Back of Beyond - Spring 1921

 The Chinese and Western Interventionists were all on the move early in the spring! Vigorous preparations through the winter and quick action in the spring allowed them to seize the initiative and move on their respective opponents and trap them before they could even launch their own operations for the spring.

The Red Horde has attacked the East Asian Cavalry Division in Wurumchi

The 14th Allied Eastern Expeditionary Army has marched on the Ist Babushka Army Corps in Baboushka

Finally, The Illustrious Arm of the Nine Illuminated Terrestrial Immortals has marched on Kubassa to attack the Ist Guard Regiment, Ipatiev House to "finally crush the barbarians, once and for all"

The Siege of Kubassa

After the long march through the remote backwaters of Kazakhstan to regain his base of operations at Kubassa and hastily raising a new battalion of infantry with the limited resources at his disposal, Kombrig Mahat Mikhan set about planning offensive operations against the Chinese in the spring. Before he could ready his diminutive force to march, word came that the Chinese were coming to him! 

Outnumbered over three to one, there was no chance at beating them in the field, so the Bolsheviks were ordered into the city and defences were hastily prepared to stand a siege! 

Upon their arrival, The Illustrious Arm of the Nine Illuminated Terrestrial Immortals  attempted to take this city by storm, but were bloodily repulsed - and lost several tanks in the process! At that point, Win-Cao Lo-Fat, The Most Illustrious Beacon of Celestial Light and Commander of the Arm of Earthly Might, ordered his troops to dig in and invest the city. The Chinese were patient and numerous, they could wait them out.  

The Battle of Baboushka

In the spring of 1921, the long-awaited attack from the Western Interventionists finally came to Baboushka. The Force of Allied troops, mainly made up of Canadians, had grown to a force nearly double the size of the Ist Babushka Army Corps. Reinforcements had poured up the rail line from Vladivostock and marched through the snow from Canadar to Molsensk to Canuckand, and finally to Borshka. 

Commissar-General Leon Davidovitch Runstein had chosen a bottleneck before Baboushka for the Ist Babushka Army Corps to make its stand. 

At dawn, during an unseasonably warm day in May, the Canadians began their assault! 

The Tanks of the 69th Armoured Regiment led the way, followed by the newly arrived 7th Battalion, South Saskatchewan Regiment - who were desperate to prove themselves. Flanking the Tanks were the 5th Battalion, Cape Bretton Highlanders and 3rd Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers. 

The 1st Transuralian Peoples Infantry Battalion holding the bridge eventually broke and the Tanks smashed through their lines and lumbered on towards the second line of defence. Behind them, the assault battalions poured across the bridge. 

The Tanks eventually faultered, under heavy fire from all sides and the South Saskatchewan Regiment was cut to pieces. The 2nd Battalion, Regina Rifle Regiment and the 105th Fusiliers followed on into the maelstrom. 

2nd Transuralian Peoples Battalion, in the center of the Bolshevik line, eventually broke under heavy fire from the Canadian artillery and infantry, but they had sold themselves dearly. By the time they were obliged to retire, they had blunted the attack of three of the Canadian battalions! 

The 5th Battalion, Cape Bretton Highlanders and 3rd Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers abandoned their positions flanking the bridge and drove across to support the wavering attack. 

The 8th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles follwed across. 

It came down to two shattered infantry battalions facing each other, with Cavarly supporting. 

The only difference being, the Canadians still had guns in support that unrelentingly rained down fire on the enemy lines! 

The last of the Bolshevik infantry fled and only the 1st Babushka Cavalry Regiment remained to slow the advance of the Canadian assault. They were quickly cleared away by the Canadian artillery

By the end of the day the hill overlooking Baboushka was in the hands of the Cape Bretton Highlanders and the Canadian Mounted Rifles. 

The Bolshevik army was in disarray. What remained of the force fled south to Vlodkask. Without supply, however, the force began to melt away. The wounded could not be properly cared for and were abandoned to the Westerners. Starving soldiers without ammunition surrendered to the Canadians or deserted. 

The Bolsheviks cause was looking bleak in the East! 

The Battle of Wurumchi

Further South and a little to the East another Chinese force was facing another Russian force - but this time Tsarists! 

Scouts of the Red Horde had reported the route to Wurumchi was clear. From a distance it seemed there was little enemy activity in or around the city. The chinese began to wonder if the rag-tag band of Russian bandits had abandoned the city when they'd heard the Red Horde was finally on the march. 

Arrayed before the city, it quickly became clear the Chinese had walked into a trap! 

Russian artillery, removed from the city, began firing on the Chinese from hidden locations in the rocky hills to the west of the city. 

Russian infantry concealed in the city, waited until the Chinese force was right at the gates of the city before they revealed themselves and fired on the Red Horde, point blank! 

Russian and Mongolian Cavalry, hidden in the hills and valleys to the south west of town, charged out and were upon the Chinese flank before most of the force realized they were there! 

Chaos spread among the Chinese ranks! Two battalions of infantry were set to flight before the rest of the force could even react. Their guns were also overrun before they could be brought to bear. 

Teh Chinese cavalry and tanks reacted quickly to regain control of the situation, and the remaining battalion of Chinese infantry made for the town. 

The last of the Chinese infantry made it to the town before being run down by the Russian Hussars pursuing them. From the city they were able to drive off the Cavalry with rifle fire. 

The Chinese tanks gave up trying to engage the Cavalry, which literally rode circles around them, and advanced on the Russian Guns. 

The Guns taking a pounding from the tanks and the Cavalry unable to regain the city, it was clear the city was lost the the East Asia Cavalry Division was obliged to retir to Driutsek. 

The General Situation at the end of Spring 1921

ORANGE

• Commander of the Field Army: Lieutenant General Sir Percy Arbuthnot-Worcester-Gruntfuttock-Smythe
• Faction: Western Interventionists
• Army: 14th Allied Eastern Expeditionary Army
• Base of Operations: Canadar 
• Other Cities: Canuckand, Molsensk, Stlojia, Borschka, Baboushka
• Resource Points: 18
• Field Army:
• 3rd Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers (8)
• 5th Battalion, Cape Breton Highlanders  (11)
• 2nd Battalion, Regina Rifles - Heavy Infantry Battalion (9)
• 105th Canadian Fusiliers - Heavy Infantry Battalion (9)
• 7th Battalion, South Saskatchewan Regiment (8) 
• 8th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles - Cavalry (12)
• 37th Field Artillery (9)
• 38th Field Artillery (10) 
• 69th Armoured Regiment (10) 

YELLOW

• Commander of the Field Army: Hedwig Markus von Eggenberg, Margrave of Grosswardein
• Faction: Tsarist
• Army: East Asia Cavalry Division 
• Base of Operations: Gura
• Other Cities: Driutsek 
• Resource Points: 1
• Field Army:
• 337th Infantry Regiment (Heavy) (8)
• Mongolian Cavalry (9)
• 38th Hussars Cavalry (10)
• 77th Imperial Artillery Regiment (11) 

GREEN

• Commander of the Field Army: Altan Baatar Kahn
• Faction: Warlord Chinese
• Army: The Red Horde
• Base of Operations: Lung-Hu
• Other Cities: Wurumchi, Sui-Pei, Bashkent 
• Resource Points: 42
• Field Army:15
• Heavy Infantry Battalion (11)
• Heavy Infantry Battalion (9)
• Infantry Battalion (12)
• Infantry Battalion (12)
• Cavalry (10)
• Artillery (12)
• Tank (12) 

LIGHT BLUE

• Commander of the Field Army: Win-Cao Lo-Fat, The Most Illustrious Beacon of Celestial Light and Commander of the Arm of Earthly Might
• Faction: Warlord Chinese
• Army: The Illustrious Arm of the Nine Illuminated Terrestrial Immortals 
• Base of Operations: Wei-Li
• Other Cities: Ching-Ho, Ulaan-Goom, Pyrohy, Holopchi
• Resource Points: 11
• Field Army:
• 1st Heavy Infantry Battalion (15)
• 2nd Heavy Infantry Battalion (15) 
• 3rd Infantry Battalion (13)
• 4th Infantry Battalion (13)
• Cavalry Regiment (15)
• Artillery Regiment (14)
• Tank Regiment (12 )

DARK BLUE

• Commander of the Field Army: Kombrig Mahat Mikhan
• Faction: Bolshevik
• Army: Ist Guard Regiment, Ipatiev House
• Base of Operations: Kubassa
• Other Cities: Kroptkand, Bakunin
• Resource Points: 6
• Field Army:
• 1st Heavy Infantry Battalion (12)
• 6th Artillery Regiment (14)

RED (of course) 

• Commander of the Field Army: Commissar-General Lev (Leon) Davidovitch Runstein
• Faction: Bolshevik
• Army: Первый Бабушка Армейский корпус (Ist Babushka Army Corps)
• Base of Operations: None
• Other Cities: Vlodkask
• Resource Points: 0
• Field Army:
• 1st Transuralian Peoples Infantry Battalion (Heavy)  (7)
• 2nd Transuralian Peoples Battalion (Heavy) (5)
• 3rd Transuralian Peoples Battalion (5)
• 4th Transuralian Peoples Battalion (6)
• 1st Babushka Cavalry Regiment (11)
• 1st Borschka Artillery Regiment (5)