Turn 19 - July 28, 1943
There were three attacks this turn. The American armor is back.
Northern end of Catania sector - on second thought, this was just a bombardment; the Italian regiment is doing poorly, and the 2 Hermann Goering Reg is missing a sizeable amount of equipment and 200 men; the Italian 230 SP Group (12 Semoventes) was untouched, which is how I know it was a bombardment
SE of San Fratello - most of the American armored division, some heavy mortars, some British engineers, and two recon battalions attacked here; I repelled them, but the HQ ran off somewhere to the North
I reinforced the hex with the antitank guns in Santo Stefano and the 29 Pioneer Btn, recently railed in from the Catania Sector.
E of San Fratello - I did not expect him to attack here - the front is too short and the Etna Line is on the flanks; he attacked with all three infantry regiments of the US 1 ID and its heavy mortars, and the
45 ID's Wolverines
The Wolverines broke through. I attacked them from all sides with one of the Italian regiments that had routed from the area, the 1 Fallsch Reg,
and the Italian 19th Brigade (the latter two having been part of my reserve previously).
The Attack - 46 planes and 60 men for 22 planes, 30 men, a Greyhound, and a Wolverine. The absence of German tanks seems to be hurting me badly here.
Attack Part Two - I swapped the routed Italian regiment for the German Reggio PzGren Btn, which has some light armored vehicles and self-propelled AT guns; I lost 160 men, some transport elements, and 24 planes for 11 planes, 1 Wolverine, 2 M20 Armored Cars, and 4 Jeeps
This is a catastrophe. Oh...well, it turns out the German paratroopers pushed the Wolverines out. But no one had time to dig in, and the Reggio PzGren Btn is now out of its trenches and fortifications.
And let's not forget my encroaching defeat in the air war. For the second battle, I was only able to send in 1/5 of the planes the Allies did for support, and most of them got slaughtered. I cannot afford losses like these. He is consistently losing less than half the planes I am.
