As expected this battle turned out to be a hard one. Although the artillery had bombarded the high ground heavily, it would still take about 35 minutes to capture it. And for the large mass of tanks in the south it would take 25 minutes to finally break through the minefields and get some speed on to start advancing towards the south flag group. Also, after the battle no less than 10 Soviet’ tanks and tank destroyers were immobilised due to either snowdrifts or mines, and some were also destroyed due to the German’ artillery.
In the south, after finally breaking through the minefields, two Hetzer tank destroyers was found to be the only thing defending the wide open area south of the road, and as expected they proved no problems for the mass of heavy Soviet’ tanks. In the forest two more Tiger I were spotted, but after some distraction and softening up by the infantry they were both destroyed by the heavy tanks. One PzKpfw IV was also destroyed by the mine clearing T-34 tanks. Meanwhile a small group of heavy tanks were heading towards the rear of the German’ area to the south and destroyed four artillery vehicles located there.
In the centre the T-5g and two SU-100 on the high ground found out the hard way that they were in the gun sights of two Tiger I and some Panther G tanks and all were destroyed, the T-5g crew surviving. Other SU-100 on the high ground however managed to destroy the Panther G tanks and then continued to support the infantry that was crossing the frozen river on their way towards the centre flag groups.
Although the Soviet heavy tanks far outnumbered the German’ tanks they were facing, they still had some problems with a group of Panther G tanks, that were defending the road. The solution was to have the invading tanks in the rear area making a U turn, thus capturing the German’ tanks between the two groups of Soviet’ tanks and finally destroying them. Some pillboxes were also spotted and destroyed by the T-7 tanks.
Finally, after a very hard struggle, the superior Soviet’ forces managed to repel the German’ counterattacks and first capture the south flag group, quickly followed by the two centre flag groups.
During the battle the new SU-100 proved to truly pack a powerful punch but to have an armour protection that proved no match for the Tiger I and Panther G, even at a distance. Among the losses of the tank destroyer battery was one of the few original veteran crews with no less than 19 confirmed kills to their credit.
Losses:
The Soviet’ taskforce lost 270 men and 14 tanks. The German’ taskforce lost about 550 men, 17 artillery, 3 pillboxes and 51 tanks.
The heavy tank battalion lost 3 tanks and 1 crew. The tank destroyer battery lost 2 tanks and 2 crews. The remainder of the medium tank platoon lost 1 tank. The supporting heavy tank battalion lost 4 tanks and 1 crew. And finally the supporting mine clearing tank platoons lost 4 tanks and 4 crew.
Claims:
The heavy tank battalion claimed 18 tanks and 3 pillboxes destroyed. The tank destroyer battery claimed 7 tanks and 1 anti-tank gun destroyed. The supporting heavy tank battalion claimed 24 tanks destroyed. The supporting mine clearing tank platoons claimed 1 tank destroyed. The infantry claimed 1 tank and 3 anti-tank guns destroyed. And finally the artillery as a whole was credited with 13 artillery positions destroyed after a closer inspection of the battlefield after the battle was over.
Battle result:
All three flaggroups were captured and severe losses inflicted on the German’ taskforce, but the battle only ended as a minor victory.
Replacing losses:
The destroyed IS-IIm tanks and SU-100 tank destroyers were completely replaced, as were the losses suffered by the infantry. At the same time the infantry companies got their anti-tank mines replaced with captured Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons.
It was also decided to replace the T-5c APC with a Kosmopolet, since the T-5c APC suffered a severe mechanical breakdown beyond repair after the battle.
Finally it was decided to re-transform the medium tank platoon into a tank destroyer platoon, equipped with SU-100 tank destroyers. This platoon was attached to the tank destroyer battery, thus transforming this unit into a reinforced tank destroyer battery.
New basic force:
Basic force:
-Soviet HQ + Kosmopolet (8 men)
-Heavy Tank Battalion (28 IS-IIm & 4 T-7 - 132 men)
-Reinforced Tank Destroyer Battery (16 SU-100 - 64 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 Nine:
Germany, February 1945 - Meeting engagement
Support forces:
-Reduced Heavy Tank Company (9 IS-IIm - 36 men)
-Air Support (4 IL-2 Shturmovic - 8 men)
Re: The final push towards Berlin 1944-45!
Hybrid Mode
