At 1100 on July 6, 1943, Stavka ordered a counterattack on unsupported elements of the German 106th Infantry Division of Army Detachment Kempf. The forces aligned east and west of the Shevekino-Belgorod road, with elements from the Soviet 78th Guards Rifle Division and 201st Tank Brigade east of the road. Seeing the Germans without armor or artillery support, the Soviets attacked on both flanks following an artillery barrage. However German mortar fire coupled with strafing by an Hs.129 patrol disrupted the Soviet center on the ridge east of the road. The Soviets returned heavy machine gun fire and eliminated Lt. Karsch and his infantry patrol from the north ridge. By 1115, Soviet T-34’s and T-70’s were closing on a town deep on the German left, forcing Major Scheinbahr to vacate the town and escape to a command point up on the northeast ridge. Soviet forces also made a strong push toward the German stronghold on the 40m center ridge west of the road. By 1145, Soviet forces had surrounded the central 40m ridge west of the road and were closing rapidly, but Captain Korotkov was lost in the initial stages of this skirmish. At noon, German armor in the form of two StuG IIIG’s finally arrived from the west, accompanied by Colonel Frohlich in an SK 10/4 and an 88mm battery, which set up on a 20m ridge well west of the collapsing German front line situated west of the road. All German infantry were eliminated from the town by Soviet combined armor & infantry. By 1245, both sides had lost artillery pieces, including a 120mm cannon by the Soviets and a 75mmIG gun from the Germans; this latter gun had been providing some cover for the village from an adjacent field. At 1300 hours, anti-tank fire from the StuG’s eliminated both T-34B and T-34C platoons from the village, and Soviet infantry moved in to reinforce that key objective. By 1330, the Soviets had taken control of the 40m ridge west of the road, and they now controlled all the 40m high ground in the region. However, German artillery pounded a small 40m hill east of the road, and their infantry moved in to take that section of high ground back at 1345. A determined, but demoralized group of Soviet infantry were holding out in the village, while the attention of one of the StuG’s was distracted by a T-70 scurrying westward. The battle was essentially over at 1415 with both sides significantly depleted, disrupted and demoralized. In the closing minutes, a StuG attempted to reach high ground, but was eliminated by a Soviet 76.2mm team on the western 40m hill. Meanwhile, east of the road, Soviet artillery hammered the small 40m hill, but a determined heavy machine gun platoon held fast. The remaining German Stug, with help from Colonel Frohlich and the SK 10/4, attacked the Soviet infantry in the village, but they were able to hold out. When the outcome of the battle was thoroughly assessed, this gave the Soviets a minor victory.

This scenario is really fun to play as it is well balanced (depending upon when the German reinforcements get into play), and entails a large number of units for the size of the terrain available. In the first few turns, the Soviets have a clear advantage with their tanks able to come on board in the first turn. In this case, the German armor & reinforcements didn’t enter the board until the 6th turn, a situation that allowed the Soviet forces great opportunities to advance on all fronts without much resistance. It began with German units dug in along the northern and eastern edges of the 20m hill west of the road, and the Soviet line running north to south on the hill east of the road and primed to charge across it. Both German flanks collapsed fairly quickly, and there was never any significant resistance on the German right once the dug in units were destroyed. The Germans don’t have the luxury of many units to be able to spread the line from north to south as the Soviets can. Once the town was taken by the Soviets, and the 40m hills west of the road were occupied as well, German forces were pressed onto the offensive, not allowing the Soviets time to dig in. The scenario is an extremely close one in the end. At the beginning of Turn 14, the last turn, either side could have achieved all three objectives! The Soviets held the town with a single demoralized infantry unit, had 9 of 10 steps needed for exit and a disrupted T-70 ready to move one hex off the board and achieve the 10-step level, and only needed to take a single 40m hill hex to have control of all the 40m hills. On the other side, the Germans had a StuG positioned to destroy the one-step T-70 that was ready to exit (but the Soviets won the initiative on the last turn), had significant forces ready to attack the town (but couldn’t get that last Soviet infantry destroyed or retreated), and held a single 40m hill hex, which they retained despite repeated morale checks. Had the Germans lost that hill, there were Soviet forces ready to move and take it. This one is winnable by either side, but the Germans are definitely better off if there are early fog of war rolls, and they are able to get reinforcements on Turn Three or shortly thereafter. The total step losses for each side were Soviet (41 steps lost) and German (30 steps lost); the Germans had five disrupted units left on the board, while the Soviets had 11 disrupted and 5 demoralized units still in play at the end of Turn 14.