GAME BRIEFING: South of Hannover, June 10th 1985: The 35th Motor Rifle Division, of the 20th Guards Army, had the task of pushing to the west to secure crossings on the River Weser within two days. They were progressing quite well, meeting only screening troops so far. Their orders were to brush aside any opposition and keep well away from built-up areas. The first obstacle was the River Leine, once over this the Weser would be next. The Minden Gap was the prize for a daring leader to snatch. Latest reports were that NATO had left most of the major bridges intact and was scrambling to get units of the German 1st Panzer and British 1st Armored Divisions into position before the screen folded. [Size, medium] Designer note: Play as Side 2, Human NATO defender.
CHRONOLOGY:
12:00 hours: 10 June 1985: The 35th Motorized Rifle Division has forced its way into Lebenstedt. The BR 9th Royal Lancers are ordered to hold while the 2nd Panzer brigade digs in along a 22-kilometer front stretching from Salzgitter to Braunschweig behind them. Six FV-102 Strikers are lost over two hours of hard fighting. Close air-support is called in to prevent A Company from being overrun by a Soviet regiment. Heavy SAM defenses knock out Belgian F-16s and Jaguars from RAF Germany, but British Tornadoes inflict heavy damage on the columns of infantry south of the town.
A recon company of Leopard tanks from 2nd Panzer Brigade is ordered to withdraw from Braunschweig over the Weser canal, while 24 Panzer Battalion redeploys behind the Royal Lancers.
15:00 hours: Heavy Soviet artillery barrages seek out and find many NATO positions around Lebenstedt. The remaining Strikers from A company in Lebenstedt are knocked out. An airstrike carried behind my lines hits the 22nd Armored brigade HQ in Hildesheim, killing 69 men.
I Corps orders air recon flights over Salzgitter, but the German Jaguars are shot down west of the town. 24 Panzer battalion covers the withdrawal of the remaining Lancers. They take up new supporting positions north of Schellerten while the Germans prepare to dig in.
18:00 hours: Dusk: There are Soviet helicopters everywhere. Limited NATO air defenses and air support limited to recon flights, means that I Corps needs to live with the situation for the time being.
The 35th Soviet Motorized Rifle division is using the autobahn between Lebenstedt and Hildesheim to their advantage. Two columns of tanks and infantry have been engaged by German Leopards from 24th Panzer and the remaining M109s from the 25th Field Artillery battalion. Desperate to get a better understanding of the shape of the Soviet advance before night falls, recon flights are ordered over the farmland west of Salzgitter and Lebenstedt. No columns are sighted.
21:00 hours: Night: Released to recon south of the NATO line, British Gazelle helicopters with a Lynx-TOW escort have pinpointed the WP advance running through Lebenstedt. At dusk, Soviet armor companies have broken past German strongpoints between Lengede and Rhoden, pushing to the outskirts of Hildesheim.
I Corps orders a withdrawal of 1 Aufklarungs battalion of 1st Panzer Division from Vechede to Sarstedt, a 17-kilometer retreat. 9th Royal Lancers are also ordered with immediate effect to occupy positions along the eastern edge of Hildesheim. 2 companies of Chieftain tanks move south of Hildesheim to engage a Soviet armor company, while 14 and 24 Panzer dig-in to cover the retreat.
Over Hildesheim a Soviet Spetsnaz company appears heading north in transport helicopters for the Leine river where the remaining elements of 1st Panzer Division are digging in.
06:00 hours June 11:
2nd Panzer Brigade withdraws behind the Leine river west of Pattensen. British Lynx helicopters equipped with TOW missiles circle Hildesheim hunting for targets, while 14 Panzer Battalion and D, A companies, 1st Royal Tank Regiment, defend the approaches to the city. West of the Leine, Soviet Spetsnatz companies have been discovered operating in and around the city of Hameln.
09:00 hours: At least three motorized infantry companies are destroyed outside of Hildesheim during the Soviet attempt at dawn to seize the city. D company 1st RTR is running low on ammunition. The 21st Field Artillery battalion is ordered to retreat from the city over the Leine and then take up new positions west of the river along the high ground there.
15:00 hours: Fighting continues along the Leine river line. 14 Panzer battalion and A company 1st Royal Tank Regiment are driven East out of Hildesheim as the city falls to the 35th Motorized division. Fifty-five tanks are cutoff from NATO lines. In Hameln, the BR 20th Armored Brigade is fighting inside the city against determined Russian special forces units.
18:00 hours: At dusk, German artillery units, 11th and 15th battalions, begin to lay down artillery minefields before the advancing Russian tanks outside Elze. Hameln is recaptured from saboteurs. 1st Royal Regiment of Wales moves 15 kilometers east in positions east of the Weser and Hameln.
21:00 hours: Night: Leine river crossing north of Pattensen: 11th Panzergrenadier Battalion is being probed by a company of Russian tanks. Dug-in and well-armed, they beat the attack off with fourteen casualties after knocking out two T-62 tanks. British Lynx helicopters armed with TOW missiles attack the Soviet salient west of the Leine.
Heavy fighting engulfs 24 Panzer battalion’s positions as the Soviet penetration over the Leine is met with a line of Leopard tanks using thermal imaging sights. 14th Panzer and A company 1RTR bump into a Soviet engineer company at night as they try to find their way back to NATO lines. A firefight erupts leaving 84 Soviet soldiers dead, many burning alive in their trucks.
03:00 hours, June 12: Russian special forces have infiltrated their way into Minden city center in a surprise attack on the NATO supply center, HQ and the Mittelland Canal. RAF Tornadoes out of RAF Bruggen and Belgian F-16s are scrambled to support counter-operations. The Royal Green Jackets, from the 11th Armored Brigade, engage in street fighting to push the Soviets out. Losses are heavy.
The Soviets went nuclear I think on my units outside of Hildesheim (14th Panzer battalion, 1RTR), launching a WMD attack (though when I mouse over it says persistent mines but shows WMD symbol). Nuclear mines maybe? Regardless, it pisses me off and reports of tactical nuclear weapon strikes on German and British forces shake NATO command in Brussels.
PLAYER PAUSE: What in the hell AI/scenario designer(s)! Here is more information on WMD within the game:
Of course, I am sure this is very realistic and in keeping with WP doctrine, it just sucks that it happened to me.
AAR: A minor NATO victory! Though a costly one!
NATO losses were heavy. While I inflicted 10:1 casualties on WP forces in terms of men, I lost more vehicles in the process to Soviet airpower and helicopters than they did to my forces.
You can also see that the Soviet special forces problem was worse than I thought. I failed to use reconnaissance flights over my interior lines and only used them instead to monitor enemy movement towards the front. I was lousy with Spetsnaz around key objectives and had no clue.
These rocket launcher battalions along the road, are the likely WMD culprit.
Again, that was another fantastic 12 turn scenario from North German Plain 85 by John Tiller Software. You can read my other NGP AAR: “Through the Lueneberger Heide” here.