Turns 36-43(end)
The final turns saw the last efforts of the Ukrainian main force to break through towards the main bridge. Unfortunately for them, the resistance of the Romanian force around (1), (2) and (3) was tough and determined and they couldn’t move easily. At (1), the Romanian infantry platoon was still around the houses, killing the occasional BTR with an RPG or even grenade launcher rounds. At (2), the Ukrainian mechanized platoons managed to make some progress, until the time that the Romanian tanks came into play. The latter did lose one tank from a Hind ATGM though. At (3), not much happened, except from occasional pushes that were easily dealt. Romanian artillery was firing harassing fire at (4), making movement even more difficult.
One T-64BV tank platoon decided to help with the push as well. They maneuvered north, towards (5), and were engaged from the flanks by the TR-85 tanks of (2), their fire was abysmal though, and the Ukrainian tanks fired back, blowing up one TR-85. Since I was at a disadvantage, I pull my remaining two tanks out if sight. The Ukrainian tank platoon moved forward, but in the meantime, I positioned two more tank platoons in ambush position about 300 meters away. This time Romanian tankers were more successful, knocking out all 3 Ukrainian tanks by side shots, for no losses.
Despite the Romanian successes, one Ukrainian force of two mechanized platoons and one scout platoon manages to bypass the Romanian areas of resistance and dashes towards the west from the old cemetery. The meet the Romanian battalion that was also moving east to capture the secondary bridge. Their advance halts after losing a couple of BTR-4s to RPG fire and they also receive 14.5mm fire from BTRs that crossed the bridge. Since I received no ATGM fire lately, I decided to push my vehicles forward as well, with the last two platoons that were still in vehicles making a mounted advance towards the bridge. One of them dismounts to the south of the pool at (6) and captures the bridge in the final turn. After that, the only place in Roman still in Ukrainian hands is the old cemetery.
Ukrainians also made secondary attacks elsewhere. The first of them pushes towards the center along the E85 road. It comprises of mostly trucked infantry and a few light vehicles. This force is harassed by artillery fire around (7), receiving even more casualties. They do manage to reach the town though, up until position (8), where their advance is checked by a few surviving Romanian BTRs and the lone AT gun surviving, firing from (9).
The other advance is north from (12). They too receive artillery fire and they suffer casualties. However, resistance there is only comprised of a single mechanized squad and the 35mm guns of the AAA (plus the occasional direct fire from the field guns). Ukrainians also use a couple of Tunguskas firing direct fire towards my artillery park and they bomb my position with Su-24s to boot. These attacks cost me two 35mm AA guns and one 130mm gun, as well as numerous trucks and a dozen or so artillerymen casualties. It was a battle in which the artillery was used in an old Napoleonic fashion, firing directly towards the enemy, but in the end the Ukrainians couldn’t manage to come anywhere close to the city.
The Ukrainian air force was supporting the Ukrainian assault, bombing targets in the city indiscriminately (though I manage to damage one more Su-25 and one Su-24). One air strike caused casualties to the mechanized platoon at (13). In addition to the air strikes, the Ukrainian helos proved the most devastating weapon platform for my forces, costing me a significant amount of tanks, BTRs and other vehicles. They had actually ran out of missiles in the end, which is what saved my force from total destruction. And as a final note, one Ukrainian artillery observer managed to sneak close to Sima’s House at (14) and called a heavy and accurate 152mm artillery barrage. The result of the barrage was that all but 4 of the men defending the building were killed or wounded (Sima himself was among the casualties), every building around a 200 meter radius plus Sima’s house was wrecked and two BTRs outside were immobilized. It was a small morale victory for the Ukrainians, taking out a building and its heroic defenders long after they stopped being of any real importance in the grand scheme of things. They endured infantry assaults, sniper fire and MG fire, to be finally succumbed to something that could only be described as overkill…
Casualties table and final words coming soon.