[CMRT] Wolves at the Door: The Battle for Stopnica

Wolves at the Door: The Battle for Stopnica

Historical Information:

Stopnica is a town in south central Poland. Its population was roughly 6,200 inhabitants and it was occupied by the Germans in 1939. In 1944, there were fierce battles for the Baranow-Sandomierz bridgehead near Stopnica.

The Germans sent 6 armored divisions to destroy the bridgehead, and on August 13, the Germans attacked towards Stopnica but were repulsed, losing 10 of their 20 new Panzerkampfwagen VI B Konigstiger tanks.

The battles continued until November 1944. During that time Stopnica was completely destroyed, not a single house remained standing.

Strategic Situation:

The Lvov-Sandomierz offensive was a major Red Army offensive to force the Germans out of Ukraine and eastern Poland. Often overshadowed by Operation Bagration, the Lvov-Sandomierz had most of the Red Army and air-force resources allocated to the offensive. The goal of the offensive was to draw German reserves southward, leaving Army Group Center vulnerable.

With the Russian advancing into southern Poland in August, the actions of the 42nd and 59th Armee Korps served to screen a planned advance of the 3rd Panzer Korps. The cleft between the right wing of the 42nd Armee Korps and the left wing of the 59th Panzer Korps gave rise to understandable concern, the more so since the Soviets obviously were aware of the weakness of the German forces positioned on the adjoining wings and well understood how to take advantage of this circumstance.

Therefore Army Group North Ukraine pulled the command staff of the 3rd Panzer Korps out of its former command sector and assigned it the mission of activating a new Korps behind (west of) the Weichsel (Vistula River) with assigned formations. The new Korps was to form a new attack front to fill the gap between the two Korps (59th and 42nd Armee Korps) by counterattacking and to push the line of defense forward again into the bend of the Weichsel.

The assembly and introduction of the formations intended for this proved difficult, because, due to the shortage of fuel, movement had to be primarily by rail. The preparations therefore, placed substantial organizational demands upon the railroad. In addition to transport of the troops, logistic support of the formations committed must not suffer. For the planned attack with artillery support the Korps also required approximately five freight trains of ammunition. Transport of this was delayed due to the heavy demands made upon the railroad.

Continued waiting for full ammunition supply and complete transport of the promised formations finally had to be abandoned in light of the strong pressure of the Soviets flowing through the gap. Therefore the 3rd Panzer Korps advanced and, on 15 August, gained ground locally while repulsing heavy attacks from the direction of Pacanow.

After overcoming strong enemy resistance the 1st Panzer Division and 3rd Panzer Division crossed the Pacanow – Stopnica road four kilometers northwest of Pacanow and continued to advance to the east. The 20th Panzergrenadier Division is tasked with capturing the town of Stopnica in an enveloping attack. This would keep the Russians from attacking out of Stopnica into the right flanks of the 1st and 3rd Panzer Divisions.

Tactical Situation:

(Special Note: While I have tried to keep it as historical as possible the scenario should be considered semi-historical. I found it difficult to find much information about the battle. The units involved are historical, but as for their actual disposition during the battle I had to sort of wing it. The map, which is hand crafted, was taken from Google maps and I tried to adjust it for what it may have looked like in 1944. Some of the objectives like the Grain Mill and Industrial District should be considered fictional.)

The 20th Panzer Grenadier Division is tasked with taking and holding Stopnica. Major General Georg Jauer, commander of the 20th Panzer Grenadier Division, has ordered 1st Battalion 90th Panzer Grenadier Regiment to take the lead in the assault. 2nd Battalion is being transferred forward as a alarm force, and should be there with in a hour or so.

(Special Note: I have setup the German forces as to what I consider a semi-historical placement and this will be displayed on the tactical map as well. The 20th Panzer Grenadiers historically used an enveloping assault to take the town. However I have given the player a generous setup zone to move the units as they want.)

1.Kompanie 1st Battalion is at its jump off point along the southern flank near the hamlet of Wolica. 2.Kompanie is at its jump off point in the center and will lead the attack up the middle. They will be supported by the 20th Motorized Engineer Battalion as well. 3.Kompanie is setup on the northern flank near the Skrobaczow Road. Due to shortage of transport and armored IFV’s, we will have to attack on foot. The only available transports are being reserved for the alarm units so they can arrive quickly to any trouble areas.

1st Battery of the Panzer Abt 8 will support the attack with its StugIII assault guns. 2nd Battery will arrive in 25 minutes and 3 Battery in 45 minutes. The Regimental Antitank Zug will arrive in 25 minutes to provide antitank defense once the town is taken.

Additional support will come from artillery of the 20th Artillery Regiment and air assets from SG 77.

Elements of the 120th Reconnaissance Battalion have located a Russian defensive line on the frontal approach. The defenses seem to be put together in a hurry with scattered trench lines and some antitank guns. Regardless, the line will have to be breached to reach the towns outer suburbs.

It is believed that the town is held by at least a battalion of the 47th Guards Rifle Regiment, and is supported by Su-76 assault guns. How many is unknown. However, aerial reconnaissance has reported substantial Russian reinforcements are heading in from the east and could arrive at anytime.

The mission is to move quickly to gain control of the town then setup defensive positions to repulse the expected Russian counterattack.

German Forces:

90th Panzer Grenadier Regiment:

1st Battalion:

1.Kompanie (3 x Zugs 1 x Weapons Zug)

2.Kompanie ( 3 x Zugs 1 x Weapons Zug)

3.Kompanie (3 x Zugs 1 x Weapons Zug

2nd Battalion (Motorized) (Reinforcement arrival 1:15 min):

4.Kompanie (3 x Zugs 1 x Weapons Zug)

5.Kompanie (3 x Zugs 1 x Weapons Zug)

6.Kompanie )3 x Zugs 1 x Weapons Zug)

20th Motorized Engineer Battalion:

3 x Zugs 1 x Flamethrower Zug

Panzer Abt 8:

HQ:

3 x StugIII

HQ Company:

1 x Aufklärung Pioneer Zug

1 x Flak Zug

1 Battery (Sturmgeschutz):

10 x StugIII 4 x StuH 42

2 Battery (Sturmgeschutz) (Reinforcements arrival 25 min):

14 x StugIII

3 Battery (Sturmgeschutz) (Reinforcements arrival 45 min):

14 x StugIII

Regimental Antitank Zug (Reinforcements arrival 25 min):

3 x Pak 40 Antitank Guns with Transport

Support Units:

20th Artillery Regiment (Off Board)

8 x 105mm Guns

Luftlotte 4:

SG 77

3 x FW 190G3 Fighter Bombers

Russian Units:

47th Guards Rifle Regiment

1st Tank Corps

Objectives:

Obj 1: North Block (Occupy)

Obj 2: North Flank (Occupy)

Obj 3: South Flank (Occupy)

Obj 4: Central Block (Occupy)

Obj 5: West Block (Occupy)

Obj 6: Industrial District (Occupy)

Obj 7: Grain Mill (Occupy)

Mods:

I used several mods for this scenario. All credit goes to the creators of the mod.

(Special Note: If you have the mod pack from my Combat Diary Campaign: Kompanie of Lions please remove it from your Z Folder as I used some of the same mod tags in this scenario and you may get UI conflicts.)

Umlauts Factory Mod (Please remove any flavor object mods in your Z Folder as they may conflict with his)
Lucky Strikes Hedgerow Hell Mod (I used certain terrain elements from his mod pack)
Aris Soviet Dirty Faces
Aris German dirty Faces
Aris StugIIIG Late
Aris German Weathered Weapons
Aris 251_1 Ausf D
EZArmored Infantry Uniforms
EZ Heer-Assault Gun Uniforms
JuJUs Red Thunder Fences
BF109 Flavor Object
Umlauts Bridges
Umlauts Roads
UI adjustments to show correct unit markings
JM Stuffs Burning Rubble