The fighting retreat of the New Zealanders goes on. This time they selected a chokepoint guarded by the old castle Platamon as the position of their rearguard.
The paras and the regular army troops have different commanders no chance for KG Hausers commander to change the drop zones of course. it will be interesting to see how good they are able to coordinate their efforts.
1st Kompanie andthe slovaks will move into the city the most important target. Oberleutnant schwarz and hie 3 replacement sections will be reserve.
The gebirgsjaeger will support the para landing on the hill the croatians will be reserve.
the bulgarians are alone on the southern flank they will support the few paras landing there. once on the hill it will be maaybe ncessary to advance more since the terrain is not easy to hold and there might be artillery fire.
The objectives far to the east will be tken by sneaking along the beach if possible bythe slovaks and the armored car platoon.
the tank platoon the apc and the armored car platoon are all one vehicle short there will be noresupplies until this batlle is won so we have to look to capture some cw equipment other then guns....
After all paradrops are done the center hill is secured. the PAWs are getting inposition to take out some matildas that have been spotted far away.
most enemy AD has been destroyed by artillery and machinegun fire only one gun remains in the southern part of the battelfield.
The slovaks and first company are entering the harbour town enganging in house to house fighting with some greek infantry. So far things go smooth since we have the city surrrounded from all sides and there are only few dead spots for the enemy to hide in.
the gebirgsjaegers have reached the top of the center hill and are now looking for a new mission maybe they will advance on the easternmost hills were 2 3 inch mortars have been spotted.
the bulgarians are clearing the western hillside of the southern hill that seems to be defended by no more then a greek infatry platoon.
The british reeinforcments are arriving contnously from the west and we try to hold them back with artillery and mg fire. they are taking heavy losses but are still advancing partially covered by the smoke that was dropped to cover the paratroopers landing.
Apart from the 2 matildas spotted things seem to be under control its just a matter of time until this area is secured.
the british reeinforcments never had a chance to reach any of their objectives. they were destroyed on the road by axis airpower and artillery.
Many trucks and even one matilda tank were captured after it was immobilised by artillery and the crew dismounted. this makes it possible to bring the apc platoon back to strength as well as the tank platoon that now consists of a p2,3,38 an A10 and a matilda 2.
Also one of the Fallschirmjaegerplatoons stays in the KG since the company command was lost while the glider carrying it crashed.
after marching through the mountains in the hot days of May KG hauser reaches one of the last harbours the allies control. Again its theri mission to cut off retreating anzac and greek forces by capturing the cityon the coast.
the main attack will go in from the south were the distance to the coast is the shortest whichmeans there is less ground to place defenses on. also the approach is a bit protected.
the bulgarians and the fallschirmjaeger will move slowly through the hills adding pressure on the flanks while the 1st company with the help of the gebirgsjaeger and the slovaks as reserve will be the main effort.
This is a chance for K-Plt of Oberleutnant Schwarz to proove itself. its the econd time it was rebuild with fresh recruits after its men were used to man the captured guns after heavy losses made the platoon ineffective in combat.
the weather is fine with a clear sky giving perfect opportunity for air attack. As the stukas dive in they are met by heavy defense fire. one is damaged but all manage to drop their bombs achieving no visible results other then a few destroyed buildings. There seems to be at least one platoon of 20mm gns as well as some 40mm guns in town.