Sword of Damocles ETO (id:#60607)

(Rally Point # 4 ID: RPT35)   [next]   [previous]

Olmütz, Czechoslovakia 1945-05-05 (4 others)

Overview:

The order came through to Generalmajor Heinrich-Georg Hax: “You will guarantee, with your head, that Olmütz will be held until 8 May 1945, at 12 noon”. Hax had to hold the town to allow the remnants of the XVIX Corps, nearly surrounded to the east, time to fight their way back to the town to give them a chance to escape to the west. To hold open the corridor, he had a motley force; the remnants of his own division and the Brandenburg division, and an incongruous collection of training units, rear area troops, Volkssturm, and stragglers. Despite vigorous attacks by units of the 31st Tank Corps and 38th Army of the 4th Ukrainian Front, Hax’s troops fought desperately to hold the town. . . . Soviet attackers must use their heavy armor to help force a river crossing in this old-fashioned late war urban action. The Germans have tank hunting units to help stop the Soviet onslaught, but their own vehicles are very low on gas.

Defender: German (Remnants of Panzer Div 8, Brandenburg Div, and Service Troops)  

Errata (source)