Opening Moves

Calling in the coordinates to his battalion, he could not help himself but check and recheck the possibilities.

The battery of guns he controlled fired four salvoes and a very satisfied Maynard noted the reduction and then cessation of shellfire on the now silent approaches to Goßmannsdorf.

The arrival of 105mm shells was a very unpleasant experience for the Soviet gunners. However, only a few fell close enough to do harm, killing four artillerymen and wounding two more.

None the less, the unit seemingly panicked and started to hitch up guns without proper orders, hence the lessening in incoming fire witnessed by Maynard and Chambers.

Losing only one gun and two prime movers, the battery withdrew in ragtag order, finally coming to a halt on the southern approaches to Würzburg, where the young Junior Lieutenant in charge was summarily executed by the NKVD officer who intercepted the withdrawing unit.

The Junior Lieutenant had, without his knowledge, been instantly promoted to battery commander by the arrival of a 105mm shell on the previous incumbent and his second in command, neither of whom were recovered from the field.

0858 hrs 10th August 1945, American Counter-attack, Vicinity of Rottenbauer, Germany.

Allied Forces – 23rd Tank Battalion and 17th Armored Infantry Battalion and C Company, 92nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion, all of Combat Command ‘B’, 12th US Armored Division and 2nd Battery, 573rd AAA Btn, all of US Fifteenth Army, US Twelfth Army Group.

Soviet Forces – 2nd Battalion, 179th Guards Rifle Regiment of 59th Guards Rifle Division of 34th Guards Rifle Corps of 5th Guards Army of 2nd Red Banner Central European Front.

^{Fig#16 – Rottenbauer,US Counter attack.}

Over three hours had passed since the first shots had been fired and the 12th had made excellent progress. Plunging on nearly five miles into Soviet lines, fighting steadily and with purpose, roughly handling the 906th Rifle Regiment of 243rd Rifle Division.

Initially, the advance had been slowed by dogged resistance from 3rd/912th in Goßmannsdorf but they had been forced to withdraw to the south-west, leaving Combat Command ‘B’ to plunge further towards Würzburg.

Arriving in a blaze of fire at Winterhausen-Sommerhausen, the lead elements of the 92nd Cav, supported by a platoon of M4A3[76mm] tanks from A/23rd, made short work of a retreating mortar platoon, as well as a bridging engineer unit that was striving to make good the damage to the bridges.

Pausing only to destroy the engineers good work, CC’B’ moved forward, only to be taken under fire by Soviet anti-tank guns positioned on the east bank, losing one half-track from the 92nd and one Sherman from A/23rd.

CC ‘B’ s commander quickly switched his artillery to suppress the enemy guns whilst redirecting his forward elements temporarily away from the river line and west towards Fuchsstadt, ready to drive north on the parallel roads between Eibelstadt and Reichenberg.

Fuchsstadt was swiftly overcome, but at the cost of the cavalry company commander and his vehicle [A], victims of a panzerfaust hit as the Captain drew his vehicle to a halt, turning his back on the modest firefight behind him to concentrate on his next leap forward to Rottenbauer.

Again, the lead platoon of A/23rd swept forward, reducing some of the buildings on the edge of the town to rubble and flames with their HE shells and allowing a dismounted platoon from the 17th Armored Infantry to move into Rottenbauer and start clearing it completely.

The rest of A/23rd’s lead platoon then moved through the position, preceded by a platoon of the cavalry, immediately receiving fire from positions at the rear of the town.

C/23rd continued through towards Albertshausen before swinging north once more, running into no resistance until taken under fire from their left flank near Lindflur.

A platoon of cavalry reached the crossroads between Rottenbauer and Lindflur without any problems, as did another to the end of a cut northeast of the disputed town.

CC’B’’s commander intended nothing to escape from Rottenbauer.

As both sides sought each other out at long distance the 12th’s luck started to run out.

The limited fighter cover given them for the attack had been hugely successful and nothing had got through to harm them, until ten Shturmoviks finally arrived over the battlefield and received orders from a ground director.

Each of them carried four RS-132 rockets and four delivered them onto the tanks of C/23rd.

Two Sherman’s were destroyed in the attack [B], both burning fiercely, living up to their reputation as burners despite the new ammo stowage and fire precautions.

One commander stuck rigidly to his .50cal MG and was rewarded with noticeable hits on one of the aircraft, which limped away trailing smoke.

His joy was short-lived and he provided a lesson to all his fellow commanders on vulnerability in the turret when a rifle bullet took him in the head, fired from a hidden position around Lindflur.