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

[Crossroads]

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Turn 32 cont...Gonen, Bar-Lev, Elazar, and Moshe Dayan, along with their deputies, looked at one of 3 maps hanging on the wall of the Tasa bunker. Option one had the Israeli's staying on the east bank of the canal, attacking north into the rear area of the Egyptian 2nd Army.

Gonen.."Sharon has wasted too much time. He does not have a way to support anything he gets across the canal without the Roller. We should continue the attack from Amir as is, use Adan's forces to pin the enemy on Missouri, and continue north on the east bank. Sharon can continue to improve the crossing point at Matzmed and wait for the Roller to arrive."

Bar-Lev..."We will lose the element of surprise come daylight. The Egyptians will see what we are up to and make it impossible to get across at a later time"

Elazar..."We accomplish nothing more than killing more Egyptians by staying on the east bank. We still have an opportunity to cross, whether it's at Matzmed or use the Egyptians bridge at Usha.

Dayan..."The Prime Minister needs a crossing because without it, we have nothing to negociate with once a ceasefire is emplaced.

Option 2...

Elazar..."Lets say we have what's left of Reshef's forces push another kilometer north and set up a block. Use Erez's Bde to rush the Egyptian bridge. That should pull any enemy on the west bank north "away" from Arik. Nir's Bde continues its attack and we decide to send him north into Missouri or west to seal off the farm. Arik sends his assault force across at Matzmed. Now the enemy has multiple threats to deal with...."

Bar-Lev..."Yes"

Dayan..."Yes"

Gonen..."If Sharon can not get tanks across Matt's unit will get mauled if they meet resistance."

Elazar..."He says he can support them. He is there, we are not.

Elazar turned to his deputy and told him to contact Sharon..."Get across now."

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Israeli Turn 33...As they emerged from the field of burning wrecks, the tanks followed Usha road towards the Egyptian crossing site. 500m from the site, run into enemy units crossing the bridge...Engineers, infantry, trucks, artillery...

The Mech infantry company, waiting to relieve the tanks in Amir, receive the order to move. The Cdr tells his half track drivers not to stop for anything, just drive as fast as you can. As they followed the railroad embankment to Amir, they encounter a surreal landscape...Cannon fire cracked through the night air. Destroyed vehicles of all types were burning everywhere creating their own type of daylight. They pulled up just short of the objective, surrounded by what was left of over 40 burning vehicles.

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Turn 33 cont...Erez's Bde was still in its reverse slope positions, stretching almost 2km's south to north. The enemy's attempt to get behind Reshef's Bde at Amir resulted in over 30 vehicles destroyed, all at short range, littering the terrain to his front. His left flank company, defending a draw the enemy was trying to use sustained some casualties, but had held.

He knew the enemy was just over ridge but he did not know in what strength.

Erez...Nir, where are your lead elements?

Nir...."About a kilometer from the finger pointing at Lexicon from Missouri. There are many tanks to my front on my side of the finger"

Erez looked at his map. Nir was describing the low ridge that ran southwest off of Missouri's high point all the way to Lexicon. "I am on the other side of that" radioed Erez. That report gave Erez enough information to hold his current position.

Erez... "Reshef, I am going to move my company closet to you towards Amir. Make sure your people identify them."

Reshef...Here is their frequency. Have them make contact before they move. The infantry has arrived so those tanks will be moving west. The infantry is also on that frequency."

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Turn 33 cont...Nir's attack falters....

The deep sand and the limited mobility of the Centurian's are combining to limit his advance...

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Egyptian turn 33....The Egyptian's send a company of infantry across the bridge in an attempt to stop the Israeli's. Improved positions to the north contain light infantry, an artillery battery, and trucks...Flares are fired by the Egyptian's but illuminate an area to the south shedding light on their own positions.

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Turn 33 cont... The Egyptians launch a counter-attack into Nir's vanguard attempting to slow their advance. Approx. 15 tanks run into the lead Centurian's.....

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Israeli Turn 34...The attack by Reshef's force towards the Egyptian crossing site began. There were no officers in command, just senior sergeants. First to go were the trucks, then the artillery battery. Infantry blocking the road were dispensed with. Then the tanks that were in the village appeared and took out a lone enemy tank to the north and a machine gun position....The last of Reshef's infantry occupied Amir as the tanks left....

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Turn 34 cont...Confusion reigns at the crossing sites. The Rafts can not get in the water where they were positioned. Engineers have breached the embankment but not where the rafts were. The Alligators have a tank Company embarked but.....

Sharon orders his artillery to fire an area denial pattern to the south of the crossing points. A lone PT-76 sets up a blocking position....The time is now...

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Turn 34 cont...Erez's Bde holds its positions...His left flank Co. reports engaging/destroying enemy tanks. He knows there are enemy forces just over the rise.

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Turn 34 cont...Nir's Bde fights off the enemy counter attack...

Erez... "Nir, do you need me to attack?

Nir..."No...I have this. Do what you need to do for Reshef...

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Egyptian turn 34...The Egyptian's throw anything they can in defense of their bridge. Their armor has been used up, now it's infantry, trucks, mortars, and Recoiless Rifles that flood the area...

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Turn 34 Cont... The Egyptian attempt to slow Nir's forces...

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Israeli turn 35... The crossing points on the east bank of the canal were mass of confusion. The Bridging Engineers had to cut through the high embankments so the Alligators could get into the water. Then the tanks had to be loaded. Everything took too much time...

The Rafts proved useless and Col Gol ordered them out of the way (Note: no matter what I tried, I kept getting the message "Unit can not enter terrain" even at the bridge the Bridging Engineers constructed)

Gol put out a call for every amphibious vehicle to head towards Matzmed.

The first Alligators reached the west bank of the canal and began the process of unloading their passengers; The Tank Company that Col Erez had detached prior to heading north...This was the most dangerous time for Sharon and the crossing....He to use the Alligators for his armor but he needed Infantry to establish a bridgehead....It would be close...

All available artillery were directed to fire an "Area Denial" mission to the south of the crossing site.

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Turn 35 cont...Reshef's tanks reach the Egyptian bridge. The tanks that were in Amir set out to provide a rear guard for the force to their west. A tank Plt is sent up Lexicon to provide warning of any enemy attempt to approach from that direction. Half the Infantry that were in Amir start to head up Usha road to support the tanks that were engaging enemy infantry. They leave their vehicles behind...the killing ground is too dangerous for them...

Reshef..."Sharon, my tanks are at the bridge. They are clearing our side of the embankment. There are no enemy tanks here, but lots of infantry. I still hold Amir but it looks like they are going to try and rush it with dismounts."

Sharon..."Your people are pulling the enemy on the west bank towards you. Keep putting pressure on them for as long as you can. We must establish the bridgehead..."

Reshef.."Erez, are those tanks moving?"

Erez..."a reinforced company is heading to Amir. My left flank force had to stay in place. The damn Egyptian's still have tanks east of Amir. Nir and I are pinching the remaining enemy tanks between us."

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Turn 35 cont...Erez moves forward to engage the enemy armor and to take pressure off of Nir. The reinforced tank company pulls off the line, hits Lexicon, and heads north.

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Turn 35 Cont...Nir splits his attack...One force pushes west, the other, north....

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Egyptian Turn 35....Sharon gets word that the amphibious units south of the Alligators were taken under fire and destroyed in the canal. Before any other attempts are made, those enemy units must be destroyed or pushed back.

(Note: Can't understand how there was a line of sight to the M113 as there was a 50 meter elevation hex between the enemy units and the target. Plus firing through the embankment into the canal)

More bad news filters down to Sharon...The recon element sent to find the Egyptian artillery, which has been ravaging his units, were ambushed as they approached the slopes leading up to Missouri. They did discover that the position is heavily fortified.

The enemy reaction to Reshef's tanks brings recoiless rifles and now missile teams into the fight.

Erez's tanks are engaged by an enemy tank company with infantry support. It has become evident that although they have taken massive losses, the Egyptian's continue to fight...

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Israeli Turn 36...Southern Command Fwd Hq's.

The leadership of the IDF paced within the Tasa bunker complex. They knew that Sharon had started to cross the canal. They also knew there was alerted enemy on the west bank.

Sharon..."I have a tank company and some feet in Africa. Light resistance."

More area denial fires are plotted to keep the Egyptian's from approaching....z

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Turn 36 cont.....Rechef's tanks continued to reduce the enemy, but a lot of enemy infantry were closing on their positions.

Erez's reinforcements were following the railroad, moving towards Amir. They would get orders on which direction to take based on the fight....

The tank platoon sent north up Lexicon reports contact and the senior NCO sends 3 more tanks to reinforce the blocking position.