I've got several battered units now (no total loses thankfully though a few close calls) and several bridge heads. It should all be over now bar the inevitable armoured counter attack(s) that I'm sure will be coming from the west. The prestige cost was/is/will be huge for this one

Maybe I should have paid attention in the briefing where I was told I'd need "to find a way across" and purchased some bridging engineers

In my defence I've rarely used them since my tanks can cross minor rivers with no problem - but yeah the briefing made it quite clear and that major river spanning the map really should have clued me in!