NATO, WAPA and the indefensibility of LandJut in NGP and D85

[JDR Dragoon]

The area covered by NATOs bi-national danish-german Corps LandJut consisted of a 50 km broad corridor between the Elbe river and the Baltic sea. All of it excellent offensive terrain (excepting the major urban area of Hamburg) and with only the Kieler Canal (and the Elbe-Lübeck canal running N-S parallel to the East German border, but good luck trying to hold along that line for very long.....) as a natural obstacles to stop an attacker.

To hold this 50 kilometer front LandJut had but two division: The danish "Jutland Division" (Jyske Divisionskommando) and the german 6th Panzergrenadierdivision. In addition to this came various Corps troops and local defence forces. These two divisions, with their 6 brigades between them, represented about half the necessary manpower needed to be sure of holding the peninsula and ensuring that the forward defence could both cover the border and have enough "depth" so that a breakthrough would not lead to a devastating rout. On top of this the forces of LandJut also had to guard against the possibilities of a coastal invasion and a possible use of airlanding troops against the Kieler Canal. Ideally about 4 division equivalents were needed for this task....

The Jutland Division was the danish armed forces prime contribution to the common defence of the inner german border. In 1985 it consisted of three armoured infantry brigades (all equipped alike) plus divisional troops. The manning was a mix of enlisted men on running contracts and conscripts with 9 months of service behind them. The tank strenght of the division consisted of 120 modern Leo 1A3 tanks bought in the mid-late 70´s plus 18 older M41 Walker Bulldogs in the divisional recon battalion (acquired in the early 60s, last major refit in 1970-71). The infantry was mostly equipped with shorter range AT weapons (84mm Carl Gustav RRs and 66mm LAW) and the german G3/MG3 combo for small arms with .50 MGs and 81 and 120mm mortars for heavy weapons. About 2/3rds of the infantry strenght of the division was carried in M113 APCs with the remainder truckborne. The weapons mix of the infantry was the same regardless of whether the unit was motorized or mechanized (motorized units just deployed their .50 MGs and 81mm mortars on tripods instead). LOng range AT weapons was divided among the Battalions, with each having 1-2 firing platoons of 4 launchers each (either mounted on M113s or Jeep/Landrovers) The divisional artillery consisted of 1950s vintage towed pieces (155mm M114, 203mm M115) and unupgraded M109 SPGs (with the "short" M114 barrel). Airdefence consisted of a single battalion comprised of a single 40mm BOFORS semi-radar guided AAG battery and 3 batteries of REDEYE MANPADS (distributed 1 pr. brigade). The division was dependent on mobilization and drawing of equipment (could be accomplished in about than 24 hours) before it could begin to depart its danish garrisons for its wartime position as the northernmost of LandJuts two divisions covering the area just south of Lübeck and north towards the coast. Mobilizing, moving the division to Germany, digging in, laying minefields, clearing fields of fire and coordinating with the german authorities would probabaly realistically have taken about a week or so to accomplish under peacetime conditions.

The german 6th Panzergrenadier had 2 Armoured infantry brigades and a single Panzerbrigade. The Tank strenght of the division was composed of Leo 1s. Most of the infantry rode in the excellent Marders with the remainder in M113s. Infantry AT consisted mostly of 6-9 MILAN ATGM pr. company plus Panzerfausts in every squad. Small arms were G3/MG3s. Mortars consisted of 120mms. Most of the infantry could move and fight under the protection of armor. Long range AT consisted of a company of Raketenjagdpanzers pr. Brigade. The divisional artillery was composed of modern upgraded M109 and M110 SPGs, plus Rocket launchers and modern towed FH70 155mm howitzers. The air defence battalion had 36 of the excellent modern Gepards plus an oodle of Stingers. The division was dependent on mobilization (could be accomplished in less than 24 hours) but the units were garrissoned within an hours drive or so of their wartime positions.

The fact that the two division between them could only muster about 6 brigades of the 12 or so needed caused quite a bit of tactical and operational headaches in LandJut during the period. Compunding this was the fact, that the Jutland Division would likely be either mobilizing or deploying to Germany when the WAPA attack hit, leaving 6th PzG with the onerous task of covering a 50 kilometer frontage all on their lonesome. The germans tried to alleviate the problem by "Supersizing" 6th PzG: Its divisional Jäger Battalions acquired M113s for transport instead of trucks and an "extra" Heimatschutzbrigade (nr. 51) with 2 battalions of Leo 1s, 2 battalions of infantry (one in M113 1 in trucks) plus a 105mm artillery battalion was attached to the division. The danes also tried to help the problem by raising the so called "Jutland Battle group" (Jyske Kampgruppe). This was a weak infantry brigade consisting of 3 motorized infantry battalions (same equipment mix as the motorized infantry in the Jutland Division), a 105mm artillery battalion (with guns of 1950s vintage). The germans also reinforced LandJut with additional AA assets in order to alleviate the fact, that the Jutland division was woefully deficient in this regard. On top of this the UKMF (a british infantry brigade) was also earmarked for the BALTAP area from the 1970s forward. But this brigade might equvally well go to reinforce "LandZealand" (the danish Corps HQ in charge of the territorial defence of the danish isles west of the Great Belt) as to LandJut. The 2nd MEF (about a division of US Marines plus their attached air support) was also earmarked for AFNORTHs area in general, but that might mean anywhere from Nordkap to the Elbe (and at least one Marine Regiment was especially earmarked for Norway). Another possibility for reinforcements was the ACE Mobile Force (a supersized light infantry brigade) but this unit could potentially have been used in any other NATO member country instead. By the late 1980s SACEUR also had the US 9th infantry division as theater reserve, which might get committed to the LandJut area. The problem with these out of theater reinforcements were time. It would likely take up to a week to mobilise, embark and transport the UKMF from GB to the continent. The ACE Mobile Force would also take time to assemble its constituent units (but could potentially arrive very quickly by air transport once asembled). How soon the USMC might show up of course depends on where in the world they might be floating around at the moment mobilization starts and the 9th US Infantry would likely take at least a month to mobilise, embark and transport to Europe (probably longer) from its bases in Washington on the US West Coast.

Against this would be arrayed the forces of the WAPA "Coastal Front" (nominally under polish control), most likely consisting of the East German 5th army (3-4 divisions) in the 1st tactical echelon followed followed up by a polish army in the 2nd echelon. The NVA army would achieve the initial breakthrough towards the Kieler Canal and when the polish army arrived it would continue towards the west following the frisian coast. The polish army (most likely the mobilized 4th Army consisting of 4 Mot.Rifle divisions plus army level troops) would then cross the Kieler Canal and complete the conquest of Jutland and the destruction of NATO forces there. Meanwhile polish and east german amphibious and airborne units (a polish airborne and ambhious division plus an east german ambhibious regiment followed up by a polish Motorized rifle division with attached army level artillery and engineers etc.) would attack and conquer LandZealand. The use of tactical nuclear weapons on a massive scale features in all surviving WAPA plans (about a 100 weapons in the 1-50 kt. range used against LandJut in the first 2 days of the war alone!). Strangely enough, the soviet Marine Brigade only shows up in the WAPA plans during the 1960s (where it is among the forces earmarked for the invasion of LandZealand and the danish isles). During later periods this unit doesn´t feature in any extant WP plans against the BALTAP area, but since we only know about the WAPA plans from the East German and polish archives it is possible, that the soviet high command might still have planned to use this unit against BALTAP (without informing their WP allies or giving them authorization to use the unit when drafting plans). An alternative use might have been as theater reserve or as a spearhead in an amphibious attack against either Sweden or Finland).

But how is this represented in the MC series?

Well, in the bog standard NGP 85, neither the danish army nor the NVA 5th army shows up (The East German divisions are attached to various soviet armies instead and the danes seems to have chosen to stay at home watching TV and drinking beer instead). The 6th Panzergrenadier (minus its extra attachmants) is thus left to hold the entire Landjut frontage against the northernmost prong of the 2nd GTA plus an attached soviet Marine brigade landing amphibiously behind them (and usually gets shafted in the process...). The AFNORTH expansion makes up for this almost fully by including the german Territorial troops, 2 brigades of the Jutland division, the UKMF, THe ACE Mobile Force and even a USMC Expeditionary Brigade (about 12 Brigade equivalents all told on the NATO side in the biggest scenario. Or 4 divisions). On the WAPA side the missing NVA 5th army shows up (with 3 divisions). On top of this the strategy options now makes it possible for the WAPA player to redeploy the polish amphibious and airborne units from their planned invasion use against LandZealand and the danish isles and use them against Landjut (and what WAPA player wouldn´t? Afaik it is essentially a "Free lunch" since the player isn´t responssible for the invasion of the danish isles and doesn´t stand to gain or lose any VPs on the basis of who possesses Denmark east of the Great Belt). It is thus a no-brainer to use the forces originally earmarked for this operation against the enemy actually on the map. In one scenario variant the WAPA player even gets an entire soviet airborne division to play with! And he still gets to exercise the option of employing the soviet Marine Brigade. In the biggest scenario the WAPA side gets about 6 division equivalents (the polish airborne division is really nothing more than a big Regiment). In the AFNORTH expansion for NGP the sides are thus balanced: WAPA starts out strong (East German 5th army plus attached airborne and amphibous forces against the german 6th PzG plus Territorial forces (about a division equivalent), but arriving NATO reinforcements will even up the odds after about 24 hours (in the smaller of the AFNORTH scenarios WAPA doesn´t get the soviet airborne division, but in turn NATO doesn´t get the UKMF, the USMC and the ACE obile Force, so the overall correlation of forces stays constant)

In Danube Front 85 the WAPA player gets all of the above options (minus the soviet airborne division) plus an entire polish army to boot (1st Army with 5 divisions, whose forward divisions were forward deployed to the GDR under the cover of a major exercise). The WAPA player can thus attack at dawn on the 10th of June 1985 with 4 divisions (only 2 East German since the 1st MSD is occupied in Berlin and 2 Polish) plus the polish airborne and amphibious forces topped off with the soviet Marine Brigade (about 2 division equivalents more) with 3 additional polish divisions coming up in 2nd tactical echelon. On top of this, the WAPA seaborne invasions (including the insertion of the NVAs 29th Amphibious Motor Rifle regiment across the bay of Lübeck on the first turn) comes off totally unmolested (not the airborne drop), even though both the german Naval air arm and Navy were fully alert to the possibility of such actions on behalf of WAPA, and the units arrive on their landing beaches in pristine condition and ready for action. Against them stands the "supersized" 6th PzG (that gets its additonal Territorial brigade and Jägers in M113s in Danube Front), but the rest of the Landjut Territorial forces (1 more Heimatscutz Brigade and 2 Heimatschutz Infantry Regiments) is absent, even though the task of these units expressly were to guard against WAPA air and amphibious attacks like those represented in Danube Front 85. About noon on the 10th the Danish Jutland division starts to move south, but only its divisional troops plus a single Brigade is present in the game (plus a battalion sized Jutland Battlegroup consisting mostly of Leopard Tanks). A day later an option of inserting the Belgian Commando Brigade (a light infantry brigade) appears, but this is only one option among many if playing the "Big" campaign. About 3 days into the campaign the UKMF will pop up as well if that option is exercised. Even with both belgians and UKMF in the mix NATO can at best muster a little over 2 divisions (about 7 brigade equivalents) on this front, and then only after 3 days, while WAPA can muster 6 division equivalents from the get-go and up to 10 after a day or two (only 9 if the reduction of Berlin takes too long or the 1st MSD is sent elsewhere). I must admit that every time I have played the AFNORTH scenario in Danube Front 85 as NATO against the AI I have been shafted and I dread to think about how I would fare against a human opponent. Thus is made even worse in the big "Battle for Germany" campaign where the failure of Landjut will mean that WAPA forces will be freed up to use against the rest of NATO once the BALTAP area falls. I would thus like to propose some measures that could potentially serve to both even up the odds and give a more accurate portrayal of the involved armed forces in the Landjut area (if nothing else I can at least offer up my efforts as a private 3rd party OOB "Mod" for the game). But it is getting late so I will continue tomorrow.