Opening Moves

Zilant-3’s attack was a bloodbath for both sides. Early heavy casualties came to the Russian paratroopers, as they were engaged both in the air and on the ground by wide-awake gunners of the 486th U.S. Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion using the deadly US M-16 half-track quadruple .50 cal Maxon anti-aircraft mount. This weapon could put about two thousand rounds a minute in the direction of the enemy and many casualties were simply obliterated in the blink of an eye.

None the less, the paratroopers fought back. Grenades overwhelmed the defenders and the .50 calibres fell silent.

The Schloss was defended by a full company of experienced infantry from the 70th U.S. Infantry Division, and it seemed like every window of the three storey structure bristled with weapons.

Russian casualties were murderous.

Some troopers were armed with scoped rifles and started to methodically work the windows, killing defenders, clearing complete areas to enable an assault to succeed.

Finally, the Soviet paratroopers broke into the building and slowly cleared room-by-room, thankful that they had brought additional grenades for each man.

Again, they were ruthless, leaving no man alive, killing even the wounded, be they in uniform or civilian clothing, even as experienced American reinforcements began to arrive.

The battle in and around Schloss Kransberg began to abate as the surviving groups of paratroops were methodically eliminated room by room. By the end of it, only ninety-three Russians were left alive of the seven hundred and forty who had dropped on Kransberg, and many of them were badly wounded. Of the American defenders, symposium attendees and their German instructors, only three men was found alive, two of which were devoid of any identification, too wounded to talk and close to death. Six allied divisions and four corps had lost their commanders as a result.

Chapter 38 – THE CHÂTEAU

The essence of war is violence. Moderation in war is imbecility.

British Sea Lord John Fisher

0401 hrs Monday, 6th August 1945, With the Zilant #4 Group, Airborne over Allied occupied Germany.

Makarenko had chosen to go with Zilant-4 for more than one reason. Firstly, it was the assault that the least preparation had gone into and most likely to need his leadership. Secondly, it was the furthest distance to travel and therefore the greatest risk of detection en route. Thirdly, it was the most difficult target by far. Fourthly, there was no information on what force was defending the Château. Finally, he had seen the place with his own eyes in the mid-twenties when, as a young Captain of twenty-five, he had visited France as part of a military mission after the Great War.

As he looked around him at the other nineteen men confined within the dark red interior of the Li-2 transport aircraft he felt an icy hand grip him inside. He remembered how a light-hearted conversation between junior officers in the Autumn of 1925 had become serious, turning to military matters and, more specifically, how to assault the Château. They had concluded that modern weapons would make it an extremely costly exercise indeed.

The General had selected the 3rd Battalion 298th deliberately, as the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg Potakov, was one of his very best officers. Capable of independent thinking and quick in adapting to tactical situations, the old hand had qualities that would be much in demand in the coming action.

They were also the fittest of the combat units, again all due to Potakov’s regime. This was essential for the assault, as the gradients involved in reaching the Château were severe and would test the strongest and fittest of men, even without the additional load of weapons and equipment.

Not for the first time that night, Makarenko prayed to a god he did not believe in. Thus far, they had not been fired at by ground forces, and no enemy aircraft had engaged them. However, his god had already turned his back on him, for the paratrooper battalion’s veteran commander and part of his headquarters group were already dead. Their Li-2 experienced catastrophic engine failure and turned into a fireball trying to land shortly after take-off.

Looking around at his soldiers, Makarenko smiled and tried to encourage a relaxed attitude whilst all the time filled with foreboding. Smoking was forbidden on the aircraft, not the least of reasons being the two flame-throwers assigned to members of his group, both sitting snugly between the legs of their nervous owners. However, that did not mean that they could not drink, and so a bottle of Moscow Crystal vodka was doing the rounds, calming butterflies and bringing a warm glow to otherwise white faces.

All the men with Makarenko were veterans of Leningrad, the Svir River, through to Vienna. None of them expected to survive this night’s action but still they went.