Firestorm: Stripes

Comanche Troop, 1-4 Cavalry, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division
Captain Matthews knew speed would be of the essence. S-2 just detected a large East German formation moving rapidly to secure a bridgehead in a nearby village. Without much information or time to prep, Matthews ordered his men to mount up and move out fast–he would figure it out on the way.
Comanche 3-1, one of Matthews’ scout sections, was the first to spot the enemy. A mixed battalion of T-72s and BMPs was pushing hard for the bridge, moving across the Troop’s front, from left to right. Out of desperation as much as instinct, Matthews ordered one platoon of tanks, Comanche 1, to link up with 3-1 and get into firing positions. Comanche 4, his mechanized infantry platoon, would head straight into the village and secure the northeast side of the bridge. He would take up position between the two on a hilltop overlooking the river, with his second scout section, FiST track and VADS in tow.
The Troop had just reached their firing positions as the enemy came into range. Led by BMP scouts, the Germans were pushing their vehicles to their limits as they raced down the highway. This is way too easy, thought Matthews, which means this fight is going to be a brawl.

“OPEN FIRE!” Matthews yelled over the Troop net. “FIRE AT WILL!” Almost simultaneously, the Troop Line let loose a devastating volley. In less than a second, 8 BMPs are ripped open by the Abrams and ITVs. Matthews almost felt sorry . . . almost. Instead, he turned his attention to bringing the rest of his Troop on to the firing line and trying to get some air and artillery support going.
A bad feeling began to come over Captain Matthews. While working on getting some divisional support going, almost as an afterthought, he peered out of his Abrams hatch toward the town. A feeling of satisfaction at seeing Comanche 4 just outside the village quickly evaporated as one of the transports burst into flame. It took a second to realize the enemy was hitting them with artillery fire, quickly followed by a volley of ATGM. In an instant, 3 of the APCs had been knocked out. He could see the infantrymen were banged up and rattled, but they soon recovered and sprinted into cover on the edge of the town.

Matthews refocused his attention to the front. German T-72s were maneuvering along the bank of the canal, orienting in the direction they had taken fire. A weak, rushed volley did no damage, but Matthews was realizing his instincts were right, this is NOT going to be as easy as he hoped.
The Fire Support Officer broke on to the Troop net with some good news–two Cobras were now on station. A small wave of relief washed over Matthews. He did not have to issue any orders, the FSO knew his job and would coordinate all the supporting fires. As if on cue, the FSO reassured Matthews’ faith as two T-72s were popped by the Cobras’ TOW missiles. The Scouts and Tanks fire a second volley into the enemy, this time targeted their tanks, destroying 4 more.
Behind him, Matthews heard the whirring of the VADS’ rotary cannons. Coming in low, 4 enemy Hinds were coming in fast from the northwest. Two took up an orbit just above the village, while the two others began to disappear behind a low rise. Matthews cursed under his breath, “DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!” An air-landing platoon was setting down next to the Upper Bridge. Fortunately, as they took up their stations, two of the Hinds fell to the earth in a great ball of flame, swatted from the sky by the VADS.

Despite inflicting heavy casualties, Matthews could see he was not stopping the enemy advance. Like ants, they just kept coming. Using the smoke of their burning transports for cover, the enemy’s infantry pushed up to the lower bridge, engaging Matthews’ dazed infantry platoon. A brief glimpse through the rolling smoke revealed a pair of undamaged BMPs moving into position to support the infantry.
“GUNNER! Target. Two BMPs. Left BMP. HEAT!”
“IDENTIFIED!” responded the Gunner instantly, already tracking the two targets.
“UP!” told Matthews the gun was ready to fire and his Loader was clear of the recoil.
“FIRE!”
“ON THE WAY!” shouted the Gunner as the Abrams recoiled.
Before he could call out the second BMP, the Abrams’ gun roared again, and two more BMPs were removed from the world.
The deep rumble of artillery drew Matthews’ attention toward the Lower Bridge. The German artillery seemed to be landing short of his infantry platoon until he realized it was American artillery hitting the German infantry on the opposite side of the canal. The rapid enemy advance was beginning to stall. Too many knocked out vehicles hampered their attack, meaning their lead infantry platoon was at risk of being cut-off. Now was the time to strike.

But it was not to be. German artillery found the range and pounded the hilltop Matthews was positioned on. The Scout section stationed near him disappeared under ash and dust as their fighting positions in the treeline were razed to the ground. Among the wrecked vehicles, Matthews could make out the burning hulk of his FSO’s track. This is NOT going well. To add injury to insult, some enemy infantry, having survived their own ordeal with American arty by diving for cover in the canal, managed to get across unnoticed and knocked out one of the VADS with an RPG shot.
And the German air-landing platoon was beginning to work around the flank of the Mech Platoon, knocking out their last M113, and killing two infantry teams.
Over the Troop net, the second tank platoon and the Four-Deuces announced their arrival. The mortar tracks immediately took up position behind Matthews’ hilltop while the Abrams sped by to support the Mech Platoon.

“I’ve done my job,” thought Matthews. “We are a cavalry unit. We are not supposed to go toe-to-toe with a heavy force, just find them, engage, and fall back.” He could see a second infantry company in the distance forming up for a push on the Lower Bridge. “Time to go,” he whispered to himself, but not without one last parting shot.
Matthews ordered his second tank platoon d to finish off any remaining infantry on their side of the canal. Itching to get into the fight, Comanche 2 completed the job in truly cavalry fashion, charging headlong into the motley mob of German soldiers, killing those too slow to get away and driving the rest back into the water for a second time. Comanche 1, now near the Scouts’ former position, finished off what remained of the enemy’s tanks, and as a final act of defiance, the last VADS claimed one more Hind to avenge his lost wingman.

Now, thought Matthews, it’s time to go.