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Well, this turn has been one of contrasts.
There has been little action amongst the relief force but the
situation in the village continues to worsen. Casualties are
mounting, options are narrowing and the volume and quality of
enemy fire is increasing.
Let’s start with the cheery story of the
conduct of my relief forces and then drift ever-downwards to the
despair that is the future of Kampfgruppe Student. It looks like
I’ll be conducting a deliberate assault into an enemy held
village and NOT a relief of a beleaguered enemy force. I guess
that sometimes the cavalry just arrives a little too late after
all.
Kampfgruppe Carius:
Carius’ StuG has reversed onto the road
again so as to:
- get back onto firm ground and not get
bogged down again.
- Keep its strong frontal armour facing the
enemy.
It is now displacing southwards to a new firing
position covering the bridge, most of the intervening terrain and
will support the next phase of my advance with direct fire. Also,
if the Sherman sandwiched between the two houses moves the StuG
will be lying in wait for him. Whilst I’m sure the American
commander will plot his move with sufficient care to avoid my
fields of fire it will, at the very least greatly constrain where
he can manoeuvre and will allow me to allocate other forces to
take out the Sherman.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Of note is the small shellhole which can be
seen in the foreground. This is the end result of a shell which
missed the StuG. FWIW I also just remembered that I forgot to
tell everyone that one of the US shells which hit but failed to
penetrate killed one of the platoon commander’s team which
was piggy-backing on the StuG.
The main force of Kampfgruppe Carius is
continuing to advance down the northermost road. I begin to
wonder if I have misjudged the American intentions. I am certain
that enemy forces will be present BUT I am not so certain that
they are present in any strength. I am certain that if the
Americans had placed an entire platoon in this position I would
have seen some signs of it now.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Still, regardless of what strength the enemy is
in I need to ensure the road is clear to protect my flanks so I
will press slowly but surely on. In fact, the Puma-led force is
making faster progress than Kampfgruppe Eberbach. I need to speed
Eberbach up before he slows my entire offensive
Kampfgruppe Eberbach:
As my half-tracks and StuG halt at the edge of
the clearing my infantry spread out and begin to search the woods
ahead for further enemy ambushes. As I have shown previously this
ambush had ZERO anti-tank weapons and thus I am extremely
suspicious and expect the rest of the platoon to be encamped
farther down the road with bazooka teams in support. Certainly
the American MG and squad slowed my advance somewhat and caused
me a few casualties (mainly due to artillery fire) but for the
loss of seventeen men I don’t think they achieved enough
concrete results.
Click on Image to Enlarge
I have also ordered my 17 prisoners (God I love
saying such a high number ;-) ) towards the house in the centre
of the clearing. In Combat Mission if you leave prisoners
unguarded they WILL try to escape and my score will be lessened.
Since I have an immobilised half-track stopped facing the
building it seems logical to me that I should use this to guard
the prisoners. Also, if Martin drops more barrages on my half-track
I wouldn’t mind if any of the prisoners got killed by "friendly"
artillery fire. Call it a form of "revenge" for the
losses I have just suffered to his artillery.
Kampfgruppe von Kelly:
My advance half-track has reached the low-lying
southern hills. There is evidence of enemy machinegun and
infantry units in the woods surrounding the knocked out Sherman
there. This half-track has already suffered casualties. It
appears that one of its two crew has been killed which is, quite
frankly, why I am using it as my scout. Whilst I don’t want
to lose any SPW 251/1s I’d rather use one which has no
offensive capabilities any more. As I said, its job is to find
the enemy and act as an anti-tank ambush tripper. It is eminently
expendable.
Click on Image to Enlarge
Note the infantry half-squad which I have
ordered to disembark from the HT as it advances towards the edge
of the hill (where I expect any ambush to occur. The detached
half-squad will proceed along beside the HT and provide some
cover versus enemy anti-tank teams. At least, that’s the
plan. I saw an enemy unit moving along the far edge of the hill.
Perhaps the American commander is seeking to reinforce his forces
facing Kampfgruppe Eberbach. If this is the case I want a half-squad
ready to fire into their flank as they appear around the hill.
Since the HT has no offensive ability left this necessitated
dismounting.
Click on Image to Enlarge
As you can see above I have concentrated my
first SPW 251/1-mounted platoon and am preparing to rush it down
my south flank towards the half-track pictured above… As
this platoon of SPW 251/1-mounted Volksgrenadiers makes its way
to the south my first platoon of SPW 251/1-mounted
Panzergrenadiers will assemble and prepare to transit the choke
point next turn.
After that I intend to pass my heavy weapons
through the choke point and establish them well forward to
support my infantry and SPW 251/1 assault on the wall-line and
hills along which the Shermans I have destroyed have been
deployed. I expect that the American commander will have
established some strong anti-tank ambushes there and since I can’t
afford to lose SPW 251/1s or tanks I must clear the entire front
methodically on foot. It is slow but sure.
My hope is that once I reach the wall line I
will be able to establish Forward Observers and machineguns in
the multi-story house there and rain indirect and direct fire
down on the enemy.
Kampfgruppe Student.
And now for the most depressing part of my
report. Kampfgruppe Student is in trouble.
Click on Image to Enlarge
In this picture (using +3
scaling so as to make the infantry really obvious even at range
and in a forest) you can see that one of my squads has panicked (due
to the shelling) and run out of its house (which was reduced to
rubble by the artillery) and right into the sights of the enemy.
Click on Image to Enlarge
The cowardly American forces still refuse
to advance any further. They sit back and watch their artillery
work over my forces and attrit them. I think the American
commander has read too many examples of First World War thinking.
Well, unless his forces move soon it won’t matter how well
their artillery has prepared the positions since I’ll have
machineguns and mortars in place across the river to flush them
out.
Click on Image to Enlarge
As you can see my redeployed Fallschirmjaeger
platoon is in position and in hiding. It is widely scattered to
protect against artillery fire and is more or less out of LOS of
his supporting direct fire weapons on the other side of the river.
If my flanks can hold then there is every chance that this
platoon can hold against anything thrown against it.
As the situation is looking quite poor at the
moment given that I can definitely see 1 company of troops to my
south and two platoons to my centre and north, meaning that I am
outnumbered approximately two to one and am under a punishing
artillery barrage, I have decided that if the enemy advances in
strength I will conduct a fighting withdrawal to the apartment
complex at the very rear of my position (from where this shot was
taken) and attempt to set up a 360 degree defence whilst calling
ALL available artillery onto the village.
One battery of 210mm rockets, one battery of
120mm mortars and a battery of 105mm guns can create a fearful
slaughter amongst a concentrated enemy. I am keeping my artillery
reserve until such an occasion represents itself.
I no longer think that I mightn’t make it
to the river. Now I only have to wonder about how long it will
take and with how many casualties I will reach the river. Again
these variables are in my control. I can dash forward and be
quick but suffer heavy casualties or I can advance slowly but be
certain of suffering few casualties. I keep waiting for the
Americans to advance and rout my infantry but it seems he is
afraid of my defending forces and seeks to whittle them down with
his artillery. I will attempt to take advantage of this
reluctance. It should not be too difficult to do.
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