Chain of Command... it's been too long.
Near the Rhine - Jerry's just beyond those fields and orchards and our platoon is ready to win one for ole Blighty.
Patrol phase went very well, as Fritz took three jump off points and I was able to lock two down in the orchard on the third move.
The lead section took positions in the peasant hovel, the sergeant ordering this men to cover the field and fire at the first sign of the enemy.
Fritz was cautious, uncharacteristically quiet. The "O" Group ordered the support Sherman forward to a Hull Down position at the hedge line.
The platoon Sergeant deployed behind the house along with the platoon's mortar team. Surprisingly, they didn't fire a single shot all game. Smoke just never became necessary.
Contact! Jerry came out swinging, with one Panzergrenadier section with an additional tripod mounted MG42. Trouble!
The MGs opened up on the house, but the fire was ineffective. Most of the section was out of line of sight thanks to the apple orchard.
With Fritz deploying left, I deployed another section, this time at the edge of the field on the right.
Hoping to lure out those pesky Panzerschrecks, a Bren carrier sped up the road past the Sherman. Its armor made it nearly invulnerable to the machine guns of the enemy.
Effective fire from the Germans sent the men in the house fleeing from the windows and out of danger after three men were killed in a hail of bullets.
The Bren gun in the carrier took up the task of keeping Jerry's head down.
To my surprise, it was extremely effective, sending the Germans fleeing into the orchard. Score one for the underrated Universal Carrier!
Meanwhile, the infantry section on the right began rushing forward across the field, hoping to put pressure on the enemy jump off points.
With the Germans retreating back into the orchard, it was time to commit the remaining forces, covering the advancing infantry.
The platoon's Lieutenant moved up to organize the firing line.
Reaching the far end of the field, the infantry were in sight of the jump off point, but could not stop the Germans from deploying their last two sections.
However after a round of withering fire across the field, the counter fire almost immediately pinned on of the two deploying sections. Three British sections and the tank's .50 caliber HMG concentrated all their fire to great effect.
Meanwhile, on the right, Fritz undertook a desperate move. Deploying a Panzerschreck team in the open to gain the optimal shot on the Bren Carrier, hoping to damage British morale by its destruction.
However the carrier was on overwatch and took out the Schreck team before it could fire.
Meanwhile on the right, the concentrated fire broke one enemy team, while fire from the house suppressed the machine guns in the other section.
Finally the rest of the first section broke, fleeing off the table with their junior leader. At this point German morale was evaporating.
Lo, a second Schreck doth appear! Thankfully it missed its shot against the Bren Carrier.
However those German machine guns, despite being under covering fire, broke a British team, sending it, and its Junior leader fleeing for the hills. British morale started a bit behind the German, and this loss hurt.
Fire from the Bren killed the Schreck's loader, nearly breaking the team. But the gunner was able to get off one more shot, to no avail.
British infantry was poised to charge the enemy jump off point, but an unlucky shot wounded the junior officer, more or less freezing the team in place.
Two German sections remained, doing their best to annihilate the advancing infantry.
But as my buddy Fritz likes to say, "big guns never tire". The .50 caliber continued firing across the field, shredding the light cover and the flesh behind it.
The German leader was killed, breaking the Germans and sending them fleeing back across the Rhine. Victory to Britannia!!
