All,
Morning, 13 April 1941
Here we are, continuing Kampfgruppe Klink's campaign in Greece. The first battle saw Captain Freitag's 1st Schutzen Battlegroup take a key mountain crossroads manned by members of the British Royal Engineers supported by Armored Cavalry from New Zealand. The fight saw the Germans infantry nearly eliminate the Commonwealth battlegroup, which fell back in disarray. Captain Freitag pressed his advantage, immediately pursuing south down, where it ran into defensive positions manned by the remnants of the New Zealand 21st Infantry Battalion. 1st Schutzen then evicted the NZ 21st Inf Bn from its positions, forcing them to fall back. The third fight saw 1st Lt Ginter's 2nd Schutzen moving secure a crossing over the D3 bridge, forcing the 27th MG Battalion back. The fourth fight saw Major Bohm's 2nd Recce Battlegroup push back the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment after some fierce fighting. The fifth battle saw Captain Freitag's beleaguered 1st Schutzen Battlegroup defend the B3 bridgehead against attacks by the British Rangers/9th King's Royal Rifle Corps, and the Royal Engineers/New Zealand Cavalry, pushing the former back and destroying the latter! The sixth battle saw Battlegroup Wehner (1st Recce) attack and destroy the Lee Force/Australian 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, though they suffered so many casualties they were in then combined with the 2nd Recce battlegroup. The seventh fight saw Lt Loeb's Panzers absolutely shellack the Allies' 4th Hussars, seeing the final defeat of Allied armored reserves, opening the road to the campaign objective of Servia, and unhinging the Allied defensive line. For the next fight we are back with Lt Loeb's panzers, looking to complete the destruction of the Australian 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment as they attempt to escape the German encirclement.
The Aussies are on the run, with their heavy weapons deploying to cover them.
And the Germans pursue aggressively! The Australians are off camera to far right, and their exit point is the hilltop at top right.
Colonel Klink wades in, directing traffic at the intersection under heavy fire.
Advancing panzers are engaged by a lone 2-pdr ATG.
To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
link
Next up we witness Captain Freitag's 1st Schutzen battlegroup again defend against a Commonwealth attack, this time by the British Rangers/9th King's Royal Rifle Corps conducting a spoiling attack in an attempt to buy their comrades more time to withdraw from the German encirclement.
V/R,
Jack
surprises her grandmother on her 80th birthday.
