Defense of Hill 781 (7 page)

“Have we gotten any intelligence about Objective BLUE?”

“No, sir.” There was still a hole a mile wide there.

“OK, that’s not great news, but we’ll keep the attack on schedule, relying on our dismounted infantry to send us back reports as they make their way forward. Have the radio net opened up at 0330 with a radio check. We’ll maintain radio silence until then, short of any emergencies. Tell Major Rogers to move up with Alpha Company and keep me advised on the progress they make on that flank.”

“All right, sir. I’ll pass all of that on.”

“Thanks. Oh by the way, Captain Johnson, good job finding me in the dark. You’ve been a big help.” Even though Always was embarrassed at his lack of forethought, he was a big enough commander to give credit where it was due.

As Johnson slipped away, Always looked at his watch. It was 0245. Bravo Company’s infantrymen were moving off in the dark. Always was amazed at how few they numbered, three platoons of twenty men each.

In his perch in the Bradley, Always shut his eyes to doze. There was no point in fretting any more. The die was cast, and in a short while there would be enough new worries with which to preoccupy himself. Better to rest while he could.

He awoke to Sergeant Kelso, his gunner, gently nudging his elbow. “Sir, you’re being called on the radio.”

With a thick tongue he answered to his call sign, then waited while all the parties came up on the net call. It took longer than he expected. There were a lot of subscribers on the net, more than he had imagined, and some of them had to be called several times before they answered. The air force liaison officer never did answer, nor did the two dismounted companies moving forward at this time. Their portable radios were operating in the clear and could not hear the encoded call. This created a dilemma. Having a mixture of secure and unsecure parties on the net had the effect of talking on two nets on one frequency. The resolution was to operate totally in the clear, with the ensuing risks to security. Always decided that he would preserve the secure net a little while longer. He hoped the dismounted infantrymen would have the sense to call in should they discover something critical or get involved in a heavy action. Captain Baker had gone forward with his infantry, while Captain Archer had remained with his Bradleys, letting the senior platoon leader take charge of the dismounted formation. Always wasn’t sure which one was right. At the moment, however, one of his commanders was off the net. That and the missing air force officer worried him.

The scouts were dutifully in position. They reported they could see little from where they were on the line of departure, but that they had passed forward both dismounted companies in the last thirty minutes. So far there had been no incidents. Always confirmed the plan. By the time the conversation was completed it was 0350 and there was an almost imperceptible lightening of the horizon in the east. It was time to move. In fact, it was clear that they could not now hit the line of departure on time. Too many precious moments had been spent in establishing the radio net.

Even as they began to move forward—B and C along Axis RED, D along Axis WHITE—the task force commander began to lose control. Precisely at 0400 the preplanned smoke began
to fall across the front, but the wind had now shifted to a northeasterly direction and blew it back over the moving vehicles, making their journey difficult. Although they were only twenty meters away, Always could not see the nearest vehicles of Bravo Company, forcing him to proceed by dead reckoning in what he thought was the general direction of the attack.

At 0410 he heard Major Rogers call in the crossing of the line of departure (LD) on the left, and a few minutes later he saw the road that he had designated as this key control measure. But he had not yet heard from the infantry. He was still attacking blindly. Moreover, to continue moving forward with the armored vehicles risked running into his own dismounts. In the smoke and the poor light, with nervous trigger fingers itching for combat, the chance of shooting his own men, of fratricide, was extremely high.

“Oscar 42, Poppa 42, pull into some cover and establish contact with your infantry. Give me a situation report before you proceed.” Always called to Bravo and Alpha companies.

In a few minutes A Company reported that it was still about 1,500 meters short of Checkpoint 1. Captain Baker, on the ground with his dismounted soldiers, called directly to Always, who had to switch to unsecure on his radio to answer him. B Company’s dismounts were nearing CP 2, but it appeared as if an obstacle was located there; they would have to move cautiously. Always heard artillery fire coming in over to his left in the vicinity of Echo Company. He terminated his conversation with Captain Baker and shifted back to secure in order to find out what was going on. He had not heard any of the conversations of the last few minutes because when he had left the secure mode to converse with Baker he had essentially left his own net. Each shift of mode on the radio necessitated a contortion by Always in his seat. The radios were located directly behind the small of his back; in the narrow confines of the commander’s cupola he had to drop down, swivel around, find the switch in the gloom of the vehicle interior, and change its position.

As he came up in secure he heard Captain Evans talking to the TOC. “… intensive fire coming in. I’m taking casualties. The enemy has a fix on my location. I’ve got to pull out of here or get chewed to pieces.”

Always approved the move, but neither battalion nor company commander was sure where Echo was going to go. To move forward would put it out in front of the attack. To move back would put it out of the direct fire range of its own guns, unable to reach to the suspected enemy positions. The precision of the incoming artillery indicated that the enemy had placed his own reconnaissance in position the night before, probably as the first elements of Always’ quartering parties were seen coming in. He had fixed E Company’s exact position, and even in the smoke had been able to bring Evans under effective fire. A minute later the mortar platoon reported that it was also taking artillery fire. Two tubes had been destroyed in the first barrage, and several of the mortarmen wounded. The mortar platoon, too, would have to pull out.

Captain Baker was calling in the clear. “The obstacles are covered. I’m taking small arms fire and incoming mortars. This is going to take awhile.”

Always needed some movement on his left. He attempted to call A Company’s dismounts directly, but they were either out of the range of their portable radios or an intervening terrain feature was interrupting the transmission waves. The colonel had now been operating in the clear for two minutes and he needed to get back to secure.

This was the moment that Brigade chose to call for a situation report. Even as he answered he found himself taking incoming artillery fire. He reached up to close the hatch cover as he responded to the call from higher headquarters. Simultaneously E Company reported in its new position as the TOC overrode Evans’ call to yell out that they were under artillery fire and would have to move. The noise had become deafening—the
artillery fire, the roar of the Bradley engine as Spivey pulled them out of the fire, the chatter on both radio nets, and the conversations between the colonel and his crew on the intercom as the battalion commander tried to keep himself moving with Bravo Company. The artillery fire was eating them alive. He should have swept the area for enemy scouts. A mere one or two of them, situated close enough to observe the task force’s movements in and around the LD and the assembly area, was throwing the entire attack off balance.

Brigade was not happy with the report and encouraged Always to get moving. Now Alpha Company was calling for artillery support as it neared CP 1. It had picked up a report of Bravo’s fight at CP 2 and was proceeding with caution. The artillery was now having to choose between supporting Bravo and Alpha or concentrating on countermortar or counterartillery fire to ease the dilemma of the task force. Always was hard pressed to give guidance, not because he did not know what he wanted to prioritize (it was crucial that B Company break through the obstacle) but because his artillery officer was caught in the dislocation of the TOC and was momentarily off the net. That left him only the mortars to turn to, but they were down one third of their guns, and the other four were on the move.

The key seemed to be B Company. If it could get through the obstacle, the task force could ram home the main attack.

“Oscar 42, this is Lima 42, over.” Always was trying to reach Captain Baker.

“Oscar 42, this is Lima 42.”

No response.

“Oscar, this is Lima.”

The colonel’s voice was hardening. He remembered Baker was operating without secure, cursed himself, and flipped the radio switch. “Oscar 42, this is Lima 42.”

Heavy breathing. “This is Oscar 42, over.”

“This is Lima. Sitrep.”

“Roger. We’re closing in on the obstacle slowly but surely. I’ve taken seven casualties, three killed, four wounded. I’ll need to get them out or two of them will be done for. Over.”

“Oscar, this is Lima. The whole shebang is dependent on you getting through that obstacle. That’s got to be your first priority. Put a full court press on, and get through that obstacle. Call me the second you make it. Do you roger?”

“This is Oscar. I roger.”

Always’ mind was racing. He could not be sure how long Baker would take and he had to get something going. The whole attack was falling apart at the line of departure. He considered committing Charlie Company to try to penetrate at CP 4, then dismissed the idea. There was still a chance to put the plan into effect if Alpha could close in on CP 1.

“Lima 42, this is Lima 51, over.” It was the smoke platoon.

“This is Lima 42, over.”

“This is 51. We will be out of smoke in five minutes.”

“This is 42. Roger, out.”

“Poppa 42, this is Lima 42.”

“This is Poppa, over.” Alpha Company answered quickly.

“This is Lima. I need you to launch your vehicles up to CP 1. Try to coordinate it with your ground element. We’re being held up in the south, and I need you to punch through.”

“Wilco, over.”

“This is Lima, let me know when you get there. Out.”

The traffic on the radio was picking up speed. At any given moment three or four stations were trying to reach Always. The TOC was now back in operation and the fire support officer was seeking guidance. The air force liaison officer entered the net, unsecure—yet another station necessitating a quick switch off the secure mode. Charlie Company came under artillery fire and had to shift position. Captain Carter was eager to kick off his attack, but Always held him back until he could get a clearer
picture. Brigade called two more times, the demand in Always’ commander’s voice quickening.

Five interminable minutes passed. Then, “Lima, this is Oscar, I’m through the obstacle.”

Always’ heart jumped. “This is Lima. Say again, over.”

“This is Oscar. I say again, I’m through the obstacle.”

In a flash Always acknowledged the call, signaled the vehicles in Bravo to move forward, and directed Charlie to follow. Just as the smoke lifted they dashed across the tank trail straight at Checkpoint 2, twenty-three vehicles still able to move after the intense artillery pounding in the two companies. Missing were the air defense teams mounted in the jeeps. Without armor protection they had been killed in the initial barrages.

Suddenly Bravo Company lurched to a sudden stop, forcing Private First Class Spivey to scoot his vehicle to the right to avoid crashing into its tail vehicle. Always smashed his face into the sight to his front. Buttoned up in the vehicle, with his hands grasping the map and the various communications controls, shifting rapidly to the turret controls whenever he sensed the likelihood of enemy engagement, he was careening back and forth in his seat like a top out of control. A trickle of blood worked its way down his nose.

“What in the hell is going on?”

His question drifted over the intercom system, bringing a polite response from his gunner, “I don’t know, sir.”

Dust flew every which way, obscuring vision worse than had the smoke. Always reached up and popped his hatch. He had to risk a look through the open hatch. He was completely blind at the moment through any of the periscopes or vision devices.

The scene that came into view seared his eyes. Stretched across the narrow pass at CP 2 was an obstacle of concertina wire, mines, and a four-foot-deep tank ditch. On the far side was Bravo Company’s infantry, gone to ground in a firefight
with the enemy defenders 100 meters farther up the draw. And beyond that were the enemy T-72s and BMPs, dug in up to their gun tubes so that it was almost impossible to see diem except when they fired, and virtually immune from any direct fire. And at that moment they were picking apart the Bradleys of Bravo Company.

Captain Carter had already reacted and was desperately attempting to pull his tanks out of direct fire of the T-72s. It was a wild confusion of pivoting tanks and exploding Bradleys. A few of the vehicles intentionally poured out covering smoke from their diesel fuel to make good their escape, adding to the confusion and saving themselves, at least for the moment.

Always yelled to Spivey to pull back, and fired off one burst of the 25mm gun at a BMP firing at him from 500 meters up the draw. Both guns missed, and Spivey made it back around the bend, hugging the side of the cliff on the southern extremity of Hill 826.

In an instant Always reached the scout platoon and directed it to move to CP 4 to see if there was a way through to Objective BLUE from that direction. Prompted by his TOC, Always remembered the engineer platoon, hitherto forgotten, and ordered it to fall in behind the scouts to reduce any obstacles they might find. Major Rogers called on the radio with a situation report on CP 1.

With a little luck A Company had linked up with its dismounts and been able to close on the obstacle blocking the valley at CP 1. Although it had taken a few casualties and had lost one vehicle, Alpha was making progress on reducing the obstacle and would be through it in another few minutes. The bad news was that there were at least two more obstacles several hundred meters behind the first, and each of them was covered by fire. Progress was possible, but it would be slow and probably come at some expense.