BATTLE 14
Iraq v. U.S. Army, Iraqi Advance
Visibility: 51
Turn: 29
After its grueling experiences in the previous battles, the Marauders decided to strike out across a road-less area, hoping to avoid any enemy concentrations. Col. Mustafa moved his men in a wide formation, with the infantry marching in columns and support units following behind - in the case of the old T-55s, well behind. With the sun shining and the sky clear, the Colonel hoped to reach a line of hills some three kilometers ahead and get a better view of the land ahead. Alas, as the Marauders were making their way through a patchwork of agricultural fields, the Bedouins came under machine gun fire - from the direction of those hills. With good visibility, no cover, and only some concealment offered by the extensive crop fields, the Marauders were caught in the open - and Col. Mustafa concluded that the best way out is through. With only 29 turns available, the battle will involve the Marauders marching into the teeth of the defenses, with their support weapons giving them a fighting chance...
The crop fields are the only notable feature of the landscape. If Abrams tanks are present, then the high visibility will mean that they will rule the battlefield, with smoke useless against them. The advance will occur in columns, in spaces between the fields.
The Bedouin units, being on horseback and thus more visible, draw the first fire from enemy MGs... No casualties so far, but a follow-up artillery barrage is to be expected. The lack of concealment and cover works both ways - the American MGs are located in the open terrain, and eliminated by Iraqi HMGs.
Marauder attack continues apace. American rifle squads eventually open up as the Iraqi forces get into range, but they are again just as exposed, and almost as easily spotted, as the advancing Marauders. Long-range support weapons are enough to pin these units, and the infantry continues to inch toward the VPs.
It appears that the Americans chose to place their defenses within the crop fields - this means that the Marauder advance is not encountering them head-on. The fights are piecemeal, with sufficient support weapons being brought to bear to avoid major losses.
It looks like the major American resistance in advance of the VPs was concentrated in the central sector. The southernmost push, consisting of two PA companies and the Bedouins, overwhelmed its opponents with sheer mass, and was not significantly slowed. The lone company pushing directly through the center had to spread out and engage the Americans shooting at its left flank; its most advanced squads have also already received fire from the VP defenses on the hills. The northernmost two companies have not been fired at yet - they continue their advance at a steady clip, still in column formation.
Like any other respectable Iraqi irregular force, the Marauders do possess several MG-armed pickup trucks. These units can be useful as mobile support weapons, but they are extremely vulnerable to pretty much all kinds of fire. A Super Dragon launcher puts paid to one of these trucks, but is itself quickly spotted.
The US forces have additional troops near the VPs, but as before, these soldiers open fire in a piecemeal fashion, and are quickly suppressed and dispatched. The Bedouins to the south avoid the VPs for the moment, and instead will seize the high ground and determine if the Americans have any reserves - if past battles are any indication, the capture of VPs should trigger a counter attack. The tribesmen have acquitted themselves well, using their old Bren MGs en masse to suppress the few units that stood in their way, and even closing to saber range against a retreating squad.
AFTERMATH: A Decisive Victory was achieved with, perhaps for the first time, every single opposing unit being eliminated. The increased visibility would have served the Americans well had they possessed units immune to small arms fire. Alas for them, they brought only infantry with some MGs and 60mm mortars for support. The American units were very easily spotted - for example, the Iraqi HQ unit was able to spot a MG section from over a kilometer away, after the latter had fired perhaps 2-3 times. And so, with their superior support weapons, the Marauders have punched through this defense. After two battles where the Abrams tanks took their toll, this relatively easy contest was a welcome respite... although Col. Mustafa knew that this luck would not hold.