Bulge 16.01s alt

[Plain Ian]

Turn 41 German – Elsenborn



Well the news from Sourbrodt was grim. The 254th Engineer battalion which was cut off last turn, had surrendered. 150 men were killed, wounded or captured as the Germans stormed the village. Enemy losses were negligible.

US High command fears that the loss of Sourbrodt would be the start of a general assault on the US rearguards, were thankfully not proven correct. The Germans contented themselves to artillery fire and probes to confirm my positions.

Losses to Werfer attacks were very high.

The 1-18th came under sustained mortar fire and lost 52 men. It has gone from 156 fatigue to 204 and Morale D.
The 2nd Combat Engineers were let off lightly, they lost 20 men but their fatigue is still reasonable at 51.

German tactics this turn are a bit puzzling, since he has been attacking very hard here all day. However there are some clues.

• The 3rd FJD unit digging in.
• The single probes by 12th VGD and 277th VGD.
• The lack of 12th SS armour and infantry.

This suggests that he believes he has done enough and wishes to conserve his elite units, or is redeploying them? He possibly thinks that it is pointless to chase me into the Hohess Venn?

However there is a VP hex at Monschau so I don’t think that he has given up in this area. I still expect him to attack north towards Monschau using the Clear terrain.

I will contine to pull back......everywhere!