marklaker
Posts: 38
Joined: 9/26/2000
From: Puerto Rico
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(Turn 1)
The radio crackled to life again, this time it was the voice of Lt. Maciolek from 1st Platoon in the northeast sector of the village. “They’re comin. Looks like a platoon of light tanks (BT-7’s) and a handful of trucks,” radioed the excited platoon leader. The major, handset in hand before the young man finished speaking, asked whether there were “tanks or infantry in the leading element?” “Tanks,” came the immediate reply. “Fools,” whispered the major to himself, and then issued precise instructions. “Hold your fire until the lead tank has gained the village and dispatch it. Then immediately engage the trucks and their baggage. We want to strip the armor of it’s support and make it fight it’s way into the village alone, where you can ambush it.” Before signing off, he reminded the young man, “You’re the key to our defensive position. Remain steady and hold firm.” With that the major signed off.
He’d barely replaced the receiver when the radio squawked anew. This time is was the cavalry commander calling in from the south, “Tanks and motorized infantry approaching from the east.” Major Kostuch was back on line, “Avoid the tanks and engage the infantry from a safe distance. If it gets too hot, disperse to the south – you’re value is in intel, not as an attack element.”
“Too late, sir. It appears we’re in the thick of it,” radioed the cavalry leader coolly with the din of gunfire in the background. Before he’d been able to pass on his commander’s guidance a couple of impetuous troopers had opened fire on the infantry trucks. In a brief firefight, two troops of Uhlans destroyed a pair of trucks and displaced 3 infantry squads, inflicting a handful of casualties in the process. Unfortunately this alerted the Soviet tanks (BT-7’s) to their presence and they were forced to withdraw to the western edge of the tree line amid a barrage of shells and machine gun fire. The battle had begun!
“Put artillery fire on the road just east of the village,” commanded the major. “But what about the element of surprise,” queried a young lieutenant. “It’s too late for that son, the battle group to the north will have heard the result of our rash young horsemen. The riflemen will be fighting for their lives in a moment and will need every bit of help they can get.”
(Turn 2)
Two heavy tanks (T-28’s) joined the armored group approaching east along the road. One suddenly veered off the road and headed for the eastern ridge opposite the village, coming to rest atop the crest. An infantry platoon unloaded and moved to the top of the opposite ridge. Miraculously the remainder of the armored procession continued advancing into the village, without infantry support, apparently oblivious to the gunfire in the south.
Two BT-7’s entered the village, were close-assaulted by squads of riflemen and erupted in great splashes of flame. Immediately all hell broke loose! A T-28 trailing the lead tanks opened up on a squad from 1st Platoon, quickly suppressing it. Two more BT-7’s joined the fray and engaged the remainder of 1st Platoon, 45mm guns and 7.62 Maxims blazing away at the harried defenders. The men buckled but did not break and held their ground. They passed their first test, but there would be many more trials to come in an afternoon wrought with death and destruction.
Two hundred and fifty meters to the south an armored car (BA-11) entered the wheat field and moved toward the village in a flanking maneuver. A 75mm AT gun hidden in a copse of trees within the field, sighted-in and sent it’s charge hurtling toward the intruder. The shell exploded broadside and the armored car was no longer among the living, but the AT gun itself became a target when a couple T-28’s and another armored car came crashing into the field and began pummeling it from a distance of 100 meters. The gun returned fire, but it was inaccurate and no match for the three attackers. It was soon silenced, the crew forced to flee for their lives.
To the far south, a couple light tanks and a platoon of infantry and were attempting to gain the tree line and advance into the open plain. The Uhlans skillfully delayed the foot soldiers, harassing them while staying just out of reach, but the tanks were not to be denied by leftover relics of the Great War and moved to the western edge of the trees unimpeded.
Just then an artillery fusillade erupted amid the tangle of tanks, trucks, and men along the road just east of the village. It was much needed support for 1st Platoon, who were beginning to absorb a great deal of punishment from their attackers.
The opening exchanges had favored the Poles, but the major was all too aware the Soviets had plenty more to hurl at his young charges. Still, he’d been pleased by the reaction of his young commanders in this, their first taste of battle.
(Turn 3)
Despite the disparity in firepower, the staunch defenders from 1st Platoon checked the Soviet advance short of the village. 2nd Platoon now moved up and took its place along their left to prevent a flanking movement by the Russian infantry on the opposite ridge that was pouring harassing fire into their beleaguered sister platoon.
When a BT-7 foolishly tried to push it’s way past a destroyed comrade and enter the village, it became the third victim of the gallant 1st Platoon. Meanwhile, the artillery barrage was paying huge dividends as it kept any and all from venturing too close to the village defenders. A desultory exchange fire was issued by the Soviet artillery, but it was scattered and very inaccurate.
There was more than one way to crack a nut and the Soviets decided to try their luck from a different direction, so they attacked the village from the southeast with an armored force, this time supported by infantry. A BA-11, BT-7 and 2 T-28’s pushed there way through the wheat with two squads of riflemen in tow, heading straight for 3rd Platoon, which had yet to be engaged in the southeast sector of the village.
In the south, two BT-7’s and a pair of machine gun teams broke through the tree line and found the open plains. They were immediately pelted with fire from the two 40mm AA guns on the ridge finger to the west. One team was eliminated and the other was forced to retreat, but the tanks inexorably rolled on.
(Turn 4)
First platoon continued to battle the Soviet armor, now supported by a full platoon of infantry. They fought with a grim determination, but the odds were against them and it was only a matter of time before the relentless onslaught took its toll and they were forced back. The impetus came in the form of a T-28, which bulled its way passed the fallen BT-7’s and opened up at point blank range on a hapless squad of the 1st Platoon. Emboldened by the heavy tank’s success and aided by the suppressive fire of its infantry, two BT-7’s advanced in the wake of the T-28 and added their punch to the conflagration at the village edge.
Like a punch-drunk fighter to dazed to go down, 1st Platoon endured one punishing blow after another before finally staggering back to the next row of houses, granting Russian armor access to the village. Lt. Maciolek frantically radioed the command post, “We can’t hold them anymore, we have to fall back.” In repetition of an earlier performance, Maj Kostuch was on the line, calming his young soldier and providing clear concise guidance. “Fall back if you must, but reestablish yourselves and rally your men. Align your platoon as best you can with the 2nd on your left and the 3rd on your right to provide a continuous front. You must hold!”
While 1st platoon was reestablishing its defensive positions, 3rd Platoon was losing its virginity to the armored force working it’s way through the wheat field. An armored car was the first to emerge from the field and enter the village. It located a squad of the 3rd platoon to it’s left and peppered it with its 7.62 Maxim. While thus distracted, it was close-assaulted by another squad from the right and quickly put out of action.
Unfortunately, it was only one in a line of metal monsters to emerge from the wheat field. Two T-28’s and a trio of BT-7’s were right on its heels and they proved to be too much for the overmatched Poles. One squad was annihilated in a matter of minutes and the remaining two fell back to the next row of houses.
In an effort to provide some relief for their embattled comrades, the gun crew of the abandoned 75mm AT gun rushed from the cover of trees and made for their gun. They were mowed down by advancing infantry just a few feet from their piece. There would be no relief from this quarter.
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