Firestorm: Stripes

A Tank Battalion from the Polish 15th Peoples Guards Mechanized Infantry Division led an attack against a well concealed and dug in West German Leopard 2 tank company, in an attempt to seize back ground lost around Leipzig. The T-55 battalion, supported by BMP infantry, Hinds, AA, and Soviet T-64’s, were facing a determined force of Leopard 2’s, Marder Infantry, Jaguars, Luchs, and penty of AA, supported by a flight of Tornados and PAH helicopters. The clever deployment of minefields slowed the initial Polish advance to a crawl, and the early arrival of the PAH’s and Tornados started to take a heavy toll on the supporting Shilkas and Gaskins, then on the advancing tanks themselves. Once past the minefields the Polish tanks and infantry pushed hard on the first objective, while a flanking force was sent on a holding attack against the Leopards holding the second.
Although the Polish Battalion commander threw multiple waves of infantry and T-55’s at the West German infantry holding the near objective, they were unable to shift the brave defenders off. The surrounding area was littered with dead bodies and the burning wrecks of two T-55 companies.
The commander decided to shift the attack to the secondary target. The Leopard 2s, Marders, and Jaguars hiding in the tree line now found multiple units of Polish T-55’s and Soviet T-64’s bearing down on them from multiple angles. A massive battle of attrition ensued, with the Soviet T-64’s bearing the brunt of the West German fire, leaving the T-55’s to work their way to the flanks of the defending force, though they themselves arrived with few tanks unharmed.
The West German PAH helicopters did their best to save their army brethren, whittling away at the Polish T-55’s, but a few plucky tanks managed to destroy the last defending vehicles and take the objective. Only 7 T-55’s survived, out of a force of 40+ tanks and supporting vehicles.
A hard fought victory, but a bloody and costly one.