#31 - Sollum [Hypothetical] (11 Jan 1942)_Alt - PzC 04 Tobruk '41

Halafya Pass, 11 January 1941: One of the mainstays of Rommel's defensive arrangements was the Axis frontier positions. They covered the coastal area, centered on Helfaya Pass, and extended over 30 kilometers inland. British and Indian efforts to reduce the western end of the line proved costly and future plans to capture the strongpoints by force were delayed. It was decided to bring forward the inexperienced 2nd South African Division from its garrison position at Marth Maruth thus releasing the Indians and New Zealanders for other duties. The South Africans were instructed to keep the Axis forces bottled up but not to avoid excessive casualties. The Axis positions had been provisioned for an extended siege situation but it was believed that they could hold no more than a few weeks. But six weeks after the start of Crusader, with only limited resupply by air and submarine, they were still holding out. The westernmost positions had been abandoned and this meant that the entire garrison was dependent on the water sources at Halfaya and Sollum. On 11 Janruary the South Africans executed an operation to capture lower Sollum and this ultimately enticed the Italian Commander to negotiate surrender, much to the annoyance of Major Bach and German troops. This scenario starts concurrently with the opening of the Sollum attack but assumes that the objective was the complete destruction of the Axis forces. NOTE: a large amount of artillery was collected by the British for this attack and, because of the Brigade System, most have no spotters. It is recommended that this scenario be played with the "Indirect Fire and Air Strikes by the Map" optional rule. Edited by: Edward "Volcano Man" Williams. PDT and OOB files slightly altered to reflect small scale tactical desert warfare of the period. [Size: medium, Length: 14 turns]