Palantir
Member #86
Same Strategy with Different Equipment?
A Brief AAR of CMBB Top 16 Tournament Rd. 4, GAZ NZ vs. ER Chaser: “KM-Down the Donets Corridorâ€
(posted for ER-Chaser)
Palantir the White really put us into a hot bath when he revealed his tricky plan of stirring and frying us in this crowded suburban complex near a Russian town called Zazerskiy. We, the so-called “Top 16 players of CMBBâ€, would then be pushed into the front at gunpoint and ram into each other head on --- no matter how scared you are, even if you are facing a formidable opponent like GAZ NZ!
Order is order. So after a moment of panic, I sat down to look at the aerial reconnaissance map prepared by comrade Kunikova, who had played a crucial role in calming me down from the fear and shock caused by merely the name of GAZ NZ ---- OMG! That NaZi is amassing his force to assault me from the mountain lines!
“What should I do here, Anna?â€, pointing to the factory complex, thinking maybe a company or two would do the work, I turned to comrade Kunikova. Briefly pulling her belt tighter, she raised to answer my question, “I think we should take advantage of the newly arrived KV tanks, Sir! They have large guns and lot of ammo, “her staring at me really made me dizzy, “and after all, they have nice sloped frontal armor!†“Sure,†how can I refuse the nice … sloped frontal … armor … “I think you are right, Anna.†Trying very hard to control myself not to do anything stupid before the coming battle and before this …., I stuffed my mind with numerous “ridiculous†scenes with KVs in the past: one immobilized KV I standing next to the woods, surrounded by 2 Mardar II, one 75/43 AT gun, one PzIIIJ (50/60), and 2 German pioneer squads with demolition charges --- yet after absorbing 7 hits, including those two nasty demolition explosion, the KV I single-handedly finished off all said enemies, without even moving a step --- well, he couldn’t! … “Sir,†comrade Kunikova’s sweet voice woke me up from my stunning memories, “sir, I guess we put our KVs into 3 groups to guard all these critical points respectively.†She then handed me the deployment map:(please refer to FinalERDef.jpg) “this way, KVI A,B and E,F can all assist the center group when necessary --- where our weakest spot is.â€
“I also went on to put 5 target reference points for our inexperienced artillery FOs, which should help them to place the barrages in time to slow the enemies down.†I was a little bit unpleasant hearing this, how the hell does she know that those young handsome FOs were inexperienced? On what?! But apparently she did not notice my flying-away mind and continued, “I think NZ must have brought up heavy artilleries as well --- their big guns are devastating … “ (OMG, YOU knew that as well?! … ) “… So I put our soldiers, esp. SMGs out of the buildings, mostly. Their task will be clearing out infiltrated enemy small forces and/or prevent fast break-throughs if any of our KVs loses control, which, of course, will not happen. But just in case of worst luck, I put our boys into 4 lines, with the last two lines strong enough to counter-attack when coupled with our KVs ---- so that we can do a lot of back-and-forth things when we want to …†She suddenly stopped while noticing my uneasiness with her excessive acquaintance with our … even German … boys, and guns! Yet, with that annoying confidence and disturbing seductive smile, she stepped toward the bunker door, “if you would excuse me, sir, I think now I should go boost the morale of our boys.†This word finally sent my mood to hell, I reached out to that large bottle of Vodka on my shelf. With the sight of her swaying out of the door, thirst was like fire …
As German attacker:
Probably almost at exactly the same time while GAZ NZ’s comrade Kunikova (or corresponding officer) was busying inspecting the Russian defense, 2nd Lt. Hans Kogel came to my front HQ with a piece of paper, “General, this is the overhead map shot by our Ju88 for target area 351.†“Thank you, Lt. Kogel. Dismissed†While the young man saluted me out of the tent, I gazed at the map. Target 351, the town of Zazerskiy, held by the evil commie champion GAZ NZ, who stopped Manstein at Leningrad during the winter. But I am no fool like Manstein, hehe, I will knock the door open toward Stalingrad for the Fatherland! “Sir!†2nd Lt. Kogel stood outside of the tent again, “the newest intelligence indicates that Ivan may get strong reinforcements with KV heavy tanks, sir!†KV tanks! The most hated devil for me, I tried not to think about those horrific memories, “Thank you for your report, Lt., we will take them then!†Perhaps even Hans also noticed that my right hand was shaking although I pretended to be calm, he saluted and left with no words. Sigh, it seemed that I would have to telegraph OKW again to get the assignment of the newest StuGIII F with 75/43 guns. Those things were like babies to those staffs, I would have to cut down my other requests to make for it now. Yet, I have no choice, the 75/43 gun is the only effective weapon against KV’s thick skin. And 2 platoons, I would go with 2 platoons of them! Just to make sure I wouldn’t be outgunned by the Ivans, which at the same time meant that I have to cut down my infantry units severely. “If I cannot have enough infantry to cover the front effectively, then I must do two things: get more artillery support and concentrate the limited men.†I made up my mind and summoned Lt. Kogel immediately and issued my orders:(please refer to FinalERAtt.jpg) “Concentrate our main forces toward the Old Fortress to the north, send all the StuGIII B’s to support the assault. I also put all the 105mm, 81mm FO’s with this task force, I appoint Schmitt to take charge of this flank. A mobile 81mm mortar is at his disposal together with a 150mm infantry field gun. I would personally command the 150mm FO’s to help him as well. He must smash the Russian defense and take the fortress. As for the factory complex to our left flank, it will be too bloody to use German lives to assault. I put it under the sight and range of all the remaining 150mm infantry guns. That should deliver shock and awe into the heart of the communists there. But I would rather use our infantries more on the town center, where I will coordinate the StuGIII F’s, while they arrive, and the 150mm FO’s to work it out.†“Clear, Sir!†The young Lt. immediately disappeared into the darkness ---- satisfied with the superior German professional soldiers, I smiled and lit a cigarette for myself, tomorrow, we will see, GAZ NZ!
The familiar whistle of 150mm artillery shells roams overhead, I took a glance at my swiss watch, a spoil from the French campaign --- it has been almost 10 minutes since the assault started. Things have been moving smoothly so far as planned. The continuous barrage of 150mm had decimated most of the building of the town center, hopefully with the annoying peasants inside as well. The effect of the heavy bombard toward the Old Fortress direction is yet unclear. Reports have been indicating enemy infantry movements along the forward positions there. “Sir!†2nd Lt. Kogel rushed toward me with his face almost all covered with blood and mud, but from his voice, I figured he was not injured himself, “Sir, there must be a Russian heavy armor with large caliber gun hiding from the factory complex direction. Merely one shot took off a whole block of huts and a second shot landed right in the middle of the advancing D platoon. We were disrupted!†So here comes our friend KV II, I grinned --- the StuG IIIF’s just arrived half an hour ago. “Now, Hans, are you ok? Good, please signal the 75mm’s and StuG group I and group III to send smoke screens into the complex area, cover the advance of the center StuG group. I will stay with the command vehicle and send my wingman down first to take the monster out.†“Yes, Sir!†The young man never showed any exhaustion from combats, I am sure he will have a bright future in the 3rd Reich. A minute later, smoke columns are rising one after one surrounding the factory complex. Following the path, StuG #3 and the commanding #2 are winding down to attack position. Our forward infantry platoons had already marked the AT and AP mines along the way, wow, what a mine maze! It seems that GAZ has determined to hold this central position with such an investment. Thanks to the exceptional quality of the work of our engineers, none of our tanks stepped on any misfortunes. (Please refer to MineMaze.jpg) There, among the smoke and dust, even from 500+ meters away, the huge turret of enemy KV II assault tank looks terrifying. My wingman is sneaking from the right side of a ruined hut and skillfully turned toward the target. How nice! I was cheering quietly: the most dangerous time for this excellent tank destroyer is when they move into attack position. These turret less AFVs only have paper-thin armor on the sides and will be totally defenseless if caught while turning. But now, our enemy’s chance had forever gone ---- I see clearly StuG #3 is now facing right toward the KV. Victory is almost certain, since this new model of StuG has a thick frontal armor of 80mm. Yet, the enemy gun can at most penetrate 60mm whatsoever. It is only an issue of time when our excellent 75/43 main gun will make a hit and toast the peasants inside the iron coffin.
“Boom!†#3 fired! And within a second, from my telescope, I could see a clear direct hit and possibly a penetration. Yet that wasn’t a kill, I can also see the KV starts trying to reverse its huge stupid body. “Punch another hole and finish the beast off!†Just when I am thinking to myself, #3 made another direct hit. Yet almost exactly at the same time, the KV II returned fire and the huge HE shell landed right on top of #3. That blast instantly killed the tank commander outside and the huge impact knocked another crew inside the StuG out of conscious. Without even consult with my permission, the panicked surviving crew abandoned #3. (please refer to HellFire.jpg) “SCREW!†I cursed in dismay and rage, how can a sure victory turn into a disaster in less than 5 seconds?!! Such is my luck of war?! In a mental frenzy, I refused any outside voices, swirled down into the cmdr seat and ordered my driver to engage at exactly the same position of #3, immediately! With my hutch closed, of course ---- I am mad, yet not stupid. That Russian pig must pay the price for bringing my brothers down! The crews of that KV apparently are celebrating at the moment since it did not even change its position ---- pigs, you think you are super? My driver smoothly moved us into the perfect attack position with the vicious enemy right at our gun point. “Fire!†I ordered, “and revenge!†Yet, the reality chills me to my bones --- will this giant repeat my previous KV nightmare? The first shot was bounced off, the second shot missed, and the third one was simply absorbed like a peanut. Eyes all red and voice all dry, I shouted to my loader and gunner, “Quick! One more shot! More!†In this race against death, the faster one wins. Apparently the weight and size of the 152mm ammo slows the peasants down a lot. Before those communists can make their machine react, our 4th shot finally immobilized it. “Keep on going, boys! A couple more shots will do the work!†I cried. Only later, after our next two hits eventually forced the enemy to abandon their vehicle, I noticed how exhausted our loader and gunner were. Smiling, I patted their heads, “hey, congrats! Iron Cross, gentlemen!â€
Meanwhile, toward the Old Fortress, the advancing major task force apparently outnumber and outgunned the screening Russian platoon. They are now readying themselves to cross the railroad on the hedge. Our losses were not light either: one 81mm mortar halftrack was out of action due to gun damage and one 105mm FO team was killed by scatter fire. Short of two important support firepower, I decided to stay course, ordering the StuG IIIB group to charge toward the Fortress, except that I will personally throw myself in with commanding vehicle #2 and a flamethrower riding on us ---- as reinforcements.
“yawn …. “ “BOOOOOM!†“What the hec…†I was woke up by a large explosion outside my bunker. I jumped to my foot, only to notice that Anna is nowhere and an empty Vodka bottle had been sleeping with me. “BOOOOOM KAAAA! “ Another one! “Oh, Gosh! What time is it now!†I now realized that the NaZi’s might already be here! When I run out of my bunker to look for …. Errh… mainly Anna, I saw people running all around, but, no Anna. “What is going on?†I grabbed the arm of a running soldier, apparently fresh and scared; he must be one of those newly conscripted artillery FO teams. “The Germans are on us, Comrade Commander!†he replied nervously, “And Comrade Kunikova ordered us to fire!†So, at least, Anna is fine, for god’s sake. I did not bother to ask the boy anything more, obviously this idiot won’t know more anyways. Climbing onto a small hilltop, I can see our artillery shells are falling onto those pre-assigned locations and KVs blazing their guns from all sorts of places. Unable to find a single German, only the gunfire everywhere … my head is still aching badly, “oh, Lord, please help us. Repel the Evil Germans and Bring Anna back to me!â€
“Town Center Secured, Sir!†Hans Kogel, wiping sweat and blood off his face, reported to me excitedly. “Of course, when did my plan ever fail?†I nodded to him and smiled to myself inside, forgetting all about that painful loss of a StuG IIIF and 2 comrades a minute ago. From the top of my StuG I can clearly see small blasts from our 50mm mortar teams are working fine driving the routed Russian infantry out of various hiding cells, ha, a worthy tactics learned from Tripps, another NZer! Now, the resistance from the factory complex seems to be extremely strong still. I guess GAZ did not worry about his infantries under 150mm much, he must have stuffed at least 2 companies under those roofs. Well, I have only two platoons there. Taking the complex by direct assault is insane. The task for the left flank must clearly be to tie up the enemy there and even try to draw more reinforcements into the concrete graves. I thus ordered the 2nd and 3rd platoons of C company which just helped to secure the Town center to maneuver south threatening the Russian left flank of the factory defense. “But carefulâ€, I told 2nd Lt. Kogel while he is about to run back, “do not get too close to them, only lock them there is good enough.†Two halftracks are now ordered to tow the 150mm’s from back line toward front. The first platoon of StuGs are also charging. It is important to at least give the enemy an impression that now I am planning a serious charge on the complex.
In the ruins of the town center, as well as a few remaining 2 story buildings, my subordinates set up MG42 teams and snipers. They will, according to our plan, jam any horizontal movements of the enemy and prevent an easy flow of reinforcements into the Old Fortress which is now our major target.
Major Fluentz, a former street fighter in Munich before he joined the SS, is definitely a killing machine, even with his only left arm left. With one 105mm FO lost and the other one blocked of LOS, I could only mass up the remaining 81mm FO’s to lay down as much smoke screen as possible for Major Fluentz’s coming charge into the woods and hills in front of the Old Fortress. The murderous fire from the ambushing SMGs instantly killed two scout teams Fluentz sent out. But at the cost of 10 German lives, the positions of the foxholes were exposed. Now Fluentz can have his StuG IIIB’s main gun tilted toward those hideouts and level them. The tricky enemy had deployed their infantry resistance mainly on the downslope of the hillside, making it impossible to use long range direct fire to suppress. This is of course very annoying, yet not enough to stop the seasoned veteran and determined servant of the Fuhrer like Fluentz. Not like me, he cares little about his boys’ well-beings or even lives. The glory of the 3rd Reich is everything for him. Facing a crossfire from all hidden positions in the woods, Fluentz ordered an all out assault nevertheless. While my #2 is approaching at full speed (with the tiresome Russian mud and steppe under us, we cannot be any faster..), I saw the backs of our assault teams disappearing from the hedge top. “Fool†I cursed, “that is why this idiot would never get promoted beyond major, when will he learn to use his brain? After he loses his damn left arm, too?†I immediately phoned him through tank communication, but no answer, Fluentz is using his usual excuse of radio jam to ignore superior orders. If the bastard were not from the SS, I would have him shot, easily. But now I could only beg the Russian mud’s mercy not to bog us down.
After the long long long 3 minutes, finally StuG #2 reached the hedge top and now ready to cross the railroad. There, I can already see the assault conducted by Fluentz. To my amazement, although the field is filled with littered German bodies, Fluentz had already driven up through the gap cleared by our earlier 150mm artillery fire and now he is reorganizing the final charge to the Fortress itself. I do not know how many men this crazy major still have capable of fighting, but I think my direct order could save some German lives. “Full speed!†I shouted to my driver, wishing to get there before it is too late. Yet a large swing of the StuG almost threw me out from the hutch ---- we are stuck by the rails! With our butt facing south, we lay sitting duck on the top of a small hill, fully exposed to enemy fire. With no turrets, we cannot even turn our gun around to return fire if fired upon. Helplessly, I turned my telescope around to update the situation. Chilling to my bones, from the factory complex direction, a 76mm is now turning its barrel toward me. I could almost see the grin of the ugly Russian face …
After a few minutes search for Anna in the forest of straying bullets and scaring German 150mm, 75mm, 37mm and all other sorts of ******* gun shells, I figure it would be wiser to crawl back to my bunker and wait for Anna to come back on her own ---- if she likes to, that is. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out which direction is the right one for my bunker and another 5 minutes to make my way back. Getting into the doorway of the bunker, I got up from my snake-like position and started to pat off the dusk on my uniform. “Welcome back, Comrade Commander!†To my surprise, Anna was already in the bunker and smiling at me leaning toward the shelf. “Thank God you are safe, I was looking for you!†I made an exaggerating posture. “I know you were, “ with a sarcastic grin, Anna turned the topic to the battle, “It is almost over, Sir. In minutes, the 3rd tank regiment of 11th Guards Corps will arrive and relieve us from the defense. The Red Army will counterattack soon!â€
“We did pretty well in our key positions, although we lost two KVs, and another KV’s main gun is damaged by small gun fires from the Germans.†“The one last KV in the Old Fortress sector stubbornly repelled enemy assaults from two directions. The infantry there suffered heavy casualty, yet, they generally hold out.†“A German StuG knocked out our KV guarding the town center, now the gun-damaged KV is dancing with the enemy trying to deny a complete possession of the town center to the enemy. (please refer to Waltz, KV!.jpg)†Later I learned that this last KV was finally knocked out by enemy infantry. “In the factory complex, the battle was confusing and bloody. Yet, the enemy left many corpses with attempts to take the house in vain. (please refer to heroic or horrific.jpg)†“Our KV tanks, though suffering losses, have apparently been the champions in this conflict, their large number of ammo, strong sloped frontal armor made the day!†Hearing that last word and the approaching familiar track sound of massive column of T34’s, my mind cannot concentrate any more and once again was absorbed into the “sloped armors†….
I was still in panic and did not know what to do while a large blast landed right behind the Soviet 76mm AT gun position, killing some the crews instantly and routed the rest. “Pheeww…†Once again, the highest quality of the German professional soldier saved my life. And luck seems to turn bright all at once: my driver rejoices down there with our tracks finally being able to move forward again. And up in the front, Major Fluentz’s bluff seems to be working: the enemy seems to have no further defense along the final ruins. Lucky jerk! But if he can take this position in the end, which seems to be certain now, I will still recommend him a promotion.
The factory complex, although still in enemy hands, is buried under dust and fire. 4 150mm guns, 4 StuGs, and other mortar and smaller guns are dumping their ammunition into this location. I felt sorry for the Russian peasants trapped inside. But this is war! Lives are to be lost in wars. This, if cannot be avoided, better be Russian lives rather than the noble German ones!
Minutes later, I received a radio transmission from Corps HQ, saying that the Red Army’s 11th Guards Corps are now in full retreat thanks to my division’s decisive blow here. Pursuing the enemy is now not the highest priority, instead, I am advised to stop my panzer columns for refit and refuel. Major siege into the City of Stalingrad will soon begin!
A Brief AAR of CMBB Top 16 Tournament Rd. 4, GAZ NZ vs. ER Chaser: “KM-Down the Donets Corridorâ€
(posted for ER-Chaser)
Palantir the White really put us into a hot bath when he revealed his tricky plan of stirring and frying us in this crowded suburban complex near a Russian town called Zazerskiy. We, the so-called “Top 16 players of CMBBâ€, would then be pushed into the front at gunpoint and ram into each other head on --- no matter how scared you are, even if you are facing a formidable opponent like GAZ NZ!
Order is order. So after a moment of panic, I sat down to look at the aerial reconnaissance map prepared by comrade Kunikova, who had played a crucial role in calming me down from the fear and shock caused by merely the name of GAZ NZ ---- OMG! That NaZi is amassing his force to assault me from the mountain lines!
“What should I do here, Anna?â€, pointing to the factory complex, thinking maybe a company or two would do the work, I turned to comrade Kunikova. Briefly pulling her belt tighter, she raised to answer my question, “I think we should take advantage of the newly arrived KV tanks, Sir! They have large guns and lot of ammo, “her staring at me really made me dizzy, “and after all, they have nice sloped frontal armor!†“Sure,†how can I refuse the nice … sloped frontal … armor … “I think you are right, Anna.†Trying very hard to control myself not to do anything stupid before the coming battle and before this …., I stuffed my mind with numerous “ridiculous†scenes with KVs in the past: one immobilized KV I standing next to the woods, surrounded by 2 Mardar II, one 75/43 AT gun, one PzIIIJ (50/60), and 2 German pioneer squads with demolition charges --- yet after absorbing 7 hits, including those two nasty demolition explosion, the KV I single-handedly finished off all said enemies, without even moving a step --- well, he couldn’t! … “Sir,†comrade Kunikova’s sweet voice woke me up from my stunning memories, “sir, I guess we put our KVs into 3 groups to guard all these critical points respectively.†She then handed me the deployment map:(please refer to FinalERDef.jpg) “this way, KVI A,B and E,F can all assist the center group when necessary --- where our weakest spot is.â€
“I also went on to put 5 target reference points for our inexperienced artillery FOs, which should help them to place the barrages in time to slow the enemies down.†I was a little bit unpleasant hearing this, how the hell does she know that those young handsome FOs were inexperienced? On what?! But apparently she did not notice my flying-away mind and continued, “I think NZ must have brought up heavy artilleries as well --- their big guns are devastating … “ (OMG, YOU knew that as well?! … ) “… So I put our soldiers, esp. SMGs out of the buildings, mostly. Their task will be clearing out infiltrated enemy small forces and/or prevent fast break-throughs if any of our KVs loses control, which, of course, will not happen. But just in case of worst luck, I put our boys into 4 lines, with the last two lines strong enough to counter-attack when coupled with our KVs ---- so that we can do a lot of back-and-forth things when we want to …†She suddenly stopped while noticing my uneasiness with her excessive acquaintance with our … even German … boys, and guns! Yet, with that annoying confidence and disturbing seductive smile, she stepped toward the bunker door, “if you would excuse me, sir, I think now I should go boost the morale of our boys.†This word finally sent my mood to hell, I reached out to that large bottle of Vodka on my shelf. With the sight of her swaying out of the door, thirst was like fire …
As German attacker:
Probably almost at exactly the same time while GAZ NZ’s comrade Kunikova (or corresponding officer) was busying inspecting the Russian defense, 2nd Lt. Hans Kogel came to my front HQ with a piece of paper, “General, this is the overhead map shot by our Ju88 for target area 351.†“Thank you, Lt. Kogel. Dismissed†While the young man saluted me out of the tent, I gazed at the map. Target 351, the town of Zazerskiy, held by the evil commie champion GAZ NZ, who stopped Manstein at Leningrad during the winter. But I am no fool like Manstein, hehe, I will knock the door open toward Stalingrad for the Fatherland! “Sir!†2nd Lt. Kogel stood outside of the tent again, “the newest intelligence indicates that Ivan may get strong reinforcements with KV heavy tanks, sir!†KV tanks! The most hated devil for me, I tried not to think about those horrific memories, “Thank you for your report, Lt., we will take them then!†Perhaps even Hans also noticed that my right hand was shaking although I pretended to be calm, he saluted and left with no words. Sigh, it seemed that I would have to telegraph OKW again to get the assignment of the newest StuGIII F with 75/43 guns. Those things were like babies to those staffs, I would have to cut down my other requests to make for it now. Yet, I have no choice, the 75/43 gun is the only effective weapon against KV’s thick skin. And 2 platoons, I would go with 2 platoons of them! Just to make sure I wouldn’t be outgunned by the Ivans, which at the same time meant that I have to cut down my infantry units severely. “If I cannot have enough infantry to cover the front effectively, then I must do two things: get more artillery support and concentrate the limited men.†I made up my mind and summoned Lt. Kogel immediately and issued my orders:(please refer to FinalERAtt.jpg) “Concentrate our main forces toward the Old Fortress to the north, send all the StuGIII B’s to support the assault. I also put all the 105mm, 81mm FO’s with this task force, I appoint Schmitt to take charge of this flank. A mobile 81mm mortar is at his disposal together with a 150mm infantry field gun. I would personally command the 150mm FO’s to help him as well. He must smash the Russian defense and take the fortress. As for the factory complex to our left flank, it will be too bloody to use German lives to assault. I put it under the sight and range of all the remaining 150mm infantry guns. That should deliver shock and awe into the heart of the communists there. But I would rather use our infantries more on the town center, where I will coordinate the StuGIII F’s, while they arrive, and the 150mm FO’s to work it out.†“Clear, Sir!†The young Lt. immediately disappeared into the darkness ---- satisfied with the superior German professional soldiers, I smiled and lit a cigarette for myself, tomorrow, we will see, GAZ NZ!
The familiar whistle of 150mm artillery shells roams overhead, I took a glance at my swiss watch, a spoil from the French campaign --- it has been almost 10 minutes since the assault started. Things have been moving smoothly so far as planned. The continuous barrage of 150mm had decimated most of the building of the town center, hopefully with the annoying peasants inside as well. The effect of the heavy bombard toward the Old Fortress direction is yet unclear. Reports have been indicating enemy infantry movements along the forward positions there. “Sir!†2nd Lt. Kogel rushed toward me with his face almost all covered with blood and mud, but from his voice, I figured he was not injured himself, “Sir, there must be a Russian heavy armor with large caliber gun hiding from the factory complex direction. Merely one shot took off a whole block of huts and a second shot landed right in the middle of the advancing D platoon. We were disrupted!†So here comes our friend KV II, I grinned --- the StuG IIIF’s just arrived half an hour ago. “Now, Hans, are you ok? Good, please signal the 75mm’s and StuG group I and group III to send smoke screens into the complex area, cover the advance of the center StuG group. I will stay with the command vehicle and send my wingman down first to take the monster out.†“Yes, Sir!†The young man never showed any exhaustion from combats, I am sure he will have a bright future in the 3rd Reich. A minute later, smoke columns are rising one after one surrounding the factory complex. Following the path, StuG #3 and the commanding #2 are winding down to attack position. Our forward infantry platoons had already marked the AT and AP mines along the way, wow, what a mine maze! It seems that GAZ has determined to hold this central position with such an investment. Thanks to the exceptional quality of the work of our engineers, none of our tanks stepped on any misfortunes. (Please refer to MineMaze.jpg) There, among the smoke and dust, even from 500+ meters away, the huge turret of enemy KV II assault tank looks terrifying. My wingman is sneaking from the right side of a ruined hut and skillfully turned toward the target. How nice! I was cheering quietly: the most dangerous time for this excellent tank destroyer is when they move into attack position. These turret less AFVs only have paper-thin armor on the sides and will be totally defenseless if caught while turning. But now, our enemy’s chance had forever gone ---- I see clearly StuG #3 is now facing right toward the KV. Victory is almost certain, since this new model of StuG has a thick frontal armor of 80mm. Yet, the enemy gun can at most penetrate 60mm whatsoever. It is only an issue of time when our excellent 75/43 main gun will make a hit and toast the peasants inside the iron coffin.
“Boom!†#3 fired! And within a second, from my telescope, I could see a clear direct hit and possibly a penetration. Yet that wasn’t a kill, I can also see the KV starts trying to reverse its huge stupid body. “Punch another hole and finish the beast off!†Just when I am thinking to myself, #3 made another direct hit. Yet almost exactly at the same time, the KV II returned fire and the huge HE shell landed right on top of #3. That blast instantly killed the tank commander outside and the huge impact knocked another crew inside the StuG out of conscious. Without even consult with my permission, the panicked surviving crew abandoned #3. (please refer to HellFire.jpg) “SCREW!†I cursed in dismay and rage, how can a sure victory turn into a disaster in less than 5 seconds?!! Such is my luck of war?! In a mental frenzy, I refused any outside voices, swirled down into the cmdr seat and ordered my driver to engage at exactly the same position of #3, immediately! With my hutch closed, of course ---- I am mad, yet not stupid. That Russian pig must pay the price for bringing my brothers down! The crews of that KV apparently are celebrating at the moment since it did not even change its position ---- pigs, you think you are super? My driver smoothly moved us into the perfect attack position with the vicious enemy right at our gun point. “Fire!†I ordered, “and revenge!†Yet, the reality chills me to my bones --- will this giant repeat my previous KV nightmare? The first shot was bounced off, the second shot missed, and the third one was simply absorbed like a peanut. Eyes all red and voice all dry, I shouted to my loader and gunner, “Quick! One more shot! More!†In this race against death, the faster one wins. Apparently the weight and size of the 152mm ammo slows the peasants down a lot. Before those communists can make their machine react, our 4th shot finally immobilized it. “Keep on going, boys! A couple more shots will do the work!†I cried. Only later, after our next two hits eventually forced the enemy to abandon their vehicle, I noticed how exhausted our loader and gunner were. Smiling, I patted their heads, “hey, congrats! Iron Cross, gentlemen!â€
Meanwhile, toward the Old Fortress, the advancing major task force apparently outnumber and outgunned the screening Russian platoon. They are now readying themselves to cross the railroad on the hedge. Our losses were not light either: one 81mm mortar halftrack was out of action due to gun damage and one 105mm FO team was killed by scatter fire. Short of two important support firepower, I decided to stay course, ordering the StuG IIIB group to charge toward the Fortress, except that I will personally throw myself in with commanding vehicle #2 and a flamethrower riding on us ---- as reinforcements.
“yawn …. “ “BOOOOOM!†“What the hec…†I was woke up by a large explosion outside my bunker. I jumped to my foot, only to notice that Anna is nowhere and an empty Vodka bottle had been sleeping with me. “BOOOOOM KAAAA! “ Another one! “Oh, Gosh! What time is it now!†I now realized that the NaZi’s might already be here! When I run out of my bunker to look for …. Errh… mainly Anna, I saw people running all around, but, no Anna. “What is going on?†I grabbed the arm of a running soldier, apparently fresh and scared; he must be one of those newly conscripted artillery FO teams. “The Germans are on us, Comrade Commander!†he replied nervously, “And Comrade Kunikova ordered us to fire!†So, at least, Anna is fine, for god’s sake. I did not bother to ask the boy anything more, obviously this idiot won’t know more anyways. Climbing onto a small hilltop, I can see our artillery shells are falling onto those pre-assigned locations and KVs blazing their guns from all sorts of places. Unable to find a single German, only the gunfire everywhere … my head is still aching badly, “oh, Lord, please help us. Repel the Evil Germans and Bring Anna back to me!â€
“Town Center Secured, Sir!†Hans Kogel, wiping sweat and blood off his face, reported to me excitedly. “Of course, when did my plan ever fail?†I nodded to him and smiled to myself inside, forgetting all about that painful loss of a StuG IIIF and 2 comrades a minute ago. From the top of my StuG I can clearly see small blasts from our 50mm mortar teams are working fine driving the routed Russian infantry out of various hiding cells, ha, a worthy tactics learned from Tripps, another NZer! Now, the resistance from the factory complex seems to be extremely strong still. I guess GAZ did not worry about his infantries under 150mm much, he must have stuffed at least 2 companies under those roofs. Well, I have only two platoons there. Taking the complex by direct assault is insane. The task for the left flank must clearly be to tie up the enemy there and even try to draw more reinforcements into the concrete graves. I thus ordered the 2nd and 3rd platoons of C company which just helped to secure the Town center to maneuver south threatening the Russian left flank of the factory defense. “But carefulâ€, I told 2nd Lt. Kogel while he is about to run back, “do not get too close to them, only lock them there is good enough.†Two halftracks are now ordered to tow the 150mm’s from back line toward front. The first platoon of StuGs are also charging. It is important to at least give the enemy an impression that now I am planning a serious charge on the complex.
In the ruins of the town center, as well as a few remaining 2 story buildings, my subordinates set up MG42 teams and snipers. They will, according to our plan, jam any horizontal movements of the enemy and prevent an easy flow of reinforcements into the Old Fortress which is now our major target.
Major Fluentz, a former street fighter in Munich before he joined the SS, is definitely a killing machine, even with his only left arm left. With one 105mm FO lost and the other one blocked of LOS, I could only mass up the remaining 81mm FO’s to lay down as much smoke screen as possible for Major Fluentz’s coming charge into the woods and hills in front of the Old Fortress. The murderous fire from the ambushing SMGs instantly killed two scout teams Fluentz sent out. But at the cost of 10 German lives, the positions of the foxholes were exposed. Now Fluentz can have his StuG IIIB’s main gun tilted toward those hideouts and level them. The tricky enemy had deployed their infantry resistance mainly on the downslope of the hillside, making it impossible to use long range direct fire to suppress. This is of course very annoying, yet not enough to stop the seasoned veteran and determined servant of the Fuhrer like Fluentz. Not like me, he cares little about his boys’ well-beings or even lives. The glory of the 3rd Reich is everything for him. Facing a crossfire from all hidden positions in the woods, Fluentz ordered an all out assault nevertheless. While my #2 is approaching at full speed (with the tiresome Russian mud and steppe under us, we cannot be any faster..), I saw the backs of our assault teams disappearing from the hedge top. “Fool†I cursed, “that is why this idiot would never get promoted beyond major, when will he learn to use his brain? After he loses his damn left arm, too?†I immediately phoned him through tank communication, but no answer, Fluentz is using his usual excuse of radio jam to ignore superior orders. If the bastard were not from the SS, I would have him shot, easily. But now I could only beg the Russian mud’s mercy not to bog us down.
After the long long long 3 minutes, finally StuG #2 reached the hedge top and now ready to cross the railroad. There, I can already see the assault conducted by Fluentz. To my amazement, although the field is filled with littered German bodies, Fluentz had already driven up through the gap cleared by our earlier 150mm artillery fire and now he is reorganizing the final charge to the Fortress itself. I do not know how many men this crazy major still have capable of fighting, but I think my direct order could save some German lives. “Full speed!†I shouted to my driver, wishing to get there before it is too late. Yet a large swing of the StuG almost threw me out from the hutch ---- we are stuck by the rails! With our butt facing south, we lay sitting duck on the top of a small hill, fully exposed to enemy fire. With no turrets, we cannot even turn our gun around to return fire if fired upon. Helplessly, I turned my telescope around to update the situation. Chilling to my bones, from the factory complex direction, a 76mm is now turning its barrel toward me. I could almost see the grin of the ugly Russian face …
After a few minutes search for Anna in the forest of straying bullets and scaring German 150mm, 75mm, 37mm and all other sorts of ******* gun shells, I figure it would be wiser to crawl back to my bunker and wait for Anna to come back on her own ---- if she likes to, that is. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out which direction is the right one for my bunker and another 5 minutes to make my way back. Getting into the doorway of the bunker, I got up from my snake-like position and started to pat off the dusk on my uniform. “Welcome back, Comrade Commander!†To my surprise, Anna was already in the bunker and smiling at me leaning toward the shelf. “Thank God you are safe, I was looking for you!†I made an exaggerating posture. “I know you were, “ with a sarcastic grin, Anna turned the topic to the battle, “It is almost over, Sir. In minutes, the 3rd tank regiment of 11th Guards Corps will arrive and relieve us from the defense. The Red Army will counterattack soon!â€
“We did pretty well in our key positions, although we lost two KVs, and another KV’s main gun is damaged by small gun fires from the Germans.†“The one last KV in the Old Fortress sector stubbornly repelled enemy assaults from two directions. The infantry there suffered heavy casualty, yet, they generally hold out.†“A German StuG knocked out our KV guarding the town center, now the gun-damaged KV is dancing with the enemy trying to deny a complete possession of the town center to the enemy. (please refer to Waltz, KV!.jpg)†Later I learned that this last KV was finally knocked out by enemy infantry. “In the factory complex, the battle was confusing and bloody. Yet, the enemy left many corpses with attempts to take the house in vain. (please refer to heroic or horrific.jpg)†“Our KV tanks, though suffering losses, have apparently been the champions in this conflict, their large number of ammo, strong sloped frontal armor made the day!†Hearing that last word and the approaching familiar track sound of massive column of T34’s, my mind cannot concentrate any more and once again was absorbed into the “sloped armors†….
I was still in panic and did not know what to do while a large blast landed right behind the Soviet 76mm AT gun position, killing some the crews instantly and routed the rest. “Pheeww…†Once again, the highest quality of the German professional soldier saved my life. And luck seems to turn bright all at once: my driver rejoices down there with our tracks finally being able to move forward again. And up in the front, Major Fluentz’s bluff seems to be working: the enemy seems to have no further defense along the final ruins. Lucky jerk! But if he can take this position in the end, which seems to be certain now, I will still recommend him a promotion.
The factory complex, although still in enemy hands, is buried under dust and fire. 4 150mm guns, 4 StuGs, and other mortar and smaller guns are dumping their ammunition into this location. I felt sorry for the Russian peasants trapped inside. But this is war! Lives are to be lost in wars. This, if cannot be avoided, better be Russian lives rather than the noble German ones!
Minutes later, I received a radio transmission from Corps HQ, saying that the Red Army’s 11th Guards Corps are now in full retreat thanks to my division’s decisive blow here. Pursuing the enemy is now not the highest priority, instead, I am advised to stop my panzer columns for refit and refuel. Major siege into the City of Stalingrad will soon begin!
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