TDG Tuesday: Retrans Raid

I started this series, TDG (Tactical Decision Game) Tuesdays, to get you more in the mindset of how you could potentially handle a given tactical scenario with a limited amount of resources and manpower. My goal is to get you to read these scenarios and think about what resources you have available, what sort of scenarios you might encounter, and what gaps you need to fill in your equipment/training.
I will use the basic 5-paragraph operations order format, or SMEAC, to present the scenario as follows;
Situation: Disposition of all friendly, hostile, and adjacent forces.
Mission: What we are trying to do.
Execution: How we are going to do it.
Admin & Logistics: Who/what is getting where and how.
Command & Signal: Who is in charge and how they are communicating.

TDG 8: Retrans Raid

Situation: Guerrilla warfare scenario. Chechnya, Spring 1995. The Russian army has successfully taken the capitol city of Grozny. Chechen rebels are retreating to the mountain areas, and the Russian army is slowly and methodically pursuing them. You are not a member of the semi-conventional rebel forces, you are part of a small “battalion” (actually squad-sized) of local militia. You are a team leader within your “battalion.”

  • OPFOR Situation: The Russian army has pushed large amounts of its forces through your AO. However, the Russian Brigade Operations Center is still located many miles further back, beyond the range of normal VHF radios. This has forced them to set up a “retrans” (RTX) site, essentially a manned repeater station, to extend their communication range.

    • RTX Site: The site is located on the ridgeline at the location marked on the map. The antennas, which are skylined, tipped you off to its presence. Upon further observation through binoculars you can tell that they have 2x BRDM-1 armored scout cars to carry all the necessary equipment. You know that the maximum seating in a BRDM is 4, so you estimate between 6 and 8 enemy soldiers occupy the site.

    • Other units: The Russians have shown a lack of aggressive patrolling in the area, and you have not seen any Russians within at least 5km in the last week besides the RTX site. Your cousin Shamil says he thinks he saw some Russian mortars across the valley, but you’re not sure how accurate that is.

  • BLUFOR Situation: Your “battalion” has no antitank weapons, so you allowed the main Russian armored force to pass by unmolested. Rather than leave your village to fight in the mountains, your group has decided to stay in place to care for your families, while causing a nuisance for the Russians in their rear areas. You are a team leader, in charge of 4 other volunteers

  • Independents Situation: There are no adjacent friendly forces that you are aware of, all other rebels passed through a week ago heading for the mountains. There are no civilians near the RTX site.

Mission: Assault and neutralize the RTX site in order to hinder the Russian commander’s C2 capabilities, resupply ammunition, gain intelligence, and demoralize enemy troops.

Execution: Up to you. Your “battalion” commander has directed you to lead your team in this task.

Admin & Logistics: You have the following resources:

  • 5 fighters, including yourself

  • 4 AKMs with 3 magazines each

  • 1 PKM machine gun with one 100-rd belt of ammo

  • 1 mosin-nagant sniper rifle with 4x PU scope. You will need to take rounds from the machine gun belt to feed this rifle.

  • 4 hand grenades

Command & Signal: You are in command of your team, operating alone. You have no electronic communication devices, so any non-verbal communication will need to be analog.

In this week’s TDG, you will notice that you have pitifully little ammunition. This was a common struggle for the Chechens, and got even worse as the war dragged on. In situations like this, you must avoid lengthy engagements at all cost. This can be accomplished with one or a combination of the following: stealth, speed, violence of action, accuracy, and fire discipline.

It is also worthwhile to note that, while you do not have night vision in this exercise, the Russians you are fighting likely don’t either. At this point in the war, Russian troops had very few night vision devices, and probably wouldn’t waste them on a RTX site.

Feel free to post your answers and discuss.

Spread the love
                
By Published On: April 27, 2021Categories: Mike, Tactical, Training25 Comments on TDG Tuesday: Retrans Raid

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

About the Author: admin

25 Comments

  1. VAdeputy April 27, 2021 at 06:53

    The BRDM-1 is an early Soviet recon vehicle, probably 1960s rusty leftovers from the height of the Cold War given to 3rd rate troops at this point. So that’s a good thing. I’m probably not dealing with super trooper here, I’m more than likely dealing with his retarded cousins. 1 of my 5 is going to have the sniper rifle and about 30-40 rounds of ammo. Hes going to attempt to pick off 1 or 2 of them from on the hill, inside their danger close area for mortar support. Somewhere around 300 or 400m. He’s not going to do a very good job, and he’s only going to fire sporadically a couple times an hour. At some point, these guys are either going to roll after where they think he is, or become a little more complacent because he’s a “terrible” shot and start unbuttoning themselves from their vehicles. If they roll after him, my other 4 hit the radio complex hard and fast. If they start getting complacent and leaving the safety of their cars, well thats alright too. My other 4 have AKMs and the other guy’s extra ammo, and we’ve managed to sneak within 50m of their radio site on the other side of the hill. A couple of mags shot each, a long burst from my support weapon and 4 grenades thrown, and I have several dead REMF troops, a destroyed radio repeater and now its past time to get the hell outta Dodge…..

    • Mike April 28, 2021 at 04:10

      Good job researching/knowing the enemy vehicles. Your plan would work if you can safely assume that there is no possibility of these guys calling for support to eliminate the sniper. A RTX site is vital to the Brigade commander, so it’s not entirely improbable that they’d send a BTR or Mi-24 to investigate the sniper shots, especially when you establish a pattern of harassment over a couple of hours. Besides, 200-400 meters might be unreachable for a poorly trained conscript with an AK, but it’s well within range for the pintle-mounted PKMs on the vehicles to put some serious hurting on your sniper.

  2. HMFIC April 27, 2021 at 08:58

    This is an easy one, its a squad sized raid. Typically after a few days security will become very lapse guaranteed after 2AM they are asleep. Obviously you have to work out the details, but I would move up one of the saddles to the west from the southern town. Put the sniper in overwatch on hill with the machine gun in case we got in trouble. The rest of us assault from the east and hopefully get them asleep.

  3. KBYN April 27, 2021 at 09:57

    Intel to gather before launching any raid:
    1) How many troops are at the RTX site?
    2) What’s their routine?
    3) How often are they resupplied, and when?
    4) What does it take to destroy the antennas?
    5) Is there really a mortar site, and if so, what kind?
    Threats to remember:
    1) The potential mortar site is roughly 7 km away, which is at the bleeding edge of maximum range for Russian infantry mortar systems, but well within the range of the 2S4 Tyulpan self-propelled mortar. If there’s time, it would be wise to determine what’s actually over there, because a couple of 240 mm Tyulpan rounds will ruin our day.
    2) Expect a helicopter or two to investigate from Khankala airfield, 8 kilometers north of the RTX site. Russia’s largest loss of life in a military helicopter incident occurred there in 2002, when Chechens shot down an overloaded Mi-26 carrying 142 troops plus the flight crew. They’re probably pretty alert over there.
    3) The RTX crew is almost certainly composed of draftees who aren’t highly trained, but that doesn’t mean they’re pushovers. Don’t give ’em an even break.
    4) Our own screwups will get us killed, so we must rehearse our raid several times (without live fire) in the days leading up to our attack. Each man must understand our mission, our priorities, everyone else’s role, and know the raid’s choreography by heart.
    Priorities:
    1) Prevent the enemy from calling for help. A stealthy overnight approach and the rapid destruction of their radios will achieve this.
    2) Speed, surprise, and violence of action.
    3) Frustrate any Russian forensic investigation of the raid.
    Raid outline:
    • Raid leader needs a whistle (or the ability to whistle loudly enough to be heard over gunfire).
    • Raid team needs to bring demo charges for the antennas.
    • We want to avoid smoke/fireballs until we’re clearing the area, lest the mortar crew or the airfield notice and respond while we’re still on site. Gunfire and grenade blasts are unavoidable, but we’re in dense woods so the noise will be hard to pinpoint from 7-8 km away.
    • Try not to leave identifiable boot prints; wrap boot soles with burlap if feasible (the steep 200m climb up the hill may not allow this).
    • Brass catchers will minimize our forensic spoor, and will enable us to reload after the raid. Rig ’em if we’ve got ’em.
    • In order to maximize our haul, we’ll hit the Russians soon after they’ve been resupplied.
    • We’ll hit them when they’re not alert but when they’re visible (probably dawn, given our mutual lack of NODs), and shortly before the end of a shift if possible, so the Russians on watch will be tired.
    • If the enemy manages to transmit a call for help, we retreat.
    • If all enemy troops are not incapacitated in the first three minutes, we retreat.
    • If we take mortar fire, we retreat.
    • If we hear helicopters, we retreat.
    • Infil stealthily at night from the east, up a draw that leads west to the RTX site. We’ll attack out of the sunrise.
    • We’ll form an L-shaped ambush just outside grenade blast range (which may be closer than normal, due to the heavy woods on site). The PKM gunner and the sniper face north (downhill) and the remaining three rebels face west. Raid leader will be in the west-facing group. Sniper gets ten rounds for his Mosin-Nagant from the PKM’s ammo belt.
    • Sniper initiates the ambush by shooting the radio operator(s), puts 1 or 2 rounds into the radio(s), then assumes overwatch and eliminates squirters.
    • West-facing rebels toss one grenade each, then open fire with one mag from their AKMs.
    • PKM gunner lays down a base of fire, starting on the right and sweeping left, pinning down any Russians in the open. After ten bursts of 3-5 rounds, PKM gunner grabs his AKM and moves north onto the X to join the leader and the west-facing team.
    • Each west-facing team member loads his second mag. When the PKM gunner ceases fire, they follow the raid leader westward onto the X to wipe out whoever’s still alive. Raid leader keeps the last grenade for contingencies.
    • Raid leader signals “cease fire” with three whistles.
    • Allow five minutes to gather ammo/intel (2 men) and rig demo on antennas/radios (2 men).
    • Don’t bother destroying the scout cars. Just loot them.
    • Leader whistles once to recall the sniper. Quickly divide the spoils and police all mags (2 minutes).
    • Max time from initiating the ambush to exfil: ten minutes.
    • Light demo fuses and exfil south (uphill) to the PKM position to recover that gun, then split into two groups and move south down the hard-surfaced parallel trails leading to Chechen-Aul. The hard surface will hopefully reduce the Russians’ tracking opportunities, but speed is more important than stealth now, so we must put as much distance between us and the ambush site as possible. Splitting up increases the odds of at least one group evading the Russian response.
    • ASAP upon arriving at his home, each rebel must burn the clothes he wore on the raid (except his boots), and then shower twice to remove powder residue and blood.

    • Mike April 27, 2021 at 13:36

      This very well thought out reply merits a follow on decision:
      You and your men arrive as planned and get into your final ambush positions unseen. You notice a few things that you hadn’t planned for:
      1: The radios are not in the open anywhere to be seen. You see cables running from the antennas into one of the BRDMs.
      2: You see 8 sleeping bags under tarps next to the other BRDM. 3 of them look like they are occupied.
      3: There is 1 Russian soldier on watch manning the PKM on the nearest BRDM, facing west down the draw. You hear a radio break squelch inside of the same BRDM.
      What do you do now? Your men are already in their positions, with the instructions you gave them. Your sniper is still searching for a radio or radio operator to shoot, and is holding his fire.

      • KBYN April 27, 2021 at 15:59

        If we don’t have to attack, we won’t. I guess it depends on what BLUEFOR needs at the time. If we can do this some other day, then we retreat.
        If for some reason these guys have to die today, then I’d first brief my nearby guys facing west in very quiet whisper (or with hand signals): “Sentry in that vehicle [pointing]. Radios in that vehicle [pointing]. Three men sleeping over there [pointing]. Sniper will shoot the sentry. Throw your grenade toward the the sleepers. Shoot anything that moves. When we assault westward, I’ll put a grenade into the car with the radios.”
        The gunner’s probably not gonna see us before the attack, given the hour and our position in the tree line, and with the sun coming up either in front of him or a bit to his right.
        Since we’re close together enough to see each other, I’d hand signal to the sniper to shoot the sentry.
        PKM gunner’s orders are unchanged: base of fire from right to left, etc.
        If the enemy sentry up topside isn’t eliminated by our sniper, or by our frags, he’ll likely spin right to engage our PKM gunner. If he does, I shoot him in his exposed left side.
        My first grenade goes down the open hatch into the radio car, or in whichever door is open, after a three count. After detonation, I’ll follow up with about ten rounds into the passenger compartment at point blank range.
        My last grenade will probably go into the other BRDM, since there are probably four troops not in view and we don’t know where they are yet. If these guys were in a high state of readiness, there’d be a gunner up and ready in each scout car … but there’s only one.
        The guys inside the radio car are going to have more opportunity to get a distress call out before our PKM gunner ceases fire, but it’s a risk we’ll have to accept. If we move fast and hit hard, shock and the natural human instinct to freeze and wait for orders might still allow me to haul ass and get my first grenade into the radio car before the guys on duty pull their thumbs out of their asses. Odds are, they’ll prairie dog out of the hatch to see what’s up before they get on the horn for help.
        The odds that either scout car can get fired up and rolling before we’re right on top of them is basically nil. Speed, surprise, violence of action.
        Rest of the plan proceeds as originally briefed.

        • Mike April 27, 2021 at 16:26

          Nicely done. I am going to take this opportunity to make a point, please understand that I’m not putting down your answers by doing so.
          Often we don’t have correct intel going into a situation. Or, we do have correct intel but it’s out of date by the time we arrive. Either way, the point I’m trying to express is the importance of what’s called a leader’s recon. Before deploying your men to their attack positions, it’s often prudent for the small unit leader to advance alone (or with subordinate team leaders) to get a clear picture of the situation, leaving the rest of the men in the nearest covered and concealed position. The leader can then make note of the actual situation and disposition of enemy troops, terrain, etc. and then return to the men to communicate any changes to the plan before moving into final attack positions. This way you can avoid needing to make hasty decisions on the fly after your men are already in place and additional coordination is difficult or impossible.

          • KBYN April 27, 2021 at 17:00

            Ahhhh. That’s very sensible. I hadn’t thought of that. I’m a sea service vet, so small unit infantry tactics aren’t in my wheelhouse. It’s good to learn from the pros, so thank you.
            I don’t care about feelings or egos. I care about results, so I much prefer learning from my mistakes before anybody’s blood is on the line. Please keep firing these challenges at us amateurs until we aren’t thinking like amateurs anymore.

          • Mike April 27, 2021 at 17:11

            Hell yeah man. You put quite a bit of effort into this TDG, so you likely got more out of it than most.
            Believe it or not, I learn just as much from ya’lls answers as you do from the exercise. Together, we’re all getting a little more dangerous every day.

          • KBYN April 27, 2021 at 17:27

            Oh, I believe it.
            “Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” – Proverbs 15:22

  4. GhostTiger April 27, 2021 at 10:25

    If my cousin isn’t part of the squad, I’d ask him to investigate the mortar site a little more thoroughly to verify their presence, while my team works in buddy pairs to observe the repeater site. They will be taking notes on number of personnel, the stance of those forces (are they buttoned up or outside the vehicles, are they alert or lax in their security), their security rotation, whether the site is illuminated at night, and what arms and equipment they possess. I believe a timely hit on the repeater site is necessary to interrupt the Russian assault further down the line, but with a small group and limited ammo, information is key so I want to move quickly without moving too quickly, hence the information gathering stage. Once I have verified whether mortars are present or not, I would stage my best shot 200M from the site and one level of elevation above the tower’s base, avoiding the crest of the hill to avoid exposing my man on the sky line and remaining within the danger close distance for enemy supporting assets. He would be armed with both the Mosin and the PKM, as those two weapons use the same ammo. His role would be over watch and fire suppression if need be. Kick off time for the infiltration would be dependent on several variables. What is the moon phase, do the troops have NVGs (doubtful), and what is the security rotation of the enemy? Ideally, we would have a full or nearly full moon, and could conduct the attack between 2AM and 4AM, 30 minutes before shift change. The attack would consist of an attempt to infiltrate the base and kill the soldiers at close range from an approach offset 90 degrees related to the over watch position. I would task one man from each buddy team to toss at least one grenade in the vehicles and either disabling or carting off any radio equipment, ammunition, and code books I can find. The over watch position’s signal to open fire will be either the sound of an enemy shouting the alert or gunfire, and target choice will be at his discretion, as will method of engagement (Mosin vs PKM). I would set a hard deadline for withdrawal at five minutes from the first shot/explosion fired, with the team exfiltrating away from the closest known enemy base. With any luck, we will nab ourselves additional ammo, a radio or two, and have killed some occupiers along the way.

    • Mike April 27, 2021 at 13:44

      Not bad! By choosing to capture rather than destroy the radios, you also have incredible SIGINT value of having radios with the enemy’s crypto loaded into them. This won’t last long once they investigate the site and discover the missing radios, but you can make use of it until then.

    • Mike April 28, 2021 at 03:35

      You did a great job of mitigating risk in your answer. I just want to add that in a perfect world, we have all the time in the world to do reconnaissance and get all the information we need before an operation. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world and this is very rarely the case. While the obviously safest route is the one you chose, in real life you constantly have to make decisions based on incomplete and questionable intel, and waiting for perfect information often results in missed opportunities or handing the initiative to the enemy. In this case, in the time it would take for your cousin to go check on the mortar site and walk back, then for you to get all the pieces moving for your raid, the RTX site could be reinforced or moved altogether. For context, I’ll make a separate comment above about how RTX sites are utilized.
      I’m not saying that your answer is wrong (it’s not), I just want to give you perspective on how this could pan out in real world operations. See my reply below to KBYN on the “Leader’s Recon” for a timely way to mitigate risk.

      • GhostTiger April 28, 2021 at 14:44

        Thank you for the feedback. This is a great series and I learn a ton by participating and even more by reading everyone else’s approach to problem solving. Keep up the great work!

  5. American Yeoman April 27, 2021 at 11:19

    Is hitting the mortar site first- assuming it exists, a good option? Then use THEIR mortars vs. the repeater location?

    • JD April 27, 2021 at 12:48

      Mortars are relatively specialized pieced of equipment. You are going to be hard pressed to just grab one and be effective with it. Charge size, angle, distance, all come into play. Typically, aiming stakes are laid out (If you want a really fun show, go -or preferably get someone else to- kick over/move an aiming stake and see what happens…).
      Unless you are very familiar with these systems, this probably isn’t a realistic option.

      • Mike April 27, 2021 at 13:49

        This. Also, as you pointed out in your answer JD, the mortars (if they even exist) are likely too well-defended for your fire team to take on.

  6. JD April 27, 2021 at 12:45

    Assuming that the mortars are actually there (I’d try and conduct reconnaissance to confirm – primary question, “Are the mortars towed or manpack”? If manpack, we are outside of their range, if towed, we are on the edge of the maximum effective range -appx 4 miles). I’m not going to hit the mortar site since these are typically manned by larger numbers of personnel (security, headquarters is typically nearby, and the FDC staff – too much for my small band).
    The BRDM has armor which is, at most 7mm thick. On the roof (typically the weakest point of any armored vehicle, besides the rear and undercarriage) the armor is steel and is only about 5mm thick. This places the BRDM within the capability of the PKM (can piece up to 8mm of steel). The PKM gunner gets positioned on the ridge, directly above the BRDMs in a Support By Fire (SBF) position. Primary target with the PKM is any personnel manning weapon systems in the armored vehicles. He also strips out 10 to 15 rounds for the Mosin.
    Ideally, we hit the radio site at a guard change or chow time. Sniper, or if they OPFOR is clustered then PKM, initiated, everyone in position on high ground near the site. Assuming we can eliminate the site quickly (we have to anyways since we’re low on ammunition) we conduct SSE and withdraw. If we are still engaging after a minute or two, use whistle signals to indicate withdraw and everyone beats feet to place major terrain features between them and the radio site and continues to E&E on their own.
    If we can knock out the personnel at the radio site, prior to withdraw (and after stripping the dead of weapons/ammunition), grenades get tossed into the BRDMs (along with a can of fuel) to destroy the vehicles and radio equipment.

  7. KBYN April 27, 2021 at 16:24

    Oh, wait. The sentry’s facing WEST toward the opposite draw, with his back to me and his left side to our sniper and our PKM gunner (who are uphill and to the south)?
    Even better! There’s no way he sees me signaling behind him. He’s a dead man.

  8. Phelps April 27, 2021 at 16:36

    Straight up smash and run. I Fik from the west, just south of the relay. Two guys with the MG, PKM and one of the AKs stop and set up in concealment at the military crest. Their job is strictly to cover exfil. (I imagine that they will pile on halfway through the fight either way, but I’m going to tell them — but not order them — not to. They’re going to say they thought we were in trouble, and I’m going to praise them for helping us. Then I’ll bitch them out for wasting ammo and accuse them of being too lazy to carry it out.) On the way up, prepare a place to hasty cache the MG. On the way past, we’re going to booby trap the most likely path of assault on the MG with one of the grenades and some wire.
    The other three of us go in, one AK and grenade each. Sneaky squirrel as close as possible, open with a grenade. If we can take them out quick (hopefully with the first grenade but not betting on it) then we load the first BRDM that starts and moves with as much loot as we can in five minutes. If the second one starts and moves, we drive it back and forth across the radios and antenna farm until either it gets entangled, dies, or we get nervous. If the second one still runs and there is a radio in it making angry Russian noises, tape/rubber band the talk button down and drop the mic somewhere noisy. Grenade on the tire bead of a driving wheel, and take off in the first one. Offload the loot in a cache at the bottom of the mountain, drive the thing another quarter of a mile, and then bugger it over with a grenade (wheel or engine compartment, no long search for optimal positioning) and more running. Come check on the cache in a week or two.
    If it goes sideways, favor exfil over pushing through. Across the crest the MG team is using to cover us (don’t trip the booby trap,) use the crest for cover, and elbow and asshole it down the mountain. Cache the MG, bring the belt, and the MGer takes the AK a from the PKM man on the way down. Bonus points if they roll a BRDM over trying to catch us. Try different harassment later. Go get the machine gun (aloha snack bar) four or five days later.
    All comms are by gunfire/explosion, murmur or yelling.
    (I went with a plan that favors bravery over skill because this is the start of the war. We aren’t good but we are earnest. This one will also count as fun as long as we survive it, aloha snack bar. I honestly don’t trust them to hit anything outside “barrel in the belly” range, so this one is all guts and glory.)

  9. Mike April 28, 2021 at 03:51

    Addendum: How RTX sites are used on the modern battlefield.
    Reading some of your replies, I feel it necessary to provide some context on RTX sites. This is a method used by both the US and Russian militaries, and probably many other modern nations’ armies, to extend an operational unit commander’s reach on the battlefield to command and control (C2) maneuver units across a wide battlespace.
    In modern maneuver warfare, maneuver units (battalions and lower) are constantly advancing on the enemy and pushing them back, as the Russians were in 1995 after they captured Grozny. When maneuver units advance, they naturally move beyond VHF radio range of the command post (regiment or higher). This means that the command post is constantly displacing and advancing to keep up with the maneuver elements. So, along with it, RTX sites on key terrain must remain somewhat mobile to displace and advance as well to stay between the command element and the maneuver elements.
    So, for a guerrilla caught behind enemy lines, RTX sites present juicy targets of opportunity that are lightly defended, vital to enemy C2 infrastructure, and won’t be around very long. Hence why I included it in this week’s TDG. At most, a RTX site will be defended by an infantry squad, but not always. Of course, if the enemy notices that their RTX sites are getting swatted off the battlefield, they will protect them more or switch to other means of communication if they can.

  10. Phelps April 28, 2021 at 09:07

    Even reinforcing the security on RTX sites is to the advantage of the guerrilla, because it ties up resources that would be used for the advance, slows down setup and strike time on the RTX, and saps enemy morale.

  11. JD April 28, 2021 at 22:58

    I’ve got a bit of a pet-peeve here. I’ve seen A LOT of posts basically mocking the OPFORs intelligence/dedication/motivation. While this MIGHT be true, when you start to disrespect your enemy, bad things tend to happen.
    Treat the enemy’s capabilities with respect cuz it only takes a second to make a fatal mistake. Likewise you can do everything right and still get zapped. Underestimating/Disrespecting the enemy makes getting dead much more likely.

    • Phelps April 29, 2021 at 09:19

      Yup. There’s a lot of dying in a man.

    • wwes April 29, 2021 at 11:23

      That is one of my big pet peeves about people talking about BLM/ANTIFA as well. It really extends to everything in life that you shouldn’t underestimate your opponent or enemy. Know their capabilities, but prepare for someone more capable than what you think they are. I don’t have a military background, but it applies anytime you’re facing other humans, not just in combat situations.

Comments are closed.

GUNS N GEAR

Categories

Archives

Spread the love