Combat Summary, March 19th, 2021
2021-03-20
Posted by: badanov
From: Chernarus Coastal Operations Group
Subject: Weekly Summary of Combat Operations, from March 12th to March 18th, Inclusive.
Message begins:
The tempo of combat operations continued at an accelerated pace.
Chernarus Defense, Naval and air forces have engaged in four operations in three regions.
1) A task force from 1st Bn, Chernarus 17th Separate Light Rifle Brigade was ordered to attack and clear the town of Shagrenovo in Beketov Friday afternoon.
One of the mission requirements in the attack order was to eliminate two criminal commanders, Simeon Picevic and Elena Rastrova who led separatist troops into Shagrenovo and were planning to hold the town.
A second task was to clear the town of separatist forces and to destroy three supply trucks parked northeast of town.
A secondary mission task was to clear the airfield of separatist troops.
Command squad took on the task of clearing the airfield but suffered two casualties, including the commander. While that gunfight was taking place, 2nd and 3rd squads were ordered to close to just south of Shagrenovo and await further orders.
However, the two rifle squads underwent heavy enemy counterfire and suffered severe casualties. Command squad cleared the airfield and closed in on the location of the two criminal operatives. Piscevic could not be located but Rastrova was.
The commander eliminated Rastrova and began the move further north to locate and destroy the supply trucks. The enemy counterfire against 2nd and 3rd squads continued. Command squad ran into a heavy machine gun fire, and lost three more casualties.
The commander at that point declared the mission outcome doubtful and ordered a retreat. But the gunfire against 2nd and 3rd squad was so heavy, they were unable to move.
Command squad attempted to fold the two remaining squads, now down to three each, into command squad, when command squad became pinned down and unable to move.
A patrolling rifle squad at the river Treshka was alerted to begin moving north. The mission changed from retreating from Shagrenovo to extracting the remnants of the task force and returning them to base.
The rifle squad closed to the location and provided covering fire as the remnants were ordered to board BRDM scout cars for the return trip to base.
Of the 30 total involved in the attack, six made it back to base. One of the BRDM scout cars suffered a mobility hit and was ordered abandoned.
2) An ad hoc element of 4th Bn Chernarus 10th Separate Tank Brigade was ordered to provide security for an evacuation operation at Ratzlingen in Rosche Friday night.
Friday morning after hearing of direct threats to certain townspeople transmitted through social media, email, and telephone, the mayor of Ratzlingen prevailed on 10th Brigade commander to provide security and transport to about 20 civilians.
v Previously, the mayor and a few civilians had attempted to negotiate with the separatists on issues regarding security, but the talks broke down after the separatists learned of the evacuation plans.
Recall that only a week ago, separatists attempted to take Hanstedt from the march, but were stopped by 4th Bn. This effort to force civilians out of town was an apparent subsequent part of their campaign to take over parts of Rosche.
After a 40 minute nocturnal road march in reaching Ratzlingen, separatists began their attacks focusing on the center of the defensive line the task force had put up. Command squad suffered the brunt of three infantry attacks, which whittled their numbers down by four.
Elsewhere, separatists used their armor to batter the defensive line covering the evacuation. Fortunately for the civilians, the attacks were unsuccessful.
Other than command squad's losses, casualties were light. The only other casualty of the operation was the loss of the repair truck near Hanstedt.
When the civilians were clear, the commander ordered a retreat to Rassau, owing to the fact that a separatist foot patrol was in the area, and a retreat to Hanstedt would place the task force in danger of further attacks. The task force retreated in good order.
Field reports put separatist armor losses at one T-55 tank. one T-34/85 tank, two BMPs and one BRDM.
3) Saturday morning, an element assembled from 3rd Bn Chernarus 13th Separate Mountain Motorized Rifle Brigade was rushed to the town of Rennau to evacuate friendly troops in Werferlingen.
In relief operations, the relieving forces must move as many fast forces as possible to the objective, push forward against enemy attacks and allow stranded forces the chance to leave the area of operation safely.
The stranded forces were sent there the day before to recon the area north of Rennau. Recall that friendly forces were sent to Rennau in January to fend off a mobile separatist force attempting to take Rennau from the march.
The two tanks assigned the relieving force arrived first, followed by the BRDM scout cars. Then the rifles arrived.
Rennau is south of a river line, which slows advancing enemy forces from closing in on the town. By the time the main force arrived, the two stranded squads lost six total, and their two technicals. When the transport vehicles arrived, the remnants boarded the trucks and left.
Enemy attacks continued. The tanks engaged and destroyed several enemy armor vehicles. Tank two deployed on the east side of town suffered a mobility and fire control hit.
When the order came down to retreat from town, command set the rally point at Barmke, several kilometers south and just across from the main highway. Tank two was too far forward, and the rest of the task force had already withdrawn from town when the commander discovered it was immobilized.
The tank's crew were ordered to bail out and evacuate along with command squad.
Casualties were light, with command squad losing one. Tank two was abandoned.
Field counts were that the separatists lost one T-34/85, two BMPs and two BRDM scout cars.
4) Elements of 2nd Bn, Chernarus 17th Separate Light Rifle Brigade were ordered to north Gavrilovka in Beketov to eliminate a pair of criminal operatives and to clear the town of enemy forces Thursday morning.
Brigade recon staff reported that a light separatist force led by Vladimir Rozhin and Nina Ivanovic entered Gavrilovka late last night, and prepared their normal activities of preparing a defense.
The tactical plan was for 2nd and 3rd squads to enter town from the east, whle command squad would attack from the west. BRDM scout cars would be providing heavy machine gun fire support for the attack.
Assisting in the operation were two SU-25 ground interdiction aircraft and an MI-24 attack helicopter. Additionally, two BRDM-AT5 vehicles would provide screening from on coming enemy mobile reinforcements for the operation.
The town was cleared quickly. The separatists only had two technicals in town, both of which were destroyed quickly by air support. One of the task force's BRDMs were destroyed by RPG fire.
As the commander approached the hideout being used by the criminal operatives, he was shot and killed by Rozhin. Rozhin was in turned killed by an element of command squad. The second in command found the dead body of Ivanovic and stripped her of critical intelligence documents.
The acting commander then continue to a location where the separatists had parked three supply trucks, and destroyed them.
Casualties were moderate. Command squad lost two including the commander. One BRDM scour car was destroyed. One BRDM-AT5 scout car was destroyed as well.
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