Gegenstoss des Panzer Lehr - The Matrix Games version of West Front

[Le Desert, 12 km NW of St-Lo, Normandy]:[H2H]:[HIS] The arduous struggle for Cherbourg was finally over and Major General Lawton "Lightning Joe" Collins quickly turned VII Corps and the 9th Infantry Division's attention toward St-Lo, a vital transportation center. Meanwhile the 30th Infantry Division attacked west of the Vire River to gain the high ground overlooking the St-Lo valley. This renewed offensive pressed hard on the battle worn 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division and Kampfgruppe Heintz, and caused considerable concern within Seventh Armee. They pleaded for reinforcements. Army Group B Commander Erwin Rommel transferred Fritz Bayerlein's Panzer Lehr Division from Tilly-sur-Seulles to the St-Lo Perieres area west of the Vire. Now Seventh Armee Commander Lt. Gen. Paul Hausser controlled the Panzer Lehr, one of the best German Panzer units in the west. He wanted to restore the situation along the Vire by destroying American forces in the bridgehead south of the Vire-Taute Canal. So on the evening of July 10, 1944, the 901. and 902. Panzergrenadier Regiments, supported by II Battalion 130. Panzer Regiment and Panthers from the 6. Panzer Regiment assembled in front of the towns le Desert, Haute-Vent, and Pont Hebert. At 0145 hours, huddled in dark, wet, muddy foxholes, American soldiers cower as artillery shells scream overhead . . . Between deafening blasts, they hear squeaking and clanking, just beyond cratered meadows, that foreshadows waves of approaching panzers. Officers bark orders, messengers scramble about, and tank engines roar to life. Now, a brief flash in the dark - and then, a lofty starshell bursts with blinding brilliance . . . The Panzer Lehr counterattack is about to begin!