Fox & The Rat: Day 11, The Final Assault?

Capt. Rohrstock shook his head in shock and disbelief as him men trudged back past him off the field of battle. Benghazi had been within his grasp but instead of victory fate had dealt him a stinging defeat. 

The battle had started well enough with his advance guard seeming catching the enemy unaware and short of men, though well dug in. He decided to concentrate his efforts on one side of the enemy perimeter and try to use superior German firepower to blow them out of their defences. 

His men had poured a withering fire into the enemy but their deep defences had protected them from any serious harm and the fire coming back from the enemy lines had been unusually accurate. So accurate in fact that the machine gun team of no. 3 section was cut down to the man.

But the assault pressed ahead and no. 2 section braved the fire of a newly arrived Sikh 6pdr to launch a bayonet charge which sent one defending team flying backwards. This however exposed them to a withering return fire from the defenders.

His battle hardened men kept at their task even though the enemy Vickers was causing havoc in their ranks and indedd the rest of no. 3 section eventually gave their lives trying to oust the enemy from his position.

The concentrated fire of the two remaining sections did eventually cause a second Sikh unit to abandon it's defences but it was all too late. His own men had largely become exhausted from their efforts and Capt. Rohrstock reluctantly called off the attack rather than push them over the edge. He would need to think of a better way to oust the defenders of Benghazi, or come back with overwhelming force.

Fox & The Rat: Day 9 - We Must Hold

As the column moved forwards Capt. Rohrstock peered into the early morning gloom trying to pick out the enemy lines. The Stukas had done their work but he suspected it was mostly via guessing that actually being able to see the enemy. The wadi ahead and it's crossing represented the last natural defence between his men and Benghazi and he expected the enemy to put up a fierce defence.

The would no doubt be well dug in, he could only hope that they lacked the numbers to strongly man the entire wadi so he could seize the crossing point before reinforcements could arrive. 

As the men pushed closer to the crossing point Rohrstock ordered the anti-tank gun to deploy to give covering fire and the squad in the half-track rumbled forwards using a sand dune as cover. Rohrstock was sure the enemy would have a anti-tank gun and didn't want it to have any easy targets.

Then fire erupted from hidden positions all along the far side of the wadi, bullets whistled overhead and shells from a gun landed amongst the troops. Fortunately his men where by now veterans of many encounters in the desert and instead of panicking they behaved magnificently. Whilst the machine gunners laid down return fire the rifle teams pushed onwards towards the crossing point.

With the assault imminent the anti-tank gun starting throwing shells over into the enemy lines with great accuracy and the half-track had also reached a position to start throwing fire into the defenders. This seemed to much for the defenders as Rohrstock saw a unit of Indians break from their defences and fall back into the desert behind.

Then the moment of decision, with a roar of it's engine the half-track darted forwards which seemed to catch the British A/T gun by surprise, Rohrstock presumed it was still loading HE shells as it didn't open fire. At the crossing it's section poured out and started to lay down a heavy fire whilst supporting troops also advance to the line of the wadi.

A desperate struggle then erupted around the wadi with much reduced and shell-shocked Indians holding off two close assaults by one of the rifle teams. Rohrstock made a note to work on the close assault tactics if he ever got some time away from the front-line.

However, his men's firing was still top notch and the defenders where blown away in a storm of machine gun fire. Even as reinforcements started to arrive it was too late, the crossing was his and his men would not be shifted from control even by an entire division!

The leaves Capt. Rohrstock and his men on the very outskirts of Benghazi, no doubt staff officers are burning their secret papers even as you read these lines.

Fox & The Rat: Day 7, Crossroads

Capt. Rohrstock rubbed some of the ever present grit from his eyes and peered through his binoculars at the crossroads in the distance. The Stukas had already flown overhead and attacked a target behind the crossroads but he couldn't see any enemy in that area.

What he could see however was a Tommy tank and what looked to be a jeep on the road heading towards his force. As his infantry rushed forwards on either flank Rohrstock motioned his armoured support forwards towards the tempting targets. Unteroffizier Baade signalled his understanding and the Panzer III rumbled forwards into a firing position. It unleashed it's first shot whilst still on the move which sadly went wide.  

This aggressive action did not go unanswered however as Baade's tank was struck by fire from an unknown source, somewhere out in the desert scrub a gun had been setup that could not be see by any of the DAK forces. Fortunately it must have been one of the piddly Tommy 2pdrs as the rounds bounced harmlessly off the armour of the Panzer.

Unteroffizier Baade then showed extreme cool as he stopped the tank which was still coming under fire from unseen gun to take a better aim. This time one, then two shots rang out from the Panzer and first the Tommy tank and then it's accompanying jeep where hit and burst into flames.

Whilst the Panzer was bending to it's task Rohrstock's infantry had not been idle and had brought their foe under heavy fire on both flanks. Those on the left had halted the enemy advance at a lone building whilst those on the right had manged to knock out an enemy truck at long range, forcing it's occupants to spill out into the desert.

Taking advantage of the many set backs of the enemy Rohrstock sent his mobile reserve onto the offensive and they raced up the battlefield to take a position overlooking the enemy who where in total disarray. 

Whilst these troops had so far been untested in battle they were more than eager to get to grips with the enemy and unleashed a hail of fire onto the hapless infantry in front of them.

This along with the  destruction wreaked by Baade and his Panzer broke the enemies will to continue and they beat a hasty retreat from the crossroads giving Rohrstock another victory.

Fox & The Rat: Day 6, The Face of Chaos

Capt. Rohrstock had heard about the failed attack on the airfield and as the Stukas passed overhead he was glad the guards had done their duty and kept his air support operational. This time his attacking force was spared a bombardment from the enemy guns so perhaps Gruber's raid had gone well.

The days after a breakthrough where always chaotic and he hoped to capitalise on this to push further into the enemies rear. Though the enemy was not completely out of the fight and was rushing reinforcements forwards Rohrstock hoped to brush them aside. A walled building dominated the centre of the battlefield and he'd tasked No. 3 section with it's '251 to mount a lightning advance which the rest of the platoon would then support.

No sooner had the half-track pulled out of cover then disaster struck! Rohrstock was not sure how they'd missed the massive British tank but they had, it's guns let loose and one of the shells struck the '251 bursting it into flames. The rest of the platoon could only look on in horror as the survivors bailed out of the burning wreck. Half the men did not make it out.

As Rohrstock cursed the setback his own armoured support put in an appearance with the Panzer III appearing from behind a sand dune to put a shell into the M3, causing it in return to brew up.

Whilst the exchange of tank fire had been taking place the Sikh's had pushed up vigorously and instead of the planned German occupation of the strong points it was instead they that had seized the ground and the initiaitive.

Despite the setback Rohrstock was pleased to see his men stick to their task, whilst not willing to advance across the open they didn't fall back either and instead opened a withering fire upon the Commonwealth troops which was supported by the now unopposed Panzer III. The section nearest him was taking the brunt of the enemy fire but his presence helped calm the men and keep them in the fight. 

With fire pouring into their positions Rohrstock good see the enemy visibly start to wilt and then the only return firing was coming from a mortar far behind the enemies lines, otherwise the Sikh's had been forced to keep their heads down and their spirit to fight was broken.

As night fell all the Germans could here was the sound of feet running back into the night as the enemy beat a swift retreat.

Fox & The Rat: Day 4 Every Object Counts

With the 8th Army assault stalled on the coast Capt. Rohrstock was determined to press home the advantage of the lightning victory the day before and fully breakthrough the enemy lines. 

Looking through his binoculars he could see the ground he needed to capture and in the distance the colonial defenders rushing forwards to try and stop him. Once more the Stukas had been called up to wreak havoc in the enemy lines but he had not expected the enemy to be able to muster an artillery bombardment in return. Whilst this mostly went astray he was aghast to see the truck pulling their precious anti-tank gun do up in flames with the crew mostly bailing out alive.

With the preliminary bombardments over, both sides picked themselves up and advanced towards the enemy. This was mostly made up of cautious advances by the infantry on foot until Rohrstock unleashed the 3rd section in their Sdkfz 251. Guns blazing it rushed the central objective under the very noses of the enemy and disgorged it's passengers. The initial target was a Sikh mortar section which had unwisely crested a nearby sand-dune and it was quickly reduced to a single crewman. The men of the 3rd section also unleashed heavy fire into the advancing Sikh infantry, cutting a number of them down.

This boldness brought about an immediate reaction from the enemy as a Humber armoured car rushed down the road and opened fire on the 251, fortunately the shot was wide of the mark. This in turn signalled the time for the Panzer II attached to the attack to venture forth. The first shot from it's auto-cannon was wild and off target but the second struck home with deadly effect, causing the Humber to burst into flames.

During this armoured battle the infantry fight had continued in the centre with the Sikh's coming off the worst under accurate fire from the DAK 3rd section. The Sikh's had also made an effort to bring their own anti-tank gun forwards and into action. It also shot at the 251, and again the shot was wide.

Not wishing to give the 6pdr another shot at him the 251 sped forwards whilst it was reloading and opened fire on the crew to cut some of them down. Their was a brief assault by some Sikh infantry on the 251 but this was driven off with no damage done.

By this time the Sikh attack had largely bogged down but they did launch on last ditch assault on the central objective but whilst this caused a couple of casualties on one team the Indians had no support so had to withdraw. This allowed a different DAK team to retake the objective whilst the LMG team of 3rd section shot the Sikh's down.

With night falling and no chance of rescuing a victory the Sikh's decided to withdraw from the field of combat leaving it to Capt. Rohrstock and his men to celebrate another decisive victory.

Fox & The Rat: Day 4 Battle 3 - Breakthrough!

Location - Front line Western Desert, west of Benghazi, Libya

It all hung in the balance…..Overnight Lieutenant Harbhajan Singh’s hard-pressed Indians had been reinforced by two sections of raw New Zealanders.  He couldn’t be certain but he thought Jerry had been stiffened by some DAK reinforcements on the British right.

Singh was determined he would not let this chance slip by.  He cursed his timidity the previous day and resolved to be bold, channelling his inner Frederick The Great (he afforded himself a wry smile at the irony).

The Honey continued to pour fire into the central building where the MG42 was skulking away and causing issues for the Sikh infantry on the left.  It felt like Sgt Odeball was at last starting to have an impact.  However the rifle team of section 2 in the centre of the Sikh line finally succumbed to unending concentrated fire from their right and broke.

The Indian MMG team packed up back in the jeep which raced round the right of the DAK line and looked to set up on a sand dune overlooking the rear of Fritz’s left flank - this was the speed which Lieutenant Singh had been craving.  Section 1 of the Kiwis now took the initiative - in the clapped out old Bedford truck they raced from the jump off point on the right of the minefield following the course of the Honey and then went straight past Sgt Odeball to alight behind a fuel dump overlooking the rear of the central building - this should give the Hun something to think about rather than pinning the Sikhs in front.

Lieutenant Singh had been right.  Fritz had been reinforced.  A fresh section moved up on the DAK left occupying the right hand building facing the British and another team working their way past the smoking wreck of the Sdkfz222 looking to take up a position in the scrub ahead of that same building and threatening the flank of what remained of the LMG team of the Indians’ section 2 and the support command team,  Section 2 of the Kiwis, led by the fiery Corporal McDougall, pushed forward on the British right to put pressure on those Fritz’s in the scrub ahead of them.

Meanwhile Sgt Odeball finally obliterated the MG42 in the central building.  Not before time.  The Kiwi rifle team from section 1 now rushed the building from behind the fuel dump.  The LMG team however had come under heavy fire from the DAK and were unable to support,

The Honey now turned the turret to unleash hell against these same DAK who’d targeted the Kiwis.  They were supported by the MMG on the sand dune in their rear and the Hun LMG team broke.  The Hun in front of the central building could now hear and then feel the relentless crackle of Lee Enfields from the rear as the Kiwi rifle section in the central building poured withering fire into them.  This was too much.  They soon joined their dastardly compatriots and broke and fled.  The tide was turning distinctly in favour of the British.

Corporal McDougall now made sure.  The rifle team had been pinned by the DAK from the building on the left of the German line but with the LMG team he rushed the unsuspecting Jerries cowering in the scrub and drove them off - Don’t stop until you get to Stettin.  Tschussy tschuss Fritz!   

The Kiwis - despite their rawness - had shown some tactical acumen and flair to resurrect the floundering Indian advance and push the Brits over the line.  Lieutenant Singh was mightily relieved.