Tales of Brave Sir Robin . . . SFS ROUND 3 Sitrep Thread!

[Harald Blauzahn]

Strike of the Lehr, H.Blauzahn vs Der Stuber, turn 21

General Beyerlein has cleaned and checked his Luger.
Soon there may be the time to use it.
There is only death or glory!
He definetly will not hand his arms over to the Yanks.
The scattered remains of his force were ready for a famous last stand.
Here and now the fate of the PanzerLehr Division will be decided.
With a brief look at the last letter he wrote to his wife, the general grabed his helmet and gave the final orders for the final charge.
"Mother!" he thought...

[Der Stuber]

Strike of the Lehr

H Blauzahn vs. Der Stuber Turn 21

Raumiller has now been cleared of the last remnants of landsers and the village is declared open for buisness. With both Raumiller and Kirrberg back in allied control, HQ now issues orders for phase two of Capt, I mean Major Grillo's plan into action. Front units report Germans running all over the countryside so we need to beware of sudden ambush sites by these diehard landsers.
With Major Grillos force now steamrolling thru the open hills the noose is getting tight for the Lehr. Lt Col Sanders sits atop his personnel carrier and thinks, " I wonder what old Beyerlein is up to, his troops are spent and his armored reserve is shattered by now. Why arn't they in full retreat." He then ask for the radio to ??

Der Stuber

[Harald Blauzahn]

HQ now issues orders for phase two of Capt, I mean Major Grillo's plan into action.

Congratulations to Mr. Grillo's field promotion!:)
His defense at Rauwiller was superb, therefore he really deserves it.:)
He and his boys really beat the crap out of my Landsers.:boom2:

Joerg

[Harald Blauzahn]

Strike of the Lehr, H.Blauzahn vs Der Stuber, turn 21

The PanzerLehr, led by General Beyerlein, launched its final attack.
And because it was in its origin founded as a training unit, they did it by the book.
First the arty shelled the surprised Yankees, than the armor knocked out some of its allied counterparts and at last the infantry moved forward.
To make things more difficult to react, General Beyerlein ordered a simultanious attack at two different locations.
In the first step, the german counter towards Kirrberg started with success.
A number of those american Shermans were destroyed by the Panzerfausts of the german engineers.
Will Beyerlein finally one time be victorious over his archnemesis Patton?

[Der Stuber]

Strike of the Lehr

H. Blauzahn vs. Der Stuber

Lt Col Sanders worse fears were realized by the sudden counter attack
by remnants of Panzer Lehr units. Schalbach, which had been quite throughout the battles erupted into a hail of gunfire when panzers sprang out of no where to support infantry troops attacking along the road. Lt. Col Sanders barked orders to all units to regroup and quit chasing retreatinig germans. It's just an ambush waiting to happen.
The third and final phase of Maj Grillo's plan is set in motion and all units
have reported that they are now at the jump off points as planned.
Lt Col Sanders has a sly grin and thinks " Beyerlein, you old war horse, what a beautiful piece of battle tactics". Lets see how he handles this
next turn of events. We may still pull off a miracle.

Der Stuber

[Harald Blauzahn]

Strike of the Lehr, H.Blauzahn vs Der Stuber, turn 23

The two attacks of the PanzerLehr reflect the whole battle:
Misery and triumph walk hand in hand.
At Kirrberg, the GIs recovered immidiately from their initial surprise.
During the bold allied counter, the brave but outnumbered german engineers were repelled and suffered from serious losses.
And there was not much to expect from the supporting german armor.
Too few Panthers have to deal with too many Shermans.
But they won't give up! They are fighting for mother's homemade Sauerkraut!
At Schalbach, on the other hand, an armored taskforce took an important allied position. Now the infantry is following to hold it.
Finally, the last refugees from Rauwiller reached Beyerlein's new Hauptkampflinie. So few they were...

[Der Stuber]

Strike of the Lehr

H. Blauzahn vs. Der Stuber Turn 23

The situation at Kirrberg has extinguished the final phase of Major Grillo's operation. Back at HQ the staff looks over the map area. General Patton, who had been watching the entire battle as it developed leans forward and points his pearl handled pistol at Baerendorf, which is the objective of Major Grillo's plan. "Beyerlein has blocked us at Kirrberg with that unexpected mass of infantry that we were not prepared for". "We have little time to regain lost ground now."
Rauwiller and Schalbach seem to be stable now since we halted the german advance on both. Surely they don't have enough to mount any counter attack on either of the villages by now.
Gen Patton then says, "The only thing left to us is to wipe out as much of the Lehr as possible and hope that division will no longer be combat effective in future operations."
"Send a message to Lt. Col Sanders to keep pushing forward and take out any german positions he runs into."
"The Panzer Lehr must be destroyed"

Der Stuber

[Harald Blauzahn]

Strike of the Lehr, H.Blauzahn vs Der Stuber, turn 24

Not only General Beyerlein prepared a surprise for the enemy, his allied counterpart did the same to him:
Division HQ spotted US tankdestroyers, infiltrating believed to be safe areas in the north.
The staffs hurried to move out of the danger zone. It cannot be allowed, that the Yankees may lay their hands on all those classified papers.
Also, the division's heavy artillery batteries had to leave their positions, leaving most of the ammunition behind.
At Schalbach, allied infantry tried to retake the hilltop north of the hamlet.
Without lasting success. The bloodthirsty Landsers, supported by armored AA, pushed them downhill again.
The situation at Kirrberg was more serious. The engineers, the heroes of Fenetrage, were pinned and in danger to be overrun.
Even if the PanzerLehr will survive this epic battle it won't be the same anymore.
Let's name it: The PanzerLehr Division isn't existing as a major combat formation anymore.

[Der Stuber]

Strike of the Lehr

H. Blauzahn vs. Der Stuber

With fuel and ammo running low Lt Col. Sanders armored units halt their
pursuit of the retreating german units and wait for additional supplies to catch up. Once replenished his tanks will continue the attack. The fortified position at Schalbach has been retaken by infantry units and they are digging in for another expected counter attack by die hard germans.
Maj Grillo pulls up to the front lines and stops when he reaches the top of a hill. From his viewpoint he looks down the valley at a mass of burning tanks and other armored vehicles scattered throughout. He thinks to himself, "If only we had a little more time it would have worked". I blame myself for the delay at Fenetrange.
What if ?

Der Stuber

[Harald Blauzahn]

Strike of the Lehr, H.Blauzahn vs Der Stuber, final turn

Near Schalbach, the PanzerLehr executed its probably last attack in this war.
All available guns and rifles were directed towards the hill.
Bayonettes, flamethrowers and the trusty old MP40 did their bloody work.
And, yes, the GIs were pushed from their position again during a short but vicious assault. The burning wrecks of some careless Shermans light the site.
At all other locations, the Landsers took a deep breath and threw in the last portion of Pervitin. All they can do is waiting for the Americans.
General Beyerlein mustered the men around him.
Tired faces he saw, covered with dirt and blood.
This men were relying on him and he was proud of them.
Together they fought a tough and epic battle, now about to end.
What a fight! What an opponent!