Part 4:

Situation Report: Bitter Isthmus. Montherme, France, 14 May 1940

German forces pressed across the Meuse rive in the face of a French company led by the aggressive Lieutenant Barbaste (KIA), during the afternoon and the evening of the 13^th. The second line of defence across the narrow portion of the peninsula astride the Roma Woods was formed by reinforcing troops and others escaping the initial encirclement during the night. A concerted German attack started at 0600 on the 14^th, leading to a French counter attack and a constant shifting of roles throughout the day.

After a short break in hostilities over the festive period, Dan found his way back to Yorkshire for the evening. After losing in the last game he was free to choose sides and decided to put himself in as the Germans and me in as the French following the now traditional avoidance of the blue deck. The scenario was Bitter Isthmus from Fall Of The West, in which both sides start with the recon posture with the possibility of changing to attack or defence with each time advance. The open objective granted an immediate victory to whichever side controlled all objectives at any time advance. Both sides drew secret objective chits giving points for objective 4 specifically, it being worth 4vps to the Germans and 1 to the French.  

The day began with both sides looking to make a move into the middle of the map to claim objectives 4 and 5. France took the first turn but couldn’t act. A card was discarded leaving the Germans to make a dash for the wooded across clear terrain from the French set up position. Lt Lauerbach and two squads moved in, took objective 5 and set up 2 machine guns, one heavy and one light. Upon sighting the advancing Germans across the cornrows Lt Serrault’s heavy mg opened up causing Lauerbachs men to hit the ground.

Over on the right flank Sgt Grein took three rifle squads into the heavily wooded Bois Communal De Roma taking objective 4 on the way and intending to take objective 3 and then surround the French HMG. An early time advance switched the French to the defend posture giving access to defender only actions. The going was slow for Grein as the group moved deep through the wood and encountering hidden wire amongst the undergrowth.

On the French right flank Sgt Rochefort began moving his two chasseur squads through the scrubland in an attempt to get around the back of the German position whilst Lauerbach’s HMG was pinned down by heavy fire. However, Serrault was not content with simply pinning the German position; relentless HMG fire and a series of failed attempts to rally the weapon team resulted in the first casualty of the exchange and a triumphant cheer from the French as the German HMG was removed from the action. A massive early gain for France.

Back on the French right, emboldened by the removal of the HMG, Dupertuis, hero of Le Repubulique bolted from his squad and made a beeline for objective 1, deep behind the German positions. Lauerbach, flustered by the loss of the HMG and now in very serious danger of being surrounded, set a rifle squad with a light MG in place to intercept the dashing Dupertuis. The MG and rifles threw all they had toward the fearless hero but Dupertuis showed a remarkable aptitude for avoiding fire, ducking diving and skipping beyond the Germans before finally throwing himself into the wooded cover at objective 1 before digging himself into an impromptu foxhole. Furious, Lauerbach sent Dietel, Hero of the Reich, along with a rifle squad to retake the objective. Surely 1 man cannot defend it alone?

Meanwhile on the German right flank, Grein’s progress remained slow. In order to effectively encircle the French position they had to move through a narrow wooded bottleneck in order to remain hidden from the French defenders. The move had been anticipated and the Germans encountered more wire in the bottleneck, further slowing progress. Grein, unsatisfied with the slow going, moved his men to the edge of the wood and attempted to fire on the French position at objective 3. Sgt Fache and his machine gun emplacement returned fire and a squad was sent into the woods to cover the bottleneck.

Sgt Rochefort’s own plan to surround the enemy was also altered following Dupertuis's remarkable capture of objective 1. The lieutenant turned left and ran his men toward Lauerbach’s troops, attempting to storm objective 5 before carrying on toward objective 4. At this stage, however, French orders had finally dried up in a now familiar manner and the Germans began to move in a more menacing and focused fashion. The chasseurs struggled against Lauerbach and the Germans pinned down Rochefort's men but time was on their side. Early gains had given France a vp advantage and it now had to be defended. Grein laid down smoke and bypassed the bottleneck before ducking back into the woods next to Fache and his men. The defenders held on stubbornly despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage losing a chasseur squad to a large fire team.

Back at objective 1 Dietel pushed hard to dislodge the stubborn Dupertuis but the hero, against all odds, kept his head down and held on. Lauerbach was able to hold up the French push for objectives 4 and 5 but was not able to eliminate any of the French men. With time quickly running out a new objective chit was drawn giving 3vps to all objectives. The Germans needed to recover just one objective, any objective, to swing the result back their way. Grein now had Fache and his men completely surrounded and Dupertuis was pinned in his foxhole and looking close to being finished yet still the grinding German assault was resisted. Grein and Deitel hammered on the door but the cover was too much. Dan cycled the German deck looking for the advance orders needed for the decisive push but the Germans just refused to budge. So it was with great relief on the part of the French and great frustration in German ranks that, as the sun set, the clock expired bringing a close to an encounter in which the pounding opening assault on Lauerbach’s machine gun position, the tenacity of Sgt Fache’s men and the daring heroics of Dupertuis had earned France a narrow points victory.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

This result puts the Allies and the Axis on 3 victories apiece whilst cutting Dan's lead over James to 4-2.

In the next installment:  Tanks make the first of their limited number of appearances, Dan learns a lesson about placing reinforcements in open ground and James develops a deep and bitter resentment of the time advance card.

Thanks for reading!

James & Dan