The third battle in Poland, and third consecutive meeting engagement, saw the Red Army facing a huge force of Polish infantry with several tank companies for support. The battle was always going to be tough: the Red forces had lost a large number of tanks in the previous battle and few could be repaired in time. Those with a functioning gun were placed in the Soviet rear as dug-in emplacements.
Kalkalash's Cossack squadron led the main charge through several fields to a small village where they killed off a few Polish scouting units and even managed to defeat three Polish 7TP tanks and one Vickers Mk. A:
Teamwork was no longer just a good idea, but a requirement for success: here three Cossack squads attack a Polish tank. The first squad attempted a close assault and was repelled, suffering 2 casualties. The second squad succeeded in blowing off a track with a grenade, and the third squad destroyed the tank.
The ZiS truck in the background is delivering Cossack marshmallows for the campfire.
Musti's BT company was the only tank force fighting at full strength, and managed to stay clear of enemy guns while infiltrating the Polish rear guard. One of the BT-7 tanks found the holy grail, the Polish HQ unit. Destroying it effectively cripples the enemy force, making the entire army ten times more likely to surrender. Musti's men could not follow the retreating HQ unit through the buildings with their tanks, so they dismounted and destroyed the Polish HQ on foot. Gangster!
Hjaldrgud's ski troopers fought a tough fight against many Polish rifle divisions, securing two objectives but losing a third.
The roughest part of the battle was in the southern sector, where house-to-house fighting took place. Altough Musti's BT company managed to avoid enemy tanks entirely, this only meant some other part of the Russian force would need to fight enemy armor, and tragically this mission fell to the Soviet's tankette company. All 16 T-27s and all 3 OT-27s were lost to enemy action.
Fuch's paratrooper company was kept in reserve. Battleaxe's AA platoon played grab ass with each other due to a lack of Polish planes to shoot at. Homer Jay's recce squadron was ordered to scout and flee at the first signs of enemy fighters to avoid high casualties, although they did succeed in taking out several Polish anti-air MG nests. von Mudra's battery of 45mm AT guns stopped a Polish counterattack late in the battle.
Russian forces again heavily impacted Polish infantry, but the loss of an entire company of tankettes swung the battle back in the favor of the Poles. However, strong fighting meant the third battle was once again a draw, neither side having a big enough points advantage for a Marginal or Decisive Victory.
The third battle ended the Polish campaign, and two months have passed: it is now December 1939, and the Soviet Union is fighting the Winter War with a new opponent: Finland.
Despite the draw, the Soviet forces managed to earn enough points to refit their entire forces and they return to full fighting capacity against the dirty Finns in battle 4. Enough surplus points were left to swap a random BT-2 platoon with BA-20 armored cars, a lone SU-6 tank destroyer for Tankbuster, and a Maxim MG for Luftwaffe.be. Assuming victory in the next battle (our first battle not destined to be a Meeting Engagement, but a Delay against the attack Finnish forces), a few more Maxims will be bought for Luftwaffe's "company"
.
Onward to Finland!
