Part 13
The recon reports show that the enemy are firming up the front some more here. I need to push for the ports, only then can Leningrad be quickly taken.
Things are quiet for the 18th Army, they make one attack, which is repulsed with heavy losses. They also make a bridgehead across the river.
16th Army in the south finds the enemy an odd mix of concentrated and dispersed – they cannot clear the trapped units, but they do encircle six more divisions. They also connect up with the rest of AGN near Novograd.
Other units move across the river to cement the bridgehead.
4th Panzer group has the job of moving on the two closest ports.
The 3rd Moterized Division is able to penetrate forward and take Novaya Ladoga, but no forces are able to take Kobona. At least we have now cut the rail line to the second port, so it should be all but useless.
In the centre, there are more and more Russians in front of us, and the Panzers will need to take a back seat due to lack of fuel.
9th Army and 3rd Panzer group make their moves, the main thrust is now to the north here, although we move forwards another ten Kilometres;
We get a couple of Panzer Divisions into the open, but cannot close an other pocket, this will force the Russians to draw off a load more troops to lengthen the front. They have to be weak somewhere.
4th Army moves forwards, reaching the edge of Kursk but not getting any further. There is now a Sailent around Orel that I can try and finish off soon.
2nd Army is only able to smooth off their section of the front.
2nd Panzer group crosses the Zhizdra and also marches on Tula. I have created lots of dangerous positions for the Russians, and I hope they will try and hold on to them, so I can catch up.
There are still few Russians down south.
6th Army moves forwards but do not engage the enemy much.
17th Army sweep south of Karkov, ready to hook north and cut the city off.
The Romanians clear Odessa, finally.
And guess what, I finally get that guards Division.
The rest of their units and the 11th Army move south, we get more troops into the Crimea, make a gap but are unable to exploit it.
1st Panzer Group sweeps down to the coast, they cut off Zaporozhye, and cutting of seven units. Stalino is also threatened, and I should be able to take it easily next week – or at least cut all the defenders off.
Those three block hold in the north, and we don't suffer any attacks, so we can clear up some more of the south and hook around.
In the centre, the enemy is massing its air force around Moscow. I'm going to try and move the 3rd Panzer group off the line and sweep north, there is no point in using tanks to try and batter away at the entrenched Ruskis.
The south still seems to have a lack of Russian soldiers.
Here are the casualty reports.
And here are the total numbers. This shows a slight dip for us and a slight increase for them, standard fare for the time. We need a good encirclement to take out more of them quickly.
The replacements see a increase in the number of men going forward, but a decrease in the amount of ammo sent to the front.
This is nothing to do with the factories, which are still pumping out the goods.
Supplies in the front continue to drop as we burn them in combat – the railhead has advanced, but is still far to far ahead.
And here are your maps.
Click here for the full 1577x2756 image
The territory map shows good gains in the south and continued gains on the AGN/AGC line.
Click here for the full 1831x1375 image
My favourite has to be the historical comparison map.
Click here for the full 1831x1375 image
I'm so far ahead compared to historically in all areas except Leningrad. I need to take Moscow now, otherwise I'm going to be mocked for all eternity.
And rightfully so.