Russian Turn Ten
08:00 23 January 1942 Visibility 4km
From the command report I can see what the effect of bright and sunny day does to my force. Fully 1/3 of it is now disrupted. That count includes all artillery, AA, ATG, and even the HQs along with the infantry and cavalry. 22 units are still disrupted and seven are low ammo at the start of my turn. I am in trouble now.
The cavalry attack has ground to a disrupted halt. My large stack in the valley village is mostly disrupted. Recon companies from the 208th bumped into my T40s on the 83rd Cavalry’s southern flank. Good thing I had the tanks there. Those thin tanks will serve very well to delay any move north by the German 208th ID by denying the road and RR.
And to make matters worse, the Germans are all in good order with no visible disruptions.
The bright spot is the defense of the 10VP location village south of Sukhinichi. Control of this position in force may turn things around if the cavalry can rally.
In the south my disrupted division begins to withdraw into the forest. If the Germans do not pursue, I may be able to rally this force for another try.
The 323rd RD in the NW recoils three units from a German battalion sized attack west of Khludnevo. The image shows this stack is badly mauled.
I have some good order troops on the SW tail of this division's line. With some luck I might be able to catch the Germans napping with them.
Even the sneaky Areo sleds cannot do what I had hoped. They are spotted and decimated by German artillery. Only three remain. I move the sleds SE of Zimitsy and hope they will remain out of sight for a turn or two. They might recover enough fatigue to get back to D morale. Maybe they might cause more German units to go out looking for them. That will draw Germans away from positions where I can take advantage of the weaker defense.
The German artillery is really wrecking all my plans.
Dog Soldier
Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything.
- Wyatt Earp