Another Bridge Too Far - Falklands

Reinforced Company Level
Normal Night Conditions (Moonlit)
Hypothetical Scenario
Play as Either Side or PBEM

It had been a long costly fight for both sides, but what was left of the 4th Airborne Brigade had bypassed Teal Inlet and was now trying to break through the last ring of British troops. Showing more audacity than the British were accustomed to, General Mendoza organized a relief column of every vehicle that could reach the trapped brigade. The column was escorted by the armored cars of the 10th Recon Squadron and elements of the 25th Infantry Regiment, the best in the Argentine garrison. The British were caught by surprise and the motorized troops broke through with few loses; more vehicles became immobilized in the wet peat of the Falklands than were hit by enemy fire. The vehicles carried water, food and ammo that the paratroopers desperately needed, but everyone knew that the surrounded brigade needed to reach safety tonight or it never would.

While it was true that the British had been caught by surprise, General Thompson quickly ordered 3rd Para to move north and cut the Camp Road. They had been preparing to assault Mount Longdon in the confusion of the breakout attempt. The British had already experienced the inability of wheeled vehicles to navigate cross-country on the water-soaked terrain of the Falklands and they knew that the relief column was road bound. The Ghurkas were pushing hard from the southwest trying to catch up with the fleeing paratroopers, 40th Marines had defended the logistic encampment at Teal Inlet, but had not been able to stop the Argentines from bypassing the community. Now they were patrolling aggressively to the south and east. The 45th Marines finally overran an Argentine delaying position just to the south of the Camp Road. If 3rd Para could hold the door shut, the trap would catch even bigger prey.

The Argentines pushed hard to the east, led by the paratroopers. They ran into a hasty roadblock set by Patrol Company and had to deploy. The brigade commander rushed the armored cars forward. The armor was able to push aside the initial defenders, but this took time and the circle around the trapped brigade was getting smaller. The Argentines realized that they would have to run a gauntlet of fire if they were going to escape. The problem would be at Luis Pass and the bridge over the Murrell River. If the British held these choke points in strength, the whole column was doomed. The Air Force Commandos were ordered to race ahead once more and secure the bridge. Reinforcements would arrive as soon as they could clear the ambush to the west. No one knew what British forces, if any, were in the area. Like the ancestors of the men they fought, they were bound and determined to hold open a bridge no matter the cost.