First clash at Veve

[steed]

Greetings

The assignment is political... we have to cover the retreat of our non motorized Greek allies in the face of a massive German armored spearhead. We have a NZ brigade of two infantry Bn's and a UK armored brigade consisting of one mech inf BN and two armored Bn's. A few supporting units and that s it. I m sure the RAF will be providing plenty of air cover and the terrain will help tremendously.


The Plan:

-I m going to break up the Nz Inf Bn's and setup blocking positions on the flanks using those Co's.
-the main defense line along the highway will be held by the Ranger Bn supported by various AT and Hq units i have left over from the NZ brigade.
-move all the arty back to create 2 fire bases so i can "leap frog" them back as i retreat and always have arty support on hand.
-keep both tank Bn's out of the Pass as a mobile reserve.
-move the Greeks on the left flank first.
-when the NZ Co's are in place and there is no imminent threat of flanking , move the Greeks on the right flank back.
-once the Greek leave the map or if the front is broken then everyone will withdraw with delay orders.

[steed]

Day 1 16:00
We re getting reports of enemy armor sighting 15km north west of Kleidi. The Greek units should be receiving their retreat orders any minute now.

Day 2 6:14
We have been in contact with forward elements for an hour now, no serious attempt into the pass yet. Big enemy push on veve. The units defending Veve have been given in-situ defend orders, it s going to be a long week..
left flank withdrawing slowly but no contact yet. re deploying a few more nz co's behind the retreating Greeks.
right flank is quiet.
4th hussar just arrived. I m sending them north of xynon as a mobile reserve.

[steed]

Day 2 10:00
an enemy armored car Co infiltrated during the night and is near Kleidi behind my 2nd line.
fortuneatly the 4th hussard has just arrived and i ve sent C squadron to take care of them.



Day 2 14:25
lsah rec co surrenders and being slapped around by C Squadron for a few hours. no UK casualties.
enemy still concentrated around Veve , stopping all attacks mostly with arty barrages. tonight' s going to be tough.

[steed]

Day 2 16:38
Greek 6th inf regt has reached Rodona , rest of the brigade is reaching clear ground. I might start moving the right flank as well overnight. Also I must see if i can trap some units again tonight, maybe make it easier for a whole Bn to slip in...

[steed]

Day 21:30
Fresh enemy units trying to force the pass open. Still have lots of arty ammo , this should be fun.
still no real attempt at flanking.
the Greek brigade is almost all in Rodona still under 50% fatigue , very good.
Started moving Greek Hq and base units on the right flank, still weary of a full pullout tonight.
i 've sent a few Nz Co's from the left flank over to the right.

[steed]

Day 3 24:00
The ranger Co at the entrance of the pass is very tired , morale at 50%. unfortunately i have no replacements.
Maybe i should start falling back.. Every hour the enemy brings more guns to the field..
Decisions...

Day 3 4:49
The rangers' cohesion is falling apart , i ve given them some delay orders into the pass, maybe i ll get my "trap" after all..
Greek left flank is in full movement towards the exit points, i really hope the Germans haven't infiltrated us too much.

Day 3 6:00
My Nz blocking co's are in place on the right flank , now i can start withdrawing the Greeks in earnest. Ranger are stalling the enemy spearhead while i rain the last of my shells on them. The Nazi commander seems to lack self confidence.

Day 3 7:15
Here comes trouble!! Looks like a couple of regt's bearing down the road full speed. Completely out of arty ammo, this is going to be fun.
Pulling the far left blocking co's back a few km's now that the Greeks are safely on their way home.

[steed]

Day 8:15
still no ammo , sent another runner to the supply base to see what the &^$&#@$ is going on down there!!
I figure the enemy will be through the pass by noon , quickly re deploying some AT and inf co's to try and catch them in reverse when they exit the pass. 4th Hussard is waiting and is our last hope for stalling the Nazis today.
i ve order the Greek right flank to break for the exit point, there s no way they 'll survive if the enemy breaches the pass. Casualties still very low but i have a feeling the Nazis now have the critical mass to smash through.
I m going to have a look at the map and come up with a a B plan..

[Arjuna]

Good stuff. [:)]

[steed]

Day 3 12:06
Rangers are doing a good job at slowing the enemy , enemy spearhead blocked north east of Kleidi. Some German elements trying to cut through the rough but they are getting murdered by the mortars who are finally in range.
Left flank blocking Co's falling back to secondary positions, still no contact.
The Greek are on the move on the right flank. 3rd royal tank is blocking west of Panteelemon. If there is no contact on the right flank by nightfall i will redeploy them behind the 4th Hussards as a strategic mobile reserve.
still no resupply .. that s it i' m going down there myself.
With the huge bottle neck near Kleidi i don t see how there s going to be a breakthrough by nightfall.

[steed]

Day 3 16:00
A fresh german recon battalion managed to skirt Kleidi along the railway unharmed and are attacking the last coherent elements of the Ranger Bn at the Pass' exit. The remaing elements in the pass have been given in-situ defend orders hopefully they'll create enough mayhem to stall the collumn until the Arty is ready to fire again.



Day 3 17:34
The Nz blocking Co on the far left of the front is reporting contact with SS recon elements. 4th royals on the far right are still in defensive positions near Panteeloon. I m going to send one Tank Co for now hopefully it s just a half hearted probe on the flank. Germans Fully control the inside of the Pass, must be staging for an attack because it s been very quiet on the central part of the front for the last few hours. My two tank Co's are in position.

[steed]

Day 3 20:00
Rangers A Co surrenders after being unable to leave the Pass. Spearhead elements now coming out of the pass.
Most of the left flank flank blocking units are now in place and ready to help the 4th Hussard stem the tide.
Enemy probe on the far left disapeared. I'll still send that tank Co over just in case, i don t need any surprises right now.
The majority of the Greeks will be off the map by the morning, we have to start thinking about leaving now.

[steed]

Day 3 22:53
2nd Krad Co LSAH has just surrendered to the 4th hussard, not much but enough to boost moral.
3rd Royal tank is FINALY in position behind the main line and engaging the enemy.

[steed]

Day 4 00:36
A squadron 3rd Royals has finally arrived to the crossroad on the far left. I think we re going to treat ourselves to a counter attack , maybe draw so Germans away from the highway front..

[steed]

Day 4 01:03
Just got radio contact with a retreating MG co that got lost and is now planning on retreating up the same dirt track i was planning to counter attack on, this could be very good.
all remaining units on the right flank have been ordered to fall back.
supply is trickling in.

[steed]

Day 4 05:19
the 4th Hussard is being hurt badly, they ve lost 6 tanks and have been ordered to fall back.
Dammit i have a full German division bottlenecked in a pass and no ammo to rain on them!
First Greek units reaching the exit point. As soon as the arty is in resupply we re leap frogging out of here.

[steed]

Day 4 09:11
large enemy tank column flanking the highway on the left, that s pretty much the end of a cohesive defense line, 3/4 of the Greeks are now off map , we re falling back very fast.

[steed]

Day 4 12:00
Ok now it s officially a rout , everyman for himself. The Greek right flank is making excellent progress.
I m moving the Arty way back since no one seems to want to resupply them.
There s going to be court martials over this supply snafu , believe me.

[steed]

Day 4 15:12
A squadron 3RTR blocks the highway and momentarly stops the German onslaught. Hopefully the rest of the Bn can wiggle out. I ve started exiting HQ, base and arty units.

[steed]

Day 4 22:25
everyone s in full retreat , German spearhead seems to be in trouble caught between a resolute defense in Perdika and retreating tanks.

[steed]

Day 5 21:32
by now only a handful of Co's are still behind enemy lines , looks like the Greeks made it safely, as well as a huge part of the NZ corp and the armor.