Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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bootlegger267
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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They waited too long to make the jump. Small arms fire raked the side of the column. The 50 caliber machineguns mounted on the 577's swung to the right as the vehicle commanders returned the fire. Next came the artillery. Impacting rounds threw up large clumps of debris onto the tank as the sounds of shrapnel pinged off the armor. The tank swerved left then right as the driver avoided the shell craters and then the Master gunner hit a button on his control panel releasing a half salvo of smoke grenades. The ensuing smoke combined with that created by the artillery barrage, concealed the vehicles from further observation. After ten minutes, the column had cleared the area and was continuing its move to Bockels.

HQ55 was brought forward to the head of the small column. The 577's split apart and fell back 100 meters as the two HQ's tanks also separated 50 meters between each. They were in contact and they needed to more surprises.

The reports coming over the command net were now sporatic. Alpha was reporting the approach of a mech and tank company north of Traisbach at 174064. They were also engaging tanks at 184129, coming down the L3174. "Damn" thought Ward as he picked up his map from the turret floor. He stood on the loaders seat as placed his map back under the Lexan sheets. He plotted the contacts and then caught a radio transmission of vehicle commanders fighting enemy tanks at 236147. That was the Bravo Trp Commander....He had not switched his radio back to his Trp net in the confusion of the fighting.

Charlie 1/68Ar had arrived at the Wolferts Spur position. The Co Cdr's Section and a tank Plt were already in engagements. he two other tank Plt's were told to come up to the position to his left...slowly. Both Alpha and Bravo Trp's dispatched Sct Sections to block the Russian tanks coming down the L3174 reported by Alpha Trp. Ward no longer had eyes on the K18 which meant he had no idea what enemy forces were moving east/west. Then the rain came......

"Ed, I need FASCAM deployed between 350140 and 360140 NW to SE." ordered Ward. he saw an opportunity to split the Russian attack and give Charlie 1/68Ar the time they needed to get into position. If he could delay the forces coming out of Kleinsassen, Charlie would only face one, not two tank Co's..... If the Russians got caught in the minefield, he could destroy them with his artillery...







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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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0801Z......"Yes" shouted his Master Gunner after the report came over the Cmd net. "Say again Cruel 6" said Ward releasing radio switch on his CVC. "This is Cruel 6, I say again 12 tanks, 10+ BMP's destroyed vic 320160 over". C/1/68Ar had removed the immediate threat and had caused the enemy to pull back. That was the first time Ivan gave up on an attack all day. Dan Merritt's troops had done a fine job. A/1/68Ar had stopped two Mech Co's and now this report from the C/1/68Ar Cdr. "Black 44 you monitor? over" "Roger, cancel the FASCAM?, over" Roger Ed, we'll save it for something else."

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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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0819Z...Ward saw the 2 A10's as the came in over Almendorf. The number of white streaks emminating from the northeast was astounding. One aircraft was hit immediately as the other made its run along the ridgeline south of Wiesen. More missiles filled the sky as the plane made a sharp bank and dipped below his view. He saw it again heading southwest, the area was too dangerous to make a run.

The second A10 flight came in hot...again multiple missiles were fired at the inttruding planes. Again, one was hit, but this time the second released its load on the ridgeline.......

The issue now was the seam between Alpha and Bravo Trp's along the ridge that separated them. The Russians' had bullied their way into Margretenhaun with 2 Tank Co's which overan the Scouts that were defending that location. The B/1/68Ar Cdr heard the reposts and took it upon himslf to dispatch one of his Tank Plt's to Bockels. His blocking position in Dipperz would be comprimised if those forces were to make it to the N458 highway. The last full strength Scout Section from Bravo Trp was about to occupy a battle position overlooking that town.

The Russian's were using the wooded terrain south of the K18 to cover their movements. Ward still had elements of 5 Sct Sect's keeping eyes on the road network crisscrossing the woods.

It was the report of an enemy Tank Co from the C Trp XO that caught him off guard......



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rickier65
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Thanks for posting, nicely done aar

Rick
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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agree, just to say this is a brilliant read and really like the maps etc [;)]
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Very cool!
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Ward's column and the Plt from B/1/68Ar were all moving towards Bockels in the attempt to stem the breach of the lines at Margretenhaun. As the Plt from Bravo cleared the spur some 500 meters east of the village, they were met with a hail of from the Russians. HQ66 came to a hard stop as the TC yelled into his mike. HE looked to his left and right and ordered his driver to back up....fast. The rest of the column hard broke to the right towards the trees. More tank rounds flew past...the sound unmistakable. The Plt from Bravo had reacted quickly also. Realizing they were not going to make it to Bockels, They popped smoked and turned on their smoke generators. It wasn't pretty, but all the tanks made it back behind the cover of the spur.

Ward realized that with the Russians occupying Margretenhaun, Alpha Troop was effectively cut off......

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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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In the Loaders hatch, Col Ward summed up the Squadrons situation in his head.....Charlie and Delta were done. Bravo was providing eyes with dismounts and had one viable Sct Sect left. Alpha was still holding Almendorf but was cut off. His only effective combat forces were his artillery and 1/68Ar. "Dan, give me an update on your Apache and Cruel elements, over", radioed Ward to the 1/68Ar Cdr. "Apache has 10 runners, Cruel 14. There're pushing hard down the K21 and if Ivan gets thru, the Wolferts position is screwed, break" came back the answer. " IF I can get Apache to get back and form a backstop, Cruel can deal with anything heading from the east, over" Black 44 this is Ironhorse 6, standby for orders, over" This is Black 44, standing by, over" replied the FSO. He knew the situation....He had been working hand in hand with Ed Donnally for over 18 months. Between the two of them, they had seen the picture unfold on their maps, made decisions based on the reports, and been correct more than not. When the old man radioed them by call sign, they both knew it was not good. "Black 44...Grids 166124, 304166, and 303142, DPICM in Effect , over." came the Call for Fire. Ward allowed his team the extra time to respond to his order. One of the locations contained friendly elements on top of the fact that he was requesting a very valuable, but limited asset. Both Donnally and Delgado looked at each other as they understood the seriousness of the situation. "Grids 166124, 304166, 303142 DPICM in Effect Out." said Delgado into the mic.

Right now, the only maneuver force Ward had was B/1/68Ar, and as long as there were Russian tanks in Margretenhaun, he could not get them safely into Bockels anytime soon.






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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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He had eyes on each of the grids that were called in. Ward knew that each one was an FPF mission..."Final Protective Fires" where the units involved needed a wall of steel to stop the Russians from breaking through. The first grid was Margretenhaun..He needed to let the Russians know that entering that village in strength was going to come at a heavy cost. A Sct Squad in Bockels was directly responsible for keeping tabs on that location.

3 1/2 hrs of continuous fighting had left over 700 vehicles burning across the German countryside, and thousands of bodies. Thick smoke hung in the valley between Elters and Wolferts, and the defile from Hofbieber to Langenbieber was a charnel house of wrecked and destroyed vehicles, as was Traisbach. The exit from the woods of the K21 highway looked like the toys of a child piled one on top of another, a testament to the fury of the artillery strikes.
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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0851Z... "Ironhorse 6, this is Duke 6.....Sitrep to follow...

Bravo reports 5+ tanks, multiple BRDM's, and ZSU's destroyed vic 235168 and 235145, Green ammo, still RedCon1, break.." Ward took in the report, opened his map, and updated his graphics. He had heard the cannon fire out of Dipperz and was relieved to hear that the advance was blunted. B/2/68Ar was still in good shape. "Alpha and Charlie report heavy armor contact vic 303168, Black ammo, RedCon2, heavy armor/BMP contact vic 359161, Yellow ammo, RedCon2.....they're getting hit hard and we lost eyes on the BMP's. We caught a bit of the A10's spot report before he got hit....didn't like what I heard...shifted forces to close right flank. My left is weak. Bravo has to stretch their line east, over"

"Concur, over" responded Ward. He knew how critical the K21 highway was to the Soviets.

"We've just about worn out our welcome here and are preparing to disengage to the following grids..." Merritt sent the locations, Ward plotted them and knew Dan was trying to tell him his folks were still in the fight, but not for long.....The disengagement would require a 3-5km move......

Bravo 1/68Ar had to shift east.....

"Dan, I'm putting together a scratch force to deal with the Russian's in Margretenhaun. I'm taking a Plt from your Bravo, the closet to my location, the rest of Bravo is to shift east to cover your move, out"







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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Ed Donnally looked at his situation map. He had 4 routes with question marks annotated. Where would the Soviet force in Margretenhaun go? If it continued west towards Fulda, the whole rear area would be threatened. South or east could be contained.

The other concerned the BMP's spotted by the A10 pilot. He heard the report and for the past 30 minutes, no sighting. Where did they go?







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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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0957Z....The rain came in quick, with low dark clouds. Visibility dropped to less than 500m which couldn't have happened at a better time. There were Russian Helecopters reported moving east to west following the L3379. The bad weather would hamper their efforts but they were only 2 kilometers away from his scratch force of 6 tanks. It also gave Ward time to regroup what little was left of his unit. Dan Merritt had just radioed that the lead elements of Apache had reached the secondary positions and he was holding Cruel in place at the Wolferts BP. He didn't want Ivan slipping in the backdoor....

"IronHorse 6, this is Slick 6 on your net over." "This is 6, nice to hear your voice Slick." Ward gave the Aviation Cdr of the Regt the coordinates he needed scouted and reinforced. 8 AH1 Cobra's were now on station and Ward needed a break. Now he got two......

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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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"Duke 6, Ironhourse 6, orders to follow, over." Ward split the front in two. Every unit east of Friesenhausen fell under 1/68Ar. B/1/68Ar was chopped to 1/11ACR. Ward would dedicate one battery of his artillery to 1/68 and had a flight of AH1 Cobra's on station to support A/68Ar position. Aero Sct's had spotted enemy armor vic 373180 and 393183. Those were targeted by his FSO for an MLRS mission. Ward also had placed one of his valuable FASCAM missions along the L3429 just south of Margretenhausen.

The flight of Russian attack helo's that was between Langenbieber and Margretenhausen was his largest concern at the moment. Their presence was preventing him from moving his forces to relieve the units holding Almendorf.




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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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1049Z...10 minutes prior, Blackhorse 6, The Regt Cdr, has put out a net call announcing that the Russians were pulling back across the sector. Ward was not convinced of that. His plan to reestablish contact with his Alpha Trp went to hell 5 minutes in as the weather, that blew in so quickly, blew out just as fast. The Russian attack helo's wasted no time in flying into Dipperz causing havoc. The battering that 3/11 ACR took on his right flank was evident when a mech company supported by tanks was spotted on the N458 west of Dietges. C/1/68Ar had just fought off a 2 Company assualt into Wolferts, and A/1/68Ar was set to block any further advance west down the N458 highway.

He still had to fight this fight. The 1/11 TOC had backed off 3km's before the Hind's appeared over Dipperz. Ward dismounted his tank and went to the FSO's M577. He showed Degado where he wanted FASCAM targeted along the N458, and a DPICM strike against the enemy force that was west of Dieges.

His concerns about Alpha were removed when it was they who ended up destroying the Russian tank Company in Margretenhaun. When they left the town and headed towards Bockels, their long ranged fires wittled down the enemy to a few survivors.

As Ward remounted, he looked over at his MAster Gunner and said "If we can just hold for a little bit longer, we got em..."



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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Situation 1049Z



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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Ward's Hq's was now located in the outskirts of Friesenhausen. Dan Merritts 1/68Ar Hq's was about 1 km to his south. A light rain was falling again as he got off his tank and started to walk to the S3 track. Sam Jordan was at his side as they approached the track. "Ed, get Duke 6 on the net and tell him to meet us in that school yard. After you do, bring your map and brief us on enemy forces and intent" Ward was pointing to a building with tables in a fenced in area as he talked. Friesenhausen was untouched, unlike the other small towns and villages in the area.

As the group reached the building, the sound of an approaching tank made everyone look up. Merritt also rode in his loaders hatch as the tank came to a stop. Ward walked over as the 1/68Ar Cdr dismounted. "Dan, you and your troops were brilliant" said Ward as he held out his hand. "It was close Sir." replied Merritt. "When Ivan came out of the woods on the east side of Wolferts with those BMP's and got up close, I thought we were screwed. Apache Co, after they pulled out of Wolferts and displaced to the secondary positions, got hit by heavy indirect and took losses. It's down to half strength but still combat efective. They are overwatching the N458 out of Dietges" reported Merritt.

"Ed, what do you have on the enemy?" "Sir, Ivan attacked us with all 4 regiments. By my estimates 300 tanks and 200 BMP/BTR's were destroyed along with numerous support vehicles and personnel. His artillery is still very dangerous though, and he'll take every opportunity to hit us with it because as of now that's really all he's got." stated Donnally. There's an understrength Mech Co. west of Dietges that was stopped by Tony's FASCAM. Another understrength Tank Co around Bierberstein, and one more in the vic of the K21/L3379 intersection. He has some ADA units in Dipperz as well as a few Plt sized elements here and here." as Donnally pointed on his map.

"We may see a few local, small unit attacks but nothing heavy." I just dont know what is in these areas" said Donnaly as he finnished his brief.

"I tell Slick 6 to send some birds to check out the Almendorf/Traisbach area but everywhere else is crawling with enemy air defense."


S2 situation map.......



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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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"All of you know that Charlie and Delta Troops are gone, Bravo has a few tanks and ground Scouts, and Alpha is about 40% strength. Dan your Bushwacker Co is currently rearming and is in decent shape except for the Hq's element. They are overwatching the valley between Dipperz and Wolferts, closing off the K21 to the east and the L3258 to the west." Merritt added, "Cruel has pulled off the Wolferts spur and is also rearming. Apache is screening the N458 and I have a section moving to this village here to cover the L3307 out of Abtsroda. There's an aero scout keeping tabs on that mech company in case they get froggy, but reports are they are trying to pull back. It's the L3068 out of Dietges that worries me. I know 3rd Squadron took it just as hard as we did, but that flank is hangin in the wind right now." said Merritt.

"The only way to stay out of Ivan's artillery sight is to keep moving or to stay out of sight." said Ward. "Keep Cruel on the reverse slope for now. Another Aero Scout will check out the K21. Dan, once that Mech Co moves, shift the bird that's looking over them to the south and make sure no surprises are there. Once we get rearmed, this is what I'm looking to do....

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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Wards Map........



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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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Ward dismissed the group and they all started back to their vehicles. "Dan, hold up a sec"..whispered Ward before the Cdr of 1/68Ar got too far away. "Dan, most of my troops are wounded or dead. You have alot of casualties as well. I'm not planning anything grandiose here. If either of us runs into something, we hunker down and preserve the force. I have Tony dirting up the battlefield with smoke when he can, but its a limited resource. We have DPICM missions along with FASCAM. Use em as you see fit, don't come through me. I already gave Tony the word."
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RE: Narrative AAR Fulda Frontier

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1302Z...C/1/68Ar had finished rearming as the second Aero Scout arrived. Then the skies opened up. VIsability was 500m or less. It was good for covering movement in a secure environment and this place was anything but secure. At the same time looking for Ivan was also dangerous. Bad coordination between Air and ground cost Slick 6 a scout. They reoccupied the Wolferts BP with one Plt ordered to Kleinsassen.

Ward acknowledged Duke 6's report that the Aero Scout found no emeny sighted between the N458 and Dietges. Apache's screen would move east 1500m's with implicit orders to not engage any enemy forces larger than squad or tank.

B/1/68Ar began their assault on Dipperz. The leas elements were in the southern outskirts moving towards the town center.

30 minutes later, B1/68Ar rolled into Dipperz. Their tank fires along with Chaparral support took down 3 Hinds.

1400Z...C/1/68Ar had just secured Kliensassen when Col Ward was ordered by Blackhorse 6 to pull back to the positions south of the N458 highway. Conditions in 3rd Squardron's sector had deteriorated and they were no longer able to secure Ward's right flank.

The Russian's would gain control of the highground east of Fulda, but they didn't achieve a breakthrough. Team Ironhorse had inflicted heavy losses upon the 79th GTD. Over a 5-1 ratio.

"Guidons, this is 6, disengage and fall back to LD positions. Report RedCon status to the 3, over.................."

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