1st Guards Tank Army’s Ivy League Education
Late on D+6 8th Guards Army was handing off the Soviet/Warsaw Pact advance in the Fulda Gap are to 1st Guards Tank Army (1st GTA). After seven days of war 8th Guards was in no condition to continue the Pact drive west towards Frankfurt and the Rhine beyond it. 1st GTA was prepared and eager to assume this mission and its command staff had made what it believed to be proper adjustments in tactics and planning to overcome the significant resistance put up by the US V Corps opposing it. Unfortunately for 1st GTA, V Corps had also brought about its own modifications and adjustments in anticipation of the coming battles.
Lieutenant General John Woodmansee, the V Corps commander, and his G-3 amended the Main Battle Area for the corps. The eastern boundary line of the MBA was designated Phase Line Princeton. Itextended from just west of Bad Hersfeld south to Ebersburg outside of Fulda. Covering forces were deployed out in front of PL Princeton. The 8th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Division had commenced shifting some of their brigades during the night and pre-dawn hours. They would defend west of Princeton, and east of Phase Line Yale which ran on a north-south axis from Alsfeld through Lauteral and ending at Birstein. Woodmansee believed the changes to the corps MBA would give his divisions more flexibility and open new options for the commitment of the 4th ID when the time came.
The cavalry squadrons of the 8th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Division performed their covering force duties well. The battalion-sized units harassed the enemy formations making their way west through the morning of D+7. Bolstered by fixed wing close air support, attack helicopters, and artillery, they slowed down the leading regiments of the 11th Guards Tank Division and 20th Motor Rifle Division considerably. By early afternoon, the cavalry squadrons had done about as much as they possibly could and withdrew west of Phase Line Princeton, handing off the battle to their parent divisions.
In the later afternoon and early evening hours, 11th Guards Tank Division executed three separate attacks against the 8th Infantry Division’s 1st and 2nd Brigades. The second attack was the most powerful, briefly penetrating the 2nd Brigade’s defenses and reaching beyond Kirchheim before the division’s 3rd Brigade was brought forward and conducted a successful counterattack. This attack allowed the 1/8th ID ample time to establish a new defensive line west of Oberaula, and 2/8th ID withdrew from the battle area entirely to a point in the division’s rear area west of Phase Line Yale. By nightfall, things had settled down along the 8th ID’s front.
On the morning of D+8 the battle moved firmly into the V Corps MBA. A frag order was issued at 0500 to continue the defense. A general withdrawal beyond Phase Line Yale was not necessary. The situations facing 8th Infantry and 3rd Armored had stabilized for the moment. Over the next twelve hours the two US divisions steadily delayed back to Phase Line Yale under pressure from the 11th Guards Tank Division, and 20th Guards Motor Rifle Division. By early evening, Woodmansee and his counterpart at 1st GTA separately concluded that reinforcements would be desperately needed. Each general had a fresh heavy division waiting in reserve, yet each was reluctant to commit them for differing reasons.
As the V Corps forward divisions continued to bleed the enemy and slowly move back towards Yale, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and elements of the 4th ID started moving forward from assembly areas near Phase Line Dartmouth, located farther west, towards Yale. Their missions would depend on the battle that was still playing out.
Author’s Note: As you can see, this addendum is going to be lengthy. I will post Part II at some point between now and the Monday before the Tournament Championship round. The two other V Corps-related topics I want to touch on will be handled in the next part. I am thinking about either doing a Part III to conclude the Ivy League part of the addendum for later next week.
Third World War 1987 