Axis Planning

German Force Deployments


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Provisional Intentions and Plan.

Overall Intentions:

Kampfgruppen Eberbach, Carius and von Kelly will advance along the four forest paths clearing them as they advance. I have chosen to advance along all four paths simultaneously since I am extremely wary of the route Kampfgruppe von Kelly has been forced to take. Whilst this, relatively open, route largely protects Kampfgruppe von Kelly from roadside ambush it opens out into a veritable kill zone. Preliminary map estimations indicate that any vehicle emerging from the forest via this route will be exposed to fire from the entire width and depth of the suspected enemy main positions. Obviously this is not conducive to long-term survival and with only one tank available for this drive I have been forced to split my forces so as to ensure that an unfortunate combat outcome in this killzone will not cripple my entire advance.

With this in mind Kampfgruppe von Kelly will advance slowly forward led by von Kelly's Panther which will attempt to stop and engage enemy vehicles as soon as any are spotted, thus hopefully being able to engage enemy tanks one by one at long range and playing to the Panther's strengths instead of suddenly being exposed to a veritable broadside from the entire American anti-tank screen which not even a Panther could survive. Loss of the Panther will virtually cripple the advance of the follow-on armoured company as its SPW 251/1s will be all too vulnerable to enemy fire.

Kampgruupe Carius will advance on the right flank and will clear the woods of enemy infantry and establish firing positions from which they will suppress any visible enemy troops or advance if the situation is favourable. The fact that Kampfgruppe Carius' infantry are armed solely with submachineguns means that any target beyond 100 metres is impossible for them to hurt severely so I expect to have to pull them back into the treeline and hold them there until any long-range capable enemy weapons have been destroyed. I do, however, hope to detach some observation posts from these troops and use them to report enemy movements to me so that I can use the rest of my forces to full effectiveness. If the enemy wastes artillery, HMG, mortar and direct fire on these units I also won't complain.

It should be noted that one platoon of Volksgrenadier from Kampfgruppe Carius has marched through the forest and joined up with Kampfgruppe von Kelly and is boarding SPW-251/1s as the battle begins. I managed to cram my other forces into about 75% of the half-tracks normally needed to carry them and thus freed up four half-tracks to mount this extra platoon. Of course this means that any hit on a half-track will kill more men than if I had obeyed standard loading procedures but I'd rather lose half a platoon on the way to a battle in which the surviving half might make all the difference than have the platoon sitting out the battle in the relative backwater that I think my right flank will become.

Kampfgruppe Eberbach has an extremely important task. Though weak it has been ordered to clear the road through the forest and dash for the low hills just 100 metres from the forest exit. From this position I expect Eberbach to begin threatening the enemy's left flank, perhaps forcing him to displace forces, easing the pressure on my other Kampfgruppen and allowing them more lassitude in movement.

As soon as I, in my Panther and the StuGs have destroyed sufficient enemy tanks I will rush my PanzerGrenadiers through the kill zone at full speed and behind the line of hills on my left to reinforce Eberbach and allow him to begin rolling up the enemy's flank with a vengeance. At this juncture I will launch a general advance so as to pressurise the American forces and will attempt to clear the line of walls and the forest to my right.

Once this is done either the Americans will be caught between two fires, namely Kamfgruppe Student in the village and my Kampfgruppen OR I will have to prepare for a deliberate assault on the village if it has fallen into US hands.

Kampfguppe Student's only task is to hold onto the village and inflict heavy casualties on the American forces. The longer Kampfgruppe Student remains a viable threat the more resources the Americans will have to divert from stopping my relief force. With that in mind I have opted to not defend the bridge crossing as I have too few men but to concentrate on decimating both American forces which will attack from either side of the village on the same side of the river as it. My hope is that by destroying or severely damaging these forces I will force the American commander to commit his reserves into the city fight and thus gain easier passage for my relief force.

I have also taken great care to minimise the amount of direct fire opportunities his forces across the river will have by situating my troops extremely carefully and abandoning the first line of houses between his troops and mine. I expect to face up to a battalion of infantry and I cannot afford to subject my men to the concentrated fire of the American Heavy Weapons Company which I expect the American commander to set up in the brush and trees on the opposite side of the river.

Phases:

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Phase 1:

Phase 1 of my advance will consist of a basic movement to contact. Kampfgruppe Carius will move its Puma and five infantry squads directly down the road running westwards. Two infantry squads will be split into half-squads which will advance slightly in front of the main body as a scout force on either side of the road. Behind the scouts one full platoon of infantry is moving forward in line with the Puma which is rolling slowly down the road. Whilst this fight isn't actually an essential one it will serve a purpose insofar as it will convince the enemy commander that I have a strong force coming down the forest path. Surely I wouldn't waste two platoons of infantry and a couple of tanks on a diversionary attack would I ? ;-) Well sometimes doing a silly thing can be the sensible thing to do. In any case I don't want to leave his forces in the wood here where they can bring flanking fire to bear on units in the killzone just beyond the main exit from the forest.

Kamfgruppe Carius will move its Stug IIIg down the road running southwestwards. This Stug will be preceded by another squad of infantry, again broken into half-squads who will scout ahead of it. I hope to use the Stug to surprise any enemy tanks guarding the American left flank (where I intend to rush my half-tracks forward during phase 3 ) since I doubt the Americans will be expecting someone to fire down a trail from the depths of the forest. I've been blessed by the LOS of this particular forest trail.

Once the Stug does fire I expect it will cause the American commander some consternation as he begins to fear a major assault coming from my right flank and across the small frozen river.

On the left flank Kampfgruppe Eberbach will advance slowly with scouts the lead again. I have disembarked two squads of infantry and plan to infiltrate these into the treeline on the near side of the clearing, lay down some suppressive fire and then rush my SPW-251s and StuG into the clearing. The first three half-tracks I will rush into the clearing are empty (as if any half-track is destroyed I imagine it will be among the first to exit the clearing). After the three half-tracks comes my StuG III and two loaded half-tracks. I intend to unload 1 infantry squad and 1 HMG 42 into the houses in the clearing from my two loaded half-tracks and then basically send all five half-tracks towards the enemy in line abreast formation. The combined fire of an entire infantry platoon, 5 half-track mounted machineguns and a StuG's 75mm cannon should make short work of this ambush. Once it shows signs of breaking I will rush my infantry forward and will, again proceed to clear the road ahead with infantry until I am at the forest's edge.

In the centre the SPW-251/1s of Kampfgruppe von Kelly will scatter widely to avoid massive losses due to enemy air attack whilst the Forward Observers and my Panther will creep slowly forward. I aim to engage each enemy tank spotted with artillery and the Panther before advancing slowly again, spotting another tank and neutralising it in the same manner. This will certainly take time but I do not want to advance too quickly as I want both of my flanks cleared and ready to advance by the time my Panther has annihilated the opposing enemy tanks. If it takes me ten minutes to clear my flanks and destroy two or three enemy tanks then they will be minutes well spent as I know that a simple half-track rush through the killzone would be sheer suicide and would result in my early defeat. Also, the longer it takes to clear the killzone the more chance that reinforcements will arrive and allow me to advance aggressively and risk tanks to advance. At the present moment with only 3 armoured fighting vehicles I cannot afford to lose even one.

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One thing makes me hugely uncomfortable with this plan though. It all hinges on my Panther destroying the enemy succesfully. While I have faith in my crew and the weapons of the Wehrmacht I must admit that the thought of advancing alone into the guns of at least a platoon and probably closer to a company of 76mm-armed Shermans fills me with dread. It is not for my own life that I fear but for the lives of my Panzergrenadiers should I fail in neutralising the enemy's long-range anti-tank capability. The casualties my Panzergrenadiers would suffer in trying to traverse the kill zone in the face of an enemy tank platoon would be tragic.

Phase 2:

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Assuming all goes well with Phase 1 my Panther will continue to advance very slowly, as will the Stug from Kampfgruppe Carius as my Forward Observers pound any enemy positions visible to them with concentrated artillery. I will not be above using artillery merely to button enemy tanks and thus reduce their chances of killing me.

When I judge the time is right, in other words when I feel I have destroyed enough of the enemy's anti-armour firepower OR I have lost all of mine and must gamble with an all or nothing proposition I intend to advance Kampfgruppe Eberbach behind the hill on my left and rush my entire Panzergrenadier company to those hills also.

I will organise them and ready them for an assault into the enemy flank as quickly as possible then. Enemy positions and suspected enemy positions to their front will be shelled mercillesly in the minute or two prior to the assault so that my Panzergrenadiers will be facing shocked and injured enemies.

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Phase 3:

Phase 3 will begin with the advance of over a company of infantry and some 20 SPW 251/1s directly towards nearby enemy positions under the cover of as large an artillery bombardment as I can muster.

They will attempt to fight their way onto the next hill only a hundred metres away and will also begin to roll up the enemy's infantry flank which I expect to be based on the other hill and the nearby walls.

As soon as this advance is seen to be making headway my tanks will begin to advance towards the centre of the enemy line and support my flanking infantry with direct fire as the Volksgrenadiers on my right surge forward and cross the frozen river to ensconse themselves in the forest on the opposite side (where I expect the enemy to position AT guns and various other heavy weapons). With fire coming from both flanks and tanks advancing on their centre I expect reserves to be committed or a general withdrawal to the village to be ordered.

Either way the slaughter will be great and if handled carefully the aftermath should be a victory and the relief of the village garrison.

I am only worried about three things.

1. Losing my Panther as it advances in the centre. This will virtually negate my ability to counter the enemy's killzone.

2. Having a vehicle of Kampfgruppe Eberbach destroyed before it enters the clearing and thus blocking the road. I NEED to get troops near the hill from which I intend to being rolling up the enemy's flank.

3. Not being able to spot the enemy's anti-tank guns until they fire. Whilst I certainly don't like his tanks I can, at least see them as quickly as they see me. His anti-tanks guns are a far more insidious foe and in Combat Mission are as deadly as they really were. A 57mm AT gun is the equivalent of a 76mm-armed Sherman Jumbo if properly positioned and 76mm-armed Sherman Jumbos are hellacious foes.
   

Well, enough consideration and worry. Time to advance and do what I can.

Signed,
von Kelly.