KG Krafft, 26 November, 1942 - Eastern Front
Situation: Soviet forces have mounted a major offensive against Army Group Centre threatening to cutoff the Rzhev Salient. As the operational picture emerged, KG Krafft was called into action as a part of its parent organization (1st Panzer Division) early on the morning of 26 November near Belyi to oppose the advance of the Soviet 1st Mechanised Corps.
Orders: Intercept and destroy all Soviet forces in your assigned area. A 17cm K18 batterie will be providing counter-batterie fire in your area, no other artillery assets are available.
[Delay mission, map size 80x80, shotgun vhex, visibility 18, length 44]
Mission: The assumed enemy mission is to pass through this area, capturing or destroying all axis forces encountered as part of attempt to cut off a portion of the Rzhev Salient encircling Belyi in the process. Our mission is to stop them and to render all enemy units in the area combat ineffective for the duration.
Enemy: Expect a battalion of armor, possibly including heavy tanks; a battalion or more of infantry, some at least of Gaurds quality; and substantial local and long range artillery assets amounting to at least a battalion, possibly two. Despite the low visibility the possibility of enemy air activity cannot be dismissed.
Troops: during refit after the last battle, the panzergrenadier kompanie recieved an attachment of two MG42 HMGs and two SdKfz 251/2 GrW from its parent battalion. Late yesterday afternoon, division released a panzer aufklarung gruppe (gepanzart) and a 5cm PaK 38 gruppe (gepanzart) to be attached to KG Krafft for the duration of the present operations. Thus we have a ten vehicle StuG batterie with organic supply and sIG Ib support in gruppe strength, a reinforced panzergrenadier kompanie with ATG, HMG, and GrW support in gruppe strengths; and two recon gruppes, one with limited ATG capability. We also have counter batterie artillery support.
Terrain: Visibility is poor, under 1km. There are extensive ravines in the northwestern portion of the area offering good cover and the shadow of the western slopes of hills 117 and 118 provide reasonable cover. Some cover farther forward is available in the southern ravines and the western slope of hill 205. North of hills 117 and 205 the northern edge of the area presents numerous barriers to passage although there is a gap about 400 meters wide which is passable. The northern face of hill 205 is all but impassable to vehicles due to extensive mud slides. The northern part of the gap between hills 117 and 205 also contains a large mudslide area. There is another mud slide east of where hills 117 and 118 join and the south face of hill 118 is covered in a mudslide which extends to the southern edge of the area although further south it is frozen except for a 50m wide strip. Except for that narrow strip in the north, all avenues of approach to the western edge of the area from the eastern must cross atop either hill 117 or hill 118. The only exception would be for tracked vehicles at slow speed through the narrowest portion of the mudslide south of hill 118.
Plan: the ATGs will be positioned at the northern end of the ravine north of hill 117 so as to deny the enemy use of the northern passage. They will be supported by both MG gruppes and one panzergrenadier zug should be stationed in the ravine within supporting distance. The recon group with AT capability will be stationed at the southern face of hill 118 west of the mudslide. A panzergrenadier zug will deploy nearby for support using the ravines to hide their vehicles. The remaining panzergrenadier zug will be held in reserve in a central position also using a ravine to hide their vehicles. Artillery assets with their supporting vehicles will use the extensive ravines southwest of the ATG position to gain some cover from enemy fire. The newly attached recon group (without AT capability) will deploy on the northern end of hill 117. One of the StuG zugs will deploy in forward position atop hill 118, the remainder of the batterie will deploy atop hill 117.
Ten minutes after the StuGs reach their positions the first enemy units make their appearance. Three BA-64s in the south which were engaged and destroyed in turn by StuG zug F. A pair of BA-10s attempted to cross hill 205 but ran into 75mm roadblocks curtesy of StuG zug E, putting a permanent end to their voyage. A few minutes later a pair of T-34/76 m1941's carrying a section of Guards infantry each made their appearance in the south. One was destroyed, the other immobilized both by StuGs of zug F. The crew of the immobilized tank bailed after a few more shots and the Gaurds infantry sections were soon put to rout by MG fire from the StuGs.
A few tubes of 120mm mortars dropped smoke north of hills 117 and 205. Oberstlt Krafft ordered the sIG 1b's to fire upon their suspected positions. A platoon of T-60s approached StuG zug F in the south, three were quickly dispatched although a desant team from one managed to jump off in time. A fourth T60 survived a minute longer but met its end just as surely.
Another platoon of T-60s made an appearance in the south but, again, were destroyed in short order. In the northern passage three T-34's are spotted, MG fire prompts their riders to disembark and once the tanks are buttoned up the 5cm PaK's open fire. Unfortunately the range was still a tad bit long so only one T-34 was destroyed. StuG zug D heads north in hopes of taking the remaining T-34's in the flank. The enemy opens up with some 82mm mortars both in the northern passage and east of StuG zug F in the south. Both fires were far short of doing any damage to any friendly units.
Things heated up quite a bit for StuG zug F, a dozen additional 82mm mortars joined in firing upon them along with a 122mm battery. The StuGs retreat for now. In the north a single T-34 continues to advance and despite the closing range still shrugs off numerous hits from the 5cm ATGs. Oberstlt Krafft orders mortar fire dropped on the group of dismounted infantry in that area.
Three more 122mm batteries open up, this time on hill 117, just south of one of the scout positions. They are joined by a 76.2mm batterie and another 76.2mm batterie fires into the northern passage but falls well short of friendly troops. Two additional 120mm mortars join in firing on the former position of StuG zug F in the south. StuG zug E manages to destroy one of the southern T-60s with a long range flank shot. One of the 5cm PaK ATGs comes under fire from the T-34 it was firing at. It is time to relocate the ATGs. StuG zug D just manages to enter into firing range to kill two T-60s that were advancing towards the ATGs, only one StuG was able to get into position to fire a quick pair of shots at the T-34 but both shots glanced off.
The glancing shots distracted the T-34 enough that it began to retreat, at which point a 5cm round penetrated its rear armor. The ATGs claimed two more T-60s before relocating. The StuGs of zug E knockout two T-26's that were advancing in the south. One scout has two more enemy tanks, a T-34 and a T-60, under observation but there are no other enemy tanks in view of any unit.
The answer to the 'where are all the tanks?' question is soon answered when a full company of T-26's advances all along the front. Five are dispatched rapidly by the StuGs of zug E, still in their original central positions. StuG zug D in the north dispatches the last known T-34 along with two T-26's. StuG zug E eliminates an entire platoon of T-26's in the south. Three known T-26's remain and only because they are just beyond los of StuG zug D.
A lone T-60 in the north is the first soviet tank to actually fire at a StuG in this engagement, it missed and didn't get a second shot. In the far south StuG zug F moves back into its earlier positions and spots a T-26 and T-28. Shortly thereafter, both are dispatched. The StuGs of zug E become the target of a heavy bombardment just after spotting what appears to be a half company's worth of Guards infantry approaching. They withdrew before confirming.
An hour after the first soviet tank was sighted, two remain, both late arriving T-26's, one immobilized, the other slowly picking its way through the wreckage of its predecessors. Enemy artillery fire remains heavy and an infantry attack is expected soon.
The battle continues, a few more T-26's arrive and are quickly dispatched. Pressure from enemy infantry is mounting in the center and the StuG's quickly run out of HE. Oberstlt Krafft calls in both sIG gruppe and GrW gruppe to rain upon the central mass of Guards infantry. The recon gruppes and deployed panzergrenadier zugs are called upon to begin advancing toward the center.
At the halfway point, enemy artillery is still falling in large amounts though for the most part missing any target. Still no sign of the K18 batterie having any affect. Oberstlt Krafft commits the reserve panzergrenadier zug to operations in the centre. At two hours into the engagement the enemy infantry advance is largely brought to a halt and is slowly being pushed back.
Although the enemy infantry is still trying to advance on the eastern slope of hill 217, the majority of the Gaurds infantry battalion is in rout. Soviet artillery is still a danger as the operation goes into the mopping up stage. StuG zugs are being rotated one at a time out of line for resupply.
For the next hour KG Krafft slowly eliminates stubborn pockets of resistance and sends large numbers of russian infantry running. The K 18 batterie finally begins counter-battery fire though given the number of soviet batteries engaged, it had little effect.
After the battle loss estimates for both sides are:
German 1st Panzer Division/KG Krafft 0 AFVs 47 men
Soviet 1st Mechanized Corps/219th Tank Brigade 81 AFVs 1099 men
Historical note: Operation Mars is much less well known than its much more successful counterpart Operation Uranus (Stalingrad). Although accounts differ and historians argue over the details, the end result was that using similar force commitments, the Soviet offensive in the Stalingrad region was a tactical and operational victory while the offensive against the Rhzev Salient was a tactical and operational failure bordering on catastrophe. In the end though, the strategic win in both operations goes to the Soviets.
Game note: despite being a delay the battle wasn't as challenging as I'd hoped, unfortunately. I'm going to put this campaign on the back burner for a bit and try an infantry based small core long campaign for a change of pace.