As dawn turned to morning on June 12th the men of easy company arrived at their objective - a T-junction at the French town of Carentan. Little did the Americans know but the German commander Feder von Hydle had pulled back his forces from the town to link up with the 2nd Panzer division and left a single division of Fallschirmjager to hold back the allies until a German counter attack is launched. Eying the quiet of the town, Captain Dick Winters of easy company orders his men forward across the fields and down the main road.
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| The T-junction in Carentan and the locations of the 3 American objectives. |
Leutnant Wagner hushed his men
as the Americans advanced, his machine gun teams holding fire till the US
forces were within range. Suddenly, a pair of allied fighters soared overhead
and strafed the buildings of the town containing the Germans, however, the
aircraft were ineffective with the majority of their shells striking empty lots
and throwing rubble and dust in the air. With the battle now begun the German
guns sprung to life firing onto the advancing Paratroopers as they crossed the
farms and hedges on the edge of town.
Winters directs his men down the road towards Carentan.
A concentrated fire on the American forces began to whittle their number as MG42 bullets peppered the exposed infantry. As Sergeant Baker of Charlie squad was killed instantly by the storm of lead the remaining men began to waiver, however Lt Winters kicked them back into shape and they held their nerve. Leutnant Wagner waited till the US forces concentrated on the main road of the town before signalling to his radio operator to call in a barrage from the nearby 88 Battery. He would just need to hold until the guns could range in. Meanwhile, American mortar fire began to rain down onto the buildings the Germans were occupying, causing a squad of infantry to relocate into the adjacent terrace to avoid the mortar blasts.
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| The German artillery bombardment landed amongst the paratroopers |
The battle raged fiercely with the German infantry dominating the field with machine gun and rifle fire. Right as the American forces began their big push to seize the town, they were smashed by the withering barrage of 88 fire, pinning the infantry down again. Leutnant Wagner, taking advantage of his opponents exposed position rushed forwards to lead a counterattack. As he brought his Stg44 to bear he was hit but the crack shooting of the veteran paratroopers. With a gurgle he fell to the ground dead.
German reinforcements take position in a ruined building to stop the American assault
With their leader killed, the
German infantry were without command, but their orders were clear enough - keep
firing until there was no Americans left. The German left flank began to thin as
a well-placed mortar shell killed an entire Grenadier squad, however,
reinforcements were able to retake the position and keep the advancing
paratroopers from seizing their objectives. With the barrel glowing hot the
MG42 fired again and again into advancing infantry, cutting down many of the
Americans as they charged into the machine gun nest. A vicious melee broke out
between Grenadier and Paratrooper with men fighting with bayonet, shovel and
fist. As the dust cleared the surviving Germans looked about at the broken bodies
around them – they had killed the American squad to the man.
A desperate assault on the machine gun nest leaves many US dead
Surveying the situation, Winters could see that he would need to pull back and regroup and assault the town again with more reinforcements. Continuing like this would mean suicide for the men of the 101st. As the Americans retreated the remaining German forces, now leaderless, began to fall back and abandon their positions. They had successfully repelled the initial US attack as ordered, buying time for the bulk of the force to regroup with the 2nd Panzer before the big counter attack.
A convincing win for Germany with 8 to 2 victory points. Once again the German machine guns proved too much for the US infantry with those extra shots really coming in handy. The US were also exceptionally unlucky with their preliminary bombardment rolling four 1's and leaving all the MG teams able to ambush on the first turn. As always the game was an absolute ripper and I can't wait for the next match which will be the final for the campaign - the counter attack on Carentan!
Signing out,
Chewie
