On this day 25 years ago

[chico20854]

June 4, 1997

Panzergruppe Oberdorff lifts its artillery barrage of Czestochowa at dawn. The German 361st Panzergrenadier Brigade and US 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) begin their assault on the city.

US Naval forces arrive off the coast of Iran; SEALS and USMC Force Recon units execute sabotage missions while naval gunfire from the reinforced USS Salem surface action group pounds Soviet parachute units in and around Bandar Abbas.

Unofficially,

The container-barge carrier Dalian Carrier is delivered in Mobile, Alabama.

The Victory ship Marshfield is activated in Jacksonville, Florida, where it loads a cargo of bagged cement for transport to the CENTCOM AOR.

Inspector General and Army CID agents arriving at Fort Dix, New Jersey to interview the accused drill sergeant are dismayed to discover that he is no longer on the base and that the brigade S-1 (personnel officer) has produced orders dated a month prior transferring him to the 7th Transportation Brigade in Saudi Arabia. Two female trainees in another battalion approach their commander about abuse by their drill sergeants.

Private Randall Cutler is issued his uniform at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Along the Baltic coast, the Battle of the Hel Peninsula continues. In a repeat of the 1939 Battle of Hel, the Poles use weapons removed from damaged ships to defend the naval base and ordnance from the naval bases’ bunkers as large mines, blasting a ditch across the peninsula that the Germans are forced to use engineers to cross. The Pact command is able to periodically resupply the garrison, running a series of hovercraft, helicopters and wing-in-ground-effect ekranoplans in, mostly at night, evacuating wounded and civilians on the return trips.

V US Corps raids the outskirts of Lodz, hoping to deplete the defender’s fuel reserves and identify weak points for the assault to follow. Corps artillery and attack helicopters are on call to counter the Polish tanks as they counterattack, but the Poles use built up urban routes whenever possible, limiting the effectiveness of the anti-armor effort.

II British Corps reaches the Wisła at Płock. The Polish defenders destroy the bridge across the river before the British troops can capture it, although the British main effort remains Warsaw. The British commander, General Sir John Ramsay, directs that the corps MLRS artillery regiments attack Poland’s largest oil refinery at Płock, slowing ongoing recovery efforts following repeated NATO airstrikes that had halted production in early February.

The Czechoslovak 15th Motor-Rifle Division is out of fuel and anti-aircraft missiles as the 416th Bomb Wing returns to the skies overhead, carpet bombing the division's positions from altitude.

In northern Norway, X Corps commander LtGen William Hammond suffers a heart attack brought on by months of stress and the exhaustion of continuous operations which forces his immediate evacuation. Initially his Chief of Staff replaces him. The 6th US and 6th Norwegian Divisions bring their reserve battalions forward while the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade embark on amphibious shipping.

Pact troops in Romania continue to take ground. Lead elements of 6th Guards Tank Army reach the city of Deva in Transylvania, entering the mountains.

XVIII Corps troops in Iran hold their defensive positions as CENTCOM allocates a large portion of its transportation and supply assets to I MEF to the south.

In the Arabian Sea, the Sierra II-class attack submarine K-534 attacks 5th Fleet's supply train. Low on torpedoes, it launches a spread at the mass of ships before dashing away. One of the fish strikes the oiler USNS John Ericcson while two hit the supply ship Ambassador.

In Indonesia, the Echo II-class cruise missile submarine departs its secret resupply port and slinks north into the sealanes between Indonesia and the Philippines.

Rebel resistance in the Khabarovsk Flour Mill ends, the last 700 men of the 294th Motor-Rifle Division laying down their arms. To the north, executions of mutineers of the 73rd (my 122nd Guards) MRD continue as KGB investigators review the conduct of each rebel soldier; those judged "less rebellious" are transferred to a penal battalion.