Many Words

So the other day, I loaded the game, got out my notebook, and kicked off. Half an hour in, it crashed—the same division by zero error that ended the last scenario. Uh-oh.

I tried again. Same result. I tried on a different computer. Same result.

I’m afraid I’m going to have to call it prematurely once again. I’m not sure what the cause is, but I suspect a bug in the estab (the database defining the 1940s equipment, which is a third-party add-on that comes with this scenario pack)—some quantity which shouldn’t be zero is zero. It doesn’t detract from Command Ops as a whole, but does make this particular endeavor a little disappointing.

Anyway, that brings us to the close of Winter Wargaming. I’m thinking to start another wargaming series to take us through this year; it’ll be lower-intensity, about a post per month, and feature fewer decision points—maybe once every month or two. I’m going to poll the peanut gallery (parvusimperator) and see which of a few games he thinks I ought to spotlight.

Expect story updates next week, and a fun Skypirates post later this week.

It’s Day 3, 0600 hours, and we have another twenty hours before any reinforcements are due. Before we dive in, let’s look at the events on the real 12th of May. (As ever, my source for the historical context is the War Over Holland website, which is, as far as I know, not merely an excellent in-depth account of the battle for the Netherlands, but the only substantial English account of the battle for the Netherlands.)

Historically, about a thousand men held the Dordrecht-Zwijndrecht bridge (north-northwest of Dordrecht), comprising Gruppe de Boer, III Battalion/1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment, and a detachment from I Battalion/1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment. Only seven hundred men held the south approach to the Moerdijk bridges. (Our arrangement is roughly reversed. On the first day, historically, the Germans weren’t especially concerned with holding the bridge; they spent that time more thoroughly dismantling the Dutch defenses.)

The bridges at Dordrecht, looking from north to south.

On the morning of the 12th, the Dutch committed parts of their Light Division to Dordrecht. (The Light Division was a particularly mobile division, not a particularly lightly-equipped one, in keeping with the terminology of the time. Cf. The Charge of the Light Brigade for a similar usage.) The Light Division was primarily infantry, having been stripped of its armored cars and its motorized units to fortify defenses elsewhere. About 3,500 men would end up on the island of Dordrecht.

Student’s strategy was to focus on holding the bridges: he had no appreciable forces between Dordrecht and Moerdijk on the 12th. This makes a good deal of sense, given that Student had a little more flexibility than we do as regards the delivery of supplies. (Ours have to flow from supply entry points to a base unit, and from a base unit to the units to be supplied. Student could have his supplies dropped nearer his positions at Moerdijk, and rely on airlift to the Waalhaven airfield near Rotterdam to supply units north of the island of Dordrecht.) It worked well, particularly against the disorganized Dutch. Student’s forces, concentrated at two strongpoints, with screening forces easily able to fall back on the main force.

Also handy was the way that the French forces Maurice Gamelin had promised the Dutch never showed up. Unfortunately, we aren’t that lucky.

We’ll be following the strategy I labeled Student (winning with two votes), which is distinct from Student’s actual strategy. When reinforcements arrive, three battalions will beeline for Moerdijk, and one will head for Dordrecht.

0630
Remember the other day when 3rd Company/1st FJR was pushing into Dordrecht and ran into an enemy company? That company is now advancing on Gruppe de Boer’s headquarters at the Dordrecht bridge. The situation will need to be monitored carefully—with Gruppe de Boer’s line units a kilometer away, we may have to fall back.

At Moerdijk, there are several French companies in the Allied line now.

0715 -Time to run. We’ll set up a defensive line due east from the crossing point at Wieldrecht. Unfortunately, the HQ and the support units are taking a pounding from Allied artillery, and that’s making it hard for them to move.

0800 – II Battalion HQ/1st FJR was going to pop off to the east a bit to rest, but they’ll be needed in the line now. They’ll rest when they can.

1000 – This map shows all sightings of enemy units near Dordrecht, not just current ones (current being my usual setting). Even assuming that some of these are HQ units, this is more than Gruppe de Boer can reasonably be expected to handle. Hopefully they make it out.

1145 – Moerdijk is holding, but enemy units have been making their way around to the east, where they’ve begun to attack.

At Dordrecht, Gruppe de Boer’s HQ and AT gun platoon escape, but the infantry gun battery is stuck at the bridge, and probably won’t make it out alive. (I suppose worse things have happened. I wasn’t able to keep it supplied anyway.)

1345 – Gruppe de Boer, minus its infantry gun battery, escapes, and is currently setting up a defensive line. The situation at Moerdijk remains the same, except that a pair of Dutch companies have appeared north of the north end of the rail bridge (the eastern of the pair). 5th Company/1st FJR has been sitting there for a while, resting up, so I send them to attack the Dutch before they can cause any supply line trouble.

1530 – The infantry gun battery, stripped of all of its guns, almost escaped, but was unable to avoid Dutch fire on its way out of Moerdijk to the south. That proved too much for the shattered morale of the troops, and the unit disintegrated.

1700 – The combined Dutch and French force at Moerdijk is causing me some pain, but as far as I can tell, the paras are inflicting much heavier casualties than they’re taking. I’m a little concerned that, as we get toward nightfall, the French may slip units across the road bridge. They’d run into 6th Company/1st FJR at the north end, but I don’t want to rely on a single company to hold back the tide.

7th and 8th Companies have been resting in the middle of the defense for some time, and, although they’re dramatically weakend after a few days of fighting, they’re at least not falling over asleep anymore. I send them to man the south end of the road bridge, to at least provide me with some warning.

North of the Moerdijk bridges, 5th Company is cleaning up yet another two Dutch interlopers. I’m about ready to declare them the MVC.

1830 – Turns out I misunderstood the way the supply base personnel counter works. It isn’t badly understrength at all, just a long way above its load-carrying capacity. The men and vehicles arranged into supply columns are deducted from the overview personnel window.

1930 – The French make a big push on Moerdijk.

2100 – Somehow, the paras beat back the French attack. The situation at Dordrecht is a little confusing: obviously, they have enough firepower to push me off of the bridge pretty easily, but they haven’t come after me east of Wieldrecht yet. I can see one unit up at the south end of Dordrecht, but nothing has come of it yet.

0000 – Nothing has come of it even now. I get the feeling that everyone’s resting up a little. Works for me.

0010 – Figures that the French would probe Moerdijk the moment I say that. The attack doesn’t last long, and we go back to a quiet front.

0200 – The first reinforcing battalion arrives. This is the Aufklarungs Battalion of the 9th Panzer Division—a reconnaissance force. This one consists of about 500 motorized infantry. I’ll send them to shore up Moerdijk. Two of the three battalions arriving at 0600 will clear out the enemy at Moerdijk. The remaining battalion will push on toward Dordrecht, link up with Gruppe de Boer, and retake the Dordrecht bridge.)

0230 – French forces occupying Wagenberg will present a bit of an obstacle to that plan. Our forces reorganize to attack.

This is a useful image, because it gives you a sense for the geography of the area: the 9th Panzer Division’s Aufklarungs Battalion, at the southeast, is just northeast of Wagenberg. Our reinforcements enter at Oudekerk, just east of the Aufklarungs Battalion. The red line south of Wagenberg that bends up toward Moerdijk is a highway, while the tan lines are roads of various descriptions. The black lines are railway lines, which are of little use to our reinforcements—they’re all mechanized forces, and it’s not much faster for a mechanized force to move over rail than to go cross-country. Wagenberg is important, because it controls access to the highway here. The other route, north from Wagenberg through Hooge Zwaluwe, is slower and longer.

0445 – The French at Wagenberg have artillery support somewhere—the Aufklarungs Battalion can’t get reorganized enough for an attack.

0600 – The remainder of this morning’s reinforcements arrive: II Battalion/11 Schützen Regiment (motorized infantry), I Battalion/33rd Panzer Regiment (54 tanks), and Gruppe Apell, which has swelled to about a thousand men. The motorized infantry and tanks will help clear out Wagenberg, while Gruppe Apell will bypass the enemy and hopefully cross at Moerdijk as soon as possible.

0700 – The situation in the south is highly complicated, so we’ll cover that first.

The French occupy crossroads at Hooge Zwaluwe, Wagenberg, and the southeast edge of the map. The terrain between these is open enough, so we won’t be able to sneak Gruppe Apell past. Right now, Gruppe Apell’s staff has decided that its best shot to get past the French is to take a small road north, east of Hooge Zwaluwe, then bend around through Blauwe Sluis to get to the higway, and then on to Moerdijk. I’m not altogether sure this is going to work.

The other three reinforcing battalions are attacking Wagenberg, and seem likely to take it in the next two or three hours. (The French forces there are primarily a bombardment force, and won’t stand up well in direct combat.)

The French southeast of Moerdijk appear to be heading south to reinforce their three positions.

Meanwhile, in the north, the situation is static. We have about two battalions worth of fight available to us, between Gruppe de Boer and paratroopers currently assigned to hold various important points (the supply entry point and the Wieldrecht bridge).

The following reinforcements will be arriving before the end of the scenario:

1. An artillery battery, immediately.
2. A battalion-sized formation of armored cars, at noon. (The other Aufklarungs Battalion from the 9th Panzer Division.)
3. Gruppe Sponeck, 1100 motorized infantry, at 1400.
4. I Battalion, 11th Schützen Regiment, at 1400.
5. II Battalion, 33rd Panzer Regiment, at 1400.
6. Another artillery battery, at 1500.

Here are the possible plans for the day.

Paulus – The presence of French forces south of Moerdijk notwithstanding, the German forces on the scene should be more than sufficient to break through to Moerdijk and points beyond. The reinforcements to follow can concern themselves with holding the road from Wagenberg to Moerdijk. The forces on the field now should be divided as agreed upon yesterday, unless the situation dictates otherwise.

Student – The presence of French forces throws a wrench into the works. The forces currently on the field should clear the road to Moerdijk, so that this afternoon’s reinforcements can sweep through Moerdijk and to Dordrecht unmolested. At Dordrecht, they will join Gruppe de Boer and sweep through the resistance at Dordrecht, before proceeding to Rotterdam.

von Rundstedt – We must not sacrifice the Moerdijk bridgehead. All of today’s reinforcements should be focused on eliminating the French and Dutch resistance south of the island of Dordrecht, minus a token force to push to the city of Dordrecht and contest its bridge.

Remember, I’m off next weekend, so we’ll pick up with the final installment in mid-January.

It’s 5:00 a.m. on Day 2. Let’s have a look at the historical context before we dive in to today’s play.

The arrival of III Bn, 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment (it’ll be here in an hour) turns out to have been one of the key decisions. I have to digress for a moment to talk about geography: our action takes place primarily on the island of Dordrecht, bounded by four waterways: to the south, the Hollands Diep, the to the west, the Dordtsche Kil, to the east, the Nieuwe Merwede, and to the north, the Oude Maas. The south end of the Moerdijk crossing is on the European mainland, and our forces are arriving over the roads from the invasion points I mentioned in the prior post. To the northwest, across the Dordrecht bridge, is the island of Ysselmonde (WW2-era spelling). Bridges from Ysselmonde cross to Rotterdam. At this point in time, German forces control the important crossings from Dordrecht to Ysselmonde, and from Ysselmonde to Rotterdam.

The Hollands Diep, being in excess of a kilometer across, was the major chokepoint; the Germans likely would not have been able to bridge it easily. By contrast, the crossing at Dordrecht, across the Oude Maas, would have yielded much more easily to combat engineering.

Kurt Student, the commander on the field, faced stiffer-than-expected resistance. His paratroopers on the island of Dordrecht were under intense pressure, while his men in Rotterdam, though engaged, had reserves to hold out. III Battalion, 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment, was uncommitted on Ysselmonde, and difficulties in holding Moerdijk led Student to call it across the Dordrecht bridge to reinforce the paras’ position.

On the land route in, German forces have captured Mill, and are beginning to engage Dutch forces at the Zuid-Williamsvaart, the canal which runs through Den Bosch.

The results of the vote were Paulus 1, and nil for the others, so we’ll continue to play cautiously, moving II Battalion HQ and its paras and other attached forces out of the line once III Battalion arrives to take over the defense at the south end of the Moerdijk crossing.

0530 – The situation remains fairly static: German forces are holding out against the Dutch counterattack at Moerdijk, and our poor garrison company at the Dordrecth bridge is getting beaten up on. Reinforcements arrive in half an hour, which ought to change things.

0600 – The 1st Ersatz-Battalion, a company-sized unit containing replacements and reinforcements for the 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment, arrives near Moerdijk, and is ordered to attack the Dutch company pressuring the bridgehead. 6th Company joins in, having had a few hours of rest.

At Dordrecht, III Battalion arrives. I order them to form up and attack across the bridge.

0715 – This proves to have been a good idea: there are Dutch defenders north of the bridge.

0800 – As you may recall, I sent 7th Company, 16th Infanterie-Regiment down to Moerdijk to join in the defense of the Moerdijk crossing. They arrive north of the bridges, and join the two paratrooper companies in beating up on the Dutch infantry company. Once that engagement is decided, 7/16th IR and the ersatz battalion will cross the eastern Moerdijk bridge and join the defense.

0930 – At the Dordrecht crossing, III Battalion is making good progress toward the crossing, eliminating a mortar platoon and inflicting heavy casualties on an infantry company.

1000 – The Dutch company at the north end of the Moerdijk bridges finally surrenders.

1100 – The two reinforcing companies for the south end of the Moerdijk bridgehead are crossing the bridge now, while at Dordrecht, III Battalion’s combat companies have made the crossing. The support companies are on the move now.

1300 – Our second reinforcing battalion arrives: Gruppe de Boer, comprising two infantry companies, an infantry gun battery, and supporting units. They’ll attack the Dutch units still north of Dordrecht, before crossing, taking over guard duties at Dordrecht, and clearing out the Dutch from the part of the city due south of the bridge.

1445 – Phew. Busy few hours. Here’s a big, updated situation picture.

A bunch of things are going on here. At the north, III Battalion has made it across the bridge altogether, and is now forming up to head south. Gruppe De Boer will soon have wrapped up the fight on the north side of the Dordrecht bridge, and will take up its position south of it.

At the north end of the Moerdijk crossing, another infantry company plays cat and mouse with us. I may have the two defending companies pack up and hit it, but I don’t know if I want to leave the bridgeheads undefended going into the evening.

South of the Moerdijk crossing, II Battalion has been reinforced, doubling its combat strength (four companies instead of two). They’re making solid progress now against the Dutch in Moerdijk itself, and I expect to have the objective back in a few hours.

Next, the bad news: the beating my regimental base took in the early hours of the campaign is starting to tell. They’re down to about 30% strength, only 80 men. Both of our infantry gun batteries are currently out of ammunition, and my expectation is that they won’t really play a major role in the rest of the scenario—with such limited supply-movement capacity, the priority has to go to the units in front-line combat.

1700 – A much-less-busy few hours. III Battalion has been taking forever to get moving, but they should finally be altogether on the march now. Gruppe De Boer is making its way across the bridge.

1845 – Our men at the south end of the Moerdijk crossing spot the first French unit: a motorized infantry company, which soon joins the attack. Fortunately, it proves to be less formidable than the French tanks in the last scenario.

2000 – Though Moerdijk is going well, the situation in Dordrecht is a little iffier. 3rd Company, 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment, was on its way to check the ferry northeast of Moerdijk, at the top left corner of this picture, and encountered some resistance. I recall them to the bridgehead, in part to return fire against the Dutch at Zwijndrecht, who appear to have regrouped somewhat. (Not unexpected; I destroyed their HQ and their mortar support, but only heavily attritted their combat companies.)

Meanwhile, the two companies in the southern portion of Dordrecht run into three or possibly four Dutch companies. Reinforcements may be needed here later.

2200 – III Battalion finally arrives at Moerdijk. They’ll cross the bridge, attack the Dutch to push them off of II Battalion, and take over the defense.

2230 – 3rd Company 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment is moving to the Wieldrecht crossing, while 1st Company, 22nd Pioneers, which was previously holding the Wieldrecht crossing, is joining up with Gruppe De Boer. (The pioneers are better-equipped and better rested.)

0315 – Conscious of the need to let my men rest in big, long scenarios like this one, it’s been a little quieter. III Battalion is attacking the Dutch at Moerdijk. II Battalion needs only hold out a little longer, before they can collapse for some much-needed sleep.

0600 – The end of this section is upon us. At Moerdijk, III Battalion has taken over the defense. II Battalion is heading off to the east a few hundred meters to get some shuteye. They should be back in fighting condition in a few hours.

At Dordrecht, the situation seems a little more settled now: my three combat companies are attacking into Dordrecht from an odd angle, but it seems to be working well enough.

In the next segment, from 0600 D3 to 0700 D4, the following reinforcements will arrive:

D4, 0200: I Battalion, Aufklarungs-Regiment 9, motorized infantry
D4, 0600: Gruppe Apell, battalion-sized kampfgruppe of mixed motorized-infantry and tanks
D4, 0600: I Battalion, 33rd Panzer Regiment, tanks
D4, 0600: II Battalion, 11th Schützen Regiment, motorized infantry

Here are your options.
Paulus – It is critical to maintain a reserve, in case Dutch resistance should appear at any point. Use one of the reinforcement battalions to eliminate the Dutch defenders at Moerdijk. Use another to hold the road between Wagenberg and Moerdijk, the route our reinforcements will have to take. Send the other two through to Tweede Tol, where they can be committed on Day 4 to open a gap for forces bound for Ysselmonde and Rotterdam.

von Rundstedt – The elimination of effective resistance at both bridgeheads is more important. Divide the reinforcing battalions evenly between Moerdijk and Dordrecht, seeking out and destroying the enemy instead of passively holding positions.

Student – I agree with von Rundstedt, except Moerdijk is more important. Dedicate three battalions to Moerdijk, and one to Dordrecht.

And we’re off. I’ll be playing in 25-hour increments, which neatly meshes with the four-week timeframe for this AAR.

After some late voting at Bay12, here are the totals:
Paulus – 2
Student – 2
von Rundstedt – 1

My usual tiebreaker, parvusimperator, picked Paulus, so we’ll play it safe, dedicating appropriate forces to Moerdijk and Dordrecht, and attempting to retain a reserve as we are able.

0430 – The rest of today’s paratroopers have landed: I and II Battalions of the 1st Fallschirmjager Regiment, along with a mortar platoon. 2nd Company will serve as our reserve. 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Companies landed around the Moerdijk bridges, and 3rd Company will move up to secure the near end of the Dordrecht crossing.

Important to note is the currently-unbridged crossing at Wieldrecht. Although I don’t think the Dutch have any bridging units yet, letting them in that way would be catastrophic.

0600 – The defense at the south end of the Moerdijk bridges may have some trouble going forward. There are several companies of infantry, as best as our defenders can see, and although the Dutch aren’t equipped or trained anything near the German standard, enough numbers will eventually tell.

Up north at Dordrecht, 3rd Company has beaten off attacks from two enemy companies. On the highway between Tweede Tol and Moerdijk, regimental HQ has encountered some enemies on the way to take command of 5th and 6th Companies, stationed at the north end of the bridges. As an HQ unit, it lacks the oomph to work against that kind of opposition, so 5th and 6th Companies will have to move north to support it.

0830 – Over the past two and a half hours, Dordrecht has been fairly quiet, but Moerdijk has seen quite a bit of fighting. II Battalion HQ and its attached units fought off a determined Dutch counterattack on the south bridgehead, while 5th and 6th Companies push toward regimental HQ. 5th Company obliterated a Dutch unit. It’ll surrender or disband soon.

1100 – After reorganizing, the Dutch throw themselves at the south bridgehead again. This attack makes more headway, but the paratroopers are holding strong. Since the attacks on 3rd Company at Dordrecht have calmed down, I may move I Battalion HQ and its attached mortar company south to provide fire support to the Moerdijk units.

North of the bridge, 5th and 6th Company bog down after making good progress in the last hour or two. With a little bit of breathing time, they’ll be able to make progress again.

It looks like the Dutch have a bridging unit, although for some reason it’s hanging out over there on the far bank, instead of heading for the crossing point at Wieldrecht.

1215 – Another hour of brutal fighting sees 5th and 6th Companies link up with the regimental HQ. They’ve trapped a Dutch infantry company against the river (or is it a canal?), and will probably proceed to beat the stuffing out of it.

1345 – Literally nothing has changed in the past hour and a half, except my reserve at Tweede Tol is now my reserve guarding the Wieldrecht crossing.

1430 – Spoke rather too soon. The Dutch managed to push the paras at the south bridgehead away from the road bridge. As my units reorganize and prepare for an attack to retake the bridgehead, the Dutch sneak a few reinforcements past me.

There’s also bad news on the logistics front. A Dutch unit attacked my base at Tweede Tol, and you’ll recall that my guard company is now guarding the Wieldrecht crossing. That leaves a mortar platoon, the regimental supply base, and a battalion headquarters against two hundred infantry. My troops, backline though they may be, acquitted themselves well, but as men from the base tried to pick up supplies from the airdrop point, they took heavy casualties. As paratroopers, this force was already operating with limited logistical capacity–whatever guys can carry in packs–but now it’s undermanned, too.

1630 – Here’s the situation as it stands. I get reinforcements in an hour and a half, arriving from Rotterdam. (They were dropped in gliders this morning, at about the same time as we were.) Incoming are two infantry companies, not paratroopers, but still well-equipped and well-trained, and the regimental artillery battery. Though it’s only four guns, the regimental artillery will provide some much-needed additional firepower to help even the odds.

The regimental artillery has some curious equipment. If you’re familiar with military organization in the 20th century, the term ‘mountain infantry’ will ring a bell for you. For the rest of you, mountain infantry is a sort of light infantry equipped for terrain where motor vehicles are a nonstarter. One of the things you typically found in 20th-century mountain infantry units was the pack howitzer: a small artillery piece which could be broken down into small, man- or mule-portable pieces. A perfect fit for the modern, circa-1940 paratrooper. (Although the Germans did design an actual air-dropped infantry support gun/light howitzer, it wasn’t in service for this part of the war.)

1830 – Reinforcements arrived half an hour ago. They are the 7th Company of the 16th Infantry Regiment, and the 1st Company of the 22nd Pioneers. They’ll support 3/1 Fallschirmjagers for a quick push to spring the artillery, and eventually percolate south to free the paras’ 2nd Company at Wieldrecht, and fill in at the Moerdijk bridges.

At the Moerdijk bridges, 5th and 6th Companies have eliminated another Dutch infantry company, and are moving south to secure the bridgeheads proper.

1945 – The infantry push in the southwest of Dordrecht has succeeded in opening a path for the artillery, so I put in the move order. At the Moerdijk bridges, the situation remains unchanged. The southern bridgehead is still heavily contested, but 7th and 8th Companies are extracting a very heavy price from the Germans, and have succeeded in stymieing further reinforcements. At the north end of the bridges, 5th and 6th Companies are grinding down another Dutch infantry company.

2300 – The situation has stabilized somewhat, and the fighting is cooling off as we head into the first night. 5th and 6th Companies have nearly secured the northern Moerdijk bridgehead, while the southern bridgehead is looking a little healthier, though still heavily contested.

Up north, there have been some changes. The artillery has almost reached our little base at Tweede Tol, along with 2nd Company, which is in the process of beating up on a Dutch company. I’m taking a bit of a gamble here, unplugging the Wieldrecht gap, but the pioneers from Dordrecht will be taking up the banner shortly. 7th Company/16th Infantry Regiment will be heading south to help secure the northern bridgehead at Moerdijk. Right now, they’re both pinned, so 3rd Company/1st FJR will swing around the left flank and counter-pin the Dutch.

2340 – Finally in position, the artillery opens fire for the first time, supporting the northern half of the Moerdijk force.

0140 – Fighting into the night, the paras at Moerdijk are making good progress. II Battalion HQ, at the south end, have pushed the Dutch back from the road bridge, and at the north end, regimental HQ and its two companies will soon be solidly in control of the north end of the road bridge.

0240 – Having fought for nearly 24 hours, 5th and 6th Companies take a well-deserved rest. They’ll be back in the action in the early morning, probably. The northern edge isn’t quite secure yet.

0500 – We’ve reached the end of Day 1. In the north, the situation is mainly unchanged: 7/16 IR just broke free and is now marching south, 3/1 FJR is covering the Dordrecht bridge, and 1/22 Pioneers is holding Wieldrecht. The troops at Moerdijk are getting tired, but hold a fairly strong position on both sides of the bridges.

Today, we get a pretty big chunk of reinforcement: a full battalion of paratroopers, III Battalion/1 FJR, from Rotterdam, arriving at 0600; a paratrooper company, dropped near Moerdijk at 0600; and an infantry battalion, from Rotterdam, arriving at 1300. Our next reinforcements won’t arrive until early morning on Day 4, so we have a good 36 hours or so to last with what we get today.

At the end of today, the window also opens for the arrival of French forces on the field, potentially from the north, west, and south. I’m not sure exactly where, north of the area of operations, the French might arrive from. I will note that there’s a bridge, not marked with an objective, in the north-northeast part of Dordrecht which is still in good repair and which leads away to the north, away from Rotterdam. I wonder if they might punch through there?

Anyway, that’s our first day. Here are the plans for Day 2.

Paulus – We must exercise caution in the face of potential French intervention. Devote a company or two to holding the northeast Dordrecht bridge. Use the remainder of the reinforcements to take over at Moerdijk and Dordrecht. The first wave will rotate out and serve as our reserve.

Student – Only the main route matters. The reinforcements should bypass enemy resistance at Dordrecht as much as possible, then wipe out the enemy at Moerdijk.

von Rundstedt – Only the main route matters. Use the reinforcements to eliminate resistance in Dordrecht, then to add weight to the Moerdijk position.