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The next battle is the Son region, just north of Eindhoven. Since I destroyed the bridge in the last battle, the map was lost.

troops

map

once again I decided to keep the ad-hoc units within the command radius. The AA units position were fixed. I decided to set up north of the bridge but kept the mg34 in a 3 story bldg. on the other side.

As the US paratroopers advanced, both 88's began to draw mortar fire w/casualties.

Unfortunately I had the MG set to DEFEND so it opened up immediately... not my intention. It began to draw accurate mortar fire so I withdrew.

Once the 88 began to draw direct fire, I set the infantry to defend and a firefight ensued. things were NOT going according to plan!

As I suspected, my troops were not up to the task. The bldg. began to draw mortar fire so I decided to withdraw!

I decided to move MG34 to an adjacent bldg. after a quick recovery

As the withdrawal continued, the advancing US paratroopers got hit with friendly mortar fire!

The advance continued in force as the 88 gun emplacement was set to be overrun. The 88 on the far side had gotten pummeled with mortar and direct fire. You can see their gun crew racing through the houses. I was hoping they would take refuge but they kept running. They kept going through the trees and into the open. The US paratroopers opened fire and the ones that weren't killed turned back into the trees. Eventually they ended up running back towards the now fluid front line and didn't survive.

overview as the americans advance towards the bridge! where is my mg34?

action shot as MG34 gets ready to open up

overview

action shot:
Paratroopers pinned on bridge and fire upon panicked gun crew

Paratroopers pinned down as casualties mount

overview of abandoned 88

at one point, things got really quiet for a long time as MG34 continued to keep the paratroopers pinned with short 4-bullet bursts... eventually running out of ammo. After a short-lived but ultimately futile counterattack on my part, a unit began to advance on the bridge.

I waited till the last possible moment............

end of battle