The Crossroads -- 6/5/67 - DAR (no Crossroads)

[Jason Petho]

They went along the Kfar Dan --> Between hill 303 and Hill 294 --> Burdin --> Qatibiya Crossroads.

[berto]

TURN #14

On my right, Israeli tanks sally forth.

Jordanians at hex 33,32 (turquoise circle) opportunity fire, disrupting the tanks and scoring one SP hit (magenta circle).



They opportunity fire a second time, again score one SP hit, and force a retreat (magenta circle).



I suffer no losses in return. Another successful ambush. Two more Shermans in the bag!

[berto]

TURN #14

Israeli infantry (green circle) storm the village at hex 39,30 (magenta circle), eliminating the intrepid defenders there.



3rd Platoon finally succumbs!

[berto]

TURN #14

Below Kafr Dan, Israeli infantry at hex 19,22 (green circle) direct fire at hex 18,23 (turquoise hot spot), scoring one SP hit. They fire again, scoring another hit, and forcing a retreat (to magenta circle).



Around Kafr Dan, Crossroad still rules.

[berto]

TURN #14

At Jenin, Crossroads presses his assault.

A hail of Israeli artillery shells rains down on Jenin.

Shermans at hex 31,31 (green circle) direct fire at hex 31,33 (turquoise hot spot), scoring one SP hit and forcing the defenders there to retreat (to magenta circle).

Israeli infantry (turquoise circle) force back the Jordanians to hex 30,34 (yellow circle).



Israeli infantry move to hex 31,32 (magenta circle). Jordanians at Objective hex 32,32 (turquoise circle) opportunity fire, reducing (by one SP) and disrupting the attackers. Crucial that, because it prevents the now disrupted Israelis from advancing on the IP hex just below.



More house-to-house fighting, more losses both sides, but no more advances or retreats.

[berto]

TURN #14

The situation at the end of Turn 14, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Disrupted Jordanian units are highlighted in turquoise. Disrupted Israelis are circled in magenta.

The Jordanian defenders at Jenin (red ellipse) are in danger of being cut off. Recall where earlier in this DAR I had written:

But I will abandon my right and will give up Jenin if need be. There is no need to hold it at all cost. I will retreat into my mountainous fastness (large yellow circle) in order to preserve my force.

Preserving my force is uber important.

Time to cut and run!

Crossroads would do better, perhaps, to send his armour in the direction of hills 273 & 333 (green circle). My forces are disorganized there, and that is the most direct route to my transports and precious artillery and HQs. Sooner or later, Jenin will fall anyway. Why does Crossroads not focus first on achieving a breakout?

Speaking of which, my far right flank: Where are those Shermans? Presumably still somewhere within that large yellow circle. I don't believe, but I am not certain, that Crossroads has slipped his tanks around my flank at right map's edge. Can you sense my paranoia?

Or maybe, chastened by the loss of two more Shermans, described in Post #62, Crossroads continues to hesitate. By now, he has lost 22 Shermans (to 15 of my Pattons). Will he be reinforced? Maybe, maybe not, I don't know. (I do know that, in the Real War, after destroying the Egyptians in the Sinai, Israel rushed forces to the Jordanian and Syrian fronts. Outnumbered Israel could not fight equally hard everywhere at once!) Maybe the Shermans that Crossroads now has are all he will ever have. Maybe he's suffered enough, and only commits his Shermans with the utmost discretion and caution. Maybe, just maybe, my bluff has succeeded. Maybe that's the end of my worries on my far right. Time will tell.

In any case, and in part because Crossroads shows no signs of flank attacking me to the southwest of Jenin, my armoured reserves (turquoise circle) will continue to race towards Hill 361. Taking no chances!

The current Victory Dialog:



Crossroads falls back down the Total Points hole!

[budd]

45 turns huh... what condition are your forces in Jenin in? Question is can you pull them back without getting them picked off once out of the entrenchments. Maybe you can hit back when your reinforcements arrive, give him something to think about.

[berto]

They are in good shape. I want to keep them that way.

Can I pull out without them getting picked off? Yes, because (a) I can leave in place a delaying rear guard (any 1 & 2 SP units) and (b) night begins next turn (turn 15), so visibility will be reduced to 2.

I can't wait for the reinforcements, which won't begin showing up -- on map's south edge -- until turn 18. They do not come in all at once, rather over ten turns or so. Their entry points are also so far away from Jenin that by the time they get there, the city would already be lost.

I anticipated the fall of Jenin, and am fully prepared to accept it. It's more important that I save my force for the expected battle for Qabitiya, and the Crossroads.

[berto]

The Big Picture, in 3D Zoom-Out View:

[berto]

TURN #14

The pullback begins.

After my Side B (Jordanian) move (Side B is this scenario's second side), the situation at the end of Turn 14:



Reconsidering, I decided not to leave a rearguard in Jenin. I withdrew everywhere, up and down the line.

I remain concerned about the gap in my defenses around Hill 273 (yellow circle). Accordingly, I have directed all of my artillery fire to that sector.

On the right, to cover the withdrawal of the infantry and engineers (green circle), the RCLR jeep squadron at hex 41,34 (turquoise circle) direct fired twice at the APCs in hex 42,33 (magenta circle), but scored no hits.

To the southeast, I expanded my reconnaissance net outward. I have no idea of what to expect there.

The Big Picture:



A few more withdrawals, holding my fire, but where I do fire, no hits, only misses. No change in the SPs or VPs. A rather quiet phase.

Night is about to fall. But the fighting will go on.

[berto]

TURN #15

Night falls.

As do Israeli artillery shells, many of them on forward positions I had abandoned the previous phase.

Israeli infantry, supported by engineers and HMGs (turquoise circles), focus their fire at hex 34,32 (the turquoise hot spot hex), driving out the defenders there (to the magenta circles, their retreat destinations) and causing some morale loss:



My defenses at Jenin are starting to crack!

[berto]

TURN #15

At the Kafr Dan sector, Israelis push forward:



I am tired of Crossroads always having his way at Kafr Dan. Time for a counterattack?

[berto]

TURN #15

Israelis advance into the heart of Jenin, firing as they go.

With my reserves drawing nearer, I am tempted to strike at Crossroads' exposed right flank at Hill 273. But he has tanks in the area, whereas I have none. I do have RCLR jeeps in the vicinity, but they are best suited for ambushes, not for attack. All in all, counterattacking here is too risky, I think.

To the east of Jenin, Crossroads picks off a machine gun squad and one RCLR jeep (red circles).

The situation at the end of Turn 15, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



My disrupted units (excluding the units at the turquoise hot spot hex) are highlighted in turquoise. Israeli disrupteds are circled in magenta. The better trained and disciplined Israelis undisrupt faster than my Jordanians, I think.

The two yellow circled hexes -- I must try to hold them, for they control the roads out of Jenin. My intention is to abandon Jenin, to slip away in the dark, preserving as much of my force as possible. My right might crumble at any time.

Or maybe not. Maybe I can still stop those Israeli tanks. For instance: The three Jordanian Pattons at hex 40,37 (turquoise circle) are poised to smack those two Israeli Shermans just to their southeast. But it's too much to expect that Crossroads won't ultimately prevail.

The current Victory Dialog:



With Israelis beginning to occupy the Jenin city center, with the capture of one of two 150 VP objective hexes there, the Total Points tally has moved dramatically in Crossroads' direction, from -149 TPs to 15 just now. Even after Crossroads captures the other Jenin objective hex, thereby gaining him another 150 VPs, he will still fall far short of the Major Defeat threshold, 300. He remains deep in the VP hole, and I must not let him escape it!

[berto]

The PBEM, and this DAR, have slowed down these past two weeks because first, Crossroads has been away, and second, I have been attending to new code development and nonsense like this.

Patience, dear reader.

[berto]

TURN #15

Beginning my Turn 15 Jordanian phase.

ORIGINAL: berto

Or maybe not. Maybe I can still stop those Israeli tanks. For instance: The three Jordanian Pattons at hex 40,37 (turquoise circle) are poised to smack those two Israeli Shermans just to their southeast.

Yes! I bagged the Shermans:



Crossroads has by now lost 24 Sherman tanks (to the loss of 15 of my Pattons). The Big Hurt.

[berto]

TURN #15

The pullback continues.

After my Side B (Jordanian) move (Side B is this scenario's second side), the situation at the end of Turn 15:



I managed to destroy an Israeli mortar unit at the building hex 29,31 (red circle) due west of Jenin.

My disrupted units are displayed with turquoise highlight.

At the southern outskirts of Jenin, I have left a screening force of mostly disrupted units in place (green ellipse) to cover the withdrawal of my main force.

I will set up a new defensive line somewhere south and southwest of Jenin, depending on Crossroads' forward progress, also how quickly my expected reinforcements arrive.

I am a bit concerned by the Israeli tanks at hex 31,32 (magenta circle). If they push southwest, I have RCLR jeeps (turquoise circles) in the vicinity to counter them.

I have directed my engineers (blue circles) to the Qabitiya Crossroads area (yellow circle) to begin building IPs (Improved Positions) there.

The Big Picture:



I am letting Crossroads have the two Objective hexes at Jenin (magenta circle). As the battle around Kafr Dan showed, the Jordanian infantry can't fight toe to toe with Israeli infantry and expect to win. When Crossroad takes the second Jenin Objective hex, his Total Points will jump to ~150 -- still far short of the Major Defeat threshold.

My aims going forward are (a) to defend the remaining two Objective hexes (blue circles), and (b) to give it to him more than I receive. The Point Loss ratio is decidedly in my favor, and I want to keep it that way.

I continue to worry about Crossroads main tank force, still lurking somewhere in the vicinity of the yellow circle I suppose.

But major Jordanian reinforcements begin arriving from the southeast beginning three turns from now. And from the southwest beginning Turn 21. Unless Crossroads too is heavily reinforced, it's hard for me to see where and how he avoids defeat, much less wins this battle. But still too soon to tell, really.

[berto]

[After a very long hiatus -- Real Life takes priority! -- The Crossroads PBEM and DAR series resume ...]

TURN #16

As turn 16 opens, Israeli artillery fire is generally ineffective, forcing a single Jordanian retreat east of Jenin at most.

Then Crossroads gets down to business ...

Israeli infantry at hex 39,34 (green circle) direct fire at a Jordanian tank platoon at hex 38,34, destroying two Pattons (red circle).

To the near southeast, Israeli Shermans advance. Direct fire at some waiting Pattons scores 1 SP hit (magenta circle), and forces a retreat.

On his far left, Crossroads has three stacks of three Sherman platoons each (turquoise circles). And maybe also?

I have four platoons of Pattons nearby (white circles) to counter them. Not enough to prevail, but enough to slow him down until my reinforcements begin arriving from the southeast.

Crossroads has sent some halftracks southward (blue circle) to scout for openings there. Unless he has substantial (and concealed) armoured forces to follow that up, I'm not too worried. Crossroads seems to be focusing on the fight for Jenin, not achieving any wide flanking breakouts.

Around Jenin, intense firefights, and one or two assaults (failures). My rearguard at Jenin (yellow ellipse) is crumbling, is in danger of being surrounded. Time to pull them back!

Note that the Israelis have taken the second 150 VP Jenin Objective hex. The Side A/Israeli Total Points has jumped upward to 151 -- still well within Major Defeat range. Heavy losses both sides this initial phase. Other than taking that Objective hex, Crossroads gained no SP advantage here.

But I'm in for a rough time. Yes, there are some fortifications here and there south of Jenin, but nothing to equal the defenses at Jenin itself. Israeli infantry outclasses Jordanian infantry. I expect that Crossroads will now be able to push me back with the same ease he has demonstrated earlier around Kafr Dan.

The situation at the end of Turn 16, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Still, overall, I'm in decent shape. Major Jordanian reinforcements are due to begin arriving two turns from now. Are the Israelis being reinforced also?

[berto]

TURN #16

With 1st Troop Tank Squadron (green circle), I face a decision: retreat, or attack. I opt for the latter. The Pattons of 1st troop (green circle) direct fire twice at the stack of Israeli Shermans (red circle), scoring 2 SP hits, and two disruptions!

[berto]

TURN #16

Next phase, 1st Troop (yellow circle, screenshot following) is in trouble. When the opposing Shermans fire back, as they are sure to do, hopefully I get a retreat result, and no SP loss or elimination.

South of Jenin, I continue to withdraw. Giving up that bunker at hex 33,33 (white circle) was painful, but necessary. Any units left there were sure to be surrounded, then destroyed (or perhaps captured).

After my Side B (Jordanian) move (Side B is this scenario's second side), the situation at the end of Turn 16:



Around Jenin, if I cannot hold, at least I can continue to withdraw in good order.

My right remains a major concern. I know of those 3X3 stacks of Shermans. What I don't know: Are there any more Shermans to the south and southeast? I rely on a mix of engineers and armoured infantry (decent anti-tank units) and Pattons (turquoise circles) to guard my flank.

With the earlier loss of those two Sherman SPs, worth 7 VPs each, Crossroads' Total Points have slipped back down to 137. He faces a steep upward climb, both literally (up the slopes) and figuratively (climbing out of his deep VP hole).

[berto]

TURN #16

At the end of Turn 16, the Big Picture:



Crossroads has captured two Objective hexes (blue circle), worth 150 VPs each. He still aims to capture the Qabitiya Crossroads objective hex (upper white circle), also worth 150 VPs; and the Qabitiya city objective hex (lower white circle), worth 100 VPs. Can he do it?

Maybe not. Beginning just two turns from now, Turns 18-20, elements of the Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade are due to arrive at the map's southeast edge (east turquoise circle). A while later, Turns 21-24, at the map's southwest edge (west green circle), the remainder of the 40th shows up. (Night ends at Turn 25. Daylight begins at Turn 26, and continues until scenario's end, Turn 45.)

But again (broken record), the unending question: Are the Israelis too being reinforced?