AAR: Tank Tracks to Pusan

[wulfir]

Tank Tracks to Pusan



The setting:

June 1950 – under command of Kim Il-sung and with Soviet assistance the Choson Inmingun, the North Korean People’s Army, has been made ready for an attack into South Korea.

The NKPA fields a significant combat force with over nine infantry divisions where many of the leaders and some of the troops have combat experience from the recent fighting in China.

In addition one armoured brigade equipped with T34/85 tanks has been raised with help from Soviet instructors.

A planned second armoured brigade began to form but has been broken up and most of the equipment reassigned to other formations, especially the army’s newest unit, the 10th Mechanised Division and the independent 301st Heavy Assault Gun Battalion.

Two heavy artillery brigades have been raised as Corps level assets and the army fields a few smaller independent infantry and support formations.

The vast bulk of the army is divided into three Corps.

The Air Force has some 40 Fighters, 70 fighter-bombers, 10 Recon planes and 60 trainers.

The navy only operates small craft.

Initial deployment and NKPA Corps objectives:

[wulfir]

Assault on Ongjin Peninsula

Because of the border being established on the 38th Parallel the Ongjin Peninsula had become an isolated South Korean outpost on the western flank of the North Korean main offensive. It was known to be defended by an ROK Infantry Regiment with some artillery support, but no tanks.

Responsible for the capture of the Peninsula and destruction of the South Korean troops was the NKPA 78th Independent Regiment.

This regiment was stronger than other regiments of the North Korean army; it had four rifle battalions and unlike other regiments included an assault engineer battalion, an organic tank company, SP Gun company and also to make up for it being forced to operate without divisional or corps artillery assets had been given a heavy mortar company equipped with Soviet 160mm mortars.

The commander of the 78th decided to concentrate his regiment against the small town of KANGYRONG and ordered his troops to quickly attain this target.

The defending troops from the South Korean 17th Infantry Regiment had however established an elaborate defensive position near the Kangyrong-josuji lake north of the NKPA target. The ROK commander had also seen that his troops were on full alert when the North Korean offensive kicked off.





OOB NKPA 78th Infantry Regiment:

HQ
FOOx3
78th Recon Battalion (leg)
I Rifle Battalion
II Rifle Battalion
III Rifle Battalion
IV Rifle Battalion
78th Engineer Battalion (leg)
78th Artillery Battalion (76,2mm)
78th Heavy Mortar Battery (12cm)
78th SP-Gun Battery (SU-76 x4)
78th Tank Company (T-34/85 x4)
78th AA-Company (37cm x4)
78th Supply Battalion (Gaz jeep x3, Heavy Truck x4, Medium Truck x6, Ammo Truck x6)
344th Heavy Mortar Battalion (240mm x6)

OOB ROK 17th Infantry Regiment (-)

HQ 17th Regiment
1st Battalion
2nd Battalion
Engineer Battalion
Artillery Battalion (105mm)
Elements AA Battalion (40mm/Quad 50cal)

[wulfir]

The Battle at Kangyrong-josuji lake

Sunday,
June 25, 1950

Turns 1-15



The commander of the 78th Regiment pushed his troops on two axis of advance, one heavy group along the main road compromising the I and II Battalions supported by the Tank and SP-Gun companies and the bulk of the Engineer Battalion – and a smaller group made up of the lightly reinforced III and IV Battalions that were sent on foot over some hills to attack and secure a crossing over a smaller stream. Contact with enemy troops were made early and efforts of the Recon Bn that led the advance to break that resistance proved largely unsuccessful. The Recon Companies were too weak to quickly deal with the defending ROK infantry and suffered high casualties.




Turns 16-40

Follow on Rifle Battalions, some forward deployed with trucks, were fed into the battle and worked their way through the enemy defences. Some friendly losses were sustained, but they were not catastrophic. Significant delays were imposed on the NKPA advance however. The enemy 105mm howitzers proved to have a range advantage against the NKPA Regimental 76,2mm guns and various mortars.





Turns 41-60

The 78th Regiment managed to break the ROK defences around the Kangyrong lake and fend off a small but spirited counterattack. The South Koreans used some 105mm guns as improvised AT-guns and managed to knock out one T-34 and damage another. One SU-76 was ambushed by stubborn ROK engineers and blown up with a satchel charge. One NKPA 120mm mortar section was taken out by ROK counterbattery fire. About 200 NKPA troops were lost.



Roughly 500 enemy troops were killed, and about 200 were taken prisoner.

Captured enemy (ROK) equipment in working order:

Six 81mm mortars
One 60mm mortar
Four 105mm Howitzers
One M55 Quad AA Gun (12,7mm)
One Bofors AA Gun (40mm)
One HMG (12,7mm)


Overall outcome:

The ROK position was taken but the disruption of the 78th Regiment at Kangyrong lake made it possible for the bulk of the remaining South Korean forces to evacuate south over the sea.


- - - - - - – - - – - - – - - - -

I used timed objectives in this setup, to make it necessary for the NKPA side to advance quickly. I cranked up the points to to max which meant the delays in advancing caused by leg infantry units crossing fairly large distances and ROK resistance landed the AI with loads of points. I have not previously experimented that much with timed objectives.

The result was a NKPA defeat with 7431 ponts vs the total score of 28620 score for the ROK side. Yeah, I should not have cranked up the points to max I guess.

[Mobhack]

Timed objectives really are best on low points values IMHO since they do tot up over time - and especially so if it is to be a grunt fight where they slog on foot!.

And it has been a decade or so since I programmed them, but I think there is a method of only starting the clock after turn X so that any approach moves don't count against the attacker.

[wulfir]

Next battle, the attack on KAESONG, South Korea. Historically this attack in 1950 was supported by a sneaky use of railways and infantry jumping off from trains in the middle of the town while the ROK defenders were in a poor state of readiness. Not quite the case here.


OOB NKPA 2nd Infantry Regiment (reinforced):

HQ
FOOx4

2nd Recon Company (leg)

I Rifle Battalion
II Rifle Battalion
III Rifle Battalion

2nd Engineer Company
22nd Engineer Company
2nd SP-Gun Battery (SU-76 x4)
2nd Heavy Mortar Battery (12cm)
2nd AA-Company (37cm x4)
1st AT Company [Div AT Bn] (45mm x4)

1/I Bn/1st Arty Regt (122mm)
4/II Bn/1st Arty Regt (76,2mm)
5/II Bn/1st Arty Regt (76,2mm)

2nd Supply Battalion (Heavy Truck x4, Medium Truck x6, Ammo Truck x6)

Attached:

I Battalion/205th Tank Regiment [105th Arm Bde] (T-34/85 x13)

202nd Assault Battalion (Light Infantry)


Artillery support (AUX forces)

I Bn/ 101st Heavy Artillery Bde (203mm)

2/I/1st Arty Regiment (122mm)
3/I/1st Arty Regiment (122mm)



ROK OOB

Elements of 11th and 12th Infantry Regiments [1st ROK Division], unknown strength.


NKPA Battle plan, nothing fancy - three battalions line abreast, brute force.




And the 202nd Assault Bn making a supportiv hook on the right flank:

[wulfir]

The Battle for Kaesong

Sunday,
June 25, 1950

Turns 1-40

The commander of the reinforced NKPA 2nd Regiment divided his forces into four fairly similarly structured battalion groups that advanced line abreast with the three infantry battalions each given a sector of the KAESONG urban area while the 202nd Assault Battalion with a little stronger AFV support was to skirt the right flank in the more open terrain.

The I Bn/2nd Regiment supported by a recon platoon, a tank company and an engineer company made good progress against minimal opposition and quickly captured the Juvenile Detention Centre and made it to the Masonry School. They would later be challenged by ROK counterattacks but managed to hold this sector.




The II Bn/2nd Regiment supported by a recon platoon, a tank and engineer company assaulted the sector around the Kaesong Main Hospital and got embroiled in a bitter urban battle with determined ROK defenders. The Bn took considerable losses and was unable to advance beyond the hospital.

The III Bn/2nd Regiment supported by the SPG Company (Su-76) and a recon platoon had the task of clearing two smaller settlements and a number of agricultural areas as well as a low hill on the flank of II Bn attacking the area around the Main Hospital. This Battalion ran into very stubborn defences which also saw several bitter counterattacks which forced the Bn to use 45mm AT-guns and AAMG sections in an anti personnel role. The battalion attack was stopped before reaching the given objectives. It took considerable losses.




The 202nd Assault Battalion, a light infantry battalion, was supported by some extra motorised transport the HQ of the I Bn/205th Tank Regiment and one tank company giving it a little extra tank punch. It was meant to exploit the expected more open areas on the NKPA right flank but quickly ran into heavy defences which included strong mortar (81mm) and AT-gun (57mm) positions. An effort to dismount and clear a route ran into even further ROK defences and had to be abandoned.
The Battalion took heavy casualties and became immobile, unable to advance. Several tanks were hit, some by artillery fire – knocking off tracks.










Turns 41-60

Elements of the I Bn and supporting forces managed to breach the enemy lines and strike objectives in the enemy hinterland. While they sized several bridges and road intersections the enemy counterattacks forced small NKPA forces to fight hard and in some cases had to bounce between objectives to clear them again when retaken by the ROK. On occasion objectives were defended by single units, a HMG or Recon team for example.






Turn 61

ROK units are reported to have begun falling back south in an orderly fashion, bringing wounded and equipment like artillery with them.


NKPA losses:

Casualties 360 – including one full Engineer company and much of the 202nd Bn. Commanders of 202d Bn and I Bn/205th Tank Regt KIA.

One (1) 45mm AT-gun

One (1) Su-76 SPG

Seven (7) T-34/85 destroyed

Three (3) T-34/85 in short term repair

Two (2) Heavy Trucks

One (1) Truck

Captured enemy (ROK) equipment in working order:

Small arms and the odd HMG.


Overall outcome:

KAESONG captured but the advance of the 2nd Regiment blunted. Heavy losses to NKPA units give the 2nd Regiment and the I/205th Tank Regiment reduced combat value for further operations. ROK units retreat in good order.


- - - - - - – - - – - - – - - - -

I used timed objectives for this setup too. Had them set to max again but this time the terrain and map layout was such that the NKPA could capture many before the points started ticking even if being a mostly leg infantry force – I didn’t change any setting for this but IIRC it started to count at about turn 30 (number of turns set to 90).

The points are not totally loopsided, but the ROK side still manages to get a decent score, while holding only about 4 or less VHs at one one time after the timed objectives started to kick in. I think I like this function. It makes it harder for the human player, adds a little time pressure and then there’s a trade off where you either take the VHs (which usually triggers a counterattack) or wait while try to move significant forces forward to fend off the counterattack – waiting with taking VHs off course means points will be ticking in on the AI side, more the longer you wait.

The AI units here were human purchased but AI deployed.

I overestimated the fighting power of the NKPA light infantry which, unsupported, have limited firepower and are very fragile if attacking full strength infantry companies with considerable indirect fire support (in this case several ROK mortar platoons).

Score:

[Draw]

NKPA 8317
vs
ROK 5193

[SaS TrooP]

What were the ROK losses for comparison?
For this reason in my scenarios I put a great care for setting reaction turn to 98 for the defender, which will prevent them from moving into suicidal counterattack after roughly 7 VHs are taken. I keep designated units for that role, even if counterattack is launched, some units still hold the line and can make a difference. Often player is disorganized after a wild chase agaisnt broken counterattacking units... and he gets clapped by still ready and rigid second line :P

As for timed objectives... I neved used those in my scenarios so far. I guess they could be a good choice to increase pressure tho. I am personally great enemy of scenarios that provide you impossibly short time to launch an ADEQUATE attack against enemy positions and time limit ends scenario prematurely even though attack develops correctly. I sadly find out that C. B. Blackards scenarios are like that and I often avoid these for that very reason.
In timed objectives you at least get the penalty for being slow, but if you trade it for superior firepower deployment and losses limitations you can even up this one. What was the final value of those four remaining objectives at the end?

[wulfir]

Originally Posted by SaS TrooP

What were the ROK losses for comparison?

The AI side tends to lose more of course, in the last scenario much of the infantry force. The deployment was also done by the AI so no turn 98 defenders. I did not have time and strength to attempt to go after artillery. There were still sizable ROK infantry clusters that had not been defeated when the game ended.

Originally Posted by SaS TrooP

What was the final value of those four remaining objectives at the end?

All values were cranked up to max, 250 points Victory Hexes - but the timed objectives value was also turned up to max, IIRC it's 30. It started ticking at about turn 30 (of 90).

My force, being mostly leg infantry did not have great mobility on this max size map - not enough troops to garrison the VHs properly and those weak defences could be pushed off the VHs by stronger counterattacking AI, it would then take time to march up enough troops to take them back and all the while points kept ticking in for the AI side.

Me holding VHs did not generate points for my side, but prevented it from going to the AI.

Like Mobhack pointed out earlier, it probably works better when set to low points.

[wulfir]

The Battle at Dongducheon

June 25, 1950

The vanguard of the NKPA 3rd Division approached the village of DONGDUCHEON late on the first day of the war. The vanguard was made up of the reinforced 7th Infantry Regiment which up until this time had made good progress barreling down the river roads on both sides of the Sin-Chon river behind the T-34 tanks of the attached 1st Battalion, 107th Tank Regiment.

This regiment had been given a crucial role in the invasion, leading the attack down the Uijeongbu corridor, the traditional invasion route down the Korean peninsula. The regiment had been reinforced, not only with attached tanks but also boosted additional infantry and engineer assets, heavy caliber artillery from the recently acquired Soviet guns and overhead ground attack aircraft had been detailed to add to the weight of this particular attack. The officers of the regiment were all experienced veterans of the war in China. They were handpicked for this mission.

They had jumped off in the morning and brushed aside weak ROK defences and with ease moved through the villages along the river. However upon approaching the settlement of SONGBONGAM-DONG just before DONGDUCHEON the regiment received scattered enemy artillery and air recon was ordered to scout out the area in front. The Il-2 recon planes drew little anti-aircraft fire but reported back seeing enemy movement on the ground, including a concentration of enemy tanks, estimated to be of at least brigade strength.

It was previously believed the South Koreans had no tanks at all.

Extremely alarming.

The Air Force got ordered to attack the enemy tank consecrations ahead of the 7the Regiment which was carried out with some success, while knocking out a few enemy tanks it did not disperse the resistance.

Trusting the quality of the tankers and their T-34s of the supporting first battalion, NKPA 107th Armoured Regiment the North Korean commander committed his forces to the attack.

It went bad almost from the get go.

The NKPA infantry attacked with vigour but took heavy losses and got separated from the tanks who on their own penetrated into DONGDUCHEON where they dueled with ROK light tanks and both inflicting and taking losses. The T-34s main gun AP ammo ran out and the battalion was forced to disengage and reload.

Upon returning to battle the T-34s with infantry managed to penetrate as far as the first bridge of DONGDUCHEON but was then subject to a spirited tank counterattack by large ROK forces attacking from three sides.

The South Korean counterattack shattered much of the 7th Regiment and restored the ROK main line of resistance.

NKPA advance through the important Uijeongbu corridor was stopped cold.

[wulfir]

I used Venhola for the map but only made small villages. Today the area is heavily urbanized and it seems to include one or more US Army bases.

Again I set up the Victory Hexes as timed objectives, max points.

Also let the AI pick and deploy the defenders (the ROK forces) because I wanted a surprise. Did assume that the M24s light tanks would be fairly easy meat for the T-34s, and their probably wouldn’t be too many of them anyway...

Turns out that the T-34s are vulnerable at close range and while they can knock out M24s at range with the 85mm’s the crews would often miss and thus quickly burning through the stocks of AP ammo.

I also assumed that attacking on a narrow front would lead to me being able to face only a portion of the enemy defenders and quickly break through. It did however also mean that the AI would concentrate the bulk of the artillery against the narrow front. Felt like the 105mm guns were always firing, wrecking havoc with infantry trying to advance. Or AT-gun positions set up to stop the M24 avalanche.

I totally underestimated the AI.



Limit of the NKPA advance.