Pegas Bridge CG - The Conclusion of Night III - "Ich hatt einen Kameraden"

 Turns 2-6 were completed as Night III tested the resolve of the German defenders and proved the audacity of the Red Devils!

 At Army HQ, the Germans worried..."How long can Grumble Jones hold Le Port and Benouville??" Well...not very long as it turned out...

 The German defenders in the center at the Schoolhouse complex made ready for the expected British rush into close combat. German machine guns chattered away, but the intrepid Paras stormed into the German positions and made short work of the 4-4-7's in brutal close combat.

 The calm before the storm as the British made ready for the push into Le Port.

 And then the Ox and Bucks rushed forward, an irresistible tidal wave of stens, gammon grenades, brens and bayonets!

 My last remaining tank successfully retreated before beginning its own long journey to oblivion on Night III.

 The Red Devils tried to take out the tank in CC with determination and Gammon bombs...but they rolled a "6" and pinned themselves for lack of a Gammon Grenade.

 In Le Port, the Germans stung the Paras for the loss of one squad, but then the British were everywhere, slaying the Germans with unstoppable Close Combat ambushes. The HIP German 9-2 with MMG and 4-4-7 got a KIA shot, but in the roll to determine who died...it was the 7-0 officer and not the 6-4-8 that bit the dust. Needless to say, the Germans were most unhappy with that result.

 In Benouville, things went no better for the Germans. The British rolled through dummy stacks and quickly went into Close Combat with the poorly prepared Germans.

 The only German success in the Benouville and Schoolhouse fighting was that the Germans succeeded in keeping the British locked in several Melees.

 And now we come to the tale of the German 6+1 Officer, one Leutnant "Wrong Boot" Meyer. Meyer as you might have guessed had been left all by himself in a home outside of Benouville. Awakened by the fighting...Meyer quickly dressed and prepared to do battle. His DM'd and retreating comrades did not even stop to be rallied...but melted into the darkness...leaving Meyer all alone...

Leutnant Meyer searches for the British Paras...who quickly ambushed the hapless 6+1.

 

 Leutnant Meyer held the British in Melee for three consecutive Melee rounds. He continued to fight even after sustaining a wound as he fought valiantly to hold his French cottage for the greater German Reich.

 But alas...it was not to be...a 6+1 can only survive so long in Melee with a British 6-4-8...but Meyer's stand shall not be forgotten...the stand of this 6+1 was the bright spot in what was otherwise a terrible "butt whipping" of the German forces.

 The dead filled the elimination square to overflowing...Meyer's shattered counter was placed to the side out of respect for the officer's valiant stand.

 Mopping up operations continued for the remaining two turns as the Grumble Jones tried to roll out of the game...

 "Mein Gott...Grumble Jones has lost Le Port, the Schoolhouse and the Benouville...he has lost 16 squads, 3 MMG's, 4 Officers and 1 half-squad...giving the British 41 CVP..." "What of British losses Hauptman..." "The British forces lost 2 x 6-4-8's, 1 x 3-3-8, one officer  and 1 x 2-4-8 giving us only 7 CVP..." "There...there Hauptmann...have no fear...we get 25 points to purchase Reinforcement Groups...Panzer Grenadiers...and Mark IV's...should do very nicely I think..."

 And for the fourth time in a row...our innocent, French Fraulein proved once and for all that she is with the Allies as she revealed to the British the last concealed German unit in Le Port...we shall meet again Fraulein...

 Benouville...as the sun comes up, the British have full control of this French village.

 And Le Port is firmly in British control.

 The German tank ran down the canal road in an effort to escape...but in Hex Y18 it struck a British mine and was immobilized. The Crew abandoned their tank and rushed into the Cafe Gondree...where they await Dawn...

 The only survivors from the Benouville garrison hide quietly...praying for sunrise...

 "Gegenangriff..JETZT!!!!"

Major Howard secures his perimeter and orders his troops to prepare for the Dawn and a German counter-attack.