The allies have made a major advance through the German center, isolating some brigades, stacking others, and effectively splitting the Heer in two. As the armies’ actions get larger our focus drifts. We look a battlelines across a dozen kilometers, forgetting that despite what we see on the map, the action is left to the individual foot soldiers; battling it out on the ground, building to building.  I went into Daun as an observer behind the French army, two French brigades hoping to blunt the breakout of two entire German divisions in Ulmen, to see how a massive battle such as this could transpire in just 5 minutes.

I began in the army base, infantry were pouring out from the barracks to the fight while monsjoex protected the bunker. I leave the army base and turn to witness an H-39 defending from the crossroads for a mere few before an enemy anti-tank round blew it apart. With German forces already in possession of the depot to Ulmen, and infiltrating from the south, I took cover in a blown out apartment building in the center of town and hoped to report on what would follow. No sooner had I taken cover than an intrepid German soldier captured the Whitlich depot.

The French soldiers pushed hard against the Ulmen depot but had trouble breaking the tough German defenses. At the same time, mwhitman killed flanking German infantry hoping to take the Mursch depot north east of town. Skee53 pushed south and quickly retook the Whitlich depot.

The French forces continued to push against the Ulmen depot, often getting in but never surviving long enough to force the Germans out. After several attempts and a large push of French infantry supported by armor, anfiach was able to secure the depot.

The battle was far from over as 88s continued to hammer the town from a far ridge, tanks kept pressing towards town, and German infantry kept pushing from the west.

5 Minutes may only be a tiny fraction of the hours long battle, but it can seem like an eternity when under a withering enemy fire.

We publish after action reports written by players. If you would like to submit a report or are interested in becoming an official WWIIOL War Correspondent, contact MOTORMOUTH.