Section Leaders:
Fionn Kelly & Madmatt

Riesberg

German – Riesberg
Turn 15

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ORDERS FOR FIFTEENTH MINUTE

 Bahr must get his men deeper into the trees and culverts that line the road, in order to escape as much of the US infantry fire as possible. If he can hide now, and cross the road soon, he may be able to work his way around the town by the same route the Americans used to assault Lamp’s position, and from there disengage.

Machen, Thieser and Meister’s forward squads will support them as best they can.

Eymer, being rushed by two US squads, will stop in place and fire back, but I doubt he’ll last long enough to get his weapon firing again. To try to aid him, or to prevent the US from charging through the building after Eymer is killed, my command section will move up to the adjacent building. At the same time, Meister’s veteran squad, carrying the LMG42, is to run back toward the church. He should be close enough to me by the end of his movement that I can command him if Meister cannot. The remainder of Meister’s platoon is to remain at the church to fight the Americans until we can get the buildings clear.

I give Schafer orders to consolidate his men so they can support each other. The full squad will disengage from the US infantry to the flank and run to the other side of Schafer’s HQ section. They’ll engage the rushing US infantry when they can. Schafer’s other combat-capable squad will stay where it is so that they are not caught by the US infantry which is running through the trees.

If something does not happen soon to convince the US commander to stop his attack, he will crush what is left of my command, and the sacrifices my men made today will be worth nothing.

ACTION IN FIFTEENTH MINUTE

  Bahr’s battered command somehow manages to eliminate the US infantry before it, and the enemy units that I feared would rush in do not. He enters the relative safety of the woods, and is not fired on for the remainder of the minute. However, he sees many Americans on the other side of the road; they are probably support weapons teams, or units hurt badly enough for the US commander to pull them back. Nonetheless, they can easily stop Bahr from going further, and going backward is out of the question. The American tanks will cut him down, and there is even no more smoke available to cover his movement. I made a grave error in ordering his men to move to the road.

“Bahr’s platoon clears the road, but are surrounded by the enemy and must hide.”

What is worse is the action of the enemy tanks. They come across the road; one on each side of the forward row of houses. I had expected this some time ago, and that was why I ordered Ploebsch to hold his position. Instead, the American commander parked his tanks in a safe area and Ploebsch was killed by infantry fire without contributing to this battle at all. Had I correctly anticipated those events and ordered Ploebsch to pull back with Meister, he would now have a perfect shot at the tanks. As it is, one of them begins shelling Meister’s men at the church.

“The enemy tanks are astride the road through town, and are a threat to both Meister (at the bottom of the picture) and Bahr (behind the smoke plume).”

 The squad I had ordered to detach from Meister and run to the church is also fired at by a tank, but suffers no casualties. My command section is in the building near the center of town, and the two groups are close enough for me to shout orders to Meister’s men. Unfortunately, we are not in time to save Jacob or Eymer. Both are eliminated by the onrushing enemy infantry. The two enemy squads now in that building are badly hurt; if I can get Meister’s veterans together with my own section, we should be able to push them back out. If not, their position will block Meister’s route away from town.

 
“Eymer and Jacob have been eliminated, and are now in position behind Meister.”

Schafer’s men manage to hold, but I don’t know how. The full squad that I had ordered to re-deploy forward begins exchanging fire with what is left of the US platoon, and two men from each side are hit. However, the enemy did not move any farther, and so the squad I had ordered to remain stationary saw nothing and is sitting idly.

“Schafer’s men in close-range fighting against the renewed American charge.”