The Guards Challenge III Tournament 2006-7

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Report: Congratulations to Lambert and Stone.  A hard fought but well deserved victory. [3 Sep]

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For the re-match, the teams switched sides. The engagement quickly developed into two separate battles. On the one hand the Aus 1st, 2nd & 1st Res Armee Korps launched a converging assault on Davout's III Corps & Lannes' Provisional Corps. This front spanned from Ergelstatten/Pisenhofen to Dinzling. Simultaneously, the II, VII (Bavarian), VIII (Wuttemberg) and 2nd Dv/IV Corps attacked the Aus 3rd & 4th AK on a front running from Paring to Nieder Leierndorf to Schierling.

In the Northern Battle, the 1st Res AK surprised Lannes Prov Corps as it debauched from the woods onto the plateau West of Dinzlig, inflicting heavy casualties on it before it could deploy and driving it back into the woods. Once it had managed to retreat West of the woods, however, Lannes corps was able to rally in and about the Stein Berg. Aided by repeated charges by the 1st and 2nd Heavy Cav Dvs., a solid defensive line was finally established, albeit at the cost of massive casualties to the French mounted arm. Meanwhile Davout's troops were being steadily ground down by the deliberate assaults of the 1st and 2nd AK. With the bulk of the French cav in this sector detached to support Lannes, the dam finally burst at around 10 AM. All but one Bg (which had been detached to turn the 1st Res' flank and seize Dinzlig) was destroyed. The victorious 1st & 2nd AK then swept SE to come upon the rear of Lannes's position. Although Nansouty's 1st Heavy Cav was dispatched to Saalhapt to block the Austrian advance, they could do little in the face of the Austrian bataillion masse formations, intermixed with artillery protected by squares.

In the Southern battle, the 3rd AK took its stand on the ridge East of Paring while the 4th AK occupied the plateau SE of Paring down to the Acht Berg. The attack by the Bavarians was stopped by the 3rd AK with such heavy losses, that most of the Bavarians routed away, enabling the 3rd AK to go over to the attack. The 4th AK, however, fared much worse in its fight against the II & VIII Corps. Faced with an overwhelming French cavalry superiority, the 4th AK relied on establishing interlocking strongpoints of squares supported by artillery, with bns deployed in line in between the squares. Its Left Flank, however, was unsecured, so the French simply kept turning its flank with cavalry and then charging in to isolate its units. In this fashion, the 1st Dv/4th AK was eliminated South of the Acht Berg, followed by the 2nd Dv/4th AK on the plateau SE of Paring. As the 4th AK was eliminated, the 3rd AK was assailed from the South by the rallied VII, from the East by the victorious II & VIII and from the West by the 2nd Dv/IV. The 3rd Dv/6th AK arrived at 10 AM and quickly crushed the Bg garrisoning Schierling, but it could do nothing to save the 3rd AK. Nonetheless, both the 3rd & 4th AK died very hard, inflicting horrific casulaties on their attackers, particularly amongst the numerous cavalry arrayed against them.

As of 11:45 AM, Turn 29 of 54, the French had secured both Paring and Dinzling and destroyed the 3rd & 4th AK, but this was counterbalanced by the destruction of Davout's IIIC and the massive casualties inflicted on the remainder. Casualties: Inf- 65,691F/64,279A; Cav - 18,188 F/ 8,328 A; Arty - 70 F/ 169 A; Leaders - 54 F/ 37 A. Total Points: 3,468 - Aus Major Victory. [Paco 21 Oct]

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Page maintained by Lt Col Antony Barlow.  Last updated 9 March 2007
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