"Thet's noo ordnary Rabbit, it's the mos foul, crul, bad timpred Rodent!" R4 Sitreps

[Digger]

10km east of St Vith, somewhere in the Ardennes

General Grabung sat on the rear seat of his mud spattered schwimwagen, reading the plastic covered map that had been passed down from Corps headquarters. His brigade had been ordered to secure the town of St Vith and he sat pondering just how he was expected to go about this. He was no longer an idealistic young Colonel leading a tank regiment that he was in 1940, when he last went crashing through the Ardennes, sweeping all before them, but a weary battle hardened veteran, who had perhaps go a little used to the soft life of the occupation forces in France. How annoying for the Allies to make him leave that chateau in Rennes and sit in some dreary bunker for months on end behind the 'safety' of the impregnable Siegfried line. Now he was being asked to participate in this great crusade to retake Antwerp, in this weather, the mud the drizzle and the bitter cold. He could only manage a sigh as his adjutant broke the silence and spoke to him from the front seat

"Sir what time to we start" he inquired

"In about an hour", the General replied. He finished looking at the map and gazed at the printed order of battle of his brigade.

As a whole he seemed to have a good spread of forces...tanks, assault guns tank destroyers, artillery, machine-guns, bicycles...bicycles..what happened to the motorcycles he had asked for...he looked up and almost as if on cue, several soldiers passed by on bicycles being towed by a Hetzer...and what was the deal with the truck drivers he had been given..a low morale bunch of ring-ins from Eastern Europe..Ahh well it was all he was getting so it would have to be enough, though on these roads it would probably take an eternity to get up to the frontline anyway.

"We will have the element of surprise" was all his Corps commander had said when he had objected to this attack. At least he had been allowed to get scouts forward to reconnoitre the enemy forward positions. Surprise aside if the weather got worse, it would be difficult to get the tanks to be in a position to exploit any breakthrough..but St Vith had to be taken, that was all that mattered.

Tapping his adjutant on the shoulder, "lets move it up closer to the front". The Schwimwagen engine roared into life behind him as he placed the maps and papers back into his briefcase. He had looked at them long enough. Enough planning had taken place, it was time to fight..

Matt ~Digger