The Porechye Bridgehead - The Matrix Games version of East Front II

This scenario depicts the desperate battle which took place in the last half of July 1941 around the Porechye Bridgehead 65 miles SSW of Leningrad. A strong advanced combat element of the 6th Panzer Division succeeded in capturing intact the two large bridges which span the Luga River at the town of Porechye. They were however far out in front of any help or air cover. The Soviet Army dispatched by rail 2nd and 3rd Proletarian Divisions and Armoured units direct from Leningrad. The bridgehead itself was only 2 miles long and at points only 400 yards wide! The Russians only once threatened the one bridge when an Battalion which consisting of 150 remaining men made it to one of the bridges. They were wiped out by a swift counter-attack and the Russians never again gained the bridges. They dropped up to 2,000 medium shells a day in the bridgehead area and never once hit the bridges. The Soviets were hampered by limited visability and lost over 2,000 men and 76 tanks on one approach road alone!