Sicily 43 DAR (No peeking Herr Antoni)

[cillmhor]

Turns 6 & 7 (15th and 16th July):

Well I'm ahead of schedule as far as the 8th Army push is concerned, with Catania now falling and the remains of Brigade Schmaltz being mopped up. Historically the Allied Airborne troops were still fighting over the Primasole Bridge until 18th July. I slowly pushed the edges of the Catania pocket in, avoiding turn burn by using the units that were in position to attack at the start of the turn, and then later in the turn used the full force of the attacking forces to collapse the pocket.

In the west Antoni countered with the Assietta Division which moved to Casteltermini where they have now encountered the 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Armoured, and are in danger of being surrounded. Antoni also pushed some Italian coastal units west to meet my onrushing US infantry.



The picture below shows the collapsing Catania pocket:



As of turn 7 my 8th Army units now face the push up the thin coastal strip to the east of Etna which will be tough as there is no room for flanking. With that in mind, I have pushed the 51st Highland Division to the west of Etna where they have met weaker Italian units, and I am going to push the 1st Canadian Division further west to the opposite coastal road so that I will have a three pronged approach to Messina, I am gambling that Antoni cannot protect all three routes.

In the west I am mopping up the Assietta Division and other coastal units, and am poised to strike towards Palermo where the 15th Panzer Grenadier Division waits. I still have not seen the 29th Panzer Grenadier Division, but I know historically they arrived in Messina. Reading D'Este again, I see he points to the fact that Monty allowed Axis defenders to retreat and form the Etna line, which was the main area of Axis resistance until the last days of the Sicilian campaign. I hope that my constant pressure has prevented Antoni from dong that. Looks good so far, but supply is still a problem. I need to be near a port on these narrow coastal roads, and that is not always possible.