Attack on Modellbaudorf - Part I : Prelude

Modellbaudorf is an inconspicuous, yet surprisingly important town for the German war effort as it is here where, until recently, a key component of the V2 rockets was manufactured in the town's tiny industrial sector.

It is the onset of spring, in 1945. The town has gone unscathed until a few weeks ago, when it made it onto the Allies' radar and it experienced an air raid. Now, with the rumble of war approaching from the east, the residents have all fled. The town is desolate.

The Allies and many on the German side, including soldiers, politicians, and civilians can all see that the end of the war is near. The German forces are barely hanging on, but they keep on fighting with fierce determination trying to buy the civilians time to flee ahead of the Soviets. They hope that the Allies in the west capture most of the country. Some even hold the naive expectation that the western Allies will join Germany in their fight against the Soviets. Whatever their reasons, they keep on fighting...

At Modellbaudorf, this determination is no exception. It is truly remarkable that its industrial sector, which was shutdown completely by the recent air raid, restored operations to almost regular capacity just two weeks after the bombing. 

Once repaired, the factory continued to operate and supply the parts to power V2 rockets up until the evacuation orders 48 hrs earlier. The evacuation however, has turned everything into an eerily quiet "No man's land".  

A hastily assembled Kampfgruppe is tasked with defending the town. It has been cobbled together from several small units -some regular infantry, some Waffen SS, military police, engineers, a reconnaissance platoon, a couple panzers, all of them augmenting the anti-aircraft unit which had been based in the town and is now repurposing its last operational 88mm flak gun to fight the oncoming Soviet armor.

Additional men have been commandeered and rerouted to Modellbaudorf. Men who were on their way back to the front after a short leave, the lightly wounded who were trying to make their way to a hospital in the rear, and a rare collection of stragglers -half a squad from an adjacent HQ unit which had been sent to get supplies from the divisional quartermaster, a couple cooks who had been foraging for farm animals for that evening's meal, a momentarily disoriented towing crew, and other unlucky souls who were in the vicinity of Modellbaudorf- they all continue to trickle into town and take up positions as regular infantry. 

The Soviets are determined to capture this town but the Germans have arrived early enough to dig in and set up a reasonable defense, barricading the main streets...

... and placing heavy weapons at key locations throughout the town.

The Soviets, unsure about the level of resistance that they will be facing, unleash some additional artillery on the town for good measure, but by this stage of the war, the Germans are extremely familiar with the Soviet tactics and they pull back or go into the air raid shelter prior to the bombardment. Once the shelling is over, the Germans move back in, taking advantage of the new and generous rubble and craters.

With the Soviets approaching from the east and south, the Germans set up their defenses on the western side of town. They deploy observers in the factory to track the Soviet movements and then they simply wait patiently to spring the trap...

Next Episode: Attack on Modellbaudorf - Part II : The Soviet Approach into Town

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