Long Generated Campaign US v Communist

[Hermit]

I played a long generated campaign with Israel v. Arabs (Egypt, Syria, PLO) from ~1948 to 1978 (30 years war?) and decided to try US v. Communist (Russia, China, N. Vietnam) from ~1949 to present to learn those units. Currently in April 1951, battles occur every 4 to 5 months.

With upgrades and unit swaps, core is currently 2 identical reinforced battalions composed as follows:

12 x M26 Pershing Tanks
4 x Sherman dozers
4 x M45 Infantry/CS tanks
4 x Sherman flame tanks
4 x M19 SPAA (40mm twin)
4 x Inf Plt. modified to include
1-HMG
2-Armored Inf sqd (just upgraded to M20 superbazooka)
2-Engineers
6 x 90mm AT gun
6 x 40mm AA gun
6 x M41 SPA 155mm
9 x 8in+ Off Map Arty
3 x 175mm Off Map Arty
1 x Sherman FO
1 x Recon Platoon of
1-FO
2-Cav Scout
2-Sniper
4 x Lt Attack Helo w/7.62 MG

Map size is maximum, all games played with 50 turns. I'm just finishing up a meeting engagement versus Russians on Fulda Gap map. Two large flat-topped 30-height hills in middle, extensive but broken woods all over map exept on hills, which are fairly open, even on the slopes. Asphalt road runs E-W about 1/3 of way down map, with intersecting dirt road NW to SE. Woods border much of E-W road, clusters of bldgs and fewer woods on diagonal road.

1st VP block is between two wooded areas on northern third of map, with open area to east of woods. 2nd VP on enemy side of largest hill, 3rd VP open area with diagonal dirt road w/bldgs passing to NE and woods to West.

Quick and dirty summary of battle:

Support units were:
3 x M3 1/2-track with 3 Scouts onboard each
6 x M3 SPA w/81mm mortar
9 x 105mm off map arty
crapload of M3's to carry troops and towed guns
12 x M3 ammo carriers

Planned to drive tanks from 1st battalion up in woods to west of northern VP and ambush Russian advance with infantry covered by smoke, then use tank fire to kill. Russians had even mix of T-34/85 and heavier tanks. T-34's were not hard to kill with frontal shots using Sabot ammo, heavier tanks very difficult. Ended up using infantry to assault under cover of smoke, or close side shots as enemy tried to move across my blocking force. Pounding with 105mm off-map arty gave excellent suppression even for heavier armor, which allowed me to get in close under smoke cover and finally kill heavier Russian armor. I then withdrew to allow smoke to clear and move my infantry to find and mop up Russian infantry and RPG-2 units.

In the middle, I set up AT guns on reverse slope of big hill with no VP, and mostly just picked off a few advance tanks. AI focused much more on VP hill (duh!) Besides smoke, flanking shoot-and-scoot worked well from sides of hill with 2nd battalion tanks.

Down south, only support tanks were sent to provide some help to all-infantry force. Crept up to VP area and found it deserted. Helo scouting showed his whole southern force had wheeled to the right to re-take center VP. I pounced on southern VP, which caused enemy to stop for a turn or two, then split some of force back to South. Ambushed them with infantry and flame tanks in woods and buildings off road.

As of turn 24, here is the status:

Most Russian vehicles fleeing or burning; several immobilized heavy tanks I'm trying to maneuver around for a kill-shot or infantry assault. Pursuing (cautiously) to see what units I can still catch and destroy. All enemy arty destroyed or rendered ineffective by my arty, except two pesky 82-mm mortars I can't seem to find. Several 14.5mm AA destroyed by my arty, as exposed by helo sorties. Enemy is making a small counter-attack in center, and I don't have any tanks capable of destroying them close by, so I may have to withdraw a little to buy some time again. If I can pick them off, then in the next turn or two I'll take the last VP's to end the game.

Units lost so far:

Support units = 5 Scouts, 3 APC
Core units =
1 M26 (crew survived)
1 M45 (crew dead)
About 4 or 5 tanks have minor damage, one lost its main gun
One M19 SPAA has guns disabled and one AT gun was abandoned and crew fled off map.
Most of my infantry has taken 1 or 2 (or 3) casualties and one has 6 men lost, but didn't disperse.
2 helos retreated off-map

I'll provide more blow-by-blows once I start next battle.

[Hermit]

I finished up the above battle last night, with good reason it turns out. The enemy counter-attack fizzled out as 3 of the 5 attacking tanks lost their nerve and fled. I was able to kill the two others (T-34/85) with infantry assaults as they advanced up the hill. I was able to kill four of his immobilized tanks up north, and get one of the 82-mm mortars with a helo. As I advanced through the wreckage up north, one of my tanks got popped with an RPG-2 and lost its coax-MG and took 3 damage points, but survived. I decided discretion was the better part of valor and took the last VP I'd been waiting for to end the game.

When I checked out the map, I was surprised to find he had about 30 tanks advancing up the middle in good order, probably heading for the lightly defended hilltop VP. Yikes! Most of them were the heavier (and slower) tanks of the type that had caused so much difficulty before. The five T-34's that counter-attacked last turn must have been the lead elements of that group.

Decisive victory! (no great achievement against the AI, I know)

Next battle is defend against Chinese assault on Korea map. Lots of smaller level 30 hills, one group forming an almost continuous ridgline running NW-SE across the map. I used my Sherman dozer's (i.e., placing trenches and then removing them) to take down some of the trees in front of good firing positions on the leading edge of some of the ridgeline. The middle VP is too close to the set-up line for comfort, so I seeded it with mines and will probably concede it to the expected overrun of enemy infantry and take it back later in the game. I also mined the two roads heavily to keep them from being used by the enemy. No units set up yet, I'll have to wait for tomorrow for that.

[spec290]

Sounds pretty awesome. Let us know how that works out!

[Hermit]

Expected mass infantry attack did not materialize. Instead, mass of t-34/85 did materialize. Uh oh! Classic failure to apply Sun Tzu's advice to "know your enemy." I didn't check the Chinese equipment list before the battle, and mentally was thinking "hey, its still early in the war, I don't think the Chinese had that many tanks yet."

So far (turn 12) it appears they have 2 main columns, both in the South sector, followed up by Mongol Cavalry. One appears aimed at the fore-mentioned VP hex cluster on the ridge extension sticking out almost into their territory. The heavy mine concentration around it, plus artiller, has stalled them there for the moment.

A belt of mines and two platoons of support infantry with bazookas has stalled the second advance, which appears to be aimed at the gap in the ridgeline, probably because that's where the road penetrates it. The enemy have really chewed up one of the infantry platoons, and the other is starting to take fire too.

So far, my self-imposed range limitation has kept just about all of my units from revealing their locations, and I've used woods and smoke to take pot-shots when only a few of the enemy can see me. I usually destroy one, or sometimes two, of their armor each time. Then retreat into a ravine or back over the top of the ridgeline. Even though I'm having to abandon dug in positions, its better than letting them take who-knows-how-many shots back on the Russian turn. It's creating a line of burning wrecks which is allowing me to manuever so that their numerical superiority isn't as bad. As planned, I've given up the VP cluster, although the haven't managed to take any yet. Two tanks made it through the mine cluster, but I've been shooting just about every artillery tube I've got at the area, and immobilized or demoralized most of the tanks that are in position to take it so far.

This is turning out to be a little more interesting than I had expected, since I was caught off-guard by the huge number of enemy tanks, concentrated into those two hordes. Too bad cluster munitions are still a few decades into the future :-)

[Hermit]

So far the US line is holding, although two more American tanks had to pull back and seek cover after a Chinese armored thrust. The Mongol Cavalry filtering in behind the Chinese vehicles approached to within 500 meters and two of HMG's opened up on them. Several men and horses went down, flailing madly. Fortuitous placement of a sniper (in some woods on a ridge extension) provided a clear view of the hapless survivors. Shots rang out as the brave Chinese troopers tried to find cover. None got away.

Another cavalry squad ran parallel to the line of immobilized enemy tanks, looking for an opening in the minefield. One of the American Pershings, concealed behind a building, placed two well-aimed rounds into the midst of them, scattering horse- and man-flesh in all directions.

Artillery rained down on the stalled Chinese vehicles, and another Pershing emerged from cover to turn two of the buttoned-up T-34's into burning coffins. Slowly and steadily the enemy armor is being reduced in number, with only about 1/2 of the enemy vehicles in sight now able to maneuver.

A quick helicopter sortie across the front was successful in scouting out the enemy's vehicles screened by smoke, drawing fire once from a lone IS-2 tank (T-34/s have no AAMG). Upon penetrating deeper into enemy territory, they encountered sporadic AA fire from Chinese 20mm flak and had to pull back behind a treeline.

[Brummbar]

Nice work. Keep it coming.:up:

[Hermit]

Reports from the front lines indicate that all enemy armor on the Southern fringe of the battle have been destroyed. M45 Pershing CS tanks are moving forward from their dug-in positions, around the enemies' Southern flank to intercept a company of Chinese infantry, which was finally spotted by a helicopter doing recon over the front lines.

One friendly tank was heavily damaged by enemy fire from a Chinese IS-2 that appeared out of the smoke just inside our perimeter, apparently the only remaining mobile armor of the enemy's most southerly tank force. The rest have either been pinned down in the mine belt or destroyed. A few also appear to have given up their thrust for the road break through the ridgeline, and have headed north to assist in the attempt to take the VP cluster. Nearby friendly units were able to get a flank shot and destroy the IS-2, although a few other of these menaces were spotted in the woods just past the front.

Helos from the northern battalion, which has seen very little action, penetrated deeper into the enemy rear and with great courage were able to close in and spot a group of enemy AA guns that had been harassing them. A call has been made for artillery supression fire as soon as available.

In the center the Chinese have continued to press for the VP cluster, and six more T-34's have become immobilized or destroyed by mines. After the last round of heavy artillery fire landed on them, a Pershing closed in and killed two of the suppressed enemy vehicles. Artillery has been requested to cease fire in this area and comply with the helo's request for suppression fire on enemy AA batteries.

All armor in the souther sector is maneuvering around the southern flank, staying just on the enemy side of the mine belt, while friendly infantry will begin moving forward under cover of smoke to dipose of the 20 or so enemy vehicles immobilzed on the mine belt. Thereafter, the infantry will move forward though gaps in the mines, and advance in front of the armor moving up from the south. Their objective is to find and eliminate the advancing enemy infantry until the enemy begs for mercy!

[rainchild33082]

This is A beautiful thread

[Hermit]

Thanks. I'm trying to find a balance between too much and too little detail, so that it will be entertaining. I want to make it understandable so that everyone can visualize the overall tactical picture, but not get bogged down in every engagement. Constructive criticism is welcome; I want to get better at this.

I look forward to seeing stories from others, and hadn't seen any new ones lately, so I thought I'd contribute rather than complain.

[Hermit]

The front is strangely quiet. Friendly Pershing tanks moved forward from their emplacments and destroyed 3 more enemy T-34's from close range, about 500 meters. Engineers from AX platoon have moved into position to assault two more enemy tanks that are immobilized in the mine belt, assisted by scouts from the attached recon platoon.

Pershing CS tanks continue to move up cautiously from the southern edge, ready to link up with AX and AY platoon after the enemy vehicles are destroyed. A few enemy vehicles are reported to have made a probe up the road in the northern sector, but 3 were stopped by mines, and another 3 were intercepted and destroyed by north battalion tanks lying in ambush. Although two enemy vehicles appear to be escaping, the northern sector commander has elected not to pursue.

Southern sector helos attempted to skirt around the advance platoons of the finally located Chinese infantry, but came under intense fire from both the ground troops and distant AA machine guns. Both helo units retreated behind the front lines, but not before discovering around 4 companies of Chinese troops. At least 2 additional companies have been spotted emerging from an orchard closer to the center. Looks like the battle ain't over yet, boys!

[Hermit]

The enemy infantry came on in a measured advance, but were halted for the most part by responsive cannon and MG fire from the advancing M26 Pershings. A few friendly support vehicles also advanced through breaks in the mine belt and added their firepower to the carnage. There must have been 3 or 4 enemy infantry companies advancing in both the southern and central sectors. The southern sector provided cover in the form of dense woods on the ridgeline they had crossed to reach our positions. We had to keep pummeling them with our SP artillery and vehicle fire before they finally broke and ran. They were able to damage a M19 SPAA (knocking out its twin 40mm) and a Pershing (coax MG gone) with sneaky little RG teams before the day was carried.

In the central sector, a scout team sent to assault immobilized enemy tanks lost their nerve at the last moment and ran back into cover when the T-34 began traversing its turret in their direction. A tandem team of engineers, under cover of thick smoke, was able to approach from the other side and made short work of the stranded vehicle. Not to be outdone (and with some urging from the battalion commander) the scouts redeemed themselves and proceeded to demolish a nearby enemy tank that was also broken down. Removing these sentinels opened the way for the remainder of southern battalion support vehicles (dozers, flails, and flame tanks) to advance through the smoke and up to the perimeter of the orchard. As in the southern sector, enemy infantry emerged from cover and smoke into a hail of fire (in this case, literally due to the flame tanks) and ended up a broken mass of humanity.

Through cat-n-mouse scouting, friendly helos were able to locate 10 enemy AA batteries, which were thereafter zeroed in on by friendly off-map artillery. Swooping in on the demoralized enemy positions, the helos were able to turn the tables on their former attackers, and gunned down the enemy crewmen as they ran. Muhaahaahaa!!

Needless to say, the enemy forces decided that pressing the attack was only suicidal, and they promptly fled the battlefield.

[rainchild33082]

Very good work! I like it!

[Hermit]

Orders have arrived to make an advance into Chinese-held territory, farther up the Korean Peninsula. It's January 1952 and boy, is it cold out! There is snow everywhere, with some drifts high enough to swallow a whole vehicle. Getting up and down the ridges in front of our objectives is going to be especially difficult with all the snow and ice. At least most of the trees have lost their leaves, and there are plenty of them out there.

At least we got some new equipment. All of our M26 Pershings have been replaced by the new M47 Pattons, and each battalion has been strengthened by the permanent attachment of an additional infantry platoon. We have received additional support from division HQ, composed of two battalions of 105mm artillery, four Chaffee light tanks and 4 mechanized infantry platoons. Air support has also been promised, but whether it will arrive, or do any good in this terrain, who can say. At least the whether is holding out, with great visibility. While it bodes well for the promised air support, it will also give the enemy a good view of our approach in the open areas.

As our forces entered the tactical area of operations, the enemy let loose with a barrage of 75, 122, and a few 152mm tubes. They seemed to be searching at random for something to shoot at, although some seemed focused on the roads cutting through the woods in the center of the area. Counter-battery fire seemed partially effective, but I suspect they'll continue to be a problem for some time. What surprised the hell out of our top brass was the arrival of two enemy attack aircraft. We all think they were MiG-15's of some sort, although it's difficult to be sure. We weren't even sure if they were ours or theirs at first, since they just swooped down and shot at something in the saddle of the ridgeline that we couldn't see. Because of the delay in realizing they were enemy, hardly any of our boys even took a shot at them. I'm sure they'll be back...

[Hermit]

Progress in this snow is such slow going that Division sent up some transports for us. Its the new all-tracked vehicles with some cover overhead. That'll sure help keep us warmer with this cold weather, and ward off some of that shrapnel from artillery barrages, but it's going to be more difficult to watch out for the enemy. Unfortunately, they're not powerful enough to pull the big AT guns with the battalion, so we've had to leave those behind. That's a shame, because they sure come in handy to blunt enemy counterattacks that try to do a flanking maneuver. Let's hope the Colonel puts out some flanking units of our own to keep an eye out.

The attack has been split into 4 prongs, 1/2 of each battalion going behind the mech infantry platoons that were sent up from division. Those guys get cushy jobs back in the reserve, but they always seem to get put out ahead when its their turn to get called up to the front. I'm not sure I'd trade with them.

Helos scouted the open terrain on the northern edge of the area, overlooked by a 20 meter hill. Sure enough, there were a few enemy squads forming a blocking force there. Some of the spare APC's (the one's that couldn't pull the big guns, duh!) and two of the Chaffee light tanks were manuevering up there for a look-see as well, followed by our recon platoon. The APC crews pulled into a shelter in the hill and climbed out to check things out, and immediately were taken under fire by some RG assault squads that remained unobserved with their winter white camoflage uniforms. One of the poor crewmen was killed, and the other guy ran off. The helos circled around blasting the area with their MG"s, but soon had to go back to re-arm. By that time, our recon platoon arrived and dismounted. The APC's provided suppression fire as the scouts moved in for a closer look, and our sniper team succeeded in taking out some of the enemy assault squads. The Chafees also provided longer range suppression with their cannon. Finding no heavier weapons in the area, Section A of 1st Battalion has been diverted to this area as a possible route through the enemy defenses.

Section B of 1st battalion has been stalled in the saddle of the ridgeline, as advance infantry sent through the saddle came under both tank and AT gun fire from another wooded hilltop about 1.5 km ahead. Smoke was place to block their line-of-sight, but flanking fire was then taken from the heavily wooded area off the the South once the pass was transversed. Units are dispersing behind the pass in case we were spotted and enemy artillery is inbound. They'll be held in reserve pending the progress of the other spearheads.

Section A of 2nd battalion has begun moving forward down the dirt road in the center of the map, with mech recon elements well ahead. Good thing, since they uncovered two 100mm enemy AT guns in the second woody ridge, that faces the first one we must cross. 10 minutes of friendly artillery fire convinced both crews to run (and then disperse). Long range tank fire was also received as our tanks crested the ridge, but manuevering through the woods avoided most of it, and none of our vehicles were hit. It was decided not to engage the enemy at long range due to the unnecessary risk.

The lead elements of Section B are just arriving on the scene of a hot firefight between the advance mech infantry platoon and enemy infantry in a clearing where a village abuts the Southern E-W road. About a company of enemy infantry was ultimately located, with several enemy teams destroyed at a cost of several of our men. The integral .30-cal MG team was pretty well taken out when enemy infantry was able to get close while enemy 60mm mortars provided heavy suppression fire. Had it not been for our own suppression fire from the APC's and the SPA 60mm mortar, it could have turned out badly. The enemy have been cleared from all five buildings, thanks in large part to the well placed shots of the bazooka boys, and direct fire from the SPA mortar. There are still several healthy enemy squads in the woods SW of the village, but they will now be bypassed for the support tanks to eliminate.

[Hermit]

1st Battalion A: Manuevering around to north side of map, ready to exploit breakthrough exposed by advance elements. Those elements have discovered a few more enemy infantry squads, but defenses are light and collapsing. 14.5mm AAMG's shot at helos cresting the ridge, but all three have been spotted and targetted by arty.

1st Bn B: Still stalled/in-reserve short of the saddle in the first ridgeline. Infantry continues to advance slowly. The T-34's and IS-2's that were previously overwatching the saddle have been encouraged to depart with heavy doses of artillery, but at least two, and perhaps three, un-spotted enemy 100mm AT guns continue to bombard the infantry. Waiting for infantry to enter woods on other side of valley to smoke the area, and then rush vehicles across the open space on the other side of the saddle. 105mm arty from division support has been peppering the wooded area for about 15 mins, and one helo ventured over the woods for a recon. Two obviously suppressed enemy infantry spotted in the woods on the fly-over, and five T-34's to the west in open area past woods.

2nd Bn A: Continued west up central road, linking up with forward recon in N-S gully, where the recon got stalled. Previously, across the almost open valley between the two N-S ridges, the other 105mm divisional battery has been hitting the woods, and dismounted mech infantry started across the open area. APC's waited in woodline on our side of the valley. Suddenly, heavy shots rang out and two AT rifles made multiple hits on the waiting transports from 400-500 meters away. One erupted in flames and the other was heavily damaged, although still mobile. One AT rifle was spotted out in the open by advancing infantry, but the other remains hidden. Based on the muzzle flashes, it is also somewhere out in the open behind a snowdrift. Lesson for the day: Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. HQ never called arty on the open area, only the woods up ahead. Those division mech guys who will be walking home now will have plenty of time to think about why they weren't paying attention and looking for enemy AT ambushes :doh:

2nd Bn B: Also linked up with advance elements at the village on the southern E-W road. Another platoon, or maybe a whole company, of enemy infantry has been spotted (via muzzle flashes) in the woods beyond the village. Two more of our men won't be going home. Supporting fire from the new M47 Pattons caused several casualties, and three enemy squads were last seen fleeing back into the woods. The veteran troops of our battalion will be dismounting in the cover of the village and clearing the wooded area to the south of the town, with help from the infantry support tanks and accompanying APC's.

[Hermit]

1st Bn A: Advance elements peeking around the edge of the hill, checking for any enemy forces to the SW. Main force tanks are beginning to traverse northern base of hill. Infantry dismounting to clear out enemy infantry in woods on southern slope of hill.

1st Bn B: The expected barrage of enemy artillery finally arrived in the saddle. Several tubes of 122mm pounded the area, with only a few near misses pinging off friendly vehicles that were dispersed nearby. Infantry is almost across the valley and into the opposing woodline. Plotting smoke for the run across by the vehicles.

2nd Bn A: Enemy infantry dispersed from the clearing, with 3 Chinese AT rifle teams ultimately destroyed. Long range fire from two enemy 100mm ATG's caught an APC unaware and destroyed it. Moving forward on and around the road at a slow pace.

2nd Bn B: Moving slowly down road while friendly infantry and support vehicles hunt down remaining enemy soldiers.

[Hermit]

1st Bn A: Two mech inf squads made it into the woods SW of hill with their APC's. Chaffee's are right behind. Small arms fire was taken from an enemy squad, so there are bad guys around, but only a few it seems. Main force tanks are almost across the back side of the hill.

1st Bn B: Infantry is across and in the woods. The vehicle dash has begun, and smoke is landing everywhere. One shot from an enemy T-34 missed and was immediately screened by smoke.

2nd Bn A: Continue moving forward slowly. Three more enemy assault teams were neutralized, but an enemy 100mm ATG scored a hit on the lead tank of the main force as it neared the edge of the woods. Main gun and AAMG were knocked out, and the crew almost bailed. Only the quick thinking of a nearby grunt squad saved it from total annihilation, when they popped a smoke round that obscured its withdrawal. A previously hidded SU-76 assault gun also managed to score a hit on one the the infantry taxis, which as usual erupted in a gout of fire. Friendy tanks were able to destroy the offending unit with return fire from about 1km away. The 100mm was also located and rendered ineffective by the two light attack helos, one taking fire from a hidden enemy grunt squad and it is returning to base for repairs. Another volley of enemy 60mm mortar fire caused most of our leg infantry to go to ground, delaying the advance.

2nd Bn B: In the woods to the south, one APC immobilized after it was ambushed by an RG Assault squad, although the enemy were fended off and destroyed by onboard infantry, who also took several casualties. Flame tanks destroyed two other enemy units, and we're chasing down a third. Main force continues to advance behind infantry guides.

Both elements of 2nd Bn are now being preceeded by barrages from the divisional 105mm batteries, since they have been taken off the suppression assignment in front of 1st Bn B. Intrinsic artillery continues to suppress AA, ATG and enemy armor with no LOS to friendly forces.

[Hermit]

1st Bn A: Main force armor is in the woods. Mech elements from division have emerged from the woods and reached the base of the first large hill on the enemy's northern flank. Orders are to skirt the base of the hill around the NW side, being mindful of enemy AA guns that we know are on the hillside somewhere, and begin penetration into the rear areas. Go team go!

1st Bn B: All vehicles are safely across the vallely and into the perimeter of the woods. Three enemy assault teams have been encountered in the woods and engaged by our own men. One of our mech squads took a beating, but all three enemy infantry are on the run. Two heavily suppressed T-34's were still guarding the back-side of the woods, and used their machine guns to pin down our boys. A main force tank was able to get a clear shot at one of the tanks and it was engaged from 200m with devastating results. A third enemy tank is somewhere to the South, and very close, as it pounded one of our main force MG's that started suppression firing into the woods on the other side of the clearing. As an engineer team started moving south to assault that tank, two more disrupted (but still alert) enemy infantry squads laid into the engineers, who went to ground with only minor casualties. Instrinsic artillery fire has been requested to shift fire to the SW to suppress any other hidden enemy units on our flank as we prepare to cross the clearing. Also, we don't want to get our own heads blown off by friendly fire.:up:

2nd Bn A: Main force units have advanced to the wooded base of a large hill that is part of the enemy's main defensive line. Using the woods and crest of a spur as cover, we are temporarily halting to regroup. A platoon of T-34's has been spotted on the NE side of the hill, in a slight saddle, that we had planned to use as our route of advance. We have requested that they be given a healthy dose of large metal objects falling from the sky before we proceed. Although our concentration of forces at the base of the hill is a bit risky, we have only received a sporadic peppering from enemy 60mm mortars anywhere in the area lately, and intel is confident that all large calibre enemy artillery has either been rendered ineffective or simply run out of ammunition. A probe of APC's with onboard infantry has been sent to explore the southern route (which also happens to be in the direction of one of our objectives). That route was initially rejected as too open and exposed to fire from any secondary defensive line. However, helo scouting and the lack of ANY fire from that quadrant makes it worth reconsideration. Unfortunately, our advancing infantry teams failed to spot a lone enemy unit, and before anyone had a chance to react, the "whoosh" of a rocket launcher broke the silence. The flash of light from a small stand of trees revealed the location of the enemy bazooka team, but not before they had turned one of the taxis into a pile of scrap. The advance infantry, obviously a little pissed off, returned heavy small arms fire, but only succeeded in driving the team to ground. One of the Sherman Dozer tanks manuevered for a clear view, and succeeded in killing the enemy team after a sustained period of cannon and MG fire from about 400 meters.

2nd Bn B: There is little to report in this sector, as we continue a slow advance behind scouting infantry. With no objectives in the area, the Colonel has allowed us to proceed with maximum caution, sniffing for another route into the enemy's rear. We are also to remain available as a reserve force, to head north as needed if group A becomes stalled or heavily engaged.

[Hermit]

1st Bn A: Three enemy 20mm AA were located when they shot at scouting APC's. All were destroyed by the Chaffees and main force tanks. The northern objective area was approached by some of the section, but section B arrived there first and the enemy fled the battlefield. Some units of section A drove into the enemy's rear area, but did not locate any enemy units.

1st Bn B: Indirect suppression fire by our flame tanks allowed friendly infantry to overrun the enemy infantry in the woods. Moving forward cautiously, the grunts were able to approach and destroy the two remaining T-34's in this wooded area. Mech units moved forward rapidly after this final breakthrough and were able to capture the northern objective, about 300 m past the woods, with minimal effort.

2nd Bn A: Main force tanks proceeded expeditiously through the break in the hills, destroying all three enemy T-34's while on the move. Fortunately, the fly-boys finally saw fit to make a pass over us, probably looking for those T-34's we called in about earlier. They spotted a whole company of the tanks in the flat area behind the large hill, which we might have blundered past. Then "Kapow!" you get sucker-punched in the back when you've driven past them. Instead, it was us that did the sucker-punching; we smoked them real good and then headed north to the Central objective, where we set up in cover of the woods on the far side and just waited. The mech boys kept driving north and took our objective, and when the Chinese counter-attacked with their tanks, we opened fire, just like making popcorn: pop, pop, pop-pop! Too bad, so sad.

2nd Bn B: Since section A was cut off from the Southern objective by a large group of enemy armor, section B turned north to attempt seizing it. This meant picking up the pace a little, and we lost our caution. Also, artillery was running out of ammo, so we weren't able to prep the area in front of our now rapidly moving force, and we paid for it. One of the flame tanks was toasted (literally) by a lone surviving enemy tank in the woods which had not been spotted by the advancing grunts. That turned out to be the worst of the remaining resistance. We spotted a few enemy squads, but they were quickly suppressed or driven off and we proceeded to take the objective with little further interference.

[Hermit]

The expected enemy counter-attack was both half-hearted and futile. About eight or nine enemy tanks were destroyed, as well as five or six enemy squads. The rest of their infantry units retreated behind smoke, and soon all resistance crumbled as the enemy left the battlefield to the victors. Post-battle analysis showed that the enemy still had a substantial number of infantry units in the large woods to the SE of the central objective, but most were in various states of distress. Several enemy armored units were scattered about, almost all having been immobilized by artillery during the battle. Enemy casualties were heavy, and ours light by comparison:

1 Sherman flame tank destroyed (and crew cooked alive)
5 divisional APC's destroyed
4 tanks heavily damaged
2 helos lightly damaged
3 divisional 1/2 tracks (gun or mortar) damaged
81 men lost
1 aircraft lightly damaged

Apparently the French are having a hard time in Vietnam, and we've been ordered to pack up and ship out the provide assistance. The mission will be to assault VietMinh positions in the highlands on two adjacent mountains, each with a double camel-back ridgeline. Intel says the terrain around the mountains is fairly flat, but with quite a bit of jungle. There appears to be a corridor of loosely connected clearings that would make a good east-to-west route of advance. We're scheduled to attack just after first light when the visibility will be about 500 meters. That sounds good to me, since we'll be able to see where we're going, but it won't allow the Viet-Minh on the mountains to see us coming and fire on us from long range.

We thought HQ might abandon the flame tanks, especially since one got destroyed in the last mission and they're no longer in production. However, I heard they might be useful in that jungle terrain for smoking (haha) out the enemy, so they went ahead and shipped us one from the reserves and plenty of spare parts. We didn't receive any other upgraded equipment, just repairs for our damaged units, and then we had to load up for the trip overseas.

Divisional HQ said there will be plenty of air support this time, with both fighter-bombers and close support bombers on call. The French also had two Russian advisor helo pilots defect with their Mil-1's that they've agreed to lend us. Not good for much if you ask me, since they don't even have any weapons, but the Colonel said they can carry a few men in the cockpit and sneak 'em behind enemy lines, so we'll just have to wait and see. We are also getting four batteries of division 105mm artillery to assist. Looks to be a challenging mission ahead.

[Hermit]

Upon arrival in Vietnam, we were given four Sherman Flails to assist in the assault, as well as four platoons of Mech engineers. They should help out alot with mine clearing. The Colonel decided to keep each battalion intact for this battle, and we've been moving steadily forward since the operation kicked off. As usual with the military, things started off late, and by the time we got rolling it was well past first light. Dawn is approaching and visibility is about 700 meters or so, not so different than what we expected to have. I wonder if it will help us or the enemy more to have the longer range of sight.

1st Bn is proceeding through the clearing chain as planned, with light resistance. So far our scouts have spotted two SKS anti-tank rocket launchers, two MMG's, and nine enemy squads (either before or after shooting at us). All have been destroyed by heavy return fire from our units. Enemy 60mm and 81mm mortars have been harrassing us, but no barrage has caught us dead-on so far. We've suffered a few casualties, but nothing serious. We'd heard that the VietMinh would bring artillery right up close to the front, but we were surprised how close they really mean. The defector Russian helos dropped a scout team in a small clearing near some smoke puffs about 1.5km from our first stopping point, and when they snuck to the edge of the woods, they spotted three 76mm field guns in sandbagged pits. Needless to say, they quickly called in support. Two snipers were infiltrated by helo, and after about 10 minutes, all the crews were killed without any response.

We've come across the enemy's first mine belt, and with our dozer's and engineers working without enemy interference have easily swept a clear path. We also stumbled across two enemy bunkers, one of which must have been used mostly for storage and as a bomb shelter, because the enemy had let trees and bushes grow up in front of it to such an extent that it had no field of fire after about 50 meters. They manned it up quickly when they saw our engineers filtering through the woods nearby, but a Sherman flame tank knocked it out easily from point-blank range. The 'zippo' also took on the bunker about 400 meters to the north, with similar results.

2nd Bn discoverd a small dirt road that the French said was used for logging in bygone days, so they are driving cautiously up that with heavy prep-fire from the divisional 105 batteries. They've only encountered one or two enemy units so far, although they've been hit with a steady rain of 60mm mortars. Keeping the Flails up front, screened by smoke from our barrage seems to be the best response. They are almost impervious to the small calibre enemy mortars, and the enemy's limited AT capability and the amount of suppression caused by our 105mm makes the risks minimal. They have just come across a heavily mined section of the road, so engineer and infantry teams following behind them have started fanning out to bypass the mines. Two more enemy squads were detected when they opened fire, and they will soon be the subject of retribution.

[Hermit]

1st Bn continued moving forward, using the clearings to leap-frog from one woodline to the next, until nearing the central objective. Then the battalion split into two sections, one turning sharply north to approach the northern objective and the other veering slightly south to take the Central objective. Both sections cautiously approached and captured the objectives with persistant creeping forward.

2nd Battalion infantry fanned out and secured the flanks of the main force. Divisional infantry, supported by the Flail and Pershing CS tanks took the objectives.

Lack of time has blunted this battle report, and it is entirely uninteresting. Besides closure, it is being written to point out that there were continuous counter-attacks by enemy infantry and SKS launchers until the VietMinh requested a cease-fire and withdrew from the battle (i.e., time ran out). After 2 & 1/2 hours of combat, we had finally succeeded. However it was not for lack of trying to recapture by the enemy. As they filtered back into their own territory, I was amazed at the number of enemy units still concealed in the large wooded areas that were advancing from their emplacements to reclaim the objectives.

Losses:
1 M19 40mm SPAA (crew survived)
3 Tanks immobilized
1 helo slightly damaged
2 trucks w/AAMG from division
2 divisional squads
several men from other units

[Hermit]

After a few months of rest and refit, we have been called up to meet an aggressive thrust by the Russians into portions of occupied Germany. We are tasked with giving the Russkies a sound thrashing to remind them we will defend the Germans against Communist agression, and also to keep the cold war from getting any hotter.

The terrain is rolling hills with small pockets of woods. There is a paved road E-W across the southern portion of the map, and a NW-SE dirt road that intersects the paved road just past our objective areas. Both roads have bocage along most of their length (i.e., trees growing on rough terrain). The hills are about 30 meters high and there are some depressions and ravines in between, a few as much as 25 meters deep. There are many patches of broken ground dispered around the area.

Division has supplied 2 armored rifle companies, a few half-tracks & M75 boxcar APC's for taxis, ammo half-tracks, and limited air support. The battle plan is to move AT guns up to the hills overlooking the objectives and place them on broken patches, behind cover of smoke where necessary. These will be used to provide distractions for enemy fire, as well as take out some enemy armor. Main force tanks will stay in Bn groups and traverse the low ground between the hills to avoid being skylined and shot at, and take up positions to provide flanking fire as enemy units attempt to seize the objectives. Our own infantry will take the unusual risk of riding the main force tanks up to the expected encounter area and dismount under cover of terrain or smoke. Then they can provide scouting and screening services as the armor moves into better positions. Infantry support tanks will accompany the armored infantry companies from division as one proceeds through the wooded areas near the objectives to act as recon and targets, and the other will advance down the road, dismounting and using the bocage as cover as needed, to penetrate into the enemy rear.

[Hermit]

After advancing relatively unopposed for about 15 minutes, both armored infantry companies from division ran into enemy mechanized formations and promptly put out smoke and dismounted. Most of the vehicles withdrew a good distance back to avoid the inevitable barrage of artillery. The bocage terrain makes great cover for our dismounted troops, but it is hell on vehicles, so it can also act as an impediment once the advance is stalled - it is much more difficult to flank the obstructing force.

The AT guns on the hilltop was a great plan to start with, but as soon as a larger number of enemy vehicles appeared, they became shell magnets. The Colonel called for smoke to screen a repositioning move to the flanks of the hill to keep them from becoming scrap metal. Only one artillery barrage of 122mm hit one of them before we had them all out of the way. While the guns could have remained hidden for longer and not drawn so much attention to themselves, they probably wouldn't have had much time to escape in that case. So although the kill numbers of enemy armor was disappointingly low, it served to slow the enemy advance slightly and also distract some of his artillery, so all-in-all we'll probaly try it again some time. We lost a 1/2-track in the process, but they knocked out 4 enemy tanks and 2 APC's so far. The enemy fire didn't manage to hit any of the guns themselves, but four crewman were put out of action by a near miss.

We discovered shortly after sighting the enemy's major force groups that they had fielded some new armor. I heard some of the intel guys calling them a T-54-3. Whatever they're called, they have a new 100mm gun and thick armor. A lot of our shots just bounced off their fronts. Southern battalion had to throw up a smoke-screen and dash behind the flank of a large hill to get better positions. It turned out to be a good move, as many of these behemoths accompanied by T-34's tried to come around our southern flank, over a rise on the edge of the battlefield. A steady pounding with artillery slowed and suppressed their movement, so that we were able to demolish 10 or 15 of them, a few at a time, as they rounded the hillside. Another group came down the road and through an open area straight toward the southern objective. We had little to oppose them besides artillery, and they are now in a position to threaten the infantry holding that area.

In the far north, six T-34's were spotted trying to flank in that direction. Four F-84 fighter-bombers have been asked to make some runs over them, and hopefully they'll be deterred before getting into our rear area.

Shortly after the engagement really began, the enemy called in an airstrike of its own on us. Two Yak-9's and two IL-10's came swooping down and laid into the southern group of main force tanks. One Patton and one taxi have been destroyed by rocket fire from the IL-10's. The Yak's picked on some infantry and a Patton, but both survived. One of the Yak's and one of the IL-10's were brought down, and both others were damaged. The IL-10's are tough SOB's, and doing enough damage to knock them outta the sky is very difficult. Fortunately, the Russian pilot was a glory hound and he came back for another pass. That time one of the M19 SPAA gave him a solid hit with it's twin 40's, and he never even pulled up from his intial dive. BOOM! Right into the ground. We all cheered as the fireball mushroomed into the sky.

In the center, main force tanks found little resistance and bypassed to the north the conflict around the road, as the enemy also apparently did to the south. Leading halftracks cleared the way and they were able to completely pass through adjacent terrain, unlike the enemy thrust that is being stalled by our infantry. In the undulating ground to the south of the road, fields of fire are short and unpredictable. While our infantry is taking a beating, it is still in most of its initial positions. Enemy armor is piling up and constantly suppressed by our artillery. Meanwhile, our tanks found an opening in the bocage, raced down the road to get behind the enemy thrust, and have just emerged again. They are circling around to the south and coming upon the enemy from behind. Three T-34's went up in smoke just a few moments ago, and it looks like the Russian center may collapse shortly, between artillery suppression, slightly effective recoilles rifle fire from the bocage into their flank, and our main force armor in their rear. We just need the infantry to hold out for another 10 minutes....

[Hermit]

The situation hasn't changed much in terms of territory, but we're steadily eating into the enemy's superior number of armored units.

Down south, we knocked out three more enemy tanks, including another T-54-3, but had to abandon one of our own M45 Pershing CS tanks when it was immobilized in an open area, and two enemy tanks could easily get a bead on it. Two platoons of our infantry in a small wooded area to the south of the southern objective successfully ambushed two T-34's from the enemy's UNsuccessful flanking attack that were trying to maneuver around our armor and work their way north to the objective. The main force tanks in the south split up, with one section remaining in ambush behind the flank side of the hill, and the other section climbing up the face of the hill and remaining on the reverse slope to intercept enemy armor as it crested the hill after pushing through our infantry. Four enemy tanks fell prey to this manuever, three by our tank fire and one due to infantry assault.

The enemy's center has not yet collapsed, although we are continuing to apply heavy pressure. Things went bad for a moment when a juggernaut from the days of the last war rumbled out of the woods and pointed its big, ugly snout at us. A JSU-152 had somehow remained unobserved and caught the Bn A main force tanks in the open. They had stopped to take on more Sabot and HEAT ammo from supply vehicles behind a small rise before making the final plunge into the enemy's rear. The JSU was on the top of the hill to the SW of the re-supplying tanks and could see down over the rise. Six of our tanks were able to get rounds off, but none hit, even though they made deep furrows in the ground all around the beast. No one was really panicking since it was only one against ten after all. Besides, those huge smoothbore guns are notoriously inaccurate at long range, and it was about a kilometer away. But when the fire belched out of that gaping maw, you could almost see the huge shell arcing down towards us. Against all odds, it smacked right into the turret of Charlie 1. The force of the impact, and the huge blast that followed, tore the turret right off. Only two men climbed out of the smoking hull, very dazed. A squad of men standing nearby were knocked off their feet, and two of them didn't get up. With retribution on their minds, the other tankers let loose another volley, and JSU erupted in flames from several penetrations, despite its thick frontal armor. With renewed vigor, the crews revved up their machines to end the battle with a resounding crash into the enemy's exposed rear.

[Hermit]

Enemy activity on the southern flank has petered out completely, with two last T-34's killed while trying to run past. All seven or eight enemy armored units near the southern objective area are in retreat, and we're hoping to give them a swift kick in the a** on their way out.

In the central area, we ceased our artillery barrage and pinned their units between our advancing infantry under smoke cover, and the main force tanks coming up from their rear. All three JSU-122's were destroyed when the attempted to come to the aid of the buttoned-down T-34's and IS-1944's. The enemy forces blocking the road have also suffered heavily and are trying to disengage. Four T-34's, two IS-1944's, and two T-54-3's were destroyed either by infantry assault or while trying to pull back.

On the northern front, the repositioned 100mm AT guns knocked out four enemy tanks as they made a last desparate push to get past our defenses in that area. The rest have decided that they really didn't want to have to learn German after all, and disappeared back into the woods.

On the very northern edge of the battle area, our flyboys made their appearance and hit those six T-34's with cannon and rocket fire like there was no tomorrow. Two were destroyed and two are retreating. The 40mm AA guns near the artillery park (which is the only thing left back there) have been told to keep their heads low, and not shoot "until they can see the whites of their eyes," in case any of the survivors head for the area. The SPA have been put on alert and told they may have to bug out on short notice under cover of their own smoke. The bad news is that a lucky shot from a tank MG managed to hit a vital area on one of our F-84's, and it spiraled to earth in a smoking corkscrew. We didn't see any chute open before impact, so we're guessing the pilot was hit. Some CO's going to be writing a letter home tonight.

[rainchild33082]

This is by far one of the best AAR's i've read...and I keep checking back regularly for updates. Thank you for the hard work

[Hermit]

Thanks for the encouragement Rain. I think most of the other members are playing each other, which makes it hard to write these, since they'd be giving away their game strategy. I'm glad you enjoy my drivel.

Final report for this battle:

Friendly light attack helos have made scouting runs deep into enemy territory, locating and then avoiding enemy AA guns. Due to the mobile nature of this encounter, the enemy have not had time to make prepared positions, and the AA is easily suppressed or destroyed by friendly artillery. Since the rest of our force is either in rapid advance mode, or locked in close quarters "push them out" attacks, the arty isn't being used anywhere else, and all of it is available for AA suppression. After being supressed, the hunters become the hunted, and the helos have racked up quite a few AA gun markers for the sides of their fuselages.

Several more enemy tanks were destroyed in their chaotic flight from our advancing main force armor. A T-34 that had been hidden in the smoke around the intense infantry battle for the bocage (surrounding the road blockade) was taken out by an M19 SPAA which absolutely peppered it from the rear as it was fleeing. The entire enemy attack force seemes to be either already destroyed on on the run.

However, the helos spotted a counter-attack of a platoon of IS-1944's, a platoon of T-54-3's, a company of T-34's and a company of mechanized infantry driving west at high speed. They seemed headed for the road, so we set up two of the 90mm AT guns (my earlier assertion of 100mm was an error, due to my days with the Israeli units) in the bocage to either side of the road just were it formed a "Y." We also placed an infanry platoon around it for support. A battery of artillery was targetted about 600 farther down the road toward the enemy. Four Patton tanks hid in woods on either side of the road in case any enemy units broke out into the open country.

Three of the newly arrived enemy tanks were destroyed by the AT guns and infantry at point-blank range. Several smoking hulks of BTR-152 APC's also appeared during the 10 minute artillery barrage, or were dispatched by the waiting Pattons. The enemy counter-attack ground to a halt, and then the enemy literally ran off the battlefield.

[Hermit]

It is now February 1953, and despite intensive peace talks, the Chinese have failed to make any firm commitment to ending the hostilities in Korea. To further encourage them to make progress, and some concessions, it has been decided at higher levels that we need to take some land away from them. It will probably be given back as part of the negotiations, but who are we to dispute orders? So, we have been assigned back to the Korean theater to assault some Chinese positions that have had plenty of opportunity to dig-in, and they have been generally resistant to polite requests to vacate the premises. There is a large town on the western side of the map, but the hills overlooking the town from the east are the real objectives, and we don't expect an attack on the town to be necessary. The area is, of course, blanketed with snow, although there don't appear to be too many drifts. It is sparsely wooded, although the trees have no leaves since it is the middle of winter, with many smaller villages dotting the landscape.

We have been shipped some of the new M42 Duster SPAA vehicles, which have the same basic weapon system as our M19's they'll be replacing, but more armor protection and quite a bit more ammo storage. I doubt we'll see many Chinese aircraft, but one never knows, and they'll be welcome improvements to our overall force effectiveness. They also swapped out two of our M45 Patton CS tanks in each battalion for the new M103 heavy tanks. They have a massive 120mm gun that can kill other tanks, instead of just infantry, and really thick frontal armor that will be useful for head-on attacks against infantry with light AT weapons, and older tanks. The problem with them is they have so little ammo, you practically have to chain an ammo supply vehicle to them. And they're also as slow as molasses, especially in snow country like this. They'll probably have to stick to the roads for the most part, but hopefully they'll prove useful.

Division has also sent up two armored infantry companies, and made several flights of F-84's available on call. They are armed with napalm bombs, which I've never seen used before, but I hear it's nasty stuff. M75 taxis are also being provided, as well as a few M3 half-tracks to tow the big AT guns. Finally, although not the least by far, division is sending up four Sherman Flail tanks to help clear the inevitable minefields, with two platoons of engineers for support. Despite our requests, no divisional artillery assets will be available. A follow up request was curtly rejected with a nod toward the sky, indicating that the clear weather ought to make the F-84's sufficient while division takes the opportunity to perform maintenance and re-supply on its big guns. Lucky us!

[Hermit]

The snow has made slow going, and as expected we've been forced to stick to the roads for the most part with the heavy tanks. The armored infantry companies have been sent out ahead as scouts to locate the enemy, accompanied by the engineers and divisional Sherman Flails to clear mines.

Matters have been complicated by the lack of medium caliber artillery. Using our own big guns leaves the terrain in ruins, and further slows progress, while the 60mm mortars on the half-tracks that are integral to the armored infantry companies aren't nearly effective enough against the entrenched enemy infantry. We'll have to update our tactics manual to be sure to bring some medium artillery on all assault missions from now on.

Scouting shows that the enemy has a large number of T-34's, and several JS tanks, many in blocking positions on the two roads. The large, rough-sloped hills also make ideal firing posts for the enemy. The only thing that appears helpful in this engagement is the limited visibility. An overcast and light snowfall has limited the range of sight to just less than a kilometer, about 900 meters I'd say.

After about an hour and a half of trudging forward, with some vicious firefights along the way, we're about 3/4 of the way to our objectives. Enemy resistance is increasing, and some of the enemy infantry has started moving forward out of their foxholes to get into better positions to block our progress. About 1/3 of the enemy troops have a new recoilles rifle that is quite dangerous. Although inaccurate past 200 meters, it is still a threat out to 300 meters, and forces our vehicles to standoff and suppress most of the time. It's made it much more difficult to dislodge the enemy infantry from their entrenchments, coupled with the lack of medium artillery support. Several M75 APC's have fallen prey to recoilless teams, which, unlike the infantry squads that also carry them, are almost impossible to spot until its too late. One of the Sherman Flames had both its MG's knocked out, and a Patton was immobilized, but so far our armor has avoided serious problems.

The M103's have been aquitting themselves very well. Although their ponderous bulk has made slow going, they have been able to ram through three enemy blocking positions with brute force. At more than 200 or 300 meters, the 85mm gun on the enemy T-34's is not able to penetrate their thick frontal armor, and their own 120mm gun is devastating to the enemy tanks as far away as they can be seen in this weather. As expected, ammo supply is a problem, but so far an effective tactic is to have them stop just short of exposing themselves, make an estimated range adjustment based upon scouting reports, then slowly roll forward to spot the enemy tank. Sometimes they take 4 or 5 hits from the enemy tanks that become visible, but one by one the 103's take them out. One of the 103's had its MG shot away, but other than that they are almost invulnerable at long range. Afterwards, the ammo vehicles come up and reload them while the engineers move forward to check/clear mines for the next surge.

While this tactic has been successful in minimizing casualties, the timetable has suffered badly, and division is now pressing the Colonel about his ability to seize the objectives as planned...

[Hermit]

The enemy was given a sound thrashing in this encounter, but due to the slow progress, we were unable to seize one objective, and one was still being contested when division called off the attack. Apparently bad weather is setting in, and they didn't want to leave us out there exposed, either to the weather, or to enemy counterattacks. We pulled back to our starting positions and are waiting for the go ahead to try again. The Colonel's fitness report might be affected by this one, but so far there hasn't been any talk about replacing him. The brass is always pushing us to attack aggressively, but it's not their butts hanging over the line waiting to get shot! Oh well, at least we know the terrain this time.

[Hermit]

The attack plan this time will have two split drives into the enemy's positions. The southern drive will advance a short distance NW up the dirt road (with the engineers and Sherman flails in front) until a small town is reached. From there, it will split into two branches, one heading west through a tree covered gap between the BIG hill to the south and a smaller one to the north. It will then be in a position to attack the middle objective from the south. The other branch will crest the small hill and advance on enemy positions at the SE portion of the 2nd (or central) BIG hill. Each will comprise a platoon of infantry with 6 tanks in support. Meanwhile, the other three platoons of infantry will crest the southern BIG hill from the east, place smoke, and emplace AT and AA guns on the crest of the hill to fire down onto the valley to the west. Support will be provided by the 1/2 tracks and APC's, as well as the SPAA and infantry tanks. This attack group will then use the divisional armoured infantry to cross the valley and take the next woodline, and prepare an assault on the southern objective.

The northern battalion will use the paved road as long as possible to crest the 3rd (northern) BIG hill, with smoke to screen the descent on the other side. After passing north of a wooded area, they will also split, with 1/2 turning southwest to assist in taking the central objective, and the other continuing west to pass north of and get behind large hill 4, and attack the northern objective from the north. AT and AA guns will be set up behind the smoke as the armoured group passes through, to deal with the bypassed enemy units in the woods and on the reverse of the hill once the smoke clears.

[Hermit]

So far the revised attack plan is progressing well. The southern group "going over the hill" has reached the summit, and begun engaging enemy infantry on the reverse slope with support from the 60mm mortar 1/2 tracks and APC's. Three Su-76 SP Guns were spotted at the base of the hill and pounded with 155mm arty. One blew up, the others were suppressed. We got another one with a 90 mm ATG we were able to emplace on the hilltop under smoke from the infantry. The two destroyed Su-76's are both burning, and they're screening the third from getting a bead on us.

Of the two tank-heavy splits, one encountered three T-34/85's in the wooded gap, and destroyed all three: 1 at close range by a M-103 heavy tank, one by a lucky arty shot suppressing them, and one by flamethrowers from a squad of assault engineers. Their supporting infantry (thankfully NOT equipped with the new recoilless rifles) were pushed out of their entrenchments by the APC's and grunts from the other platoon. The other tank-split is stalled at the base of the small hill by mines and AT guns. After one AT gun was discovered, an overflight by spotter aircraft found several more. (the Colonel forgot to use it last time :doh:) Airstrikes were called in and neutralized 5 of them. Since they are organized into 3-gun platoons, we know there's still one out there undetected.

Up north, the heavies have been the big players so far, knocking out four T-34's that were guarding the base of the BIG hill. Progress is not fast, but it is steady, and we've almost reached the splitting point. All units have successfully made it over the hill, and are ready to move ahead.

Casualties are light so far. Several infantry units have a few men down, and three APC's are immobilized. No vehicles have been destroyed. We've been careful to avoid encounters when possible, and focus on clearing the advance route ONLY.

[Hermit]

The APC's and infantry going "over the hill" have played leapfrog and reached the base of the hill. Several more enemy entrenchments have been discovered when they fired at us, and all were engaged with MG fire from the APC's. The remaining Su-76 was turned into swiss-cheese by one of the Duster's (twin 40mm SPAA) shooting down on it from the hilltop. Having been previously inundated with 155mm artillery rounds, the Su-76 managed to get off two rounds at our advancing troops, without effect, and then its crew hid behind the gun shield, allowing the Duster to roll forward to the crest and rain shells on it from above. Hiding behind their gun-shield was not such an effective defense, since their vehicle was open-topped!

After our suppressing APC's received several inaccurate shots from their recoilless, two of our other APC's dashed forward and overran one of the enemy infantry emplacements, screened by the smoke generated from the massed firepower pinning the enemy troops. We also stumbled across an enemy bunker from the rear while some of our men were manuevering to the north to get a look at the next avenue of approach. Unfortunately, a similar "look-see" to the south was repulsed by an enemy SMG squad that tore up Sgt Kelly's men quite badly. They almost broke and ran, and one of the 1/2-tracks that had recently unloaded its 90mm AT gun had to run over and pick them up. Looks like they'll be out of the fight for today.

Flails, and both mounted and dismounted infantry, plus two tanks continued pushing west through the wooded gap and are just about to the edge of the woods. The heavy's and their support troops are still creeping forward and upward on the dirt road, slowed by mines and caution.

Up north, the heavy tanks destroyed another suppressed T-34 at close range in the woods, and pushed farther southwest to get a view of the back-slope of the BIG hill they crossed earlier, and to eventually engage the enemy T-34's blocking the open area to the southwest, which the main group will have to cross when it splits. The main group also continues to creep forward, using the woods as a shield to the south as they work their way toward the designated split point. So far they are still on schedule, with more than an hour left to reach their objective.

[Hermit]

Extended combat since my last report makes this one necessarily longer:

The "over the hill" troops stumbled into a mine belt as they advanced across the open ground to the west of the hill. As APC's rolled forward to discharge their engineer passengers, more enemy squads on the flanks opened up, causing a few casualties. Our AT and AA guns on the reverse slope of the hill responded with a fusilade , as well as 3 MG teams positioned in the enemies' former positions for this very purpose. Farther to the west, heavy artillery fire kept the two enemy tanks and AA guns on the low objective hill both screened and suppressed. Two flail tanks from the previously split group to the north peeled off to the SW and joined the mine-clearing operations here, after making a breach in their own sector. Once through the mine belt, the APC's and supporting tanks continued to move forward. One platoon of armoured infantry has dismounted within 100 meters of the objective, into much-cratered terrain and under cover of smoke. Artillery was rolled back farther to continue pounding enemy infantry and a tank destoyer (SU-76M) seen by observer aircraft behind the objective area. (On its second circuit, this plane was lost to enemy AA fire. The status of the pilot is unknown). An infantry assault is planned on the armor after crossing the intervening ground. Hopefully friendly fire won't disrupt that plan. Several enemy infantry squads also opened fire on our APC's from the orchard to the NW.

The scouts and a few infantry squads decided sufficient progress was being made toward the objectives, so they moved farther down around the south side of the hill and discovered four T-34 tanks hidden in emplacements. After snipers took out one of the defending infantry squads, and an airstrike suppressed another squad and two of the tanks, one of the scouts was able to make an assault upon and destroy one of the tanks. Another was knocked out by fire from three 75mm recoilless rifle teams that were loaned from the divisional armored infantry company. The remaining two tanks appear to be unapproachable at the moment. They will be watched in case they abandon their positions to make a counter-attack after we take the objective. The enemy responded to our AT and AA guns on the hill with a formidable barrage of 60 mm mortar fire, which caused four casualties to one gun team, and caused two others to abandon their guns and flee. There might have to be some disciplinary actions issued following this battle for cowardice under fire!

At the split group in the center, the heavy tanks continued to be blocked by the mines, rugged terrain, and enemy armor in and around the NE of the town. Flails and engineers breached a mine belt in the woods just to the west, and then most of them circled back to the north, flanking the town. By now, it was covered in smoke, and engineers from both our own troops and from division were able to both destroy the two enemy tanks in the town and clear the mines from the roadway. The two heavy tanks slowly worked their way forward in the woods to the east of the town, destroying a bunker and two enemy squads in the process. Main force tanks cleared the village surroundings and headed northwest along the south footing of the big hill, toward the objective area on the west slope of the hill. Two AA guns that opened fire on the APC's were destroyed by cannon and MG fire from the tanks.

In the far north, the battalion finally reached its split point, and 1/2 the force peeled off to the SW. Several enemy squads were entrenched in a large open area almost a kilometer square. It was bordered by a thin woodline on all sides, with a small village in the middle of the western edge. T-34's near the woodline on the north side were able to cover the whole area with guns. Travelling down the northern edge, engineers and 75mm RR were able to take out these four vehicles, after they had been supressed with artillery. Two more T-34's guarding the woodline from the north had to be taken out from long range by overwhelming fire from main force tanks, which allowed the infantry to approach. After those tanks were cleared, the remaining 1/2 of the force pushed west and is girding the northern foot of the big hill which screens the northern objective. That force also intercepted and destroyed three T-34's that were heading east at high speed down the road, presumably to aid their comrades. Clean-up operations are well underway in the open area by the other 1/2 force.

With about 45 minutes left on our timetable, we seem in a good position to seize all our objectives, possibly with time to spare on all but the northern-most. More caution will now be permitted to the southern-most units, with corresponding permission to spread out and seek enemy units, as well as the best positions to absorb a counter-attack.

[Hermit]

For those of you who are actually following my campaign story, would maps of the overall picture or specific action be helpful, or do you really even care for them?

If so, can someone assist me in how to create them? I sent a PM to RERomaine since he did them in his AAR (and even included annotations), but any other help would be appreciated. I'm running on a Win98SE platform.

In that vein, is there any way to capture a picture of the whole map at once, even if its not displayable on the screen because it is too large?

[Imp]

For me your descriptions are generaly good enough, if you wanted could post a picture of deployment & plan at the start of the battle. Dont really think it needs more than that unless somebody does something truly heroic & you want to show it.
Rays look like he uses paintnet which is a free download & you can use any number of screen capture utilities.
If you think it will effect your writing style leave it you have a good little following so unless a lot of people ask why bother.

[Hermit]

to Imp: OK, will do (or don't, as the case may be).

Significant progress has been made in the south. The dismounted armoured infantry platoon around the objective area was joined by another. Creeping forward under heavy smoke, through the cratered landscape, two squads were able to get within striking distance of the enemy IS2 heavy tank, which was hull-down in its emplacement on the lip of the small hill. The first squad was spotted and the big turret rotated in their direction. Then came the blast of HE from its 122mm main gun, and a ripple of MG fire at point-blank range. Two men went down, and the rest beat a hasty retreat. However, this distraction allowed the second squad to inch close enough that it was able to place a bazooka round in the side of the tank's turret from very close. At first we weren't sure it had been effective, since the tank didn't blow up or even shudder. Then the hatch popped open and one of the crewman jumped out. His face was blackened, and all they saw was his wide eyes, desperately looking around for cover. Our guys cut him down and waited for the next one, but that was all. The momentary silence was kind of ethereal. Then the ground to their front began heaving to the impact of our artillery, falling dangerously close. Everyone hunkered down as the shells kept falling. Much small-arms and vehicle MG fire was exchanged in the area, with a few casualties on both sides, but fortunately more were inflicted on the enemy despite their entrenchments.

Units in the central and northern area saw little action, moving forward slowly in the center, wary of both mines and infantry AT weapons. The split units in the north are attempting to rendezvous to make the passage through the wooded terrain on the west slope of the BIG hill and up to the objective area from the back side.

[Hermit]

The dismounted infantry continues to inch forward in the south, with some of the transport vehicles maneuvering around farther to the south to suppress the flanking fire, as they have no visibility to the front, and would be succeptible to AT weapons at close range anyway. One more enemy Su-76M was found when it blew up after an artillery salvo landed to the rear of objective area. One of our own M75 APC's was destroyed by an undetected RCL team. It was the last thing they'll ever do :mad:

Another AA gun was taken out in the center when it was seen by approaching vehicles, after firing at a spotter plane. Both the center and northern units advanced another few hundred meters toward the objective with little action.

The aforementioned spotter plane sighted a whole field of enemy infantry emplacements in a large open area to the SW of the other open area, and east of the large hill shielding the center objective. Northern units that had intended to link back up with the advancing units have been redirected southbound to place these enemy positions in a hammer-n-anvil move with the heavy units now being directed to move NE from the center sector. A lone IS-2M and a T-34 on the east slope of the central objective's screening hill are the only known threats in this area. The plan is to screen them until our heavy tanks are in a good position to engage them from medium range, and eliminate this threat. Then, placing the northern battalion AA and AT guns on the perimeter woods to provide more suppression, some support tanks and a platoon of infantry each from the central and northern units will crush the enemy infantry units like bugs!

[Hermit]

Some northern units continue to advance toward the objective, and the others are getting in place for the hammer-n-anvil maneuver.

Most central units are beginning the climb up the SW side of the big hill toward the objective. A Sherman observation tank was straggling behind and was unexpectedly hit twice by large caliber rounds. After the first hit, the crew began frantically searching for the source of the shells. Just at the edge of their vision, the commander saw the muzzle flash of what appeared to be an enemy AT gun. From that range, almost a kilometer, it must have taken a few ranging shots before scoring a hit, but they flew by unnoticed. It is strongly suspected to be a 76mm, as a 100mm shell would almost certainly have penetrated, even from that range. There is now a large gouge in the front armor; one of the shells must have almost made it through.

Meanwhile, the heavy tanks and two Pershings continued northeast to be the hammer on the enemy infantry fieldworks.

Once again, most of the hot action is in the south. Small arms and MG fire from vehicles is making the air thick with lead. Dismounted infantry continues its slow advance. Two more enemy squads eliminated, and two more forced back from their dug-in positions. Others are being heavily suppressed. There was almost no return fire on our advancing grunts. We also noticed several enemy squads leave their entrenchments and move up from the rear to intercept our advance.

Back on the BIG hill that we crossed in the beginning, there is stil sporadic fighting with enemy flanking squads. As one of the forward observers was sneaking down the southern side of the hill for a better view, he stumbled on some loose rocks, and the noise and movement disclosed his location. An enemy squad across the ravine on another low hill opened fire and one man is down. We couldn't even spot them at first, until one of our snipers looked with his scope. He wasn't able to get a shot off, as his own movement would have placed him in danger of the same fate. One of the 1/2 tracks serving as a tow vehicle for the AT guns ran down to pick up the survivor and lend support, and wandered into view of one of the two remaining T-34's. The 1/2 track narrowly missed eating an 85mm slug. After making a sharp turn to avoid further tank fire, the 1/2 track hasn't made it to the rescue yet. Hopefully our remaining observer man won't also get hit.

As a final bit of bad luck, another 1/2 track that was sent to pick up a 90mm AT gun from a disabled 1/2 track was itself de-tracked when it ran over a big rock. So much for roadside assistance when you need it.

[Hermit]

Northern units are almost to the back-side of the big hill, and will soon turn south to approach the objective area. No enemy units have been detected in this area at all. The quietness is a little disturbing, and it's gotten everyone on edge. We're wondering if an ambush is waiting around the corner. It's so nerve-wracking that the onscene commander sent two tank sections and a platoon of infantry in their M-75 APC's back northward to cover the road where the T-34's appeared from over a small rise a short time ago. The infantry dismounted and searched down the road past the burning hulks and adjacent woodland, but haven't seen any more approaching units. The support units heading south for the pincer move have just come into range of some of the enemy positions, and have started harassing fire just to lower the enemy morale.

In the center, we had some heroic action by the crew of one of the M103 heavy tanks. We had allowed the smoke to clear around the enemy IS-2m, and one of our heavy tanks deliberately maneuvered out into the open to get a shot at it. Although probably supressed somewhat by our recent artillery rounds, it still posed a real threat with its 122mm main gun. And it was singlehandedly blocking the southern arm of the pincer, and we didn't want to pass it by in case it decided to come at us from the rear. It got a shot off first, which impacted the M103 and left a huge divot in the glacis. The impact was so loud, it must have stunned the driver, since the grinding of gears could be heard and our tank slowed to a stop. The gunner was apparently not so severely affected, and he got his shot off from about 450 meters. He also hit on the first round, and it penetrated the side of the enemy tank with a "Cccrumpp!" A couple of the enemy crew bailed out, and hunkered down in the pit with their burning vehicle.

Other center units continued climbing the hill, and are just about to enter the woods surrounding the objective area. The enemy 76mm AT gun was made ineffective when one of our light attack helos made a few passes and tore up the exposed crew.

In the south, there was more heroism, as a 1/2 track from division ran a high-speed crossing movement about 500 meters from the remaining IS-2m guarding the southern objective. The enemy tank fired and missed with its main gun, although the 1/2 track's engine was shot up and it was immobilized by the large AA machine gun on the tank. We're mystified how the AAMG was able to function after the pounding that tank took from our artillery. Nevertheless, perhaps that's the reason the tank missed with its main gun, as the commander was busy working the MG rather than spotting main-gun fire. A nearby Patton took the opportunity to approach from the other side, and before the Chinese gunner could get his turret swiveled around, the Patton hit it with a flank shot from about 300 meters away, which despite its thick armor was enough to knock it out with one shot. That 1/2 track crew is going to be recommended for the Silver Star! With the main threat removed, our tanks and APCs followed dismounted infantry to within 100 meters of the objective area, approaching slowly due to both the heavily cratered ground, and the fear of mines. Those fears were realized when one of the infantry teams located an errant minefield with a Mark 1, Mod 5 Big Toe. "Stretcher!"

[Hermit]

Southern units have completely occupied the objective area and fended off a few enemy infantry units attempting to take it back. Most had been demoralized and absorbed casualties from our artillery, which had intercepted their attempts to move up from their guarding positions. A final SU-76M was discovered immobilized in a shallow ravine on the reverse side of a small hillock. It was quickly dispatched by a Sherman Flail that approached it from the rear. Support units fanning out further to the south discovered a nest of HG assault infantry still waiting for orders. APC's and mortar 1/2 tracks are keeping them pinned down while Sherman flame tanks and a few infantry units accompanying them are disloging them from their positions.

A precision airstrike suppressed the enemy T-34's we had been unable to approach earlier, while our snipers kept the heads down of a nearby squad. Three 75mm recoilless rifles were able to get set up, and while scout teams snuck up and launched diversionary attacks, the 75 mm RR's were able to dispatch both tanks. One of the scout teams got so audacious, they made a running assault on the enemy infantry. Despite their ferocity, they were repulsed, in large part due to suppressing fire from three enemy squads across the small valley. The scouts were rescued when two snipers picked off all of the enemy soldiers near the tanks. Three MG's and the 90 mm AT guns on top of the BIG hill were able to keep the attention of the three squads across the valley.

In the center, depite the difficult natural terrain of the hill, the extensive cratering of the landscape, and the minefields very slow progress is being made. An SU-76M has also been spotted in this area, but it will probably be left for clean-up operations after the main battle. It's too close to risk an artillery barrage, the air cover has all returned to base, and it is shielded from the objective area by terrain. A pesky squad firing from dense smoke has not yet been located, but it is more a nuisance than a threat. Half of the objective area is under our control, and the rest will be as well once the mines are cleared. Another AA gun was located when it minced a divisional rifle squad at 200 meters, but was quickly eliminated. Helos have located and destroyed three 60 mm mortars behind the hill that started to shell us repeatedly once we approached the objective area.

In the north, the pincer movement is succeeding better than hoped. Eight enemy infantry units have been destroyed thus far, and another six are under intense fire. One M75 was destroyed when it wandered too close to an RCL 51 launcher, which managed to get a lucky hit. One of the two snipers in the area was almost gunned down when his position was spotted and several enemy squads chose to make him their last target. He popped smoke and called for a pick-up, which arrived in the nick of time.

As in the center, we have about 1/2 of the objective area in the north occupied, and were merely clearing mines when a platoon or two of enemy infantry advanced on our flank. Our outlying squads came under heavy fire and one withdrew. Due to the undulations of the terrain, only one tank and one APC were able to lend defensive fire support. Other vehicles are manuevering carefully to avoid mines, but should be in a position to respond in short order. The enemy's position seems rather hopeless at this point, and it will probably boil down to how long the Chinese stubborness persists against our intense firepower.

[Hermit]

There have been minor losses in all three areas, despite our impending victory:

Mopping up operations continue in the south, and the entire objective area appears clear. The nest of infantry has also had major chunks cleared, but a temporary setback occured when a hidden 76mm AT gun in the edge of a small wood to the south opened up on advancing M75 APC's. One was destroyed and another immobilized before a mortar 1/2 track was able to lay smoke in between. A nearby light attack helo dove in and blasted it with .30 cal MG fire after it had been suppressed by friendly infantry. Another T-34 was accidentally discovered near the two recently destroyed, under heavy camoflage. It opened up on a scout team, which lost a man and then went screaming off into the woods. They have not responded to repeated radio calls, but other troops are certain they survived the encounter. It also destroyed one of the 75mm RR teams, who just disintegrated when an 85mm round landed on them. Some of the recoilless rounds they were carrying must have gone off. The other two 75mm RR teams hit it repeatedly with HEAT rounds, but none penetrated its armour. The remaining scout team wreathed it in smoke, and both they and two MG teams fired hundreds of small arms rounds at it. It is buttoned up tightly and appears to be trying to bug out.

In the center, a friendly fire incident occurred when one of our 155mm batteries did not get the word to cease fire, and at the same time allowed it's salvo to move slightly to the east. Two friendly squads were caught advancing, although thankfully in rough terrain where they were able to find some cover. Five men in one squad and three in another were blown to bits, and now the men in those squads are refusing to move from cover. All of the objective area is in our hands, however, and there appears to be little, if any, resistance left here either. There is that Su-76 about 150 meters down the back slope, and the men are discussing whether anyone has the guts to make a move on it. There's a strong probability it was been immobilized, so it may be possible to circle around and get a bead on it from the rear. The captain has promised a free weekend pass for any team that takes it out.

In the north, two tanks and one APC were immobilized by mines hidden under the snow blanket. I guess we should be thankful that's all that happened. The enemy infantry continues advancing, but now that supporting fire is available, most of them are cut down fairly quickly. We only suffered one man wounded, while at the same time they suffered about 25 casualties in the past five minutes or so. Artillery has been targetted at their suspected approach zones. Mine clearing in the objective area is going very slowly, despite the lack of any real resistance, because the mines are sewn so thickly. The engineering team leader believes another ten minutes or so will be required before the area is finally safe to enter.

[Hermit]

The 60 mm mortar shelling the northern group was finally located taking shelter in a crater from our earlier bombardements. Once it was neutralized, the mine clearing finished quickly, and we occupied the final objective area. The Chinese must have realized their diminished forces had no hope of taking back that real estate once we seized the final objective. They left the battlefield and went crying to their Mammas! Apparently their complaints were heard, because as we suspected when we first launched this attack, we have been ordered to abandon our newly captured positions "in order to promote the peace process." Bah, humbug!

After the usual refit period, we have been sent back to confront the Soviets again. One of the local commanders has gotten too big for his pants, and seized some tourists who wandered into the occupied area of East Germany. When their family members went to plead for their release, he grabbed them too. The Soviet diplomats have basically given our inquiries into the mattter the shoulder shrug, claiming there's nothing they can do. Well, there IS something we can do. But the Soviet's acquisition of the A-bomb a few years ago makes things tricky. We don't want any itchy fingers pushing a big red button by accident (or on purpose, for that matter), so we are making a bold daylight raid with clearly defined force size and operational area, so they'll know its not an invasion.

The terrain is flat as a pancake, with the only cover provided by some large wooded areas, high grass, and a few towns straddling the main E-W road. Visibility is clear, and we're headed out just after noon. You can see about 3 & 1/2 kilometers in the open areas. (I tried to copy the map and post for everyone's benefit, but the color pallette was all screwed up and it was useless. I'll try to post a sketch later). Division has supplied two armored infantry companies, two 105mm batteries, 1/2-track transports for our big guns, and the usual complement of ammo carriers. Three M20 armored cars from the recon company were also cross attached to provide fast scouting, since helos will be extremely vulnerable in this flat terrain. The assignment of some air cover was procured at the last minute, but the only stuff available was some older P-47 Thunderbolts from WWII era. I hear they can take a beating, and they'll probably need it since they are pretty darn slow. The colonel used our recent victory as leverage to get two transport helos and a scout helo transferred to us on a permanent basis. Some of the recon boys are all excited by that, and have visions of secretly dropping behind enemy lines and raising hell. We'll have to see if that's all bravado, or whether they will do it when the time comes.

The plan is to allow infantry to do a quick march down the road, in the wake of the armored cars and a barrage by the 105 batteries. The two battalions will pace them on the flanks about 400 or 500 meters out, each led by an armored infantry company. The ArmInf will dismount when the enemy area is approached, and clear woods and dash across open terrain while the vehicles and armor provide fire support from the woodlines. The main road passes near the central objective, just to the south of it, and a dirt road branches off to the SE and cruises close to the southern objective area. How convenient. So the northern objective will be the most difficult to reach. The towns along the main road will be both an obstacle and a source of covering fire once taken, so we'll go ahead and attack them rather than bypassing them, after a good dose of artillery of course.

[Hermit]

So far, the operation has progressed as planned. Initially the enemy let loose with several batteries of 122mm howitzers, but either their plotting is very bad, or they're just randomly shooting and hoping to get lucky. Either way, after ten minutes of counter-battery fire, their divisional guns have gone silent. Then they started with a couple of 122mm field howitzers, and our own SPA artillery fired at the area where their smoke was coming from. They have been silent for a while now too, and I think we got a couple of 'em.

We haven't run into a cohesive defensive line, per se, so I think our bold thrust must have caught them off guard a little. The colonel had our new observation helo take a high orbit, and it drew alot of AA fire from enemy vehicles in the lead part of the enemy defenses. Most of them were APC's, and we assigned artillery batteries to smother them. Several blew up after a couple minutes of shelling.

The hot action has started in a clearing near the first big town on the E-W road. The enemy had three T-54-3 tanks and two 85m AT guns in the wooded area just past the town, and several infantry and MG positions to the South. Our infantry crept forward occassionally taking fire as they were spotted by enemy units. We elected not to smoke the area, as we wanted to locate the enemy units when they fired at us at long range, instead of stumbling on them real close. Artillery was rained on the AT guns, and we brought up the four heavy M103 tanks to engage the T-54's. We shelled them with the 60 mm SPA mortars in the 1/2-tracks just to harass them, then the M103's rolled out from the woodline and exchanged fire with them. Two of the enemy tanks were destroyed in this manner, while the third was screened by smoke resulting from the 60 mm mortar barrage. While we were repositioning, the enemy replied with a volley from their own 82mm and 120 mm mortars. Most fell off target (we moved) but several fell among our infantry, and we took about 10 casualties. One squad took 5 all by itself. Time to bug out of that area until we can find their source.

To avoid crossing that open area with more vulnerable units who could get popped by unseen enemy AT units, the 2nd battalion has been diverted south through the woods to cross at a smaller gap. They'll then work their way back NE to link up and provide more fire support for the infantry that will head down the dirt road.

After a heavy shelling of 105mm, the town is partially rubbled and on fire. Four enemy infantry were encountered in various states of disarray and cleared from the town by our men, backed up by the Pershing CS tanks and one of the flame tanks. Another T-54 is hiding in a wooded thicket on the eastern side of the town, blocking the road since we can't get at it from the front with the M103's. Besides, at that close range (350 meters) it stands a good chance of knocking them out instead. We'll have to wait for artillery to knock it around a bit before approaching, but we can't afford to hold still while the Russians still have those mortars available. For now, most of the force on the north side will drive deeper into the woods and creep slowly forward to bypass that clearing area.

[Hermit]

The battle went well for us in terms of equipment, but there were unexpectedly high casualties in our infantry teams. Poor tactics on the commander's part were partially responsible for these losses, as it was assumed enemy units would be (a) easier to spot while not-entrenched, and (b) less responsive after shelling. The lighter 60 mm mortars and 105mm howitzers, as opposed to 81mm mortars and 155 mm howitzers, definitely had less suppression effect on the enemy units. While our troops did destroy many good quality enemy tanks in the woods, they took a beating while doing so. Several infantry units were reduced to 1/2 strength or less, and only their high morale kept them from disbanding completely.

The final attack ended up have three prongs. The northern prong was manuevered to intercept Russian heavy tanks that were spotted moving south from the northern battle area once some of our objectives were taken. The enemy had at least six IS-II and four IS-III tanks, and this was the first time we encountered IS-III's. They have THICK armor. This prong of units did NOT take the northern objective, but rather was defensive only. It was comprised of 10 of Battalion A's twelve main force tanks, with six lying in ambush in a woodline watching the dirt road that angled down SE through a narrow gap in the woodlands. A town just to the NE straddling the road provided cover for the four others. As the Russian tanks came down the road, the first group would fire upon the enemy vehicles with incredible courage, as their rounds would usually miss on the first shot, and even when they hit they had very little chance of penetrating the enemy armor. However, they did attract the enemy's attention, and as the enemy tanks turned to face them, the other four would push out from behind the town and take flank and rear shots at them. We succeeded in killing nine of the enemy juggernauts, with one IS-III retreating behind the hulks of his comrades.

The middle prong, composed of all the dismounted infantry from Bn A, plus the two remaining main force tanks and all the support tanks, pushed east through a large wooded area in front of the middle objective. In the eastern edge of this woods we encountered a company of enemy T-54-3 tanks with a few infantry support. This was the subject of intense combat, with a few infantry skirmishes and MANY infantry assaults on the enemy armor. As mentioned above, the enemy armor was not sufficiently suppressed, and unfortunately our boys took alot of unnecessary casualties. Some tactical training will be conducted by divisional instructors prior to our next engagement! After pushing through the edge of the woods, we encountered the enemy's main defensive line, with two or three tanks companies and many supporting infantry in the 400meter gap from the woods to the objective area. After our mauling in the woods, we knew it would be a suicidal attack plan to charge them with only our rolling barrage as support. The barrage smoke was allowed to clear while we hunkered down and regrouped in the woods. Then I saw a beautiful thing: eight P-47's came boiling down on the enemy tank concentration like angry hornets, guns and rockets blazing. Five enemy tanks were destroyed, and many others suppressed by the hail of bullets and rockets. We saw one aircraft get hit by flak, but that Thunderbolt lived up to its reputation for toughness and was able to get enough altitude back to limp home. That was followed by a massed barrage of 155mm artillery, which caused most of the enemy vehicles to completely shut down. Our tanks rolled forward and destroyed four more enemy tanks that were not hidden by all the smoke. Only one enemy tank returned fire, thankfully missing his target. Our infantry then ran forward with a yell, and all the enemy tanks that didn't flee were quickly overrun. Objective secured!! We also stumbled across several AA and AT guns that had been upset or suppressed by the artillery barrage, and we rendered them all useless for good measure. Then we turned north, and after minimal skirmishes, also occupied the northern objective.

In the south, Bn B traversed the SE running dirt road, where a Sherman Flame and a Sherman Flail were destroyed by enemy infantry AT weapons. Both crews survived with minimal casualties, and after some unremarkable combined arms skirmishes, the southern objective was also taken. With the area secure, an intense search for the hostages was undertaken. While we did not locate the errant general and his staff, we did rescue the hostages from a remote farm and they have been returned to German soil to prepare for their trip back to the US.

[Lt. Ketch]

Great AAR! It's taken me a while to work up to here, but it has been well worth it. I particularly love your mix of the objective with the dramatic. Well done!

[Hermit]

Ketch, thanks for the vote of confidence. Glad y'all are enjoying this. My long absence was caused by a shoulder injury which prevented me from typing (and doing much else) for a while. So I got way behind in real life as well.

The next battle was an assault against Chinese that went fairly smoothly and took 42 turns. Nothing exciting to report that I recall, except I was able to locate the enemy HQ and destroy it. A Sherman Flail support vehicle, a few support 1/2 tracks, and one of my M-47 Pattons were destroyed. Year rolled over to 1954, next battle is Advance on Chinese, but haven't really started it yet. I didn't upgrade any of my units, despite the fact that M-48 Pattons are now available, figuring it wasn't worth the experience loss. However, in hindsight I should have done a few and phased them in over time, since they have 10 visibility. This was brought home by the visibility range of "11" in the new battle. If it had been less, the M-48's could have come in handy.

I'll continue reports as time permits.

[Hermit]

The team has been sent to China, our first deployment against them since the cease fire in Korea was signed last year. There are reports that many American POW's from the war are still in the hands of the Chinese. We have been sent on a reconnaisance-in-force to determine whether a small town is a POW site, and to resuce any Americans we find.

The terrain is still barren in this late winter expedition, although there are only a few patches of snow in the area. The ground is hard, with none of the infamous mud that we've encountered on previous battles with the Chinese. The trees are almost bare of leaves, which will help with the reconnaisance mission. The terrain is mostly flat, with a few level 20 hills scattered here and there, with scattered groups of trees as well. There are two E-W roads in the southern operational area, which converge near our launch point, and another on the far northern part of the area.

We're scheduled to launch the operation just after dawn, as soon as visibility gets to about 500 meters, the maximum range of our small arms. Because of the nature of the mission, and the pull-back of regular combat troops, the only divisional support available is some on-call airstrikes and a handful of recon teams that have been tasked to locate the detention camp. Those six platoons of scouts will fan out ahead of our two battalions, hopefully finding the objective and marking any enemy positions for engagement by our main forces.

As usual, we will be splitting into the two battalion-sized forces to advance until the enemy is discovered. The southern group will travel on the hard-packed earth between the two roads, while the northern group threads its way cross-country between the small hills and woods clusters. Just as we started off, some of the enemy's regulary patrol planes must have spotted us, because artillery started falling around us, although thank heaven none of our units were hit. They have started using the BIG guns against us this time, probably because we're on their own soil. At least two batteries of 152mm were heard blasting the earth up in the distance. We were also caught by surprise when an IL-10 Beast (yes, that's what its called) dove out of the sky and started an attack run over our position. Fortunately, our Dusters had not yet packed up for moving, and they were able to throw up a hellacious barrage of shells that distracted the Chinese pilot's attention. All the AAMG's in our group opened up as well, and the "Beast" ended up a smoking hole in the ground after it was hit several times. I counted at least three times his plane shuddered from the impact of our AA fire, but it wasn't until he had already headed for home that we were finally able to bring him down.

[Hermit]

Our forces began rolling forward, being careful to avoid areas of artillery strikes in case a second barrage follows. After clearing the original launch points and travelling about 10 mins into the enemy territory, our troops stopped. We wanted to make sure any units spotted and who's position was called in by the Beast did not receive an unwelcome "hello" from the Chinese arty. Then divisional scouts were deployed to recon the ground in front of the advancing columns. Our own recon platoons were dropped in blind areas, near units spotted during the two transport helo's forward flight. One of them drew enemy fire as it lifted off, and was hit lightly in the fuselage. The pilot radio'd that he wasn't taking any chances and headed for the rear lines to get repairs. I hope the recon teams aren't discovered and overrun by enemy forces, because it will be difficult to extract them with only one helo. Two of the light attack helo's have been moved forward to provide fire support in a pinch, but that won't help if Chinese armor moves in. So far they have not reported any incoming fire, so we believe the covert infiltration was successful.

I don't know what's going on back there with our artillery crews, but so far they've been doing a pretty crappy job of counterbattery fire. The enemy artillery keeps hammering away, searching out our location. Fortunately they haven't been very lucky, but that's gonna change sooner or later. Our guys better get their act together soon.

About 20 mins after we launched, another "Beast" came zooming out of the sky, and made a pass about 1 km ahead of us. It began strafing and shooting it's AT rockets at the crest of a small hill, and all of a sudden there was a big explosion. The colonel did a quick radio check to get a sitrep on all our units, wondering who was so gung-ho that they'd charged out ahead of the main body. All units reported in OK, and none reported aerial attack. That's when we realized they'd just ice'd one of their own! When the smoke and debris cleared, we could see the silhouetted outline of a burning tank on the crest of the hill. Shouts and "wooo-hoo's" erupted from our lines until the officers told everyone to shut-up and keep their heads down.

[Hermit]

We are pleased to report that rumors of the Colonel's demise, apparently started by unsavory characters in the enemy propaganda dapartment, are grossly exaggerated. While a serious injury was inflicted on him in the last battle (pulled his arm out of socket while moving computer equipment), an extended medical R & R break has allowed a sufficient recovery for him to return to the action.

It is now April 1954, and we've come back to the scene of the crime, fighting the Chinese. They are advancing in large numbers against our forces, and we've been caught with little time to prepare a defense. The terrain in the expected encounter location is a heavily wooded area with two roads and about 6 medium sized hills, plus two large hills in the enemy operating area. The paved road runs E-W basically through the center of the map. A dirt road comes down from the NW and then turns and runs parallel to the main road about 1/2 clik north of it. Both cross height 20 hills near the center of the battlefield, and about 1 clik in front of two of the enemy's objective areas. Control of those two hills will probably be crucial to the battle, since there is reasonalbly-sized open areas to the southeast of each.

Contrary to their usual modus operandi, the Chinese have been moving in broad daylight, rather than at night. We've noticed that their prior operations in daytime are at dusk or dawn, when they need at least some light to move vehicles. These brazen daylight manuevers have probably been necessitated by the large number of tanks they've been using lately. So while the extended visibility (3 1/2 cliks) gives us lots of warning, its also a sure sign there will be MANY enemy tanks. We've emplaced our units to take advantage of our superior armor, but at the same time hidden it to stave off enemy artillery effectiveness until the last minute when battle has already closed.

[Imp]

While a serious injury was inflicted on him in the last battle (pulled his arm out of socket while moving computer equipment),


What really surely not, better to break it its a lot less painful.

[Hermit]

[to Imp: you're right. Technically it's small tears to the tendon and resulting tendonitis, not dislocated]

The enemy is approaching from the West. The two sections of M103 Heavy Tanks have each been placed astride the two roads on the reverse slope where they crest the hills near the middle of the battlefield. Our other main-force units have been deployed in the western edge of woods that border open areas, with armor and infantry intermixed. The one exception is a mostly bald hill to the NW of the northern objective area, which will be a likely approach for the enemy. Due to its exposure, only AT guns and infantry have been placed upon it, with the guns occupying several areas of broken ground for better defensive protection.

The tactical plan is a true delaying action. All units have been ordered to wait until they "see the whites of their eyes" before engaging. We hope that a few well-aimed shots will destroy enemy armor by ambush at close range, leaving them no time to react and return fire. The hope is that burning wreckage will block shots from following enemy units. Then, the units that have fired and revealed their position will withdraw back through the woods and reposition at the far side of the next break in the woods. Infantry will remain a few hundred meters back in the woods, hopefully far enough to avoid responding enemy arty, to ambush enemy armor that attempts to charge in pursuit. Then rinse and repeat as often as possible.

We were excited at the prospect of such clear visibility offering some ripe pickings for our air power, but our hopes were dashed when division announced NO air cover would be forthcoming, other than two old planes that would be available for recon flights. We did get 4 upgraded tanks - a few partially damaged M-47's being replaced by M-48A2's with the night vision equipment. Also sent over in support were 6 mechanized recon platoons and 6 sections of the new Jeep-mounted 106 mm recoilless rifles. The Colonel plans on sending them around the enemy flanks as scouts and to spot enemy artillery and AA guns on hilltops. Apparently he read some tactical guides on employing this type of rig while he was in recuperation. The scouts will, obviously, scout. The accompanying APC's will supress enemy troops, while the 106-armed jeeps will try to ambush any enemy armor encountered.

Time to get into position and await the enemy.

[Imp]

Sorry meant to say good to have you back this is a great way to waste 10 minutes cant wait for the book.

[Hermit]

[to Imp: Thanks for the well wishes. Glad to be back too!]

Watching the droves of enemy tanks approach is slightly un-nerving. Even though our crews are better trained, and our armor more capable, it's still tough to sit and wait while that many armored vehicles are steadily streaming in your direction, without any prepared positions to hunker-down in. Because of the trees, we glimpse vehicles moving in and out of sight, and it's hard to know whether any given sighting is the same or a different tank. Thus, we don't really know how many of them are headed our way. In spite of our superior capability, they just might be able to overrun us with sheer numbers. It's difficult to restrain the men from firing at long range when they see a target, hoping to knock it out before it can get too close, and to thin the herd a little. However, discipline is holding up so far, and they only fidget a little while steadily tracking the closer targets.

Showing some of the bravado recon units are known for, the mechanized scouts the division sent over have raced off into the woods on both flanks, trying to get around enemy columns before they spread out for their attack. Two light helos sent to provide cover and extra eyes were forced to turn back when they came under heavy AA-fire from Chinese 37mm guns. We strongly suspect they are positioned on the two large hills in the middle of the enemy territory, but haven't managed to spot any so far. Thank goodness we were looking skyward, because we were able to spot two MiG-15 aircraft coming in from the north. Our own 40-mm AA guns opened fire, they and the Dusters being the only units given "free fire" engagement rules during this operation. While they probably spotted our four heavy tanks on the two hilltops, the planes apparently couldn't tighten their turns enough to bring them under fire on this pass. Instead they shot into the tree line in front of the objective areas. We don't think they spotted anything else clearly, since none of our units were targetted or damaged, but one of the new M48A2's was hit many times by flying fragments from their shells. Thank goodness that will be the extent of their harassment, as they were both shot down by our guns. One was taken out in his initial dive, as he flew almost right over two of the Dusters at low altitude. It must have been a direct hit, because that MiG just disintegrated when the Dusters let loose with their second burst. The other MiG was severely damaged after being hit on its pull-up by two of the fixed 40mm guns. The pilot bailed from his smoking plane, and a short time later it rolled to the left and dived into the woods. We'll send some of the recon units off to find him after the enemy advance is (hopefully) repulsed.

In the meantime, enemy 85mm and 122mm artillery has been hunting around the map, trying to find some of our units. Although several salvos landed close, none made hits. They are, as expected, concentrating on the area of the objectives, which is also why the Colonel avoided placing any of us near there at first. Our own batteries replied with counter-fire. It must have had some effect, as the second enemy barrage was significantly lighter in volume. However, that barrage included shells from some of their 152mm field guns that landed much too close for comfort, spraying a wide area with shrapnel. Finding and eliminating them will be a top priority for us now.

[Hermit]

A scout down south reported a company of T-34/85's moving at a rapid clip through the woods along that edge of the battlefield. Six of the eight APC's have been ordered to disgorge their onboard scouts to set up an ambush line across the tank's path of advance, and pull back. The 106mm jeeps are backing up the scouts, using their small size and stillness in hopes of spotting and shooting before they become targets themselves. Unless there is infantry riding on the enemy tanks, they appear to be unaccompanied. They are moving so fast, no infantry could keep up with them. Other observation units have also reported that the first wave of armor all across the battlefield appear to be alone. That will make is easier for our units to get a quick shot off and remain undetected.

As hoped, the enemy tanks down south blundered forward into the ambush line in the woods. Four tanks were assaulted by the scouts, with two being immobilized. All four, plus two others trying to rush by unmolested were capped by the 106mm jeeps. Those RR are rather effective weapons, expelling a large shaped-charge warhead with a loud "Whoosh!" and gush of flame. Rather like a large bazooka. The scout units then loaded up quickly and high-tailed it out of there, expecting enemy arty to arrive soon, which it did. Three batteries of 85mm fell in the area, some of it hitting their own remaining tanks, to the delight of our scout units.

Up on the northern edge of the battlefield, our recon units managed to get around the enemy thrust, but then got confined to a narrow band of woods, as enemy vehicles had a good field of fire through some open areas. One jeep cautiously motored up to the edge of the woods, but was immediately spotted and taken under fire. Fortunately, the driver was an agile fellow and dodged the incoming fire while careening around trees to get deeper back into the woods. Hopefully the enemy wave will pass by and the recon units can continue their progress deeper into enemy territory.

The Colonel has ordered our SPA to begin firing at a line of tanks coming down the two roads. I think it's a little early to let our artillery be spotted by the enemy, but he says he has a plan. Besides, he wants their fire to disrupt and slow the enemy advance as soon as possible. This way, the enemy tanks will be more spaced-out and possibly suppressed when they run into the M103 heavy tanks on the hill. He's the boss, so I guess there will soon be 203mm and 155mm shells falling amid the enemy tanks. I can't say I'm sorry to hear it.

[Hermit]

The enemy T-34's came right up to our M103's and attempted to overrun their hilltop position. It was all our crews could do to keep loading those large shells in time to fire the next round. At such point-blank range, there was no missing. And those 105mm AP rounds were not stopped by the lesser armor of WWII era tanks. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. We almost felt sorry for them, until we remembered they were the same people trying to overwhelm our own forces. After six or seven enemy tanks were dispatched at each location, they tried to make a flanking manuever around the hilltops. That was met with similar consequences, although they did have a little better chance of success due to longer ranges. The Pattons in the woods a little past the hills made short work of the ones screened from M103 fire.

Enemy tanks coming up through the woods fared better, getting to within about 500 meters of the objectives before they could be targetted. No enemy vehicle made it past there. It was a slaughter in every sense of the word. In their mad rush without infantry support, about six of their tanks fell to infantry assaults with bazookas or flamethrowers. Our men had initially been very nervous about the enemy attack, but after seeing several enemy tanks destroyed on the hilltops, our morale improved greatly. About 1/2 of the enemy force halted in the middle of the battle, not moving at all. We're not sure if they were contemplating their losses, or waiting for their infantry to finally catch up, or if they had reached their assigned positions and were waiting for more orders. Considering the usual doctrine of the Chinese to strictly follow orders (and nothing more), we're guessing the latter. We took advantage of the stalled advance to pepper the known enemy armor concentrations with artillery fire, and many were immobilized, with a few actually being destroyed. The enemy artillery, which had continued blasting at any position occupied by our troops, had mostly been silence by this time, so our fear of counter-battery fire was greatly diminished. Fortunately, our withdraw from previous firing positions minimized the enemy artillery effectiveness. One M4 flame tank was unlucky enough to be caught in what we believe was a stray barrage, rather than a planned target zone, and was destroyed, although most of the crew was able to bail out before it exploded in a tremendous ball of flame.

Enemy leg infantry did much better, using smoke to advance into one of the objective areas before several minutes of our artillery fire sent them packing. They lagged way behind the enemy armor, not having any transport. There were many of them, escorted by what enemy armor remained mobile. The sight of all those men running at you and shooting is different than facing down their armor. On the one hand, the armor seems almost invincible to our poor men on the ground, but at least one can attempt to hide from them in the woods. When several hundred men are coming at you, their doesn't seem like there will be any place to hide, and only the fear of disappointing your comrades makes you stay in place and fight. Fortunately most of the battle did not turn hand to hand, as our artillery soon caused the enemy infantry to go-to-ground, and our tanks began to drive them back with what seemed one continuous volley of MG fire. Our own crew-served heavy machine gun sections also opened up once it was clear that their positions would not be overrun if detected.

In the meantime, the recon teams coupled with our light attack helos were able to spot the locations of about 12 Chinese AA gun emplacements. Artillery was called, and the ones on the hilltops were silenced by that barrage. Our two transport helos brought in the sniper teams and dropped them in secluded woodland clearings. After sneaking into position, they were able to destroy several more. The last several were swarmed by helos after they had been suppressed by an exchange of fire with the APC's. Then the hunt was on for enemy 60 mm mortars, which had begun extensive harrassing fire on our frontline troops. Many of those were also located by the dust and smoke from their firing positions and dispatched by the helos, now roaming the battlefield with impunity since the enemy armor had no AAMG, and 90% of the enemy AA had been located and destroyed.

It soon became a rout, and in their haste to pursue the enemy, two more Sherman flame tanks were hit by enemy recoilless rifle teams and destroyed, both crews miraculously also able to exit their vehicles with few casualties. A company of T-34's came up from the enemy reserve, trying to salvage the situation, and managed to destroy two of the recon APC's before they could scatter into the woods, but it was a hopeless case, and the enemy abandoned the field. Casualties were minimal and the Colonel considers it a great victory. I have a feeling someone may be promoted!

[Hermit]

It is now August 1955, and tensions with the Russians have flared again. While our forces were conducting standard training exercises, some Russian recon forces were spotted and pursued by over-zealous West-German militia. A fight soon erupted, and now both sides have sent supporting troops into the melee. We should be encountering each other soon enough. The expected meeting place is an area of fields and farmland, hemmed in by long tree-lines and small pockets of woods. Two large-sized hills of height 30 or so dominate the center of the expected battlefield, with the southerly one having a paved road that goes right through the saddle of its twin crests. There's also another east-west road of hard-packed dirt farther to the south, lined in many places by trees. Our objectives are the fields east of the two hills, approximately evenly spaced to the northeast, east, and southeast of them.

Since the engagement erupted in the late morning, there will be plenty of light left during the afternoon hours in which we expect to meet the Russians. Visibility is pretty good, about 2 & 1/2 kilometers. Also, because training operations were already underway, there will be a whole squadron of F-86 Sabre's available for air support. Division said most of their planes are currently arming and re-fueling and expects 10 or so to be airborne soon. Conversely, since the Russians were merely spying on us, no Russian aircraft are expected to be ready in time to engage us. The Colonel has also requested that some of the recon troops/106mm jeeps be cross-attached from division, as he was pleased with their exploits on our last mission. Finally, Corps headquarters sent two more of the upgraded M-48A2's to replace damaged tanks. Somewhat surprisingly, the Colonel chose to request repair parts and keep our Sherman Flame tanks. With their low standard ammo load, mediocre armor, and poor-pentrating gun, I question his logic. While they are extremely good at digging enemy infantry out of entrenched positions, the short range of their flame weapons means they must get into range of the new enemy hand-held AT weapons and limits that use. I suppose if the enemy infantry are suppressed that might still work, and unlike our own grunts, they'll be shielded from enemy MG and small-arms fire. Maybe they'll still be useful after all. Only time will tell. At least I'm not the one riding around in those things...

The Colonel plans to drive directly for the hilltops, one hill assigned to each Battalion to ensure they do not fall into the hands of the enemy, then divert part of each to occupy the outlying objective areas. An additional portion from each will divert toward the center objective, hopefully flanking any Russian units attempting to occupy it. The larger, slower, and more heavily armored M103's will continue to occupy the hilltops to snipe from long range at enemy armor moving forward. They're the only ones with enough penetrating power at long range to be effective, and their thick frontal armor should provide some protection. Well, it's time to saddle up and get moving. I'll send more reports as time permits.

[Hermit]

As we begin rolling, the Colonel has decided that it will be more effective to have some of us grunts ride forward on the armored vehicles. Only about a third of us will fit, so its still a long, hot march for most of us. I'm beginning to wonder now if we'll make our objectives in time to set up any kind of defense, or whether it will be us trying to push the enemy out.

Soon after the helos took off, the radios started crackling to life. They were taking fire from some large enemy AA guns that they couldn't even see in the bright haze. And the fire was much more accurate than expected considering the distance they must be firing from. A hasty conference with the Intel section has disclosed the enemy is rumored to have new radar-guided 57mm AA guns, and we must have encountered some. It's all but paralyzed helo movement thats not screened behind the crest of the hills. Because of the unpredictable visibility through all these shallow tree-lines, even NOE flying is risky. However, with most of the enemy guns concentrated on our little attack helos, the two transport helos have managed to successfully insert our two FO/scout/sniper platoons into some small woods only about 300 meters from two of our objective areas to keep watch and provide spotting for our guns.

The helos have also spotted a large number of a new enemy armored personnel carrier, called a BTR-50 or some such, which they must be using to rapidly advance their infantry to the objective areas. There are also a fair number of enemy tanks, both T-34's and T-54-3's evenly mixed. This obviously will be no walk in the park. Enemy artillery, mostly 122mm guns, is also pounding the area around the objectives. I suppose they're trying to soften up the area before they reach it, not knowing that we're nowhere near them yet. Our own guns responded, hopefully suppressing theirs so that they won't bother us so much. The Colonel's also asked our arty to shoot a few rounds on the road just southeast of the central objective to disrupt any Russian units speeding along the road. The Colonel's also ordered our fixed guns to mount up and try to find some secluded positions in the treelines near the objective areas to set up some ambush points. The divisional scouts riding in their APC's and the 106mm jeeps have darted ahead of our main body to look for some likely places.

[Hermit]

Unlike the Chinese in the last engagement, who led with their tanks, the Russians have sent infantry forward quickly to feel out the area. They've used both older and the new model APC's to drive up really close to the objective areas and offload. We've managed to pick off a few enemy infantry with our snipers, mostly the vulnerable but easily concealed RPG-2 teams, but our snipers are going to be overrun soon if they keep shooting and get spotted, so for now they're laying low. Some of the scouts with them have crawled up through the woods to monitor the fields on the other side of the treeline, and both FO's have set up in places with long lines of sight.

The two lead tanks in each Bn were left riderless so that they could spot from hills and other vantage points at longer range a few hundreds meters in front of the other 10 tanks. This way, if the Russians open up on them they won't be covered by the hamburger that's sometimes left when infantry wait too long to dismount. The 106mm jeeps aren't nearly as helpful on the march. They're extremely vulnerable to any return fire, even small arms, and they can't hit squat at long range if they've moved much. The mechanized scout platoons encountered some of the enemy APC's and their infantry passengers, and started dueling at about 800 meters. Our APC's headed for the woods to dismount the scouts in concealment, and they've started spreading out to put some eyes on the enemy movements. They discovered a company column of APC's heading down the paved road and we've called in some arty to disrupt whatever nefarious plans they have. We've also diverted the two lead tanks from the southern Bn to take positions on the road and intercept any that proceed onward. The support tanks and infantry will take the sector to the south of the road, and the main-force tanks mounted with infantry will continue to move forward in the southern portion of sector between the two hills.

Up north, main force tanks from Bn B have also pressed forward diverting around to the northern perimeter of the northern hill. Support tanks have diverted even further north, to intercept an enemy thrust moving along the northern edge of the battle area.

The first major firefight erupted between the mech recon platoon APC's and 106mm jeeps, assisted by two Patton tanks on the paved road. At least two platoons of enemy mech infantry made it through the artillery barrage we laid on the road (althogh we had the satisfaction of seeing a third platoon being mostly demolished when several APC's blew up on the road and the remainder swerved wildly off the road and started smoking). The enemy infantry dismounted after taking MG fire from our APC's and a few near misses from the 106mm jeeps. The jeeps pulled back out of small arms range and out of sight of the enemy APC's. When the enemy infantry moved forward through some trees that occupied a bend in the road, those jeep crews just wailed on them like there was no tomorrow. Round after round of RR shells took apart that woods. Whether there were many casualties, I'm not certain, but they sure tried. Come to think of it, some of those flying tree limbs looked an awful lot like broken bodies. In any event, the infantry didn't get far, until a bunch of them rushed out of the woods at once, with two APC's rolling along as mobile MG's. The jeeps took out one and suppressed the other, but the advancing enemy troops forced the jeeps to pull back farther. Our APC's raked them with MG fire of our own, and they went to ground and took up defensive positions. A few fired their RPG-2 AT rockets, but thankfully none scored hits. That's when our two tanks joined the fight. They just slowly rolled forward, belching cannon and MG fire without a concern. The enemy infantry was pinned down for the most part, and part of the woods was on fire by then as well. Three more enemy APC's came out of the woods, probably to pick up their men and get the heck out of there, but our tanks left them smoking hulks. Eventually all the enemy infantry was driven back and scattered to the wind. Two more enemy APC's also bit the dust, while one of our tanks was slightly damage by an unseen RPG-2 team that must have rallied itself in the woods when the heavy fighting passed them by. Now we better clear out before enemy arty and tanks arrive. Hopefully we can keep them reacting to our probes, and we'll grind them up bit-by-bit.

[secretgeek]

Am loving this AAR! I'd like to credit you with getting me playing SPMBT again after a bit of a break. :)

:up:

[Hermit]

Through clever electronic intercepts, the enemy was able to sever our communication links for the past week or so, and no reports have apparently gotten through. Their ability to penetrate our security systems is being throughly investigated, and if a traitor is found, he will be severely dealt with! (i.e., I wasn't able to post for some time for some as-yet unknown reason. John/Imp's useful advice to trash my cookies, reboot, and re-login seems to have worked)

[SecretGeek - glad you're enjoying it, welcome back]

Our last engagement concluded with several rounds of airstrikes and artillery pounding the enemy in advance of small probing actions. Eventually we punched through the enemy lines, and began streaming units into their rear area, using our infantry/RR106 jeeps/fixed guns to frustrate the enemy's own advances. Our artillery provided supporting fire against any large enemy concentrations, which convinced most of them to give up. We then wheeled our penetrating teams to the north and south and began hitting them from behind. The enemy decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left the field in a ragged and hasty withdraw. Casualties on our side were a bit more than previously, but no irreplaceable losses.

A few more M-47's Pattons that had been damaged were upgraded to M-48A2's, and our two transport helos, which only had single-squad capacity, were upgraded to some heavy-lift (226 capacity) helos.

[Hermit]

Its January 1956, and our next assignment will take us to French Indochina. Thank heaven we won't be going back to Korea again. It's colder than billy-hell up in those mountains this time of year. And it won't be quite as miserable in the jungles of Vietnam in January either.

The Viet Cong have been active lately in the Mekong Delta region, and the French just don't have the transport and equipment necessary to move their present forces around in that semi-liquid landscape. We'll be out of the river area itself, but there's plenty of flooded areas, swamps, and rice-paddies to make any mosquitoes absolutely gleeful. I hope they send some bug-repellent along with us. Any spare Viet-Cong repellent could also come in handy.

There is a fair amount of tree-covered areas, which border on jungle, but it's not quite so dense. There are some obvious choke-points where the flooded areas will force passage in land bridges of only 200 or 300 meters across. There is one paved road running E-W which passes through two small villages, and farther south is a dirt road that will be of more tactical importance. It has a wooden bridge spanning the northern section of a flooded area about 200 meters across. Because there is densely wooded areas to the north and south of the road, but not too close, it will be an ideal route for us to drive into the enemy rear area. Therefore, we don't plan on destroying it, but we're sure the enemy will be making use of it as well. We expect that location to be the scene of heavy fighting.

The battle plan is to advance quickly and secure as many of the choke points as possible before they are taken by the enemy, then wait to see the enemy's force disposition. One or two points will then be chosen for a sustained push, and our forces will then be realigned to block the enemy at the others while driving throught the chosen gaps. Since speed will be key in this encounter, we've requested and received from division several platoons of amphibious APCs. The standard complement of Ammo 1/2-tracks is the only additional ground forces available. Two flights of A-26 Intruder fighter-bombers with the new cluster munitions have also been assigned to help disperse enemy infantry concentrations that are expected at the choke-points.

[Hermit]

The battle shaped up to be a totally one-sided massacre. The enemy attacked en-masse for the most part, had no vehicles, no armor, and few heavy guns. They got a few good shots in with their hand-held anti-tank rockets and 57mm recoilless rifles. A new heavier Recoilless weapon called a B-10 also made an appearance, but the few of them that made it to the front lines shot from long range and revealed their positions too soon. They did not score any hits before being demolished by return fire from our vehicles.

Our infantry advanced rapidly in their APC's and set up blocking positions in the wooded areas, and our armor waited in positions at the fringe of woods that had open shots to the bottlenecked areas. As the enemy appeared, our armor cut loose with MG's and occassional cannon fire to stop the advance and force the enemy formations to pack together, then artillery was called in to obliterate the concentrated troops.

An unexpected and very effective enemy mortar barrage succeeded in heavily damaging one of the Dusters and immobilizing another. It also sent a platoon of ours running for cover. There must have been 20 or 25 shells landing within the course of a minute or two. There was just one explosion after another as they kept firing them on us. Most of their other mortars fell without significant effect. Sometimes it forced our tanks to fall-back momentarily while suppressed to avoid any surprise infantry charges, but otherwise the enemy made poor use of its much-vaunted mortar teams. Perhaps this was because it could not find most of our infantry until they were in the thick of things. Enemy arty consisted of light 76mm pieces which had very little effect other than to immobilize two of the Shermans. It was silenced by counterbattery fire after about 15 minutes in any event.

As predicted, the real action was around the wooden bridge. Heavy infantry fighting occurred in the woods to the north of the bridge, as our troops attempted to stop an enemy flanking attack. It was touch and go for a while, as the enemy kept pouring troops into the fight. Two of our squads lost their nerve and fled before being reminded of their duty. APC's were providing supporting fire, but in those close quarters, they had some difficulty. In fact, two APC's were lost to enemy hand-held AT rockets, and about 20 of our men also fell. Eventually the two Sherman Flame tanks of Bn B appeared and laid waste to both wood and flesh around them. Three of our own men suffered severe burns when some splash-back landed on them in the close-packed woods. Although diminished, it wasn't until the whole enemy force called it quits that this entanglement ended. By the time it was over, we had committed 4 platoons of infantry to the fight, including supporting APC's, plus the two flame tanks.

It was the opposite situation on the bridge itself. One Sherman FO tank and one platoon of infantry held the bridge for the entire battle. Upon arriving at the bridge on our side of the flooded area, we could already see the enemy troops approaching the other side. By good fortune, there was a slight rise in the road just before the bridge. Our tank could sit protected behind the hump, then nudge forward to heave shells and pour MG fire into any enemy troops that tried to cross. They were only able to get three or four AT shots at it the whole fight, and they all missed, then the launchers were blasted to bits. The enemy made repeated attempts to cross, all of which were repulsed. While a few single soldiers managed to make the crossing, our supporting troops made short work of them. Seeing that we were not willing to blow the bridge itself, the enemy troops gathered their nerves and prepared to make a concerted rush across and overrun us with sheer numbers. That's when the tank commander called in a strike by a flight of the A-26 marauders. I could tell from the size of them that they must carry a good-sized payload, and boy, did they. Between the three of them they must have dropped 10 tons of bomblets on the hapless enemy. The planes droned overhead at extremely low altitude and it looked like someone was shaking pepper down on the enemy. It sounded like firecrackers at a Chinese new-year celebration, with a continuous pop-pop-poppoppop-pop noise wafting over the water. After the dust cleared, all that we could see of the enemy was the fleeing backsides of the survivors. It wasn't long after that until the whole enemy force began disappearing into the woods.

When we slowly advanced over the bridge, it was a grisly scene that awaited us. We must have wiped out the major part of a whole enemy regiment. We counted almost 400 bodies on and in the approaches to the bridge. While we were generally happy to have succeeded in our mission, it was sobering to see all that wasted human effort.

[Hermit]

Having pushed the VietCong/VietMinh back in the Mekong Delta area, we have gradually been flushing enemy units out of their bases and worked our way northward over the past few months. It's now the fall of 1956, and we've cornered some consolidated enemy units in the rugged mountains of the Central Highlands. They haven't had time to prepare defensive positions yet, and we've been ordered to move forward and engage before they do have time.

Their positions are concentrated in an area containing six rugged peaks, comprising one central horseshoe-shaped ridge surrounded by five others that are nearly as impressive. There are some tree-covered valleys, some rice paddies, and a very few open areas on the surrounding plateau. There is a single dirt road running E-W, and one running N-S. The N-S road will be of little use, since it will be well behind the expected encounter area, and it's unlikely the enemy will come down off their high hills and seize it. The E-W road, while potentially useful, offers many opportunities for ambush (of us) and will therefore be used only on a section-by-section basis as we clear it. There's good visibility from a weather standpoint, but the many high hills and trees mean it will be mostly short lines of sight. The enemy's acquisition of B-10's, discovered in our last encounter, combined with the short lines of sight, will make it difficult for effective enemy troop-killing by armor without endangering our own tanks, meaning they'll be relegated to a suppression role when/if they have an LOS to the enemy. That also ignores the extremely rugged and steep hillsides. When you factor in that aspect, armor will have only a limited role in this engagement.

Since our last report, we've upgraded another tank to M48A2, and replaced another that was lost to an enemy SKZ bazooka. We also got new SPA artillery after ours went back for refitting. Our 155mm units were replaced by 8-inch, closed-top units. Unfortunately, they hardly carry any ammo, just enough for a few volleys, and they'll have to be be tied closely to an ammo supply or they'll be of very little use either. Division has sent over six platoons of scouts to search out the enemy, and six big transport helos to ferry troops around in the area. Two flights of Intruder's with those kick-a** cluster bombs are also waiting on-call. That's all we're getting in terms of support this time, plus a bunch of ammo 1/2-tracks. Wish us luck!

[Hermit]

As we began to move forward, the enemy pounded the dirt road with 122mm heavy artillery. I was orinally a little ticked off at the Colonel for not allowing us to ride the tanks down the road until the heavy jungle and steep hills began, but I'm beginning to see his wisdom now. It wouldn't have been pretty to have been caught in that barrage. Heck, I didn't even know they had 122mm artillery. I thought the biggest thing they had was the 85mm stuff. At the last minute, division called and said that we'd receive some artillery support ourselves, two batteries of 105mm howitzers that would be dedicated to us.

After plastering the mountain peak above with 8-inch SPA fire, the heavy helos dropped two platoons of scouts and three platoons of our infantry on our side of the ridge to the NE of the central horseshoe ridge. No enemy fire was received during the offload, but as soon as the troops crested the ridgline, the fight was on. The enemy has at least two platoons on the reverse side of the slope, and elements of several other platoons fired at us from the SE ridgeline as well. The helos went back for another load of troops while our vehicles from Bn B navigated the heavily forested plateau to make a screened approach to the northern side of the ridge. Scouts sent ahead of the vehicle column spotted two ambushes by enemy soldiers, which were quickly neutralized by helos spraying the canopy with MG fire. The suppressed enemy units were then overrun by our vehicles.

Rounding the northern foot of the ridge was not as easy. The column came under fire from three B-10's somewhere on the lower slopes of the NW ridgeline from long range, and despite the column's multiple eyeballs, the launchers could not be located until after the lead Patton was lost. When the B-10's were eventually spotted, they were fired at with everything the column had. While the enemy attack did succeed in destroying one tank with a lucky shot, they paid dearly. All three B-10's were destroyed. I'm guessing they knew what would happen once they were located, but they just kept shooting round after round until they scored a hit. You have to admire the courage of those guys!

In the southern area, the tanks of Bn A eventually took a quick jaunt down the dirt road after it had been cleared up to the crest of a smaller hill. On the other side, our infantry once again came under intense MG and small arms fire. Two of the MG's were spotted, and tanks moved into place to take out their positions. An SKZ launcher popped up from over the crest of the hill, having crawled their way through a broken area unspotted by our now suppressed troops. Fortunately the Colonel had the column headed by the slower, but more protected, M103 tanks since they can still manage a good pace on the road. Two shots from the SKZ hit home, but neither penetrated, and as you can imagine, there were no more chances given to the enemy. At the same time, we dismounted all the heavy MG crews of our own that had been piggybacking on the rearward tanks. Just in time too, as the enemy had two heavy MG's of their own somewhere on a ridge about 1 click to the south that began raking the column with bursts of 12.7mm bullets. Everyone hunkered down for a few minutes, until one of the scout teams got the courage to give the enemy the finger before popping a few smoke grenades and screening us from the incoming rounds. Now we'll have to decide whether to move forward and push through the enemy blocking force, or deploy more spread out around the road to avoid incoming artillery until we can neutralize the enemy. We know better than to just sit here too long. Gotta move, shoot, move.

[Hermit]

The Colonel opted to spread out around the road and make a serious effort to annhilate the enemy troops rather than smoke or suppressing them and passing through. The heavy MG's to the south kept the heads of our infantry down, so the armor would have had to advance without escort. That option was judged unacceptable. The armor has both climbed and descended the small ridge to either side of the road. In the meantime, the loaded helos were diverted to the south, and under cover of smoke, deployed two platoons in the fields of long grass to the south. One platoon was put to the western edge, to approach the woods and small hillock believed to be screening the enemy heavy MGs. The other was dropped in a wooded clearing to find the source of some 7.92 medium MG's that began firing as well. This platoon began receiving lots of small arms fire as soon as it emerged from the woodline, losing 2 men in the hail of gunfire. Bullets were flying everywhere, and all they could do was drop to the ground and hope that help would arrive soon. You'd be amazed how flat you can make yourself when it really matters! Fortunately, some of the armor that had repositioned higher up the ridgeline could see the spots the firing was coming from, and laid down some suppression fire with their machine guns and a few cannon rounds. The Dusters made some good use of their rapid-fire 40mm guns, since they weren't expecting any air threats. In fact, after the Dusters sprayed the area, the enemy firing almost completely ceased, and we were able to get up some screening smoke.

The platoon to the west fared better, taking only a few bursts from the heavy MG's which went over our heads, and small arms fire from one enemy squad that must have seen our movement in the tall grass. The MG's were spotted after they spewed a few more bursts at the remaining troops on the hill with the tanks, and the helos and two Pershings shooting from long range were able to silence them after a few minutes.

In the north, it was a continued slug-fest as our men on the SE ridge and theirs on the SW traded shots. Some casualties were caused on both sides, but niether side lost any units. One of our squads will have to be retired due to men lost, but our armor has finally negotiated the rim of the mountain and is inside the "bowl" formed by the surrouding ridge lines. Two AA MG's on the NW peak were spotted when they shot continuously at our orbitting helos. Our 8-inch SPA made short work of them after a few minutes of dropping their huge shells all over that peak. The Colonel took advantage of the shelling (and its suppression effects) to go ahead and drop a platoon on the inside rim of that ridge to provide recon info. There was a suprising volley of small arms fire at the off-loading troops that came from the wooded valley in the center of the bowl. Apparently the 10 minutes of 105mm barrage hadn't done as great a job of suppressing that area as expected. As the men scrambled for cover, an enemy squad hidden in rough terrain on the eastern edge of that ridge fired on them from above as well. Since our men had taken cover based upon the fire coming up from the bowl, they were exposed to fire from above and took several casualties before suppression fire from our ammo supply 1/2-tracks, shooting from all the way across the bowl, managed to force the enemy squad back into cover. Subsequent fire from the tanks' main guns, especially the CS Pershings, eventually drove the enemy from his shelter, and the much relieved infantry squads dispatched the survivors as they ran for the safety of the reverse slope of the ridge. Unfortunately, one of our squads on the ridgeline will also have to be retired from combat now. The bowl received several more liberal applications of 105mm, and that seemed to have quieted that area as well.

[Hermit]

Once a good smoke screen had been established, another platoon was helo'd in to support the troops that came under fire after emerging from the woods down south. After the smoke cleared, even more enemy fire erupted. We estimate there are three to four enemy platoons in the area. Since headquarters never believes the figures we report, we probably out to tell them there's three companies down here, and then they'll cut that number down and arrive at the correct actual amount! The tanks on the small ridgeline along the dirt road fired upon as many enemy units as they could spot, and then we laid another smoke screen down while the helo's come back to evacuate us, and we'll await further orders. By this time, some of the heavy MG's we had left behind had established good positions on the ridgeline as well, and they began to fire at the revealed enemy infantry after the smoke cleared again. The tanks had already rolled forward, screened in front by the divisional scouts. Just in time too, as several rounds of mortar fire walked back and forth across the road where the vehicles had previously stopped and fired. One of the machine gun teams newly established on the ridge caught a mortar round close to their setup spot, and it put two good men out of action. However, those enemy troops are starting to get chewed up from the hail of MG fire. Some have even started moving back toward their base. The MG fire is turning out to be so effective, we've contacted division and called off a planned artillery strike so the resulting smoke won't block the line of sight.

Enemy troops on the NW side of this same road-ridge have started shooting at our troops on the SE ridge of the bowl, as well as shooting from behind at our scouts moving west in front of the tanks. The CS Pershings and the Sherman Flails have been diverted to engage those enemy troops, but were themselves taken under fire by an SKZ bazooka. It hit one of the Pershings, but did only minor damage, and was shortly taken out by one of the Pattons with a couple bursts from its coaxial machine gun. The other tanks have pushed down the road another 400 meters or so, and are waiting there for some real infantry support before they approach a small village with woods on the north side.

In the bowl, the Bn B tanks have pulled even with the infantry on the ridges and down in the wooded bowl and are now offering some serious fire support to the troops. While the enemy squads continue to appear out of nowhere and cut down one or two of our men occassionally, they have short lives in the face of all that firepower. A platoon of grunts has also now been successfully emplaced on the western edge of the NW peak of the bowl and has spotted and engaged 4 enemy squads and provided targetting info against two of the enemy heavy MG's that were suppressing our troops to the east. Light attack helo's maneuvered around and were able to spot another AA MG and engage two squads with deadly effect.

[Hermit]

A heavy firefight developed on the western edge of the SE peak of the "bowl." A scout team blundered into an enemy squad hiding just below a large cliff as they descended it. The enemy was very cunning, waiting until the scouts were in point-blank range before cutting them down like so many stalks of grass (4 stalks, to be precise). The two of our squads following them heard the gunfire and rushed to the scene, lobbing smoke grenades over the edge of the cliff before approaching the precipice. They shot blindly down upon the area the shots had come from, and received a fusilade of return fire, much more than that expected from a single squad. An observation helo arrived to monitor the scene, and it spotted three enemy squads hiding in the woods on the slopes below, as they suddenly changed target and started shooting at him. Tanks in the bowl managed to get a bead on one of the squads, and poured round after round of HE into the area. We think it caused a few casualties, but were satisfied regardless since it forced the enemy to bury their faces in the dirt. The cavalry also arrived in the form of a light attack helo that strafed the enemy squads until our men could descend to the enemy's position. We threw all our grenades down the hill at the enemy and succeeded in driving them out of their hidden ambush ground. They are being encouraged to continue their "strategic withdrawal" by a prod from one of the circling A-26 Invaders. The vegetation on that whole side of the ridge was flayed with cluster bomblets as the plane flew over and dropped it's payload. Take that, you lousy SOB's!

Down south, our MG fire continued from the smaller ridge, and we were able to get a platoon of scouts helo-lifted to the edge of the woods. After signalling all clear, they ventured further south and southwest looking for the enemy positions. They spotted several enemy militia units, and also an SKZ when it fired at them and killed one of our troopers. A pair of 40mm AA guns were also helo-lifted to a sheltered rock outcropping on the eastern end of the small ridgline as well. Those guns and the MG's kept the enemy squads suppressed, and gradually whittled away at them until two CS Pershings arrived and cleared the area.

Enemy resistance increased as our infantry and medium armor pressed forward on the western side of the small ridge, toward another small wooded ridge north of the road. Several of our squads took one or two unexpected casualties, as the number of enemy units in the area was much higher than previously estimated. Apparently our scout teams are not detecting many enemy units in this terrain until/unless they stumble right into them. We'll have to be more careful approaching these pockets, but we need to make sure no enemy AT weapons can take shots at our armor as it passes by. In fact, one Sherman Flame tank was immobilized by a lucky B10 shot from almost 750 meters away, hidden in tall grass south of the nearby town. Our infantry teams temporarily fell back to regroup and plan a better attack route. Meanwhile, some 155mm off-map artillery was requested to pound the new ridgeline for a couple minutes in advance of our advance. We had hoped to avoid the need for artillery support in this area, as it could heavily pockmark the road if it's off-target, as well as the fact that most of our artillery is currently engaged in destroying enemy artillery and mortar units spotted in the region by their lingering smoke palls.

[Hermit]

The heavy M103 tanks finally caught up with the infantry on the smaller ridge to the south. Using their thick frontal armor as a defense, they plowed their way forward into close proximity to the enemy infantry emplacements. Many RPG-2 rockets were fired at the brave tankers, but fortunately most missed, and the few that hit did not penetrate. One of the M103's was immobilized, but it basically just turned into a heavy pillbox at that point. It continued to pour serious amounts of lead into the enemy positions from its three MG's. Eight enemy infantry squads were eliminated or forced back into the woods. The B10 launcher was taken under fire by several Pattons, and was forced to cower in its foxhole until a light attack helo crept close enough to strafe it into oblivion.

Our infantry and scouts are now making good progress down the west side of the SE peak and across the valley to the SW peak, assisted by a battery of 105mm, tank fire, and MG volleys. Smoke is screen them from long range fire, and most of the enemy units they uncover are heavily suppressed and unable to return fire effectively. Time is getting to be a problem since we still need to climb that peak. The men are getting hot and very tired. I don't think they can be pushed much harder or they'll lose some of their fighting ability.

Up north, the tanks are turning south to approach the NW peak, while the two transport helos have managed to deposit a company of infantry in a sheltered area at the base of the peak. Sniper and MG teams have been doing a good job of covering fire as the other troops press forward to join them. Two A-26's have been ordered to make a pass ahead of them and pepper the slopes with cluster bomblets to allow them a chance. Otherwise, the enemy shooting down from the slopes is liable to cut us to pieces.

-----

After an additional 20 minutes or so of heavy fighting, we have managed to reach our objectives with minimal losses. The enemy, seeing our flags raised above the objective areas, slunk away and left us to celebrate a hard won victory.

[Hermit]

We have returned to the Korean peninsula, to head off another incursion by those pesky Chinese. The terrain is rolling hills with moderate woods clumped in groups. We're moving in from the east, expecting to encounter the enemy after taking the objectives due to our superior mobility, armor, and the relatively good lines of sight. This will allow us to advance quickly without worrying about ambushes from enemy units. The warm summer weather has made the ground firm and we'll be able to move cross-country and take advantage of the terrain for cover and firing positions. Two roads pass through enemy territory from West to East, and then angle towards each other, eventually crossing in our territory. A large village borders the dirt road on a hilltop just in enemy territory, and this is expected to be a primary encounter area.

Several platoons of M59 APC's have been requisitioned from the motor pool to provide mobility to the leg infantry, and four heavy-lift helos have also been lent from the local air wing. A flight of A-26 Invaders with cluster bombs have been made available for overhead cover. No enemy air activity is expected. At the last minute, division called and said two batteries of 105mm will be at our disposal, in case we need to suppress any stubborn enemy units. The battalion was joined by two platoons of armored infantry on the way to the battlefield, along with their supporting section of 106mm jeeps and M21 1/2-track mortar carriers that we'll use as fighting scouts.

***

As hoped, we have moved swiftly to take up positions beyond the objective areas in the northern and middle areas of the battlefield. We haven't been able to reach the southern objective yet, but chances are good we'll take that without much resistance as well.

Enemy artillery pounded the roads with a surprising number of HE rounds. 122mm, 85mm, 76mm ... you name it. It's fortunate we've chosen to advance over the countryside, or we'd have taken a beating this morning. Our own artillery has returned fire, with an estimate of about 1/2 of the enemy guns out of action within 20 minutes. We sent our light attack helos forward behind the hills, so that we can scout out the enemy disposition. But the minute they exposed themselves, all hell broke loose. The enemy is saturating the air with light SPAA fire. It seems they've recently aquired an APC with twin AAMG's mounted on it. And they have a multitude of them. Our helos are defenseless against this nefarious new vehicle, as their own machine guns cannot penetrate its thin, yet sufficient, armor. For the meantime, our helos will have to cower behind the hills and wait for another opportunity.

The enemy has also apparently loaded up with mortars, as 60mm and 82mm rounds are starting to fall everywhere. Fortunately, only one barrage hit our troops and was ineffective, except to scare the crap out of the inexperienced APC drivers. We're trying to get a fix on their location, so at the moment we hope they continue firing, since they're not doing any damage.

***

One helo managed to get a peak around the hills without bolting for cover, and reported back some really good news. The Chinese have a column of trucks advancing along the road approaching the village. We took some of our 155mm artillery off counter-battery duty, and plotted in the coordinates of the road just outside the village, figuring they'll stop and unload before entering the village. We were rewarded with the sight (and sound) of many secondary explosions, and thick clouds of greasy black smoke rose into the air as a dozen trucks blew apart and burst into flame when the artillery rained down on them. The A-26 pilots radioed that they were going to make a pass down the road to pick off the survivors fleeing back toward their momma's. The Colonel waved them off, however, worried about all the enemy AA fire that was waiting to riddle those slower, bigger aircraft.

[Hermit]

We've got one of the scout platoons emplaced and creeping toward the village, while our infantry has unloaded in wooded areas all across the battlefield. The infantry line will be used as trip wires and ambush points in the trees, while our armor is taking up overwatch positions to cover the clear areas between the woods. We've also helo'd in a few AT guns to provide extra fire support to watch hilltops where we expect the enemy will try to establish tactical advantages.

We're moving the M45 Pershings and the Sherman Flame tanks up to support infantry positions in the woods, where their short range heavy weapons will take out enemy armor and provide overwhelming destruction on enemy ground troops.

Some more artillery is being changed from long-range to short-range CB fire to take on enemy mortar teams, and also a few AA batteries we've located. It seems this enemy commander is relying on truck transports, T-34/85 tanks, the new SPAA MG APC's and LOTS of mortars. That and the typical horde of Chinese infantry. No other enemy vehicles have been spotted so far.

***

The Colonel has decided to move a platoon of nearby infantry into the Eastern edge of town, since the scout platoon has laid low and allowed several enemy squads to take up positions concealed among the buildings. They're doing a good job of spotting, but it appears that the enemy will be overrunning the place soon unless we get some troops up there. Calling in a barrage of artillery would probably solve the problem, but HQ has ordered us to minimize collateral damage. We were concerned about the civilians too, but apparently they've all fled by now.

***

The first wave of enemy tanks has surged forward and ran smack into our overwatching armor. Most of the enemy tanks erupted in flaming wrecks as soon as they made their appearance out from behind the woods, but a few managed to dodge and weave enough to avoid being hit in the first volley. However, their advance quickly ground to a halt and we began hunting down the survivors. Our infantry in the woods also managed to get some kills with minimal casualties. One squad unsuccessfully launched an assault, and two nearby enemy tanks laid into them with MG fire. After popping some smoke, they let out an old-fashioned "rebel yell" and charged back at the enemy tank again. This time they were not halted by the presence of the enemy armor, and succeeded in getting some grenades into their objective that put it out of action.

Another team placed a well-aimed bazooka round into an enemy tank from 200m away. The impact made a "Crumpf!" sound as it impacted the side of the turret. A small hole appeared, and shortly thereafter smoke began to billow out of both the hole and some of the hatches. They waited, trying to decide if they should let the crew escape or gun them down as they bailed out, but no one emerged from the vehicle.

[Hermit]

Enemy units have been reported in the area of the southern objective, and they've probably occupied it by now! We'll have to push some infantry teams forward far enough to get a look-see and find out what kind of presence we'll be facing down there. Gauging by the distance covered by the enemy, its got to be some armor, so we'll also have send some supporting armor of our own. Two M48 Rollers have been dispatched from the armored engineers to assist, as two infantry platoons work their way SW through the woods. Nearing the edge of the woods, the men don't hear any vehicle noises, and are wondering if the enemy have also set up an ambush by turning off their engines to hide their presence. This thought is dispelled when the nickering of a horse is detected up ahead. It turns out an enemy cavalry patrol is the culprit. Rather than revealing our presence, the troops lay low in the woods and keep watch, waiting for the armor support to arrive.

After the scout teams in the village laid a small smoke screen, a platoon of infantry was rushed up to the outskirts of the town in their APC's and unloaded. Four Patton tanks were also moved up to cover the edges of town on the northern slopes of the hilltop. Two of the Sherman Flame tanks have also pulled onto the road and used it to gain quick access to the crest of the hill from the east, where they can remain in ready position without being seen by enemy tanks. Two enemy infantry squads came hurrying down the road through the smoke laid by the scouts, possibly having noticed our platoon of troops disembarking at the edge of town. The accompanying APC's tried to suppress them by using machine gun fire, but it was only good enough to cause the enemy to spread out and temporarily stop advancing. A few minutes later they got up and came forward toward us again. By this time our infantry had organized itself and also laid down some fire. After taking a few casualties and popping some smoke, the enemy ran into one of the buildings and hunkered down. However, as soon as our troops moved the slightest bit, the enemy once more started shooting. Two more enemy squads also advanced through the smoke and joined the fight.

By this time, one of the M21 1/2-track mortars had worked its way into a position that gave it a good line-of-sight on the hilltop and edges of the village. It launched some WP rounds behind the two squads in the road and provided a screen from any enemy heavy weapons. The APC's used their MG's to rake the buildings holding the enemy infantry, causing them to again seek cover behind the walls, while our infantry, also now in cover in the buildings, exchanged fire with the enemy troops in the road. Lacking discipline, one of the enemy squads got up and ran back into the smoke. Taking advantage of the enemy's distraction, the two Sherman Flame tanks crested the hill and advanced on the enemy troops. One stood guard facing the smoke screen and approaches from up the road, while the other hosed down the buildings concealing the enemy troops. It was a frightening display of the horror those vehicles can have on people. Normally, out in the open or in a woods, the flames aren't as concentrated and their effects are less pronounced. In those close quarters of the buildings, the napalm and flames just pile on top of each other, roiling and tumbling over and over. We could feel the searing heat even from a hundred meters away. There were ghastly screams from inside the building, and a few "men" came staggering out into the street. They were really nothing but moving masses of flame, like human-shaped torches. Even the buildings seemed to groan and recoil in reaction to that onslaught. Obviously, the Colonel's directive not to cause collateral damage will have to be modified slightly.

[Hermit]

After a long hiatus due to (1) a divorce, (2) a job change, & (3) a move, I've returned to SPMBT and the forum. I hope to post some more "stories" when I get a bit more time (hopefully including map pictures this time). In that vein, with no more protests from the spousal unit, I finally was able to purchase the enhanced version and reward the developers for their efforts. Thanks to Don and Andy for their continuing work to keep this awesome game updated.