AAR: Theatre Of War
At a distance of 250 meters I order my AT guns and ATR to open fire, the AT guns will concentrate on the Pz II and the ATR is ordered to engage the right most Pz I. After a few rounds from our valiant AT guns the enemy realizes that they have run into opposition and open fire. A well aimed burst from one of the Pz I’s kills Zygmunt Kucharski.
At the same time enemy infantry emerges from the cornfields 150 meters from our position, over the open ground they charge us. At 120 meters I order both squads to open fire, several of the enemy go down, but the rest continue forward, stopping now and then to get off a few shots.
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All along the line fire intensifies, it seems as if the enemy is concentrating his fire on our two AT guns, both are down a crew member. Suddenly a crew member on our left gun leaves the gun and runs for the rear; then a second and finally the sergeant turns around and follows suit. 20 meters behind the gun the sergeant comes to his senses and tries in vain to persuade the 2 crew members to come with him forward again.
On the hill behind our lines the two gun crews are struggling to get their pieces into position.
After a few minutes both AT guns are again firing away, the enemy infantry stalls and then turns tail and runs for the rear. The enemy tanks on the other hand are still advancing and now they have company, another 3 tanks are advancing. But our field guns are now in position, let’s hope they have better luck than our AT guns.
Our right hand trench line is in danger of being overrun, the crew of the AT gun behind it have all been gunned down and several of the squad members are dead or dying. A Pz I has been destroyed 20 meters short of the trench, but a Pz II is just about to cross, our only chance to save the squad lies with the 2 field guns.
Behind the new batch of enemy tanks the infantry reappears and their numbers seem to grow, once again they advance on our line. The crew of our left most gun is suddenly silent, all 4 crewmembers lie dead or wounded around the gun.
The enemy tanks and infantry start to make their presence felt, advancing, firing and advancing again, always inching closer. Our infantry is firing as fast as humanly possible and their fire is taking its toll as enemy after enemy goes down, but still the enemy advances. Both of our squad leaders lie dead in the trenches as do many of their men.
The ATR squad is now down to 3 men, all of them wounded to some degree, the Pz II is roaming around just behind the trench and have cut down several of their comrades. Suddenly one jumps out of the trench and runs for the rear…
On the left flank the last 4 surviving members of the infantry squad look on in horror as the German steel monsters continue to roll forward, even though the infantry has been beaten off. Their spirit broken they abandon the trench line and run for the rear. At this very moment a 75mm shell from one of the field pieces tear into the forward Pz I and it slowly rolls to a stop, no crewmembers seem to have survived the hit.
On the right flank shell after shell from the two field pieces hit the marauding Pz II and it comes to a halt across the trench, 4 penetrations are later counted.
Suddenly engine noise can be heard from behind our lines, the crewmembers of the 2 field guns look nervously over their shoulders, but draw a breath of relief: friendly tanks! One of our fine TKS armed with a 20mm FK wz38, two Vickers E armed with two 7.92mm machine guns each situated in separate turrets and last but not least a truck with another infantry squad.
The three tanks are at once ordered to proceed down the road and cover our infantry retreating from the trenches. The truck is ordered to move up behind the field guns and wait there. Finally the armoured car is also ordered to advance.
While this is happening the enemy attack on our right flank has melted away in the face of our field guns, neither infantry nor armour has been able to withstand accurate Polish fire.
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Wow.