Streletshoya, August 3rd 1943

 Having done a few battles covering the northern flank of Kursk recently (and the southern flank less recently), my attention wandered to the Soviet summer counter offensives in August 1943. The 'Red Guards at Kursk' Skirmish Campaigns book covers Operation Kutuzov near Orel/Briansk, and I've played almost all those scenarios already. I do have a book on the August offensive on the Mius, but many years ago I bought David Glantz's excellent 'From the Don to the Dneipr', which covers various Soviet operations in the Ukraine from 1941 to 1943, principally the many battles for Kharkov. It is mainly tracing the development of the Soviet operational art, but the late summer 1943 operations feature swirling tank battles between weakened but still powerful Panzer forces and a resurgent Soviet mobile arm.

Anyway, to start I picked a set of engagements from 3rd to 7th of August along the River Vorshla, which are indicative of the fighting, and mainly involve 5th Guards Army and 1st Tank Army.

Operation Polkovodeti-Rumyantesov (or Belgorod-Kharkov) was conceived as a major summer counter offensive with the strategic aim of capturing Kharkov and breaching the Dneipr, and tactically, to drive southwards through 4th Panzer Army and to encircle Armee Abteilung Kempf east of Belgorod. The main strike force was 5th Guards Army, with 1st Tank Army and 5th Guards Tank Army poised for operational exploitation. Two other Guards armies operated on the flanks, and Operation Kutusov and the Mius offensive were designed to draw away German operational reserves. Manstein duly cooperated by sending the SS Panzer Corps and Grossdeutshland to the Mius, while SSLAH went to Italy. He didn't believe the Veronezh Front could attack any time soon after being battered at Kursk. He was wrong, and at 0500 on 3rd August, the offensive started.

This scenario covers 32nd Guards Rifle Corps attacking positions of the 332nd Infantry Division north of the River Vorshla. The exploitation force was 1st Tank Army, hastily rebuilt after Kursk. The main effort was 5th Guards Tank Army to its left (eastern) flank, so the forces in this sector are slightly less unbalanced.

Battlefield from the south, the Russians are coming from the north. Streletshoya is the small town just behind the line of German minefields. The River Vorshla joins another tributary left (west) off the table, and together they run south and are joined by a railway line - the main rear link for 4th Panzer Army. Belgorod is east (right) from here.

Infantry Regiment 129 of 332nd Infantry Division dug in along the minefields. As Glantz based a lot of his account on Soviet records, they are littered with lower level unit identification errors, the 332nd never had a 129th Regiment. The Russian deep bombardment crippled German logistics, so they only have one (horse drawn) supply column. Regimental HQ is by the bridge, which has been prepped for demolition.

The Germans have to stop more than one Russian unit exiting from the south side of the table between the ends of the river.

The 332nd was holding a long front so all three regiments were in line, however they did have a battalion sized divisional reserve, which I've modelled as a Fusilier Battalion on bicycles. I've assumed it will be committed here, even though the entire front of the division was attacked.

The German artillery was largely suppressed by Soviet artillery fire, but I gave them one battalion of 105s. The Luftwaffe made a huge effort early in the offensive, so they have no less than three squadrons of planes! Stukas, Ju 88s and Hs 129s. 

The Russian horde! 13th and 97th Guards Rifle Divisions, plus brigade sized Forward Detachments from 6th Tank Corps and 3rd Mechanised Corps, the first echelon of 1st Tank Army.

13th Guards Rifle Division. They have three Rifle Regiments and a battalion of 93rd (independant) Tank Brigade in support. To model the Russian numerical superiority, each regiment has a 'second echelon' with two stands, which can replace 3 hits on the main combat element once per game. It also looks really cool. Historically both divisions deployed their regiments two up, one back, and committed the second echelon once the minefields were forced.

The 49th Tank Brigade is the Forward Detachment for 3rd Mechanised Corps. 3rd Mech Corps was the pride of 1st Tank Army, with three mechanised brigades and no less than two tank brigades and three tank regiments. 

97th Guards Rifle Div, with a similar configuration to 13th Guards Rifle Div. The 6th Tank Corps Forward Detachment is 200th Tank Brigade. 6th TC was a fairly regular 1943 Tank Corps with three tank brigades, a mechanised brigade and one of the new motorcycle battalions. It didn't have a heavy tank or assault gun regiment though.

To win, the Russians need to get both Tank Brigades over the river and off the southern edge. As the river is impassable to vehicles, they might need a bit of engineer help...

Soviet support assets. They have masses of artillery for this - a huge preparatory bombardment, plus divisional support artillery and a first, 152mm counter battery guns. This is the first outing for my 203mm gun. They also have the usual Sturmoviks and lots of supply trucks. The Corps Commander even has a Lend Lease bren carrier to ride around in. 

The Russian attack was preceded by a massive preparatory bombardment. This was very effective, inflicting hits and suppression on all the front line German units.

And was followed up at 0600 by the ground assault. 13th GRD in this case, advancing rather diffidently. Personally I would have charged everyone up to the edge of minefields under cover of the barrage.

97th Rifle Corps was a bit more aggressive, but they have a much more favourable force ratio in this sector. 

The Germans responded with a maximum air effort on 39th GRR! (The one with the tanks). This inflicted no less than four hits and the Russians became disorganised.

The suppressed Germans on the eastern flank could only put out limited fire, which chipped a hit off one Russian unit.

The following turn, after urging from the Corps Commander, 13th GRD attacked rather more aggressively, including marching into the minefield in front of the town. Probably not a great idea given the defenders were now unsuppressed. The Luftwaffe switched its attention to the this attack and the Russians in the minefield gap were hammered.

97th GRD pulled back its damaged regiment to reorganise while the other two manouvered into position covered by artillery and Sturmoviks. The supporting fires suppressed the Germans, so their defensive fire  inflicted few casualties.

13th GRD pulled one damaged unit back and reorganised the 39th GRR in situ, recovering two hits. This wasn't really enough as the Germans turned the full might of the Luftwaffe on them again. Fortunately for them they (just) survived, but were now disorganised again. 

97th GRD swarmed the German defenders, rushing the minefields. 291 GRR took heavy losses from mines, but 293 GRR passed through the mines without significant loss as it was aided by engineers. The Germans decided to bug out, covered by artillery dropped in the minefield gap to slow the attackers.

The Russians committed the second echelon for 292 GRR (recovering three hits), 291 GRR, artillery and air provided covering fire for the 293 GRR to push right through the minefields.

Astonishingly the covering fire inflicted no less than four hits on the Germans and they disintegrated, leaving their AT guns behind to be captured by the Russian engineers.

The Germans were perhaps a bit unfortunate here, but if they had stood and fought they would have been overwhelmed too.

The Luftwaffe was out of bombs now, but defensive fire from the German infantry with artillery support was enough to finish off 39 GRR, which left heaps of corpses and burning T70s in the minefield gap. The Russian attack here is looking to be in trouble now, but 40th GRR commits its second echelon to get back to full strength.

40 GRR storms the minefield gap covered by the engineers and artillery, and as with the western flank, the covering fire actually routs the defenders and they withdraw to the rear, leaving their infantry guns behind. That only leaves one German battalion in the line. The Russians have lost one regiment and had two more forced to commit their reserves (so effectively another regiment) in making the breakthough.

III/197 very wisely retreats in the direction of the bridge, and just in time, the Fusilier battalion on its bicycles arrives and heads for Hill 231, covering the river and the the bridge. The high ground gives it a considerable spotting advantage. 

97th GRD pushes through the minefield gaps and plans what to do next.

A certain degree of formation changes take place, and in the lull in the fighting, 291 GRR takes the opportunity to reorganise again. The 97th are careful to stay out of sight of the Germans on Hill 231.

The 13th also pushes forward, through the German defensive barrage which slows them up.

The German Fusilier Battalion starts to dig in, and III/197 retires to the far side of the river. The bridge is prepped for demolition, but the river is fordable by infantry although impassable to vehicles due to the steep banks.

97th GRD advances in a single echelon to present the entire Division as a one entity to the Germans on the hill.

Meanwhile 13th GRD closes on the river as III/197 starts to dig in at the bridge.

We broke for the evening there, a good place to stop as now the Russians have to conduct an assault river crossing! They have the night to ponder their plans.

We opened the next evening with 13 GRD crossing the river into the woods covered by artillery fire. The Germans at the bridge continued to dig in but shelled the woods.

97 GRD rolled forwards to the river also covered by artillery and air strikes. The Germans chipped a couple of hits off as they marched forward.

The 200th and 49th Tank Brigades now both marched on and headed for the western minefield gap. The Corps commander in his Bren Carrier motored over to supervise proceedings.

Over in the west the Russian engineers crossed the river and began preparing a ford, they were covered by the rest of 97th GRD and all the air and artillery which could be mustered. Despite the cover of their hastily dug trenches, this was all too much for the 332nd Fusilier Battalion who withdrew in disorder to the rear leaving their casualties behind.

The Russians occupied the now empty hill (one of their victory conditions). The engineers finished their fording preparations just as 200th Tank Brigade reached the river.

Back at the bridge, III/197 heroically repulsed a Russian assault, but losses were heavy. 

The Russians concentrated everything they had on the German trenches, including fire directed from the (now captured) Hill 231. As the Russian infantry surged forwards for another attack, the defenders had enough and withdrew in disorder before being completely surrounded. 

As the Russians approached the southern end of the bridge, the demolition charges exploded and a section of the span fell into the river. It would need repairs before vehicles could use it.

13th GRD had captured their objective, at the cost of over half the division. 

The 97th now had a firm hold on Hill 231 as more units pushed over the river. The 97th was in much better shape, although one regiment had committed its second echelon.

The German HQs and supply services decided it was time to head for the rear. Russian guns continued counter battery fire on the German artillery (they had done this for much of the game, with varying effects).

Although time was tight, the Russians managed to get both their Tank Brigades over the river and off the table by 1230. Any later than 1300 and they would have lost.

Well that was a blast! One of the more grandiose One Hour Wargames I've run. I hope it wasn't too grim for the Germans, and they did exactly they right thing by falling back to the river line. I tweaked the force ratios to make more of a game of it, really there should have been eight Russian infantry units against two German ones, rather than six vs three, so the 'second echelon' thing was a compromise.

In reality the Russians did achieve their objective line and managed to get both Tank Brigades over the river, albeit on either side of the bridge site. The problems came when the remainder of their Corps tried to cross, and the fording sites fell into chaos, so they crossed piecemeal instead of en masse, but that is a game for another day.

On the whole it went pretty well though, the massed Luftwaffe was very impressive and the Russians had a tight timetable to breach the German defences and capture or construct a river crossing. The huge mass of Russians also looked very imposing, which was what I was aiming for. As the Germans I would have defended the minefield gaps one hex further back (to force the Russians to enter them to engage), but hindsight is a wonderful thing. 

The next game in the series is the afternoon of 3rd August, as 1st Tank Army attempts to breach the depth of the German position. I hope to run that in a few weeks.