Sicily 43 DAR (No peeking Herr Antoni)

[cillmhor]

Turn 5:

Turn 4 for the Axis sees a lot of movement with the arrival of General Hans Hube to assume command of the Axis forces. I assume that Antoni's passive resistance in the previous turns could be a result of his troops being locked in re-org mode until the arrival of Hube?

Some Italian coastal units move into the Catania pocket, and in the west the Assietta Division moves east to counter the 3rd Infantry Division at Agrigento. The 15th Panzer Grenadier Division then moves north to support another Italian Division at Palermo.

To counter I move the US 1st Infantry west to support the 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Armoured will still move north through the pass towards Palermo (see planned route below).



The US 45th Division will now support the 2nd Armoured's thrust, and the battered 82nd Airborne will rest and refit.

In the east all resistance south of Primasole has more or less being eliminated.



As you can see the Catania pocket is being squeezed and a daring raid by elements of the 50th Division and Airborne troops has taken care of the coastal guns allowing me to move my naval support into range. I am now also threatening the airfield at Gerbini and plan to move the 1st Canadian Division north past the western slopes of Mount Etna as planned.

By far my biggest headache is supply at the moment, in many key areas it is no more than 8, which will not allow me to sustain an offensive for long. My hope is though, to cut off Catania quickly before the 29th Panzer Grenadier turns up. Stand by for an all out assault on Catania in the next couple of turns, with my fresh armoured brigades supplying the cutting edge.