Counterattack Near Uman-Scenario 3 Part 3 Bloody Footing

 Dawn broke and the Soviets had landed on the far bank. Could they keep it?

The Soviet left pushes inland. 

The Russians had made inroads across the front and landed infantry on the left, middle and right, and they did it with minimal casualties. The bombardment slowed the Axis response but German and Hungarian reserves were beginning to arrive. Soviet riflemen pushed into a wheat field on the left but were checked by a German infantry squad, two Hungarian rifle squads and a Panzer 3.  The death of one of the Russian squad leaders had slowed their  advance but a Senior leader now grabbed control of the squad and tried to push them forward. While one squad exchanged fire with the Germans, a second squad slipped into a fenced in yard near the smaller bridge. 

 The Hungarians shifted left to meet the new threat and responded with rifle fire.  Suddenly, the Panzer, throwing caution out with the beer stein (that’s an Old German saying…maybe) lurched forward, crashed through the fence, and managed to crush five Soviets to death under its tracks and wound the Senior leader who was trying to lend a hand.   The remaining Soviets fell back in terror but quickly devised a plan to send a tank hunting team with a satchel charge to deal the tank a lethal blow.   Using an interrupt action with a COC die, the Panzer reversed to the safety of the Infantry support behind it. 

The never ending tank duel on the bridge finally ended.  The Toldi again missed the T-26.  The T-26 bounced a round off the Csaba’s front armor and the Toldi likewise hit but couldn’t penetrate the little Russian tank’s shell.  The Csaba sidled to its left behind a haystack just in time for a Russian 45mm tank gun shell to rip into the hull of the Toldi and strike ammunition, causing the under strengthed Hungarian tank to go up in a giant ball of tank parts. 

Boom 

The T-26 smugly raced forward ripping out the barbwire obstacle blocking the exit to the bridge while Soviet infantry attempted to follow.

On the Soviet far right two infantry squads also began to cross the large bridge that led into the edge of the  German occupied city.  They used the carnage in the middle (soon to be described) to try to steal the flank of the distracted Germans holding the edge of the city.  No German troops occupied the giant warehouse facing the bridge, and the Germans were sending all reserves to the middle. 

In the middle of the line the meat was being grindered(definitely a word or should be.). A Soviet rifle squad had climbed from the raft into a small walled yard and into oblivion.  Obtaining a crossfire, a German infantry squad in an adjacent building hit the Soviets while a tripod mounted MG 34 and another rifle squad across the street poured fire into the flank of the hapless Soviets.   Then it became worse..

Worse

Metal tracks grindered (again…awesome) on the stone street as a StugD assault gun lumbered between the two occupied German buildings and poured fire into the pinned down Russians.  It was too much.  Just as a second Soviet squad entered the walled yard, the first squad was forced to pull back and out of the fight.  

There were more Russians. (There are always more Russians.). The newly arrived second Russian infantry squad took up positions along the same wall the other squad had just vacated and a Maxim machine gun was crossing the riverside wall behind.  Two more infantry squads entered the built up area from a small dacha to the left of the walled yard. 

Entering the city. The Soviet view

Soviet casualties were mounting and morale was dropping but they weren’t about to quit.  The volley of the evening was launched by the Soviet squad that was on the far side of the stone walled courtyard.  Aiming their rifles with care, the men of this brave squad shot down five Germans and wounded their Senior leader in a single round. 

Note: in game terms the Soviet squad rolled 16 dice and hit eight times on 4+ followed by rolling six sixes of the eight hits and essentially removing the German squad from the fight.  

Leader casualties were piling up on both sides. A German Junior leader in the house on the river fell followed by the Junior leader in the Russian infantry squad in the stone walled yard.  

The Soviets hopped a wall in the village in an attempt to get around the flank of the Germans in the city. 

The fight was now on all along the line.  No less than eight Soviet infantry squads were across the river.  The Axis forces were only able to engage with five.  The Soviets were finally starting to take punishment and the loss of leaders was concerning. Could the Soviets use their weight of numbers to overwhelm the Germans or would they falter?

Soviet Army Morale-26 (starting 35)

German Army Morale 20 (starting 20)