Narrative
Withdrawal under fire is considered the most difficult military manoeuvre as so it has proved here for the Republic. Three of the stacks tasked with holding the line while the bulk of the troops move East were overrun and three divisions falling back to Madrid were surrounded and succumbed to starvation before mounting any kind of effective defence. While the front has solidified in the South in the region of the line Albacete/Cuenca the Nationalists pursuing force have pressed on killing a number of stacks of Republican units fleeing through dreadful weather conditions to their supply lines along the Teruel/Catalayud rail line.
Game note: A Europa e-mail exchange mentioned that Interventionalist units (CTV & KL) are automatically in attack supply if they can trace to a suitable port and do not need to expend attack supply counters. This I had missed. Having examined the attacks to date involving these units there are a few instances where they attacked unsupplied and if supplied would have changed the odds. I have ruled this tough luck and do not intend to rerun these attacks. However I have also identified three instances where auto supply would have allowed the Nationalists to expend one less supply point.
Because the Nationalists have never had spare transport capacity this has not had a bearing on the game therefore by way of trying to redress the balance I have credited the Nationalists with 3 Attack Supply Points distributed one each at Seville, Malaga and Vigo.
The Nationalists will need to redeploy the CTV divisions from their current static defensive positions to more active duty in the normal course of play as a further penalty for their failure to read the rules of engagement more thoroughly!
Nationalists Turn
Weather; (Unchanged )Land; North (D)= Mud. South (D) = Mud. Seas; Med = Rough. Atlantic = Rough
Supply: Madrid Pocket; Madrid Feeds off GSPs.
Replacements: 1 SPR, 1 SRP (Col) recovered. 1-6 sec 12GC replaced.
Naval Activity: NTs transport Colonial troops to the mainland.
Air Activity:
Sorties 1&2 SM.81 and SM.79-I fly Terror bombing to Madrid 2 Hits (N +4 VPs)
Sortie 3; Mxd T , Ro 37 Hit rail line @ 3304 (Teruel)
Sorti e 4; Mxd A Hits Rail line at 3910 (S of Hellin)
Attack 1 3006 (Wooded rough) Unsupplied 6-6 inf XX 108, 5-6 inf XX 53, 4-6 inf XX 151, 2-3-6 art 62 (transported), 2-10 AA 88 (KL), 2-1-8 lt tk Bab (CTV), 1-8 mg Ard (CTV) and 6-6 infs XX, 5, 63, 1-6 inf 18, 1-8 lt 5 attack U4 3-6* infs 40, 57 @ 6:1 (-4) = DR. Advance 53XX, 18
Republican turn
VPs : Lack of Goberneto collapse (+15 VPs)
French border; Closed
Supply: Madrid feeds off GSPs
Reinforcements; New divisions deploy and equip.
1 ASP expended at Madrid to generate 12 GSPs.
Replacements: I-16/t5 replaced
Pacification; Zaragoza
Guerrillas; Break rail line at 2722 (Almendralejo)
Air Activity: I-15/t25 escorts A101, R-Z on airfield bombing mission at 3916 (E of Guadix). Intercepted by cr.32bis (CTV) which engages I-16/t25 and is eliminated (R +2 VPs) CR.32 by passes to engage the mission force but fails to inflict any losses but bombs drop wide.
Attack 1: Clear (North of Zaragoza) Supplied 5-6 inf XX 15 (Int), 2-6 nvl 151, 2-6 inf 152C, 2-1-8 cav 1, Unsupplied 2-3-5* inf XX 33 (Cat), 3-6* inf XX72, 1-6 art 7L, 2-6 art 2P attack U4 3-4-5 inf XX22, 0-1-5 cons 1 (Req) @ 6:1 (-2) = EX. Loose 33 XX (Cat), 72 XX. Advance 15XX (Int), 7L art.
Attack 2: 2533 (north of Zaragoza) Supplied 4-7 mtn XX43 (Cat), 3-4-5* inf XX30 (Cat), 2-3-5* inf XX31 (Cat), 1-5 inf 6 (Cat), 1-2-5 infs 1, 4 (Cat), unsupplied 1-2-6 art 10 (Cat) and unsupplied 2-3-5* inf 32. Attack U4 1-8 mtn 7, 1-6 sec 8GC, 1-6 mg 2, 1-6 art 9L @ 6:1 (-2) = DR. Eliminated no retreat. path. Advance . mtn XX43 (Cat), inf XX 30 (Cat), inf 6 (Cat), infs 1, 4 (Cat), art 10 (Cat).
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