Chapter II Schluesselburg
5th September 1941
Schluesselburg
Our encirclement of Leningrad is advancing fast. However, the city is still linked to the rest of the Soviet Union by the city of Schluesselburg.
This town is the key to Lake Ladoga and therefore the region. It has several shipping ports, as well as a medieval fortress, guarding the river and lake.
The medieval fortress
Your objective is to secure the city. The fortress itself is a formidable target, surrounded by water on all sides. It's defenses are outdated, so it is probably not worth the hassle and blood it would take to breach its walls. Then again, some men like a challenge...
The towns defenders consist of a rifle bataillion as well as several ad hoc units conscripted from the surrounding villages. They did not have the time or ressources to fortify the town with minefields or barricades, but have begun to dig trenches around it. They also may have fortified key houses inside the city.
The enemy is still holding the northern shore of the river Neva. You have no objectives there, but note that you may receive harassing or artillery fire from the woods there.
You have three secenarios to achieve your objectives. Some objectives may change depending on the progress of battle.
Objectives:
- Deploy your forces inside the deployment area. Note that you can NOT deploy any forces on the northern side of the river!
- Secure as many victory locations as possible
Optional:
Although the town is relatively weakly held, the Russians apparently have started to ship reinforcements across lake Ladoga, including crack naval infantry and additional artillery. Due to the swampy shores, they need the dock installations in Schluesselburg for disembarkation. The sooner you can clear those of the enemy, the sooner the reinforcements will stop!
Recently we ahve encountered several super heavy tanks of the KW2 pattern all across the Russian front. Sadly, all specimen so far were far too damaged to reverse engineer anything from them. Our intelligence suggests that the Soviets have brought one of these monsters into the city. Capturing it in an undamaged state would be quite a feat!
To capture the tank, it needs to be in an area under German control, either abandoned, immobilised or both. You may capture it in any of the three scenarios. If you destroy it, the objective is failed. if you manage to immobilise it in an area you do not control, we assume that the Russians retrieved it after the battle and you have another chance to get it. You will be rewarded for it with 50 repair points.
