Opening Moves

He had seen the Garand used when his unit had a shooting competition with some American troops during the celebrations in May, a contest his troops had won very convincingly. It was then he had seen the loading process he had already performed. However, each weapon has its own distinct characteristics, which he would have to learn in combat.

He pulled the unfamiliar weapon into his shoulder and took aim at the fraction of the halftrack gunner that he could see.

Discharging the rifle’s eight rounds completely he shouted to his surviving men.

“Prepare Grenades!”

Those retaining their senses grabbed grenades and readied themselves.

The fire from the AA halftrack had stopped but only because the ammunition had run out. Chekov had missed his target.

However, the loaders were vulnerable and he fumbled for another clip as he watched the assault wave close.

He caught an inexperienced finger as he pushed down, yelping as metal sliced flesh. The shock and surprise more than the pain caused him to drop the eight round charger on the muddy ground.

He reached for another, successfully drove it home and brought the weapon up.

Some of the attackers saw him too and bullets sprayed from frightened running men with heaving chests, all inaccurate, and Chekov remained unscathed.

However, a rifleman at a window supporting the attack, was better placed and fired a bullet that struck Chekov’s left arm. Fortunately for the Lieutenant Colonel, it was an M1 Carbine, which penetrated without doing major damage.

“Grenades, throw!”

His men launched their explosives up and into the assault force, causing carnage.

Despite his arm wound, Chekov managed to get off aimed shots at the reloading crew and dropped one to the floor of the halftrack.

His men regained the edge of the rise and fired into the surviving attackers, receiving casualties in turn from the supporting infantry.

The bodies were mounting up and nothing was being gained by either side.

The AA halftrack backed off, probably to re-ammo out of sight.

A few Americans reached the defenders and again desperate close fighting ensued.

One American with a Thompson sub-machine gun was felled by a single shot from across the river. Chekov quickly turned to see a casual wave from a grinning Starshina Neltsin who chambered another round in his Mosin-Nagant rifle and turned back to his own problems once more.

One bloodied US Corporal continued gouging out the eyes of the unit’s youngest soldier, even as others were bayoneting and hacking at him with spades.

He fell dead onto his blinded enemy, the young boy screaming with pain and fear as they dragged the mangled corpse off him.

The combination of Siberians and engineers on the east side of the bridge were heavily engaged by infantry, both American and German from reports.

Chekov’s position was precarious, as it seemed that the south-west prong of the assault had been blunted and the southeastern thrust was heavily engaged.

One moment of relief was brought when an ISU-152 spotted the returning AA halftrack. The vehicle had fired less than a second’s burst before it and the crew were struck by a heavy 152mm shell, flesh and metal being converted to small pieces and driven sideways and backwards into the adjacent house, causing further casualties amongst the infantry firing from there.

His position on the east bank was now in great jeopardy, as two M5 Stuart light tanks and a half-track rushed into sight.

More Siberian infantrymen had siphoned up the bank into the defence but it seemed only a matter of time before the position was broken.

Chekov thought the situation through. He had to hold no matter what.

Looking at the heavy self-propelled guns, he worked the problem.

‘The ISU’s can’t engage the enemy light tanks but it is the infantry that is more of a threat.’

In that he was wrong but didn’t realise it at that moment.

‘Obviously the enemy wants the bridge intact too or mortars and artillery would be falling on their heads.’

‘Can’t radio the ISU’s to fire at the enemy positions on the west bank and they obviously won’t fire unless they have a recognised target.’

A soaked engineer Kaporal interrupted his thought process.

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the enemy have been driven back once more but we are very low on ammunition. Leytenant Munin has stripped our dead and that of the enemy for weapons and ammunition but he says it is unlikely that we can hold another attack.”

There was little to be said by way of positive response.

Gripping the Kaporal’s shoulder, he responded with all he had to give.

“Tell Leytenant Munin that the rest of our battalion is on its way. We have but to hold for another quarter of an hour clear?”