The Borisovka Pocket

 This is the last battle in the current series covering the battles west of Belgorod between 5th Guards Army, 1st Tank Army and German LII Corps in early August 1943 using my One Hour WW2 rules. 

By 6th August 1943 the Germans had been forced out of Tamarovka and retreated down the Vorshla valley to Borisvoka. The German right flank had completely collapsed by now and contact was lost with Armee Abeitlung Kempf, so the Russians were able to outflank the Germans to the east. Threatened with encirclement and annihilation, 19th Panzer, 255th and 322nd Infantry Divisions tried to break out.

An obvious scenario to base this game on is Neil Thomas's 'raid' (iirc) where a small force has to march from one side of the map to the other while various enemy forces close in on all sides. 

Battlefield from the south. A fairly featureless plain east of the Vorshla with the main road/rail link running north-south. The major features are Hill 106 dimly visible in the northeast, a couple of streams bisecting the landscape, the woods in the southeast and a couple of small villages.

The initial situation, not much on the table at all!

There are columns of German transport fleeing down the road.

But north of the stream, 294 Guards Rifle Regiment from 32nd Guards Rifle Corps has occupied Hill 106 and is interdicting the road. The road is littered with burning and hiding transport but German LOC troops are holding off any further Russian advance west. Historically 294GRR couldn't get to the road but brought it under fire.

Simon commands the 294th.

Meanwhile to the northeast are what is left of 255th Infantry Division and 19th Panzer Division, each Regiment organised into battalion sized kampfgruppen.  19th Panzer has an armoured 'regiment' with the remaining tanks and halftracks, while the other 'regiment' is motorised infantry and engineers.

The 255th also has two 'regiments', each the equivalent of a battalion of leg infantry, although the lead regiment is supported by what is left of 52nd Panzer Abteilung. On 6th August it had an operational strength of 6 Panthers.

Bringing up the rear is a battalion of Wespes and a battalion of towed 105mm guns. The rest of the heavy equipment, including over 70 damaged Panthers, has been abandoned. As supplies are short, the artillery only has three fire missions and there is only one supply column. The Luftwaffe is able to mount a few Fw-190 fighter bomber sorties.

The Germans need to motor across the table and get at least two units off the southern road edge. Easy peasy. Mark commands 19th Panzer and Tim 255th Infantry.

However.... 13th Guards Rifle Division has formed a Forward Detachment under Captain Moschenko, which will arrive on the southern edge fairly soon to complete the encirclement. This is centered around 242nd Guards Tank Brigade and 39th Guards Rifle Regiment mounted in lorries. They are supported by a 120mm mortar regiment.

Pete commands the Forward Detachment.

And charging down the road from the north is the entire 31st Tank Corps! Supported by flights of IL-4 bombers.

This Corps is split between Terry and John. Terry has all the tank brigades while John has the motorised ATR battalion and is overall force commander so manages the logistics etc.

31st Tank Corps was the weakest unit in 1st Tank Army, with three tank brigades (100, 237 and 242) but only a motorised anti-tank rifle battalion instead of a motor rifle brigade. It was reinforced with units from a  Tank Destroyer Brigade assigned to 1st Army. The Corps had been largely destroyed at Kursk and rebuilt with Soviet vehicles. Bringing up the rear are two supply columns, but the Corps doesn't have any significant indirect fire assets.

They will arrive in a few turns so the Germans need to get a move on.

On come the Germans.  The 255th heads due south, while 19th Panzer heads for Hill 106! That is quite a bold move. 

Faced with the motorised onslaught, Simon (294 GRR) calls up the entire Russian airforce who duly pound the Panzers. The disruptive camo on the left hand IL4 works really well, you can hardly see it against the tabletop! 

The Germans respond in kind, while the Panzergrenadiers sidestep the hill and head for the river crossing. 

The 255th (Tim) swings southwest and contacts the stream. 

The pounding continues on Hill 106 and the Germans take enough losses to become disorganised. I'm not sure what Mark is hoping to achieve here. 

The Germans reorganise the Panzer, while the Panzergrenadiers capture the bridge intact. The infantry plod on behind parallel to the stream. 

And the Russians keep pounding the panzers. They might have been better off retiring before trying to reorganise. I'm sure bombing those ambulances constitutes some sort of war crime!

Petes Forward Detachment now arrives from the south. It boldly marches northwards to meet the Germans. Everyone is being very aggressive today, personally I'd have dug in around the exit hex, but pushing forwards allows for a delaying action.

Faced with this new threat, the panzergrenadiers at the bridge turn around and Tims guys have now closed up to the stream. They can all advance to engage Pete in lockstep next turn.

The panzer regiment is still stuck on Hill 106 however, once again being resupplied. Those ambulance crews need a medal. The Russians have now suffered enough losses to become disorganised.

Petes troops shake out into line rather than advancing into range of the Germans. Make the Germans come to them. The tank brigade has a ZOC over the road. The 120mm mortar observer is with the tank brigade and the FAC has relocated to the motorised rifle brigade while the Russian airforce bombs up again. These guys are all Guards, so can take six hits each.

And here come the Germans. The panzergrenadiers nip into the woods at the top of the screen.

They are followed by the battered panzers and the 19th Panzer Div HQ. I was rummaging around in the desert armour box anyway and pulled out my Mammut to use as the HQ.

The Russians concentrate their fire on the infantry regiment with the Panthers, which causes enough damage to disorganise them.

The Germans reorganise the Panthers and shoot up the Russian infantry with air and artillery support. Meanwhile the panzergrenadiers grab the exit hex and the panzer regiment rolls across the stream. It looks like it is the Russians who are surrounded now! 

The Russians pile everything back onto the Panthers, including all their bombers.

And 31st Tank Corps comes barrelling down the road, scattering the fleeing German logistic units. There is nothing to stop them as the Germans have left the bridge undefended and didn't attempt to demolish it. 

Faced with this new threat the Germans accelerate their breakout attempt. They are still trying to save the Panthers but two units close in on the Russian motorised infantry. Fire from the panzergrenadiers and artillery is enough to disorganise them.

The Panthers finally succumb to the Russian fire as 31st Tank Corps continues its headlong advance southwards. The leading brigade is now aware of the panzergrenadiers ahead. Most of the the Russians still don't even know what a 'Panther' is in 1943, they were persistently misidentified as Tigers. So "The Tigers are burning!".

Shot in by the 255th, the panzer regiment overruns the Guards motorised infantry, although they take heavy losses in the process. 

The leading brigade of 31st TC opens fire and the other brigades fan out into the open country behind it.

Most critically, Petes 242nd Guards Tank Brigade manages to assault and destroy the already weakened 19th panzer regiment and it occupies the hex.

The situation at the end of turn 8. Things are looking a bit grim for the Germans as I think they will struggle to get two units off now, but stranger things have happened so we shall see.

Reduced to two manouvre units, the Germans don't have many options. The Germans dump all their artillery and fire from the Panzergrenadiers onto Pete's tank brigade, and the 255th slips into the cornfields. The Russian ZOC precludes any further movement. 

For their part, the Russians stand and shoot with everything in range, while the unengaged units manouvre closer. Mark and Tims units are both reduced to half strength and disorganised. 

The Russians missed the chance to move and simply block Tim's infantry in, so the Germans still have an escape route. 

Mark reorganises while the artillery lands on Terry's tank brigade now. No option really as the Germans have to keep the exit hex open. Tims infantry move along the narrow corridor to freedom. 

This is actually a pretty good move as one Russian tank brigade has been suppressed by artillery fire, and now a lot of the Russians are masked by cornfields. 

The Russians fire at what they can see, and having finally sorted out their airforce again, whistle up the bombers. Even with air support, the fire is relatively ineffective. The Panzergrenadiers are hammered, but Tim gets away with just one extra hit. The Russian mortars are out of ammo and need resupply this turn. 

The Germans have a glimmer of hope. 

Once again the ambulance crews reorganise the battered Panzergrenadiers and the German artillery fires, this time to little effect. However the 255th manages to push one more hex and links up with 19th panzer. 

Perhaps final victory is in sight? 

Well, perhaps not. Eagle eyed readers will note another tank brigade has pushed into cornfields  Even though the Red Airforce is absent, the revived Russian mortars and extra tank fire are enough to break the 255th, and the survivors flee across the fields. 

View from 19th Panzer. Now they only have one unit left, the Germans have lost and the remainder withdraw. A well earned victory to the Russians, who responded very effectively to the various German manouvres and focussed on what they needed to do to win. The Germans changed plans halfway through, which with only four units, isn't a luxury they can afford. Mark reflected that he should blocked the road north, as it allowed the Russians to get their tank Corps into action in two turns. 

That is an interesting scenario and I've actually run it a couple of times before in the guise of a German attack in 1941. For the smaller force they have to decide very early on if they are going to try and destroy the unit on the hill or just go for broke and dash for the exit. If they go for the hill they need to mass everything against it, but in any case they need to leave something to block the enemy reinforcements piling on down the road. Whatever happens they are going to have to fight for the exit when the flanking force arrives, and they need enough strength and time to do that.

That was a good game, great fun to umpire and I hope the players enjoyed it. A fitting end to this linked scenario mini campaign, and although I'll come back to the Eastern Front in 1943 at some point, next we are off to new pastures.