Welcome to Hell - World at War

Most challenging to play: Russians [Allied] against Chechens [Japanese]. Conditions: Mud, Night. Size: Medium.

Background: December 31, 1994. Grozny, Chechnya.

On New Year's Eve 1994, a large Russian force comprising the 131st Motorized Rifle Brigade (MRB) and the 81st Motorized Rifle Regiment (MRR) entered Grozny. The 131st brigade's job was to move into the city from the north at dawn and move towards the train station. On the brigade's left flank, the 81st regiment drove down Pervomaiskaya Street.

By mid-afternoon, the first battalion of the 131st MRB occupied the train station, unaware that the 81st MRR had been ambushed. It had separated from the second battalion, which reached the freight station further to the west, and from the third battalion on the outskirts of the city. The unit parked its tanks and armored personnel carriers around the station and awaited further orders. Somewhere within that period of time, a Russian communications officer heard the words, "Welcome to Hell," on his headset. Shortly after, Chechen fighters, hiding in the depot buildings, the post office, and the five-story building surrounding the station, opened devastating automatic and anti-tank weapons fire. The surviving Russian soldiers took cover inside the station, which the Chechens soon set ablaze. The Russian commanding officer, Colonel Ivan Savin, radioed for help and artillery fire, which never came.

Most distress calls from the 131st went unanswered, as other army groups were either unprepared or, strangely, celebrating the New Year. The second and third battalions of the brigade responded to the call for help, but were blasted at close quarters before even reaching the station. Both battalions were ordered to stay away from the Presidential Palace; this only added more to the trouble as the armored columns tried going down alleyways, only to be further cut down. When a small element of the 503rd Motor Rifle Division finally received their orders to move in during the early hours of the day, they immediately came under friendly fire from the other Russian forces already bogged down under heavy fire; they fought each other for six hours (there were more such incidents reported, some of them actually prepared by the Chechens). The 8th Corps reached the city center from the north but was unable to save the units that had fallen into the trap because of stiff resistance. No reinforcements ever reached the railway station.

At nightfall, Colonel Savin decided to evacuate the wounded via the only working armored personnel carrier available. After loading 40 wounded soldiers on board, the APC moved in the wrong direction (toward the center of the city). It turned around and was ambushed by Chechen anti-tank gunners; only 13 soldiers survived to be taken prisoner. On January 2, Colonel Savin and his remaining officers abandoned the railway station. They found some abandoned armored personnel carriers and attempted to escape the area, but were attacked by Chechen fighters and Savin was killed. By January 3, the 131st Brigade had lost nearly 189 men killed (further 75 were captured, and only 160 reached safety), including almost all of its officers. In addition, 20 of 26 tanks and 102 of 120 other armored vehicles were lost as well.