Rassinye : 26th June 1941

Scenario played : Saturday 3rd May 2008

At the town of Rassinye the advanced elements of the German 6th Panzer Division met up with the hastily raised Soviet 34th Tank Division. What made this encounter so interesting was that it was to be the first time that the Wehrmacht were to encounter the Soviet T34 tank, soon to become known as ‘The Hammer of the Proletariat’. To win the encounter, the Germans were required to capture not just Rassinye, but also a small village further on very much controlled by the Soviets. The Soviets would need to take Rassinye and inflict an agreeable level of damage upon the Germans. The rivals came within view at 2000 hrs.

At this time, the Germans were just busying themselves occupying Rassinye and preparing a defence whilst the Red Army forces advanced towards it. A German battery of 150mm guns fired at a range of 1km but was ineffective. Meanwhile, German 37mm AT guns let off some rounds at an advanced BT-7 squadron and managed to destroy some of their number. The German Artillery battery soon became demoralized as Soviet infantry closed in and began loosing off small arms fire at them on the edge of Rassinye.

By 2030hrs, the Soviets were enveloping the town, though not without a few casualties. Russian tank forces were very uncoordinated as the dark drew in and were mostly unable to carry out maneuvers as a single mass. Despite this, the crews of the German 150’s had seen enough and fled for the cover of the Town centre thus abandoning their guns. This was to the great disgust of the local commander. It only took 15 minutes, but in this time, a large number of Russian dead lay around the town’s edge as the German Infantry and Machine gun fire cut through them. German casualties were absolutely negligible and as a result the Soviet attack was called off by 2045hrs.

By withdrawing, the Soviets formed a defensive line of their own a kilometer away from Rassinye. This line shielded the smaller village further on and controlled the centre of the ground being fought over. Some platoons of German infantry plus some squadrons of Czech built Pz35t’s edged out of Rassinye towards the Soviet line. By 2115hrs, both German infantry and tanks came into contact with Soviet armour as well as some of the infantry too. A platoon of KV1’s brashly rode alone to move the German infantry but came to grief once they were swarmed over by the enemy foot soldiers whilst the tanks lacked any infantry support. The Pz35t’s exchanged some rounds with their Soviet counterparts. The Germans got off more shots but either missed or saw the shells bounce off the enemy. In reply, a T28 platoon fired and brewed a few 35t’s. The effect of this being to send the Pz35’s scurrying back to Rassinye in the realization that their tanks were seemingly inferior to the enemy’s.

Both sides came to the conclusion that their opponent was going to be too tough a nut to crack with the forces available to each commander. With the night and its darkness taking over the field, both sides thought it prudent to stay as they were and await more troops in the morning. It was an indecisive result.

Casualties for the Germans amounted to 2-3 tanks knocked out, a loss of an artillery battery crew and maybe 40-60 infantrymen, including a renowned Feldwebel that was crushed by an over-running T34. Red Army losses were heavier. 6 KV1’s knocked out as well as a further 6 BT7’s, but none of those losses due to the Pz35t’s. Approximately 400 infantry dead, including 2 fine budding lieutenants, one a casualty of an artillery barrage, another missing in action after a brisk firefight he was directing against opposing German infantry