[Hermit]

The 60 mm mortar shelling the northern group was finally located taking shelter in a crater from our earlier bombardements. Once it was neutralized, the mine clearing finished quickly, and we occupied the final objective area. The Chinese must have realized their diminished forces had no hope of taking back that real estate once we seized the final objective. They left the battlefield and went crying to their Mammas! Apparently their complaints were heard, because as we suspected when we first launched this attack, we have been ordered to abandon our newly captured positions "in order to promote the peace process." Bah, humbug!

After the usual refit period, we have been sent back to confront the Soviets again. One of the local commanders has gotten too big for his pants, and seized some tourists who wandered into the occupied area of East Germany. When their family members went to plead for their release, he grabbed them too. The Soviet diplomats have basically given our inquiries into the mattter the shoulder shrug, claiming there's nothing they can do. Well, there IS something we can do. But the Soviet's acquisition of the A-bomb a few years ago makes things tricky. We don't want any itchy fingers pushing a big red button by accident (or on purpose, for that matter), so we are making a bold daylight raid with clearly defined force size and operational area, so they'll know its not an invasion.

The terrain is flat as a pancake, with the only cover provided by some large wooded areas, high grass, and a few towns straddling the main E-W road. Visibility is clear, and we're headed out just after noon. You can see about 3 & 1/2 kilometers in the open areas. (I tried to copy the map and post for everyone's benefit, but the color pallette was all screwed up and it was useless. I'll try to post a sketch later). Division has supplied two armored infantry companies, two 105mm batteries, 1/2-track transports for our big guns, and the usual complement of ammo carriers. Three M20 armored cars from the recon company were also cross attached to provide fast scouting, since helos will be extremely vulnerable in this flat terrain. The assignment of some air cover was procured at the last minute, but the only stuff available was some older P-47 Thunderbolts from WWII era. I hear they can take a beating, and they'll probably need it since they are pretty darn slow. The colonel used our recent victory as leverage to get two transport helos and a scout helo transferred to us on a permanent basis. Some of the recon boys are all excited by that, and have visions of secretly dropping behind enemy lines and raising hell. We'll have to see if that's all bravado, or whether they will do it when the time comes.

The plan is to allow infantry to do a quick march down the road, in the wake of the armored cars and a barrage by the 105 batteries. The two battalions will pace them on the flanks about 400 or 500 meters out, each led by an armored infantry company. The ArmInf will dismount when the enemy area is approached, and clear woods and dash across open terrain while the vehicles and armor provide fire support from the woodlines. The main road passes near the central objective, just to the south of it, and a dirt road branches off to the SE and cruises close to the southern objective area. How convenient. So the northern objective will be the most difficult to reach. The towns along the main road will be both an obstacle and a source of covering fire once taken, so we'll go ahead and attack them rather than bypassing them, after a good dose of artillery of course.