Fourth day of the attack of the German 5th SS Viking Panzer Division. They are still on course to relief Budapest, although they have lost already a lot of material and sacrificed a lot of lives. A fresh Red Army division is trying to form up a line in front of them. It is always an impressive sight when a Panzer Division rolls on the table and this time it was no different. The bulk of the troops advanced across the right flank, while most of the vehicles chose the centre to advance. The Russians hurriedly tried to construct something that resembled a line, but their numbers were small and their material not the most modern. Because the vehicles in the centre had some supply issues, the infantry decided to split up into 2 groups, most of them still heading towards the Western hills, the rest headed towards the centre. Incoming Russian artillery proved a nuisance as it made some units fall behind, but most of the troops got through unscathed. The HMG’s and the mortars were the first to make it to the hills, where they immediately disembarked from their SPW’s and awaited the grenadiers to assault the thin Red Line. The Russians made a couple of very effective cavalry charges in the centre of the battlefield and they stopped the centre of the Viking assault dead cold. The German vehicles that were behind the infantry could not support them and being afraid of getting themselves caught up in crossfire, they swung to the right flank, where things went a lot better for the Germans. Soon the Western hills were cleared of Russian defenders and most of the division surged through this immense gap in the Russian defensive line. Sensing that a German victory was near, the Russians decided on an all out attack with their SU 76’s and T 70’s. This proved suicidal when Pz IV’s that were in the hills opened fire and put most of them out of action. With nothing in reserve that could stop the Germans from exiting the bulk of the infantry and just about all their tanks and SPW’s, the Russians gave in and started retreating from the battlefield. They had stopped the centre but lacked the manpower and half a dozen decent AFV’s to stop them all.

German Victory