Michael Dorosh Posted January 24, 2002 Share Posted January 24, 2002 Reprinted from CANADIAN ARMY TRAINING MEMORANDUM No. 15, June 1942 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> Appendix III PLANNING AN ATTACK AGAINST A VILLAGE Author: Battalion Commander Senior Lieutenant P. Ogorodnikov, South Western Front NOTE: Villages in this part of Russia are generally quite large with populations of from 1,000 to 5,000. They generally sprawl over a wide area in a river valley or round ponds. Cottages stand behind whittle fences facing the street and have large kitchen gardens, also fenced, at the back. Winter conditions have forced the Germans to centre their whole defensive system around towns and villages. The enemy have been avoiding fighting in the open. Often, well prepared defensive positions in front of towns for villages or between them are held with much less tenacity than every house and every street. This is easily understood, the men prefer to die fighting rather than freezing to death. The concentration of forces in towns and villages has forced the enemy to leave gaps, or lightly held areas, along the front. This has enabled us to make wide use of the tactics of penetration, infiltration and flanking operations to cut off enemy strong points; but at the same time these tactics have increased our difficulties; it has forced us to reduce every village as if it were a fortress and steet fighting has been particularly bitter and prolonged. The defending garrison can turn any house into a strong point and often it is more difficult to find out where these strong points are than it is to reduce them after they have been discorvered. It is the surprise nature of enemy fire in the village that has the deadliest effect. If the attacker is not thoroughly acquainted with the layout of the particular town or village nasty surprises await him at every turn. On the other hand, if one has a thorough knowledge of the place beforehand it is possible to foresee where the enemy mortars and M.Gs. are likely to be located and escape enfilading fire. In our battalion we have a fixed rule; before an attack we must obtain a detailed plan of the layout of the village - its streets, squares and buildings. If such a plan is unobtainable we make it up ourselves by questioning the inhabitants of neighbouring villages. With such a sketch before you one can usually guess the enemy's scheme of defence and where his main weapons are likely to be. We then send out scouts with definite objectives for their reconnaissance. The attack is then so organised as to get around the trong points of the enemy and get at them from behind. For instance, a commander knows pefectly well that a large square is likely to be covered by cross fire from several different points and therefore he would avoid such a spot. He would probably advance behind fences, through buildings and back gadens and hit the enemy in the rear. It would appear that in any town or village one's power of manoeuvre was limited - but there is no reason why it cannot be extended. The streeet may be straight, but there is no reason to advance along it in a straight line. In sending out scouts we demand that they not only discover the strong points of the enemy but also find covered means of approach. It is unimportant if there are no streets or lanes leading to it, or that they may be blocked. Infantry can still get to is objective by going through walls to effect surprise; and surprise is always the main lever of victory. Some time ago our battalion was taking the village Kladezek. On its way to its objective the platoon of Junior Lieutenant Davidov got into a blind alley. Davidov knew about the existence of this blind alley and that behind it was a large yard surrounded by kolhoz buildings which would probably be employd as strong points by the enemy. Another platoon was attacking these buildings from a different direction, but Davidov decided to break through the wall of a barn, which formed this blind alley, in order to emerge on the other side and attack the enemy in the rear. This he did and the sudden blow surprised the Fascitsts who gave way and ran. The control of companies and platoons becomes very difficult during street fighting, however. The narrow width of the front enables liasison to be established in depth by the chain method and it is most important the commander should keep well up with the troops. The scattered nature of the villages in which we have to do our fighting does not hinder this kind of liaison: if a platoon or company moves away from the main axis of attack we detach more men for liaison work. In street fighting it is morst important to have the closest contact between infanty and supporting artillery. In an open field of battle, gunners can easily distinguish the location of our own men and the enemy, but in street fighting this becomes impossible. There is an old elementary rule that as soon as the infantry reaches a given bound in the course of an attack a verey(sic) signal is fired. Unfortunately this rule is not always observerd, some commanders prefer to keep touch with the artillery by means of field telephones, others send back mounted despatch riders, which wastes valuble time. This is the method we have adopted: before the attack we agree with the gunners as to the type of verey signal that will be fired at the end of each bound, and as soon as the bound is reached this signal is fired. The advance of the artillery keepps pace with the advance of the infantry. A section of regimental artillery is usually employed for close support in an attack. These guns are definitely attached to the companies. They fire exclusively over open sites(sic). Sometimes guns are actually emplaced in occupied buildings. In the same village of Kladezek the following thing happened: the enemy held a barn behind the village in some strength and covered all approaches to it by heavy mortar fire; repeated attempts by our infantrymen to get to this barn failed; they then dragged one of our 76mm. infantry guns into a hut on the out-skirts of the village and the third shell silenced the mortars - the stron point was destroyed. The fighting inside towns and villages is mostly close fighting, and hand grenades, bottles of incendiary mixture and shooting at close range have the widest use. We are constantly teaching our men these methods in lulls between fighting. Each new battle for a town or village brings up some new point or experience which must be passed on to the troops. Once when we were attacking a village a group of the enemy began to retreat. Two of our men noticed this and decided to get around them and ambush them. After the first few shots knocked otu some of the Fascists, the rest scattered among the buildings and began to fire at them. We were forced to besiege each building and hence we came to the following conclusion; that ambushes are very useful but should be arranged at some distance behind the village so that the enemy could not use the cover of buildings. It is much easier to destroy the enemy in the open and it is not difficult to set ambushes when flanks of the enemy are wide open, and therefore now we always send out an ambush party at the beginning of an attack on a village. It is never safe to assume that the village is free of the enemy unless every building is checked. Once we occupied a village and advanced beyond it. Some sappers arrived to destroy mines and booby traps set by the enemy, when suddenly they were met by machine-gun fire coming from one of the huts. This was a German who managed to conceal himself from us. Now we make the most careful check of every building. If we occupy and remain in a village we immediately send out patrols to check the inhabitants of every house. If the battalion has to move on immediately this check is carried out by detachments detailed for the recovery of captured weapons and equipment. A particularly careful check must be made of all the cellars, lofts and barns which might harbour the enemy. <hr></blockquote> [ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpark Posted January 24, 2002 Share Posted January 24, 2002 Excellent post My mind is racing with scenario possibilities. Can't wait for Ost Front... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 24, 2002 Author Share Posted January 24, 2002 BUMP - thought this would generate some real discussion - I'll highlight the points I thought salient. <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Villages in this part of Russia are generally quite large with populations of from 1,000 to 5,000. They generally sprawl over a wide area in a river valley or round ponds. Cottages stand behind whittle fences facing the street and have large kitchen gardens, also fenced, at the back.<hr></blockquote> Whittle fences, I presume are the same as picket fences? I hope we will see these in CMBB. Also, I see a "vegetable garden" mod for CMBO - perhaps this will be an actual terrain type in CMBB? It would be different from wheat in that they would be low lying crops, perhaps offering slightly better cover than brush? <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>The defending garrison can turn any house into a strong point and often it is more difficult to find out where these strong points are than it is to reduce them after they have been discorvered. It is the surprise nature of enemy fire in the village that has the deadliest effect. If the attacker is not thoroughly acquainted with the layout of the particular town or village nasty surprises await him at every turn. On the other hand, if one has a thorough knowledge of the place beforehand it is possible to foresee where the enemy mortars and M.Gs. are likely to be located and escape enfilading fire. <hr></blockquote> Here is a disadvantage of CM - you have a bird's eye view of the entire map beginning in the setup phase. Perhaps some day there will be enough computer horsepower to simulate only what each unit can "see" or "know" - and have terrain change as the units move to reflect this new reality. One of the reasons I do so poorly at CMBO is I feel guilty taking the camera over to the enemy side and examining what it looks like from a 180 perspective to myself. <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>For instance, a commander knows pefectly well that a large square is likely to be covered by cross fire from several different points and therefore he would avoid such a spot. He would probably advance behind fences, through buildings and back gardens and hit the enemy in the rear.<hr></blockquote> Fences again. <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> The street may be straight, but there is no reason to advance along it in a straight line. <hr></blockquote> Straight streets - compare with the discussion of bocage in another thread. <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Infantry can still get to is objective by going through walls to effect surprise; and surprise is always the main lever of victory.<hr></blockquote> Good quote regarding surprise but also note by going through walls I really hope this will be possible in CMBB - see the other thread on CMBO myths and the portrayal of street fighting. <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> The scattered nature of the villages in which we have to do our fighting does not hinder this kind of liaison: if a platoon or company moves away from the main axis of attack we detach more men for liaison work.<hr></blockquote> More info on villages - "scattered". Perhaps the 20 metre terrain tile won't be as inadequate to the task of Russian villages as it is to western European ones? <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> The advance of the artillery keepps pace with the advance of the infantry. A section of regimental artillery is usually employed for close support in an attack.<hr></blockquote> Weren't we discussing Soviet artillery doctrine recently, and wondering about how much was "on call"? <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> These guns are definitely attached to the companies. They fire exclusively over open sites(sic). Sometimes guns are actually emplaced in occupied buildings.<hr></blockquote> How about that? <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> In the same village of Kladezek the following thing happened: the enemy held a barn behind the village in some strength and covered all approaches to it by heavy mortar fire; repeated attempts by our infantrymen to get to this barn failed; they then dragged one of our 76mm. infantry guns into a hut on the out-skirts of the village and the third shell silenced the mortars - the strong point was destroyed. <hr></blockquote> If infantry can go through walls, it appears that 76mm guns should be able to as well... <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>We are constantly teaching our men these methods in lulls between fighting. <hr></blockquote> For those who don't know it, soldiers don't just sit around between battles - there are always rehearsals and training exercises to keep them sharp and get new troops integrated into the unit and the unit's "way of doing things." <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Each new battle for a town or village brings up some new point or experience which must be passed on to the troops.<hr></blockquote> It's true for CM players too. <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>It is never safe to assume that the village is free of the enemy unless every building is checked. Once we occupied a village and advanced beyond it. Some sappers arrived to destroy mines and booby traps set by the enemy, when suddenly they were met by machine-gun fire coming from one of the huts. This was a German who managed to conceal himself from us. Now we make the most careful check of every building. If we occupy and remain in a village we immediately send out patrols to check the inhabitants of every house. If the battalion has to move on immediately this check is carried out by detachments detailed for the recovery of captured weapons and equipment. A particularly careful check must be made of all the cellars, lofts and barns which might harbour the enemy.<hr></blockquote> I would like to have the ability for troops to HIDE in a building and be very hard to find. Squad Leader had a "Mopping Up" rule that simulated a squad going through a house room by room to find any hidden enemies. Might be something to consider for CM. A single sharpshooter hiding in a closet, cellar, attic, under a bed, or what have you could do a lot of damage in the enemy's rear, if an enemy squad simply passed through the house without searching it and continued on. [ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runyan99 Posted January 24, 2002 Share Posted January 24, 2002 My thoughts. 1) Fences are included, because one of the screenshots we have already seen shows a wooden split-rail fence (or something similar). If you want "whittle fences" maybe we can mod the fence texture. 2) Vegetabe gardens can easily be handled with the Brush terrain. Do not hold your breath for a Vegetable Garden tile. 3) More inclusion of field artillery in the direct fire role would be welcome. 4) The story about the German soldier hiding with the machinegun is not too relevant to CM. It was ONE soldier, and he probably hid for hours waiting for the main infantry to move off and the support troops to come up. 5) A village of 1000 to 5000 is pretty big, and the fighting for such a village would make a good CM operation. Perhaps 4-6 battles long simulating an entire day of fighting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 24, 2002 Author Share Posted January 24, 2002 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Runyan99: My thoughts. 4) The story about the German soldier hiding with the machinegun is not too relevant to CM. It was ONE soldier, and he probably hid for hours waiting for the main infantry to move off and the support troops to come up..<hr></blockquote> But I do think the modelling of urban fighting needs to be improved; mopping up a building was a time consuming task, exposing the troops who had to do it to great hazards. House clearing is done in small groups. Currently in CMBO, house clearing can be accomplished quite easily by firefighting squads or half squads, and units hidden inside a building are relatively easy to spot simply by moving close to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 25, 2002 Author Share Posted January 25, 2002 mercy bump - anyone else? I thought it was a cool article - mostly because it was written by someone who was actually there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban Shocker Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 Michael, It is interesting but perhaps CMer's are not looking for tactical guidance on town clearing...yet. I just started reading the U.S. Army FM on urban assaults in prep for CMBB. It is an interesting set of tactics (and nerves of steel) necessary to clear a town house-by-house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 Moving through walls of scattered builings can already be done in CMBO - no problems there for CMBB. Direct fire artillery can already be done in CMBO - no problems there for CMBB. I'm fairly sure guns can be set up inside buildings in CMBO, but I can't check right now - potentially no problems there for CMBB. Interesting series of articles - Thanks for sharing them. Any chance of posting them to one of your regular sites? Regards JonS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Commissar Posted January 25, 2002 Share Posted January 25, 2002 I hope we will see these in CMBB. Also, I see a "vegetable garden" mod for CMBO - perhaps this will be an actual terrain type in CMBB? It would be different from wheat in that they would be low lying crops, perhaps offering slightly better cover than brush? Here you are mistaken. The vegetable garden you are thinking of is probably something else entirely. The Russian vegetable garden is usually rather small (unless you have a seperate dacha for it, like my grandfather did) and positioned in the back of the house. I think it would take up one 20m by 20m tile at most. Its very flat and provides absolutely 0 cover. Mostly you grow low-growing plants like potatoes. Heheh, on a side note, its funny we're having this discussion about gardens because the name of the author of this article, Ogorodnikov, literally translates to 'gardener'. Here is a disadvantage of CM - you have a bird's eye view of the entire map beginning in the setup phase. Perhaps some day there will be enough computer horsepower to simulate only what each unit can "see" or "know" - and have terrain change as the units move to reflect this new reality. Ogorodnikov says they sent out scouts and talked with the residents a lot about the city's layout. Sure, they dont get to see every tiny detail like we do, but it's better then nothing. I don't really have a big problem with disbelief. Straight streets - compare with the discussion of bocage in another thread. I think Ogorodnikov doesn't really mean all the streets are straight. Its just that he is trying to emphasise the point for the need of moving under cover. Also, the streets may be straight-er in parts of town that are full of farms, dachas, and generally rural areas. The built up parts of town will always have curves and twists. EDIT: I forgot to say thanks for the article, Michael. I found it very interesting! [ 01-24-2002: Message edited by: The Commissar ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted January 25, 2002 Author Share Posted January 25, 2002 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by JonS: Interesting series of articles - Thanks for sharing them. Any chance of posting them to one of your regular sites? Regards JonS<hr></blockquote> Yep, already done - this one is up at my GD site. Commisar - thanks for the info on gardens - and the dude's name! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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