A team confrontation

[zhuangcheng]

In August, our Chinese CM enthusiasts organized a team battle. We divided a large map into four parts, with each part featuring a battle between one player and another. The background of the battle was a historical reenactment of a scene from the Ardennes campaign in 1942, where the German army launched an attack against the American army.

The town of Wiltz is located a few miles southeast of Bastogne and is not on the main route of the German army's advance towards Bastogne. Nevertheless, some German units still went to the town to seek shelter from the cold. They also hoped to find a shortcut to Bastogne from there.
The headquarters of General Cota, commander of the 28th Infantry Division, was stationed in Wiltz for a day. However, as German armoured units advanced westward from the Clerve River, Cota was forced to move rearward. A remnant force consisting of infantry, engineers, and several tanks from the 707th Tank Battalion was ordered to hold the area. At this time, only two 105mm guns remained in the 687th Field Artillery Battalion, barely providing symbolic fire support.
On December 19, 1944, some German vanguard units broke into the town. Units from the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Panzer Lehr Division and the 5th Parachute Division advanced along the road towards the town centre. Although some U.S. soldiers garrisoning Wiltz had retreated to the opposite bank of the river, the remaining troops put up a tenacious resistance—which was about to become another bloody battle among the countless fierce fights in the Battle of the Bulge.

Strategic Situation
The German army was intent on capturing Bastogne—a southern road hub that would open the way for a major breakthrough. The Fifth Panzer Army, equipped with tanks and elite troops, had torn through the initial U.S. defences and was charging towards the U.S. sector.
On the morning of the 19th, the headquarters of the U.S. 28th Division moved from Wiltz to Sibret, which is located southwest of Bastogne, while the provisional battalion remained in Wiltz. Meanwhile, General Cota ordered Colonel Strickler to withdraw all remaining personnel of the 3rd Battalion, 110th Regiment from Nocher. The battalion, with approximately 200 men at this time, arrived in Wiltz around noon, and Colonel Strickler took command of all troops in the town. Since the Widdingen Bridge had not yet been destroyed, a platoon of U.S. tank destroyers was ordered to return to Erpeldange to cover the approaches to the bridge from the northeast and the engineers' outposts. Four tanks of the 707th Tank Battalion that had been knocked out the previous day were towed east of Wiltz to be used as fixed firing points. The U.S. forces were not overly concerned about a German flanking manoeuvre because the 10th Armored Division was soon to arrive. A Sherman tank being used as a tow truck, while returning to Wiltz, encountered several U.S. soldiers who had fled from the east bank of the river. Overjoyed to see their own tank, they climbed aboard, asked the tank crew for a few cigarettes, and kept asking if the Germans had infiltrated the area. The tank crew replied that there were none so far, but these infantrymen who had escaped death refused to believe it. One of them vividly described to the tankers how he had witnessed German infiltration units use bazookas to turn a Sherman tank into a fireball during the retreat on the east bank of the Clerve the previous day. He then demanded that the tankers fire at targets he thought might be ambushes—large tree stumps, log cabins, boulders, etc. The amused and embarrassed tankers suddenly asked the infantrymen where they had left their weapons, and the tank, which had been lively moments before, fell completely silent, with no one speaking anymore.
At approximately 14:00, German infantry launched an assault north of the town, directly facing a provisional platoon composed of musicians from the division's military band. These unfortunate men, accustomed to holding musical instruments in their uniforms but rarely getting the chance to hold guns, were nearly frozen stiff by the bitter cold. When they saw the dense mass of German infantry and tanks charging towards them, many trembled even more violently. The Germans drove them from their positions in Embarrassed manner without much effort, thereby directly exposing the defences of the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion to the Germans. German infantry then, supported by tanks, attacked the battalion from the east and northeast. The engineers were far more combat-effective than the military band; the U.S. forces used rifles and machine guns to mow down the German assault teams, but the bombardment from German tanks also inflicted heavy losses on them. The crossroads near Erpeldange changed hands four times. Whenever a crisis emerged in their defences, the U.S. tank destroyer platoon rushed to "put out the fire." By late afternoon, the platoon had nearly exhausted its ammunition and fuel; the crewmen, having fought continuously for four days, were completely exhausted. After nightfall, the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion and the tank destroyer platoon withdrew into the town of Wiltz. The afternoon's fighting cost the engineer battalion 4 officers and 150 soldiers. At this point, the U.S. forces blew up the bridge, and the remaining 3 tank destroyers were ordered to return to guard the destroyed bridge to prevent German engineers from repairing it. As units of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division attacked Wiltz from the north, the 5th Parachute Division also assaulted U.S. defences from the south and southeast. It seemed like a coordinated attack, but in reality, it was due to Colonel Heymann losing control of his troops. The leading 15th Parachute Regiment of the division may have accidentally lost its way while advancing towards Sibret. At around 15:00, this unit engaged the U.S. 687th Field Artillery Battalion, which was deployed along a road southeast of Wiltz. Battery A of the artillery battalion destroyed the leading German tanks with direct fire and bombarded the paratroopers into hiding, temporarily slowing the German advance towards Wiltz. However, facing the direct threat of German paratroopers, the artillery battalion commander could not continue the risky engagement, and ammunition was also insufficient. So Battery B fired its remaining ammunition to cover the withdrawal of each battery; after nightfall, the artillery battalion withdrew to a crossroads southeast of Harlange to regroup, taking 3 guns with them when they retreated again. By dusk, multiple points in Wiltz's defences had been breached by the Germans, and the U.S. forces withdrew to the town centre. At this moment, most tanks and tank destroyers had been lost, and the number of machine guns was insufficient to protect this final line of defence. Radio communication with those units in desperate situations had virtually ceased, infantry ammunition was running out, and the artificial moonlight created by German searchlights shining on the clouds illuminated the path for the assault troops, so the German attack would not be hindered by night. That night, the headquarters of the 28th Division attempted to send a task force to rescue Wiltz but ultimately failed, as the road east to Wiltz had been blocked by German infantry and assault guns. Colonel Strickler, accustomed to being surrounded, decided to evacuate Wiltz in dispersal to regroup at the division headquarters in Sibret. However, the Germans were storming in from all directions, and it was impossible to issue orders to all units except by sending messengers, making the evacuation difficult to organize and control. He planned to first withdraw the provisional battalion, use the 3rd Battalion to secure the breakthrough, and have the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion act as rear guard. But the plan for alternating cover during the retreat eventually turned into a rout under heavy German pressure. After the 687th Field Artillery Battalion withdrew southwest, the 3rd Battalion began its retreat. Major Milton, the battalion commander, led the 3rd Battalion to a three-way intersection southwest of the town in accordance with the order to "hold in appropriate positions." After waiting there for a long time without seeing the follow-up units withdraw, the puzzled Major Milton decided to return to Wiltz personally to see what was happening. When he returned from the town, he found that most of the 3rd Battalion was gone. The helpless major had no choice but to cross the fields with his remaining men, retreat westward, and finally successfully return to Sibret, fulfilling Colonel Fuller's wish that "we must escape." By late night, Wiltz was filled with German troops. In addition to the grenadiers of the 26th Division and a small number of paratroopers from the 15th Parachute Regiment, the 14th Parachute Regiment of the German army, which had been advancing west slowly, received orders, climbed the hills east of the town, saw the fierce fighting below, and immediately joined the battle to capture the town. By a strange twist of fate, in the end, at least half of the German 5th Parachute Division participated in the battle for Wiltz, and Colonel Heymann no longer had to worry about being accused of "disobeying orders." For the U.S. forces, after the 28th Division lost the 112th and 110th Regiments, there was no longer any force to stop the Germans from rushing towards Bastogne, and the western gate was finally opened to the Germans.

[zhuangcheng]

In August, our Chinese CM enthusiasts organized a team battle. We divided a large map into four parts, with each part featuring a battle between one player and another. The background of the battle was a historical reenactment of a scene from the Ardennes campaign in 1942, where the German army launched an attack against the American army.

The town of Wiltz is located a few miles southeast of Bastogne and is not on the main route of the German army's advance towards Bastogne. Nevertheless, some German units still went to the town to seek shelter from the cold. They also hoped to find a shortcut to Bastogne from there.
The headquarters of General Cota, commander of the 28th Infantry Division, was stationed in Wiltz for a day. However, as German armoured units advanced westward from the Clerve River, Cota was forced to move rearward. A remnant force consisting of infantry, engineers, and several tanks from the 707th Tank Battalion was ordered to hold the area. At this time, only two 105mm guns remained in the 687th Field Artillery Battalion, barely providing symbolic fire support.
On December 19, 1944, some German vanguard units broke into the town. Units from the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Panzer Lehr Division and the 5th Parachute Division advanced along the road towards the town centre. Although some U.S. soldiers garrisoning Wiltz had retreated to the opposite bank of the river, the remaining troops put up a tenacious resistance—which was about to become another bloody battle among the countless fierce fights in the Battle of the Bulge.

Strategic Situation
The German army was intent on capturing Bastogne—a southern road hub that would open the way for a major breakthrough. The Fifth Panzer Army, equipped with tanks and elite troops, had torn through the initial U.S. defences and was charging towards the U.S. sector.
On the morning of the 19th, the headquarters of the U.S. 28th Division moved from Wiltz to Sibret, which is located southwest of Bastogne, while the provisional battalion remained in Wiltz. Meanwhile, General Cota ordered Colonel Strickler to withdraw all remaining personnel of the 3rd Battalion, 110th Regiment from Nocher. The battalion, with approximately 200 men at this time, arrived in Wiltz around noon, and Colonel Strickler took command of all troops in the town. Since the Widdingen Bridge had not yet been destroyed, a platoon of U.S. tank destroyers was ordered to return to Erpeldange to cover the approaches to the bridge from the northeast and the engineers' outposts. Four tanks of the 707th Tank Battalion that had been knocked out the previous day were towed east of Wiltz to be used as fixed firing points. The U.S. forces were not overly concerned about a German flanking manoeuvre because the 10th Armored Division was soon to arrive. A Sherman tank being used as a tow truck, while returning to Wiltz, encountered several U.S. soldiers who had fled from the east bank of the river. Overjoyed to see their own tank, they climbed aboard, asked the tank crew for a few cigarettes, and kept asking if the Germans had infiltrated the area. The tank crew replied that there were none so far, but these infantrymen who had escaped death refused to believe it. One of them vividly described to the tankers how he had witnessed German infiltration units use bazookas to turn a Sherman tank into a fireball during the retreat on the east bank of the Clerve the previous day. He then demanded that the tankers fire at targets he thought might be ambushes—large tree stumps, log cabins, boulders, etc. The amused and embarrassed tankers suddenly asked the infantrymen where they had left their weapons, and the tank, which had been lively moments before, fell completely silent, with no one speaking anymore.
At approximately 14:00, German infantry launched an assault north of the town, directly facing a provisional platoon composed of musicians from the division's military band. These unfortunate men, accustomed to holding musical instruments in their uniforms but rarely getting the chance to hold guns, were nearly frozen stiff by the bitter cold. When they saw the dense mass of German infantry and tanks charging towards them, many trembled even more violently. The Germans drove them from their positions in Embarrassed manner without much effort, thereby directly exposing the defences of the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion to the Germans. German infantry then, supported by tanks, attacked the battalion from the east and northeast. The engineers were far more combat-effective than the military band; the U.S. forces used rifles and machine guns to mow down the German assault teams, but the bombardment from German tanks also inflicted heavy losses on them. The crossroads near Erpeldange changed hands four times. Whenever a crisis emerged in their defences, the U.S. tank destroyer platoon rushed to "put out the fire." By late afternoon, the platoon had nearly exhausted its ammunition and fuel; the crewmen, having fought continuously for four days, were completely exhausted. After nightfall, the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion and the tank destroyer platoon withdrew into the town of Wiltz. The afternoon's fighting cost the engineer battalion 4 officers and 150 soldiers. At this point, the U.S. forces blew up the bridge, and the remaining 3 tank destroyers were ordered to return to guard the destroyed bridge to prevent German engineers from repairing it. As units of the 26th Volksgrenadier Division attacked Wiltz from the north, the 5th Parachute Division also assaulted U.S. defences from the south and southeast. It seemed like a coordinated attack, but in reality, it was due to Colonel Heymann losing control of his troops. The leading 15th Parachute Regiment of the division may have accidentally lost its way while advancing towards Sibret. At around 15:00, this unit engaged the U.S. 687th Field Artillery Battalion, which was deployed along a road southeast of Wiltz. Battery A of the artillery battalion destroyed the leading German tanks with direct fire and bombarded the paratroopers into hiding, temporarily slowing the German advance towards Wiltz. However, facing the direct threat of German paratroopers, the artillery battalion commander could not continue the risky engagement, and ammunition was also insufficient. So Battery B fired its remaining ammunition to cover the withdrawal of each battery; after nightfall, the artillery battalion withdrew to a crossroads southeast of Harlange to regroup, taking 3 guns with them when they retreated again. By dusk, multiple points in Wiltz's defences had been breached by the Germans, and the U.S. forces withdrew to the town centre. At this moment, most tanks and tank destroyers had been lost, and the number of machine guns was insufficient to protect this final line of defence. Radio communication with those units in desperate situations had virtually ceased, infantry ammunition was running out, and the artificial moonlight created by German searchlights shining on the clouds illuminated the path for the assault troops, so the German attack would not be hindered by night. That night, the headquarters of the 28th Division attempted to send a task force to rescue Wiltz but ultimately failed, as the road east to Wiltz had been blocked by German infantry and assault guns. Colonel Strickler, accustomed to being surrounded, decided to evacuate Wiltz in dispersal to regroup at the division headquarters in Sibret. However, the Germans were storming in from all directions, and it was impossible to issue orders to all units except by sending messengers, making the evacuation difficult to organize and control. He planned to first withdraw the provisional battalion, use the 3rd Battalion to secure the breakthrough, and have the 44th Combat Engineer Battalion act as rear guard. But the plan for alternating cover during the retreat eventually turned into a rout under heavy German pressure. After the 687th Field Artillery Battalion withdrew southwest, the 3rd Battalion began its retreat. Major Milton, the battalion commander, led the 3rd Battalion to a three-way intersection southwest of the town in accordance with the order to "hold in appropriate positions." After waiting there for a long time without seeing the follow-up units withdraw, the puzzled Major Milton decided to return to Wiltz personally to see what was happening. When he returned from the town, he found that most of the 3rd Battalion was gone. The helpless major had no choice but to cross the fields with his remaining men, retreat westward, and finally successfully return to Sibret, fulfilling Colonel Fuller's wish that "we must escape." By late night, Wiltz was filled with German troops. In addition to the grenadiers of the 26th Division and a small number of paratroopers from the 15th Parachute Regiment, the 14th Parachute Regiment of the German army, which had been advancing west slowly, received orders, climbed the hills east of the town, saw the fierce fighting below, and immediately joined the battle to capture the town. By a strange twist of fate, in the end, at least half of the German 5th Parachute Division participated in the battle for Wiltz, and Colonel Heymann no longer had to worry about being accused of "disobeying orders." For the U.S. forces, after the 28th Division lost the 112th and 110th Regiments, there was no longer any force to stop the Germans from rushing towards Bastogne, and the western gate was finally opened to the Germans.

The above parts were all completed by "shiftend", and the map making and team battle organization were also completed by "shiftend".

[zhuangcheng]

One of the battles was conducted by "tabei" and me. I, as the attacking side, launched an attack against the U.S. forces that "tabei" was defending.
Total map VP points: 600, including 1 main VP (Maj) worth 300 points and 4 auxiliary VPs (min) worth 75 points each
Script overtime: 0-5 minutes

[zhuangcheng]

GERMANY ARMY