I began playing out this scenario on January 28, 2022, and the following day I returned to the basement to continue the Siege of Ensenada. This alternative history game saw the rebels of the PLM besieging Colonel-Governor Vega's Federal forces in the state capitol around April 4, 1911. On day two of this game, the PLM rebels were already poised to charged into the center of Ensenada, having conquered the northern edge of town and caused damage and chaos in the south.
PLM commander Simón Berthold began the second day and the 9th Round of this scenario by sending a horseman with an order to the 2nd group. Berthold ordered the 2nd group to send dynamiters to attack the large contingent of federal soldiers between the tavern and the bay. The goal was to clear the way for a cavalry charge into the plaza. Group 2's leader, Pacheco, received the order and passed it along to his men.
Group 2's most advanced dynamiter soon reached the tavern, and had view of the soldiers through the archways of the building's front.
Not far off, federal soldiers streamed north, relieving the few pinned officers of the Headquarters staff who had been holding the area by the fountain.
Two more of Pacheco's dynamite men reached the corners of buildings further north, while three advanced riflemen crept up into the nearby trees. Behind them, most of Pacheco's group headed south toward Ensenada.
Berthold next mobilized the cavalry. They prepared to gallop into the plaza.
During the overwatch phase, three of Pacheco's insurrectos fired from the windows of the white house across the road from the tavern, killing two soldiers.
When the ranged weapons phase began, two of three of Pacheco's dynamiters were able to light their fuses. The first man tried to lob his stick through the archway to the front of the tavern.
The second dynamiter aimed for the fountain in the center of the soldiers' formation.
The first stick of dynamite got caught up in the vestibule of the tavern. The second landed right on target.
The blast killed nine soldiers and pinned seven more. The first dynamiter, whose explosive went off just around the corner from his position, was also pinned by the blast.
The federal soldiers who were not pinned returned fire. They managed to hit one of the rebels inside the white house. Group 2's three riflemen firing from the trees killed another two soldiers. The company, formerly the Federal reservists, were down to half strength and had to run a morale check. They passed.
On the eastern edge of town, Jack Mosby and his group of IWW volunteers fired from behind the hills at Rurales garrisoning the buildings.
In the previous day's fighting, Mosby's dynamiters had managed to catch the roof of one of these strongholds on fire. Now, the flames spread.
Six fearless IWWs passed a bravery test to charge the burning house.
They raced across the open area and breached the door. A Rurale officer stood his ground in the doorway, killing one of the rebels with his sword.
The five remaining wobblies covered the front of the building, trapping their enemies inside the burning house.
On the south side of Ensenada, Caule's staff attempted to rescue the survivors of his group, who had been hit and pinned by shells from the gunboat in the harbor and then surrounded by the pro-Diaz militia. Caule's remaining fighters had previously charged up the eastern slope of the hill, survived this round's overwatch phase, and now managed to shoot down four of the militia. This created a little room for the pinned rebels, who were no longer surrounded, to escape to the East.
During the regroupment phase, Caule's group managed to flee the southern hill. This left the objective back in the possession of the government forces. On the other hand, Caule had never intended to capture the objective, but only to distract Colonel-Governor Vega long enough to allow Berthold's main group to attack from the north.
Caule now took up an advantageous position back in his starting point, behind the south-eastern ridge. From there, he could cover the stragglers from his group.
The federal militia regrouped on the hill opposite from them, removing the PLM flag and raising instead the Mexican Government's flag.
Meanwhile in the center of town, Vega relocated his headquarters away from the fighting near the tavern. Now he occupied the restaurant further south. There, a machine-gun covered the back window, facing the road east.
Round 10 opened with Emilio Guerrero leading the anarchist cavalry on a full charge south toward Ensenada.
Supported by Pacheco's Second Group, the cavalry slashed through the mostly-pinned Federal reserve company.
The soldiers who hadn't been pinned in the previous round's dynamite attack managed to shoot two riders off their horses, but they could not stop the charge. Guerrero's riders cut down three soldiers with their sabers, and shot to death another four.
In the face of this desperate assault, the federal soldiers passed another morale test and some how did not flee.
Still, this breakthrough represented a turning point in the game. Indigenous horsemen riding beneath the red banner of the PLM streamed into the plaza of Ensenada, cheering and shouting as they galloped toward their ultimate objective.
A few blocks to the east, the brave Rural officer who defended his position in the stucco house with his sword succumbed when the building burnt down and collapsed on him. Of the two other Rurales inside, another died and the last could only surrender to Mosby's unionists waiting just outside the door.
Other Rurales fired on the IWWs from the green house across the street, killing one.
During the regroupment phase, the Rurales leadership rushed to meet with Vega in the restaurant. They succeeded in convincing their governor to abandon Ensenada for the perceived safety of the southern hill. Before fleeing the town, Vega paused to pass orders to the gunboat Guerrero floating in the bay to lay waste to the northern half of the capitol.
Round 11 began, however, with the rapid advance of Emilio Guerrero's cavalry. They rode south out of the plaza and surrounded the Rurales and federal HQ at the restaurant. Guerrero demanded the pro-government forces surrender, but the stubborn authoritarians refused.
Just behind this action, Pacheco's group surrounded the pinned survivors of the reverse company of Federal soldiers. They, too, refused to surrender to the anarchists scum.
Berthold ordered Baeza's group, occupying the northern hill which had been Objective A, to leave a few mem to guard the position and send the rest toward the center of town. They charged down the street on the other side of the tavern, quickly reaching the plaza.
In the south, Caule's remaining fighters gave up on recapturing the southern hill. They moved north to try and reach Mosby's group.
Back in the center of town, the Rurales guarding the south-western barricade left their position to try and rescue their surrounded commanders.
They raced north, coming face to face with Guerrero's cavalry.
With the movement phase of round 11 over, the ranged weapons phase began. The Federal gunboat took aim at the north edge of town, and fired at the hill which was Objective A.
Six shells came crashing down on the hilltop and smashed into the roofs and streets below.
On the hilltop, the shells killed four rebels, including two dynamiters, and flattened many of the barricades. In the streets below, the shells killed a civilian, damaged two houses and set one on fire.
Next came the skirmish phase. The survivors of the reserve company of Federal soldiers were now unpinned, and they managed to fire on the rebels surrounding them. Two soldiers fired and landed their shots, killing one rebel from Group 2 and a horseman from the cavalry. A third soldier missed a shot at a horseman at point blank range.
Patient Pacheco gave these soldiers one last chance to surrender, and they finally complied. All six surviving soldiers of the reserve company lined up as captives of the revolution.
Just down the street, Vega's staff fired out the windows of the restaurant at the anarchist cavalry, but completely missed. The Rurales at the doorway and riding up to support their leaders fired on the rebels, killing four riders and one footman.
With three pistols and three rifles, Guerrero and his advanced riders gunned down the entire Rurales command section, killing all five officers in the street outside of the restaurant.
Emilio Guerrero called into the restaurant to demand Vega surrender. The governor again refused.
Two more rebel rides shot at the mounted rurales advancing on them from the south, but missed.
During the regroupment phase Vega and the surviving staff members considered fleeing out the window, but they failed the bravery test and remained inside the restaurant.
At the end of Turn 11, the PLM under Berthold had occupied the entire northern half of Ensenada. While they had been defeated in the south, their forces continued to push into town from the east as well. Almost all of the surviving pro-government forces were holed up in buildings in the south half of town.
Only on the southern hill did the government still control one of the objectives. There, the militia held on to the defensive position at the top of the hill, though they had also suffered heavy casualties in the process of beating back Caule's group.
On the eastern edge of town, Caule's group had almost reached Mosby's section, who were putting pressure on the Rurales holding the houses there.
There, I ended play for the day. Could the surviving forces under Vega regroup and stage a daring counterattack, driving the rebels from the capitol? Would Berthold succeed in capturing Ensenada, leaving Upper Baja California in the hands of the most radical army of all of the Mexican revolutionaries? Check back next time for the conclusion of this solo game!
No comments:
Post a Comment