North American Campaign Continued... After their efforts were frustrated in Connecticut, the Germans swung their Panzer forces to the south in an attempt to catch the Allies off guard. On May 20th 1947 Axis forces rattled into New Jersey and found little opposition until their advance rolled up to the outskirts of Trenton. Here they met resistance from a combined Allied task force which had been waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting Germans. The following Allied armoured units awaited the Panzers in Trenton: 12th Self-propelled Artillery Company (25 M7 Priests). 3rd Company, 9th Royal Tank Regiment (10 Churchill VII). 1st and 2nd Companies, 9th Armoured Brigade (28 Shermans). 79th Scout Platoon (5 Daimler Mk II) Opposing them were these Axis units: 596th Heavy Tank Battalion (10 Tiger I). 93rd Heavy Anti-tank Company (5 PzJagd Elefants). 35th Panzer Regiment (35 PzKpfw IV H). 1st Company, Italian 73rd Infantry Regt. "Il Duce" (5 SdKfz 251/1). Although the Germans knew from prior experience that the Allies took pains to evacuate all civilians from possible battle areas, they approached the town cautiously, just in case an evacuation had not been carried out. This caution cost the Germans dearly, for as they were slowly creeping toward the town a hurricane artillery barrage put down by the Allies' M7's enveloped their formation. The Priests had range on the enemy tanks and were firing from behind the town. What had been an orderly advance became a mad scramble for the safety of the town as the Panzers flooded across the approaches to the town. The accuracy of the Allied artillery was devastating to the German armour. Soon the Italian infantry lost the support of all the Tiger I's and all but one of the escorting Elefants. The Panzer IV H companies tried to continue the advance on Trenton with the Italian APC1s following close behind, but to no avail. The enemy artillery soon caused their numbers to dwindle. Finally the Germans were forced to retire from the field of battle, stopped at the gates of Trenton. But this defeat only strengthened the German Army's determination to smash the myth of Allied invincibility in battle. There was sure to be a Second Battle of Trenton. Meanwhile, the battles at sea have not lost their intensity or importance. The outlook is grave for the Axis troops, who seem to be penned in by their enemies and unable to break out into the open, which would be their only chance for victory. The Germans are therefore bound and determined to take Trenton by storm. To this end they reshuffle their forces in the south accordingly, bringing up fresh formations and hoping their new strength will be a tonic to the New Jersey campaign. The Allies, on the other hand, are supremely elated at their string of victories in the last month, and are evidently becoming more and more adept at defensive battles. They carefully note information coming in on the new Axis units gathering before Trenton, and do some gathering of their own. Action in the North Atlantic: May 29, 1947 Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 119 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1971 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com