The Approach to Mutanchiang

14th August 1945

On the 9th August 1945 the Soviet Union unleashed it forces on Japanese held Manchuria. A huge mechanised army forged in the desperate war with Hitler unleashed against what was basically an army of infantry. The outcome was not much in doubt.

However the Japanese were determined to resist and despite the material superiority of the Soviets a few divisions resisted in the same tenacious fashion as their comrades in the Pacific. One such was the 126th Infantry Division, tasked with defending the eastern approaches to the important regional centre of Mutanchiang

The first major clash between the Soviets and the forces of the 126th was around the village of Ssutoaling, the Soviets advanced the 210th Tank Brigade and 226th Rifle regiment against the dug in soldiers of the Japanese 279th Infantry Regiment. Like most Japanese units they were woefully under equipped with anti tank weapons, mostly relying on suicide squads. One small compensation was that the 210th was equipped with the same tanks it had in 1939 - BT-7's

Map and Order of Battle

Deployment

The pink dotted lines on the map indicate the deployment zone of the Japanese 2/279th  Infantry Battalion and the RHQ of the 279th Infantry Regiment. The Japanese player may deploy anywhere within the indicated area. All Japanese troops are dug-in in entrenchments as long as they are not in the boggy area

The Japanese 126th Recce Battalion is a reinforcement. On the turn any Soviet unit crosses the river XY (or moves around it to the south) start rolling for the arrival of the recce battalion. It arrives next turn on 6, the turn thereafter on a 4-6 and automatically the turn after that. The battalion enters along the road indicated in road column

The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Soviet 226th Rifle Regiment plus the RHQ are deployed anywhere in the woods indicated over 2" from the Japanese deployment zone.

The 3rd Battalion 226th Rifle Regiment is a reinforcement. On the turn any Soviet company (all remaining stands) progresses more than half way up the table roll a 6 for arrival next turn. on the turn thereafter this increases to a 4-6. On any subsequent turn arrival requires anything but a 1. The unit arrives along the road from the east.

The 210th Tank Brigade plus the attached 479th SU Regiment enters the table turn 1 along the road indicated. It must enter in column along the road.

The 2/26th Artillery Battalion is a reinforcement. The arrival of the FO on table is automatic the turn after the following two criteria are met: A) at least one Soviet company has made it half way up the table and B) subsequent to that at least one Soviet company has become shaken or demoralised. Shaken or Demoralised companies that got to that state before a stand progressed up the table do not help trigger the reinforcement.

Terrain

The map shows an 8ft by 4ft table if using a 1" = 50m ground scale. North is to the top of the page

The map describes valley surrounded by craggy hills

The green areas are fairly open woods on uneven terrain. They are impassable to vehicles, and half speed for foot troops. The Japanese may man-handle guns through the terrain. Visibility within is two inches.

The grey area is a a single 4x4 inch wooden BUA (-2 cover)

The light blue area is boggy. Its impassable to vehicles but has no discernable effect on foot troops. No troops can be dug-in in the marsh

The red lines are roads. Where the road goes through the wood visibility is 4" down and across the road.

The wide blue line is a major river and is considered impassable.

The narrow blue lines are streams. The banks give -2 cover for troops in the streams. They are no impediment to personnel crossing but tracked vehicles take the equivalent of a cautious advance move to cross. So if moving with a hasty advance order, the unit loses half its movement. If moving with a cautious advance order, a stand must start on one bank and will be moved to the other. Wheeled vehicles may not cross the stream

The black dotted line is a railway. Its slightly raised bed gives infantry and class I guns -1 cover verses non-H class weapons, if they are touching the track but not upon it, and the fire crosses the track. The track nullifies the effect of the bog where it crosses

The dashed brown lines are ridge-lines. They break LOS. AFV's touching them can claim hull-down status (-2 cover)

Air Support

The Soviets may roll each turn for air support (d6) on a 6 an Il-2m will make a ground attack strike. The Japanese may also make a roll for air support, they get a Kamikaze Zero in a 6 (d6) this plane may only turn up once in the game. It must target a vehicle of some sort. It has an HE hit of 7 but as a Kamikaze can ignore the first -1 hit penalty from flak.

Kamikaze Tank Destruction Stands

1) There are single figure stands they fight infantry as "other". They are class A vs. AFV

2) In close combat with tanks they count as engineers i.e. a hit is an automatic kill

3) One shot only. Once you've rolled for a hit remove the stand whether the attack was successful or not

4) The above loss of the stand DOES NOT trigger a morale check for the parent company (or count as a lost stand) - having it shot does trigger a check (and count as a lost stand) as long as that's not simultaneous with is own self triggered destruction

5) Semi-self ordering. The kamikaze stand may give itself a full advance order ONLY. This must be towards an enemy AFV that can be reached by a full advance. This MUST be a "Human Wave" attack

Special Rules

The Battle starts at 11am and finished at 8:30pn (inclusive) - 20 turns

Victory Conditions

If the Soviets fail to hold Ssutaoling at the end of the then its a Japanese victory

If they only hold Ssutaoling its a draw.

In order win the Soviets must hold Ssutaoling  plus ensure there are NO Japanese stands in good morale (pinned or better) within 12" and LOS of the railway