Part 68: Turn 65: September 10, 1942

Hey new free divisions, it's been awhile.






And more mediocre commanders, bleh.




The Finns haven't really reacted to me yet, perhaps pushing in a little further will illicit a response.



Good progress against the Finns, if I can maintain this pace for a few more weeks I should be able to accomplish my objectives.



South of Leningrad I don't take any hexes but I do launch a series of attacks to reduce fortifications and kill Germans. With luck I'll be able to take some hexes next turn.



The Volkhov front continues to face serious opposition but manages to take a few of the weaker hexes.




A couple spots look very weak here but I have a feeling that's got more to do with poor recon.



The Moscow defense zone manages to snag a few hexes for the first time in a very long time. Some of these German divisions are starting to crack under pressure.




The Kalinin front makes some slow, extremely bloody progress. Several hexes get taken and even the hexes that hold lose hundreds of Germans. I'll gladly throw away 4:1 losses if I can beat up some of the last few well equipped German formations.




The western front captures the two pocketed regiments and then swoops in for more. I don't get anywhere near closing this pocket but I think I'll be able to hang onto at least 3 of these counters, maybe more.




Lots of german regiments and security units are showing up here. The Germans are breaking down divisions and pulling in garrisons from captured cities to try to form a coherent line.



I've been seeing more and more of these but I don't think I've managed to snap a shot of them yet because they don't stick around long. This German division is in such bad shape that it's unfit for combat (indicated by the 0=0) and will rout if I so much as occupy a neighboring hex. Most of these have been Axis allies, I think this is only the second German formation I've seen like this.



Anyways the Bryansk front continues to make good progress. I rout a few counters and continue to wrap around to the north. Ideally the tail end of this will keep sweeping out until I hit the Dnepr and then the whole front can just keep pushing north, it's extremely easy to encircle Germans when there's basically a 90 degree bend in the Soviet line.



The southwestern front pushes forward and takes control of the eastern bank of the Dnepr, driving the Germans back into the Pripyat marshes. 3 of the German counters are too strong to move so I go around them, more PoWs for my collection.



With the Bryansk front swinging north and the Southwestern front successfully taking the rivers there's no room on the line for the Urals military district anymore so these two armies are walking south to Kiev to reinforce the Volkhov front.



Lots of German counters coming off the rails running through the marshes, it's a good thing I have those 2 Urals armies coming down here because the Volkhov front is stretched thin.




Lots of extremely loose pockets down here, and it appears that heroic Hungarian brigade has evaporated into the countryside, escaping a circle of 8 divisions.






All the Axis forces in the northern pockets surrender quickly so I send out my tank corps to snag be another batch for next week.



The southeastern front continues to loop down, finally reaching the Romanian border.



My cavalry punches across the border, scattering Romanians and cutting rail lines. I don't have a real line here per say so my intention is just prevent one from forming up to oppose me.



And in the far south the Transcaucasus front prepares to enter Romania with its main force of infantry. I send the tank and cavalry corps out ahead to convert hexes so the infantry can leap across this major river without paying massive MP penalties.



The NKPS rail repair unit reached Odessa this turn and will begin running a rail out across the Dnestr next turn. Until then the Transcaucasus front is horrifically beyond what is possible for me to supply, I'm keeping the tanks running on airdrops for now.




The Wiking and Totenkopf SS divisions show up and start tearing into the Moscow M.D. They lack the CV to really break through my line so all that's going to happen is here a bunch of Germans and Russians are going to get killed.



The Germans cut their losses and leave these formations to their fate, trying to save them would just get more divisions captured.



More and more Germans showing up down here every turn, luckily most of them aren't in great shape.



That looks more like a line than anything I've seen down here in weeks.



And now the reason there weren't any Romanians in the last 2 screenshots, Romania has surrendered and all of her counters that weren't stacked with Axis forces have switched sides. I'll go over the specifics of everything that happened next turn but for now suffice it to say there's going to be a huge jump on the frontline map this turn.



Well that was a hell of a turn. Romania surrendering this early opens up a lot of options for me, I've now got a full month to consolidate my position and reposition myself to invade Hungary come winter.