Many Words

After a three-way tie twice (first at 1 vote each, then at 2), my designated tiebreaker, mad with power, calls it for von Rundstedt.

0030

The von Rundstedt plan hinges on a relatively quick penetration across the bridge. We’ll use one of the 20mm flak detachments for extra firepower, and probably attach it to I/33 Panzer Regiment to force our way across town.

0100

We’re across at Den Bosch, and beginning to secure the area. SS Deutchland’s reconnaissance company heads south to snag a seemingly-unguarded objective. Some free points can’t hurt.

0120

Attacking into Den Bosch will help to seal the French into the corridor between the Dungen bridge and Den Bosch proper on the northwest and southeast sides, and between the canals to the northeast and southwest.

We’ve lost the Dungen bridge objective, which means that the Allies are coming.

0145

The Den Bosch bridgehead and the Dungen bridgehead are both looking rather precarious at this point, but we should be able to hold on, given what I can see at this point.

0230

I/33 Panzer Regiment went ahead and planned an attack without asking me. I unticked the ‘attacks’ option in their move order. Once they’re more or less in position, I’ll order the attack personally. We’re still in contact with the Dutch and French in a lot of places, and progress remains slow.

This screenshot has the 1km grid enabled, so you can get a better sense for the scale.

0245

The French are attacking the Dungen crossing in force, which, granted, is what I wanted them to do.

0315

33 Panzer Regiment gets some extra attachments, including a 37mm flak detachment and an anti-tank detachment, and receives its orders to attack into Den Bosch.

Worringly, the French have now shown up south of Den Bosch. Either they’re much more spread out than they were at dusk, or there are more of them than I thought.

0345
Everything happens so much slower at night. I/9 Aufklärungs-Regiment is doing pretty well for itself against a superior French force at Dungen. Gruppe Apell is moving into defensive positions. I/33 Panzer Regiment is still preparing its attack.

0500

5:00 a.m. means dawn. Gruppe Apell and I/33 Panzer Regiment are in position across the river, while the 9 Panzer Division HQ moves to hold the friendly side of the bridgehead with a 2cm flak detachment. We have a huge reinforcement drop coming in half an hour.

0510

The French seriously bit on our feint. Time to rouse the artillery boys and get them firing in support.

0530

I/SS Deutschland battle plan

10 Schützen Regiment battle plan

10 Schützen Regiment (motorized infantry) and I Battalion of the SS ‘Deutschland’ Regiment have arrived. 10 Schützen Regiment is going to hit the French at Dungen and hopefully remove them from play, while the I/Deutschland is going to open up the hole at the Den Bosch bridge.

In five hours, we’ll have another two battalions of SS troops to send through the breach. My aim is to be able to send the entire SS ‘Deutschland’ Regiment through the gap we’ve smashed into the lines as soon as the rest of it is here.

0600

The sun peeks over the horizon, to reveal German soldiers marching through the Dutch countryside.

In the south, SS Deutschland’s reconnaissance company has gotten itself into some trouble, but will shortly extricate itself and find a better route to the south objective.

0645

The magnitude of my French problem is becoming apparent.

0730
10 Schützen Regiment’s attack begins. Two bridging units arrive, with accompanying motorized pioneer companies. We’ll decide what to do with them as part of the next vote.

0800

The second round comes to a close, with the situation muddy at Den Bosch and looking more favorable at Dungen.

At Den Bosch, we have three main forces:
1. Gruppe Apell, a motorized infantry battalion plus some support elements, currently without orders.
2. I/33 Panzer Regiment, a tank battalion plus some support elements, currently attacking Den Bosch.
3. I/SS Deutschland Regiment, a motorized infantry battalion, attacking south to enlarge our bridgehead.

Time for some voting. We have two things to concern ourselves with this time.

General course of action
Guderian – Open a new front. The 10th Schützen Regiment will proceed southwest after crossing at Dungen, moving through Stokhoek and Vught before crossing the canal at Cromvoirt and heading for the Rotterdam road. Future reinforcements will be held in reserve until a gap is opened, then push west.

von Rundstedt – Continue as planned. The 10th Schützen Regiment will attack across the Dungen bridge and form a southern pincer against the defenders of Den Bosch. Divide reinforcements evenly between Den Bosch and Dungen.

Paulus – Shift the center to the Dungen crossing. The Den Bosch force will hold. Future reinforcements will be directed to exploit the Dungen crossing.

Bridges
Guderian – Move the bridging units forward. Build a second bridge at Den Bosch to reduce traffic problems. Hold the second in reserve to support the leading edge of our attack.

von Rundstedt – We have sufficient bridges as it stands. Hold the bridging units in reserve, and attach the motorized pioneer companies to line units.

Paulus – The best place for bridgebuilding is not yet clear. Hold the engineers in reserve until an opportunity presents itself.

I was planning on providing some historical context here, but I’m running low on time, and in actuality, there isn’t a lot to say. Between noon on the 11th, when the previous scenario ended, and the start of this scenario, the infantry divisions we controlled in Melee at Mill expanded the breach at Mill, and German forces waiting at the border rushed through the gap. Dutch forces disengaged and fell back to the Zuid-Willemsvaart, the canal running south from Den Bosch, and organized a second defensive line. Partially survivors from the battle for Mill, and partially fresh troops, the Den Bosch line was not, in reality, reinforced by the French. Here, though, the scenario briefing says I should expect French resistance.

I suppose there is some extra context to give: why it was so important to push so quickly. The Germans had attacked Rotterdam proper with paratroopers and air-landing infantry on the first day of the war—a bold call, considering that the German border was more than a hundred kilometers away from Rotterdam. In the same spirit as my Bastogne AAR from a few Christmases past, my goal here is to establish supply lines.

1730

As befits this more free-flowing scenario, the Aufklärungs-Regiment of the 9th consists of motorcycle infantry, who use the motorized movement tables. As widely-spread as they are, the pathfinding tools say that it should only take them about 40 minutes to reach the forming-up point.

On the attack order, I tick the ‘secure crossing’ box. The pre-battle intelligence says that the Dutch might have engineers near the bridgehead who can attempt to prime it to blow before we can cross. Secure Crossing instructs my men to specifically discourage any such attempt.

1830

So much for 40 minutes. Maddeningly, 1st Company of the Auflklärungs-Regiment decides to take the long way around, delaying the attack for half an hour or so.

1925

The attack at the Dungen bridge is well under way.

1930

At the Dungen bridge, the reconnaissance troops reach the objective and begin to push across.

Reinforcements arrive: Gruppe Apell comprises some support troops, II Battalion of the 11th Schützen Regiment (motorized troops), and I Battalion of the 33rd Panzer Regiment. I split it into two pieces: the Gruppe headquarters and II/11 Schützen Regiment, which has orders to leave the main highway at the Varkenshoek junction toward Gesticht. It will head west from Gesticht to the road into Orten, where it will then turn southwest to attack the northern Den Bosch bridge. I Bn/33 Panzer Regiment, along with a flak company from Gruppe Apell’s headquarters will continue down the highway to De Built, where they’ll hold until the assault commences.

The northern bridge bypasses the main bulk of the town, and the route on which it sits has fewer bridges between our jumping-off points and points west, so I’m dedicating the heavier force to it.

1945

Tanks and motorized infantry stream down the Den Bosch highway.

1950

The reconnaissance troops at Dungen bridge reach and secure the objective.

2010

One of the biggest things this version of Command Ops has over previous versions (the Airborne Assault series) is the box labeled ‘Assault At’ in this screenshot. That determines when the assaulting forces will leave their jumping-off points, which allows we commanders to coordinate attacks between multiple forces. This one will attack at 2201. (It’s in five-minute increments, and started one minute off the hour.)

2030

With all the attacking forces nearly in place, I bump the start time up to 2130 (or 2131).

2115

As Gruppe Apell reaches its marks, scouts spot the first French unit. I order a brief artillery barrage to say hello.

So far, we have mediocre artillery support: the unit counter marked ‘701’ in this screenshot is an assault gun company, equipped with self-propelled 15cm low-velocity guns. Right now, they’re serving in the indirect fire role. Further up the road is a regular artillery battery, equipped with twelve 10.5cm guns.

2130
The next big wave of reinforcements arrives, but it’s a little disappointing. It’s primarily headquarters: the XXVI Armeekorps HQ, the 9th Panzer Division HQ, and the SS Regiment Deutschland HQ. We also get one company of motorized infantry from the SS Regiment, and two light flak companies, which feature a large number of 20mm guns, which translates to a truly staggering amount of anti-infantry firepower.

2145
Oops. Looking at the orders, I don’t think I ever actually changed the assault time. Looks like we’re starting at 2200 after all.

2200

The assault starts on time. All of the French units my units can see are moving to counter our push at the Dungen bridge.

2230

Although we’re advancing toward Den Bosch unopposed, progress is nevertheless slow.

2300

It takes another half an hour to get close to the bridges. Crossing polder is the worst.

2310

As soon as German forces near the southern Den Bosch bridge, it blows up. That’s not good.

I order I/33 Panzer Regiment to fall back for now. It’s too late for them to join in the attack on the northern bridge.

2320

Gruppe Apell spots a defending company at the north bridge. I order an artillery barrage on it, to keep the Dutch heads down while my engineer company gets in close to cut the wires.

2350

My engineers successfully unprime the bridge! All we have to do now is force the crossing. I give I/33 Panzer Regiment orders to head northwest and rejoin Gruppe Apell on the far side of the bridge.

What happens next? You decide.

Guderian – As soon as we have crossed the bridge, send a panzer company and motorized infantry west as quickly as possible. We must reach the western objective as soon as possible!

von Rundstedt – Consolidate on the far side of the bridge, then attack into Den Bosch to pin the French in place, leaving us room to maneuver next morning’s reinforcements through to the western side of Den Bosch.

Paulus – Divert forces from the Den Bosch crossing to reinforce the Aufklärungs Regiment at Dungen. Expand the bridgehead at Den Bosch, focusing on clearing a path for tomorrow’s reinforcements.

P.S.: I warn you now, it’s going to be a little while before my next update: I have plans for the next weekend, so my usual wargaming time will not be available.

This is the second part of a three-part series. Have a look at part one if you don’t know what’s going on.
Welcome back to Breaking Fortress Holland, wherein we take on the role of the Germans in 1940, during the invasion of the Netherlands. Last time, we achieved good success at Mill, breaking through the first Dutch defensive line.

Now, we find ourselves facing off against the Dutch again, across a different canal: the Zuid Willemsvaart, running through the town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch. (It means ‘the Duke’s forest’. I’ll adopt the Dutch colloquialism and call it Den Bosch—the forest.) You’ll have to wait a few days for the deeper historical context, as I’m running short on time, but to tide you over, here is scenario author tukker’s synopsis:

The French Arrive

On May 10, 1940, the German 254 and 256 Divisions had broken through the Dutch defenses of the Peel-Raam Line. In the afternoon of the first day of the war in the west, 9 Panzer Division crossed the river Maas and started moving west, with the SS Regiment ‘Deutschland’ in its wake. Their goal was the great bridge across the Hollands Diep at Moerdijk, where they would link up with the Fallschirmjäger of 7 Flieger Division. After their defeat at Mill, the Dutch have reacted quickly, and sent part of their III to positions behind the Zuid Willemsvaart canal, reaching their destinations in the early afternoon of May 11. At the same time, reconnaissance forces of the French 1 Light Mechanized Division are moving north after crossing the Dutch-Belgian border.

It is now the late afternoon of May 11, and the stage is set for an armoured clash between the German and French forces in Brabant.

It is indeed the case that most of my force this time is mechanized. Reinforcements for the first eight hours include an armored kampfgruppe, an armored regiment, and the SS Regiment of motorized infantry. That’s good, because the map is now 30 kilometers across, and we don’t have much more time to cross it than before:

Presented in anamorphic widescreen for your viewing pleasure

At the numbers 1 and 2 are two of our main objectives: heavy road bridges in Den Bosch itself, which will get us across the canal and into the backfield. You’ll notice, though, that the objective markers (the squares) are overtop of red circular markers. Circular markers are crossing points; the red indicates that they’re primed to explode. If we don’t secure the bridges with enough force, the Dutch can easily blow them and force us to detour south. Numbers 3 through 5 indicate auxiliary bridges.

The aim here is to cross the entire map (again), and get to the exit points at numbers 6 and 7, which will take us to Moerdijk and the final scenario.

We have one day and about eighteen hours: it’s currently Day 1 at 1730, and the clock runs out at Day 3, 1200.

Here’s what we start with: a single cavalry reconnaissance regiment (the motorized kind, not the horse kind), which will have to do for the entire first two hours of the scenario (after which point armored forces begin to arrive, along the arrows from the first map).

How should we proceed?

Guderian – Marshal the cavalry regiment in the center and attack Den Bosch directly, to gain the initiative.
von Rundstedt – Marshal the cavalry regiment in the center and hold it in reserve, to aid in delivering a decisive attack once reinforcements arrive.
Paulus – Marshal the cavalry regiment to the south, then make a diversionary attack to draw Dutch attention away from Den Bosch. When reinforcements arrive, attack Den Bosch.