Red Army

"What is it?" Malinsky asked.

"Comrade Front Commander . . . the situation along your son's route of march has become critical."

"You mean the situation along the route of march of the Third Brigade of the Forty-ninth Corps," Malinsky corrected, struggling to control his facial muscles.

"Yes, the Third Brigade," Starukhin agreed. "It's very bad, Comrade Front Commander."

"What does the corps commander have to say? Does Anseev believe he can master the situation?"

Anton. Malinsky knew that it was not right to think of the boy now. He risked losing all perspective. Thinking of the boy who had grown into a man, yet who would always remain a boy to him. Malinsky ached to see his son. And, he realized helplessly, he wanted to protect him. To shield him from the harms of the grown-up world.

But Anton was a soldier. A guards colonel in the Malinsky tradition. In the Russian tradition. He would have to do his duty.

Anton. Malinsky could see his son's fine, clear features before him.

Surely, he would look disheveled now. Black circles. The boy would be tired. He had been on the march for a long time. Malinsky imagined the scene at the brigade command post. Anton weary, but firmly in control, a pillar of strength for his subordinates. Or perhaps he had already gone forward, to direct the combat action in person. It was, of course, a difficult question, given the temporal and spatial issues of modern war.

308

RED ARMY

To what extent could a commander permit himself to be drawn into the fight? How much distance did he have to maintain to retain an adequate, objective overview? Malinsky felt confident that his son would evaluate the situation and do the right thing.

"Comrade Front Commander," Starukhin continued, "we have temporarily lost communications with the corps-level command posts. We can talk to your son's—I mean the Third Brigade—however."

"You can't have lost all means of communications."

The buildings trembled as distant explosions walloped the earth, dusting the already bad air.

"The Americans are conducting extensive radio electronic combat operations to support their attack."

Or they've hit Anseev's command posts, Malinsky thought. Anseev was a good man. Why couldn't he get his corps under control?

"Have you tried the corps' rear control post?" Malinsky asked.

Starukhin nodded. "Oh, yes. We can talk to them. But they can't reach Anseev, either. The rear is in the dark worse than anybody."

Malinsky pondered the situation for a moment, then reached for a cigarette. Calmly, he told himself, do it calmly. Do not let him see a trace of emotion.

"And your situation? Tell me about the Third Shock Army."

"We'll manage. We'll hold them. They'll never cross the Weser River line."

"What about the Hameln crossing site? They could be heading straight for it."

Starukhin wiped a paw across his unshaven chin. "They'd have to break in. I have a tank regiment on the west bank. And if they broke in, they'd never get back out. The British force in Hameln is sealed off.

They're fighting like savages to keep us out, but they'll just provide that many more prisoners in the end."

"Any further communications from our air-assault force in Hameln?"

"Nothing further," Starukhin said. "Not since yesterday."

Malinsky carefully lit his cigarette. "Go on."

"I'm moving covering troops and forward detachments across the river at multiple points. The first line of defense will be in front of the hills beyond the river. The Tenth Guards Tank Division holds the Bad Oeynhausen sector, with a grouping from the Seventh at Rinteln. The Forty-seventh Tank Division and the Twelfth are committed to the encirclement of the German operational grouping and the Hannover fight, in conjunction with elements of the Second Guards Tank Army.

I'm reorganizing my East German division as a counterattack force."

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Ralph Peters

Malinsky was surprised. "They've done well, then, our little German comrades?"

"Good tools," Starukhin said. "They make very good tools, the Germans." He smiled.

"All right. But don't commit the counterattack force without my approval. I want to know exactly where the Americans are headed. We must not commit prematurely. Also, I'm going to order the release of a mechanized airborne force to you. You'll have two reinforced regiments.

I want you to employ them as light armor, working around urbanized terrain."

Starukhin bobbed his head in agreement, obviously pleased with the gift of additional forces, minor though they were. Malinsky knew that Starukhin would fight hard with every weapon put into his hand. It was only his impulsiveness that worried the front commander.

"Yes," Malinsky said. "The most desirable thing is certainly to hold them west of the Weser and south of the Rinteln-Herford-Borgholzhausen line. I don't want them interfering with the progress of the Second Guards Tank Army. And we need to hold open as many bridgeheads as possible for follow-on forces."

"How long do you think we'll need to hold on," Starukhin asked,