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Action phase
Reinforcements! Two rifle platoons made it
around the southern flank of the town and arrived on the south
hill! Great stuff - they will be invaluable in helping to take
the town. My grip on those Fallschirmjaeger in there is becoming
stronger and stronger!
Click on Image to Enlarge
Two rifle platoons enter the map from the
south-east. They fought their way around the southern flank of
the town and are now strenghtening my grip on the
Fallschirmjaeger inside.
Without hesitation, I order them to fan out
towards the town. While the half-platoon is engaged in a fire
fight there, it should come as a big surprise for the Germans
when these guys suddenly overrun their positions! I intend in
positioning the HMG's attached to the platoons on top of the hill
in the woods while the platoons work their way forward. It will,
however, take at least one or two minutes to have them all in
position.
Now, I figure, is also the time to call down
some artillery on the town. I have two reasons for this - it will
take about 2 minutes (2 turns) for it to arrive, so it will be
just in time when I am going to start my final assault. Plus -
from what I can see that is happening inside the town - Fionn is
massing his defenders in the center and, funny enough, in a small
patch of woods. The 105mm rounds should wreak some havoc in there
and to stun the defenders thus allowing my infantry to storm the
town. I intend to save some 105mm ammo, though, to be used
against the armored columns once they break out of the woods into
the open.
Click on Image to Enlarge
The 105mm FO (in the woods in the background)
is calling down some artillery fire into the center of the town.
In the background you can see (enlarged) the half-platoon and the
newly arrived reinforcements.
Now to the less pleasant matters - the eastern
woods. After losing both the MG team and rifle squad to the
Germans in the clearing, I consider this flank more or less
broken. I still have the bazooka team hiding out there in the
woods ready for a shot on anything that comes down the road, but
I do not want to leave all responsibility on this one team. Even
more so, since there is a chance to stop the armored columns for
good - should I get the leading vehicle, I can block the whole
road and the rest will be stuck in the woods for good. Or at
least heavily delayed.
Therefore, I order another forward bazooka team
together with a Platoon HQ unit to run forward through the snow
towards the woods edge. I hope that they can arrive on time and
will not be spotted by the tanks moving in the open further north.
If they make it, I still have a fair chance of stoping the
Germans there for some time.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Move out! The bazooka team
and the Platoon HQ unit are ordered forward to support the right
flank.
At the same time, I detach another bazooka team
and an HQ unit from 3rd platoon (the one just crossing
the river in the south) and move them into ambush position on
this side of the river. They are supposed to cover the southern
road in case the Germans break through.
Click on Image to Enlarge
The bazooka and HQ units are moving into
position behind the stone farmhouse. Should the Germans break
through in the woods and use this covered approach (note the
small elevation that seperates the southern flank from the center
of the map) they will run into this bazooka team.
So much for now. I leave the two Shermans where
they are right now. Having lost three tanks in three minutes, I
intend to keep the remaining ones hidden until the last moment
and then go for some juicy targets, like halftracks or flanking
shots on passing Panzers. One thing I am certainly hoping for is
the snow to work in my favor - should the Germans choose not to
move down the road, I seriously hope that some of their hardware
will bog down earlier or later.
Action phase
I grabbed a pair of binoculars and armed with
my M1 Thompson MP, dashed for one of the wooded hills. Distant
detonations from the town and woods interchanged with machinegun
brusts and the occasional "whomp" of mortars. My first
look went east - reports coming back to my HQ were not good. The
contact with the outpost in the clearing to the south broke off a
couple of minutes ago and we had to expect the worst. We could
hear tanks and armored vehicles in there and it was only a matter
of minutes before the first enemy units would break out of the
woods. The 81mm mortars were shelling the clearing right now. I
hope it would disable some vehicles and slow their advance.
In the northern woods, everything was still
quiet. At least one vehicle and some infantry were spotted
advancing slowly down the road about a hundred meters or more
away from the ambush point.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Waiting in ambush...
I looked at the gap between the woods in the
center. Two tanks and a halftrack column were closing in. With
the three Shermans gone they really didn't have to fear too much
opposition and I would let them come much closer before moving my
remaining tanks out of cover. One of the halftracks, however,
speeded down the road, then turned south abruptly and raced for
cover behind the small elevation. It was heading right for the
bazooka team I had sent forward to support the right flank! It
seemed that the bazooka hadn't been spotted yet and it was in a
perfect position for a flank shot on the halftrack!
Click on Image to Enlarge
Man against machine - the bazooka team,
heading for the woods, and the German halftrack with some mounted
infantry are running right into each other. The bazooka is hidden
from view of the vehicle by the small elevation and is moving in
for a perfect flank shot!
I turned west. The attack on the town was
making some progress as the heavy shelling of the town with MGs
and 60mm mortars as well as the HE shells from my Sherman was
showing even more results. Several German units started breaking
and rushed out of the buildings to the back. The German defensive
ring around the town started shaking and I expected it to break
as soon as all my platoons reached their assault positions.
Click on Image to Enlarge
A German squad is trying to withdraw from
this wooden farmhouse which is lying under heavy fire, but as
soon as it leaves the building it gets pinned from some .50 cal
machinegun from across the river. Note the craters around the
building.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Then - BOOOM! A direct hit on
the house! I think it was from the Sherman...
Click on Image to Enlarge
The house is gone. All is left is some
rubble and a probably badly shaken and decimated German squad,
which obviously tries now to rout into the woods... running right
into my advancing reinforcements.
I put down my binoculars and headed back to the
HQ. This has been the first turn without some catastrophic news...
not surprising, since there was not too much left that I could
lose. The good news were that at least two holes have been made
in the defenses around the town - one in the north and one in the
south where at least two squads are withdrawing. It looks to me
like I will be in position to start my assaults there, with the
main effort being to the south of the town where my fresh
reinforcements will make the difference. Let's see.
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