History Article-Hypothetical war in Austria 1963

World War Three 1963

After the American-Cuban talks had come to a head the Soviet Military top brass wanted focus to shift from the Caribbean, the top officals from Romania, Cuba, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Poland and of course Russia all met in East German controlled Berlin to formulate a plan, it called for a massive military 'wargame' in Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany, Divisions were ordered to the borders of Austria and West Germany in a mock rehearsal of an offensive, however nobody told NATO. They saw massive troop movements and called an emergency summit in Brussels, where the U.S called for a pre-emptive strike to go ahead against Soviet positions, however nobody else would back them up, everyone wanted to draw the Soviet Union to the negotiating table, and when asked they said they would not talk to the U.S after being humiliated in Cuba, the United States sent two fresh Divisions to West Germany, the 101st Airborne Division and the 4th Marine Corps, both were due to arrive at the end of May 1963.

At the end of January 1963 West Germany had fifteen Divisions, just three Panzer Divisions (Armoured), eight Panzer Grenadier (Mechanised), one Artillery, one Fallschirmjager (Paratroop) and two Infantry Divisions. due to restrictions after World War Two the West German Luftwaffe (Airforce) was comprised of just seven Fighter Squadrons (F-104 Starfighters), three Fighter-Bomber (GR19's, F-104 Starfighters and B-26 Invaders) and two Bomber Squadrons (B-26 Invaders). The Austrian government was officially neutral during the cold war years of 45-63, not wanting to be a target for either country, however Austria always kept good ties with its richer old allie from the West. Its main strength was its Infantry, it had nine Infantry Divisions, six of which were Garrison Divisions from the cities of Vienna, Graz, Linz, Villach, Innsbruck and Salzburg, the Austrians had six Armoured Divisions and four Mechanised Divisions, its Airforce was smaller than West Germany's and was made up mainly of ex-American World War Two surplus P-51K Mustangs, re-designated F-51's, they also had many F-84 Shooting Star's these aircraft made up the eight squadrons situated all around the country.

The NATO influence in West Germany could be seen by the troops stationed there, three American Divisions (as well as the two on the way) were the U.S 1st Rangers, 8th Marine Corps and 12th Infantry Division, U.S Army Airforce had three Squadrons in the country, all being rolled into the 9th European Theatre Air Group (ETAG), this comprised of two Squadrons of F-105 Thud's and one Squadron of F-86H Sabre's, the Marine Corps had one Squadron (also attached to the 9th ETAG) of A-1 Skyraiders. The U.K had two Armoured Divisions in the Country, the 1st Coldstream Guards and the 2nd Irish Guards, as for airpower then the U.K had five operational Squadrons rolled into the 108th Fighter-Bomber Wing, this Wing had three Squadrons of Hawker Hunter aircraft whilst the remaining two were a Squadron each of DH.112 Venom's and Canberra Bombers. The British also had one Infantry Division (Light Division) of two Brigades, the 7th Durham Light Infantry and the 1st Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, these two Brigades were stationed in Holland, the DLI in Vitesse and the Dukes in Rotterdam. The Dutch themselves had just three Infantry Divisions and one Armoured Division, all stationed in their own Country, much aws the same for the five Belgian Mechanised Divisions, Dutch and Belgian airpower was just two Squadrons each, the Belgians had one Squadron of F-51 Mustangs and one Squadron of F-104G Starfighters, whilst the Dutch had one Squadron of F-51's and a Squadron of their new NF-5A Freedom Fighters.

Denmark considered its options also, its five Infantry Divisions were strung out all along its eastern coast, protecting it from an amphibious assault, its two mechanised Divisions held the cities of Copenhagen and Odense whilst it sent its one and only Armoured Division to West Germany's aid. Denmarks real strength was in its airforce, at nine Squadrons it was one of the largest in Europe, with three Squadrons of F-51 Mustangs, three Squadrons of F-100D's and three Squadrons of F-104G Starfighters.

The Warsaw Pact representitives all expressed their own desires for a quick and decisive victory in Europe, to knock their border with the west all the way back to France or even Spain, they needed to deliver a series of knock-out blows to the western forces and the devised a plan to match their needs, in Austria they saw a weak under-belly to the west, the countries bordering Austria in the Warsaw Pact were Czechoslovakia and Hungary, Czechs had nine Divisions commited to the attack upon the west, two Tank Divisions and seven Mechanised, the Czechoslovakians had an impressive airforce with ten squadrons, five of which were fighter-bomber / ground-attack aircraft (Il-10 Sturmovik) and three bomber squadrons (Il-28 Beagle's), the rest were mixed fighter squadrons (MiG-17 & 15's as well as Su-7B Fitter-A's). Hungary on the other hand had a weak airforce, just three squadrons of old Fighter-Bombers, MiG-15 Fagot's, MiG-17 Fresco's and Il-10 Sturmoviks. The main strength of the Hungarians came from their Infantry, with nine Infantry Divisions, five Mechanised Infantry Divisions and three Tank Divisions all ready for an invasion of Austria.

The attack on Austria was also to act as a diversion for the attack on Hamburg to the North, the Soviets hoped that NATO would go to the aid of Austria thus leaving West Germany open to a full scale invasion, the plan for Austria was also one of diversion, the Hungarians would crash through from the east, in the Lake Eisenstadt region, on the 12th of March. It was hoped that after two days of fighting the Hungarians would then purposefully get bogged down, the Austrians would send its army east to counter the threat, then the Czechs would attack from the North, towards Linz. The Austrians had one Division holding the Hungarian border around Lake Eisenstadt, the 9th Mechanised Division, whilst the Hungarians spearhead was by the 15th Hungarian Tank Division. The two Divisions met in battle around Eisenstadt for two days, early on the Hungarians gained the upper hand, surprise in some cases was total, the Mechanised units of the Austrians (using old WWII M13 Half-tracks) were quickly over run, however the woody areas around the town made good defensive positions for the 9th Division and the Austrians held onto the town, cut from five Battalions to just two ( one Light Tank Battalion and one Mechanised) caught inside the town by the Hungarians, the losses for the Austrians were severe, thier airforce couldn't cope with the onslaught and they called upon NATO for help, the West Germans promised air support for any future engagements. they would prove themselves soon enough.

Battle of LINZ 1963 March 14th-26th.

The Battle opened with a massive artillery bombardment by the Czechoslovakians on the forward lines of the Austrians, who fell back to a series of well made second line defensive positions, the Czechoslovakian Tank Battalions of the Czech 3rd Tank Division were made up mainly of old T-34/85's and SU-100 Self Propelled Guns (SPG's) with half of these Tank Battalions having heavy tanks, either T-10M's, T-10's or JS-III's, Austrian and West German airpower soon reared its head as tanks were soon being blown apart, the Austrian Battalions got in amongst the Czechs tanks and destroyed plenty with Bazooka teams, while the Czech Infantry was caught out by the Austrian's superior artillery, the Czechoslovakians after two days of limited attacks withdraw back to their border, losing over three hundred men and fifty tanks in just two days of fighting. German GR19 fighter-bomber's accounted for 25% of the tank kills whilst the Red Air Force shot down 8 F-51 Mustangs of the Austrian Air Force.

This Battle showed that well dug in and concealed Infantrymen with effective Anti-Tank weapons could knock-out enemy tanks with ease, the Czechoslovakians after Linz decided to sweep around the City and encircle it, the second phase of the battle was fought to the south east near the town of Amstetten, where elements of the 9th Infantry Division were holding the line, confronting the three Austrian Battalions was a whole Czech Division, the 5th Mechanised Infantry Brigade, made up of five Mechanised Battalions, two light Tank Battalions and one Heavy Tank Battalion, the Austrians thought that the Czech's had retreated north, and in the first day's fighting surprise was total, as it was in the east, the Czechoslovakians sent their 1st Heavy and 3rd Light Battalions, supported by Anti-Aircraft guns from Division HQ, into the front line of the Austrians, the Austrians were not as ready as they were in the North West and added air attacks by the 44th Czech Air Assault Brigade menat that they were routed back towards Linz, the Czechs lost just 44 men in total, mainly from their light Tank Battalion, which spearheaded the assault, their PT-76 Amphibious Tanks fell easy prey to the anti-tank guns of the Austrians, however the Czechoslovakians deployed three squadrons of engineer tanks, T-54's with Bulldozer's on the front, these proved too much for the well dug in defenders, and the Czechs march on to the town of Amstetten full of confidence, however the Austrians now know that there is a fresh assault taking place and West German air assistance is a certainty, three squadrons have been ordered to fly SEAD missions (Search, Engage and Destroy) over the whole Linz area. The second phase of the Amstetten attack started with three Battalions of Czech armour surging across a largely open landscape in true cavalry fasion, the Austrians never gave up and poured fire into the oncoming Czechoslovakians, the Czech's lost 27 Main Battle Tanks, mainly T-34/85's from their two Light Battalions, whilst two Heavy Battalions followed up and took the field, despite some fierce opposition from Austrian Light Tanks, AMX-13's and M-41 Bulldogs, however the 44th Air Assault Brigade turned up the heat on the Austrians and destroyed some key installations, their Il-10 Sturmovik Ground Attack Aircraft also claimed a few Kills amongst the Austrian armour, the Czech's totally routed the Austrians and now can attack Linz from the south as well as from the north-east once again.

On the 20th of March the Czechoslovakians were poised to attack Linz from two places, the Austrians were now being reinforced by elements of the 3rd Austrian Light Tank Division from the west, however the remaining troops of the 9th Infantry Division were beat, and they knew it, the Czech's two main formations, the 5th Mechanised Brigade (with little in the form of Heavy armour left) and the 3rd Tank Division (also heavily depleted) were joined by two Divisons from further afield, the 99th Russian Paratroop Regiment and the 24th Polish Guards Tank Army had made their way south to push the Austrians back, both of the new Divisons were earmarked for reinforcements later in the campaigns north, but the Soviet advisors decided that the Czechoslovakians needed a kick up the backside. the Battle started well enough for the Austrians, their four remaining Infantry battalions stretched out to recieve the attack whilst some of the 3rd LTD were due to reinforce them at any time, the Czech's again sent their Light Tank Battalions to assault the Austrians, T-34/85's and SU-100's, supproted by two Battalions of Mechanised Infantry, as well as two Heavy Tank Battalions, to storm the Austrian city, West german airforce units would fly sorties all throughout and gain valuable experiance for defending their own homes when the next phase of the Soviet offensive would come.

The Austrians had their four remaining Battalions spread around the city in defensive positions, all were to be attacked at the same time, dawn on the 21st of March, IV1, an old WWI army HQ building was being used by the 14th Battalions HQ staff and a strike against this objective would give the Czechs a big help in the offensive. The Austrian 9th Division had very few tanks, yet a Light Tank Battalion was available from the forwards reinforcements close by, the Austrians then set up thier defences, two long hills dominated the landscape, designated Hill's 223 and 225, hill 223 faced the Czech armour and was manned by all of the Austrian Infantry and a squadron of M-20 Armoured cars, the Austrians managed to scavange some old 105mm Light Field howitzers and deployed them towards Linz, hoping to hold the Czechoslovakians off with their Infantry whilst artillery and air support would destroy the Czech's. The Light Tanks of the reinforcing 3rd Light tank Division were M-41 Bulldogs, used mainly as tank killers, however these were set up on Hill 225, defending the HQ of LV1. The Czechoslovakians outnumbered the Austrians greatly, they had one Battalion of Mechanised Infantry, and One Battalion of Engineers, their heavy support came from two Light Tank Battalions of T-34/85's, they were split into two waves, the first was made up entirely of the Light Tanks (5th and 9th Battalions) whilst the Infantry came up behind in BTR-152's, anti-aircraft guns were scattered to counter the threat from West German airpower.

The attackers fell straight into the Austrian trap, their tanks became bogged down in the attack on Hill 223, and it was only when the Infantry and Engineers showed up that they made some headway, however continuous airstrikes by West German GR19's and Austrian Starfighters (F-104G's) pushed back the invaders, the Austrian light Howitzers then chased the enemy back with thunderous salvoe's, the Czechoslovakians, attacking in full strength, were not able to dislodge the Austrians from Hill 225 (HQ Hill) whilst the small valley between and Hill 223 was strewn with dead and burnt bodies (Austrians used Napalm to destroy the Enemy troops on the ground), Hill 223 was re-named Black Hill, as that was the only colour seen in every direction after the assault. The Austrians were almost wiped out themselves, however the Czechoslovakians lost far heavier, including over 100 men taken as prisoners, losses in total were Austrians, 125 men killed or MIA, 19 Light Tanks lost, Czechoslovakians, 584 men Killed, MIA or Taken prisoner.

The Austrian 9th Battalion, 9th Division, was stationed to hold the small town of Bruggink (Population 400!), the town itself was on a hill, known as Bruggink Hill, its main buildings being the town hall, public house and hotel, to the east of the hill and town is a large open peice of flat land, used mainly by the local farmers for producing crops. The 9th Battalion had no artillery or any armour, however air support was called up and the West Germans responded in the form of six GR19 Fighter Bombers. The attackers this time were not the Czechs, the Russians had trucked a whole Division to the fighting in the last few days, the Division was the 99th Airborne Division, an elite force in the Russian army. They planned for a quick attack on foot, hoping to dislodge the enemy before they could call on any airstrikes from West Germany.