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An excellent combat update, a refreshing change from plotting and intrigue and a return to the simple world of shooting charging Commies.

I wonder how long before the Soviets start changing their doctrine in the face of mounting losses. Given the Soviets had several fine military thinkers they have the capacity to do so, but then I suppose the one thing harder than learning from the enemy is learning from an ally. :)
 
humancalculator Thank you.

ColossusCrusher This one.

El Pip Thank you. For now, or at least in the near future, these tactics seemingly work, because as I will show in the next few updates, not everywhere are things going that good for the Allies.
 
Sooner or later the Reds will learn not to send wave after wave... and then the fun will start in earnest.
 
Sooner or later the Reds will learn not to send wave after wave... and then the fun will start in earnest.

Aye, and let's not forget their German 'friends'.
 
... and their Panzers.

Indeed.

@all: I just came back from a rather ehrm...wet weekend in the Autrian alps, so I didn't get any writing done. But alas, thanks to the wonder that is an FTP server, I don't have to go to university tomorrow, so I will get something done then.
 
So, between reading the last Sharpe, finishing a project I can't reveal for a few more in-AAR years, putting some touches on my alternate ship classification system and playing a World Domination Campaign in E:TW as Britain, I managed to work on the next update. I will struggle to put it out today.
 
Chapter 114




Three hours later


Over the course of the morning the South Wales Borderers suffered from three more attacks, beating each of them back with minimal losses to themselves, but each trooper knew that this couldn't last. The Regiment was low on small arms ammunition already, having used up the stock for three days in less than four hours. Jones had already sent word back to Regiment, and the Colonel had sent word to Division, but alas: “Make do with what you have” was what had come back. They had also confirmed the Colonel's suspicions that this was indeed the big one. The Allied Armies were under attack all along the line. Said line had bent, but not yet broken, as the BEF and the Belgian Army still held firm. Only in the south modest gains had been made by the enemy at a heavy price, as the French were fighting hard, and were exacting a heavy toll on the enemy. Jones was standing behind the wall of what had once been a farm, but what was now reduced to rubble thanks to a lucky shell from a Soviet gun. The survivors from that part of the line were back already. Over the course of the morning the Company had lost eighteen of the 98 effectives it had started the day with, and many of the others were wounded. The Regiment was being bled, but morale was good, munitions still in relatively ample supply and he was sure that they could hold unless the enemy brought in tanks, because as a Light Infantry Regiment, the South Wales Borderers were somewhat light on Anti-Tank Weapons. Suddenly the Artillery started again. The Captain dashed back towards the Command post, as much as he wanted to stay and fight, he was needed there. He waited between salvoes, and began to run over the street. He never heard the incoming shell, all he realized was that his world was suddenly going black. Much to the horror of his staff, who could only see him being torn to shreds, filling the narrow street with a mist of blood and gore. The Company had just lost it's commanding Officer, leaving the green Lieutenant Hawthorne in command. The Lieutenant was constantly busy with cleaning his glasses, but he silently assumed the command that had suddenly fallen to him, although he was quivering with fear, and not really knowing what he was supposed to do. Luckily for him, the NCOs in the front row of the lines were more than able. The once again onrushing Soviet Infantry was already coming under fire, and the Company was confident that it could easily repulse another such attack, unaware that it had just been beheaded. This time however something was different, for they were not only defending against Infantry. Tanks. The horror of Infantry, just as Cavalry had been for their forefathers 130 years earlier.

But this were not only Tanks, but also not the usual types they had encountered, that could sometimes be immobilized by a well-placed rifle grenade. No, these were new types. Sloped Armour, a gun that would later prove to be deadly accurate and simply a size that was at least equal to the British Crusader series. It was just a company, field testing them for series production later in the year, but it already had it's fearsome name: the T-34. The tanks advanced in the steady pace of tanks before the age of stabilized guns, and relentlessly came closer, ignoring the falling artillery fire and the feeble anti-tank fire from the Regiment's three two-pounder AT guns. The Regiment's troopers however desperately held on, but that was not the case for the freshly promoted Commanding Officer. “Retreat! Retreat!” was all he was yelling when the Soviets reached his inner defences, despite the better judgement and against the advice of his Officers, and so, shortly after mid-day the line of the South-Wales Borderers was broken, with A Company leading the retreat that soon turned into a rout. Luckily for the British, a Squadron of Crusaders was waiting on the other side of the Bridge. Originally their orders had been to reinforce the SWBs against such an attack, but the rout that was soon griping the entire Regiment had rendered this a moot point. While A Company was falling back, the flanking companies, along with the rest of the Regiment and the neighbouring Divisions were fighting to allow the troops to fall back more or less ordered, but the sheer mass of the enemies, along with the disappearing flanks forced the Welch back. The troops left almost their entire Equipment behind, Bren guns, the Vickers and the Anti-Tank guns and streamed over the Bridge in one great, big mass of men and past the tanks and the accompanying motorized Infantry that was busy putting the last touch to their positions. The Soviets quickly overran the village and the rest of the former positions of the British Regiment, where a determined rearguard by some of the 'walking wounded' was brushed aside without trouble. British Artillery was still bringing carnage down on the Soviets, but the Batteries were one by one forced to cease fire, either under heavy counter-battery fire or under the falling bombs and rockets of Soviet SU-2 ground attack Aircraft before they were chased away by a Squadron of Typhoons and some D.520. Still, the Soviets focused their attack at one point, and at this critical time Artillery support was temporarily unavailable. But despite the rout of the troops, the British still had the advantage of position, and their Crusaders were a ace in the hole that would prove to be vital. The Soviets were pressing hard, and soon they were at a range where the Crusader Tanks could not miss their counterparts. The British gunners dutifully opened fire, only to find that their Armour-piercing shells were bouncing off the sloped hulls of the T-34s. The Soviets had not expected to meet tanks in opposition, as there had not been any yesterday when Frontal Aviation had flown photo-reconnaissance missions over this stretch of the front. The Soviets also suffered from a lack of co-ordination. Without wireless sets there was no way of telling the Infantry, busy with dodging the few Artillery shells from guns that stubbornly refused to be suppressed, could not be notified of the presence of the tanks in positions that could not be directly seen or attacked by the Infantry. The T-34s had to fight for themselves for now. The British had position and, by a certain extent, communications, while the Soviets had firepower and armour. Effectively the smaller of the two separate battles waged on that small piece of ground was at a stalemate, with the British slowly gaining the upper hand by sheer numbers. The Soviets started to loose first one, and then another tank to lucky hits in the threads or the thinner side armour, and someone decided that it was time to cut the losses.

The Russian Tanks withdrew, leaving three of their own on the field and the Infantry to it's own devices. Slowly the carnage subsided and the Russians withdrew. At the cost of gutting an Infantry Division and virtually destroying a Regiment of Ground Attack Aircraft, they had driven the Allies from the Western Bank of the Meuse. The main blow would fall elsewhere. Behind the lines of the Allies, Field Marshal Ironside was taking stock of what had transpired of that day. He was confident that he could hold, as long as the Belgians, and more importantly, the French in the South didn't loose nerves. In three hours his own, long-prepared counter-attack would start. Nothing major, for the French still did not want to commit to an all-out offensive into Germany, but driving the Germans back to the border might convince the Frogs that the British Empire stood by her promise to fight at the side of her Allies. He snorted inwardly. This assessment had come from the Foreign Office. In his own, very much treasured Opinion it would take someone hoisting the Union Flag over Berlin to show the Frogs that the Empire meant business, and he was up for the Challenge, if only....

At the same time however, a German Armoured Division under the command of a obscure German General was breaking through the last lines of the French 2ème Division Cuirassée de Réserve, and therefore pushing the French lines in this sector towards the French Border. The French were beginning to rush reinforcements into the area, but the line of the 2ème Division was broken, and one of the few true French Armoured Divisions had ceased to exist as a fighting unit. It would need several days of reorganizing, and the Axis had the initiative, at least here on the Southern Front. The German Division was pushing through, and crossed the French border on 22:00 that day. The Division had to check it's advance then, because it faced stiff opposition and was simply running out of diesel for it's Panzers. For it's commander, and for the rest of the 7th Panzer Division the way to undying glory had begun, for the French, and the Allies the war was about to begin in earnest.



[Game Notes: After reading the first few pages of Casino Royale ( the Novel ) I can safely say that the film was a total cockup and that the book makes a thousand times more sense. And yes, these are merely pre-series T-34s. The real ones won't appear for quite some time yet. Also, I was kind of sick when I wrote parts of this, so sorry when it does not make any sense. ]
 
Good update.


Let's hope the Brits can hold the Axis back.
 
Good update. I like that you're switching your narrative style from personal to impersonal and back. Keeps things interesting.
 
Skorzeny!

Erm... sorry (Too much The Yogi's Fu Manchu lately)

I meant...

Rommel!

Das Rommel Kommt!

Lassiees, do you know the way to Dunkirk?:D
 
Finally the Axis tanks arrive and things start looking a little dicey for our heroes, forcing the enemy to pay a high price for any advance only works if the enemy has limited reserves.

The BEF will run out of territory long before the Soviets run out of men and tank to hurl at them. Even that assumes the French hold on long enough to keep the Belgian front tenable, something far from certain given the Panzers have started to roll.
 
*curses stupid mac one-button mouse*

So anyway, of for some feedback.

humancalculator Doubtful, because even with the Belgians at my side, they outnumber me. My intention is to bleed them as much as I can.

Thomas Kenobi Thank you! Going semi-history book is the only way to get it all in without spending countless updates describing each hour in detail.

Kurt_Steiner Otto is dead and forgotten already, sorry. Rommel does indeed come and we will see him again. As for the evacuation, I will try not to get cut off.

El Pip It surprised me how long it took the Axis forces to get to this point to be honest. I suspect that the AI took so long because it simply isn't made for the situation I put it in. As for running out of territory to retreat to, the French have yet to allow a breakthrough, as their forces, although they were kicked out of Namur ( the ingame province ) are relatively intact. As for them surrendering, I put the accept/refuse chances for the Vichy event to 50/50, so technically both is possible. If they choose to fight on, I will give them some free IC similar to the level they get as Free France, so that they can be at least semi-useful to me.
 
at least the axis are being made to bleed heavily for every step they take into the... what do the french call france?
 
Hmmm, bigger guns needed me thinks. Also that useless new commander feels suspiciously like a charchter from Sharpe's Waterloo.....
 
BritishImperial La France I think.

Lord Strange Woot, someone caught the reference! The Royal Armoured Corps will need bigger and more of everything soon, but not quite yet.
 
BritishImperial La France I think.

Lord Strange Woot, someone caught the reference! The Royal Armoured Corps will need bigger and more of everything soon, but not quite yet.

I'll add a "Viva" in front of what you have. :cool:

Hmmm... bigger and more of everything soon... well, just order some French weaponry and you got it. :p (I know this is hard to do in-game.) But anyways, I can still wait and see what Vickers and co. will have for your troops.
 
I'll add a "Viva" in front of what you have. :cool:

Hmmm... bigger and more of everything soon... well, just order some French weaponry and you got it. :p (I know this is hard to do in-game.) But anyways, I can still wait and see what Vickers and co. will have for your troops.
It would be "Vive" since its about France.
Obscure German General? ROMMEL?! :D :D :D
:rofl:
 
gaiasabre11 :D

Griffin.Gen He is not wel-known enough yet, and just starting to make his reputation. I have great plans for him.

Kurt_Steiner And for her too.