When does a unit go "under" an entrenchment?

[saracv3]

I think it is a relevant and straightforward question. I used Direct Fire (First Fire) on the SA troops when they came ‘over the top.’ In contradistinction to the previously ineffectual adjacent DF which fell on the 16 column. That snot produced no result. So the South Africans felt fairly confident about their Assault. But the Italians had a big surprise for the SA platoons. Even I was surprised.

The Italians were in good order, had a leader, and they had 14 points. If I was using the Assault table I might have read it correctly. But both charts produce the same result. The Direct Fire 22 column results in 2X on a 12 The Assault Fire 24 column also results in 2X. This result was in fact the outcome when the Italians counterattacked using the Assault table.

At that point the SA troops had lost 2X; one step for each infantry unit and a DR on the 8-0-1 leader and DM on both infantry. Then, in the next phase, the Italians counterattacked and wiped out all SA units. The leader died because he rolled a 4 (-2). (The now 2–3 SA infantry had lost two steps because they were both DM. This would have resulted in the +2 shift on the Assault table but not the Direct Fire table. Having a leader would not have resulted in a shift w/ DF. But using the 11 column on Direct Fire still is a X. The subsequent counterattack on the Assault table still resulted in a +2 shift on the 16 column base. Both SA infantry units were DM and thus +1 added.