In the Blink of an Eye

The last report on Soviet movements in this four hour old war had just been handed to me, when the hostile sound of incoming arty had us all ducking for cover.

Thunk. No Explosion? Not 30 yards away!

“Comms off. Comms off, BUG OUT!” I roared. We have been tagged via Electronic Warefar[EW] near Werneck, time to move.

A PFc burst in “Gas,Gas,GAS!!!” and kept running warning the rest of my HQ.

Shit! ‘MOPP UP’ I said, but there was no need to warn my men. The dread had locked everyone into high speed action. Scared, hell terrified of being hit by gas. No one wants to go that way. Our MOPP’s were hanging around our waists. I scrambled for the mask. What sort of gas would they use? Persistent? Transitory?

CRASH, BOOM! The next rounds exploded no more duds. A strangled cry of some poor soldier caught in the blast radius and smeared with toxic fumes. All was muffled as we zipped and cross checked.

The frantic efforts relocate were under way, shouting and cursing. More radio messages came across the wire. Oh no.

Four hours ago or was it three? The Su 17’s, Su 24’sand 25’s and ripped through the faint morning light. Screaming jet engines, low to the ground.

Precision strikes.

Hoffheim is pounded to burning ruins and the Cav are gone. Poof. The force that was to be the road block, the bump stop our ace in the hole to buy us time to bring the rest of NATO online was gone. 2nd Squadron of the 11th Armoured Cav was now a shell. As tensions had risen, 1st Brigade 3rd Division Mech had begun pre positioning along with elements Germanys 12th Panzer.

We had to recover. Regroup. Reorganize. Then the crack 35th Guard Soviet shock paras land in Hemelberg right on the river side. 1/3M is the only force available it surges to counter attack. At the same time, I was juggling the pressure on the Main at Schweinfurt. Multiple Soviet divisions press up.

The rivers form two secure flanks, but now they feel like a crushing weight boxing us in, with Route 7 the high speed lane to Wurzburg splitting us down the middle. Persistent gas is raining down on key crossings. Bridge demo prep is not complete. Its a shit show.

My training, the men’s training and will to survive will have to be the difference. Scavenging a Squadron of Apaches, the 36th Brigade from 12th Pzr race to counter attack. They smash the advancing soviet tanks. The 12ths Leopards and their smooth bore 120mm guns are no match. Supported by the hellfire of the Apaches and arty popping DCIM we stall out the 79th Guard!

Well we thought we had a chance.

Now these chemical rounds are landing.

Another dud.

Then a series of explosions, and more cries of Gas Gas.

The next message send a chill down my spine. My Engineers who were finalizing bridges destruction had just been wiped out almost to a man by the simultaneously delivered Chem strikes. This was no longer a conventional battle.

It is way to soon to call reserve elements, but someone has to get to the bridges. I send it.

Within minutes the idling M1’s are racing toward the bridges. The 39th Guard and 107th are closing in. We bug out and seek a new location to keep running the fight such that it is.

Its a race.

Bad Kissingen is the finish line.

Blowing the 286 highway span is the only way to slow down the Soviets. Standing orders are to minimize infrastructure damage. Not gunna happen.

If the 39th links up with the forces headed to Schweinfurt we are toast.

Except it is no race. Mig 29’s blast and pummel the tanks and reinforcement. Persistent chem hits the forces blocking the road to the Bridge. In the end 12th Panzer makes the call, they are the only ones close enough. They elect to blow the bridge, and damn the ROE. Maybe we have a chance now? IT will take Soviet bridge layers hours to ferry and lay.

No such luck. With the engineers gone, my reserves committed, and losses mounting, the Soviets double down and smash their way across the river South past Schweinfurt, while sending a fresh division across at Hassfurt.

They do not need to fight us any more. Our meager line is being bypassed.

We have lost this battle. So quickly. Unit reports streaming in. Shattered formations, down 30%, 50% or worse non existent.