An Autobahn Too Far
D+4 | 24 July 1989, 05:00hrs - 11:00hrs vs @ Westhausen
Soviet forces had largely broken through the forward defense. This forced on the defenders a decision to either fall back or remain in place and face annihilation. An organized retreat was conducted in most areas, but the old war principle of continuous fronts was nowhere to be seen. War was mostly a hive of activity as highly mobile groups evaded air strikes as attackers tried to avoid kill zones, and the defenders endeavored to set them at every opportunity.
One of the many surprising elements of the war so far was that the Pact forces were expected to act rather monolithically, like methodical steamrollers. In reality, even the first-echelon forces showed a much higher-than-expected degree of flexibility and mobility. The second-echelon forces were even more adroit on this. Arriving at the front in highly mobile groups, they took deep exploitation to heart and advanced, in some cases, carelessly forward. Less proficient commanders ended up with their groups demolished by air or land strikes, but competent commanders were posing real issues to the NATO defense forces. Their reluctance to become engaged, along with their preference for bypassing strong points and combined with their avoidance of large urban centers, were causing veritable tension in NATO's HQ.
One such formation was the 15th Gds Armoured Division. Their advance group had been a relentless strike force. In conjunction with the advance group of their left flank division, the 48th Mechanized Division, the two groups had been veritable red arrows pointed at Stuttgart.
Warfare is largely about how much knowledge you have of what your opponent is doing. This advance had not gone unnoticed. Quick NATO reaction forces were put on their way and were either brushed aside or circumvented. A combination of skill and luck was making their advance notoriously difficult to stop. With alarm rising and the 30th PzG Bde HQ in Ellwangen under direct threat, the 30th PzG Bde assumed defensive positions. Their armored element had long been blunted in the attempts at stopping the spearhead of the 15th Gds Armoured Division. What was left was placed in front of it, hoping to slow the Soviets down until PzBtl 284 arrived from the south. It was hoped that they would be able to stop the Soviet forces before they cut the vital north-south autobahn 7 and advanced into Aalen.
Scenario by Jo Lima | Map by William van der Sterren