Springboard: A Red Thunder Vignette AAR

The importance of "shaping" an attack

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Here's another small slice of action from a larger scenario, this time from Red Thunder. The scenario is "Getting Ugly", a semi-historical reimagining of the fight to liberate a village by that very same name during BAGRATION. So, yes, the pun is very much intended I do imagine.  In this scenario, I am playing as the Soviets, and you join me just after the first hour of action.

In my previous AAR, my vague objective (asides from sharing a great scenario report) was to demonstrate just how transformative the Kangaroo was to the business of an infantry attack. My tactical plan was, largely, straightforward and relied massively on marching fire and indirect support. Very little was left behind (or indeed, needed) for support-by-fire. This is the advantage of having strongly coordinated artillery fire with the ability to carry combined direct fires far forward, swiftly. That basic recipe is the very foundation of modern mechanized infantry tactics and reliance on the 'infantry fighting vehicle', a natural evolution of the armoured personnel carrier. Nevertheless, while the methods are different, the means are not altogether different from any other successful tactical display: fire superiority, coordination of all arms, and well-timed decisive action. The "Kangaroos" simplify the objective of shaping a successful attack, and expedite it. 

By contrast, in this AAR, you will see how much effort must go into carrying infantry forward when they are exposed, and consequently getting them there in a condition to fight. You will also swiftly notice that my casualties are much higher than in my foray as the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment. It stresses just how much more important shaping an attack by ample use of covering fire, coordination of supporting weapons and good timing becomes. I am not going to say that this is my finest display, or that it is bereft of  blunders, but it is nevertheless a tidy little attack under considerable time pressure. 

The background: shaping the operation

I am commanding elements of 1st Battalion, 459th Rifle Regiment. My force consists of two rifle companies, one of which has been motorized by trucks, an understrength company of T-34s (5 in total) and an assault gun company (5 ISU-122s). A desanti platoon comes with the T-34s. The only area I am lacking in real combat power is indirect firepower. I have in toto a battery of 6 82mm mortars. 

I have just finished securing the village of Chernverka with the lead company and the support of the T-34s. This first company has suffered moderate losses and at one point was subject to a vicious counterattack by a platoon of infantry and StuGs, as well as the original garrison of the town. While they remain combat effective, they are now low on ammo. Another T-34 is immobilized while trying to manoeuvre over some rough ground. With Chernverka secured, I can establish OPs. Not much is definitively spotted in Ugly, save for an 88mm which is promptly knocked out by mortar fire. In other parts of the village, I spot tucked away enemy trucks, which I deduced meant heavy weapons nearby. These areas are also given fire concentrations. 

These fire missions fill the time while I wait for the arrival of the reinforcements. The ISUs arrive first and liaise with the remaining combat effective T-34s.  The truck mounted infantry arrive shortly after. 

Before anything else can happen though, the OPs in Chernverka report the approach of enemy armour. My initial fear was they would deploy in Ugly and thicken the defensive screen there. Instead, to my delight, they cross the river and begin moving towards my positions. A hurried rush by the OPs to warn the ISUs, followed by rumbling forward into ambush positions. 

A brief but furious firefight occurs. 5 Panthers are knocked out in return for an ISU destroyed (the company commander, of course) and a T-34 dismounted. 

With the Panthers gone, the prelude is over. Chernverka's importance, asides from being an objective, is that it runs along the length of a ridge behind which I can concentrate fighting power unseen, and take effective firing positions with supporting weaponry. It will act as my springboard for the main effort to liberate Ugly. 

The main effort

As the dust settles from the fight with the Panthers, the 2nd company (mounted) concentrates in a small depression. I only have about 45 minutes left to secure Ugly, and its an incredible amount of open ground to cover. Relying on the ISU's ability to take a hit on the chin, I plan on moving them to a support-by-fire position that provides some hull down cover. If there are other anti-tank guns, the hope was they would draw their fire at extended range. Meanwhile, a smoke barrage would cover the flank of the main effort. The three fully combat effective T-34s, with tank riders, would provide a spearhead and a survivable early warning for any nasty close-in surprises.

The ISUs form up in the reverse slope, waiting for the smoke to build. 

The spearhead gets moving when the smoke begins to build. The ISUs then move forward into their firing positions. They immediately draw anti-tank gun fire. 

The ISU-122s are able to spot and engage - effectively - a pair of PaK guns. This ties down hard anti tank threats for the T-34s to push through to the bridge to Ugly. A 50mm and 75mm are knocked out in the exchange, but a 2nd ISU is taken out of the fight when its gun is disabled by a hit. The job is admirably done and, despite a few casualties to small arms and machinegun fire, the T-34s and their riders get across the bridge unmolested.

The tank riders swiftly dismount but are pinned by fire from the houses. They are within range and therefore can return fire, though the T-34s are the real source of fire superiority. It takes about 5 minutes for the enemy fire to slacken enough for the infantry to actually move forward.

With the anti-tank threat handled, the ISUs shift to speculative fires, pounding the individual houses in the village. This also greatly relieves the pressure on the tank riding infantry.

Ideally, I would have waited for the T-34s and the tank riders to storm the first few houses around the bridge before committing the 2nd company. However, the smoke screen was beginning to thin out and I suspected there was another anti-tank position somewhere behind the obscurants. There was also the time pressure, with just over thirty minutes remaining at this point, to consider. The truck mounted units were therefore ordered forward.

I also would have selected a much, well, saner debussing point but for the above considerations. As it was, the infantry roar across the bridge in their trucks and hurl themselves out, still under small arms fire. Miraculously, there is only a single casualty during the dismount. With a full 4 platoons and T-34s now in the area, I am able to press the attack.

The tank riders with their SMGs are slated for the close attack. Most of my losses are taken from an enfilading MG, across a smaller stream that bisects Ugly. It is never identified by either the infantry or their supporting tanks, and therefore plays havoc. Nevertheless, we are able to secure the right flank of the objective swiftly once we get moving, taking several houses by storm.

Even as these group of homes are being secured, I had begun to wheel two rifle platoons to the front-left to begin rolling up the enemy positions in Ugly. 

Results

It proves unnecessary. Despite die-hard resistance from the German infantry on my right flank, the enemy surrenders within a few minutes, their losses unsustainable.

In the end, it is a tough, bloody fight. Across my forces, I suffer close to sixty casualties. In addition to the KO'd ISU-122, I have two T-34s out of action and a third with crew losses.

What made this final effort successful? The ability to draw anti-tank fire with relatively strong protection, and the assistance of armour that allowed for an absolutely questionable debussing point for motorised infantry are two of the likeliest reasons for the successful attack. The German AI's predilection for immediate, wasteful counterstrokes even more so. Whilst the first counteroffensive with StuGs made immediate sense and was well supported by infantry, causing me a considerable headache, the latter movement of the Panthers can only be described as wasteful. Had they thickened the anti-tank gun screen in Ugly, it likely would've put a check on any further advances by myself. 

I want to make it clear, that use of motorized infantry in such a manner can be wasteful if not absolutely disastrous. Time pressure can force you, realistically, to make tactical decisions that you would not otherwise make if you didn't have a superior to answer to. If you must take a significant tactical risk, do your utmost to mitigate it. Covering fire and obscurants that help you compartmentalize the battlefield (and therefore focus your fires) remain the winning combination. If the covering fire can come from something that is likely to withstand hard anti-tank threats for some time, all the better.