Location - Front line Western Desert, west of Benghazi, Libya
Lieutenant Singh was beginning to feel some confidence in their push on Tripoli. There was a seemingly light DAK force barring the Imperial forces in their quest to open up the road to the prize to the west. The barren crossroads momentarily transported Lt. Singh back to multiple nameless desolate villages peppering his Punjabi homeland…..but not for long.
On the right was a Mk.II Humber (courtesy of Guards Armoured Division) with 1st section 1st Platoon next to them in some scrub; Platoon HQ next to them; and 3rd section 1st platoon drawn up around one of the low mean hovels next to the road. In support of this section was a Bedford Truck. Beyond these infantry on the left was a jeep carrying a MMG team. At the rear hidden behind a sand dune was a Medium mortar.
The Royal Artillery obligingly got proceedings under way with a barrage on Jerry’s lines. It did little more than force Jerry to keep his Square Heads down but one of their transport vehicles took a direct hit and was knocked out.
Both infantry sections advanced to cover while the Humber motored forward to put fire into some DAK infantry which had moved atop a sand dune in front of it. In 3rd section the MMG team occupied the building it had been near to having ventured forward, taken fire, and tactically fell back. Unfortunately the jeep transporting the MMG came under fire from an A/T gun and destroyed it - the MMG crew suffering an injury in the process. ‘Damn’ muttered Lt. Singh, that put paid to his Hannibal-esque double envelopment.
The DAK half track had got onto the road now and shot up the 3rd section rifle team while other Jerry fire along the line was keeping Singh’s men ‘honest’. The Indian troops were in danger of losing any momentum - tactically and strategically. The Bedford made a dash along the line to draw up behind the 1st section - Lt. Singh had a plan.
This plan though was in danger of being dead in the water. The half track manoeuvred at the cross roads to enfilade the LMG team of the 1st section. They pulled back towards the safety of the waiting Bedford but some craven Nazis in a building opposite tore into them as they moved back and this was too much for the brave Punjabis who were taking unremitting punishment and their nerve just splintered.
3rd section now coalesced in and around the hovel one of it’s teams had occupied. Meanwhile the Humber had driven some of the DAK infantry off their vantage point on the sand dune and was putting real pressure on them.
In an audacious move Hannibal would have approved of 1st section rifle team - all 5 of them - embarked into the Bedford which sped off on the right flank, past the Humber and pulled up behind the smoking wreck of the Jerry truck and behind the relative safety of a sand dune. The troops disembarked and took up positions out of sight of the DAK stuck on their own line. The Humber then followed suite in the rear ranks of Jerry targeting the A/T gun and with precision gunnery the Guards Armoured are renowned for despatched the menacing threat which lurked over on the Indian left - small recompense for the boys in the jeep though.
Jerry knew the game was up and slinked away vulpine tail firmly between his legs.
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