Debacle at Kasserine Pass

[evaught93]

Debacle at Kasserine Pass

    This is my first AAR, and one of my first PBEM games, so I hope this is an enjoyable read for you all.

[evaught93]

The Scenario: [b]#430219_02a: "The Debacle at Kasserine Pass" [/b]

Axis: Myself

Allies: Panther421

The battle itself is eight turns in with my axis troops pushing the pass,  but before I go into detail I will go ahead and layout what I start with.

Here is the landscape itself, very harsh terrain in Soft conditions... the forecast predicts a fairly good chance for mud conditions the next day so movement can become a problem. Most of the secondary roads are cramped between Rough terrain which limits my avenue of approach in some areas. I'm hoping the railroad can offer faster movement for reinforcements.

Parts of the 15th PZD  and the crack Italian mountain troops of the 5th Bersaglieri start on the field ready to move.




In Thelepte the Italians are grouped as follows:

                                                              5th Bersaglieri with armour support

In Kasserine the rest of my force stands ready to assault:

Parts of the 15th PzD with support.

The rest of the 5th Bersaglieri with armour support also at the Pass.

More in the threads to follow

[evaught93]

In the early morning of the first day, I decided to quietly prepare the Italians to attack first by combining broken down units and positioning engineers to clear a path through Allied minefields. The idea is to allow them to create a hole in the defense, and to follow up with the more agile PzGr's. 


The first 4 hours were uneventful with limited LoS. Around 10:00 I stumbled upon the forward American defense.  After the initial surprise, the Americans began to stand their ground and fire on the Italians clearing the obstacles. Unfortunately for them overwhelming Axis artillery fire disrupted the defenders, allowing the Italians to achieve fire superiority. With the momentum on their side the Italians were ordered to assault through the minefields, pushing the dazed defenders  out of their trenches.  By 18:00 a small breakthrough in the Pass had been achieved with follow up units preparing to exploit. 



In the West Italian armor begins to probe different routes the tough terrain. At the moment I only have soft ground conditions so my movement isn't too limited yet, but I know that could change quickly. So far I feel confident as I wasn't expecting an early break out in the East. The Americans are putting up resistance, but the weight of firepower against them is making it difficult to hold this far forward. I know with barely 32 turns that I have to take the risk and move my artillery forward at the nearest opportunity.

[evaught93]

By nightfall more assaults continue in and around the pass. American light armored vehicles have made their appearance but with the powerful supporting artillery they take losses and disrupt. As the advance continues more light vehicles are spotted preparing defenses at the Northern entrance to the pass. At the moment things are going well but the days fighting has had its effects on my Italian units with many needing resupply and fatigue rising. Casualties also begin to mount as one engineer is down to 85 men. Still the disrupted defenders offer opportunities to continue pushing. I feel if I wait now to rest it would give the Allies time to regroup and counter attack.

[evaught93]

In the West Italian scouts moving north made contact with Allied scout cars along Highway 10. American units spotting armor approaching fell back to the northwest allowing a crossing over the bridge. By 20:00 The Italians decided to continue along this route and has made contact with dug in defenders. Farther west scouts have moved closer to  Bir Oum Ali and haven't made contact yet. 







Deciding to wait until the morning for an all out assault here, I chose to unlimber artillery and rest fatigued units, my armor in contact will keep the defenders awake and unrested in the meantime.

[evaught93]

VP points after the first day.



Weather report for the morning.

[evaught93]

After small skirmishes in the night, the morning brings more heavy fighting in Kasserine Pass. German support allows both VP's in the Pass to fall into Axis hands and causes American infantry and vehicles to retreat. Minefields that have been bypassed are now being taken care of to allow the armor to move up when it becomes unfixed. Italian engineers that have made the initial breakthroughs now get some rest.



The initial breakthrough is done, now to continue forward, I bring the fresh German troops up to attack. There is still plenty of turns until my armor here is unfixed so my infantry is on its own for now to open up avenues. I'm expecting him to focus his defense on the road network, so I intend to focus on attacking along the Rail network. I want to stay flexible though so if I see opportunities to advance I'll take them. 

[evaught93]

The West has brought good news as well, with the defenders pushed out of their trenches. The attack was costly though with Italian armor losing vehicles and one light armor unit disrupted. Night movement has been risky with units easily disrupted in movement. I've noticed several American units arriving in the pass already disrupted which has helped the Axis.

[evaught93]

So with the initial objective of opening the pass now done, there are several ways of approaching the objectives labeled on the map. 



The Hatab River splits the advance to the Northwest but it also seems to be the most difficult to defend both the rail and road networks. The River gets shallow in several areas the farther North you go, so if I need to change direction I can. The hardest to attack is straight through Highway 17, but its also the most rewarding with 2 100 VP  Hexes within striking distance. My attack would be channeled through a mountain pass, but once through, turns more open allowing some maneuver. In the West I see two ways of attacking one North and one Northwest.  The single Italian division here limits how and where I go, I don't want to spilt my attack both directions in fear of being easily repulsed so I'm opting for a single thrust in the Bou Chebka route.

[evaught93]

By 18:00 on the second day, fighting has been heavy in the Pass. Around noon the first British infantry appeared to back up the American defense, now armor has shown up as well. Luckily the tanks are disrupted when they arrive, so I hit them with repeated artillery fire too keep them that way. 88's have also moved into position and begin to shell the armor as well. After a quick assault by German engineers I see an opportunity to try and pocket the newly arrived Brits. South of the river Italians moved West and North to limit Allied movement. We will see if continued assaults can allow me to surround the desperate defenders. My opponent decided to plant mines along the northwest route. I move Italian engineers to clear them, followed by German motorcycle troops and mech. infantry of the newly arrived 10th Panzer Div. Armor from 15th Panzer has been released and is now moving up the pass.