The tactic to deploy the infantry in front of the tanks as a scout force was time consuming but turned out to be the right one, mainly due to one lucky factor. Nine minutes into the advance the German’ mortars and rocket artillery opened fire at force A, and although none of the advancing forces could spot their firing positions from the ground, from the air the supporting IL2 Shturmovic aircraft could. Immediately counter artillery was ordered and three minutes later it struck with full force, disabling the entire force of mortar and rocket artillery positions during a merciless three minute pounding.
After this the advancing forces A, B and C could continue to advance towards their targets pretty much unstoppable, only pausing their movement slightly in order to destroy the isolated pockets of resistance they faced.
Sixteen minutes into the advance the scouting infantry of force C spotted two Marder II that were guarding the open field to the south. A quick regroup of the advancing IS-II and ISU-122s and both targets were destroyed within a minute, not standing a chance against the 21 heavily armoured vehicles. After this the main force split into two groups, the largest heading north-west towards the south flag group and the smallest searching the forest area to the south. Minutes later the largest group spotted two more Marder II, and these two were also destroyed within minute. Now the route towards the north forest area where the south flag group was located was open.
Nineteen minutes into the advance of group A and B small units of German’ infantry was spotted and it didn’t take long to force them to the retreat. A few minutes later the first air attack by the IL2 Shturmovic aircraft revealed the positions of the German’ tanks defending the flag group. Two minutes after that a T-5 was knocked out while on route to the centre flag group, the crew being killed. At the same time the Soviet’ artillery kept pounding the German’ defensive line and all the forces were slowly advancing towards their targets, gaining ground as they went along slowly but surely.
North of the north flag group scouting infantry spotted a large force of German’ tanks and thirteen IS-II tanks were ordered to head for them in order to stop a possible counterattack. A few minutes later all the German’ tanks were destroyed for no losses. In the forest south of the south flag group a platoon of German’ tanks was also spotted and counterattacked, but these too were also destroyed, one being left behind abandoned by its crew. At the centre flag a T-7 was knocked out by a Panzerfaust, but luckily the crew - the commander of the heavy tank battalion - survived.
After additional air attacks and artillery fire both the north and centre flag groups could finally be captured at the same time and ten minutes later also the south flag group. The advance had been very slow and the taskforce got very lucky when being able to disable all of the mortar and rocket artillery positions, but the tactic paid off with minimal losses and maximal control of the flag areas after their capture. This battle turned out to be a school book example of an advance with perfect cooperation between the advancing infantry and the supporting tanks.
Losses:
The Soviet’ taskforce lost 2 tanks and 154 men, 149 of them infantry. The German’ taskforce lost about 500 men, 49 tanks and 15 artillery. Of the 49 tanks lost by the German’ taskforce, 3 - 2 Panther G and 1 Hetzer - were found abandoned on the battlefield.
Of the two Soviet’ tanks destroyed, one was a T-7, the entire crew surviving, and one was a T-5 with crew.
Claims:
The heavy tank battalion claimed 27 tanks destroyed. The medium tank platoon claimed 3 tanks destroyed. The supporting ISU-122s tank destroyer battery claimed 8 tanks destroyed. The infantry claimed 5 tanks, 2 AA guns and 4 AT guns destroyed. The supporting IL2 Shturmovic aircraft claimed 1 tank destroyed. And finally the artillery as a whole was credited with 2 tanks, 4 mortar positions and 5 rocket artillery positions destroyed after inspections of the German’ wrecks after the battle.
Of the total claims made by the heavy tank battalion, 9 were made by the T-7 tanks and 18 by the IS-II tanks.
Battle result:
Since all of the flags were captured and the German’ forces were too depleted to recapture them, the battle ended with a decisive victory.
Replacing losses:
The heavy tank battalion was reequipped with the new IS-IIm, with a faster firing main gun, better firing accuracy and slightly better frontal armour, and the crews retrained. The four surviving T-7 remain in service since their combat record continues to impress.
None of the T-5 tanks lost by the medium tank platoon were replaced. The remaining T-5 will act as mobile support to either the heavy tank battalion or the tank destroyer battery. The future fate of this unit remains uncertain.
The losses suffered by the infantry were completely replaced.
New basic force:
Basic force:
-Soviet HQ + T-5g APC (8 men)
-Heavy Tank Battalion (28 IS-IIm & 4 T-7 - 132 men)
-Tank Destroyer Battery (11 SU-100 - 44 men)
-Medium Tank Platoon (1 T-5g - 1 men)
-Heavy Artillery Regiment (4 122 mm & 4 152 mm - 288 men)
-Heavy Artillery Batteries (2 203 mm - 112 men)
-Anti-Aircraft Platoon (4 ZSU-M15 - 16 men)
-Anti-Tank Battery (6 57 mm L73 - 30 men)
-Infantry (8 infantry & 1 MG Companies, 8 snipers and 8 Bazooka - 1.152 men)
Battle Eight:
East Prussia, January 1945 - Assault
Support forces:
-Heavy Tank Battalion (32 IS-II - 128 men)
-Engineer Tank Platoons (6 PT-34 - 24 men)
-Heavy Artillery Regiment (4 122 mm & 4 152 mm - 288 men)
-Ski Snipers (3 men)