Monday 13 June 2022

Fictional Russo-Ottoman Napoleonic campaign - part 3 - "day"6

On "day" or campaign turn  6, 2 more encounters took place.

On the far left, 2 smaler forces moved against each other, resulting in a brief clash. A  bigger enconter was taken to the tabletop.

For a second time, Razgrad, as a strategic place, was the spot of a big encounter.



2nd Battle of Razgrad

2 Russian brigades had dug in and around Razgrad (1brigade of 2 battalions of grenadiers, and the other with 2 battalions of Jägers, a battered regiment of hussars, a heavy battery, and a unit of Cossacks. They were attacked by 2 brigades, one of 3 units of Albanian skirmish infantry, and another of 2 new army battalions supported by heavy cavalry and a medium battery, the latter brigade commanded by Prince Petros of Wallachia.

The Ottoman troops skipped a turn to wait for the troops of the Persian Expeditionary Corps (1 regular battalion, 2 battalions of Caucasian irregular skirmish troops), but another brigade of Russians came in support into the Ottoman right flank comming from Venets: 1 regiment of dragoons and 2 units of Cossacks).

The Ottoman troops on that side were skirmish troops lining up, supposing that the Cossacks would not dare to attack. Unfortunately, troops in skirmish are just an ideal target for the Cossack lancers. The Ottomans suffered losses but were not broken. They quickly moved into blocks with their remaining units. On the other side of the table, the New Army's 1st Battalion suffered losses from a combination of artillery and musket fire. On that flank reinforcements arrived from Opaka, led by Bosnak Sieg Agha:2 brigades, one from Moldavian irregulars and one from Janissaries and Anatolians. Both supported with cavalry.

While there was a status quo on the Russian left flank, the combination of three brigades moved against the Cossacks, hussars and 1 battalion of jägers on the Russian right flank. Ottoman progress could be slowed down but not stopped. The hussars and the jägers were destroyed and the Cossacks left the field. Attempts to direct troops from the pther flank to the right  were aborted, a late arrival of a weakened Russian infantry brigade of 2 weakened battalions with only 1 weak general and no officer failed to advance in an orderly fashion to put any pressure on the Ottomans.

On the Russian side, it was mistakenly assumed that it was enough to hold the village until the last turn, but with the Ottoman troops threatening to encircle the village and with only 2 battalions opposite, a retreat was the only option.

















Battle between Ivanovo and Dve Mogilic

The encounter was virtually simulated by the game master.

A “New army” brigade with 2 batteries supported by a brigade of irregular light cavalry on the Ottoman side were confronted by a brigade of dragoons with a horse battery and battalion of landwehr, supported by the guard brigade light cavalry (1 regiment of hussars and a ulhan with an elite ridden battery). The guard units went to the Ottoman light cavalry. In the 2nd inning there was fighting and the Ottomans withdrew with 1 loss . The Ottoman batteries were positioned  and covered between the new army units in square. The dragoons remained at more than 60 cm, but the guard battery positioned itself in such a way that the Ottoman batteries could not fire at them. The Ottoman medium battery fired at the dragoons but a few flags over the turns resulted in no loss. In the third turn, the Ottoman light horse were attacked again. No losses but driven from the field, the uhlans suffered 1 loss.

In the same turn, the guard artillery fired on one of the squares and repeated it the next turn. The unit in square suffered heavy losses and was reduced to 3 figures.

The signal for the uhlans, supported by the hussars, to attack. The weakened square was broken and with the breakthrough the Ottoman horse battery was destroyed. The ulans suffered a 2nd loss. In the sixth turn the uhlans and hussars retreated and the fire from the 2nd square on them had no effect. The seventh turn, the remaining Ottoman troops withdrew towards Popovo


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