Early on the morning of May 15, 1940, units from the German 4th Panzer Division advanced west near Gembloux, Belgium to confront the 1re Division Marocaine. The Moroccan troops were well positioned behind minefields and roadblocks east of the city, and also took full advantage of the sunken section of the railroad line for protection. The Germans advanced on all fronts with combined armor/infantry on the north flank. Intense Allied OBA and intense fighting around the roadblock at the northern crossroads slowed the German advance. The northern roadblock was cleared by 1015 hours, but the tirailleurs, with considerable support from their AT platoons, continued to hold against the German combined forces. German tank units moved into the southern end of the sunken railroad around 1130, but their advance was slowed for another ¾ hour by the 47 APX platoon that was situated in eastern Gembloux. After the panzer units broke through into the northeast section of town, they were further delayed by Allied assaults. The German combined forces finally established a position northeast of town following destruction of the remaining two 25mm AT platoons in the east central section of town. By 1400 hours, all able-bodied German officers had been called to the front lines to initiate a final push to capture the town, and a gap was opened in the south end of the Moroccan line through which a single Panzer II platoon entered Gembloux. Three other panzer platoons pushed into town from the north gap, but they were unable to secure the town. Capitaine Jean-Guy Fontenot was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his brave leadership of the 75mm AA platoon, which held off repeated assaults from three German infantry units for over four hours on the front line. The German surge ultimately failed, as the Moroccan troops held most of the town and still contested sections of the eastern front line. The battle ended at 1445 hours with a major Allied victory.

This scenario is played on roughly 2/3 of a map with many units, which makes for extensive engagement. The objectives involve town hex control and step loss. The red Division Marocaine ESC units were used in place of French infantry. The Allied setup with a strong front line of minefields, roadblocks and interlaced fire zones from the Moroccan units made it extremely difficult for the German troops to penetrate. Couple this with the heavy French OBA and this becomes a tough win for the Germans. Withering fire compromises the German ability to put together undisrupted assault groups to break through the lines. There is also a benefit to the Allies in terms on VP’s from assaults, since tank steps lost count double; it behooves the French/Moroccan player to identify assaults where parity can be achieved to take advantage of this edge. In the end, this scenario wasn’t even close for the Allies, who had a total of 109 VP’s to 52 for the Germans. Step loss was 69 for the Germans versus 32 for the Allies.

Author	treadasaurusrex (France, Morocco)
Method	VASSAL
Victor	France, Morocco
Participants	Chaco
Play Date	2021-11-23
Language	English
Scenario	DiMa001

This scenario consisted of a 4-session online play-through without using the dreaded FOW rule.

Please see my AAR for Fall of France Scenario 18: The Iron Line South.