06 February, 2012

Encirclement

In mid-afternoon the 11th Cavalry surrounded Snoul, with the 2nd Squadron on the east and 3rd Squadron on the west.


3rd Squadron, moving through the rubber trees to encircle the city, triggered an ambush set to hit the 2nd Squadron as they took the airfield and silenced anti-air guns.

Moving in on airstrip

Elements of 3rd Squadron move in towards the airstrip

Other half of the pincer

Lying in wait for 2nd Squadron is this light machine gun team, hoping to catch the infantry without any armour support

Lying in wait for them

Their ACAV surges out of the jungle, leaving its infantry behind. The Viet Cong HQ's security cell, armed with an RPG takes aim and its shot brews up the M113 instantly!

Tin can goes up

The crew bail out, but run directly into the fire from the recoilless rifle in the other house, putting them all down

Recoilless rifle strikes at bailing out crew

The cavalry rushes to the rescue, but their advance leaves the VC a free hand elsewhere

Cavalry to the rescue

The nearby cell of Viet Cong rush the vehicle crew, taking one prisoner and finishing the rest off - the nearby HQ team is powerless to intervene

VC rush in

A close-range firefight erupts nearby, as the ACAV's squad continues along its original line, and is hit by an advancing VC cell

Close range firefight

On the other side of the airstrip 3rd Squadron halt their advance as they try to suppress the nearby VC group, but the VC fire hits a couple of the top gunners

Suppressing nearby cadre

Ignoring their faltering support, the squad rush across the open ground towards the houses

Going it alone

They take fire from the HQ security squad and several of their number go down

Caught in the open

Luckily, only one of those wounds seems serious and they continue to the house, where another unpleasant surprise awaits them. Despite having cleared the recoilless rifle team, another batch of VC has climbed up from the hidden tunnel complex below

Another unpleasant surprise

A murderous crossfire wipes out that unfortunate squad. The nearby VC command team runs in and takes a prisoner.

School of hard knocks

As the Sheridan puts the pedal to the metal and advances across the airstrip the RPG gunner takes his best shot. It knocks out the main gun, leaving the hapless tank with just the 7.62 MG to carry the offensive to the VC

RPG gunner takes his best shot

With two groups of VC now slipping into the jungle with their prisoners, the VC look to continue their advantage, engaging the last remaining American squad to great effect

Taking advantage of weak flank

The other defanged ACAV races to their aid - winning that race with inches to spare

Race to downed squad

The Sheridan trundles to its aid, but now the VC smell blood and are following in its wake

Following behind defanged Sheridan

A newly arrived Viet Cong sniper takes up position - as soon anyone gets in or out of that ACAV he'll let them have it!

VC Sniper gets in on the act

The Sheridan blocks any line of sight to the ACAV's back ramp from that quarter - though now the VC numbers have swollen in the vicinity

Final charge

Backing up in a desperate attempt to run over some of the VC and bring its machine gun to bear, the light tank takes a full belt of .50cal through its rear armour and conks out. The crew bail out, but aren't happy about the couple of battle-hardened Viet Cong who lurk in front of them

Sheridan's think skin proves fatal

The remaining M113 crew rush out, gunning down several VC with their sub-machine guns, and getting the American soldiers back on their feet and towards the ACAV

M113 crew getting hands dirty

They may get away, but the overly aggressive actions of the officer will be examined in detail (he'll surely be court-martialled for flagrant disregard of military practice). A bad end for the American squadrons of Task Force Shoemaker.

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