Part 15
The air recon reports show that the enemy have thrown up some more lines in front of the 16th Army, but only to the east, and not the north where I am planning on advancing.
They start by cutting off the enemy units to the south.
they also cut off another eight units, who are not likely to escape. 18th Army redeploys as the enemy push out from Leningrad somewhat.
the 18th try a couple of attacks, one works, but the other flounders horribly as the enemy commits two more divisions of reverses. Marked here as R.
4th Panzer group push some of the northern Ruski's back, create another breach in their river line. We also, importantly, get the 8th Panzer division and the Totenkopf SS motorized division across the river. This should improve our mobility rapidly.
Overall, after I resupply these units with fuel by air. I'm happy by these moves, we've finally gotten the front moving once more.
The recon reports for the south show that we have a large number of Russians to get through before I can reach Moscow.
In the south, 4th Army cuts off the enemy at Kursk, and makes a deep bulge around a large number of enemy forces. They also hook around some of the enemy positions at Tula.
2nd Army spreads themselves a bit thinner to cover the line. They also push back the enemy lines a little.
The 2nd Panzer group surge forward, and manage to encircle a good number of enemy troops – I don't thin this will hold, but it threatens the enemy line, and that's good – we've made some good advances this week.
3rd Panzer group and 9th Army also advance, but much slower. They manage to trap another two divisions and a brigade, one of them the 2nd Guards Division.
I would like some more movement on the northern sector, but the breakthrough in the south is going to force the Russians to really move their men around.
The southern recon reports look like the Luftwaffe pilots took the day off. This is in fact what the front looks like.
6th Army continues to advance, looking for good defensive lines behind a river. They also eliminate the enemy forces at Kharkov – as well as the T-34 factory there! Guess which will be more important over the next few years?
Marked in red here are my planned winter lines for the sector.
17th Army clears Stalino, with its heavy industry and armaments factories.
It takes a fair few battles, but we eliminate all resistance in the area.
11th Army breaks further into the Crimea. They are facing less of a problem from the enemy than their lack of ability to move.
1st Panzer group moves forwards, and 11th Panzer Division takes the port of Taganrog.
This is more important for one reason.
We destroy a LaGG-3 factory. I know these are rubbish planes, but the factory could have been upgraded to make things that are actually scary!
In the north, the Russians have written off the eleven units I have cut off, and their line suddenly looks a lot weaker.
The centre sees the Tula pocket broken, but the Kursk and Kalainan pockets hold. Moscow is in the balance at the moment, and I have to stay mobile at the flanks.
In the south, I am thinking about using the Donets as part of my winter line. It should make it much harder for the Russians to cross.
Our losses have gone over the half a million mark for us, while the Russians have a bad week and their total is approaching three million.
We knocked 30,000 off the Russian army last week, but our numbers are not increasing.
its not that we're not getting men to the front, its just that the losses we are taking are always rising.
Production continues as normal.
We see our resource stores jump by a massive three hundred thousand tonnes – this will see us in good stead, even if the front line units are still in need of resupply.
Click here for the full 1577x2756 image
Click here for the full 1831x1375 image
There is no historical map, but that hole south of Moscow is looking threatening. I may not have the manpower or time to exploit it though.