Opening Moves

Yartsov did not like it but saw no option as to stay was to die. He ordered his battalion to make for the trees to their west.

The two 57mm SP guns were directed to take the machine-guns to his front under fire to distract and suppress them whilst his infantry surged for safety. His mortar platoon was an ace up his sleeve and, under orders, it fell back quickly and set up in a defile just south-west of Kefermarkt, where the mortar platoon of the second battalion joined it on the orders of 2nd Battalion’s commander. Firing smoke, they attempted to mask the 3rd Battalion’s desperate move to the heights.

2nd Battalion’s soldiers were already dismounted and moved west as fast as their legs could carry them, intent on achieving the heights before they were noticed.

The first of Yartsov’s Su-57’s ceased firing as a direct hit from one of the armored-infantry’s own 57mm anti-tank guns took the front off the stationary vehicle. The whole crew survived without a scratch and found refuge in a small hollow. The crew of the second vehicle threw smoke grenades and tried to withdraw but only succeeded in throwing a track as they hit a large stone, making them easy meat for another 57mm. Only one man was killed in the vehicle but none survived the withering bursts of MG fire that sought them out as they tried to escape.

None the less, they had deflected some of the American fire from Yartsov’s men, fire that was again switched to the flanks of the 3rd Battalion toiling to find cover.

In war, timing is important, and the American commander had timed his ambush to perfection. All the mortars were switched to the suspected location of the enemy mortars, and within seconds, the Russians found themselves swept with high explosive equipped with surface detonating fuses. The carnage was immense and both mortar platoons ceased to function immediately, additional casualties being wrought by exploding Soviet ammunition.

At the same time as the mortar support platoons were smashed, the 57mm anti-tank guns sought out and found the Gaz containing the artillery officer whose job it was to call in support from the batteries behind. No such support would be forthcoming until his replacement reached the scene, so the artillery continued to fire on his last orders, which were to drop smoke down the east side of the valley to screen the troops from the heights found there. The only eyes that looked down on Yartsov from the eastern heights were those of an Austrian woodcutter and his nephew, sat comfortably with bread, cheese and beer, intent on watching the mock battle they had heard was being staged that day.

The heights to the west, upon which the Russians had set their hopes of safety, erupted in fire and cut down many soldiers from both battalions instantly. Having faced the German and his MG42 before these men were used to extreme firepower but this was very different. Not only did the armored-infantry have numerous machine guns, from tried and trusted m1919 .30cal to the murderous M2 .50 cal, they also possessed the finest infantry rifle of the period, namely the M1 Garand, which gave American infantry units awesome fire power.

Hundreds of infantrymen were dug-in along the leading edge of the heights and they accurately poured round after round into the confused Soviet troops, who started to fall back, their expected refuge now so obviously a death trap.

Yartsov watched as his command was butchered, impotent, raging, unable to do anything but weep for his men. 2nd Battalion had fared no better and the survivors were falling back into Kefermarkt, the bridge over which they needed to pass being brought under fire by mortars, causing more casualties.

Looking around him the Soviet Major saw an abandoned half-track, engine still running. Ordering his own driver to accompany him, he determined to drive to the rescue of his men and get as many out of the death trap as he could.

The vehicle leapt forward and benefited from smoke drifting over from the west side, permitting it to proceed some distance before being spotted. Yartsov served the .50cal on its pedestal mount and was rewarded with the sight of his rounds striking home on an anti-tank gun position now visible on the heights. Shouting and beckoning to nearby survivors, he went back to the gun and emptied the whole belt into the woods.

He bent down to pick up a new box of ammunition at the moment a 57mm shell struck the vehicle, killing his driver, and wrecking the engine and machine-gun mount. Yartsov dropped to the floor of the burning vehicle trying hard to work out what had happened, trying to stand on ruined legs, and wondering at the silence that suddenly enveloped him.

Mercifully, he was dead before the flames started to consume his body.

The commander of the 2nd Battalion, himself wounded in the stomach, reported back to his regimental commander on the destruction of his and Yartsov’s commands.

The Soviet attack had been stopped dead in its tracks.