Moscow '42 AAR: Sukhinichi II : We Will Rescue You

[Strela]

End of German Turn 18; January 24 0800 - 1000 Visibility 4 KM (Day)

The morning fog lifts to reveal a sunny day and visibility out to 4 km's. It's a perfect day for flying, if either side had any air. The Soviets again stepped up their attacks in the last two hours losing 165 men but inflicting almost 1 to 1 casualties on the Germans. 129 brave Soldaten will be left in icy graves. Another four Soviet guns are destroyed but the victory points remain firmly in the draw range.



The command and control situation quickly follows the prior days plot. Korp HQ and two of the Infanterie Divisions are out of communication and seven artillery pieces are unavailable. The inevitable shortage of supplies in the 18th Panzer Division zone results in the bulk of that Division's artillery being unavailable (again!). Many of the Korp Artillery are also suffering from a lack of munitions.



The 339th Infanterie is still reorganising its self to push northwards. The improved visibility reveals that the Soviet forces are persistently setting up to harass the German strongpoints along the highway. The effectiveness of the German heavy artillery is revealed when by indirect fire alone, it disrupts the southernmost Soviet battalion before it could close on the German forces. More significantly, two Soviet battalions have used the woods for cover and are in position to attack the nearby 10 point objective. Further artillery is called in.




208th Infanterie continue to pursue and pummel the retreating Rifle battalions. With units starting to break, there is a chance to isolate at least one or two units. Surprisingly a single Soviet Battalion has pushed out on the left flank, forcing the motorised engineer company to move forward and maintain contact with its brother engineers. The appearance of the rifle unit forces the engineers to stop their flank advance and deploy.



With the improvement in visibility, it is probably important to show the state of the German defences around Sukhinichi. In the far south the defending Soviets have actually disrupted the probing recon units from 208 Infanterie Division. The cavalry have started to advance again with multiple squadrons and the already weakened panzer grenadiers, engineers and armoured cars move forward to slow their advance. In the most critical sector, just south of Sukhinichi, the Soviets smash the remaining defenders who retreat northwards in disarray. A weak force of tanks and a bicycle company are positioned behind the routing infantry, but it is hoped that III battalion of 396 Regiment may be able to threaten the Soviets flanks. Directly west of Sukhinichi, the pull back of Soviet forces could not come soon enough. The defending infantry are tired and depleted. Finally the left flank is weakly held, but it appears the Russians are in no better condition to attack.



The game really is in the balance. There are 40 victory points in Sukhinichi and the Soviets are a step closer to cutting the town off. The Soviets only need 37 points to inflict a minor defeat on the Germans. The victory points available and the equivalent losses being inflicted may be enough to get them there...