[Airborne Rifles]

All right, here is my latest addition to this series. This is a tough one, but very fun, I think. Here's the briefing:

"The Chinese strategy for cutting the Trans-Siberian Railroad west of Khabarovsk is to cross the Amur River south of Birobidzhan in the Jewish Autonamous Oblast and then drive north to cut the line at that town. Two crossings are planned, one at the bridge at Leninskoye and the other a diversionary river crossing at Amurzet. The Russian commander in this sector, however, is an aggressive and resourceful tactician. Further complicating the invasion is the difficult terrain and logistical constraints of northern Manchuria and Siberia. This will not be an easy campaign for the Chinese forces.

The Chinese set-back at Leninskoye on the first day of the war immediately upends the strategy for seizing Birobidzhan. The diversionary crossing at Amurzet becomes far more important, and the Chinese begin funneling reinforcements there. However, the Amurzet crossing is not without its own problems. There is no bridge at Amurzet so a pontoon bridge must be thrown across once the opposite bank is secure. Furthermore, logistical problems delayed the crossing that was supposed to take place during darkness into the morning hours. Now the Chinese must cross the broad river in daylight, exposed to whatever the Russians can throw at them, and the Russians are sending reinforcements as well from Leninskoye. If the Russians can defeat this second attempt to bridge the Amur, the Chinese strategy west of Khabarovsk may collapse.

Colonel, your failure to cross the river during last night's darkness will cost the lives of many of your men and may damage the strategy of all of China! You must cross the river and secure the town as a bridgehead so we can construct our pontoon bridge and restart our drive on the Tran-Siberian Railroad. Further delay is not acceptable. Your IFVs and amphibious tanks are prepared for fording operations. The local ferries and barges we have commandeered are at your disposal. We are sending you some heavy armor to reinforce your assault, but they are still on the road. Do not wait for them! We know that a Russian rifle company was flown in to the airstrip north of the town during the night to reinforce the police and border guard forces here. Our aerial reconnaissance has also sighted a strong Russian armored column approaching from the north-east from Leninskoye. Their forward reconnaissance elements may already be in Amurzet. The Russians are contesting our command of the air as well, so your air support will be limited.

Take control of your forces and cross the river. Your main objectives are the ferry terminal and the grain wharf that will be the termini for our bridges. After that, secure the rest of the town and the airfield to the north. Be prepared to repulse the coming Russian counterattack. If you fail, our entire strategy in Siberia may be in jeopardy."

In this scenario the Chinese player must find a good balance between and maintaining tactical principles such as dispersion and concealment while crossing the river. Do not expect to get across without casualties. The Russian counterattack will also be unforgiving, so do not simply assume that you can send all of your forces to seize the center of the town. Watch your flanks on the opposite bank! Also, pay attention to the different carry capacities of the ferries and barges. They are very different even though they are represented by the same symbol on the map.

I have another scenario in progress for the Leninskoye battle which takes place a few hours before this one to the east, so stay tuned. I'll post a map as I did with the Vladivostock sub-series of how all this fits together once I've completed this sub-series of scenarios.

As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.