DAR - The Cauldron Of Fire

[Cole]

Turn 14 Russian Turn

While the infantry fought for dear life in the valley Russian tanks started massing on the reverse slop of the ridge. The situation had become desperate so 13th Army ordered the 129th Tank Brigade to counterattack and slow the German advance. Hopefully the Germans would be distracted by the fighting in the valley and not notice the Russian tanks moving down the hill.

The violent German assault was over before the Russian tanks could organize and an ambush that would allow me to surround and overrun enemy tanks would not be possible. The screen shot in my last post shows German units at the end of the replay. Their assault guns have advanced in good order and not too far from the safety of the valley. There's a good chance that they have op fire set. Orders are orders so a brave platoon of T-70's is ordered to a hill top...



The best way to appreciate the screen shot above is to listen to a story retired Colonel Sasha Lenartovich liked to tell his grandchildren whenever they asked about his experiences in the Great Patriotic War:

"I was leader of a platoon of the new Model 43 T-34 tanks. At the beginning of the war our T-34s scared the Germans but by 1943 they had introduced the new Panther tanks and we heard rumors of a new Tiger tank with armor almost impenetrable with our 76mm guns. We had to use our brains to survive. During Kursk I was with the 1st Battalion of the 129th Tank Brigade. The Germans had just destroyed our front lines and our tanks were the only thing between them and Kursk!

We were ordered to attack and a brave platoon of T-70 tanks from the 2nd Battalion climbed to a hill top about 3/4 of a kilometer to my east. We could see explosions and smoke surrounding the T-70s but fortunately none were hit!!

Soon we could hear the reports from our brave comrades. They had received fire from a platoon of StuG III assault guns and from at least two of the StuH 42 assault guns with their deadly 105mm guns. Next the voice of my battalion commander ordered my 1st Platoon forward. Once I crested the ridge my tanks would be only 750 meters away from the enemy.

I always lead from the front and my tank reached the firing position first. Before we could spot anything our turret was hit by a projectile. Thank God that the enemy round did not explode or I would not be here telling this story. The tank behind me must of thought we were killed and stopped behind us. That was Vanya's tank and he was never really a brave one. I started shouting into my radio for the other two tanks to come up to their firing positions but after a few moments I realized that my radio was dead (note: enemy op fire caused a disruption on this platoon, highlighted by green in the screen shot). I stopped worrying about the radio and started concentrating on finding the enemy tank. I finally spotted a lone StuG III hidden in the grass about 1/2 kilometer directly ahead. My gunner Alexandr started to engage the enemy tank. Alexandr's shooting was good and after another exchange of rounds we caused the enemy to retreat (black line going NE). It was not until after the battle that I was told that we came under fire from another assault gun.

Next forward was 3rd Platoon. They were located next to the T-70 tanks and when they reached their firing positions they were rewarded by the sight of the retreating assault gun. They had a perfect side view and quickly dispatched the enemy target. They were rewarded by op fire from a platoon of assault guns but the only result was that they drew the attention of the Russian tanks. The assault guns were soon sent retreating back down into the valley (black line).

Finally the 3 T-34s of 2nd Platoon arrived next to my tank and bought the enemy below under fire. They were able to destroy another assault gun but could not pierce the heavier armor of the 150mm assault guns.

Even though my radio was out I knew it was time to retire when I saw 2nd platoon fall back. We needed to seek the cover of the reverse slope before the Germans could bring more tanks forward and overwhelm us with superior fire. Our first engagement of the battle went well. We had killed two enemy tanks and caused three others to retreat, all for the loss of my radio!".

The link below shows the skirmish to the west. The T-70s were in the vanguard again and absorbed a lot of op fire, surviving without even a disrupted result. It might have helped that the tanks used the cover of the trees.

My T-34's went forward next and were not so lucky. German op fire was more effective, especially from two StuG III platoons stationed almost 2 kilometers away to the north west on the ridge across the valley. Two T-34's were destroyed by op fire and two platoons were disrupted and unable to retreat at the end of my turn. They will be good targets for the German gunners next turn and hopefully will retreat before they are destroyed.

Two recon half tracks were spotted half way up the hillside on the west side of the screen shot. They were quickly taken care of and the T-34s were able to kill a few Stu G III assault guns and even destroyed 1 SP of a Stu H 42 and making it retreat.

It was finally time to call in the Zveroboys or Beast Killers! The SU-152 assault guns first saw action at Kursk and earned their nickname because they were able to pierce the armor of the Tigers and Elefant's.

Even with the measly 8 direct fire points against armor that CS assigns to the Beast Killers two platoons of SU-152s and their leader lived up to their name and destroyed two of the new Stu PZ IV 150 mm assault guns. The other two platoons accounted for another 105mm assault gun and make a platoon of StuG IIIs retreat. At this point I took the screen shot below. A late arriving T-34 platoon will take the rear shot on the retreating assault guns.



On the far east side of the map the German infantry is storming out of the valley. They are supported by Ferdinands stationed across the valley that seek to destroy any Russian spotter.