DAR - The Cauldron Of Fire

[Cole]

Turn 12 - Night
Continued skirmishing and mopping up of Russian stragglers all up and down the secondary line.

Recap of 6 July. The Germans are starting to take heavy casualties from the massed Russian artillery but their artillery in conjunction with the long range high explosive capabilities of their Ferdinads and assault guns make life tough for Russian infantry attempting to defend or spot.

The Germans seem to be moving forces from the western side of the map towards the center following the victorious troops at Shirokoe Bilota.


Turn 13 - Early Morning 7 July
The assault continues. There are still a few disrupted hold outs but mostly the game is moving on to the next stage.

Turn 14 Morning.

Screen shot taken during the replay showing the extent of the advancing German forces after their victory at Shirokoe Bilota. There are still some well dug in hold outs in the woods off to the east.



Screen shot of the center. The two platoons of die hard infantry mentioned above have been destroyed by overwhelming German fire. The fighting was desperate and more and more German reserves were called in to wipe out the defense before the Russians could concentrate their artillery fire. The defenders managed to hold off at least a battalion of German infantry supported by a company of assault guns. They were mostly destroyed when the Ferdinands turned the woods into a hell of high explosive shrapnel.
One squad remained until the German commander called in the last of his reserves and personally led an infantry platoon to the best site to bring the squad under fire and destroy it.

I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for my artillery to cause serious casualties in the over stacked hexes but during my artillery fire phase I was mostly disappointed.