ArmchairSergeant
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I've been looking into the Battles on Irpin river in Feb-Mar 2022, near Kyiv. It seems that the Russians were trying to establish a bridgehead with overwhelming force, and the Ukrainian defence there relied on Russians not being able to project full force on the critical points. In Moshchun particularly, Russia first crossed the intact bridge with very minor recon forces that were defeated and then the bridge destroyed. Russia then built three pontoon bridges, each resulting in only a small force crossing despite some sources saying the existed for several days before being destroyed but Ukrainian artillery. The battle descriptions talk about 2-3 BMPs/BMDs fighting each other on the southeast side.
What I haven't been able to understand is what was the limiting factor for Russia to be able to commit such small forces to the east side of the river. Russia famously had enough forces to form a column of dozens of kilometers approaching the area, so there must've been a lot of forces available. Can't you cross a pontoon bridge with dozens of vehicles per hour? Why were there only a few at any time, instead of forming a schwerpunkt that would have overwhelmed the defence and established a more permanent bridgehead?
What I haven't been able to understand is what was the limiting factor for Russia to be able to commit such small forces to the east side of the river. Russia famously had enough forces to form a column of dozens of kilometers approaching the area, so there must've been a lot of forces available. Can't you cross a pontoon bridge with dozens of vehicles per hour? Why were there only a few at any time, instead of forming a schwerpunkt that would have overwhelmed the defence and established a more permanent bridgehead?
