What's Next General?

[Destroyer25]

In this thread I will present you all with a situation and the 1st person to find a good solution to it wins. It will be mostly WW2 stuff but I may include, Medieval, WW1, and Post WW2. I will give you plenty of descriptive info and possibly pictures. Here is the 1st situation.

You are Captain (Your name), an Infantry Company commander. Your company consists of 4 platoons, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and HQ. Each platoon had 36 men, divided into 3 squads with a sergeant leading each squad. And A lieutenant leading each platoon. Therefor your company has 146 infantry men. In addition to that, you have numerous support staff, including a heavy weapons section. The heavy weapons section has about 50 and includes 6 heavy machine guns, 12 light 50mm mortars and 6 heavy 81mm mortars. Also each squad has 1 light MG. This brings your total Company personnel to around 250. But keep in mind that your support staff aren't on the front lines, but can be called upon to fight in emergency situations. Ofc this would make sustained combat impossible, as you rely on these support staff to bring up supplies, cook food, etc.

Now the situation. You are currently occupying a small French town, the front line is 3 kilometers(about 1.2 miles) ahead of your current position. The front is being held by Dog and Fox companies, you Easy are in reserve. Your sister companies are currently in fox holes along a tree line. The enemy(The Germans) occupy the next tree line over, which is on the top of a hill. I have attached as very messy map, made in paint. I promise to find a better way to make maps but this will help. The black lines are roads and the weird shapes represent a town. The green stuff is obviously wooded areas. As you can see the Germans occupy the ridge, and obviously instead of a I, II, III , X, XX, XXX, XXXX, or XXXXX. There is a ?. This meaning the size of these 2 German formations is unknown. They could be squads, platoons or companies. Also you can see Dog and Fox companies on the front lines. Note( I means company), also you can see your Company, Easy in reserve. Not that your company has (+) besides it. This means an additional unit has been attached, this unit being your Heavy Weapons section, also you have some of battalion's mortars with you too. So you have a good deal of artillery on call. Unfourtunatly you dont have any actual artillery guns, as the Regiment's artillery battalion has been jacked by Division HQ and transfered to a different Division. But you still have a great deal of mortars to give support. Now your mission.

Your mission is to secure that ridge(indicated on the map), now this seems simple enough but be aware of these key facts:

Your sister companies have been on the line for several days, they suffered badly while taking their current treeline and they have been taking sporadic artillery and mortar fire for 3 days. And therefor they will not directly aid you in the assault, but they can provide supressing fire from their positons.

The enemy force is unknown, but the enemy force on the ridge is obviously no bigger than 2 companies due to the size of the ridge. However the enemy may have reserves.

While you don't know the size of the enemy force, you do know that they have been fighting hard for the past week too. And it is unlikely that they have been reinforced due to the fact that a friendly Regiment launched an offensive 5 km to the north, and the enemy has thrown its reserves into that fight.

Keep in mind that the enemy still may have local reserves, as stated above. There many be anything from a squad to a company in the town to the north east of the ridge. Also the enemy has mortar support also, and it is estimated they also have 4-6 88mm multipurpose guns. These guns will be a key factor in this battle, but you don't know if the enemy even still has them here, as intellegence reports that the Germans have massed artillery in the north to deal with the offensive.

To the north is the main road, while this is the quickest way to the enemy held town it is completely open, and travelling on it may mean that you are being cut down from enemy troops to the north and south of it.

To the North is the fresh 1st Battalion, if you so wish, you could have them engage the suspected German forces to the North of the road. However they may not participate in the assault on the German forces in your sector.

So thats pretty much it, also keep in mind that all of the companies have been indicated as Infantry, and therefor there are no tanks involved, however the enemy may have Hanomags(Half-Tracks), and you have no armored transport.

Now let me hear your solutions to this problem. It could be anything, keep in mind that you do not have to attack during the day, its 8:00pm atm and you are ordered to attack the next morning, or during any other point during tomorrow. But you must hold that ridge within 48 hours.


So...Whats Next General?

[Huffardo]

First, never save pictures as bitmaps. Second, learn to draw, that map is the most horrible drawing I've seen in a long time.

As for the task, it's not worth the effort, unless you are Russian and don't know how to get rid of your men. Taking the ridge is obviously of secondary importance and a suicide mission against superior enemy forces with a huge terrain advantage, so it would best be left as an island until the defending troops surrender.
If it however for some reason has to be taken, it should be quietly flanked at night during an artillery barrage (I assume unlimited mortar rounds, which is unlikely). The other companies and the HMGs will provide suppressing fire to 3rd platoon which will make a fake attack towards the ridge from the West to keep enemy troops from regrouping. 1st and 2nd platoons will attack the southern enemy ridge defenses from the East and climb the ridge whilst it is still dark. From the start of the attack and onwards all the 50 mm mortars will barrage the Northern enemy troops concentrating on making a wall of shrapnel that discourages them from moving South, whilst the 81 mm mortars will dig up the Southern enemy troops, moving fire according to own troop movement to avoid own casualties. If the 1st and 2nd platoons successfully take the Southern part of the ridge they will move into defensive positions whilst the remaining enemy troops are fired at continuously by a few mortars at a time so that the mortar teams are ready to operate at full capacity when necessary, throwing in a few barrages to keep the enemy stressed. 3rd platoon and the HMGs will join them on the ridge, if possible (I'm not really sure of the scale of the map...) defense will be mainly covered by the HMGs so that all three platoons can get some rest. At some point when the troops are ready and there still is several hours of daylight left all three platoons will attack along the ridge supported by a full barrage at the enemy positions (which now should be easier to spot and thus easier to hit) from all mortars and HMG fire. If enemy resistance seems heavy enough for the entire ridge not to be taken before nightfall, troops will if necessary fall back to form a defensive line, HMGs will move forward when they loose contact with the enemy. During the night sporadic mortar fire will be kept up. At 03:41 all platoons will quietly crawl forward and will when fired upon (or if they thanks to huge enemy incompetence get all the way unnoticed) attack the enemy positions supported by all mortars which fire as close to the first line of the enemy as they safely can. If the welcome is too harsh the attack will be halted until dawn, when it will continue primarily using mortar fire to wipe out enemy positions when possible.

If enemy artillery is spotted at any time during the plan mortar fire will be used to destroy it. Same goes for reinforcements from the town, passing through mortar fire on open ground is not very pleasant and should prove quite challenging even if the enemy has armoured half-tracks.


If enemy numbers were low the ridge has been taken before the deadline, but if the defense turned out to be two companies company E can safely be considered wiped out, there is only so much you can do when you have a strict deadline and are denied sufficient manpower.


EDIT: I didn't notice the fact that there was a HQ platoon which for some weird reason has the same structure as the rest of the platoons. It will be used to support 1st and 2nd platoon in the first phase and function as the other platoons during the second phase, I don't think there is any point in sending anyone out in the open at that point.

[Destroyer25]

HQ Platoon isn't under your command, and should never ever be committed to an assault, it is the reserve's reserve, if you have no men defending your HQ and then enemy breaks through your screwed. Also your plan is a horrible failure. How do you expect to coordinate something like that at night. If you ever make the decision to do a night raid then artillery cannot be used, its incredibly difficult to zero in mortars in dark, let alone conduct a rolling barrage with troops moving all over the place. Also what happens when the enemy sends reinforcements? This mission is very challenging but can be easily accomplished if you think.

[Mr. Pedantic]

I haven't had time to read through this properly, but I would presume that the first thing you would want to do is to either lure the majority of the troops on the ridge away from the ridge, or at least to ascertain how many troops there are up there?

[MrFancypants]

I'd say use artillery to make life uncomfortable on that hill, use the support and hq guys to reinforce the southern frontline and commit the rest north. Attack in the north under cover of night and the artillery distraction in the south (which should also dissuade them from trying to reinforce their northern troops) and proceed to the town in the northeast. If you're lucky you'll capture some of their weapons in or around the town, destroy their HQ or get some intel from the liberated people, if not you have basically cut the Germans off as you can now look at the road to the southeast which seems to be the only route of escape.

Continue pounding that hill until 47 hours of the 48 hour limit passed, then storm it from several directions using all available troops under cover of a smoke-screen (mortars can do that, right?). The other companies as well as the northern guys should be able to help at that point as there aren't any other threats left.

I agree with Huffardo though that it doesn't make much sense to capture this hill if you can just cut those guys off them starve them out.

[Destroyer25]

Originally Posted by MrFancypants

I'd say use artillery to make life uncomfortable on that hill, use the support and hq guys to reinforce the southern frontline and commit the rest north. Attack in the north under cover of night and the artillery distraction in the south (which should also dissuade them from trying to reinforce their northern troops) and proceed to the town in the northeast. If you're lucky you'll capture some of their weapons in or around the town, destroy their HQ or get some intel from the liberated people, if not you have basically cut the Germans off as you can now look at the road to the southeast which seems to be the only route of escape.

Continue pounding that hill until 47 hours of the 48 hour limit passed, then storm it from several directions using all available troops under cover of a smoke-screen (mortars can do that, right?). The other companies as well as the northern guys should be able to help at that point as there aren't any other threats left.

I agree with Huffardo though that it doesn't make much sense to capture this hill if you can just cut those guys off them starve them out.

Your solution is pretty good, however the HQ company is not under your command, and even if it was, it is only for HQ defense. Also an assault on the north side during night is risky. It will be dark, and the use of flares will only expose you to german gunners and artillery spoters. It is possible that you could beat the enemy on the north side, but ofc you wouldn't be able to use artillery do to the fact that zeroing is hard and friendly fire is an issue. Also the barrage on the south would tell the Germans that something is up, and you risk being cut down by the Germans in the north while advancing. Your plan is good, but its very very risky, it all depends whether on if you and the friendly battalion can sneek up on the Germans and overwhelm their positions. If you do then taking the town would be easy, and you could easily come in and attack the ridge from behind. But you risk being slaughtered in the attack against the North sector. Use my advise and see if you can revise your plan a little bit.

[MrFancypants]

Glad you like it, although, to be honest, you should probably go with Huffardo's plan. I think he actually has some military training while I'm just applying what you'd do in a videogame

[Destroyer25]

Originally Posted by MrFancypants

Glad you like it, although, to be honest, you should probably go with Huffardo's plan. I think he actually has some military training while I'm just applying what you'd do in a videogame

No, his plan is horribly unrealistic, things are very different now compared to WW2. Coordinated night fighting is far more easier now with all the technology. If you know anything about US infantry tactics it was never incredibly complicated. You lay down a base of fire, then advance into a position where you can further dominate the enemy. Keep pumping rounds at them until you've won. Fire and maneuver, and don't try and do any of that at night. While fighting at night if you mess up 1 bit you could up shooting your own men.

Edit:

You guys gotta get some solutions in, I posted this on the Supremacy1914 forum too, you dont want another forum to win do you? I think I might have a winning solution there.

Edit:

Supremacy1914 has won the race. The next scenario will be posted later today.

[Anlushac11]

The scenario reminds me a lot of the Battle of Bellau Woods.

[Huffardo]

Originally Posted by Destroyer25

No, his plan is horribly unrealistic, things are very different now compared to WW2. Coordinated night fighting is far more easier now with all the technology. If you know anything about US infantry tactics it was never incredibly complicated. You lay down a base of fire, then advance into a position where you can further dominate the enemy. Keep pumping rounds at them until you've won. Fire and maneuver, and don't try and do any of that at night. While fighting at night if you mess up 1 bit you could up shooting your own men.

Dude, you never told us we were supposed to be American... Anyway, I don't really think maps, watches and radios are too modern for WW2.

I would also like to disagree with your opinion that zeroing in mortars is impossible in the dark, the light (i.e. 81 mm, a mortar you carry by foot sure is not a heavy one, 50 mm is a toy for when you need to move undetected behind enemy lines) mortar platoon of our company sure spent quite a few nights doing exactly that.

You are correct about night fighting being dangerous, but you'll also have to remember that the enemy had no night vision equipment, so you could get reasonably close before being detected. Besides, attacking over a field in daylight is a suicidal option against a numerically superior enemy that has had days to dig in deep on a wooded hill and prepare artillery barrage points and on top of it entirely lacks an escape route and as such is forced to fight to the end.