2nd Mechili

 Time for another outing to the Western Desert with NBC, this time the 2nd battle of Mechili on 8th April 1941. This has the newly arrived 5th Light Division and Ariete taking on 2nd Armoured Division as it retreats across the desert in the face of Rommels advance. 

The big departure from history is that this is the battle which was supposed to be fought instead of the one which actually happened. In real life, so many  of 2nd Armoured Divs tanks broke down en route that the 3rd Armoured Brigade withdrew into the Djebel to the north, leaving 3rd Indian Motorised Brigade 2nd AD HQ to hold Mechili. Enveloped by 5th Light Div and Ariete, the Indians didn't stand a chance and the brigade was surrounded and surrendered. 

This time, the British tanks are a bit more reliable....

Battlefield from the south. The map is similar to that I used for 1st Mechili, but shifted westwards. A very helpful map in Greene and Massignanis 'Rommels North African Campaign' showed the position of the western wadi. The central track runs direct from Beghazi to Gazala in the east, Mechili is in the middle with some high ground (the Ras El Mechili) to the northwest.

1st AD laagered around Mechili. Much of the division was stripped away and sent to Greece, leaving only a single motor battalion (Tower Hamlets Rifles), one artillery Regiment (104 RHA) and one Armoured Regiment (3rd Hussars). 5th and 6th RTR were hastily added to the division, as was 3rd Indian Motorised. Much of the British tank strength was made up of captured Italian M13/40s.

For the purposes of this scenario, 3rd Indian is deemed to be holding the airfield further south, which will keep Ariete out of the fight. The rest of 2nd AD can face off against the panzers. 

Russell, Simon and Mark took the British, although unfortunately Mark caught Covid so we had to re-jig the commands.

5th Light Div was a mish mash of various units. Rommel had already sent the 3rd Recce battalion up the coast road and 8th MG Battalion across country towards Derna (both supported by batteries from the various Flak, Artillery and AT battalions supporting the division).

The wheeled elements made better progress across the desert than 5th Panzer Regiment, so KG von Schwerin formed the advance guard with 605 Panzerjaeger Bn (SP), 200 Engineer Bn and 2nd MG Bn. Historically they formed a pakfront on the Ras el Mechili, so that is where most of them start off. I had to paint an extra Panzerjaeger 1 for this scenario, the rest of them are in panzergrau.

Jerry, John and Pete took the Germans.

Struggling up the desert track from Beghazi is 5th Panzer Regiment with a whopping 180 tanks, although their numbers have already been thinned by breakdowns. There are huge numbers of Pz II and even 25 Pz I. There are 60 or so Pz III but these suffered greatly from engines clogged with dust, 54 needed complete engine replacements. The Germans had lost 80% of their tanks by the time they reached Tobruk, mostly due to breakdowns.

2nd MG Bn from KG von Schwerin is also here, it will arrive from the north on turn 1. The MG Bn has a dozen of the very rare (for the desert) Sdkfz 251 halfracks, so I've made one company armoured.

KG von Schwerin edges forwards cautiously on turn 1, while the British await events.

5th Panzer Regiment trundles on from the west, the Regimental recce company (Pz II) is out front. To keep the element count down I amalgamated all the various recce elements together. each panzer battalion has two elements of Pz III, one of Pz II and one Pz IV. It overstates the numbers of Pz IV in particular, but they are supported by swarms of Pz I and II, so it makes the numbers up.

2nd MG Bn motors on raising clouds of dust, and heads for the road exit to Derna.

Back in Mechili, 104 RHA swivels around in the wadi and opens fire on 2nd MG Bn. 3rd Hussars (one squadron M13, two of Vickers lights) heads northeast to intercept them. 5th RTR (A13s) stays in reserve while 6th RTR (M13s) moves southwest.

2nd MG Bn takes the road exit and hastily dismounts. The 25pdrs have overshot and 3rd Hussars take some long range fire from the 88s attached to KG von Schwerin, losing a few Vickers Lights in the process.

The Panzerjaegers set up close to Mechili and shoot up whatever they can. 200 Engineer Bn pulls back to the reverse slope until it is time to assault, and I/5th Panzer pushes up the road, recce out front. The other battalion headed southeast along the wadi.

And there they are, waiting at the other track crossing.

Much excitement as the depleted 3rd Hussars attempt to overrun 2nd MG Bn under covering fire from a 25pdr barrage! It is all very unpleasant as the tanks close in and the German infantry scatter for cover. 

Dear me. The Germans take lots of damage, losing one company completely and the others taking hits. Fortunately 3rd Hussars had already been weakened by AT fire and the depleted Vickers squadrons are lost. The M13s continue to rampage around the German positions.

Meanwhile back at Mechili, 5th Panzer Regiment forms up in the desert, and 5th and 6th RTR redeploy to meet them. German artillery is busy shelling the town and the Panzerjaegers are lobbign 47mm shells in there too in the absence of other targets. The Tower Hamlets Rifles supporting AT guns return fire with little effect.

The Motor Bn is slowly being whittled down, but very slowly.

Ooer, I/5th Panzer gets the drop on 5th RTR and launches an armoured assault right into the regiment! A swirling close range tank battle ensues.

When the smoke clears, the Germans have taken a few hits but the A13s are all knocked out and just the 3rd Amd Bde HQ remains engaging the enemy. Better troops, better kit, more kit.... all very unpleasant.

6th RTR decides to save the day in its M13s and opens fire before charging.

It does score some hits, but in the continuing melee, it manages to knock out its own Brigade HQ! this doesn't seem to unduly bother the British tankers who gamely close the range with the panzers.

Another vicious close range battle leaves lots of hits on the Germans and their Pz IV company lost. Unfortunately the  British M13s are toast as well now.

We broke for the night at this point and I took the opportunity to add some burning tank markers (I'd left the box upstairs before). View from the southwest, burning tanks south of Mechili while HQ, 5th Panzer Regt and IInd battalion line up in the desert. KG von Schwerin on the ridge.

View from the northwest. The pakfront is nicely establishe on the ridge (Jagdpanzer 1s and 88s), while Engineer Bn 200 is starting to edge forwards. They have actually got out of their trucks at this point.

And from the northeast, the remains of 2nd MG Bn still hold the road to Derna. 104 RHA busy blazing away in the middle distance. The 25pdrs proved very effective both at direct and indirect fire in this game,

I/5th Panzer also decided that the 25pdrs needed dealing so motored through the burning wreckage of 5th and 6th RTR into the wadi southwest of 2nd AD HQ. The panzers are pretty battered at this point.

II/5th Panzer followed up, giving the Tower Hamlets rifles in Mechili a wide berth. As we learned at 1st Mechili, tanks aren't very good at digging infantry out of towns. The British were frantically digging in at this point too, which would make them even tougher.

The British went for broke. 104th RHA finished off the last of 2nd MB Bn over open sights, and then General Gambier-Perry personally retook the objective in his Dorchester ACV!

With the British guns firing in the opposite direction, I/5th Panzer promptly assaulted them from the rear. In the close quarters fighting, some more panzers were destroyed but the guns were crushed under the tank tracks and the crews surrendered.

II/5th Panzer moved up in support. The Germans now had Mechili thoroughly surrounded but with the loss of 2nd MG Bn, still didn't hold enough objectives to claim a victory.

Back at Mechili, the Germans continued to shell the town. Even the towed 20mm Flak accompanying the 5th Panzer regimental HQ joined in. The British cowered in their slit trenches, but casualties were still quite light. 

2AD HQ hunkered down on the road exit to Derna.

But Panzer IIs from I/5th Panzer approached and the General decided discretion was the better part of valour and set off northeast across the desert.

The defenders in Mechili were pounded from all sides now, and despite their fortifications, the weight of fire was sufficient to disorganise them now.

The Germans were now firmly in control of all the roads leading northeast and east, and with the defenders of the town wavering, we called it a day at that point.  Even if the General had run away, the Tower Hamlets Rifles, 3rd Hussars, 5th RTR, 6th RTR and 104th RHA had all fought bravely.

That went pretty well, and tbh it just shows that 3rd Indian Mot didn't stand a chance in real life as it was attacked by both the German forces above AND most of Ariete. It was interesting that as in irl, the Axis ended up encircling the town rather than trying to assault it, a shortage of infantry would be a real problem in the forthcoming siege of Tobruk. 

It wasn't a complete walkover and the Germans had to both fight and march a long way over difficult terrain to get to their objectives. KG von Schwerin up on the ridge proved a real thorn in the Allies side, and they never really came up with a tactical response to the pakfront, which just continually chipped away at them. The tank battle was a bit more one sided than I'd anticipated, a combination of crew quality, equipment quality and numbers (nine Axis tank companies to seven British squadrons) and the Axis were supported by their AT guns (another three companies).