POLISH
DEPLOYMENT
1st & 2nd
Squadron dug in and filled the crescent shaped woodlands east of Mokra. Shown here, 1st Squadron (with the
option to call forward their cavalry mounts)
is deployed in the far end. Anti-Tank
rifles were positioned at each end of the squadron’s defensive zone.
The HMG Company
dug in just in front of the elevated railroad line. The second line of defense (in the distance)
consists of the armored cars & anti-tank guns dug in at the road &
company headquarters situated in the railroad depot (building with the red
door). The dismounted Cyclist Company
took up positions in the woods between the road and railroad tracks (back
right).
GERMAN
PLAN OF ATTACK
Speed was of the
essence for the German attack: all approaches to the Polish defenses had to be
pressed and developed as quickly as possible in order to recognize where the
breakthrough would take place and exploit it.
With this in mind, Company A light Panzers, were sent along the right
flank & given orders to circle around and envelope anticipated defenders in
the woods.
Company B &
the Schutzen Platoon were sent up the middle as the force that would pin down
the Polish defenders and hold them in place while the others attempted to by-pass on the flanks.
Company C, with
the Panzer IV’s, was the only one capable of taking on the armoured train. Therefore, they were to move up on the left,
but break through the woods at the base of the hill, as the Germans anticipated
the hill would be fortified. The
motorcycle recon platoon would lead the advance. Once through the
wood line, each platoon had an assigned route to get across the rail line and take
the objective by Turn 9 (1300 hrs). The Air Support
would be held until later in the battle in anticipation of using the Stuka’s to
eliminate the train.
PRELIMINARY
BOMBARDMENT
In a Preliminary
Bombardment, every unit & structure on the table gets hit by the
barrage. Roll the result of a 105mm hit
against each target.
Because of Luftwaffe air superiority, 1-in-6 of the targets will be hit
by bombs, rather than artillery. After rolling a
bucket of dice (one for each unit & empty house), 6 were subject to attack
from the Stuka. The divebombers
took out one of the anti-tank guns on the road and 1 HMG. The artillery barrage contributed with an ATR
& a pair of rifle stands from 2nd Squadron and 1 stand from 1st
Squadron. Most importantly, the 1st
Squadron was pinned as the Germans advanced on Turn 1.
0500
hours - Turn 1
The Germans advanced
as planned, with the Poles watching and waiting for better fields of fire. The motorcycles were allowed to get out ahead
of the Panzer IV’s on the left, while Company B Light Panzers advanced on the
wood line with the Schutzen Platoon following in their trucks.
Polish 2nd Squadron watching the German recon company cross the fields in an attempt to by-pass their fortified position.
At 0620 Company
B light Panzers assaulted the gap between 1st & 2nd
Squadrons in the woods. One of the
Panzer II’s immediately got hung up in the gully while the rest collided with
squads from each platoon. After losing 3
squads, the Polish 2nd withdrew from the melee. Rather than fall back on the town to form a
second line, the Platoon commander could not maintain order and the defenders
routed from the battlefield. Despite not
damaging any of the panzers, the stubborn resistance of 1st Squadron
forced the panzers to break off the assault and withdraw from the wood line to
regroup.
Company B Panzers assaulting the
Polish defenders dug into the woods west of Mokra.
0640 hrs. Thus far
the Polish had been unable to bring their valuable Anti-tank Rifles to
bear. The 2 in 2nd Squadron
had been lost in the preliminary bombardment and from the assault. In addition, the assault resulted
in the loss of one rifle from 1st Squadron. The second rifle, however, remained out on
the left edge of the Polish lines and carefully tracked the advance of Company
A. When the time was right, the platoon
let off a volley and were able to brew up one of the Panzer II’s attempting to
turn their flank.
0700
hrs – Turn 3
The
absence of 2nd Squadron in the woods becomes a vulnerability the
Germans were looking to exploit. On the
German left, the recon motorcycles were ordered into the woods as the Panzer
IV’s of Company C moved up in support.
On the German
right, the lead tanks of Company A were turning the flank and circling around
behind the woods as the trailing tanks pelted the defenders.
Panzer II’s of Company A return fire
on the wood line from whence the anti-tank fire came.
0800 hrs – Turn 4
As the
motorcycle recon units broke through the woods on the right side of the Polish
line, they encountered the 3 armoured cars dug in and firing their machineguns
at the hapless Germans who foundered in the woods waiting for the medium tanks
to come up and support them.
At
0810 the first air strike reached the battlefield in the form of a single Stuka
dive bomber. The train was nowhere to
be seen, so it attacked the most visible target: the machineguns entrenched along
the rail line. Two more guns were
destroyed in the strike, but the remaining HMG & command kept their
position.
At 0820 the
assault on the Polish 1st Squadron jumped off and the forces clashed
in the tree line. At first the Germans
appeared to be pushing their way in, but as additional Polish defenders joined
the fray, the Schutzen Company was repulsed. Not without
losses, however. The Schutzen Company
sustained enough casualties that they fell back behind the panzers and
disengaged from the battle. However,
before the Panzers could launch another assault on the Polish lines, 1st
Squadron recognized their position was precarious and also withdrew. The front line of defense had been
eliminated.
The Schutzen Platoon,
supported by Company B Light Panzers assault Polish positions in the tree line;
a bloody affair that would result in both infantry units departing the
battlefield.
0840
hours: The armoured train Smialy rumbles onto the battlefield
over-looking the town and immediately zeroes in on the Panzers of A Company
that have come around the Polish positions in the forest. A Panzer I is quickly destroyed by a shot
from the 75mm turret.
0900
hours – Turn 5
Company
A scurries to get away from the big guns on the armoured train and places the
buildings of the town between them and the train. They skirt between the forest and the village
in an attempt to link up with Company C (Medium tanks) before crossing the
road. The Medium tanks
break through the woods and fire an unsuccessful volley at the armoured cars
impeding their advance. With the enemy
getting too close for comfort, the Polish Commander-in-Chief moved out of the
train depot and began withdrawing to the woods across the tracks to command the
final stand against a potential armored breakthrough.
“Where
is the Luftwaffe?” Cried the tank commander of Company C as the armoured train
rumbled closer to their position and fired a salvo directly into their
tanks. Two of the three Panzer IV’s were
blown to pieces.
View
from the Armoured Train shows a clear field of fire as the guns open up on the
German Panzers in the wood line. The dug
in armoured cars continued to keep the motorcycle company at bay.
(Yes, those are Russian BA-20's standing in for Polish Wz34's).
At
0930 hours, the Polish artillery arrived and set up on the Polish left
alongside the shattered machinegun company. With the Panzer
IV’s burning and the arrival of Polish reinforcements, the German situation was looking precarious.
1000
hours – Turn 6
The remaining
Panzer IV passed his morale check and remained in the fight; directing his fire
on the biggest threat- the armoured train, while the Panzer II’s of B Company
moved over to put some pressure on the armored cars. Although they couldn’t harm the tanks, the
armored cars were impeding the advance of the motorcycle unit which, at the
moment, had the best chance of getting across the tracks by 1300 hours and securing
the victory. To accomplish
that mission, the German motorcyclists accepted an Order change from the German
Commander-in-Chief to attempt to cross the road immediately as time was running
out to take the Objective. Due to the
dense forest, they abandoned their cycles and headed out on foot. The Panzer II’s,
along with the first German artillery strike of the battle, managed to suppress
a couple of the armored cars, but they held firm. The 60mm mortar team from the recon unit was
able to knock out the remaining anti-tank gun, which diminished the threat on
the remaining panzers. The lone Panzer
IV turned its attention to the armoured train (which made a pretty big target
up on the elevated rail bed) and destroyed the gun carriage that was doing all
the damage.
At 1020 hours, despite the threat of the train being neutralized, the Luftwaffe made another appearance with 3 Stuka divebombers attacking the train. The locomotive and the rest of the train were destroyed in addition to the Polish Command who were too close to the target when the bombs fell. The Second in Command, holding out in the shed by the Depot, was now in charge.
1030 hours: With the loss of the train and remaining
anti-tank gun, the only effective anti-tank defenses left in the force were the
newly arrived field guns. The armored
cars rallied from suppression and began firing on the German recon infantry
once again, but the artillery was unable to range in on the tanks of Company A
lurking around the fences of the village.
At 1040 hours,
when the leading elements of the German Recon patrol reached the road, they
came under fire from the dismounted Kawalerii Cyclist Company, who’d dug into
the woods just below the railroad tracks.
The two leading squads of the German Recon were cut down and the rest of
the German unit withdrew in panic. The
Kawalerii Cycles had just now come into combat and their presence was already
making a huge impact on the battle.
1100
hours – Turn 7
With the loss of
the Recon unit, the German Commander-in-Chief had to size up his options. Company C was down to 1 tank and couldn’t take
the Objective. Company A was almost out
of fuel and couldn’t cover the distance.
This left just Company B with its 3 Panzer II's to attempt a breakthrough. A Change Orders was issued to send them
across the tracks immediately.
In support of
the new attack, the Panzer IV changed targets and began firing on the
persistent armored cars; knocking out 2 of them. The tanks from Company B put enough firepower
on the last armored car to destroy it as they were passing through their
fortifications.
Company B attempting
another breakthrough.
Without enough
fuel to go for the objective, Company A turned its attention to the two 75mm
Field Guns the Poles had brought forward and quickly neutralized them. It appeared there were no more obstacles to
prevent the tanks from breaking through.
Panzer IV D: the badass
of the German army. This one surviving
medium tank chalked up 2 armored cars, the gun carriage on the armored train
and one of the Polish Field Guns during the course of the battle.
1140 hours: As the only unit left in the way of the
oncoming German tanks, the Kawalerii Cycle Company took stock of what they had
left to fight with. The Anti-Tank rifle
made good in suppressing one of the closest tanks. The rest of the company, including the heavy
machinegun, pelted a second tank with small arms fire. This was enough to suppress the second tank.
Luck was with
them, but would it hold?
1200
hours – Turn 8
The two
suppressed panzers from B Company both failed their attempt to rally from
suppression. This prevented the company
from advancing any closer to the rail line and their objective.
The failure in
morale was decisive, as there was no way for the Germans to reach the objective
by the next turn. It was a Polish
Victory!
AFTERMATH
The 19th & 21st
Uhlan Regiments, part of the Volhynian Cavalry Brigade, were able to hold up
the German advance for the day. However,
they were forced to withdraw the following day when the Germans pushed back the
Polish 7th Division just south of Mokra. With it's position untenable, the victorious
Cavalry Brigade withdrew; ceding the field to the Germans. Both sides knew that the Germans
had ample resources to eventually overwhelm the Polish defenders. However, the Poles believed that if they
could delay the Germans long enough, the French and British would come to the
rescue by opening up an offensive on the Western Front (an offensive that never
materialized). Therefore, the success of
this delaying action was deemed a victory by the Poles and it motivated their
soldiers to further extract a heavy price from the Germans.
Battle reenacted
August 30 – September 3, 2014.
