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Vathailos -> Turn 16 GE (8/7/2003 3:59:27 AM)
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As we try to force the SO defenders out of the key terrain, they (as expected) continue their tenacious defense.
To the North, we dislodge more infantry units, scattering them with cannon and machinegun fire. They have however slowed our advance and time is critical now. An SS squad is engaged by a 76mm AT gun as they creep down the street. They are pinned, and a Tiger rolls forward to spot the gun. The tank is almost on top of the gun before it can be spotted through the smoke, and it’s MG fire alerts the SS to it’s position. They suppress the gun and destroy it, but a SO Truck hauling the gun speeds off at the sight of the Tiger. A SkdFz 251/10 catches the truck at an intersection, and after several shots, destroys it. The Northern portion of the city is eerily silent.
In the middle of the city, we hold almost all of the key terrain, but SO SMG squads are spotted darting in and out of buildings to our West, and woods to our East. Two squads are caught in the open or flushed out of buildings. They will fight no more, but the terrain is far from securely held.
To the South, the enemy still holds position. We roll forward with Tigers and STuGs, and our infantry creeps forward in their wake. We spot SO SMG squads and even crews in houses all along our route. The flame tanks effectively ferret them out of hiding. Our forces advance cautiously there, succeeding against the infantry, but the process is far too slow for command’s liking. One STuG advances rapidly with SS riding shotgun, to the position where a SO AT gun was spotted. Hoping the mortar fire had kept their heads down, they rolled almost to its last known position, and small arms fire erupts from the house immediately before it. The SS are raked from the STuG. When it returns fire against the SMG squad, the hidden AT gun takes a shot at the STuG, barely missing. In an instant, the vehicle commander discharges the smoke canisters as they break contact. “Suppressed? I think not!”
Yet another T-34 is spotted in the remnants of a wooden shack as it fires on a speeding STuG. Thankfully, the shot flies wide.
Our last Special Operations squad in the rear retreats from heavy fire from an armored car, and the squad leader successfully calms his troops, they hurry up the road to the hilltop and meet another SO truck barreling down the road toward them. The machinegunner drops immediately and engages the oncoming truck, and it explodes as it’s raked with bullets.
Our few remaining elements of our recon screen shoot Westward along the river, where they surprisingly encounter no resistance…
What has the enemy got in store for us?
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