Campaign Game! Reluctant Enemies: June 8 - 12 (Breaking the First River Line)

I'm happy to report after all these years that I am finally working my way through my first Campaign Game. I'm starting off small since I still, sadly, do not have the luxury of space to lay out most of my monster wargames, so I've settled on a recent OCS purchase: Reluctant Enemies (which only requires one card table to lay out). 

Since campaign games understandably last longer than seven or eight turns, I've decided to post incremental progress of the games as they move forward. That'll permit me to go into more detail since I have less time these days to take painstaking notes. Notwithstanding the fact that after this summer it will likely be a few years before I complete another campaign game, I figure this is the best approach to kick things off on yet another, you guessed it, new series/project!

Hereon after, the start of any campaign game will be labeled as such in the initial post and all subsequent posts will be listed on a separate page on the website -- still to do as of June 2024 -- so as not to crowd the labels. 

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*A disclaimer about historical names: The designers of OCS Reluctant Enemies acknowledge in their design notes the challenge of identifying and spelling proper names using Latin characters for cities, locations, and towns in Syria, Lebanon, and the British Mandate of Palestine. In keeping with consistency, all places and names in this campaign game will appear in consistency with those presented in OCS Reluctant Enemies, which are themselves taken from the official Australian history of Operation Exporter chronicled by Gavin Long. 

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Merdjayoun, Syria.

Syria, Lebanon, and the British Mandate of Palestine, June 1941. Winston Churchill orders General Wavell to strike the Vichy Army of the Levant in Syria and Lebanon, consisting of various territorial and colonial forces of the French Empire loyal to the Vichy Regime, local levies, the 6th Chasseurs, the 7th Chasseurs, and the 6th Regiment of the French Foreign Legion. With little more than a ragtag band of brigades from all across the Commonwealth (anchored around the forces of the Australian 21st and 25th Brigades of the 7th Division and the Indian 5th Brigade at the outset), Wavell is ordered to take the offensive. Under direct command of Henry Maitland Wilson, the Commonwealth Forces launch Operation Exporter (the subject of OCS Reluctant Enemies) to cease control of Beirut, Lebanon, and to neutralize the Vichy airbase at Rayak.

The opening positions (with reinforcements at the ready).

Here's the view of the opening campaign on June 8. The 21st Australian Brigade is positioned near the coast road, the 25th lies on the road to the Vichy forward base at Merdjayoun, and the 5th Indian Brigade is positioned farther south near the Hejaz Railway. Together, these three locations mark the launch points for the three avenues of advance: the coast (Haifa to Beirut), the valley (Merdjayoun to Rayak), and the Hejaz Railway (Amman to Damascus). 

Together, the two Australian brigades of the 7th Australian Division have been assigned to break the Litani-Merdjayoun line of defense and the 5th Indian Brigade of the 4th Indian Division (along with whatever Free French complement could be assembled) was assigned the task of seizing the Vichy bases along the Hejaz Railway, the first major hurdle being the town of Ezraa.

The (Vichy) French defenders, for their part, similarly plan a defense in depth along three axes: Delhomme's command has been tasked with defending Damascus from the heights around Kiswe, Verdilhac charged with defense of the valley at Merdjayoun, and Arlabosse defense of the coast from his base in Beirut. 

Collet's Circassians open the campaign (pictured here outside Damascus).

It was the independent, Free French (FF) forces under Collet that opened the campaign. His Circassian cavalry and armor charged across the Syrian border and overran the Vichy garrison at Fiq. With this lighting strike complete and the neighboring enemies sent to the rear, Wilson moved his HQ forward to Lake Hula to support all three avenues of advance.

The advance along the railway opens with a bombardment of Deraa.

To open up their avenue of advance along the railway further east, the Indian battalions struck the forward pickets of the 1st Moroccan Cavalry at Deraa. Supported by aircover, the Moroccans were similarly routed, and the Punjabi battalion, held in reserve, was released with supporting artillery and AA. The lead column halted just outside Ezraa, cutting off supply to a regiment of Tunisian infantry holding positions south of the Jebel Druze. 

In a sudden dash across the Syrian border, the British timetable for the 5th Indian Brigade was easily reached. The advance up the valley took a slower pace on the outset. The 25th Australians (unaccustomed to the desert heat like their comrades in the 21st brigade) settled for a gradual advance supported by artillery and pioneers. The Vichy positions at Merdjayoun, held by battalions of the 22nd and 29th Algerians (which were interspersed along the Litani-Merdjayoun line of defense), were covered by well sighted artillery positions. The 25th Australians contended themselves with a slow advance into the hills in preparation for a probing attack on the advance positions of the Algerians. (I should have been more aggressive, though). 

The coastal sector at game start (the reserve marker was removed after this photo was taken).

In advance of Verdilhac's arrival, the Algerian reserves in the city and the supporting artillery were released to the front. Defensive barrages from the colonial artillery served to disorganize the Australians and prevent an attack.

Attacks along the coast proved more variable -- higher losses all around. It started with a pincer on Tyre through the valley and along the coast. One battalion of the 21st, supported by the Scots Greys, eliminated cavalry of the 8th Algerians breaking through to the coast via Bent Jbail and succeeded in capturing Tyre. Attacks along the coast road that were meant to meet the valley column stalled against the Goumiers cavalry. While suffering losses to their MG support in the lead column, the remainder of the 21st failed to destroy the Goumiers. Pushing them back on Tyre, however, they were cut off. 

The 21st takes Tyre.

Importantly, as seen here, the mobile forces assigned to support the 21st Australians were held back following the opening attacks.

The worst opening strikes befell the commandos released from Alexandria. Ordered to land at Sidon, rough currents forced one company to the north of the town, where their transports were lashed against the low hills near their assigned beaches. Faced with poor landing conditions, only one or two of the transports found their way onto the shore, where the men that were landed joined More's company. More's company drifted north of the town as well, but luckily made it to shore. The third and final company fared no better than the first. In choppier waters, their transports began to take on water where most eventually ended up capsizing. Supporting gunfire from the destroyers of the Mediterranean fleet were not consolation. The landing was a complete fiasco and More's few platoons were grossly outnumbered behind enemy lines.

A lone company of commandos makes it ashore, on the wrong side of the river.

The Vichy response was swift. The first order of business was withdrawal and consolidation. The Tunisians and supporting levies south of Jebel Druze were first priority, primarily due to the sizeable depot supporting them. Around the clock, Renault trucks and teams of wagons piled on the supplies and took north what they could. (By morning on June 12, only 2T remained unaccounted for, but not without mishap as seen below.) The mobile battalions packed up their supplies and rolled north too. It was the infantry and cavalry that were primarily stranded and they made for the station at Ezraa to rally a rearguard defense. 

The Ezraa counterattack.

Seeing an opportunity to delay the Indian advance to allow the Tunisians time to avoid being cut off, Delhomme ordered the Senegalese and Druze cavalry to counterattack the Punjabis south of Ezraa. Expecting an easy opportunity to give the Indians a bloody nose, the Punjabis proved masterful and parried the hasty counterattack. Ambushing the advancing Senegalese by using the artillery column as bait, the attackers were wiped out to a man (defenders surprise results in AL2)! Quite the counterpunch!

Elsewhere, Arlabosse and Verdilhac execute similar maneuvers to Delhomme with better results. The elusive Vichy destroyers that were still seaworthy bombarded Tyre, permitting the Goumiers cavalry to escape and join the defense at Merdjayoun. 

Verdilhac arrived in Merdjayoun where his artillery continued to pound the Australians and Arlabosse's infantry and armor began to set up the first line of defense with roadblocks along the Litani river. Only More's commandos posed a threat to their supply line. Combined forces of the French Foreign Legion, released from Beirut, along with elements of the 22nd Algerians, routed More's position from the coast (saved only by a well-timed ambush), forcing them inland and restoring the trace supply along the coast back to Beirut. 

The Litani-Merdjayoun River Line begins to take shape.

All of this would be fine and well, but Wilson's decision to relocate his HQ cost the Commonwealth their initiative and the Vichy forces under Verdhilac managed to make superb use of their initial successes.

In the 25th Australian brigade's sector on the morning of the 10th, everything went from bad to worse in the manner of only a few hours. With their advance halted by fire from the colonial artillery, supporting cavalry and levy forces wound their way around the Australian column and struck the 2/6 artillery, unsupported, and strung out along the road to Merdjayoun. In a matter of minutes, the artillery units were overrun and the 25th cut off. And to make matters worse, Wilson's unprotected HQ was only a few more miles down the road. Someone was going to have hell to pay for that bungle.

The 25th in dire straights, disorganized and cut off from its supply base.

Along the Hejaz Railway, it was more damage control than anything else. The Tunisians raced into Ezraa and prepared to hold it -- this time without any counterattacks -- while all available transport emptied the compromised depot. 

To support the hasty defense along the Hejaz, the rickety Vichy airforce attempted a fighter sweep of the British airbase north of Amman. For the few reservists watching from below, it was more an airshow than a dogfight, but the fact that the French pilots returned to their bases with nothing to show for their efforts but empty fuel tanks was enough of a victory for the commonwealth.

And to top it all off, the Algerians and Legionnaires again attempted to eliminate More's command by brute force, but even at 15:1 odds, a well-timed ambush again saved the last of the commandos. 

Undeterred, Wilson ordered an immediate response all along the front as fresh replacements arrived from Alexandria (1 Pax and 1 Eq, not to mention the usual 2SP 2T complement). The first order of business was rescuing the Aussies in the 25th. The Chas and Staff Yeomany were quickly reassigned to Wilson's overall command and detached from the 7th Australian. Both units were sent hurling against the Circassians and Lebanese infantry outside Mettula. By the skin of their teeth, the British cavalry avoided catastrophic losses in their head-charge up the road to Merdjayoun. The levy infantry were easily overrun, but the Circassian's kept rank and retired in good order to Mettula, still cutting off the Australians who had now moved off the road. It wasn't enough. The only unit left was the AT company with tanks of the 6th armored division, attached to the 21st Brigade. Wilson detached it from the 21st and sent it east. They took up a precarious position outside Mettula with the Yeomanry to their south and that did the trick. For the moment, the 25th was relieved. 

The Free French Arrive

Along the Hejaz, the 5th Indian Brigade consolidated it gains and advanced north as the 1st Free French Division arrived at the Syrian border. 5th Indian Brigade HQ moved to Sheikh Meskine and the battalion of Royal Fusiliers supporting them managed to capture 1T worth of French trucks loaded with supply as they trundled north. The only setback remained at Ezraa, where the Tunisian infantry repulsed an attack led by the Punjabis and supported by Collet's armor and cavalry.

The real breakthrough, however, came along the coast. Thanks to the delay caused by More's commandos, the legionnaires of the 6th Foreign regiment had not yet made it to the Litani line. Held by the tanks of the 6th Chasseurs and a battalion of Algerians (fast proving to be the fiercest fighters of the campaign), there was an opportunity to force a crossing. With armor support from the 6th and 9th armored divisions, the 21st Australian Brigade set out from Tyre hell bent on crossing the Litani. And they took all the support they could get. First, fighter bombers from bases in Egypt pummeled the Vichy positions, which did little but upend a few tables and chairs used by the officers of the 6th Chasseurs. The real damage came from the destroyers and heavy cruisers of the Mediterranean fleet. With a 1/2 result, a dr of 4 eliminated Algerian infantry and DGed the Vichy tanks. All of a sudden the defense strength of 22 (8 x 2 for open ground plus 6) fell to 8. For a river crossing, that was the change of fortune the Australians needed. Charging head on against the French R35s of the 6th Chasseurs, the 21st Brigade successfully broke through the Litani River line before the legionnaires could arrive.

The Litani River Line is breached.

Unfortunately though, the breakthrough was bitter sweet. Out of supply and surrounded in the hills outside Sidon, More and the last of his commandos surrendered to their pursuers just as the first British tanks crossed the Litani.