AAR: Long Generated Campaign US v Communist

[Hermit]

Enemy activity on the southern flank has petered out completely, with two last T-34's killed while trying to run past. All seven or eight enemy armored units near the southern objective area are in retreat, and we're hoping to give them a swift kick in the a** on their way out.

In the central area, we ceased our artillery barrage and pinned their units between our advancing infantry under smoke cover, and the main force tanks coming up from their rear. All three JSU-122's were destroyed when the attempted to come to the aid of the buttoned-down T-34's and IS-1944's. The enemy forces blocking the road have also suffered heavily and are trying to disengage. Four T-34's, two IS-1944's, and two T-54-3's were destroyed either by infantry assault or while trying to pull back.

On the northern front, the repositioned 100mm AT guns knocked out four enemy tanks as they made a last desparate push to get past our defenses in that area. The rest have decided that they really didn't want to have to learn German after all, and disappeared back into the woods.

On the very northern edge of the battle area, our flyboys made their appearance and hit those six T-34's with cannon and rocket fire like there was no tomorrow. Two were destroyed and two are retreating. The 40mm AA guns near the artillery park (which is the only thing left back there) have been told to keep their heads low, and not shoot "until they can see the whites of their eyes," in case any of the survivors head for the area. The SPA have been put on alert and told they may have to bug out on short notice under cover of their own smoke. The bad news is that a lucky shot from a tank MG managed to hit a vital area on one of our F-84's, and it spiraled to earth in a smoking corkscrew. We didn't see any chute open before impact, so we're guessing the pilot was hit. Some CO's going to be writing a letter home tonight.

[rainchild33082]

This is by far one of the best AAR's i've read...and I keep checking back regularly for updates. Thank you for the hard work

[Hermit]

Thanks for the encouragement Rain. I think most of the other members are playing each other, which makes it hard to write these, since they'd be giving away their game strategy. I'm glad you enjoy my drivel.

Final report for this battle:

Friendly light attack helos have made scouting runs deep into enemy territory, locating and then avoiding enemy AA guns. Due to the mobile nature of this encounter, the enemy have not had time to make prepared positions, and the AA is easily suppressed or destroyed by friendly artillery. Since the rest of our force is either in rapid advance mode, or locked in close quarters "push them out" attacks, the arty isn't being used anywhere else, and all of it is available for AA suppression. After being supressed, the hunters become the hunted, and the helos have racked up quite a few AA gun markers for the sides of their fuselages.

Several more enemy tanks were destroyed in their chaotic flight from our advancing main force armor. A T-34 that had been hidden in the smoke around the intense infantry battle for the bocage (surrounding the road blockade) was taken out by an M19 SPAA which absolutely peppered it from the rear as it was fleeing. The entire enemy attack force seemes to be either already destroyed on on the run.

However, the helos spotted a counter-attack of a platoon of IS-1944's, a platoon of T-54-3's, a company of T-34's and a company of mechanized infantry driving west at high speed. They seemed headed for the road, so we set up two of the 90mm AT guns (my earlier assertion of 100mm was an error, due to my days with the Israeli units) in the bocage to either side of the road just were it formed a "Y." We also placed an infanry platoon around it for support. A battery of artillery was targetted about 600 farther down the road toward the enemy. Four Patton tanks hid in woods on either side of the road in case any enemy units broke out into the open country.

Three of the newly arrived enemy tanks were destroyed by the AT guns and infantry at point-blank range. Several smoking hulks of BTR-152 APC's also appeared during the 10 minute artillery barrage, or were dispatched by the waiting Pattons. The enemy counter-attack ground to a halt, and then the enemy literally ran off the battlefield.

[Hermit]

It is now February 1953, and despite intensive peace talks, the Chinese have failed to make any firm commitment to ending the hostilities in Korea. To further encourage them to make progress, and some concessions, it has been decided at higher levels that we need to take some land away from them. It will probably be given back as part of the negotiations, but who are we to dispute orders? So, we have been assigned back to the Korean theater to assault some Chinese positions that have had plenty of opportunity to dig-in, and they have been generally resistant to polite requests to vacate the premises. There is a large town on the western side of the map, but the hills overlooking the town from the east are the real objectives, and we don't expect an attack on the town to be necessary. The area is, of course, blanketed with snow, although there don't appear to be too many drifts. It is sparsely wooded, although the trees have no leaves since it is the middle of winter, with many smaller villages dotting the landscape.

We have been shipped some of the new M42 Duster SPAA vehicles, which have the same basic weapon system as our M19's they'll be replacing, but more armor protection and quite a bit more ammo storage. I doubt we'll see many Chinese aircraft, but one never knows, and they'll be welcome improvements to our overall force effectiveness. They also swapped out two of our M45 Patton CS tanks in each battalion for the new M103 heavy tanks. They have a massive 120mm gun that can kill other tanks, instead of just infantry, and really thick frontal armor that will be useful for head-on attacks against infantry with light AT weapons, and older tanks. The problem with them is they have so little ammo, you practically have to chain an ammo supply vehicle to them. And they're also as slow as molasses, especially in snow country like this. They'll probably have to stick to the roads for the most part, but hopefully they'll prove useful.

Division has also sent up two armored infantry companies, and made several flights of F-84's available on call. They are armed with napalm bombs, which I've never seen used before, but I hear it's nasty stuff. M75 taxis are also being provided, as well as a few M3 half-tracks to tow the big AT guns. Finally, although not the least by far, division is sending up four Sherman Flail tanks to help clear the inevitable minefields, with two platoons of engineers for support. Despite our requests, no divisional artillery assets will be available. A follow up request was curtly rejected with a nod toward the sky, indicating that the clear weather ought to make the F-84's sufficient while division takes the opportunity to perform maintenance and re-supply on its big guns. Lucky us!

[Hermit]

The snow has made slow going, and as expected we've been forced to stick to the roads for the most part with the heavy tanks. The armored infantry companies have been sent out ahead as scouts to locate the enemy, accompanied by the engineers and divisional Sherman Flails to clear mines.

Matters have been complicated by the lack of medium caliber artillery. Using our own big guns leaves the terrain in ruins, and further slows progress, while the 60mm mortars on the half-tracks that are integral to the armored infantry companies aren't nearly effective enough against the entrenched enemy infantry. We'll have to update our tactics manual to be sure to bring some medium artillery on all assault missions from now on.

Scouting shows that the enemy has a large number of T-34's, and several JS tanks, many in blocking positions on the two roads. The large, rough-sloped hills also make ideal firing posts for the enemy. The only thing that appears helpful in this engagement is the limited visibility. An overcast and light snowfall has limited the range of sight to just less than a kilometer, about 900 meters I'd say.

After about an hour and a half of trudging forward, with some vicious firefights along the way, we're about 3/4 of the way to our objectives. Enemy resistance is increasing, and some of the enemy infantry has started moving forward out of their foxholes to get into better positions to block our progress. About 1/3 of the enemy troops have a new recoilles rifle that is quite dangerous. Although inaccurate past 200 meters, it is still a threat out to 300 meters, and forces our vehicles to standoff and suppress most of the time. It's made it much more difficult to dislodge the enemy infantry from their entrenchments, coupled with the lack of medium artillery support. Several M75 APC's have fallen prey to recoilless teams, which, unlike the infantry squads that also carry them, are almost impossible to spot until its too late. One of the Sherman Flames had both its MG's knocked out, and a Patton was immobilized, but so far our armor has avoided serious problems.

The M103's have been aquitting themselves very well. Although their ponderous bulk has made slow going, they have been able to ram through three enemy blocking positions with brute force. At more than 200 or 300 meters, the 85mm gun on the enemy T-34's is not able to penetrate their thick frontal armor, and their own 120mm gun is devastating to the enemy tanks as far away as they can be seen in this weather. As expected, ammo supply is a problem, but so far an effective tactic is to have them stop just short of exposing themselves, make an estimated range adjustment based upon scouting reports, then slowly roll forward to spot the enemy tank. Sometimes they take 4 or 5 hits from the enemy tanks that become visible, but one by one the 103's take them out. One of the 103's had its MG shot away, but other than that they are almost invulnerable at long range. Afterwards, the ammo vehicles come up and reload them while the engineers move forward to check/clear mines for the next surge.

While this tactic has been successful in minimizing casualties, the timetable has suffered badly, and division is now pressing the Colonel about his ability to seize the objectives as planned...

[Hermit]

The enemy was given a sound thrashing in this encounter, but due to the slow progress, we were unable to seize one objective, and one was still being contested when division called off the attack. Apparently bad weather is setting in, and they didn't want to leave us out there exposed, either to the weather, or to enemy counterattacks. We pulled back to our starting positions and are waiting for the go ahead to try again. The Colonel's fitness report might be affected by this one, but so far there hasn't been any talk about replacing him. The brass is always pushing us to attack aggressively, but it's not their butts hanging over the line waiting to get shot! Oh well, at least we know the terrain this time.

[Hermit]

The attack plan this time will have two split drives into the enemy's positions. The southern drive will advance a short distance NW up the dirt road (with the engineers and Sherman flails in front) until a small town is reached. From there, it will split into two branches, one heading west through a tree covered gap between the BIG hill to the south and a smaller one to the north. It will then be in a position to attack the middle objective from the south. The other branch will crest the small hill and advance on enemy positions at the SE portion of the 2nd (or central) BIG hill. Each will comprise a platoon of infantry with 6 tanks in support. Meanwhile, the other three platoons of infantry will crest the southern BIG hill from the east, place smoke, and emplace AT and AA guns on the crest of the hill to fire down onto the valley to the west. Support will be provided by the 1/2 tracks and APC's, as well as the SPAA and infantry tanks. This attack group will then use the divisional armoured infantry to cross the valley and take the next woodline, and prepare an assault on the southern objective.

The northern battalion will use the paved road as long as possible to crest the 3rd (northern) BIG hill, with smoke to screen the descent on the other side. After passing north of a wooded area, they will also split, with 1/2 turning southwest to assist in taking the central objective, and the other continuing west to pass north of and get behind large hill 4, and attack the northern objective from the north. AT and AA guns will be set up behind the smoke as the armoured group passes through, to deal with the bypassed enemy units in the woods and on the reverse of the hill once the smoke clears.