Chapter Fifty-Eight - Deja Vu
To paraphrase Tolkien when they told him Volume III of the Lord of the Rings was going to be called "The Return of the King", that title kind of gives the game away, doesn't it? Yes, yes it does. Only in this case it's more of a repetition or prior warnings which gave the game away (Ed - so what you're saying is that the game crashes on December 25, 1943, and you have to restore back on December 3, 1943 when this is done? Me - was I that obvious?).
On the map, it looks like somebody's beginning to take an interest in our handiwork.
They could at least take an interest after we're done with our handiwork. Meanwhile, we're finishing off the mini-pocket. That division north of the battle has an Armored Car attachment and is getting no fuel. My supply situation is otherwise just fine.
To tell the truth, the most important fact about this battle is that I rid myself of two zombie divisions. My marines, having landed, prepare for another beating at the hands of a large Axis force.
I need to do something though, because I can't just creep up on Rome from the south. The two divisions still on the transports will be on their way to help the not-quite-recovered marines. It's taking a while, though, and the one thing I know that my three pre-built naval bases are good for is insta-landings.
Let's face it, how many more of these things am I likely to need? Plus, doubling the defenders causes the enemy to immediately call off their attack.
And my supply situation is not safe, but it will have to do for now. I'm hoping that repairs to the port will help stretch out the supplies I have here.
The clock that matters, however, is not my supplies in the pocket I just walked my marines into, but the one in Berlin, and it's ticking down to midnight.
My head hurts horribly (Ed - really, you're just gonna keep repeating that your head hurts? Me - Well, if you have a better idea I'll steal it) In any event, my troops are ordered to break out to the south. I need to link up with my other forces. I can't cut Rome off from supplies because it's the Eternal City, but I can cut her off from reinforcements.
Plus, the enemy has been running away from large forces this entire time. If I could encourage them to "escape" with some troops, I might keep the Rome defensive force down to something I can handle. It's the same as the prior slices. I need enough enemy to make a nice splash, but not enough that I get stuck in the mud for ages grinding them down.
My port is recovering pretty quickly, but with 15 supplies used up each day, and 1.2 shipped in yesterday, I'm going to have trouble before long.
Let's hope we capture enough to keep these four divisions happy. Or that the marines get captured before I get punched again. I've got four or five days left if the port repairs at .3 a day. After that the men will need fifteen supply and get only four, I think. Maddeningly, many Canadian divisions use up their capacity to attack fighting a zombie Croatian division.
Fortunately, we win the battle of Orbetello, which we expect will provide us with breathing space in terms of supplies, as well as pinch Rome even further.
A garrison division is politely informed that Orbetello is now Canadian. They thank us and depart. Meanwhile, it appears that Britain has decided to contribute something to the operation!
Can the space-time continuum stand the strain? Apparently it can, for a few hours longer, since the Axis decide to counter-attack in Tivoli.
Unfortunately, at first all I see is the attack coming out of Rome itself, so I counter that counter-attack. (Ed - perhaps it was because your head hurt? Me - good point). It was only because of the constant, pounding headaches that I missed this. We send one division to attack the five garrison divisions in Rome. So, 6000 men crossing a river to distract 35,000. Yup, that's a plan alright. We kill 20 and lose 300.
Then we realize the error, and despite the presence of new German troops in the north, we're pretty sure we can cut off one part of the attack.
The Axis call off the attack on Tivoli, with losses on each side of about 250.
North of Rome, our two non-marine divisions have to wait a while yet to attack, and I need one division to remain back with the port, but I move one marine division south in the hopes that I can take Civitavecchia on the cheap.
Then it happened. The last thing I saw was the Axis bombing Orbetello at 5am Christmas morning, and the next thing I knew, my men were lifting me from the floor, that marine commander is storming out of the room, and my officers, who had all fallen at once, I thought, are instead upright, and I am the one on the floor.
Officer #1 - "Sorry sir, he shouldn't have hit you like that."
Officer #2 - "Yeah, he should have aimed for the gut, or used his left. His right hand is gonna hurt, if he didn't break something."
Me - "Wha? What happened. How did the Christmas bombing go? Did we lose many men?"
<Officer's look at each other>
Officer #1 - "Christmas, sir? It's December 3rd."
Officer #2 - "1943, sir."
Me - "1943! Quick! Somebody buy $100 in steel pennies!"
It was indeed December 3rd, 1943. The rules of space and time had been violated, and they weren't happy about it.
Neither was I. Eddies, in the space-time continuum? This can never be allowed to happen in the future. Our staff is ordered to take all possible steps to prevent it.
With God as my witness, my head will never hurt again!