Quote:
Originally Posted by Raellus
This is a good point. I suppose that IF XI Corps was entirely out of fuel AND all the bridges between their positions and Bremerhaven were down AND they thought that significant PACT forces (at least a strong armored or mech Corps) were driving for the Baltic in order to cut them off, then staying put makes a ton of sense.
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XI Corps doesn't need to be completely out of fuel, but "low" can be low enough. If they have to abandon their heavy vehicles to walk out, even Red cavalry or barely mechanized forces can mop them up easy.
There may not be strong Pact forces in position to their west, but the possibility exists (not least in the minds of XI Corps HQ) that the Soviets could move one there. Once 5th Division ceases transmitting, does the Corps HQ really know where 4th Guards Tank Army is? IMO, they could believe that there are more Pact forces, gas/diesel-fueled, lurking over the horizon. For a general & staff trained to fight for years with the benefits of radio communication, satellite and aerial reconnaissance, and other goodies; now that they've lost them, the "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns" can add up pretty quickly. Do they
really know where Red Bear Chelkov and his Army is? The CIA claims to be in contact with forces near him, but do you trust them? Those reports are pretty out of date by the time they get to XI Corps HQ.
Also, it's been mentioned that the Corps and its forces have some reconnaissance assets, but those can't go very deep and still provide rapid information anymore. If there are cavalry patrols (Pact Poles and Soviets) to the east, they can report that. How would you interpret it? Whatever is out there to the east, it drove off III German Corps. That's a significant point of data.
Someone above said "paralyzed with fear"-- I would expand that to "with fear
and uncertainty." And maybe command exhaustion. "There are no tired regiments, only tired colonels."-- Napoleon(?)
As for the Danes, I could support either the idea that they followed the Germans out, or that they found enough shipping on their own to float out. Neither event is likely to raise the morale of XI Corps HQ.
Finally, I think the idea of the British making an offer to pull them out in 2001 via the UK would make an excellent "Return to Europe" adventure for a group of PCs.