OP5 Zone N Battle

[Double Deuce]

Zone N

TASK FORCE 2

3rd Rebel Infantry Company
...x9 Rebel Squad
...x1 Rebel Scouts
...x1 RPG-7 TM
1st Rebel AA Platoon
...x2 ZU 23mm AA
...x1 Rebel Squad
...x2 Truck
3rd Recon Section
...x2 BMP-R

Briefing: After a forced march through the night your small force is poised to defend the bridge over the river leading North toward Zone G. All reports indicate the UN Forces will move North to interfere with the attack on the town in Zone G. During the move your men were able toliberate 2 trucks to aid in towing the ZU 23mm AA's.

Mission: Prevent or at least delay UN Forces from crossing the river for as long as possible. Fall back if forces encountered are too strong.

[Double Deuce]

Briefing and Mission posted. I believe Katusa will be the one commanding this battle for the Rebel Forces?

[Double Deuce]

OK, I have sent the battle file to your opponent, PANNONICUS. Your password was sent in the email to you and the battle is using PBEM Slot # 4. Your opponent will go first.

[Katusa]

My troops are moving closer to the bridge, to be able to provide denser fire when they charge across that. I hope I will be able to keep them at bay with rifle and RPG fire. No sighting yet.

[Katusa]

No enemy in sight. I am positioning my forces further. AAA should unload in the next turn, covering my forces from air attacks. Heavy artillery fire at the end: it wipes out a squad, and routs another one. This is going to be hell. Looks like they have a couple of 152/155 mm guns...

[Katusa]

I still cant see any enemy troops, however, an enemy Hind-E chopper popped up, and gave a bad beating to AAA trucks - I should have unloaded guns a turn earlier, now they are wasted. One of them is ready to fire, but has high suppression.

I hope arty will stop, this is eating up my forces quick, they do not (can not) move, just waiting for the enemy to appear. Airstrike!

Two Mirages bombing unloaded AAA units. The gun fires at them with no results. Crew badly damaged, I practically lost air cover. It will be really bad when the chopper comes back.

At this point I feel I lost it: arty will tear us to pieces, we cannot move, and my forces lose their ability to fire RPGs accurately, which means they would be prone to armored attacks.

I am trying to hold as long as possible, hoping that in the town things go well.

[Katusa]

The crew abandoned the ZU-23, it the end... On the other shore I see Warriors arriving, as well as Fiats, loaded with Peacekeepers. I tried to hit them with RPG, but they are too far away, I stopped firing as it would only reveal my positions. Bombardment continues, but no losses this time.
Things look bleak.

I lost my BMPs as well as some infantry due to the helicopter.

[Katusa]

Artillery keeps us bombarding, this time with cluster munition. As far as I see, they have at least a battery of Akatsiya SPAs, from the more modern type. They are pretty devastating against my infnatry. Wonder why cluster - maybe they think I still have armor hiding, this is also why they do not charge accross the bridge.

I cannot see their BTRs - maybe they have another task force, going into another sector? We should be aware of that, this is probably not the whole mechanized force of the UN here in N. Airstrikes again, with no damage, except for morale. Maybe we can hold it long enough, they do not seems like running accross the bridge.

[Katusa]

We keep suffering serious losses, no hope left. Helicopters, artillery and cannon fire decimates my forces. Enemy APCs estabilish a bridgehead under the cover of smoke, eliminating some other units of mine. I still have two and a half platoons, and now they immune from fire from the other bank because of the smoke. This might give us some relief, at least for a few minutes.

After this turn battle ends, decisive defeat on my side... Looks like we lost it completely, however, force did not suffer as much as I expected, thanks to the game engine. ;)

[Double Deuce]

Rebel forces, probing into the Northern area of Zone N encountered a large UN Force coming toward them from across the river. The small Rebel force quickly retreated back to the safety of the nearby woods in Zone G.

Rebel losses were heavy and included;

TASK FORCE 2

3rd Rebel Infantry Company
...x1 Rebel Squad
...x1 Rebel Scouts
...x1 RPG-7 TM
1st Rebel AA Platoon
...x2 ZU 23mm AA
...x1 Rebel Squad
...x2 Truck
3rd Recon Section
...x2 BMP-R

United Nations Forces retain control of the zone!