Chinese Farm 1: "A Most Terrible Night" Narrative AAR

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Israeli turn 17..A fog descended upon out of nowhere. Visibility was reduced to less than 500m as the Israeli armor advanced up Lexicon. Two AT gun positions were destroyed as tanks over ran one, and the one to the west was destroyed by direct fire. Enemy tank fire tried to range the Israeli's.....

Reschef needed to concentrate his remaining tanks to make a strong push up the road towards the waiting enemy.

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turn 17 cont...Each time the Israeli Infantry take a trench, the Egyptian's counter attack, push them out and try to isolate those left behind...

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Turn 17 cont...the number of burning enemy vehicles cast an surreal light in front of Adan's tanks as they occupy the first line of enemy positions. They also start to take casualties..

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Egyptian Turn 17...The artillery is ferocious all along the Israeli lines. Another commander falls as calls for assistance clog the radio nets.

The Israeli infantry take heavy loses as the Egyptian's refuse to give ground. This is not what the Israeli's expected....

The enemy counter the Israeli advance within the trenches and surround a para company....

The amount artillery landing within the objective area is hard to discern as rounds fall among friend and foe....

[nelmsm1]

This AAR is the first thing I check for each day when I get home

[bootlegger267]

Four plus hours after the operation began, Col Reschef's Bde had completed only one of its assigned missions; securing Matzmed and the proposed crossing sites. Tirtur was still under enemy observation and within enemy missile range which meant the soft skinned bridging equipment could not use it. His tanks had not yet reached Usha road which was to be his northern most boundary. He had lost many of them in the fight for the junction and the subsequent advance up Lexicon. His infantry along with help from the Para's had taken fearful loses clearing the trenches in an attempt to reach the Chinese Farm.

An Armor Bn from Bren Adan's 162nd Ugda had been ordered by Southern Command to clear Tirtur from the Akavish intersection westward. Although Adan's armor had success, his tanks could not maneuver once they reached the irrigation ditches that laced the road as it cut through the Farm. Just like Reschef's tanks, they could not provide close support for the infantry.....

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Israeli Turn 18...All thoughts of an unopposed crossing of the canal were dashed when reports of enemy armor and infantry came over Sharon's command net.

It was now imperative that Rechef gain Usha road and possibly capture the Egyptian assault bridge located at the western end of the road.

With the engineers now gathered, they are sent to clear the minefield to give the Israeli's some more maneuver room...

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turn 18 cont...Rechef gathers 40+ tanks and begins his advance to Usha road....

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End Turn 18...Southern Command HQ...Elazar, Bar-Lev, and Gonen stared at the intelligence map hanging on the wall. Something had gone terribly wrong. The enemy position at the Chinese Farm was not just lightly defended, but was in fact a well laid out defensive position occupied by a brigade plus from the Egyptian 16th Infantry Div. These forces were anchored along Tirtur Road, and over watching Akavish road, they same roads the crossing operation hinged on.

Adan reported that Akavish was open, but a mess, clogged with support vehicles. There was no one in charge of the traffic. The Brigade he sent up Tirtur had mad progress, but the enemy kept filtering back into positions his forces had cleared. The positions were occupied with tanks and AT teams, and infantry with hundreds of RPG's...

Rechef's Brigade had cleared the Lexicon/Tirtur junction, but north of that point was charnel house of destroyed tanks and halftracks. His advance up Lexicon was making progress but now, with the appearance of enemy forces opposite Matzmed, the hope of crossing the canal at that point looked dim.

[bootlegger267]

Israeli turn 19..The engineers are in place to start clearing the minefields (red M). Reschef requests and Sharon agrees that their main effort should be just north of Lexicon, with one breach in the west to allow for another path to clear the east bank of the canal.

Sharon..."Progress along the road?" Reschef..."We are almost to Amir. The tanks are 500m away. We don't know what is north. There are still enemy tanks here.

Sharon.."They want the other road clear, you know the one." Rechef...."I dont know. There is much going on. My concern is north right now."

Sharon..."They keep asking...I need answers..."

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Turn 19 cont...The loses were more than the Israeli's were used to. Many would say it was failure of command. Others, a failure of the vaunted Israeli intelligence service. But in the end, it was the Israeli soldier that made the difference.

Each advance is met with withering fire from the Egyptian's, but advance they did. The enemy though, fell back in order and the Israeli infantry waited for the inevitable counter attack...

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Turn 19 cont.. Adan.."Nir, can we use Tirtur?" Nir..."No. They have many positions here."

The Israeli artillery starts to displace to support the battle with more firepower...it will take time

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Israeli Turn 20...The advance up Lexicon is met with a massive artillery barrage. Enemy armor continues to attack the mass of armor approaching "Amir"

Rechef..."What is your status?"

Cpt Shochat.."I have many vehicles here. Tanks, APC's rear area stuff. We are close."

Rechef..."Do not stop...Destroy everything"

Cpt Shochat..."We are running low on ammo."

Rechef...."It's coming. Press on."

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cont....Sharon...."How is the road?"

Reschef...The western part is secured. You must talk to Bren about the rest. We have taken many casualties."

Sharon..."Bren, is your part done?"

Adan..."You can use it. Nir is almost done."

Southern Command..."The soft ones can use the road?"

Adan..."Yes"

The Israeli's have taken "The Farm"

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ORIGINAL: bootlegger267

The Israeli's have taken "The Farm"

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Turn 20 cont...Col Nir's Bde continues its advance, pushing back the Egyptian's away from Tirtur.

Nir..."We pushed them back about a kilometer, but I'm receiving tank fire from the north."

Adan..."We need 2-3km's."

Nir..."I know, but we are running low on supplies. I also need flares."

Adan..."None available for a bit. Supplies are moving up but it's a mess along the roads."

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Egyptian turn 20...Just as Southern Command was letting out a sigh of relief when the news came that Tirtur was open and Amir was about to be reached, the Egyptians hit back....

Col Reschef was in his tank, which was 1 kilometer north of the junction, when the sky lit up to the north. His armor attack was under constant artillery bombardment for the past hour, but this was different. Next came a wind that carried the sound, and then the ground under his vehicle began to shake..."My God"..he whispered...

He tried for what seemed like minutes to raise Cpt Shochat on the radio when a response came through...."The Captain is dead. This is his 1. We are taking heavy tank fire from the east. We cant see them."

Rescheff was about to call for star shells when a platoon of enemy tanks pulled out of the Chinese Farm onto Lexicon and engaged the engineers clearing the minefield just to the north.

Artillery fire then started landing in "The Yard", ripping into trucks and personnel...The Recoiless Rifle Jeeps that had just destroyed the enemy APC's on the west bank, were themselves destroyed by tank fire from Devesoir. There also were reports of enemy amphibious tanks entering the water south of Matzmed....

Southern Command was taken aback by the sudden turn of fortune.....

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Israeli turn 21...Col Gol, the overall commander of Southern Fronts' engineers, ordered all soft skinned vehicles to move at least 1km back from the canal bank. He then began to set the engineers he had at the yard into some semblance of a defense.

Sharon knew there were some tanks covering engineers prepping the crossing point to the north. Those same tanks were to support Reschef's attack to Usha road.

Sharon..."Reschef, you have some tanks about to go through the cleared area?

Reschef..."Yes, they are moving now...."

Sharon.."Turn them around, they are needed at the yard. We have a situation there."

Reschef.."They are needed north. I am in a big fight, outnumbered, and my people are low on supplies."

Sharon.."They are needed more here. Do you understand?"

Reschef..."Yes"

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Turn 21 cont...Low supplies and fighting multiple threats, Reschef's attack into Amir comes to a halt.

Reschef.... "1, what is your status?"

"We had to pull back. We destroyed a few, but there are too many here."

Reschef... "Supplies are coming."

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Turn 21 cont... Engineers and Infantry beat back the tanks....