Battle of Jabłon September 28-29th 1939 AAR

[Anatoli]

This weekend David and I played another historical scenario from my September Campaign. This was the battle of Jabłon.

The historical background to this battle follows below:

Towards the end of September the "Indepentend Operational Group Polesie" under general Franczisek Kleeberg were maneuvering around German and Soviet forces trying to move south in a ever shrinking tunnel between both closing fronts in the Polesie region of eastern Poland.

The Polish force was made up of various remnants such as the Podlaska cavalry brigade, sailors from the dismantled Pinsk river flotilla, the 50th and 60th infantry divisions and the cavalry division "Zaza". It lacked armor, but it still had ample artillery and anti-tank gun assets, and with the good leadership of general Kleeberg and surprisingly high combat spirit of the two infantry divisions it had fared rather well during the second half of the campaign. Kleeberg who intended to follow the orders of the commander in chief to withdraw over the southern borders, his troops were harassed by spearheads of the Soviet Red Army and multiple battles were fought against the eastern aggressors.

Kleeberg's biggest problem was the dwindling supply of ammunition, but both he and his troops intended to fight on. On September 28th they reached the area near the village of Jabłon where they were attacked by Soviet troops driving towards Chełm and Lublin. The Poles were taken by surprise by Soviet tanks and cavalry units, but managed to organize a defense and set up positions near the village from where they fought off the first attack with the help of intensive machinegun fire and quickly deployed Polish artillery support.

The Poles then counterattacked with their own cavalry, destroying 4 tanks in the process. Fighting continued through the night.. On the 29th the Polish Podlaska cavalry brigade which was heading for Parczew arrived at Jabłoń and was set upon by Soviet infantry and Soviet heavy artillery which had joined the battle. To counter the next attack the Poles entered the village and rolled up their 75mm artillery, masking their positions carefully - the gunners aimed down the road (without optical targeting aid) and opened fire on the Soviet infantry and armoured cars  stopping the advance. General Kleeberg now diverted more of his troops to reinforce the positions, among them a battalion of Polish sailors fighting on foot

The Soviets decided to once again counterattack the Polish held village with their Light tanks, but the attack broke down due to intense anti-tank fire. This attack was followed by Soviet airplanes arriving at Jabłoń and first dropping bombs on the Polish positions and then strafing the ground with their machineguns. Another Soviet tank assault was launched at 20PM, this time the tanks managed to tear into Polish lines but failed to inflict any noteworthy results and was soon forced to withdraw. As it had become dark the Soviet force pulled back and the Poles too withdrew under cover of darkness.

The Soviets would keep attacking the withdrawing "Independent Operational Group Polesie" and additional battles were fought at Włodawa on the 28th/29th and Milanów on September 30th before the Poles broke away from the Red Army and faced the German divisions closing in from the west and southwest.
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Scenario objectives

The September Campaign version of the battle has both the Polish and Soviet player  field an army of 1500 points. The Poles deploy 75% of their troops on the table, 25% of their force is in Reserve. 1 platoon may be kept in Ambush. The Soviet player deploys his entire army.

There is only a single objective marker, located in the village of Jabłon. The objective for the Poles is to  hold out until darkness (roll for dusk on turn 4 and onward). If it becomes night, and the Polish force holds the objective marker than they are able to withdraw under cover of darkness and have won.

If the Soviet player manages to capture the objective or destroy the Polish force then the Soviet player has won. The Soviet player may also prevent the Polish army from winning by contesting the objective, as the Poles cannot withdraw unless they have full control over it.

Forces:

I ran the Polish Piechoty Battalion:

HQ
1st Company: 2 platoons with 2 AT rifles
2nd Company: 2 platoons with 1 AT rifle
2x AT-gun platoons
1x 75mm light artillery battery
1x155mm heavy artillery battery
(The Poles are not allowed to field any tanks, or the armoured train in this scenario)

David ran the Soviet Fast tank company:

HQ BT-5
3 platoons of 4 BT-5 tanks
1 platoon of 4 BT-7A
1 platoon of 5 BA-10
1 platoon of 82mm mortars

Check my blog for the full AAR and more pictures: http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.se/2013/09/battle-of-jabon-september-28-29th-1939.html