The Y road was passed by with negligible losses. The close combat in X8 was won with an ambush and now the Russians have to move back to their third and last line of resistance. I wanted to concentrate all my forces in the upper and lower pushes. This will give the Germans more chances to exit units but rigth now I cant interdict the Russian movements so I will not be able to prevent their repositioning.
As expected the Russians are preparing the last line of resistance. The immobilized tank was succesfull in stopping the aufklarer unit at the top of the map while the tank in Y6 may have been killed... we will see next rally phase.
While waiting to understand if the tank in Y6 is out of action, the Germans now have to run for the exit counting on their local superior numbers. Russians may not fire against everyone that is moving, so I will have to avoid bottlenecks and turn around probable residuals. It will not be easy but we will have to find a hole.
One of the variant of the SdKfz 10 was the /5. It was produced to mount a single-barrel 2-cm light anti-aircraft guns, specifically the faster-firing Flak 38. This vehicle was so arranged that its sides and rear could fold down to form a working platform for the gun crew, and many of them that operated in direct support of ground formations (as opposed to the vehicles used by the Luftwaffe) were fitted with extra armour over the driver's position. Extra ammunition was usually carried in a towed trailer.
Calibre: 20 mm
Elevation:-20° to+90°
Traverse: 360°
Muzzle velocity: 900 m per second
Maximum effective ceiling: 2200 m
Rate of fire: (cyclic) 420-480 rpm
Projectile weight: 0.119 kg
The south pincer was somehow stopped. A squad of Russians exploited themselves. Firstly they broke a full German squad and then while doing a Final Protective Fire they achieved to wreck the last SdKfz 10/5. They are still surrounded by other German teams so the hope is still alive. By the way, the unconfirmed kill was now confirmed. Before being killed, the guys of the vehicle passed by the destroyed T-26s. As a side note the Russian sniper activated and eliminated the German one.
The north pincer worked out great bringing two German squads very near to the exit for the last turn. Two more squads were broken but this was the price to pay to prepare the hole needed. A tactical error was made because the T26s was not able to fire the MA and CMG while CE. With these two more chances to fire the things may had been completely different. The Russian sniper activated again and killed a German leader in the bottom of the map.
So, at the end of the fifth turn the situation is good for the Jerrys. They have the two squads they need very near to the exit without Russians that may stop them. Lot of Germans broke while triing but at least a hole was worked out and exploited. Now there will be the last desperate Russian counter-attack?
So, the Russians do counter-attacked. Fortunately their strenght was reduced to a minimum and it melted away at the first shots. The victory conditions were met but it was not easy. Peter was a though opponent doing a nearly perfect defense of the hamlet. The scenario is fast and furious with lot of tactical choices both on defense and on the attack. It is highly recommended.
My total number of DR were 88 while Peter rolled 67 DR with the following results:
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