[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.