Turns 11-20
To the north, the Russian battalion pushes towards Malureni at (1). Their advance is suffering heavy losses from tank and BMP fire from the village, but the Russians manage to eliminate the defenders one by one. There was one more medal worthy instance when the Bizonul tank of caporal Lucescu at (4) managed to knock out more than 20 tanks and BMPs moving northeast of Malureni by flanking fire. He was eventually put down by a T-80 that drove 300 meters from his tank and shot him from very close range (Lucescu’s tank was out AT ammunition by then). When the Russian force was 400 meters from Malureni, a vicious MRL barrage kept their forces in check. Russians could only advance when the Romanian defensive barrage ceased. By then, only two T-80 platoon’s worth of tanks and one mechanized platoon entered Malureni, where they engaged in close combat with the surviving Romanian infantry and the two remaining Bizonul tanks. Other Bizonul tanks were supporting by fire from position (2) and the Russian position was precarious.
The first objective captured by the Russian forces was the village of Cosmesti at (5). In similar fashion to Malureni, the Russian force had to brave intense tank, MG, grenade MG, MRL fire to close in to the village. Russian artillery and heavy 240mm mortars supported the advance and soon Cosmesti and the area nearby was similar to the moon. Despite heavy artillery fire, the Russian infantry found it impossible to advance to Cosmesti from the northeast, so the T-80 tanks entered without infantry support. This proved to be a mistake, as Romanian infantry caused significant damage to the Russian tanks with accurate RPG shots from the flanks and rear. In addition to that, any tank that reveal itself outside the village’s houses was immediately shot by Romanian tanks and ATGMs firing from (3). It was only after a Russian infantry platoon managed to outflank the Romanian defenders from the southeast that any real progress was made.
Russian forces also attacked the depot at (6), defended by only a single scout platoon. These scouts however proved to be quite formidable fighters, since they managed to knock out one T-80 and immobilize on more by close assaults! In addition to that, they were great spotters for the Romanian artillery. Russian troops had to spend considerable time and effort to neutralize them (and even then two scout teams still continue to be alive).
A portion of the force that captured Cosmesti attacked the bridges from the north. This was combined by a big attack by armor and mechanized infantry from the south moving towards (7). Romanian and Russian tanks traded even, and thus Russian managed to push forwards thanks to superior numbers. However, once more the Romanian artillery proved to be decisive, stopping the infantry’s advance dead in its tracks. Russian infantry eventually had to move from slightly more north to avoid the artillery and engaged Romanian infantry in close quarters urban fighting, with Russian tanks supporting. This enabled the Russians to slowly creep towards the bridges. A couple of T-80s appeared in the centre and came under immediate AT gun fire from across the bridges. However, the Russian tankers proved to be better at this whole gunnery thing and so far the tanks prevailed over the AT guns. A minor outflanking move at (8) by Russian mechanized infantry was quickly dispatched by ATGM and scout car fire.
Finally, the Naval infantry force had to halt its advance after the mechanized infantry fire, together with the 120mm mortars proved to be too much to handle. Now at (9) there is a bit of a trench warfare situation, with neither side advancing and intense mortar barrages plastering the area.
Both sides hunted the enemy’s AA systems ferociously. Romanians fired plenty of artillery barrages, Russians used both artillery and air strikes. Casualties have been heavier for Romanians, but the surviving AA proved to be the bane of the Russian air force. The latter had very heavy casualties and lost significant effectiveness. Romanian air force also tried to support the defenders of Cosmesti. An artillery barrage against all known Russian AA positions was fired and after a few seconds, Romanian planes arrived. However, Russian air defenses also proved to be quite successful and 5 Romanian aircraft were shot down. The rest managed to knock out a few BMPs, some Igla teams and zero tanks. In short, air force was disappointing one more time. The barrages against Romanian AA are marked as (11), while the ones against Russians as (10).
Thus the Russian force managed to capture their first objective, although 250 points for thousands of casualty points in return is hardly a good investment. Romanians had also serious casualties themselves, but I believe I will be able to keep my losses below 18000 and I’m more than certain that with a well timed counterattack, any Russian forces that cross the river will be decisively defeated.