#0908_01a_Moerbrugge "...a routine affair" - PzC 24 Scheldt '44

Date: 8 September 1944 - Size: Small - Description: Battle of Moerbrugge (Hypothetical) \\Scenario Briefing: Breaking out from Normandy in late August, Allied armored spearheads dashed across France toward Germany and the low countries. Leading the UK 2nd Army, 11th Armoured Division and Guards Armoured Division broke through a German blocking position on the Somme at Amiens on the 31st and proceeded northwest through Arras and Tournai before liberating Brussels and Antwerp on the 3rd and 4th of September. To their left, XII Corps' 7th Armoured Division passed through Lille (largely "self-liberated" by the FFI) on September 4th and arrived in Gent on the 6th. Aided by the Belgian resistance, the city center was liberated easily but the Desert Rats encountered stiff resistance in the northern suburbs and the harbor. \\Meanwhile, 1st Canadian Army's two armored divisions, 4th Canadian and 1st Polish, crossed the Somme near Abbeville on the 3rd. The Poles liberated Saint-Omer on the 5th, Ieper on the 6th, and Roeselare on the 7th while the Canadians advanced on their left toward Brugge. The lead elements of these two divisions prepared to cross the Gent-Brugge Canal on the 8th at Moerbrugge and Aalter. Having encountered minimal resistance in the previous days, officers of the A&SH of Canada imagined that the crossing at Moerbrugge would be a "routine affair" and that the German line on the Gent-Brugge Canal would offer no more difficulty than had blocking positions on the Lys, Aa, Canche, and Somme. This was a grave underestimation. After a week of defeat and retreat, elements Von Zangen's 15. Armee had finally concentrated and established a real defense between Zeebrugge and Gent. Making matters worse, the Allied armor divisions had outrun their air support and lines of supply. Far from a "routine affair," the Canadians and Poles were in for their toughest fight since Falaise...\\Design Note:\Historically, the Allied attempts to cross the Gent-Brugge Canal were carried out under less than ideal circumstances and the resultant piecemeal attacks had no chance of success. This hypothetical variant of the scenario explores what might have happened if the Allied attacks across the Gent-Brugge Canal had been better supported. The entirety of the Polish and Canadian Armored divisions will be available to the player, Allied supply levels are increased, Corps and Army HQ units are placed on the map, and air support will be available from the start of the scenario. \\Recommended Rules: [Default] \Alternative Assault Resolution, Artillery Set Up, Recon Spotting, Virtual Supply Trucks, Optional Surrender, Low Visibility Air Effects, Quality Fatigue Modifier, Optional Amphibious Rules, Counterbattery Fire, Night Fatigue, Programmed Weather, Limited Air Recon, Delayed Disruption Reporting, Extended Patrolling.