Breakthrough (The Red Gambit Series) (49 page)

After ten minutes, the artillery stopped abruptly, encouraging the infantry to emerge from their hiding places and seek out their wounded and dead comrades.

3rd Battalion, positioned in the woods behind Nottensdorf, watched on in horror as two groups of aircraft arrived overhead, one clearly fighters intent on protecting their charges, the other more concerned with attacking the targets on the ground.

The next group of Allied aircraft swept down to the attack, discharging their mix of rockets and 500lb bombs on the first run, then circling around and attacking with Hispano cannon.

Fig #43
- Nottensdorf - Dispositions.

The fighters, Spitfire Mk XIV’s of 41 Squadron RAF, immediately clashed with a
Soviet
fighter regiment, the XIV’s proving more capable than the outnumbered and outclassed Yak-3’s.

The Yak’s jettison
ed
their bombs before contact, and tried to use their superior low altitude performance to escape, but 41 Squadron splashed five in quick succession, driving the
Soviet
Air Regiment
from
the field.

The RAF had very few Hawker Tempests capable of ground attack
,
but losses meant that the highly capable fighter aircraft
were so employed
this day. Twelve Tempest V’s
of 486 Squadron RNZAF were tasked with blasting a path for the Poles, instead of sweeping the skies for enemy fighters.

The 46th Mechanised Brigade contained
six
triple
DShK
anti-aircraft machine-gun mounts
,
each fixed on Gaz lorry
, all of which pumped 12.7mm rounds into the air.

Two of the valuable Tempests were hit, one driving hard straight into the town, adding its fuel
and weapon load
to the fires already burning there. The second aircraft hit seemed to stagger in mid-air and started burning immediately. The pilot jumped, too late for his parachute to open.

As per the air battle plan, 486 Squadron then withdrew to safer heigh
t to police the battlefield
.
and prevent
Soviet
ground attack units from interfering.

The
Polish
artillery then opened up once more, walking the barrage from Nottensdorf, straight down the Cuxhaven Stra
β
e, intending to batter the outskirts of Buxtehude.

Ag
ain,
Soviet
soldiers moving in the town were caught unawares and incurred more casualties.

The
Polish
attack
force started moving up
,
and was
clearly seen in
the fields behind Bliedersdorf, as well as
emerging from Horneburg.

Colonel
Rumyantsev, the B
rigade commander,
wisely decided that he was outgunned
, his assault a non-starter,
and that defe
nce was his sole option for now. From his
position on a small piece of rising ground behind Nottensdorf, he ordered
the 1st Battalion into some sort of order and
directed
the howitzers of the 376th
Artillery
Regiment into action.

47th Mechanised was fortunate to possess a large number of lend-lease vehicles, and Rumyantsev profited from having a roomy M3 half-track as his headquarters vehicle.

He ordered his liaison officer to
get the assigned Shturmovik R
egiment to hit the enemy artillery positions as a
priority.

Assessing the approaching enemy forces, he ori
ented the 1st mainly against tho
se emerging from Horneburg, dispatching
half
of the 3rd Battalion
down the road towards Grundoldendorf, where a short company of penal troops
had
already
been
defensively
positioned. The other half of the 3rd
,
he retained as a reserve.

A message sent to the seven tanks of the 6th Guards Tanks asked them to move up immediately, in order to take advantage of their heavier guns and range, a message that was not received.

The
Allied
air battle plan had a final twist up its sleeve.

Successfully
employed by RAF Coastal Command in an anti-U Boat role, three Mosquito
FB Mk XVIII
Tsetse
s
had been pressed into service
for ground-attack
. Today was their first official use in this role, and they were accompanied by another Mosquito with purely observers onboard, tasked with an evaluation of the performance. The Tsetses
were
allocated to ground attack on enemy vehicles, giving the
final
close
support to the attacker’s.

T34’s and a handful of Zis-3 anti-tank guns opened fire at the lead elements of the
Polish
armour, being immediately rewarded with two very clear hits at long range.

Unfortunately for them, the
Soviet
s were not using smokeless ammunition
,
and professionals with binoculars noted positions on maps whilst others talked into radios, passing on details to the
Tsetse
pilots circling over Ebersdorf.

The Mosquitoes approached from the south-east, confident in the cover provided by the circling Tempests above.

The
Soviet
DShK
gunners waited patiently
for the enemy to come into range
, watching, assessing, as the Br
itish aircraft from the recently
reconstituted 235 Squadron approached slowly, angling in from a height of three thousand feet.

At a range of about
one and a half miles, the lead Tsetse
opened fire.

The Tsetse’s carried a kick that was new to the
Soviet
s, and the fuselage mounted 57mm Gun came as a nasty surprise. Normally equipped with twenty-five rounds, ammunition shortages meant that each aircraft carried only eighteen,

The first two shots missed a stationary T34, the third ploughed into the top of engine compartment, wrecking the power train and starting a small fire.

A gentle easing on the stick brought more joy for the aircraft, three shells smashing another T34 with more spectacular results. A further three shells badly damaged a Zis-3, incapacitating the crew.

The M
osquito flicked to port and applied power, rising into the sky as angry tracers from the DT’s followed behind.

The second
aircraft
in line used ten rounds of 57mm and followed its leader, leaving another T34 and an AA/Gaz lorry in ruins behind it.

Lining up in leisurely fashion, the final Mosquito took out another tank but did not escape unscathed. A machine gun from the penal company scored hits, severely wounding the navigator. A bullet clipped the pilot and, instead of escaping
safely to port, overflying the advancing Poles, the damaged plane lurched to starboard. The exposed underbelly attracted more fire, and pieces flew off the
tail plane
and starboard engine, and other bullets punctured the fuselage, releasing the navigator from his suffering and adding to that of the pilot, as a
heavy calibre
bullet
destroyed
his left calf.

Flight-Lieutenant Erskine, one of the few
home grown
New Zealanders in the
squadron, accentuated his turn, applying
power in an attempt to evade and gain height in the same manoeuvre.

The other two Mosquitoes, seeing their comrades in difficulty, returned to the attack, both claiming fresh kills as they discharged the rest of their 57mm rounds.

Erskine, in a display of great courage, conducted a second run, approaching from the south-east.

Spotting
Soviet
tanks
on the edge of the woods, he thumbed the firing button, only to be greeted by silence as the damaged 57mm refused to fire
.

Flicking the selector to cannon, he spared a sustained burst for two
camouflaged vehicles sat on high ground
between the woods and Nottensdorf
,
before his aircraft started to shudder and his most pressing concern was staying airborne.

The Mosquito flight disappeared over the Allied lines, two undamaged aircraft riding shotgun over their less fortunate comrade.

Senior Lieutenant Pan, s
enior surviving officer of 1st B
attalion, grimacing
as a
sympathetic but
heavy-handed Sergeant bandaged his wounded legs, tried the radio again.

There was no reply.

Neither would there be.

The Brigade headquarters group had been hammered by the final pass of the twin engine aircraft that had hit 47th Mechanised so hard.

Colonel Rumyantsev was not dead, but would not last the hour out.
The command group now consisted of a handful of shocked men trying to do their best for the wounded and dead contained in the two destroyed half-tracks.

A GAZ staff car
containing 3rd Battalion’s commander halted at wreckage. Major Pugach could do no more than encourage the survivors in their efforts and say
a soldier’s
goodbye to the
dying
man who had been his
leader
for over two years.

Taking command of the 47th’s forces on the field, he went with Rumyantsev’s plan, handed 3rd Battalion to his deputy and moved up into Nottensdorf to command the battle.

The
Polish
attack had hit problems. An
over eager
Major had pushed his units hard at the lightly defended Grundoldendorf
,
and
,
in the
overextended
advance
,
had exposed his left flank to fire from the
Soviet
tanks and anti-tank guns in Nottensdorf.

The
central
attacking
force had not advanced in a coordinated fashion and was
only just entering Habecksfeld
.
This
had permitted the
Soviet
s to concentrate their defensive fire against the southern force.

Sherman
tanks of the 1st Armoured Regiment’s ‘C’ Squadron engaged T34’s to the north-east of Grundoldendorf, as well as those on the edge of Nottensdorf.

The artillery officer from the 376th called in salvoes on and around Dohrenstrasse and Nottensdorfer Strasse
,
where he could see the
Polish
tanks and infantry struggling forward.

All momentum was lost as the casualties amongst the tanks and support vehicles mounted, and the
Polish Highland I
nfantry
’s ‘B’
company went to ground in search of cover.

Machine guns of the Independent Company
,
positioned on the edge of Bliederdorf
,
tried to suppress the defenders with little success, the range being too great for effective work.

The heavy Vickers machine-guns tailed off as the order to cease fire was relayed, but not before some errant burst
s
had claimed seven of their own amongst the
Polish
infantry to their front.