The Japanese 2nd Army under General Baron Oku had orders to capture the hamlet of Te-li-ssu, which lies to the north of the Fu-chou Ho river valley.
I took on the role of Lieutenant-General Baron Oshima, commander of the 3rd Division which was on the right of the Japanese advance. The 5th Division was to our left attacking the centre of the Russian positions, whilst the 4th Division is attempting to outflank the Russians on the far left.
On the previous day our artillery, supported by guns from the 1st Artillery Brigade, fought and won an artillery duel that forced the Russians to withdraw their guns from the forward slopes of the hills on the other side of the valley.
Our infantry also contacted the Russian infantry on our right flank, but though they initially fared well, the Russians bought up reinforcements, which halted our attack.
Under the cover of the early morning fog we planned to launch an attack at dawn to take the heights this time.
Initially things went well and our advance across the valley was uncontested, concealed as it was by the slowly lifting fog.
However, as we approached the steep slopes on the other side we came under fire from the entrenched Russians and were unable to use our artillery as visibility was still too poor.
One of my infantry commanders was a little over zealous and started to advance up the slope toward the enemy trenches but this smply resulted in an entire battalion being eliminated. So we spread out on the valley floor and began a a prolonged firefight with the enemy.
Eventally our superior numbers began to tell and the Russians' fire lessened. With their command and control in chaos their reinforcements failed to arrive and we managed to secure the heights.
Bloody Picnic are a pretty traditional ruleset based on General de Brigade. but neither of us were sure whether the scenario properly tested the rules and so another outing may well be in order.
Very nice game.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting period
ReplyDeleteI have never dabbled in the infantry side of the Russo-Jap war, but have played with the "boats"
In fact I think you sank big R at Tsushima with my Jap Fleet :)
Thanks. It is certainly an interesting period and one I would like to find out more about - it seems that, if we had listened to our observers, we would have learned some things that could have changed the direction of the Great War.
ReplyDelete