NGP85 "81: Better Dead than Red v1.1"

[JDR Dragoon]

Players notes and considerations.

This turn is Early Morning (06 am to 08 am). The sun is up and visibility has risen to 3 hexes (4,5 kilometers). A few units still need refuelling, but again nothing really problematic.

The fight against enemy infiltrators resume this turn with a double feature: At Heidelberg, W-German civilian police and US MPs stop a civilian truck driven by Spetznas operatives and West-German fifth column. The truck is packed with explosives, which they had intended to drive into the nearby Tompkins Barracks at Schwetzingen, an important logistics node. At Gelnhausen near the exit of the Fulda Gap, the attempt by a small band of Spetznas to delay Pionierbrigade 114 is met with failure, as the German engineers succesfully turn the tables on their ambushers and fights through, destroying them in the process.

In addition, the 1st Brigade of the 4th ID arrives on schedule, bringing along two welcome battalions of M60A1s. All units of the 4th ID are now present and accounted for. Next in the pipeline will be the remaining parts of the 1st ID.



In the northern parts of the GE III Korps sector the Covering Force battle is now at an end, as the last units withdraw back across the Weser river, blowing the bridges behind them.



Further to the south Panzerbrigade 14 is still trying to delay the enemy along the approaches to Kassel. If this city falls within the next 24 hours, it will be game over! At Melsungen (erronously labelled Hann. Munden) the last troops slip back across the Fulda as well, while the engineers initiate demolition of the bridges.



In the american sector strange things are afoot. This is the situation at the start of the WAPA move. Most of what I presume to be 57th GMRD is nestled up against the river, and a bridge has been erected at Bebra, waiting for them to cross.



Then this happens:



Most of the 57th GMRD moves away from the river, along with the engineers. The engineer unit which had already rected a crossing begins dismantling it again. This is strange. Perhaps my opponent wishes to marshall his strenght before trying a crossing against my prepared defence? The presence of the East German HQ lurking in reserve, coupled with heavy interdiction strikes on units moving between Eschwege and Bebra, might represent indicators of such a move. Or possibly he might just screen the river in order to concentrate more force against the Fulda Gap, south of the town itself where there he doesn´t need to erect a crossing?


On the road to Fulda and in the Rhön the 39th GMRD springs into action again, but its probes get stopped by the 2/11th ACR and the 8th ID. Reconnaisance overflights of the town of Fulda suggests, that this area might soon find itself the focus of further attacks.



In the VII Corps sector Panzergrendierbrigade 35 continues to hold onto Bad Neustadt, inflicting heavy losses on the attacking T62s of the 9th TD. The same also holds true to the south of these units, where Panzerbrigade 36 stops the attacking T64 battalions of the 79th GTD. RF-4C´s of the 38th Tactical Reconnaisance Squadron confirms the massive depth the enemy is deployed in here, with many units being kept in reserve behind the spearhead. Located HQs and artillery positions gets special attention from my long range guns in order to wreck his ability to support the offensive. The V Corps Attack Helicopter Battalion also helps out here, supporting by fire across the corps boundary.



The 106th GABD seems content to shuffle its remaining units around a bit, while expanding their perimeter where they can do so unopposed, and calling for air support against the 3rd Brigade/1st ID and the West German recon unit from 12. Panzer Div. NATO fighters and airdefences manage to intercept most of the enemy fighters and even shoot down a MiG-27, but the American and West-German units are still hit heavily. Buyoed up by this succes the assault gun battalion of the 106th GABD moves across the captured bridge south of Schweinfurt. They are greeted by TOW-missiles from the 4-16 Mechanized Infantry battalion, which are followed up by a strike of F-4E Phantoms who proceed to drench the crossing site with armor piercing cluster bombs. I estimate that almost 1/3rd of the ASU-85 battalion is lost in these attacks. As the 1-30 Airmobile Infantry Btn. and Heimatschutzbattalion 762 withdraws from Schweinfurt, the city is now firmly in soviet hands (for the moment at least...)

To the east, Panzerbrigade 34 and the 3rd Brigade/3rd ID starts to withdraw from the advancing 27th GMRD in order to avoid being cut off and destroyed between the 106th GABD and the 27th GMRD. In doing so however, a gap starts to open between the two brigades, through which the 27th and 106th GABD might affect a linkup. This is not an immediate danger, since the link would be cross country, but if the enemy manages to capture and clear one of the major roads from Schweinfurt leading east, this linkup might be the factor which ruptures my front in this sector, since the REFORGER brigades of 4th ID are still not in position to backstop a breakthrough. The 27th GMRD doesn´t have things entirely its way though, since a T64 btn gets absolutely wrecked by a combination of A-10 strikes and Cobra Attack Helicopters, reducing it to a single digit of running tanks.



North of Bamberg, enemy air-recon and a single tank battalion of the 6th GTD probe towards the blown crossing of the Main near Eltmann. The tank battalion is greeted by fire from 3rd ID Attack Helicopters, and soon withdraws. The remnants of the 6th GTD still has some cross country movement to do before arriving at the Main, hopefully enabling my forces to catch their breath.



The newly revealed East-German 11. Mech. Div. continues to push forward along the southern bank of the Main, towards Bamberg. The attack helicopter company of the 2nd ACR has a little surprise waiting though, and from positions in the hill to the south they take out a number of the offending T55s. Very heavy interdiction on enemy units moving on the axis Kulmbach/Kronach towards Lichtenfels, and from there towards Bamberg, as WAPA units are subjected to a large number of interdiction strikes, suggesting that the enemy is packing the roads with units travelling west. The rest of the 2nd ACR continues to pull back as plannes towards Bamberg.



And the score advances another 100 points in my favor. This is both nice and necessary, but the deteriorating situation in the VII Corps sector continues to worry me.