WINTER WAR - HiWAAY Information Services

5.7 Winter Kills [NN7 Winter Kills.scn]
Between Groningen and Oldenburg, 4-7January 1986:
While 1 Divisie and the two brigades of 5 Divisie had
more or less held their ground, north of them Warsaw
Pact forces had continued to make progress, pushing the
ill prepared reservists of 52 Painfbrig aside without too
much trouble. NORTHAG's extreme left flank was now
seriously threatened; all that lay before the enemy was
a Dutch territorial brigade and the remnants of 3rd US
Brigade and 42 Painfbrig, which in the previous days had
been combined into 342 US/NL Brigade. The Dutch
territorials had formed a WW1-style line behind a canal,
dug in deep and hoped for the best; they could still
count on considerable artillery support. Meanwhile
COMNORTHAG improvised a counterattack, to be undertaken
by 41Pabrig and 4th UK Armoured Brigade, who
were to advance in north-eastern direction towards the
Lada river in order to disrupt the enemy’s advancing
formations. The Lada Attack, as it was soon called, met
with mixed success; but on a larger scale the tide was
already turning. NATO air power was beginning to get
the upper hand and Warsaw Pact supply lines were
subsequently becoming increasingly disrupted; further
south the Bremen Express, NORTHAG's first major counteroffensive,
had been put into motion with noticeable
effect. And, finally, reinforcements from North America
arrived through the port of Rotterdam. Explicit optional
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