Battle of Roodstad (1941)

The Battle of Roodstad was a battle that took place on the 24th and 25th of May, 1941 at Roodstad.

Background
German soldiers invaded Brunant on 20 May 1941. By the 23rd of May most of Brunant was under German control. Roodstad was bypassed since it was well defended and since the Red Castle fortification system would slow progress.

Battle formations
The German forces involved in the attack was the 109th Infantry Divisions (used at Koningstad), consisting of 10,400 well-armed soldiers. Brunanter defenders included remnants of the troops stationed at Carrington and other Roodstader units, totaling 4,280 men.

Artillery barrage
On 24 May German soldiers began encroaching on Roodstad and its castle. The fortress was armed with heavy 19th-century guns. They fired on the oncoming Germans, but rather ineffectively. The Germans attempted an assault in the evening but were repulsed.

Attack on Roodstad
At 4:15 AM on the 25th, German 7.5 cm field guns sent a barrage of gunfire and pounded the fortress. Not prepared for an early-morning attack, most of the garrison was ineffective in containing this and by early morning most soldiers had retreated to higher ground in Roodstad. At 6:00 the 75mm guns were turned on Roodstad and began pounding the city. 40 minutes later, much of the historic city was in ruins and only the newer surroundings of the city were relatively unharmed. By 7AM Germans were storming the city, and though there was some fierce close-quarters combat, were clearly in control.

The Germans lost 980 soldiers, mostly while entering Roodstad. 2,700 Brunanter soldiers died or were wounded, and 1500 others were taken prisoner. Furthermore, 8,800 civilians (out of a population of 41,000, approx. 21%) were killed, either during the artillery barrages or subsequent retaliation.

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