[Hermit]

Southern units have completely occupied the objective area and fended off a few enemy infantry units attempting to take it back. Most had been demoralized and absorbed casualties from our artillery, which had intercepted their attempts to move up from their guarding positions. A final SU-76M was discovered immobilized in a shallow ravine on the reverse side of a small hillock. It was quickly dispatched by a Sherman Flail that approached it from the rear. Support units fanning out further to the south discovered a nest of HG assault infantry still waiting for orders. APC's and mortar 1/2 tracks are keeping them pinned down while Sherman flame tanks and a few infantry units accompanying them are disloging them from their positions.

A precision airstrike suppressed the enemy T-34's we had been unable to approach earlier, while our snipers kept the heads down of a nearby squad. Three 75mm recoilless rifles were able to get set up, and while scout teams snuck up and launched diversionary attacks, the 75 mm RR's were able to dispatch both tanks. One of the scout teams got so audacious, they made a running assault on the enemy infantry. Despite their ferocity, they were repulsed, in large part due to suppressing fire from three enemy squads across the small valley. The scouts were rescued when two snipers picked off all of the enemy soldiers near the tanks. Three MG's and the 90 mm AT guns on top of the BIG hill were able to keep the attention of the three squads across the valley.

In the center, depite the difficult natural terrain of the hill, the extensive cratering of the landscape, and the minefields very slow progress is being made. An SU-76M has also been spotted in this area, but it will probably be left for clean-up operations after the main battle. It's too close to risk an artillery barrage, the air cover has all returned to base, and it is shielded from the objective area by terrain. A pesky squad firing from dense smoke has not yet been located, but it is more a nuisance than a threat. Half of the objective area is under our control, and the rest will be as well once the mines are cleared. Another AA gun was located when it minced a divisional rifle squad at 200 meters, but was quickly eliminated. Helos have located and destroyed three 60 mm mortars behind the hill that started to shell us repeatedly once we approached the objective area.

In the north, the pincer movement is succeeding better than hoped. Eight enemy infantry units have been destroyed thus far, and another six are under intense fire. One M75 was destroyed when it wandered too close to an RCL 51 launcher, which managed to get a lucky hit. One of the two snipers in the area was almost gunned down when his position was spotted and several enemy squads chose to make him their last target. He popped smoke and called for a pick-up, which arrived in the nick of time.

As in the center, we have about 1/2 of the objective area in the north occupied, and were merely clearing mines when a platoon or two of enemy infantry advanced on our flank. Our outlying squads came under heavy fire and one withdrew. Due to the undulations of the terrain, only one tank and one APC were able to lend defensive fire support. Other vehicles are manuevering carefully to avoid mines, but should be in a position to respond in short order. The enemy's position seems rather hopeless at this point, and it will probably boil down to how long the Chinese stubborness persists against our intense firepower.