Obviously I am concentrating mostly on the town this turn, since there is not man units left in the east - and those that are are pinned in place. The only thing left to do is to regroup my badly beaten up platoon in the center. I withdraw any unit that will listen (the panicked and routen units are out of player control) to the farmhouses to setup a strongpoint. I have one and a half squads left, a machinegun and the immobilized Sherman. Not much in the face of four enemy Panzers and probably a company of Grenadiers. But it might just buy enough time...
The first German squads have infiltrated our position - notice the German infantry behind the wall. There is another German unit behind the trees on the right. My rifle squad in the middle is badly beaten up and has only 4 of the initial 12 men left. The unit to the right is the Jumbo crew - notice the Thompson MP...
In the town, the final buildings are to be cleared and I plot my orders with my future defensive setup against the German counterassault in mind. While four platoons are dealing with the defenders in the blockhouse, I start regrouping the other platoons.
With the right corner building cleared, I move the platoon from there to the center to help the other platoon in finishing off the Germans. Meanwhile, a fourth platoon is ordered to move in to help out in the left corner. That gives me four platoons against one German platoon as it seems - plenty enough to deal with any resistance quickly. Notice the waypoints that are set for the selected squad - since they cannot move through walls, I have to order them to exit and re-enter the blockhouse. This is done quickly in CM: right-click makes a waypoint, left-click finalises the order.
Since they are not needed anymore, I move the MG teams which had supported the assault on the souther end of the town to fan out forward and set up firing positions downhill and with good LOS across the bridge and approaches. At the same time, the bazooka teams (which I had kept back while the assault was underway) are ordered forward and into ambush positions within town. It will be on them to stop any German vehicles that make it across the bridge.
The MGs stay in the woods and will cover the bridge and southern part of the river, and the bazookas run forward to set up firing positions within the city.
At the same time, I am pulling two MGs and mortar teams (which had provided good suppression fire on the town during the assault) across the river. I intend to set them up on the western bank - that will make it impossible for German infantry to overrun them and provide a clear field of fire across the river and bridge.
I pull back two MGs and two mortar teams to the western bank. From here they are in a great position to suppress approaching enemy infantry and they can use the river as obstacle.
And this is not all - I also order another platoon forward to the patch of trees on the western bank in a forward position. The trees won't offer too good cover, but from there they will pose a serious threat to anything that wants to cross the bridge and they will provide a good buffer against a German frontal attack.
Sorry, boys - turn around and run back!
So overall, my strategy looks something like that -
The red circles mark my intended defensive positions (one platoon per position) once the town is finally cleared. I have chosen the positions so that an artillery barrage will find my forces not too concentrated, but at the same time each position can support each other AND any assaulting Germans will have to face more than one position at any time. Since I have a total of eight platoons in the town, I intend to use the remaining two platoons in the woods on the southern flank - the most probable German route of advance.
A look at the south-eastern approach - this is the weakest point of my defenses right now, and will most likely stay so since it will take quite some time to reach the woods through the snow. But after the town is cleared and if the Germans delay their advance further, I intend sending one or two platoons over there to cover that flank.
I look around - morale is not too good since the losses in the east and in the town are heavy. But we have to hold out just a little bit longer...
Have I already mentioned that those Shermans attract bad luck? Oh boy! Here is what happened -
An HE shell from one of the Panzers hits the house directly. The house bursts in flames, killing several units that have been hiding inside. As the poor fellas are scrambling to escape the engulfing flames, the Shermans engine starts sucking in the heat and fire... before the tank actually overheats and explodes, the crew decides that it's better to leave now... Sure, I would have lost the tank sooner or later as the German infantry is already close by (notice one Jerry unit by the trees on the right) and has most probably Panzerfausts! But to see it happen like this... WOW!
In the north east all contact breaks off with the bazooka team and HQ unit. They're either dead or POWs...
The last sign to be seen from the bazooka team (actually only one man left)... it engages the German infantry unit as a halftrack races down the road. Shortly after the bazooka team disappears.
The last Sherman left finally scores a hit on one of Fionns halftracks. And it's spectacular...
The round from the Sherman (hiding in the woods in the upper right corner of the screenshot), barely misses the first halftrack, but scores a hit on the one behind. The halftrack doesn't brew up, but is clearly knocked out. The reason why the first halftrack was missed? Tank rounds in CM follow real-world physics and are flying in an arc... the round must have basically "dropped" in on the halftrack.
And yes - the town is cleared! With two more platoons reinforcing the assaulter in the block buildings, the German units surrender quickly. But not without having inflicted heavy casualties on my units - almost every single squad has at least one casualty, and several have two and more. At least two squads are actually at half strength after the brief but intense close combat in the buildings.
Finally! The German defenders in the town surrender. As you can see from their uniforms, it's again veteran Fallschirmjäger units. Notice also several prone GI squads - the fighting was brief but intense and my boys are badly shaken...
But there is no time for rest. Ironically, in almost the same moment that I have taken the town, the Germans have broken through in the east for good. That means no rest for the infantry in the town, as they have to quickly occupy their defending positions for the incoming counterattack!
