AAR - Storming The Waidhaus Gap Part 3, Counter Attack

Colonel Ivan Rokovski in his post war book 20 days to the Rhine recalls the pressing need to define the moment when 275 MSP (lead Motor Rifle Regiment of 18 GvMSD) would be committed to exploit the success of 901 ODShB and 468 MSB. This would allow 18 GvMSD to maintain the momentum of the attack into Southern Germany and consolidate the immediate gains of the forward detachment in securing the Haggenwald and the southern flank of the division through the closure of the armoured approaches to Waidhaus from the South through the Schwalmwald.  This was to prove to be one of the classic examples of the use of forward detachments and desente units as enablers of operational manoeuvre in the post World War 2 period.

By 10:00 on 17 August 1988 901 ODShB were occupying their objectives; 

• 9 Rota starting to secure its tenuous hold on the Haggenwald, still occupied to the North by the remainder of  1./PzBtl 123 which included a single platoon and the Company HQ together with Milan teams from FschjgBtl 251
• 5 Rota secured the south western armoured approaches through the Schalmwald denying them to German reinforcements.

The loss of 6 Rota the BMD equipped company and the Battalions Recce platoon following effective engagement by the  Ppanzerabwehrhubschrauberstaffel of Heersfliegerregiment 26 left the battalion unable to counter the arrival of the Leopard 2s of 2 and 3 Kompanie  PzBtl 123 from Moosbach.

Oberst Von Meltzahn's staff review of the situation following the successful air landing of 901 ODShB is well recorded in the battle diary of PzAufklBtl 4.  It details the counter moves ordered against the Soviet force to prevent them from securing the Haggenwald and the Northern Route through the Waidhaus Gap.

• The schwere Panzeraufklärungskompanie in  Waldhaus were ordered to exploit the cover the town provided to outflank 468 MSB and conduct a Counter Penetration against them to prevent their link up with 901 ODShB on the Haggenwald.  This would be coordinated with CAS provided by A10 Thunderbolt IIs reinforcing 4 ATAF from the 81st Tactical Fighter Wing now forward deployed into Germany from its UK bases.
• The gemischte Panzeraufklärungskompanie in Waldhaus was to push South toward the Schalmwald to cover the schwere Panzeraufklärungskompanie's exposed southern flank.
• FschjgBtl 251were ordered to counter attack 901 ODShBs position on the South Western end of the Haggenwald using the Falshirmjagerkompanie in Waidhaus and the northern of the two Luftlandepanzerabwehrkompanies in the Schwalmwald. Artillery support for the attack would be provided by the battalion mortars and the M109s of Panzerartilleryregiment 12.
• The  Panzerabwehrhubschrauberstaffel of Heersfliegerregiment 26  were ordered to support 1./PzBtl 123 on the Haggenwald and halt the forward movement of 468 MSB
• Panzerkompanies 2 and 3 of PzBtl 123 were instructed to Counter Attack into the flank of 468 MSB North and West of Waidhouse and East of the Haggenwald.

The  Forward Air Controller with the gemischte Panzeraufklärungskompanie brought the A10s in from the South and they were cleared hot to engage targets North of Waidaus and no further West than the Western edge of the town. The Air Defence Company deployed with 468 MSB picked them up as they cleared the Schwalmwald and engaged with the ZSU 23-4 and SAM 9 platoons, forcing both aircraft to abort on the first pass.

In Waidhaus itself the schwere Panzeraufklärungskompanie was observed moving up by 275 MSP's Recce Company who by now had started to occupy the eastern end of the town and had not been identified or engaged by the gemischte Panzeraufklärungskompanie. In a manoeuvre that has since entered the text books of the Soviet General Staff on the employment of anti tank reserves, Major Suverov of 468 MSB dealt deftly with the counter penetration   by deploying his Anti-Tank Company which engaged and destroyed the Leopard platoon. 

The arrival of Heersfliegerregiment 26 to support the Leopard 2s and Milan on the Northern end of the Haggenwald however started to strengthen Von Meltzahn's position improving the Germans chances of imposing the required delay on the Soviet force. 

At around 10:45 on the 17 August 1988 FschjgBtl 251 commenced their attempt to regain the Haggenwald with the redeployment of the Luftlandepanzerabwehrkompanies towards Waidhaus.  The kompanie inits light armoured vehicles was however caught in the open and engaged by the remaining Hinde flight from 490 OBVP who had yet to clear the area. With no clear indication of where they were being engaged from they were forced to move to cover loosing a number of vehicles in the process. Meanwhile 2./FschjgBtl 251 had moved into a forming up position in dead ground east of 9 Rotas position on the Haggenwald but failed to secure the support of  Panzerartilleryregiment 12 who were relocating following effective counter battery fire on their position. By 11:30 with no sign of the supporting Luftlandepanzerabwehrkompanie the kompanie commander decided to mount the attack without the missing support elements.  In a sharp engagement with the remaining elements of 9 Rota   supported by 3 Battalions of Artillery from the 18 GvMSDs DAG, 2./FschjgBtl 251 attack was broken up and the company was rendered non effective, leaving 901 ODShB in control of the South Western extent of the Haggenwald.

Concurrently with the German moves to retake the Haggenwald 2 and 3 Kompanie of PzBtl 123 were by now breaking clear of the constraints of the BM27 laid SCATMIN around the eastern gap in the Schalmwald.  In response to PzBtl 123's developing counter attack 468 MSD moved its infantry and armour into position to engage from the dominant position of the north eastern end of the Haggenwald.  

At around 12:00 on 17 Aug 1988 Colonel Rokovski recals crossing the Czech German border at Waidhaus with, 275 MSP  behind 468 MSB's Mobility Support Detachment which we now know included NBC Recce, Engineer Recce, a Motor Rifle company and the road repair and clearing team. They were followed closely by the lead Motor Rifle Battalion and Flanked by the MSP's 21 Tank Battalion to the South.

The gemischte Panzeraufklärungskompanie South of Waidhaus reported the developing Soviet armoured threat between Waidhaus and the Schwalmwald which was unlikely to be contained by the much reduced presence of FschjgBtl 251's Luftlandepanzerabwehrkompanies. Oberst Von Meltzahn who's original plan had been to throw both companies of PzBtl 123 at 468 MSB now ordered the counter attack to split with a kompanie driving North and West of Waidhaus and a Kompanie South and  East, both kompanies receiving support from the RakJPz Jaguar 2 of Panzerjagerkompanie 100.

The situation by 13:00 hours on 17 August 1988 as can be understood from both German and Soviet sources was as follows:

• To the North of Waidhaus around a Kompanie of Leopard 2's formed from the remnants of 1 and 3 Kompanies PzBtl 123 supported by at least 2 Milan teams from FschjgBtl 251, 2 Platoons from Panzerjagerkompanie 100 and 2 Flights of MBB105Ps from Heersfliegerregiment 26  faced off against 468 MSB
• To the South of Waidhaus 3./PzBtl 123 along with the remaining Luftlandepanzerabwehrkompanie of  FschjgBtl 251, 1 platoon and the HQ of Panzerjagerkompanie 100 and surviving elements of one of the batteries from FlaRegt 4 faced off against 275 MSPs 21 TB.
• in Waidhause the remainder of MSP 275 had gone firm whilst the engagements around the outside were resolved
• 901 ODShB held the Western end of the Haggenwald and the Western of the gaps through the Schwamlwald.

4 ATAF still controlled the skys over the valley effectively securing the Germans ability to manoeuvre however they were  coming under increasing pressure from 131 SAD who were trying to create the conditions that would allow the Soviets to break clear of the area immediately around Waidhaus and to create effective air cover over 18GvMSD which was rapidly becoming a concentrated target.

Conclusions

At this point, we sadly had to conclude what was turning into a fairly finely balanced game at a crucial stage with the Soviets about to commit 275 MSPs Tank battalion to the battle and with the NATO team coming under increasing pressure to relinquish air superiority.  I suspect that the NATO team would have created a degree of delay at this stage although the outcome of the game would hang on the amount of damage they would inflict on 275 MSP and weather 275 MSP could exit the far end of the board in another 6 goes.  The Soviet team could probably not afford the wait and neither team could afford the casualties that a decisive engagement would bring, I suspect therefore the event was probably heading for a marginal German victory.

The Guilds Mausman commanded the Germans in fine Germanic style aggressively counter attacking everything in sight whilst I played the Soviets in a sort of steam roller style.  Elhiem and Panzerfaust200 also of the Guild Wargames forum helped supervise and make up the rules as the game proceeded.

Reflections

The Scenario I felt was working well, it had been designed to create a battle with a couple of different focuses that would keep 4 players busy, So the Soviet Airborne had to land but their needed to be a good air land battle component around that which gave the German team something to shoot at.

The air superiority rule worked well and it was much better having it built into the scenario rather than as a random event as it enabled the flow of the scenario. If I were to change anything I would probably give the Soviets Air Superiority in turns 7-8 NATO in 9-10 and only go random for the last two. This would allow the game to progress to its end state rather than potentially bog down.

The German reinforcements were critical to put the initiative back with the Germans following the air landing and the advance of the very powerful 468 MSB.  I think I would have liked to have seen a bit more German Air Power with perhaps some Alpha jets and a few more MBBs, having said that the two MBB flights deployed had quite a large effect on the game removing as they did the airborne armour.

In both the Weisenberg Counter attack and Storming the Waidhaus Gap the scenarios put T-72A's against Leopard 2's which is always a bit lopsided and need the soviets to deploy fairly large numbers of tanks if they are to succeed.  Both games involved Panzergrenadierdivision 4's Panzerbrigade 12, it would be interesting to run a more traditional German Defence around either one of the Panzergrenadier Brigades  or the Heimatschutz Brigade.  Which might be an idea for the summer.

Rules

The rules amendments generally worked well although the effect of artillery on light armour is inconsequential and on infantry is lethal, some adjustment in this area and around the range of the larger Guided Weapons systems such as TOW might work.  The extra movement for out of contact units starts to speed up the ground manoeuvre and allows the scope to play on larger tables.

we are in progress on consolidating our rule amendments and when it is complete I will put a link on the site to a pdf

longer arms would also help, 8 foot wide boards are definitely a challenge although they do provide a spectacle.

For the next game which is supposed to be fairly small we are shifting the focus to NORTHAG and the British sector.   The scenario and supporting material should appear by the end of January with the Game being played out in February or March.

Related Posts:

TTP

TTP-Forward Detachments and Tactical Air Assault

Scenario:

Scenario - Storming The Waidhaus Gap
ORBAT - Soviet Air Assault Capability Part 1, Overview and Lift Assets
ORBAT - Soviet Air Assault Capability Part 2, Army Air Assault Battalion
ORBAT - Soviet Task Org, Fronts in the Western TVD

Wargames Unit:

Wargames Unit - Soviet Late 80's Independent DShV Battalion
Wargames Unit - Soviet Late 80's MRB
Wargames Unit - The German Army at Waidhaus
Wargames Unit - Soviet, Combat Helicopter Regiment, Assault Helicopter Squadron
Wargames Unit - Soviet, Combat Helicopter Regiment, Attack Helicopter Squadron

AAR:

AAR-Storming The Waidhaus Gap, Part 1 Ground and Deployment
AAR-Storming The Waidhaus Gap, Part 2 Soviet Air Land Battle

Downloads:

Storming The Waidhaus Gap, 19 Mb

ORBAT - Soviet Task Org, Fronts against NORTHAG

The next set of games we intend to play will primarily looking at opperations in the NORTHAG area of responsibility, initially these will be operations against 1 Br Corps. In order to understand force composition and likly activities I decided to take a slightly closer look at NORTHAG and the Soviet Forces that were likly to head into the North German Plain.

Northag Deployment and Balance of Force

The first piece of analysis looked at the NORTHAG lay down and the composition and location of the Corps assets. Essentialy the Army Group Composition was as follows:

• 1 Ne Corps, 3 Divisions, 1 Bde Forward Based, MDP around the River Esk, 48 Hours to deploy
• 1 Ge Corps, 3 Divisions, 2 in place, 1 would hold Dutch Korps area until relieved.
• 1 Br Corps 3 Divisions, 1 Bde held back in UK, the weaker division on more difficult terrain
• 1 Be Corps 2 Weak Divisions, holding difficult terrain, 50% reserve formations from Belgium,
• 3 US Corps, 3 Divisions, providing Strategic depth, if the REFORGER exercise went well. 30 Days to deploy.

in the worst case the Soviets would face 7 Divisions, best case 13 Divisions, depending on warning time and disruption of deployment. If you take the Suverov model a Soviet Front amounted to some 14 Divisions, 14 against 7 was not a great bet, 14 against 13 was abysmal even with echeloned forces and use of economy of force measures such as pinning attacks they would be unlikely to achieve the force ratios required for success. I therefore think it is highly likely that in the Majority of circumstances the Soviets would have tried to push two fronts through NORTHAGs area the first being formed from GSFG and the GDRs NVA and the second from NGSF and the Polish PVA.

Warsaw Pact Operational Plan

Ralph Peters in his book Red Army conceptualises that the Soviet main efforts would have sat against the Belgians in the South and the German/Dutch units in the North with an economy of force action taking place against the British. A sensible plan with a couple of Flaws:

• The British are attacked by 3rd Shock Army a Tank Army, the Soviets would be doctrinaly unlikely to lead an attack with a Tank Army except under conditions where the defence was unhinged.
• It is doctrinally implausible that the Soviets would use a Tank Army in a pinning action.
• As outlined above, one front would probably be insufficient to take NORTHAG down.

My operational plan for the Warsaw Pact on the Central front takes Peter's basic premise but relies on the Soviets deploying 4 Fronts in the first echelon based on 1st Polish Front, 1st and 2nd German Fronts and 1st Czecheslovakian front, the 2nd Echelon would be provided by fronts from the Western Military districts of the Soviet Union. This broadly follows the composition laid down in the Rand Soviet - Warsaw Pact Western Theatre of Operations paper and puts 2 Fronts against NORTHAG.

The outline of the plan would see 1st Polish Front striking against the Dutch, German and Danish Forces in the North whilst the East Germans and Soviets of 1st German Front would hit the Germans, British and Belgians in the South with the inter Front boundaries falling in 1 Ge Corps area and 1 Be Corps areas. This would enable 1 Br Corps and 1 Ge Corps to be pinned by the commitment of one Soviet Army, Whilst an NVA Army hit the weak Belgian Corps and 2 Armies hit the weak Dutch, Danish and Germans in the North who would always be slow to arrive. The tank Armies of each front would sit in the second echelon ready to exploit success.

Of Note, there are references that refer to Polish objections around the split direction of attack they would need to pursue, although additional Naval Infantry and Airborne assets seem to have been allocated to the Danish Peninsular which leave them with reasonably credible force ratios.  The Strategic drivers for securing Denmark were primarily Naval and Air focusing on access to the North Sea for the Baltic Fleet and disruption of NATO Radar chains. (added 17 Dec 2013)

The Second Operational echelon could then be comprised of the 1st Baltic Front and the 1st Carpathian Front (originally posted as Belorussian and Ukranian, amended following analysis of Soviet Military District holdings, and the CIAs Warning of War in Europe). The biggest challenge would probably be getting the Polish army onto the start line given a trip wire scenario. The Map above which I have adapted probably sums this up.

The interesting benifit of this plan from the Warsaw Pact perspective is that it pitches the more obsolete elements of the Warsaw Pact against the more obsolete or late arriving elements of NATO, whilst the bulk of the more Modern Soviet and Czech assets fall against the British, German and US forces.

German Soviet Front Composition and Deployment

Following the same logic as that used for the creation of the Chezcheslovakian front, it is assumed that the components of GSFG would be combined with those of the DDR to form two fronts each composed of two Combined Arms Armies a tank Army and an Air Army, with the Air Armies being formed from the disaggregation of assets owned by 16 Air Army and the Luftstreitkräfte der National Volksarmee.

Each Army is assumed to be 4 MRD and 1 TD in the case of CAA and 4 TD in the case of a Tank army, the idea is outlined in Victor Suverovs Inside the Soviet Army.

The Polish Army could also easily be restructured into a standard front given the incorporation of the Soviet 20th Tank Division into the tank Army, to create 1st Polish Front as follows;

• 1 PVA CAA; 16PVA TD, 1PVA MRD, 3PVA MRD, 9PVA MRD, 2PVA MRD
• 2 PVA CAA; 20PVA TD, 8PVA MRD, 12PVA MRD, 15PVA MRD, 4PVA MRD
• 6 PVA TA; 5PVA TD, 10PVA TD, 11PVA TD, 20TD (Soviet)
• 1 PVA Air Army

The Soviet Front attacking into the NORTHAG sector, 1st German Front, I have composed from:

• 5 NVA CAA; 9 NVA TD, 1 NVA MSD, 8 NVA MSD, 11NVA MSD, NVA MSD (res)
• 2 GvTA as a CAA; 16GvTD, 94GvMSD, 21MSD, 207MSD, 6MSD (fm NGSF)
• 3rd Shock Army TA; 7GvTD, 10GvTD, 12GvTD, 47GvTD
• 16 Air Army.

Whilst the front focused on CENTAG 2nd German Front would be comprised of;

• 8th GvCAA; 79TD, 27GvMSD, 39GvMSD, 57GvMSD, NVA MSD (res)
• 1st GvTA as CAA 9TD, 20GvMSD, 35MSD, 4 NVA MSD, NVA MSD (res)
• 20th Guards Army (TA) 32GvTD, 25 TD, 90GvTD, 11GvTD
• 4 Air Army

The 1st Czechoslovakian Front, could equally standardised as follows;

• 22 CAA; 30GvMSD, 18GvMSD, 48 MSD, 15 CSLA MSD, 31 TD
• 4 CSLA CAA; 2CSLA MSD, 19CSLA MSD, 20CSLA MSD 3CSLA MSD, 1CSLA TD
• 1 CSLA TA; 4CSLA TD, 9CSLA TD, 13CSLA TD, 15 TD (Soviet)
• 1 CSLA Air Army

This Orbat can be created by rationalising divisions within the Soviet Armies to meet Suverovs definition and redistributing the East German 3 NVA CAA and reserve units to bring the Soviet Fronts unto strength. Alternativly you would be bring forward 3 Soviet MRDs from the Western Military districts which would obviate the need to use the NVA reserves.  The same logic works for NGSF, CGSF and the Baltic, Belorussian and Carpathian Military Districts.  Depending on the Type of Scenario trip wire or  escalation the composition of the forces and fronts involved might vary considerably.  The CIA in Warning of War in Europe postulated 2 options:

• Trip Wire: 3 Fronts - 1/2 German and Czech, 2 Week Warning
• Soviet Preferred: 5/6 Fronts - as described above, 4 Weeks Warning

These warning times were stated for 1989 following Soviet force posture reductions and were considerably longer than those stated in 1984.  The illustration above would take some effort on behalf of the Warsaw pact to orchestrate.

1st German Front Deployment

The Soviet 1st German Front attacking into the Southern Half of NORTHAG is attacking with two Combined Armes Armies forward and a Tank Army in the second echelon. Following Ralph Peter's concept for Battle, the Front is deploying 5 GDR CAA South against the weak 1 Be Corps and the Southern most elements of 1 Br Corps, 19 Infantry Brigade. 20 Guards CAA atack into the remainder of 1 Be Corps and Southern most units of 1 Ge Corps, 3rd Shock Army is echeloned to exploit success either to the North or South.

The scenario I am working is against 4 UK Armoured Division which will be engaged by 20 GvCAA .  Given the fact that this will be a pinning attack, I am assuming they Soviet's will attack with 4 MRD in the first echelon and a single TD in the second. 20GvCAA is comprised of:

• 94GvMSD
• 21 MSD
• 207 MSD
• 6 MSD from Reinforcement from NGSF
• 17 TD

94GvMSD is our selected opponent for that part of 4 Armoured Division not hit by 5 NVA CAA

94GvMSD Zvenigorodsko Berlinskaya Order of Suverov

94 GvMSDs composition is reasonably well documented, from a number of Russian language sites and broadly seems to have consisted of the following:

• 204 The Red Guards Motorized Rifle UmanskoBerlinsky Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov and B.Hmelnitskogo Regiment (Schwerin) BMP, 204GvMSP
• 286 The Red Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment Brandenburg (Schwerin) BTR, 286 GvMSP
• 288 The Red Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment Chisinau (Wismar) BTR, 288 GvMSP
• 74 Guards Tank Valginsky Order of Lenin Red Banner Orders of Suvorov, Kutuzov and B.Hmelnitskogo Regiment (Schwerin), 74 GvTP
• 199 Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment Brandenburg Red Banner (Wismar)
• 896 SAM Demblinsky Order of Alexander Nevsky Regiment (Schwerin)
• 20 Independent Tank Battalion (Schwerin)
• 496 separate anti-tank artillery battalion (Schwerin)
• 12 separate reconnaissance battalion (Schwerin)
• 159 separate communications battalion (Schwerin)
• 107 separate engineering battalion (Schwerin)
• 1130 separate battalion of material security
• 52 separate repair and refurbishment battalion

References:

• Fire and Fury, BAOR Orbat
• Russian GSFG site
• Land Forces in Lower Saxony
• Lower Saxony
• AFCENT deployment maps
• Cold War Decoded GSFG Post
• TMP Posts on 3rd Shock Army v BAOR
• Dutch Army Orbat and deployment
• The Third World War, General J Hackett
• Red Army - Ralph Peters
• Armies of NATO's Central Front
• The British Army in Germany, an Organisational History 1947 - 2004
• Confrontation; The Strategic Geography of NATO and The Warsaw Pact
• Forces 80 BAOR overview
• Warning of War in Europe, CIA

Related Posts

• ORBAT - Soviet Task Org, Fronts in the Western TVD
• ORBAT - 1980's Soviet MRR and TRR, Part 1 Deployment and ORBAT

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Review - Book, Mil Mi-8/Mi17 Rotary-Wing Workhorse and Warhorse

Yefim Gordon provides a very comprehensive review of the worlds most widely used Helicopter across its many versions. He deals with the subject in the first Instance from its developmental perspective looking at the initial development, production of the first Generation Mi-8T and it's derivatives before turning his attention to the second generation Mi8M/Mi-17 with its increased power and lift and it's associated versions.

 

To give you a clue on the use of the word comprehensive, some 61 versions of the Mi-8T are covered and 83 for the Mi-8M/Mi-17 all these get at least a paragraph which outlines there principal differences a number of these paragraphs cover more than one version. Versions covered include both Civilian and Military marks.

He then goes onto describe the base aircraft in detail before looking at its operational use in both the Military and civilian arenas. In the Military deployment space the coverage mostly focuses on Afghanistan and Chechnea. This section of the book also includes a review of operation in foreign service, before he concludes with a discusion on how the aircraft competes with others of a similar type.

I must admit I found the book fascinating in its breadth, this is not a how it works book for the dedicated chopper nut but a comprehensive review of the aircraft and it's varients which for a number of my Soviet projects I found very useful. It's not really a cover to cover read either but is a stunning refernce superb for bottoming out the difference between the platforms and the broad service history and evolution. It is well illustrated with a large number of black and white photographs and a selection of high quality full colour photographs usefull as painting guides for a variety of military and civil platforms.

 


A very useful book if you are interested in the Mi-8, Soviet military aviation and understanding the use and deployment of this aircraft.


Mil Mi-8 / Mi-17 Rotary-Wing Workhorse and Warhorse (Red Star) @ Amazon

Other Book Reviews:

A History of Soviet Airborne Forces
Soviet Tactical Aviation
Armies of NATO's Central Front
Red Thrust, Central Front
The Soviet Afghan War, How a Super Power Fought and Lost
Weapons and Tactics of the Soviet Army
Soviet Air Land Battle Tactics
The Military Balance
Encyclopaedia of the Modern British Army
The Soviet Conduct of Tactical Manoeuvre
First Clash
The Third World War
The British Army in Germany

The Cold War Bookstore contains links to over 60 Cold War titles covered in my book list

 

 

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