[Raellus]

Operation Limerick

Task force Inchon was landed northwest of Elblag during the morning of June 22nd by two former East German navy Frosch I class landing ships and the Type 520 Barbe class ULC Flunder (Flounder), assisted by a pair of armed minesweepers (one German, one American) modified to carry troops. Naval gunfire support was provided the U.S.N. Knox class frigate, Truett, the West German Hamburg/Type 101 class guided-missile destroyer, Bayern, and another pair of German minesweepers optimized for use as light gunboats/sub-chasers. The landing beaches were scouted in advance by elements of 1st Platoon, A Company, 2nd Force Recon, which also conducted terrain and force-oriented [distant] reconnaissance patrols several kilometers inland of the landing areas. They identified several minefields on the beaches and marked them for removal by follow up UDTs, but encountered no significant enemy ground forces in the landing area or on the road to Elblag.

The landing itself was unopposed and the majority of the task force was safely ashore and heading towards its primary objectives by noon. A Company, 2nd LAR/LAI Battalion ("Wolfpack"), was tasked with the coup-de-main of seizing the highway bridge over the Elblag canal and the highway interchange on the city's southeastern outskirts. This they completed without a hitch. The tiny, poorly armed Elblag militia, led by a former ZOMO officer, decided not to resist. Anecdotal evidence and recently declassified documents strongly suggest that the militia commander may have been on the payroll of the DIA prior to Operation Limerick.

After a long road march, the rifle companies of 2nd Battalion ("Warlords"), 2nd Marine Regiment ("Tarawa") linked up with A Company, 2nd LAI and began fanning out to seize their objectives in and around Elblag. 1st Platoon, A Company, 2nd Force Recon, now operating in a direct action capacity, seized a couple of key government and military sites in the city.

As night fell on June 22nd, Task Force Inchon began to prepare its defenses and push out clearing patrols while it settled in to await the arrival of the U.S. 8th Mechanized Infantry Division ("8-Ball"). Strong enemy counterattacks from the vicinity of Malbork were expected within 24 hours of the landing, but aside from near-daily probes by light Polish cavalry units starting on June 23rd, significant enemy attacks failed to materialize. The lead elements of 8th ID arrived at the Elblag crossroads on July 2nd, a couple of days behind schedule. The main body of the division began arriving in dribs and drabs shortly thereafter. By July 4th, the bulk of the 8th ID had encamped on the outskirts of Elblag. For three more days, the 8th ID remained at Elblag, awaiting stragglers, performing much-needed vehicle maintenance, and brewing fuel for the next phase of its advance. On July 7th, the 8-Ball division decamped and struck out east, leaving behind several unrepaired vehicles and a few of its more seriously wounded.

Soviet Attack and Encirclement

On July 11th, Task Force Inchon patrols began to encounter Soviet light armored reconnaissance forces pushing towards Elblag from the southeast. Initial long-range encounters with these enemy units favored the LAV-25s of the Wolfpack. Soon, however Marine, pickets were confronted by Soviet armor and infantry in numbers that no one at Division or Corps headquarters had expected.

On July 13th, Task Force Inchon's forward outposts had been pushed back to the highway interchange on the southeastern outskirts the city by heavy, persistent, combined-arms attacks. The highway interchange was defended by the dug-in A Company, 2nd LAR/LAI Battalion, Foxtrot Company, 2nd Battalion, and an anti-tank section of the Battalion's weapons company. The ensuing battle for the crossroads was a brutal affair, lasting the rest of the afternoon, during which both sides suffered heavy casualties. The sheer weight of the Soviet attacks, especially the marked superiority of their artillery and armored firepower, soon decided the contest, but the attackers paid dearly for their prize. After nightfall, the battered remnants of the Marine defenders, having lost nearly all of their LAVs at the crossroads, withdrew to their fall-back positions in the southern outskirts of the city proper, while strong Soviet mechanized units rushed east and northeast to cut the Marine in Elblag off from escape and/or outside assistance. Field interrogations of enemy soldiers captured during the battle for the crossroads revealed that Task Force Inchon was facing the Soviet 3rd Motor Rifle Division (MRD). SIGINT indicated that elements of the Soviet 1st Guards Motor Rifle Division (GMRD) and 138rd MRD were also involved in the developing counteroffensive, pressing on through the newly-captured crossroads and heading west to meet the rearguard of the U.S. 2nd Marine Division around Gdansk. None of these Red Army units were supposed to be anywhere near Elblag (at last accounting, Soviet 9th GTA was reported to be in western Belorussia). Ground truth belied bad intelligence. Task Force Inchon had just met the Soviet 9th Guards Tank Army. The short and bloody siege of Elblag had begun.