Some of you must have been wondering what has been happening in the Rico-Shorker War?
Well, after a bit of delay, the next set of battles have commenced with the Shorker Reich forces furiously counter-attacking and the PRRAF rocking back on their heels in defense!
This report is from the southern attack (Battle 1) where Shorker Forces are trying to break through to the coastal road and cut off the advancing PRRAF spearhead that was repulsed at Westerwalde.
The battle is being fought in pretty flat, lightly wooded terrain around a complex of farm buildings surrounded by low walls, vineyards and olive groves which limit visibility somewhat.
The PRRAF units had to set up a hasty defense siting their AT guns and MG's with too little time to dig in properly before the panzers hit them.
PRRAAF mortars put up two screens of dense harassing fire to slow down the enemy infantry -- and it's been grim fighting so far... with several destroyed and abandoned enemy panzers and recon halftracks littering the battlefield.
It has however not been one-sided affair at all, as this shot of a destroyed PRRAF AT gun... dead and wounded crewmen scattered around.
A clue that the Shorkertruppen may be running out of armour, is this sequence captured by embedded war photographers.... a Shorker command halftrack races foward to provide fire support to advancing grenadiers...
An alert AT gun crew (or should I say survivors of the gun crew) hidden amongst the rubble of the farmstead's stone walls spots the halftrack...
... they open fire and put a 57mm round into the halftrack's engine compartment, rocking it back and stopping it dead in it's tracks...
"Reload!" shouts the AT gun commander!
But before the AT gun can fire ... far off on the left flank, Corporal Tucker, the last survivor of a Bofor AA gun crew which was hit by long range panzer fire early on, has also spotted the enemy halftrack. While Lance-Corporal Mason of the ammo supply squads tends to the gun crew's wounded, Corp Tucker opens fire...
Bullseye!! The Shorker command halftrack is riddled with 40mm AP and HE shells... one lone survivor (lloks like an officer) is seen leaping out the back of the vehicle while the rest of the occupants perish!
Special mention also goes to Sgt Matheson and Sherman crew -- they are being credited with destruction of three enemy panzers so far...
The battle continues...
Well, after a bit of delay, the next set of battles have commenced with the Shorker Reich forces furiously counter-attacking and the PRRAF rocking back on their heels in defense!
This report is from the southern attack (Battle 1) where Shorker Forces are trying to break through to the coastal road and cut off the advancing PRRAF spearhead that was repulsed at Westerwalde.
The battle is being fought in pretty flat, lightly wooded terrain around a complex of farm buildings surrounded by low walls, vineyards and olive groves which limit visibility somewhat.
The PRRAF units had to set up a hasty defense siting their AT guns and MG's with too little time to dig in properly before the panzers hit them.
PRRAAF mortars put up two screens of dense harassing fire to slow down the enemy infantry -- and it's been grim fighting so far... with several destroyed and abandoned enemy panzers and recon halftracks littering the battlefield.
It has however not been one-sided affair at all, as this shot of a destroyed PRRAF AT gun... dead and wounded crewmen scattered around.
A clue that the Shorkertruppen may be running out of armour, is this sequence captured by embedded war photographers.... a Shorker command halftrack races foward to provide fire support to advancing grenadiers...
An alert AT gun crew (or should I say survivors of the gun crew) hidden amongst the rubble of the farmstead's stone walls spots the halftrack...
... they open fire and put a 57mm round into the halftrack's engine compartment, rocking it back and stopping it dead in it's tracks...
"Reload!" shouts the AT gun commander!
But before the AT gun can fire ... far off on the left flank, Corporal Tucker, the last survivor of a Bofor AA gun crew which was hit by long range panzer fire early on, has also spotted the enemy halftrack. While Lance-Corporal Mason of the ammo supply squads tends to the gun crew's wounded, Corp Tucker opens fire...
Bullseye!! The Shorker command halftrack is riddled with 40mm AP and HE shells... one lone survivor (lloks like an officer) is seen leaping out the back of the vehicle while the rest of the occupants perish!
Special mention also goes to Sgt Matheson and Sherman crew -- they are being credited with destruction of three enemy panzers so far...
The battle continues...
