Urban Fortress ETO (id:#60743)

(Tyrant's Lair ID: BTL1)   [next]   [previous]

Berlin, Germany 1945-04-25 (10 others)

Overview:

In the maze of ruined blocks both sides fought a close quarters war over each building. At the corner of Alt-Mark Strasse and Thorwaldsenstrasse a small group of desperate Germans converted a large building into an urban fortress. Soon the fortress would be put to the test as an assault detachment from the 220th Guards Rifle Regiment reached the intersection. Finding the building defended with artillery and machine guns 1st Lieutenant Vasili Chernyayev ordered the two 45mm antitank guns supporting his force to fire at the upper level windows to suppress the machine guns while his guardsmen stormed the building. Storm troops, leading the attack with hand grenades, broke into the main level of the house and killed a German crew manning a small artillery piece. Another detachment, with the help of direct mortar fire, captured a nearby building that was supporting the main position. As vicious hand-to-hand fighting broke out in the fortress the Germans launched several counter-attacks supported by tanks and self propelled guns. Intense fighting for this position raged on for the rest of the 25th before the Germans withdrew...

Defender: German (Elements of Sturm Battalion SS "Charlemagne" and Berlin Volkssturm)  

Errata (source)