Part 35: Turn 31: 1900 23rd May

Game Turn 31: 1900, 23rd May

With dusk approaches, the fighting appears to die down, although the ever-present mortar and artillery fire from the crews of the LLSR does not disappoint either, as ineffective as it is with light slowly fading. The GJR 100 attacks meet similar fate, although the fire is heavy enough that the leaders of both 4th and 10th Brigade spend a lot of time rallying their troops in order to prevent them from being suppressed by the incoming fire. The AT guns set up to the south, and the motorbike infantry moves in to shore up the southern-most part of the line. In the middle of the fighting, a stray bullet finds Oberst Utz and a replacement officer needs to be quickly found.



The ever-present light mortar fire can also be heard, and it is especially effective in Rethymnon, where one of the German mortar companies is finally rendered combat-ineffective.



The 5th Gebirgs Division moves around to bring the 85th Regiment troops back to bolster the fight in Maleme, while the Pioneers are sent west in order to prepare the port for any potential naval reinforcements. Elsewhere, the mountain troops are relatively quiet, as night is soon approaching, although some localised attempts to push the 10th Composite Brigade are made, to no avail. Further north of the line, attacks by the 19th Australian Brigade are similarly useless, as is fire on the eastern flank of the Rethymnon sector.



With the final flights of the day, the rest of Gebirgsjager Regiment 85 arrives on the scene. With the GJR 100 having taken many casualties, a fresh infantry regiment, and the troops coming back from Kastelli, should bolster the Germans significantly in the coming days.