The Central Front D+17 (26 July, 1987) Part V Charlie

Late in the evening, General John Galvin, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) received word that the first troops from 1^st Cavalry Division were over the Leine. The news invigorated SACEUR’s deputies, as well as his staff. After two and a half weeks spent playing round-the-clock defense, NATO had possession of the ball. NORTHAG’s new commander had taken a massive gamble and injected a brigade-sized force into the Soviet’s rear area to raise hell. The gamble was paying off handsomely. The Red Army had been halted practically in sight of the Weser, an entire US armored division had broken through Soviet lines, and most of 3^rd Shock Army’s combat divisions were now in danger of being trapped on the wrong side of the Leine River.

The NATO position on the North German Plain was markedly improved in comparison to what it had been forty-eight hours earlier. NORTHAG was moving to expand the two current Leine bridgeheads in preparation to cross the remainder of the 1^st Cavalry Division and behind it III Corps. SACEUR did not want to commit too much of this corps to containing the 3^rd Shock Army. As things were developing now, he was leaning towards using it as the centerpiece for a counteroffensive, a notion General Saint at NORTHAG was in favor of. There was a lot to be worked out and determined though, and very little time to do it in. Still, SACEUR wanted plans for a major counterattack presented to him by 0200. His staff would be burning the midnight oil.

Western TVD’s new commander-in-chief General Boris Snetkov spent the last hour of the day planning as well. With an army group in danger of being fully enveloped and NATO tanks preparing to cross the Leine, Soviet forces in Northern Germany were being thrust into the unfamiliar role of defense. 5^th Guards Tank Army was the nearest army group to the Leine. It was severely understrength after 3^rd Shock had siphoned off three of its divisions to support the push to the Weser. Behind it, the 7^th Guards Tank Army was moving into West Germany after a drawn out transit across a dangerously hostile Poland and an indifferent East Germany.

Snetkov faced a choice. He could use 5^th Guards Tank Army to attack the NATO bridgeheads on the Leine and in the process possibly rescue its sister army group. Or it could become the anchor for a defensive line aimed at slowing down a future NATO counterattack until 7^th GTA arrived could enter the picture. There were not enough fresh combat divisions available to do both and a decision needed to be made quickly.

The speed and ferocity of the American attacks stunned Snetkov. His enemies had done to him exactly what he planned to unleash on them. Had the 3^rd Shock and 20^th Guards performed at the same level as the American division earlier in the war, Snetkov presumed he’d be standing on the east bank of the Rhine at this moment, instead of a deep underground command post inside of East Germany. He admired the abilities of the Americans and at the same time regarded them with dread.

He was in his office alone, drawing up the outline for a counterattack on the Leine bridgeheads the next day. It was 2355 hours. A single knock came to the door. His aide stepped in and informed the general that a message had arrived from Moscow ordering Snetkov to be in Moscow by sunrise.