With the main thrust of their attack through the Ardennes scheduled for 15th May, the Germans first launched a diversionary attack into Belgium designed to tie down the French First Army and their British allies.
Clashes began on the morning of 12th May, with the panzers driving a French armoured force back for no losses. The French, along with British reinforcements, consolidated around Hannut.
After the first wave of German attacks on the town, the French, worried about being outflanked, withdrew. The Germans, unaware of the French withdrawal, did indeed try and outflank the town, and ran into the French rearguard (infantry from 11th Dragoon Regiment and Hotchkiss tanks from 2nd Cuirassiers) at Crehen.
The Germans carried out a classic pin and outflank manoeuvre (medium tanks pinning, light tanks outflanking) and the French were forced to retreat. Some Cuirassier tanks were trapped in Crehen and were only able to breakout after a counterattack by the Somua tanks of 2ieme DLM.
This scenario simulates the German assault on Crehen.
The Game
The picture below shows the small town of Crehen. The main German attack will come from the north (where the chair is!) with the outflanking attack coming from the east (down the road disappearing off to the right). The French are under Hidden Blinds anywhere south of the far wall surrounding the church.
The game began with a series of German Blinds pushing onto the table. Spotting from both sides took place.
A French 25mm anti-tank gun took out an advancing Panzer II with a lucky shot, but the French soon found themselves severely under fire. One Hotchkiss H-35 was hit by Panzer IVs despite being hull down behind a wall, and the French infantry discovered just how unpleasant it is to be in a building hit by a continual stream of 2mm autocannon fire!
As the Germans continued their relentless advance, the French really needed to deploy the rest of their defending force, especially the tanks, but the French Blinds card proved stubbornly elusive, so the Germans were able to concentrate their fire and really hammer those French that they could see.
To be fair, the German Blinds card was also failing to make sort of appearance, so at least the French weren’t being overwhelmed, but it was still pretty bloody for them, and the fact that the autocannon fire kept pinning them down meant that they couldn’t even retreat to safety deeper inside the town.
The French infantry on the right of their position had finally had enough and, despite the autocannon fire, headed backwards with loud cries of sauvez qui peut or whatever the correct French is! The Germans began to follow up, one of their infantry platoons taking cover behind the remaining Panzer IIs.
The Germans had also advanced infantry against the lone French anti-tank gun, which was not crewed by only a single poilu, the rest lying dead around the weapon. Things were not going well for les Francais!
Finally, however, the French Blinds card appeared, with the French taking full advantage and deploying everything they had left onto the table. On the right, another Hotchkiss de-cloaked and opened fire on the advancing Panzer IIs. Although it managed to blow the track off one enemy vehicle, it took six shots to do so: not exactly the stunning intervention that the French had hoped for!
The German Blinds card was, however, about to appear, and this gave the Germans the impetus they needed to push forward with their assault.
The last remaining anti-tank gunner was forced to flee his gun and, along with a nearby infantry squad, retreated into the town as German infantry charged out of the small wood in front of their position.
That was on the right. On the left the house sheltering a newly deployed infantry squad suffered a direct hit from a Panzer IV and caught fire, forcing the French to pull back…and there were Germans now in the churchyard as well!
Time for desperate action! Capitaine Croissant rallied his men, and with a loud shout of Vive la France, led them forward against the enemy in the churchyard. It was a glorious charge, and caught the advancing Germans completely by surprise, killing their office and sending the rest tumbling backwards almost as far as the table’s edge.
Unfortunately, the French had paused out in the open to hurl grenades and vile imprecations at the Germans…which left them at the mercy of a platoon of Panzer IIIs that came round the corner. Capitaine Croissant was cut down, and his men soon followed!
By this time, the German flanking force had also appeared, and were heading west at a rapid rate of knots. This was too much for the French, who ordered a general retreat: even their reinforcements (a platoon of Somua S-35 tanks) would still have left them outnumbered over 2:1, and their H-35s were no match for the nippier, well-crewed, well-armed German panzers. Crehen had fallen!
Robert Avery