Part 30: Turn 26: 0900 23rd May

Game Turn 26: 0900, 23rd of May

The 5th Brigade attempts to escape, with the Engineers managing to get out without many casualties, but the same can't be said of the 19th A Company, that is forced to the ground thanks a withering fire as they attempt to extricate themselves from the trenches.



The LLSR storms the trenches, trying to prevent the rest of the 5th Brigade from escaping. The 19th A Company is caught out of their trenches and quickly dispatched. The FPC that was previously protecting the artillery puts up a swifter fight, but a flank from Modion finally forces them to surrender. The only company that has escaped is the engineers, the rest of 5th NZ Brigade has largely been captured. An airstrike targets a company in the 19th Australian, catching them in the open and causing many casualties.



5th Company, 3 FJR attempts to keep up its desperate attack against the MNDBO forces, but even though they manage to get close, the exchange of fire does little. In Heraklion, the Greeks that had previously managed to hold off the Germans finally give way, allowing the 1 FJR to penetrate further into the city.



The artillery battery that was the only thing left on the western flank of the Rethymnon sector is finally taken out, freeing the mop-up troops to head back east.



The 2nd NZ Division attempts to rotate some of the units that lost the most cohesion on the front out of the line, but accurate fire from the 3rd Company GJR 100 takes out many Kiwis as they attempt to retreat. On the other hand, the MG Company of the mountain troops takes some casualties as well. The engineers that are all that's left of 5th Brigade manage to get to the rear of the Allied forces, thankful for the escape, but mourning their dead and captured comrades.



The 5th Gebirgs Division is also preparing for an attack: the MG Company hit hard by the Commonwealth troops attempts to retreat, but accurate fire from the Kiwis take out many Germans before they successfully move. Artillery from the airfield keeps moving to the artillery park as well.



GJR 100 mounts an all-out attack, and the 2nd New Zealand Division is hit hard: many of the light tanks are finally taken out, as well as the remains of 10th Brigade. C Company, 20th Batallion faces combined firepower, making at least half of the company combat-ineffective.