850610_10sa: Operation Stoss: The Battle for Berlin (HTH) - MC 05 Danube Front '85

Berlin, June 10th 1985: The political importance of Berlin cannot be overstated, the city sits like a thorn in the side of the Warsaw Pact. It is from Berlin that the West broadcasts messages of freedom unabated into the East Bloc heartland, attempting to sow doubt in the minds of East German people over the validity of their system. It is from Berlin that the despised US, UK, and French Military Liaison Missions venture out into the DDR on their continual quest to detect, monitor, track and evaluate WP military activities, ever vigilant for signs of war. It is from Berlin that the hated spies of the West depart on their missions to pilfer the hard earned data, documents, and intelligence that the East has labored so hard to attain in the race to show the better form of government. It is the cordoning off of Berlin with a huge wall, it's defenses facing outward to prevent East German people from defecting, that remains an unexplainable and undeniably huge question mark casting doubt on the utopian claims of the Soviet system. For all these reasons, and more, the city must be taken! However, an assault on Berlin will Ipso-facto draw the forces of the United States, United Kingdom, and France as well as the sovereign territory of West Germany into the war. One WARPAC option could be to simply surround Berlin with combat units thereby sealing the city off. This solution solves several sticky points, it prevents an outright attack on the French, leaving the possibility of France not entering a war, it prevents street fighting and the commensurate high casualties that come with that form of warfare, as well as prevents inevitable collateral civilian casualties (casualties that the west will play upon to show WARPAC callousness and sway world opinion), and it will free more WARPAC forces to head westward to aid in the main war effort. As attractive as this plan may seem, it is not viable, symbolically, Berlin must be taken. Further, it cannot be ruled out whether or not NATO tactical nuclear weapons are in Berlin, such weapons, if used, could easily disrupt the critical WARPAC supply lines that run to the north and south of the city, or strike the GSFG Headquarters complex, a scant 15 miles south of the city. The city must be taken! As dawn breaks on 10 June, the defenders of Berlin are on alert. When the Warsaw Pact attack comes, it will not be a question of if Berlin can hold, but of how many WARPAC forces it will take, and how long they must fight to reduce the city's defenses. Every minute Berlin stands free, the West will see a beacon of light in a sea of darkness. [Size, small] Designer's Notes: This scenario includes the East German Frontier Troops that encircle Berlin as well as NATO Police units. There is no doubt that the Berlin garrison will die. Therefore, this scenario is about how efficiently the WarPac player can capture West Berlin. Special thanks to Mark Breed for his assistance.This scenario has designed for HTH play.