Battle Report Part 2 - Kreuzdorf Bridge

Following the destruction of the Yeomanry Saladins, D Company and the remaining Saladin pull out of Kreuzdorf and despite a few shots from the advancing Soviet tanks they make it to the Bridge and cross in safety:

The Soviet tanks edge forward around the wood besides the church:

However, the Soviet commander decides that it is too risky to venture further into the village and close country without infantry support, so he orders up his infantry battalion, with two companies on the right:

Who dismount and move into the wood:

And a third Company on his left, tasked to clear the hedgerows:

The soviets also order an artillery strike onto the bridge to disrupt the British engineering activity. This strike hits its target and eliminates half of the engineers; the rest run for cover. Some of the demolition charges are damaged by the fire:

For the British the situation is becoming serious, a large attack is developing in front of A Company and Soviet forces are pushing forward. The British Command is desperate for artillery support, but is turned down due higher priority targets eleswhere; besides he now finds that his observer team is too exposed and it too has to withdraw over the bridge under a hail of fire from the Soviet tanks in the village.

A brisk fire fight develops between the advancing soviet infantry and A company, who hold their ground, supported by mortar fire and a Chieftain on the hill behind the river, which destroys a BTR-60 that strays too far forward:

One British soldier is eliminated, but the soviets lose one APC and three men to the mortar and tank fire.

The Soviet commander orders his recce tanks to probe forward into the village, but they come under fire from a B Company 84mm, which misses:

But a Chieftain on the high ground does not miss and the leading PT-76 goes up in flames:

The Soviet commander decides that he must deal with the British tanks on the high ground by deploying additional anti-tank assests. First a man-portable anti-tank missile is fired from the high ground:

This misses its target and comes under fire from a second Chieftain also on the hills beyond the river. The soviets bring forward a BRDM-1 Swatter, which has a very lucky hit on its first shot, destroying one of the Chieftains:

This is a serious problem for the British as the Swatter launcher is beyond the range of the British tank guns and can fire with impunity. The British artillery observer is now in position and he requests a fire mision against the Swatter; but he is turned down once again:

The Soviet commander does not have such a problem as he has his own artillery under command, which continues to harry the engineers working on the bridge. He also has air support, which he now calls down upon the second Chieftain which has exposed itself:

Two ground attack fighters roar in and a second Chieftain tank is on fire:

On the soviet left their infantry have worked through the fields and come under fire from the B Company APC, killing a couple of men; however, an RPG round soon takes it out:

The situation is looking very grim for the defending British; however, the engineer commander radios in that the demolition is prepared and the bridge is ready to blow.

The final installment will cover how A and B companies extract and whether the bridge can be demolished in time to prevent the soviets crossing the river.