Matrix Games

Location : Ortona
Opponents : Canada - Germany

Description :

_________Little Stalingrad** _________Canada - Germany* __________Italy, Ortona* ____0700 hrs 21 December 1943* _____________Turns 45* _______Scenario Size: Medium ___________C&C Friendly* ______Low Carnage Settings** _____Henk "Dutchiexx" Neumann* _______Dutchiexx@spwaw.com* _______MADE FOR ENH 2009** ** ______________Visit:* __________www.spwaw.com* _______________and* ____www.spwawfort.blogspot.com** ** __________Map by M4Jess* ** ________SCENARIO NOTES:** Take Ortona! You have to take all VH's in order to win this one. Make good use of your engineers.** HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:** The Eighth Army's offensive on the Winter Line defences east of the Apennine mountains had commenced on November 23 with the crossing of the river Sangro. By the end of the month the main Gustav Line defences had been penetrated and the Allied troops were fighting their way forward to the next river, the Moro, four miles north of the mouth of which lay Ortona. For the Moro crossing in early December the exhausted British 78th Infantry Division on the Allied right flank on the Adriatic coast had been relieved by Canadian 1st Infantry Division.By mid December, after fierce fighting in the cold, wet and mud the Division's 1st Infantry Brigade had fought its way to within two miles of Ortona and was relieved by 2nd Infantry Brigade for the advance on the town. Ortona was of high strategic importance, as it was one of Italy's few usable deep water ports on the east coast, and was needed for docking allied ships and so shorten Eighth Army's lines of supply which at the time stretched back to Bari and Taranto. Allied forces were ordered to maintain the offensive, and going through the built up areas in and around Ortona was the only feasible option. Ortona was part of the Winter Line defence system and the Germans had constructed a series of skilfully designed interlocking defensive positions in the town. This, together with the fact that the Germans had been ordered to fight for every last house and tree made the town a formidable obstacle to any attacking force.** The Canadians faced elements of the renowned German 1st Parachute Division. These soldiers were battle-hardened after many years of war, and were ordered by Hitler to defend Ortona at any cost. The initial Canadian attack on the town was made on December 20 by Canadian 2nd Brigade's Loyal Edmonton Regiment with elements of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada under command.Meanwhile elements of the division's 3rd Infantry Brigade launched a northerly attack to the west of the town in attempt to outflank and cut off the town's rear communications but made slow progress because of the difficult terrain and the skilful and determined German defence. In the town itself, the Germans had placed various barricades and left rubble strewn throughout the narrow side streets surrounding the Piazza Municipale. The only available route for the Canadian tanks was through the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, which was eavily mined and trapped; traps would serve the Germans with deadly efficiency during the eight days of fighting. The Germans also concealed various machine guns and anti-tank emplacements throughout the town, making movement by armour and infantry increasingly difficult.The house to house fighting was vicious and the Canadians made use of a new tactic: mouse-holing". This tactic involved using weapons such as the PIAT (or even cumbersome anti-tank guns) to breach the walls of a building, as houses within Ortona shared adjoining walls.The soldiers would then throw in grenades and assault through the mouse holes, clearing the top floors and making their way down, where both adversaries struggled in repeated close-quarters combat.Mouse-holing was also used to pierce through walls into adjoining rooms, sometimes catching enemy troops by surprise. The tactic would be used repeatedly as assaulting through the streets inflicted heavy casualties on Canadian troops. Later, in a particularly deadly incident, German Fallschirmjdger engineer Karl Bayerlein demolished an entire house packed with Canadian soldiers; only one soldier survived. The Canadians retaliated by demolishing another building on top of two German squads, killing them all. After six days of intense combat, 2nd Brigade's third battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, joined the battle together with tanks from 1st Canadian Armoured Brigade's Three Rivers Regiment (Rigiment de Trois-Rivihres). On December 28, after eight days of fighting, the depleted German troops, who lacked reinforcements, finally withdrew from the town. The Canadians suffered 1,375 dead in the fighting in and around Ortona, almost a quarter of all Canadians killed during the Italian Campaign.** ______DESIGNER NOTES** This scenario is the third of a series depicting the battles in and around Ortona, a little town in Italy that ater the battle was commonly known as Little Stalingrad.** This scenario was designed C&C Friendly, using the Low Carnage Settings 90S, 80H, 100RR, XXXTQ, 110TT, 150IT, 180AvS, 120AvA, 150SOF / Command & Ctrl ON / AutoRally OFF to reduce unrealistic SPWAW slaughter.** ______SPECIAL THANKS** Crazy Canuck for providing me with historical links about the Battle For Ortona* Major Destruction for providing designing and historical tips* Thanks guys!** Have FUN!