Team Yankee

CHAPTER THIRTEEN To the Saale

The creeping dawn of the tenth day of war revealed the full extent of their success. Over eighty Soviet vehicles lay smashed and strewn in the Langen Gap. The largest gaggle of burned-out hulks was between Langen and the Team's positions. A few of the tanks had been less than fifty meters away from Team Yankee when they had been hit.and stopped.

The battalion had been heavily outnumbered and by all rights should have paid dearly for holding the gap. But it had held and had done so cheaply. The favorable margin of victory had only been achieved through the planning and orchestration of the battle by Major Jordan.

Despite the magnitude of what they had done, there were no visible signs of joy or pride in Team Yankee. The closest thing to emotion displayed by anyone was a look of utter exhaustion. The efforts of the previous day and night, the emotional roller coaster caused by fleeting brushes with death and brief but intense periods of combat had taken their toll. When Bannon trooped the line at dawn, he was greeted with simple nods or stares by those who were still awake. Uleski was lying on top of 55 in a sleep that bordered on death. As there was no need to wake him, Bannon left instructions with Gwent to have him report to 66 when he woke but not later than 1100 hours. Bob Uleski needed his sleep more than Bannon needed him.

In the Mech Platoon area the men were split up evenly, half of them in the foxholes on alert and the rest back at the tracks. The day was starting cool and overcast. Since the mud in the foxholes hadn't begun to dry and wouldn't do so anytime soon, Polgar sent those men who weren't on duty to the tracks to sleep where it was dry. Bannon found him sitting with his back against a tree, his Ml6 cradled in his arms, asleep. As with Uleski, Bannon didn't bother him but left the same message with the squad leader in charge.

The morning passed quietly. The Team simply remained in position and watched the area to its front for any signs of activity. Patrols from D company had begun to sweep the battlefield after the last of the scatterable mines had selfdestructed. Occasionally there would be a random shot fired, but no one paid much attention. The patrols were stopping at each Soviet vehicle to check it. When they were satisfied that the vehicle was harmless, the patrol leader would mark it with chalk. Those tracks that were still burning were given wide berth.

The bodies strewn about the field were also checked. Not many Soviet crewmen had managed to abandon their tanks and tracks when they had been hit. Some had, however, and in spite of the machine-gun fire laid down by Team Yankee and D company, some had survived. When a wounded Russian was found the patrol would stop and call for medics. An ambulance track darted from place to place picking up casualties. The patrols even came across a few Russians who had managed to hide or play dead through the night. Those who did not immediately surrender were not given a second chance. There appeared to be no one in a charitable mood on the patrols.

Starting at 1100 hours, word went out to the platoons to roust everyone and start their maintenance routine, including cleaning and boresighting weapons. When Uleski came around, blurry-eyed and rumpled, Bannon instructed him to compile by noon a complete status of the Team on ammo, fuel, other POL needs, maintenance problems, and personnel needs for each vehicle. At that time Bannon intended to have a short meeting with the platoon leaders to cover their current status and give them any news from battalion that he could come up with. Uleski simply sighed, saluted, and gave a "Roger-Out" as he began to go about his tasks. Kelp and Bannon already had a good head start on the task of cleaning up and preparing for the next battle. While they sat and watched D company's patrols during the morning, they had cleaned 66's three machine guns and their own pistols. Although Kelp had matured into a good soldier, he still was excited by some of the more gruesome aspects of war. Sitting on top of the turret, cleaning weapons, he would occasionally yell out,

"There goes another one!" Grabbing the binoculars, he would watch as a patrol stopped to dispatch a Russian who had been hiding and had chosen to evade rather than surrender.

After each chase was terminated, he would offer his views and critique the patrol's performance, noting that they were using way too much ammunition to bring down the Russians. When Bannon offered to arrange it so that Kelp could go out there and show the infantry how to do it, he lightened up on his remarks, but continued to watch.

It wasn't until well after noon that Bannon was able to meet with Major Jordan, who had been called to brigade headquarters at 0900 and spent several hours there. On his return, he called all the commanders and staff into Langen for a meeting. He had new orders.

While the battalion's mission hadn't changed, its organization had. Team Yankee, with all three tank platoons and one mech platoon, was being returned to 1st of the 4th Armor. The I st of the 78th was to remain at Langen reporting directly to division. Major Jordan explained the reasoning behind all this and the "Big Picture."

While the Soviets were busy trying to break into the division's flank through the battalion, they also had thrown other forces directly at the brigade's lead element as they advanced to the Saale River. Despite this, the brigade had been able to continue the advance at a slow, steady, and costly rate. The I st of the 4th was fought out and in its turn had to be replaced by another battalion while it recouped.

The problem facing the division, and the rest of the U.S. Army in Europe, was that it was running out of equipment. Prepositioned war stocks of tanks, personnel carriers, trucks, and all the hardware needed to wage a modern war had run out. Some equipment was arriving from the States but not near enough to replace equipment at the rate at which it was being lost. Even if the Navy could provide the necessary sea lift to carry what was needed, there wasn't enough equipment available in the States anyway. At prewar levels, which most of the factories were still at, the U.S. could only produce a pitifully small number of M- I tanks a month. The Army in Europe was capable of losing the equivalent of one month's production of tanks in a single day.

The solution to this problem was to strip understrength units and concentrate all resources in those units making the main effort. There wasn't enough to go around so units still capable of carrying out offensive operations or holding critical sectors received priority on everything.

The 1st of the 78th was no longer capable of offensive operations. Sitting in Langen, it was now out of the division's main effort. The brigade was still capable of reaching the Saale if all available assets were concentrated to support its two battalions that could still attack. The I st of the 4th was one of those units, and Team Yankee was one of those available assets that could be sent in.

Major Jordan was not at all pleased to lose the Team. Although nobody at division thought the Soviets would try the Langen Gap again, the 1st of the 78th would be hard pressed to stop them if they did. The battalion was now going to be down to two understrength mech companies. The major didn't discuss this, he didn't have to.

The commanders and the staff all knew what could and couldn't be done. The mood of the assembled group was depressed. Everyone also knew, however, that if the war was going to be won, risks had to be taken. The division and brigade were risking that the Soviets would not attack at Langen again. If they did, division was willing to risk the chance of a failure there, hoping that a breakthrough at the Saale would cancel the Soviet threat to the flank. It was the job of division and corps commanders to weigh such risks and make decisions. It was the job of the staff and the commanders of 1st of the 78th to accept those risks and carry out orders.

There was not much fanfare over the Team's departure. The major gave Bannon his instructions on when he was to link up with the 1st of the 4th, where, and route of march.

Bannon coordinated with the battalion S-4 for rearming and refueling before the Team departed that evening. He talked to the Team Bravo commander and told him where the 1 st Tank Platoon was to go when it was released back to the Team. Then, with no further business in Langen and much to tend to, he returned to the Team.

News of their return to I st of the 4th was universally hailed by the Team with the exception of Sergeant Polgar. He said it really didn't matter to him where his platoon went so long as it stayed with Team Yankee. When Bannon thanked him for his vote of confidence he replied that confidence had nothing to do with it. The chow in Team Yankee had always been good, and good food meant he had fewer complaints to listen to from his men. Second Lieutenant Murray Weiss, the leader of I st Platoon, was particularly happy to be coming back to the Team. He had the honor of being the company's only Jew, a fact that left him open to a great deal of ethnic humor. Like Bob Uleski, he had an almost infinite capacity to absorb incoming jokes and return them, as he had learned to do from an early age. Weiss's decision to make the military his career was a shock to his family. The U.S. Army was not normally something that college-educated Jewish boys were taught to aspire to. But Murray had deep convictions. The Israeli tankers who had fought in the Sinai and on the Golan had been his childhood heroes. While his friends aspired to be doctors or lawyers, he dreamed of being a tanker like Gen. Mordecai Tal. Weiss's performance before and during the war showed he was well on his way. The Team had much to do. It could not leave before dark.

To do so would telegraph to the Soviets the weakness of the Langen Gap. They would find out soon enough that the tanks were gone and there were only two weak companies there.

But the Team did not have to help them by flaunting the move in broad daylight. Even with the move several hours off, the leadership and men were busy. Bannon gave Uleski his instructions on organization, rearming, refueling, and other such details. He also gave him all the information, on when the Team was to move, its route, and final destination. Bannon would be taking the first sergeant's track and going to the headquarters of the I st of 4th to get additional information and, he hoped, an operations order. If he wasn't back in time, the XO was to start the move without him. They were, no doubt, going to be attacking again. The sooner he found out the how and where, the more time he had to plan and get the Team ready.

The trip to the 1 st of the 4th's headquarters took him back into the main valley that the Team had advanced into the previous day and through the town of Korberg. The valley had changed overnight. Its emptiness and lack of activity were replaced with the hustle of the division's combat service support elements. Convoys of trucks carrying fuel, munitions, and other supplies forward were passed by empty trucks coming back. There were the grim reminders of the cost of progress. A field hospital was set up outside Korberg, receiving new material in a never-ending flow. Bannon had no doubt that some of the people there were his. Commanders kept doctors busy. He also knew that soon he would be contributing to the flow again. As he moved farther north he saw more than enough evidence that 1 st of the 4th had had no easy time after they had passed through 1st of the 78th. M-Is, PCs, Soviet tanks, and smashed trucks attested to the severity of their fight. Maintenance recovery teams were busy retrieving those tanks that could be repaired. As he passed a maintenance collection point he recognized several of the mechanics from I st of the 4th.

They were trying to piece together recovered tracks in an effort to get tanks and PCs ready for the next attack.

Were it not for the efforts of these people, many of the units still in the fight, including Team Yankee, would have ceased to exist a long time ago.

Bannon found both Lieutenant Colonel Hill, the battalion commander, and Major Shell at the battalion TOG. Along with the battalion intelligence officer, Capt. Ken Damato, they were discussing the upcoming operation in front of the intelligence map. Bannon stood in the background for a moment and listened. Apparently, they had already developed the plan and were merely getting an update on enemy units recently reported entering the area of operations and their activities. Damato was pointing out several Soviet battalion-sized units northeast of the Saale that had been located and were being tracked. Across the top of the intelligence map in the area north of the river someone had put in large red letters "HERE BE RUSSIANS." Major Shell saw Bannon first, "Well, here's the hero himself now. Glad to see the infantry finally let you go."

Bannon went up to the map where greetings were exchanged. The three officers were haggard and tired. Without any further ado, Colonel Hill asked how much he knew of the upcoming operation. Bannon informed him that other than the fact that he had been told where and when to report, nothing. The colonel told Major Shell and Damato to go over the operation with him. When they were finished, Bannon was then to report to him. The colonel was going to wash up in the meantime.

The operation that Major Shell laid out before Bannon was nothing more than a continuation of the attack toward the Saale. There were a few new twists, but basically it was the same.

At that time 2nd of the 94th Mech Infantry was attacking through the Soviets' main defensive belt, which was not nearly as impressive as the Soviet defensive doctrine called for but was enough to grind up the 2nd of the 94th. Progress was slow and the commander and brigade did not believe that battalion would make it to the Saale. That's where the 1st of the 4th came in. Since being bypassed by the 2nd of the 94th early that morning, 1st of the 4th had been preparing for a river-crossing operation. All available assets were being concentrated in the battalion for this final push. If 2nd of the 94th did not make it to the Saale by nightfall, the plan called for the 1st of the 4th to pass through the 2nd of the 94th and continue the attack. Once at the Saale, I st of the 4th would make an assault crossing and establish a bridgehead. As soon as the engineers had a bridge in place, the lead elements of the 25th Armored Division, now in reserve, would pass through the battalion and continue the drive on Berlin. The 1st of the 4th would then assume the role of holding the flanks.

The attack of the I st of the 4th was not the only effort that would be going on that night. The 2nd Brigade would also be attempting to make an assault crossing of the Saale farther to the west. Their mission was identical to I st of the 4th1s; establish a bridgehead, allow the 25th Armored to pass, then protect the flank. It was hoped that both efforts would succeed.

The 25th Armored, however, was hedging its bets. They had one brigade following each of the river-crossing efforts. The first one across would become the main effort.

Ken Damato went over the current enemy situation. Until that morning, the Soviets had been trying to stop the division's drive through counterattacks, head-on and in the flanks. The 1 st of the 4th had fought the better part of a tank regiment the previous night after a meeting engagement in the valley. While the Soviet tank regiment had been stopped, so had the st of the 4th. That is why the 2nd of the 94th was passed through. That battalion had been fighting its way through a series of platoon and company-sized strong points since midnight.

Progress had been steady but slow and costly. Reconnaissance of the area immediately south and north of the river showed little indication that the Soviet defense had any depth.

The new enemy units identified moving into the area were believed to be fragments of shattered units being thrown in as a last resort. Therefore, the prevailing belief was that, once across the Saale, a clean breakout could be made and there would be little to stop a push to Berlin itself.

Major Shell then got drown to the details. The plan was simple. Once 2nd of the 94th had cleared the last of the Soviet positions or could no longer continue, 1 st of the 4th would pass through and charge for the river. There would be no finesse, no grandiose schemes of maneuver, just a mad dash for the river at the best possible speed. Once at the river, the battalion was not to stop but was to vault across and establish the bridgehead. The idea was to make it to the river and across before the Soviets could do anything about it.

The problem with such a simple plan was that once the battalion started rolling, the Soviets would be able to figure out where it was going and what it intended to do. While they could not keep the Soviets from figuring out its plan, they could confuse and deceive them as to where the main effort was going. The plan called for a reinforced company team to create a diversion and deceive the Soviets as to where the main effort was going to be. Major Shell stopped for a moment, looked at Bannon, and with a blank expression told him that was where Team Yankee came in.

Team Yankee, with three tank platoons, the Mech Platoon and the battalion Scout Platoon attached, would conduct a supporting attack on the battalion's right. It would be the Team's task to give the appearance that Team Yankee was the battalion's main effort by driving for a highway bridge on the Saale. While the Soviets would drop the span before the Team got there, the area near the bridge offered several excellent crossing points. A threat to that area could not be ignored. It was hoped that Team Yankee's attack would draw the Soviets' attention and reserves while the true main effort went on farther to the west. With the exception of the point on the map where Bannon was to orient the Team's effort and instructions to make as much noise as possible, he had a free hand as to how he could go about accomplishing the mission.

Shell stopped for a moment while Bannon looked at the map and considered the task.

Bannon asked where they anticipated passing through the 2nd of the 94th. The major showed him a point about twenty kilometers south of the Saale. Bannon asked about fire support and close air support. The major pointed to several target areas that would be hit near the bridge by the Air Force at first light in order to support the deception plan. He also told him that the Team would be supported by the better part of an artillery battalion until the battalion began to cross the river. At that time, Team Yankee would lose most of its support and would have to fend for itself.

Bannon looked at the major, then the map, then back to the major. "You brought me all the way here to give me this nightmare?"

"Hey, Sean, what are friends for? We're giving you a chance to excel." Bannonfs reserve of humor was exhausted; he found nothing funny about what the Team was being asked to do.

Again, Team Yankee was going to be on its own, rolling into the unknown. He began to believe that the Light Brigade during the Crimean War had it easy. They only had to do the impossible once. Team Yankee had to do it over and over again. "If you want to give me something, give me four tanks, a dozen trained infantry replacements, fuel, ammunition, and a four-day rest in the rear. Do you know what kind of shape the Team is in?"

Major Shell sensed the change in mood and became deadly serious, "Sean, you saw, I'm sure, the burned-out tracks along the battalion's route of advance. We're all in bad shape, and we aren't going to get any stronger. Our war reserves in Europe have been used up and there are no more. It will be another month before the Guard and Reserve units get over here. If we wait for them, the war will be over. We either do it now with what we have or we lose. It's that simple. "

Bannon bent his head down for a moment, looked at his boots, and considered what Major Shell had said before answering, "I know, I know. Major Jordan went over the same thing with me before I came here. It's just that since the war broke out, the Team has been getting the smelly end of the stick every time we turn around. Everyone, including me, is getting tired of putting his nuts out on the chopping block whenever a new mission comes up. So far we have been lucky, damned lucky. That luck isn't going to last, though.

One of these times the Russians are going to come down fast and cut us up.

Why can't someone else get a chance to excel?"

"Sean, whether or not you know it, your Team has one hell of a reputation. When the Old Man was given this mission by brigade, Colonel Brunn specifically designated Team Yankee as the force to conduct the supporting attack. Everyone agreed that your Team was the one that could pull it off if anyone could. You're it. You can moan and groan all you want, but in the end, you've got the mission."

The rest of the meeting was conducted in a curt, businesslike manner. Shell provided additional details, answered Bannon's questions, and asked if there was anything he needed. Bannon pointed out that in the future he could save the saddle soap and come up with easier missions. When they were finished in the TOG, Bannon went over to the battalion commander and talked with him for a few minutes about the condition of the Team and the mission. There was no point going over arguments for letting someone else take the job.

The decision was made, and he wasn't going to get it changed at this late date. All Bannon could do now was give the commander a "yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full" and drive on.

There was much to be done and not much time.

Before he returned to the Team, Bannon stopped by the assembly area where the Team would pull in before attacking. He found the Scout Platoon already in position. The platoon leader, Sergeant First Class Flores, and Bannon discussed the mission and his role. He assigned Flores the task of selecting positions for the rest of the Team in the assembly area and instructed him to provide guides when it arrived. With that taken care of, he started back for Langen and Team Yankee.

The Team never made it to the assembly area. The 2nd of the 94th, in one last push, succeeded in smashing through the Soviet's last defensive belt and destroyed a half-hearted counterattack by an understrength Soviet tank battalion. Orders came down over the Team net to move immediately to the passage point where they were met by the Scout Platoon and ground guides from the 2nd of the 94th. These guides directed Weiss's platoon to a cleared lane through a Soviet minefield that had been breached earlier. Team Yankee was now in the attack and headed for the Saale.

Once clear of the minefield, the 1st Platoon deployed into a wedge and began to pick up speed. From the cupola of his tank, Weiss surveyed the terrain to his front with the aid of his night vision goggles. There was no sign of the enemy. He turned to his left and watched the Scout Platoon, now clear of the minefield, begin to deploy to his right. Like his platoon, it also was forming a wedge. The Mech Platoon would be coming through the minefield now. Before turning to his front, he caught sight of the 66 tank as it pulled into a position between his platoon and the scouts.

Satisfied that all was in order, Murray Weiss leaned back in the cupola and allowed himself to relax for a moment. The entire Team, after spending a relatively peaceful afternoon near Langen, had been on the run ever since the Team commander returned with its new mission. Precombat checks, preparation for the night move, boresighting the tanks, receiving the Team order, and issuing the platoon order had taken up the balance of the afternoon. Immediately after darkness had fallen, the Team moved out for its forward assembly area where it was to wait for the order to pass through the 2nd of the 94th.

Weiss was pleased with the Team's mission and the orders Bannon had issued. The Team was divided into two parts. The XO, with the 2nd and 3rd Platoons, would move along a separate route about one kilometer west of the rest of the Team. Captain Bannon, with the 1st and Scout Platoons followed by the Mech, was to advance toward a bridge on the Saale. The order to bypass all resistance and go hell for leather toward the bridge regardless of the cost pleased both Weiss and Garger. The two lieutenants were tired of being held in check and having to wait for someone else to get their shit together. Although the Team commander tried to dampen their enthusiasm, the lieutenants were thrilled that they finally were going to have a chance to do some no-holds-barred tanking.

The crack of a tank cannon and the blurted contact report from 3rd Platoon jarred Weiss back to the present. The element with the XO had made contact. The enemy was out there. Weiss straightened up in the cupola and began to scan the horizon for them.

No one saw where it had come from. One minute there was nothing. The next minute, there it was. It was as if the BTR-60 had popped up out of the ground less than two hundred meters in front of the platoon. Without breaking pace and with one round, Blackfoot's 32 tank destroyed the BTR. Garger automatically ordered the platoon to refuse its left by going to a left echelon formation. This was done without confusion and with hardly a break in the platoon's stride. After a quick contact report to the XO, Garger turned back to his left and peered into the darkness through his night vision goggles. There was no further movement for the moment. The lone BTR, now burning, was well to the rear of the platoon as they continued to the Saale.

The 2nd Platoon, to the right, fired next. Garger whipped around to see what they were firing at. Following the tracers from the 2nd Platoon's rounds he saw several forms moving away from the advancing Team. A brilliant flash and shower of sparks followed by an eruption of flames lit up the night. One Soviet tank had been hit and destroyed. A second Russian tank, clearly illuminated by the flames from the hit tank, could be seen fleeing north. It did not make it, however. Another tank in 2nd Platoon fired and dispatched it.

"TANK-TWELVE O'CLOCK-MOVING NORTH!" At first, Garger thought that his gunner was looking at the same tank that he was looking at. Then he realized that the gun tube was still pointed to the left. He dropped down to his sight and saw the tank his gunner had found. For a moment he hesitated. B company, 1st of the 4th, was to their left. He did not want to engage a friendly tank. Garger studied the target in his thermal sight for a moment. He could make out the turret and the tracks. It was definitely moving north. But did it belong to B company or was it Russian? Then he noticed that the rear of the tank was dark. The exhaust from an M-I tank is vented out the rear, creating a tremendous heat signature. If the tank was an M-I, its rear would have been bright green. The tank was Russian. Without further delay, Garger issued his fire command and dispatched another Soviet tank.

The young engineer lieutenant was not pleased with his orders nor with having a KGB captain at his side overseeing him. The KGB captain and his people were supposed to be at the bridge to gather up stragglers and control movement. The young lieutenant was smart enough, however, to realize that the squat, stone-faced captain also had the task of ensuring that the people defending the bridge and preparing its destruction followed orders. Why else did the captain follow his every move and question every order the engineer gave?

The 15th Guards Tank Division was in the process of withdrawing across the Saale. The withdrawal was in great haste and confusion. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the order in which units came across. A tank unit was followed by a maintenance detachment, which in turn was followed by an artillery unit with a field hospital mixed in. To add to the confusion, the KGB would halt units at random and demand to see written orders giving them permission to withdraw to the north side of the river. Most of the units did not have these, having received orders over the radio. The KGB knew this but continued to stop units.

The thing that bothered the engineer lieutenant the most was the manner in which the KGB dealt with stragglers. When individuals, officer and enlisted, were found to be crossing without their unit, they were taken over to the side of the road and questioned. At first, the KGB captain was called in to consider each case. After awhile, however, he tired of this and allowed a young and enthusiastic KGB lieutenant to deal with the enlisted stragglers. The captain only wanted to be called in to deal with the officers, Justice, KGB style, was quick. The engineer, at the insistence of the KGB captain, watched each series of executions. Once a straggler was determined to be a deserter, he was put into a small wooden shed at the south end of the bridge. When the shed was full, the convicted deserters were lined up next to the road, in full view of the troops moving across the bridge. The KGB lieutenant would read a statement outlining the crimes committed against the State and Party before giving the order to fire. The first time he watched, the engineer lieutenant became sick. As he bent over to throw up, the KGB captain slapped him on the back and told him he had nothing to worry about, as long as he carried out his orders. The captain's statement was a promise, not a threat. The engineer lieutenant knew that if he blew the bridge without first receiving permission, the next time the KGB captain slapped his back, there would be a knife in his hand.

The sudden flurry of engagements stopped as rapidly as they had begun. The Team was halfway to the river and making good time. The Soviets encountered by the XO's element had been withdrawing and apparently were not interested in offering resistance. All was going well so far. Things had a nasty habit, however, of changing very rapidly. Six tanks and a couple of well-placed antitank guided missile launchers could raise hell with the Team.

Bannon expected to make contact with just such delaying forces momentarily.

The anticipation of such an event was becoming unbearable. An outright shoot-out with the Russians in the open was preferable to this rolling around in the dark waiting to be hit. His mind kept filling with worst case what ifs as the Team came to each point he had marked on his map where the Soviets could take up good delay positions. As the Team approached each point, Bannon could feel his heartbeat quicken as his body prepared for action. But nothing happened. The Team's lead elements would bypass the point and continue rolling north. Just as he managed to calm down, the next critical point would be reached, and he would again tense up in anticipation. They had to either make it to the river soon or make contact with the Russians. It really didn't matter to him. Anything was better than dealing with the stress of the unknown.

Just ahead of the element he was leading was a small town. Bannon would have preferred to bypass it but decided to send the scouts through it. Part of the Team's mission was to be noticed and running through the town was a good way to get noticed. The 1 st Platoon and the Mech were ordered to go around the town to the west and the scouts to make a high-speed dash through the center. If they ran into light resistance, they were to bull through. If the Soviets were present in strength, they were to back out and follow the rest of the Team. As the I st Platoon veered off to the left, the scouts formed on the road and raced in at a dead run. The lead scout track had no sooner entered the town when the report of its machine guns came echoing out. Flores sent a quick contact report. He had run into a Soviet recon unit in the town square and was taking it under fire as they rolled through.

Bannon reminded him that he was not to become decisively engaged and was to get out of there as soon as possible to rejoin the Team. With the din of battle clearly audible over the radio as he responded, Flores gave Bannon a curt "ROGER-OUT" and continued to fight his battle and carry out his orders. Though concerned that the scouts might not be able to extract themselves, Bannon was pleased, nonetheless, that they had run into the Soviet recon element. No doubt the Soviets would get a report back about the Team's presence, and part of the Team's mission would be accomplished thanks to the Russians themselves.

The firing just south of the river startled both the engineer lieutenant and the KGB captain.

They looked in the direction of firing, then at each other. For the first time that night, the lieutenant noted a look of concern and uncertainty on the captain's face. They both went to find the motorized rifle company commander who was charged with defending the bridge.

They had to find out what was going on.

The firing had also been heard by the soldiers attempting to cross the bridge. Not wanting to be caught on the wrong side when it was dropped by the engineers, they began to push forward. The impatience of the drivers gave way to anger when they felt the people in front were not moving quickly enough. Truck drivers began to blow their horns and bump the vehicles to their front in an effort to speed up the crossing. This did nothing but add to the confusion and push the mass of troops and drivers near the edge of panic.

The Team was now within a few kilometers of the bridge. Bannon decided it was time to start making a lot of noise in an effort to give the appearance that they were going to attempt a crossing. He ordered the Team FIST to fire prearranged artillery concentrations on both the north and south side of the bridge. Since the bridge was gone or soon would be, the artillery fire wouldn't hurt anything. It would, however, appear to the Russians that they were firing a preparatory fire for an assault crossing. The longer and more convincing the deception, the easier it would be for the rest of the battalion.

With the first impact of artillery, the KGB captain dropped all pretense of being calm and unconcerned. The idea of facing American combat troops terrified him. He and his men knew what would happen to them if the Americans captured them. Yet he knew they could not leave the bridge without orders. To do so would be considered desertion.

After dealing with deserters all night, he knew what would be waiting if he left now. The only hope was to get permission to leave.

Both the engineer lieutenant and the KGB captain tried to make it over to the southern side of the bridge. They were, however, fighting the tide, as everyone on the south side was trying to go north. Vehicular traffic was stopped. Trucks had been hit on both sides of the river, blocking the exit on the north side and the entrance on the south. This jam was compounded by drivers who abandoned their trucks and began to flee on foot. As they pushed their way against the flow of fleeing troops, both noticed that their men had joined the rout. At first, the lieutenant tried to stop his men and order them back. Few paid any attention as they continued to push their way ahead. The KGB captain tried a different approach. He pulled out his pistol and pointed it at his men. When one of them kept going, he fired several times, dropping the KGB private and two other soldiers who happened to get in the line of fire. This, however, did nothing to stem the tide. The other KGB men simply gave the captain a wide berth as they continued north.

Once on the south side of the river, the lieutenant and the captain found the company commander. The commander was yelling into a radio mike but didn't seem to be getting an answer. When he saw them, he turned to the engineer and told him that the Americans were only a few kilometers away and would be there any minute. The bridge had to be dropped now. The KGB captain asked if they had received orders to do so. The commander replied that he couldn't receive orders because his radio was being jammed. The KGB captain responded that they couldn't drop the bridge until they received permission.

The commander, frustrated now, repeated that the radio was being jammed and that he could not contact anyone to get permission. He reiterated that the bridge had to be dropped now or they would lose it. The engineer joined in, saying that they had to make an immediate decision. The bridge had to go. Both he and the commander stared at the KGB captain. The KGB captain in turn looked at each of them. It was against everything he had-been taught.

He had been trained from childhood to obey orders, to avoid taking the initiative, to conform.

Now, he had to decide on his own. There was no superior to decide for him. There was no one who could share the blame if something went wrong. He had to decide for himself, and he couldn't do it. Just as the engineer and the commander began to yell at the KGB captain again, demanding permission to drop the bridge, an American 155mm artillery shell ended their debate.

As I t crested a small rise, Weiss looked down and saw the Saale. In the clear-night air, the light from the half-moon reflected from its smooth surface. They had made it. In a few more minutes, their mission would be accomplished.

He scanned the length of the river. All appeared to be calm until he saw the artillery impacts. The rounds were falling among a cluster of vehicles with their headlights on at the bridge they had been heading for. There were still Soviets on the south side of the river. A closer inspection revealed that the vehicles were mostly trucks with only a few personnel carriers mixed in. There seemed to be a great traffic jam at the entrance to the bridge and a great deal of panic. This pleased him. Nothing like an easy kill to finish the attack. "THE BRIDGE, IT'S STILL UP L.T.!"

Weiss dropped down to his sight extension and looked to see what his gunner was yelling about. It was still there! As 11 rolled down to the river, Weiss traversed the turret, studying the entire length of the bridge. It had not been dropped yet. It suddenly occurred to him that they had a chance to seize the bridge intact.

The report from 1 st Platoon was too good to be true. The Team had not only caught some Russians on the wrong side of the river, but the bridge was still up. Suddenly Bannon had to make a snap decision. Did they try for the bridge and risk having it blown up in their face or with some of the Team on it? Or did he simply stop on the south bank and let the Russians blow it up? Whatever he decided, it had to be now. The 1 st Platoon was well on its way and would, in a few minutes, decide for him if he didn't. The Team had been ordered to divert the Soviets' attention from the battalion's main effort. Capturing a bridge intact and establishing a bridgehead here would certainly do that. Without calling battalion, he ordered 1st Platoon to go for the bridge. The scouts, coming up fast after clearing the town, were ordered to follow 1st Platoon across. The Mech Platoon was ordered to drop one squad on the south side to clear any charges on the bridge and send the rest of the Platoon across. Bannon ordered Uleski to get up to the bridge as soon as possible and send the 2nd Platoon across to join Bannon and take charge of the south side of the bridge with the 3rd Platoon and the Mech squad there. Everyone was ordered to hold their fire until they were on top of the Russians.

The 1st Platoon tanks were at point-blank range when Weiss gave the order to fire. The tanks fell in behind 11 and followed it as they all blazed away with machine guns at the fleeing Russians. All semblance of order disappeared as 11 pushed onto the bridge. Going was slow on the bridge as trucks that could not be bypassed were pushed out of the way.

Fires sprang up as fuel tanks were ignited by tracers. Russians fled into the night or simply tried to surrender to the charging tanks.

The tanks were not interested in prisoners right then. Neither was the Mech Platoon. As soon as Sergeant Polgar's track reached the south side of the bridge, he stopped and dismounted. The next track in line did likewise, dropping its ramp and disgorging its infantry squad. As the troops came piling out, Polgar yelled to the squad leader to cut all wires to the demolitions. The troops, never having done this, began to rip away at any wire they found. In the rush of the moment, one infantryman tried to cut an electric power line with his bayonet. He nearly electrocuted himself. Despite this, the fire from die-hard Russians, and working in the dark, the infantry managed to keep the bridge from being blown.

Once Uleski had closed up on the south side, the Team went about the task of securing the bridge, dealing with any resistance, and rounding up the Russians who wanted to surrender.

Bannon sent the Scout Platoon out as far as he dared to establish a combat outpost line.

The 1 st Platoon was deployed to the left of the main road in a quarter arc to the river. The 2nd Platoon was deployed to the right, also in an arc from the road to the river. One Mech squad stayed at the bridge's north entrance, one at the south, and the third was deployed forward on the road to set up a road block. Uleski deployed the 3rd Platoon on the south side of the river in a shallow semicircle.

When Bannon reported the seizure of the bridge to battalion, neither the commander nor the S-3 would believe him. They kept asking him to make sure that he was not confusing the Saale River bridge with a small bridge across a stream farther to the south. When he finally convinced them that the Team had in fact seized the main highway bridge, they gave him a wait-out while they conferred on what to do. After a couple of minutes, the battalion commander came on the net and ordered two companies to reinforce Team Yankee at the bridge. The S-3 would continue to drive to the river and conduct the crossing farther to the west as planned. The colonel shifted the main effort to the bridge to prepare for the passage of the 25th Armored Division.

As dawn began to break, Team Yankee found itself momentarily alone and out on a limb again. But there was no sign of fear or apprehension. The men went about preparing for an enemy attack that they expected but would never receive. Unknown to them, far beyond the outpost line established by the scouts, men were making decisions and issuing orders that would start the final and potentially most deadly phase of the war.