TURN: 34 OF 60	SCENARIO NAME: Going to Town

Fionn Kelly - Germans vs. Americans - Martin Turewicz

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With the clearing of the western bank and the southern defensive positions Martin is now confined to the village and the stage has been set for my final assault. Unfortunately I don’t have any artillery or major reserves to commit at this stage but Wiesenhofer’s tank is still going strong thankfully.

As Wiesenhofer’s tank slowly reverses out of the scattered trees amidst the shattered western bank position my southern infantry dash forwards towards the shell craters formed by my own bombardments to gain some cover. Unfortunately for me I had failed to take into account the simple mathematics that twenty-some men won’t fit into a single foxhole and whilst most of the two platoons of survivors gets into cover a few men are unable to enter the craters and remain exposed to enemy fire on the lip of the craters.

Here one can see the remnants of an entire platoon which tried to take shelter in a single shell crater. Talk about being overcrowded !

What is worse is that Martin’s forces are extremely strong with at least four platoons firing on these two half-platoons and the claustrophobic nature of their shelter ensures that even the soldiers which have reached shelter are pinned by the sheer volume of fire being directed at their exposed colleagues above.

As the lead platoons are pinned in the vicinity of the shell craters my reserve Panzergrenadier platoon ( at eighty percent strength) is still trying to shelter deeper in the woods although, as it moves slowly forward into assault positions, some sporadic American fire is directed at it and the platoon is pinned. This is a very bad sign for me as it would appear that a few squads of Americans have, with some light fire, managed to pin a veteran Panzergrenadier unit. My global morale is at under thirty percent by this stage and it is obvious that even my veteran Panzergrenadiers simply won’t be able to carry positions by simple assault any more.

This picture shows the proverbial "big picture". As the two half platoons of infantry shelter in craters near the middle of the picture my reserve panzergrenadiers are moving slowly up through the woods on the right hand side of the picture whilst trying to remain out of sight of the enemy.

Kampfgruppe Vossen’s infantry are rushing down a road on the eastern bank of the river and will, when level with the captured American positions, turn right and march across the river and link up with a platoon of volksgrenadiers which will be in place there within a couple of minutes ready to either take the small houses overlooking the river or support a push to take the blockhouse if Martin’s defence proves too strong for my southern force (three platoons which muster slightly less than two platoons of effectives).

Here are the remnants of Vossen’s Volksgrenadiers who are moving into covered positions from where they can rush across the river.

As my forward platoon moves across the river itself I have ordered both half-tracks to cross the bridge in an effort to draw some fire, lay down some of their own fire and, most importantly scare Martin.

Here you can see my empty half-tracks advancing over the bridge and towards the village. I’m quite sure these are going to give Martin some worries.