villages. Bannon didn't have any idea what had gone wrong, but he did know that Team Bravo was in front of Team Yankee, continuing with its mission. Without the faintest idea as to what was going on behind the Team, all he could do was to carry on as ordered. When they closed up on Team Bravo, he hoped someone would be there who knew what was going on or had some new orders.

By 0520 Team Yankee was only three kilometers south of Kernsbach at the point where they were to turn off the road and begin to deploy. But rather than turn off, the tanks to his front began to deploy into another herringbone formation on alternating sides of the road. Bannon turned, signaled the FIST track to pull off, and told Ortelli to drive up to the head of the column and find 55. As 66 came up to the XO's tank, Bannon saw Major Jordan standing on the side of the road next to his PC. To prevent a

cluster of parked vehicles,

Bannon pulled off on the opposite side of the road. At this point, they were only six kilometers from the line of departure, the front.

Jordan stood next to Uleski across the road, looking unhappy and impatient to be on his way. He began talking while Bannon was still in the middle of the road. "There has been a change in plans. You're to pull your Team into an assembly area over there in the forest and await the word to move into the attack." He motioned to the northeast where a road coming out of Kernsbach disappeared into a forest between two hills. "The battalion column became separated last night. I'm going on back along the line of march and see if I can find the rest of our people."

"Any idea how long it's going to be before we move into the attack?" "Not until, and only if, we get this jug fuck unscrewed. For now, no one

in

this battalion is going to do any attacking. Any other questions?"

"Yeah, where's Team Bravo and any other friendly units?"

"Team Bravo is in position now as planned. Team Charlie, Task Force 2nd of the 93rd Mech is in the tree line just west of Kernsbach. The Scout Platoon from 2nd of the 93rd is in that wood lot just to the north. If you need to, contact them by radio. I gotta be rolling. Good luck."

Without waiting for further questions, Major Jordan climbed up onto his personnel carrier and took off down the road to the south as fast as his PC

could roll. Bannon turned to Uleski, "Bob, go get the platoon leaders and double time them up here ASAP."

"On the way."

While the XO was gathering up the platoon leaders, Bannon put out his map on the front slope of 55 and for a moment studied the area where the Team was to go. He decided quickly to put the two tank platoons on the west, one on each side of the road, facing out where they would have good fields of fire. The Mech Platoon would go through the woods to the east side and straddle the road. He wanted to get the Team under cover and deployed.

As soon as the

platoon leaders were gathered around the map, he gave his orders. "There has been a delay in the attack." The faces of the platoon leaders lit up as if the governor had just given them a last-minute reprieve. "We are going to move into an assembly area to the northeast.

Second Platoon, you deploy here to the north of the road and orient to the west. Third Platoon, you deploy here and orient to the northwest. That will give you two crossing fires.

Be advised, there are friendly scouts and a friendly company team here. So don't shoot unless you're sure they're Russians. Lieutenant Harding, you will deploy your platoon here on either side of the road. The XO will deploy with you. Once we're under cover, check out your tanks and tracks, boresight your main guns, and feed your people. As there is no way of telling how long we'll be here, treat this as you would any defensive position. If there are no questions, let's roll." Garger stopped Bannon as he was about to pick up his map. "I don't have a question, but I think you ought to be advised that 33 fell out about ten klicks down the road." Uleski and Bannon stopped midstride and stared at Garger as he continued,

"Sergeant Pierson stopped to see if he could help. O'Dell told him he suddenly lost all power. They tried to restart 33, but the engine kept aborting. I have the grid location of where 33 is." "Give it to the XO when we get into the assembly area. Right now let's get off this road before some Russian jet jockey makes us all grease spots." With that, the group scattered and remounted.

The woods of the Staat Forest were easy to move through. It was a typical German forest, with the straight, tall trees well spaced in neat rows. The forest floor was as clear of clutter as if it had just been raked. As the tanks jockeyed into positions and shut down, the forest and the hills on either side trapped the noise and caused echoes. When all were shut down, Bannon could distinctly hear the conversations of other crews as they dismounted, stretched, and went about taking care of their tanks. The routine called for Folk and Bannon to check out the fire control, while Kelp and Ortelli checked the track and suspension. When the fire-control system was finished, they boresighted the main gun and checked the weapons.

The other crews nearby were beginning to break out their morning meal of dehydrated MREs. Folk pulled out an opened case and began to pass one out to each man. Normally there would be complaining and haggling to secure a better meal, but they were all tired and thankful that the road march was over and they had a break. Bannon munched on his cold meal, popping bits of

dehydrated peaches into his mouth, causing his lips to pucker as the peach drew every bit of moisture from his tongue.

He pondered his next actions. It might not be a bad idea to go up to Team Bravo and do a visual recon of the area they were to cross. Objective LOG would be visible, as well as all the terrain the Team would have to cross. He finished all the MIZE that he wanted, stuffed what he wanted to eat later in a pocket, and threw the rest into an empty sandbag tied to the side of the turret that was used for trash. Kelp was sent to fetch Lieutenant Harding and one of his PCs for the recon and to tell Uleski he would be in command while Bannon was away.

Bannon went to gather up the two tank platoon leaders and the artillery FIST himself.

Once everyone was gathered and mounted in the PC, they moved out through the woods.

Bannon didn't want to expose the PC in the open. He also didn't want to come storming up behind Team Bravo and get blown away by a nervous gunner. It took ten minutes to reach Team Bravo. As he had feared, when they sighted each other, there were several weapons of various calibers trained on the track. He immediately stopped and identified himself. This task was made easier by the fact that several of the people in Team Bravo recognized Harding and the PC driver. Once they were accepted as friendly, they dismounted, left the PC to the rear of the position, and slowly moved forward to the north edge of the tree line.

The last few yards were covered on their bellies. From where they stopped, the leaders from Team Yankee could see everything. The village of Lemm was to the right front, the hill that was Objective LOG was directly to the front, and the village of Vogalburg was to the left front in the distance. As they lay there, an infantryman from Team Bravo crawled up behind Bannon and slapped the side of

his boot. When he turned to find out what he wanted, the infantryman whispered that the colonel wanted to see him. Bannon left the platoon leaders and crawled back.

"Bannon, what in the hell are you doing here? Where is your goddamned company? Why are you on this fucking hill and not that one over there?" For a moment, Bannon was dumbfounded, just staring at the colonel, unable to understand why he was so excited. "I don't understand, sir. My Team is in the assembly area where we were ordered to move just south of here. I was waiting for the order to attack."

"Waiting! Waiting! Who the hell told you to wait? We've been up here for the last hour and a half waiting for you."

Bannon still wasn't understanding what was going on, but it appeared that there had been a disconnect between the colonel and the S-3. "Sir, the S-3 told me to put the Team into an assembly area and wait until the rest of the battalion closed up."

"I never gave such an order. The S-3 must have been mistaken. Now I want you to get your people moving and get up to LOG and Hill 214. IS THAT CLEAR?"

The colonel was beside himself with rage, while Bannon was equally angry at the implication that he had screwed up. But that was not the time or place to take up a point of personal honor. The colonel was yelling so loudly that Bannon was positive that his orders were clearly heard by all of the men in Team Bravo and every Russian in the area. "Then I understand that I

am to attack without C company behind me."

"You let me worry about C company. You just get those people of yours moving. Now."

With that, the conversation was over, and the colonel left. Things were going to hell in a handbasket, and the Team was right in the middle of a bad situation. The idea of starting the attack with only half of the battalion on hand was, in

Bannon's mind, insane. He had, however, been given a direct order. The specter of the

"Charge of the Light Brigade" and Pickett's Charge began to loom before him. He had to find an out fast.

As the PC moved back, Bannon's mind was racing a mile a minute, trying to find a way out or around this dilemma. An order had been given. In his heart and mind he knew that it was wrong for the Team to go all the way to Hill 214 on its own. Yet he couldn't get around the order. Not immediately. A partial solution slowly began to take shape. The Team could at least attack and seize LOG. Conditions for that part of the operation were still favorable.

Team Bravo was in overwatch. The artillery could still support that maneuver. If the Team took LOG unopposed, they could then maneuver against Hill 214 in a slow and deliberate manner. The colonel told him to move, but he didn't say how fast. If the Team hit some, or a lot of resistance on LOG, he would be able to use his discretion as a commander and hold onto LOG until C company appeared or Team Bravo moved up to support. It was decided, then. Team Yankee would comply but with extreme caution. They were going to take this one step at a time and hope for the best.

Uleski and First Sergeant Harrert met the personnel carrier as it pulled up next to 66. "First Sergeant, when did you get here? Is C company here too?" "I've been here for about fifteen minutes. I haven't seen C company since last night. In fact, after I left the column, I didn't see anyone in the battalion until 1 came up to O'Dell and 33."

"What do you mean, left the column? Where are they? Why did you leave the column?"

"Well, sir, you see, it's like this. We weren't on the road an hour before the company we were following made a wrong turn. We began to go in circles, up dirt roads, down dirt roads, through side streets in villages where the M-88s got stuck, and on and on for two hours. At one of our halts while we were waiting for an M-88 to turn around, I went up to the captain leading the column and asked him if he knew where

he was. When he showed me a spot on his map that was two map sheets to the west of where we really were, I tried to explain to him that he was wrong. Well, it had been a long, hard night for him, and he wasn't about to listen to an obnoxious NCO. He told me to get back to my track and get ready.

SO i saw o iiyxu, , iui going iv find the company.' I went back, pulled my track, the ambulance track, and the M-88 out of column and took off looking for you. That boy had his head so far up his fourth point of contact that I doubt he knows we left."

"Well, I really wish you could have brought C company with you. Even so, it's good to have you here. You're the first good thing that has happened all day. Besides, you're just in time for the attack."

Uleski, who had been eyeing the platoon leaders and wondering why they were so glum, turned his head and exclaimed, "Do what? Attack now? Without the rest of the battalion?!"

Bannon knew the platoon leaders had heard everything that had gone on between him and the colonel. They were waiting to see his reaction and how he was going to approach this nightmare. It would serve no one to bitch and moan. The last thing the Team needed right now was for the leadership to go

into a potentially costly operation with a negative attitude. It would take a lot of finesse to convince the platoon leaders and Uleski that they could pull it off. But if Bannon could do it, they would have a fighting chance. With all the positive enthusiasm he could generate, given the mission, he began issuing new orders.