Chain of Command – Closing the Gap, Scenario 2, “Disaster at St Lambert”

 

Lt Buchannan surveyed the outskirts of St Lambert with some dismay. This was going be a tough nut to crack! The river looked deep and he could see a Panzer IV nestled down behind a barn in the centre of St Lambert. OK he had mortar support, a Vickers MMG and call on a Sherman, but unless he could get across that river, unseen, this could turn into a bloodbath!

The Canadian patrolling did manage to establish a toehold on the East bank of the river, well North of the bridge, so the Canadians pushed red section across and started to creep Eastward, trying to flank to the North of the village. The Canadian red section crawled cautiously forward, until they could just spy the German red section, waiting behind a stone wall, to their front.

Sgt Bowe decided to throw caution aside and dashed the red section Bren team into position, behind the hedge and opened fire, hoping to silence the exposed German MG42. With both sides suffering, the Canadians then pushed the much depleted yellow section forward, hoping to flank South of the German red section.

However, Sgt Sumnur spotted the Canadians leaving the wood and rushed the German blue section from South of the road, into the house just NE of the bridge. But, as the Germans bundled into the building, one of them kicked over a stove (bl**dy  fours 6s on the Command dice!!). Soon the house the Germans had just entered, was a blazing inferno, forcing them to tumble back out onto the street, in disarray.

The Canadian Yellow section breathed a sigh of relief and seeing that the firefight between the two red sections was starting to go the Canadian’s way, called for blue section to deploy (from the moved Jump-Off point), to storm the German position behind the wall.

The Canadian blue section swarmed forward, through the orchard, to attack the Germans behind the wall, but even pinned down, the Germans threw them back, the Canadians also losing the section Corporal . To add insult to injury, the Germans then deployed yellow section, in support the depleted red section and the Panzer IV rumbled forward, to lob 75mm rounds into the orchard.

Even the normally gung hoo Sgt Bowe had to admit that it was time to abandon this attac! Across the other side of the river, the Canadian FAO frantically searched for targets, as did the Sherman that had just trundled up, but all they could see was the smoke from the burning house next to the bridge.

Canadian losses were 12 men, including the blue section NCO. German losses weren’t light, with 8 men down, but with a high force morale, these losses were almost immediately recovered.