Five seconds later the area was blanketed by smoke and noise.
The General stuck his head up to see the colonel still standing, still giving radio orders. Behind him the command vehicle was burning, the radios with it. Five men were dead, another half-dozen screaming with the pain of their injuries. Alekseyev looked with annoyance at a bloody streak on the back of his hand.
Mackall killed one more tank, but it was the Germans who stopped the attack, using the last of their HOT missiles to do so. The remaining Russian commander lost his nerve when half the tanks in the battalion were hit. The survivors turned on their smoke generators and retreated back around the hill to the south. Artillery chased after them. The land battle was over for the moment.
"Mackall, what's happening down your way?" the troop executive officer inquired.
"Where's Six?"
"To your left." Mackall looked and saw the troop commander's burning tank. So that's who it was ...
"Just us, sir. What's left?"
"I count four."
My God, the sergeant thought.
"Get me a Regiment from the tank division and I can do it. They have nothing left!" the colonel insisted. His face was bloody from a superficial wound.
"I will do this. How soon can you continue the attack?" Alekseyev asked.
"Two hours. I need that long to regroup my forces."
"Very well. I must return to headquarters. The enemy opposition was tougher than you expected, Comrade Colonel. Otherwise your forces performed well. Tell your intelligence section to work harder. Gather up your prisoners and interrogate them rigorously!" Alekseyev moved off with Sergetov in his wake.
"Worse than I expected," the captain observed once they were inside their vehicle.
"They must have had nearly a Regiment facing us." Alekseyev shrugged. "We can't make that kind of mistake very often and expect to succeed. We advanced four kilometers in two hours, but the cost was murderous. And those bastards in the Air Force! I'll have something to say to our Frontal Aviation generals when we get back!"
"That makes you troop XO," the lieutenant said. It turned out there were five surviving tanks. One had both radios broken. "You did good, real good."
"How'd the Germans make out?" Mackall asked his new boss.
"Fifty-percent losses, and Ivan kicked us back four klicks. We can't expect to survive much more of this. We may have some reinforcements in an hour. I think I convinced Regiment that Ivan really wants this place. We'll be getting help. Same for the Germans. They promised another battalion by nightfall, maybe a second one by dawn. Take your track down for refuel and reload. Our friends may be back soon."
"That's one little and two big attacks for this village. They ain't got it yet, sir."
"One other thing. I talked to Regiment about you. The colonel says you're an officer now."
Mackall's tank spent ten minutes getting to the rearm point. Fueling took ten minutes while the exhausted crewmen loaded a new collection of shells. The sergeant was surprised that he had to head back to the front five rounds short.
"You've been hit, Pasha." The younger man shook his head.
"I scratched my hand getting out of the helicopter. I'll let it bleed awhile to punish myself for clumsiness." Alekseyev sat opposite his commander and downed a full liter canteen of water. He was embarrassed by his slight wound and decided to lie about it.
"The attack?"
"Opposition was ferocious. We'd been told to expect two infantry battalions, plus tanks. I estimate the actual enemy strength as a damaged regiment, and they had well-prepared positions. Even so, we almost broke through. The colonel in command had a good plan, and his men pushed as hard as anyone could expect. We forced them back to within sight of the objective. I want to release a regiment of tanks from the OMG to the next attack."
"We are not permitted to do this."
"What?" Alekseyev was stunned.
"The Operational Maneuver Groups are to remain intact until the breakthrough is achieved. Orders from Moscow."
"One more regiment will do it. The objective is in sight! We've chewed up one motor rifle division to get this far, and lost half the strength of another. We can win this battle and get the first major rupture in NATO lines--but we have to act now!"
"You're certain?"
"Yes, but we must move fast. The Germans must realize how close this battle has become. They'll try to reinforce also. The lead regiment from 30th Guards Tank Division is one hour from the front. If we can get them moving within thirty minutes, they'll be part