Part 57

The Finns cannot do anything against the well dug in Russians, but the 16th and 18th Armies can do something.



We've opened a hole and now have three units surrounded.





9th Army creep a little closer towards Moscow.



There are a couple of limited attacks in the 4th Army sectors, but these two army groups are not the main thrust.







6th Army has a minor offensive, and we trap another Tank Corps around the delightfully named Boguchak.



In the far south I pin down the majority of the Russian forces.
I then eliminate the first pocket of Russians.



I then start on the second pocket, which is much larger.



They are efficiently cleaned up.



We then drive north with the armoured forces, the Russians have only a few units in the area that can be trusted upon, and they melt away. We are then in amongst their airfields, and our men have orders to destroy any plane they find.



This puts pressure on Stalingrad from the north, and may well force the Russians to abandon the city.



1st Panzer army moves east, getting another unit across the river, but we are unable to cut the rail line to Stalingrad.



Seeing this, I use 4th Panzer army to hook east once more. This threatened the Russians flank, and may cause them to withdraw these units over the Volga. I hope not however, as I wish to trap all these units.



I finally threaten the remaining Russians on this side of the Don, if these units don't retreat, I will do my best to cut off a huge number of them.



The Russian positions here are looking poor, but once they hold up on the banks of a major river, I will have a few problems shifting them.





Near Moscow the Russians throw a hundred thousand men at a single Division, which falls back, but not before giving the Ruski's a bloody nose.



They also rout a Romanian unit in the south.



They don't retreat in the Stalingrad region, Stalin must be shouting at them. I will be able to take one of the cities outskirts, but it doesn't hold the prize of the T-34 factory.



They also hold onto their positions this side of the Volga.







Russian losses mount to 167,000 this week, and they have lost four hundred tanks.



Smashing the Red Air Force in the Stalingrad region cost them dear.



That's right, we've taken our nearly four hundred planes. This is really going to hurt them.



That said, they still have 10,000 planes and 4,500 tanks.



Supplies still look good. But I'm not sure if I should view this as ominous or not.



Paulus in command of an army in the Stalingrad area? Hell no, Model can take over.



The fuel situation takes a dip, but nothing to much to worry about at this time.
Someone asked for the scores, and here they are.



Lets see how much this jumps once we start taking Stalingrad.


Click here for the full 1831x1375 image

This maps a bit odd as it apparently didn't save the last turns data. It should be sorted for next turn.