Operation Market Garden - Campaign Turn 2 - Report

The British 1^st Airborne were the great successes of the day/turn/whatever with their attack on Arnhem Bridge in the early morning.  Advancing under cover of darkness they even had the temerity to wipe out several firestorm units on the way, and despite being very low on supplies due to the weather they captured the bridge intact, and have set about fortifying it.  The American 82^nd, also low on supplies and prophylactic kits further down the road kept their heads down, while their buddies in the 101^st fought a strong German counterattack along the Heesh Road to a standstill, and moved up as darkness fell to capture the Grave Bridge.  Exploitation moves saw the 101^st recapture the Heesh Road.

Airborne Battles:

• Dennis once more switched sides in a style more reminisce of an Italian or Romanian general, and led his out of supply and confident veteran British paratroopers to capture Arnhem Bridge from Dafydd’s infantry.
• The 101^st were brought to the table by James Underwood who staved off vastly superior German numbers (Phil) to claim a draw and hold the Uden Road before an exploitation move regained the Heesh Road.

The British armour tried its best to continue its push towards Nijmegen, finally capturing the Weert Road, and securing Helmond Bridge and the Gemert Road to protect XXX Corps main drive for the Rhine.  This was despite strengthening German resistance and localised counter attacks, particularly strongly around the Grave Bridge where the lead elements of XXX Corp were thrown back in disarray, and have fallen back to a new line at the Son Bridge.  A particularly strong German attack severed the Gemert Road, leaving the lead armoured units cut off.  However this success was bitter sweet for the Jerrys with more British armour capturing the Venray Road, and cutting off the entire central German position.

Armour Battles:

• Campaign turn 2 dawned bright and early for Aidan and his 11^th Armoured Cromwells, who set about rectifying their previous two failures to force a passage up the Weert road, defeating James Taylors Panzer IV’s on the way.
• Ian Shaw’s Shermans switched to the XXX Corp axis, and having linked up with the 101^st they attacked up the Uden Road towards the Grave Bridge, only to be thrown back by Pete’s German defenders, who occupied the Uden Road and Veghel Bridge.
• More Shermans were in action on the VIII Corp road with Andy sending them against James Taylors overworked and once again burning Panzers.  Victory for the British saw them capture the Gemert Road.
• As Andy fought, Phil launched a very stationary counterattack on Helmond Bridge, hoping to cut the head off the snake.  Ricks outnumbered British armour met and fought him to a standstill to prevent the spearhead being cut off.
• The three rolled for battles in turn 2 saw the Germans capture Gemert Road, but then be cut off as the British captured Venray Road, and also moved elements of the 101^st onto the Grave Bridge.

The German counterattack on Helmond Bridge is met by a wave of Shermans.

11th Armoured on the attack at Helmond.

More of VIII Corp, this time attacking down the Gemert Road.

XXX Corp crossing the Grave Bridge, unsuccessfully.

XXX Corps opposition.

More of Ian's XXX Corp Shermans.

German security forces defending the approaches to Arnhem Bridge.

British Paratroopers taking advantage of the darkness before dawn to steal closer to the German positions around the bridge.

Operation Market Garden - Campaign Turn 1 Report

A total of 10 battles were to be fought for campaign turn one as the Allies made a concerted attempt to move their drinks cabinet one step closer to Berlin with the opening of Operation Market Garden in Holland. 

Airborne Action

British and American Paratroops leapt from perfectly good aircraft across the lowlands in a unique daylight drop.  The British 1^st Airborne Division landed furthest into enemy territory, on the far side of the Rhine and a good 7 miles to the West of their objective; the Arnhem bridge.  Having secured their drop zones against a German counter attack from Renkum they moved to cut the Ede Road, and the lead battalion (Colonel Frost presumably) pushed on to capture Arnhem West on the road to the bridge.  German resistance on the bridge is stiffening however, with a panzer unit and security troops both moved to defend it.  The Americans of the 82^nd secured the Groesbeek Heights above Nijmegan, and briefly held the town itself before a German counterattack forced them out.  The 101^st landed either side of the main route that XXX Corp need to take through Holland, and moved to cut a major German supply route by capturing the Uden and Yokel Roads, but their assault upon the Veghel Bridge didn’t go to plan and they were thrown back.  The airborne will find the second campaign turn much more difficult, with the weather preventing the delivery of supplies to much of the troops on the ground.  More elements of the British 1^st Airborne and the 101^st Glider troops landed.

Airborne Battles:

• Peter’s Germans defeated James Underwood’s 101^st on the approaches to Veghel Bridge.
• Phil turned coat to defend the British drop zones against Marks attack at Renkum, before turning defender in a bloody encounter with Andy’s paras as the British secured Arnhem West.
• Dennis commanded the 82^nd in a successful attack on Dafydd’s armoured defenders in Nijmegan.

The British Push

The British charge up the narrow roads and dykes of Holland was initially difficult, with VIII Corp running into stiff resistance from Fallshirmjager units on the Weert Road, and failing twice to capture it.  No such issues on the Valkswaard Road, where XXX Corp drove straight through the defenders to reach Eindhoven, and then exploited further to capture the Son Bridge bridge and link up with elements of the 101^st.  They also spread out to the East where they captured Helmond Bridge, cutting off the troublesome falshirmjager, and some panzergrenadiers, on the Weert road.  In response the Germans have withdrawn their troops to the Weert Road in the hope of a breakout Northwards, and moved troops to block the Veghel  Bridge against the expected armoured assault in turn 2.  For the British yet more Shermans have been released to assist in VIII Corp and XII Corp respective pushes up the road.  The Germans gained an additional FlaK36 unit and some more security units.

Armour Battles:

• Aidan firstly tried to push his VIII Corp through Dennis on the Weert Road unsuccessfully, before leading his Cormwells in another effort, this time being foiled by Ben’s Germans.
• Dennis switched his attention to the Valkswaard Road, where Ricks Shermans pushed his Falshirmjager back into Eindhoven, and then followed up with an attack on James Taylors Panzer Kompanie , capturing the town.
• The two rolled for battles in turn 1 saw the British win both times, capturing the Son and Helmond Bridges.

James Underwood's 101st attempting to capture the Veghel Bridge.

Dennis light armour in Nijmegan.

Marks unsuccessful counterattack against Phils British Paras at Renkum.

Aidans Cromwells burn.  Again.

Rick's Shermans overwhelming James Taylors Panzers.

Campaign Map at the end of turn 1's strategic phase.

Campaign  Turn 2:

Turn 2 of the campaign is to be primarily played on the 23^rd of July, arrange your games now!  I might even bring a decent camera this time……

Operation Market Garden - Introduction

Official introduction time; the Flames of War Market Garden campaign will kick off on Thursday  the 4^th June, although if you glance at the timetable (bottom of post) you’ll note that the bulk of the fighting in campaign turn 1 is reserved for the 25^th of June so plenty of time to arrange an opening game and wangle a pass out from The Wife.  Those unaware of Operation Market Garden should instantly go and watch A Bridge Too Far.  Those unaware of the consequences of incorrectly filling out the paperwork requesting a pass are in denial.

Summary of important points:

·         The timetable of the campaign turns, and the main campaign gaming evenings, is at the bottom of this post.

·         Army lists – I’m not going to demand everyone pick their lists out of Market Garden or Bridge By Bridge because its unfair to expect an extra outlay just for this campaign, but make the armies realistic please – no Konigstigers at the start etc! 

·         You can change your army/list/company for every battle if you would like, there are no casualties/record keeping etc.

·         Ben is leading the Germans, I’m leading the Allies.  We will give instructions about where we want you to fight and the overall strategy our side is pursuing, and move the bonus firestorm units to help in areas we want to succeed in.  However, where you choose to fight and who you fight is ultimately up to you to organise.

·         Games can be whatever size you and your opponent agree.  There is a special table to roll up missions depending on the area your fighting in.

·         Nobody may choose air power as an option in their lists – it is only available as a special unit if it’s close enough to your battle in the night.

·         I will bring the main map along on each main campaign night and set it up so you can see how the campaign is going, and pick where you are going to fight.  I will be there to answer any questions.

The Firestorm System Itself:

The campaign system has elements of detail, without being complicated for the bulk of the players involved.  The generals do the bulk of the work, with the Brits having the additional complication of trying to balance their limited air supplies, and the Germans having far fewer firestorm troops.  Firestorm troops represent additional platoons which players can add to their armies if they are in the territories being fought over.  Each player can add up to two firestorm units, and to give an example this could result in a British player gaining an extra two Shermans platoons on top of his normal list.  They can make a critical difference, but they can also be lost.  The Brits have many more firestorm troops, and what the Germans do have can be quite random, and much of it arrives late in the day.  I have provided a link to the Battlefront page with the Firestorm Market Garden resources on it in case anyone wants to take a look.

http://www.flamesofwar.com/Default.aspx?tabid=53&art_id=1938

The Map:

This is the map at the beginning of Campaign Turn 1.  We are using the historical positioning or troops, and timing of re-enforcements (represented by the firestorm bonus units), so many of the Allied firestorm troops arrive later, and the Germans arrive from different locations as the campaign carries on.

I will update this map as the Allies begin their assault on Holland.

The original all-colour campaign board with firestorm troops deployed.  The Allied attack begins at the bottom with a drive on Einhoven, while the US and British paras have already dropped along the route,

British firestorm platoons ready for the off.

American paras on the edge of Nijmagen.

Britis paras dropped near to Arnhem.

101st airborne dropped on the road 30 Corp will need to use.

The British general needs to make some strategy moves before turn 1; with the paras able to spread out (the red arrows showing the movement) at a cost of their supplies.

The Participants for the Two Sides:

Players can come and go throughout the campaign; there is no requirement to play a maximum or minimum number of games.  They can even change sides should they wish, or, in the case that we need an extra ‘enemy’ for a game they can change sides for an evening.

For the nasty occupiers:

Ben Von Smallhausen - German

‘Tiger’ Phil - Tigers

Peter Derrick - SS

Dennis – Fallshirmjager

James Taylor – Panzer Kompanie

Mark - Fallshirmjager

Ian - Fallshirmjager

For the gallant forces of liberation:

General Richards – British Armour

Aidan  - British Armour

James Underwood – US Paras

Ian – British Armour

Red – British Armour

Andy Canham - British

Potential undeclared forces:

David Astbury

Luke

Dave Blue Team

Time Table:

The campaign is 5 campaign turns long, with each campaign turn lasting 4 weeks.  The aim is to play most of the campaign games on one big evening of FOW per campaign turn, and then anyone who wishes to play more can do in the other 3 weeks available.  We will end campaign turn 5 with a nice big all-day battle to be organised by Andy Canham in October (date to be confirmed).  The timing should run as below, with possible changes to accommodate as many of the group as possible;

Campaign Turn 1: 4^th – 25^th June (Main Gaming Evening – 25^th June)

Campaign Turn 2: 2^nd – 23^rd July (Main Gaming Evening - 23^rd July)

Campaign Turn 3: 30^th July – 20^th August (Main Gaming Evening – 20^th August)

Campaign Turn 4: 27^th August – 17^th September (Main Gaming Evening – 17^th September)

Campaign Turn 5: 24^th September – 15^th October (Main Gaming Evening – 15^th October plus all-day game to be arranged).

Four Days In Berlin - Campaign Report - Day 4 - Campaign End

The Americans (James) kicked off the final Allied attempts to move Patton’s whisky cabinet one step closer to the Reichstag with an armoured assault towards the recently lost Gatow airport.  Running into the remains of the ever present 18^th Panzergrenadier Division (Rick) they stalled on the edges of the outlaying airport buildings.  With German resistance stiffening the footsloggers were sent on a flanking manoeuvre while the armour demonstrated in front, only to be cut to pieces by MG fire from the buildings they had hoped to capture. 

German StuG assault guns and PaK43’s arrived to duel with the American armour, with the AT guns swiftly put out of action, but the Yanks armour piercing ammunition proving a dud with the StuG’s improbably surviving shot after shot.  In return they knocked out several Shermans, and when the panzergrenadiers began to advance through the ruins; hunting down a Sherman Jumbo with panzerfausts and a panzerschreck, the American CO decided it was time to cut and run before his losses became more than he could bear.

In the subsequent Allied retreat the Germans gained a large swath of woodland to the West of Berlin.  This success sparked a farce worthy of a Carry On film involving the heavy armour of ‘Tiger’ Phil.  Firstly the Germans jadgtigers completely collapsed and were wiped out by Ian and his new age Comet armada – every Jadgtiger destroyed by the speedy British.  This defeat closed the corridor of woodland (the Grunewald forest) that had linked the 18^th Panzergrenadier Division around Gatow airport and the bulk of the German forces in Berlin.  Facing criticism from several quarters Phil rallied magnificently to lead the remains of his troops in a sharp counterattack which reopened the corridor and defeated the American troops (James) which had been standing in their way.  He then had to about face to take on a Russian thrust (Ben) coming in from behind, and was promptly wiped out to a man.  In the confusion and power vacuum that followed as Phil scrambled to recruit a new company the Russians claimed Templehof  airport, and, even more critically, the Grunewald forest, cutting off Gatow and the bulk of the 18^th Panzergrenadier Division again.  Elements of the 18^th were still located centrally near the Reichstag, but suffered another stinging defeat at the hands of the Romanians (Dennis) as the pro-Russian forces solidified their grip upon central Berlin. 

Americans falling on the outskirts of Gatow.

The final conflict of the campaign was a major battle that saw the Russians enter with a commanding victory point lead.  See the previous post on the 19^th April 2015 for the full battle report; in short the Germans succeeded in breaking out to the West through the allied tanks, while the Romanian/Russian alliance crushed the remaining German fanatics in the centre of Berlin, claiming the Reichstag for the third and last time, and putting a golden gleam to their campaign victory.

The campaign map before the final battle.

The map of inner city Berlin - a wave of red.

The Final Result:

Time to add up the points, remembering that urban areas gain the holder 4pts each, woodland 2pts, open areas 1pts and airports 6pts.  The five territories surrounding and including the Reichstag were worth 8pts each.

1. The Russians were clear winners, with 15(!) urban areas, 3 woodland areas, 5 open areas and 2 airports.  They also held the entire of the centre of Berlin, and gained an additional bonus 14pts for capturing their ‘secret’ objectives of the Reichstag and Dalhem (the nuclear research facility).  129pts in total.
2. The Germans came second, with a mere 7 urban areas, 3 woodland,1 open and Gatow airport.  They succeeded in stopping the Allies uncovering the nerve gas facility at Spandau (which would’ve lost them 6pts), and gained an additional 12pts for breaking out Westwards.  53pts in total.
3. In third place the Allies failed in their aims of capturing Berlins airports, and were restricted to 7 urban areas, 5 woodland and 9 open for a total of 47pts.

The final positions on the map.

Total red domination.

Conclusion:

And so the Four Day Battle For Berlin is over.  Much to my (and the rest of the Germans) disappointment neither the Allies nor the Russians were able to overcome their mental blocks about attacking each other, and despite the rules being written to enable such a three-way contest to exist the fighting was restricted to everyone vs. the besieged Germans.  We also lost a few players to various ailments, jobs, training courses etc which restricted the number of games played but hopefully all those who took part enjoyed themselves.

The Russians swept into the centre of Berlin in an unstoppable wave with the Romanians to the fore.  The Germans managing to fight the Allies to a standstill to the West of the city, restricting them to the open and wooded areas outside of the urban areas, and even managing to break through to the West to open an escape route.  However they had no answer to the Russians in the East.  The war is over, the Russians control Berlin and much of Europe and Churchill’s fears have come true.  The Cold War is here.

Battle Report - The Final Battle For Berlin

Four days of fighting (or four campaign turns if you so wish), and the Russians were well on top, nothing short of a miracle could derail them, and with such as an aim the Germans went into the final battle.  It was to be a fight for survival against Russian forces coming from the East, intent to forcing them out of the remains of the centre of Berlin, and Allied tanks arriving to the West, looking to cut off the Wehrmacht’s escape route there.  The battle began around 10am and lasted until approximately 3:30pm.  Each of the eight players involved (list below) took a 1750pt army, and fought over the 8 objective markers.  Each marker represented a territory on the map, and the side holding that marker at the end of the battle held the territory.  The Germans began on the board, the Allied/Russians got first turn and moved on.

For the devious baddies:

Andy Von Canham – Head of Defence of Berlin

‘Tiger’ Phil – Grenadiers

Rick – 18^th Panzergrenadier Division (remains of)

Peter – SS Totenkof Panzergrenadiers

For the doo-gooders and empire builders:

Dennis – Russian CO and Chief Romanian

Ben – Russian; artillery and some Romanians

James – Eisenhower in the making, and US Tank Company

Ian – Stiff upper lip and British heavies (Comets)

The Germans began holding most of the objectives, and orders went out from the Jerry CO to bring many AT weapons, max out on the number of troops, and prepare to sit tight and weather a storm.  They would, however, have to move out to attack to the West to secure the woodland there which would enable them to escape the marauding Russian armies.  The Western edge of the battlefield was lightly wooded, with fields and hedges which contained two objectives for Heldane and Grunewald, while the centre was mostly clear (Spandau and Charlottenberg), and the East heavily urbanised; including the opportunity to recapture the Reichstag from the Romanians, and objectives for Schoneberg and the Kroll Opera House.  To the South (geography not perfect) lay the airport and objective of Gatow, currently in Germans hands but key to the Allied efforts.

Orders from Russian high command centred around capturing the centre of Berlin, and this meant that ‘Tiger’ Phil (minus his tigers) would face a heavy and sustained attack from both Dennis and Ben and the entire Russian front.  The Allies had decided they did not need to go near Gatow to capture it when securing the easier target of the Grunewald woods towards the centre of the board would cut off the airport and its 18^th Panzergrenadier defenders and they would capture it anyway.  They chose to mass their tanks near the woods and ignored the airport, looking towards the centre instead.  The Germans had left Phil to counterattack and regain the Reichstag in the urban east, Andy was making good his escape in the wooded west and trying to open the corridor, and my (Rick) troops were at the airport.  Finally Peter was guarding the hinge between all the German forces to prevent the Russians or Allies slipping past and gaining the central objectives.

The Whole Table - Trees to the West, City to the East, Airport to the South.

'Tiger' Phils Panthers in a side street.

Andy Von Canham's troops in the West.

SS Totenkof troops.

The Battle

Onto the fighting, and in the West things started very well for the Germans, with armoured cars capturing and holding the key woodland territories of Grunewald and Heldane which linked their forces to Berlin and the escape route in the West.  The Allied response was sluggish, with the Americans trying to drive through the fields and getting bogged down frequently, and the British being overly cautious with their new (and obviously expensive and precious) Comet tanks.  The hedgerows slowed both allied players, as did the railway line (slow going), and they took their time moving up, choosing to engage in a long ranged duel with Andy Von Canhams few Panzer IV’s.  The Panzers were left burning, but still the Allies were fearful of the 88mm guns waiting in ambush and moved slowly.  They also found they couldn’t move more eastwards without entering into a serious fire fight with a unit of PaK40’s allocated to the 18^th Panzergrenadier Division by ‘Tiger Phil’.

Comets arriving.

America armour crosses the railway line.

To the East ‘Tiger’ Phil was in trouble.  Heavy duty comments were being passed his way by his fellow Germans about his tardiness in failing to secure the Reichstag building immediately, and the moment had passed.  Dennis’ Romanians had advanced methodically through the ruins and into the symbol of German political power, while Ben’s Russians (complete with Spetznaz) moved more swiftly onto Phils flank.  Phil was heavily outnumbered and in trouble and even he probably knew it.  The 18^th Panzergrenadiers (Rick) sent their StuG G ambush platoon to guard his flank against Bens forces, combining with the SS Totenkof (Peter) to defeated one of Bens infantry companies as it tried to move into position.  However a second company had already reached the objective marker for the last German territory in the centre of Berlin; the Kroll Opera House!  Sweeping over it they assaulted into the overlooking building, driving out Phils confident trained grenadiers at the point of a bayonet.  Phils response was to crank round his 15cm infantry guns and give the building both barrels; bringing most of it down around the Russians ears in a stunning display of Bunker Busting technology which left 15 Russian teams dead, including almost all of their remaining infantry and their company commander!  Ben, not to be outdone and still holding the Opera House, unleashed his heavy Katushya rocket launchers, firstly against the Totenkof crippling their nebelwafer artillery, and then onto the centre of Berlin, causing massed casualties amongst Phils infantry in the craters.

Ben's Russians on the attack, only to be cut down by StuG's and Totenkof.

Ben's light AT guns, also fell foul of Totenkof.

The Building Of Death - The grave of near 600pts of Russian veterans as Phils 15cm guns destroy it despite the smoke barrage laid by the Russians.

Phils infantry.

The remains of Ben's infantry after the bunker buster hits.

18th Panzergrenadier StuG's in the city.

At Gatow airport the remains of the 18^th Panzergrenadier division (it had been a hard campaign) realised early on that nobody was coming to attack them, and leaving their fallshirmjager allies to hold the airport (the only unit without transport) they jumped into their trucks, racing towards the city.  Their AT support; 3 Marder III H’s, were sent Westwards to try and prevent the British armour from spilling out into the open centre of the battlefield, a task which they were helped in by the Totenkof mobile artillery, StuG’s, and the PaK40’s already there.  The Brits sent a couple of Comet platoons, but despite wiping out the Marders and StuG’s they lost both platoons and having off worst were restricted to operating solely to the West.  Frustratingly for them Phils heavy artillery; positioned facing the wrong way to help him, was positioned the right way to drop high explosive on the Allied tanks.  The feared 88mm FlaK36 guns put in an appearance, and cost the Brits two more Comets, with a vicious fire fight erupted afresh amongst the hedgerows.  Neither side were gaining the upper hand, but the Germans were already in possession of the objectives.

Marder III H's in the open coming off worst against the Comets.

Andy's 88mm guns arrive.

Back to the city and the 18^th Panzergrenadiers and the SS Totenkof had reached a decision during the lunch break that they should try to rescue Phil and his grenadiers.  Ben, despite his offensive capability being curtailed, had other ideas however, and defeated the 18^th’s StuG’s; destroying 3 out of the 5 with his near-invincible ISU-122’s.  Phil’s singular ungrateful attitude towards the efforts being made to help him resulted in the Totenkof calling it a bad job and moving back to their trenches in distain.  The Panzergrenadiers had already committed their pioneers, mortars and heavy machine guns, and their Nebewafers were also firing upon the Reichstag, so they had no choice but to remain. 

Phil, still under heavy bombardment, finally attempted to launch a counter attack towards the craters he had just been evicted from by Dennis’ advancing infantry.  However his armoured support (3 Panthers) bogged down as soon as it tried to move in the rubble-filled streets, and the Romanians had filled the Reichstag and surrounding buildings with heavy machine guns so the grenadier assault was driven back by a hail of bullets and was unable to start again.  Phil managed to get most of his Panthers going, but their position saw them take a lot of artillery fire which decimated the units around them, including the 18^th’s pioneer platoon.  This bunch of worthies moved into a building to the South of the open area next to the Panthers, only to find the Romanians had infiltrated every building to the East of them, and had brought up flamethrowers.  

Dennis' ISU-122.

Romanian troops at the rear of the Reichstag.

Phils troops in the streets of Berlin.

Totenkof artillery firing on the Allies.

The Panthers come out to fight, but the counter attack fails.

At this point, with Phil and Ben’s troops bled dry, and my attempts to help being unsuccessful, the battle for the city was pretty much over.  The Russian/Romanian alliance had conquered the Reichstag (again), gained the Kroll Opera House (the last territory in the very centre of the city), and the Germans lacked the troops to drive them back.  On the contrary the expert in urban warfare, Dennis, had husbanded his forces and was preparing to drive onwards towards the Schonberg objective and the West.  We decided to call time, and the last actions were left to the battle between the Allies and Andy’s troops in the West, where James Yanks had finally managed to outflank the German defenders, but lacked the firepower to defeat them and drive them away from the objective.  The British had taken numerous casualties, and the Germans took advantage; sending forward their final reserve, an armoured panzergrenadier platoon, to wipe out the British armoured infantry.  The British were in disarray and failed their company morale check, leaving the Germans in control of the objectives and the way to the West clear.

Mole problem.

The British in trouble.

American armour trading fire with German infantry.

Last action of the battle - German armoured panzergrenadiers drive off the British infantry.

Post-Battle Script

A hard fought battle indeed, with the big winners being the Russians who claimed what they came for in the shape of the centre of the city of Berlin.  The Germans were next happiest, with the airport of Gatow and an escape route to the West seized and held open, while the Allies will curse their tardiness, and wonder what-if they had gone hell-for-leather and attacked.  Phil, despite his refusal to counterattack until it was too late, held on for a long time against heavy odds, while Andy faced even worse, but against a foe which didn’t press its advantage.  Dennis had had recent experience of city fighting and it showed, while much of my 18^th Panzergrenadiers and Peters Totenkof struggled to get into the fight.  With this battle the campaign is over, and anyone who has followed any part of it will suspect correctly that the Russians are the victors, I will just have to tot up the totals and produce a final report.