Fire in the East - 1941-1945.

[Pegasus]

Campaign Update

Time to catch up with action across the continent. We left off at the Start of Turn 10, and rejoin at the start of (my) Turn 14.
(Remember again, my Theatre Recon is 5%, so there’s a lot out there I can’t see)

General.

The enemy advance continues in a relentless fashion. So many of his units appear to be damaged and depleted but they continue to smash forwards – how long can this be sustained?

At this stage in the game, I am getting a lot of reinforcements and units reconstitute very quickly. They mostly appear in Gorky, (and vary from almost full strength and full supply, to fractional strength and no supply). None-the-less, on average each Army is receiving one more unit each turn, and I have sufficient rail points to move them to their parent HQ. (Some -especially the smaller units - can get clobbered by his Air Interdiction forced to stop until next turn)

Leningrad Front.

Map Turn 14 Leningrad Front



Presumably in response to my reinforcement of Leningrad by rail, my opponent did try and disrupt my rail net – especially the Moscow to Leningrad route – by air-attacking bridges, but this appeared to have limited success. Only about 1 in 10 of his attacks destroyed a bridge, and I had enough rail repair and engineers to make good the damage immediately. My opponent must have come to the conclusion that these attacks were not worth the effort as they stopped after a couple of turns.

The 27th Army held well, supported by the 8th Army which added 4 RD over two turns as units entered the map and were reunited with the from an HQ and Cav Division that were there on Turn 10. (Because of this rapid growth in strength I decided to delay withdrawal of the the NKVD Divs in place on the Narva River to stop enemy forces crossing the Narva River and undermining the 8th and 27th’s positions.)

Last turn, however, Axis units “split” them and are closing on Batetskiy. This has made their positions untenable and need to withdraw the best they can, being as much of a nuisance as possible.

I need to hold the Enemy at the Luga River, otherwise Leningrad is doomed.

He has pushed the 32nd Army hard at Narva so I had to react by putting in the 54th. ( I put this formation there as their HQ is not yet on the map, but the Leningrad Front HQ (a “Free Support” Unit) is in the vicinity and can support them. I have also employed the Baltic Fleet to provide artillery support.

The 43rd Army was deployed south to the river, keeping as many units as possible in good defensive hexes and good supply. The 31st Army will defend the Luga-Betetskiy area and the 48th will cover Novgorod.

I haven’t got much left for a reserve, But the 52nd Army HQ that can be seen in Leningrad is due to be joined by 4 RD's and Recon Reg over the next 2 turns, and two more RD’s in Moscow that can be railroad in next turn.

We will see more of this front in detail very soon I’m sure!

Smolensk Front.
Map Turn 14 –Smolensk Front.



The 22nd Army was encircled and for the most part destroyed, with only 2 straggling units remaining. I moved the 49th Army from Depot in Smolensk a couple of turns ago in response to this, and redeployed the 50th Army (now pretty strong at 8 RD’s, 2 Cav Div and 1 Recon) to Smolensk at the same time.

The 13th Army managed to retreat back behind the Dnepr to Mogliev in good order. This freed up the (now quite strong) 24th Army that was in Depot there to redeploy, both covering the river south of Mogliev, and providing some units for the Battle of Chernigov, just of the southern edge of the Map.

The 20th Army held the Panzer forces river for nearly four turns, although much of it ended up drifting towards the fighting at Vitebsk which became under increasing pressure with the demise of the 22nd Army. Eventually, the Panzers force a crossing at Surail. The Defending units fought to the last and evaporated, so I had to detach a couple of units of the 49th to hold the Panzer up whilst I can pull back what I can from Vitebsk

My biggest concern is the large open space East of Mogliev (Inside purple circle). The land to the south is not a great problem. With its marshes, rivers and forests, retreating units could delay any movement in force through it for long enough for me to reinforce Bryansk with either new arrivals or unit from elsewhere.

East of Mogliev there is plenty of open terrain and a good road/rail net. If Axis forces breakthrough across the Dnepr, they could cross this area in strength very quickly, out flanking Smolensk. I will move the 3rd Army which has formed in Depot at Vyazma and is in good shape down to Roslav to cover this.

Kiev Front.

Map Turn 14 Kiev Front.



Forces in Kiev are dug in for the inevitable assault, and consist mostly of elements of the 26 Army and some other straggles and some Front Assets.

The 18th Army did very well and still hold Uman, however they have now been seriously outflanked to their right. The 6th and 12th Armies didn’t get much of a chance to withdraw as planned.

The 9th Sept Army had pulled back to the Bug in good order, with the screening force still hampering enemy movement.
(Further south, just off the map, Odessa has been surrounded, but my line on the Bug River is anchored by a reasonably sized force in Nikolayev)

These forces on the Bug, however have been compromised by failure of the 12th Army’s planned good order retreat (See first Post). There is a force headed by an SS Div and a Cavalry Division that have reach Tol’noye (And I’m sure there’s more behind them that I can’t see.)

The 9th Sept Army and the 26th Mech Corps will have to retreat back to the Ingul River. Elements of the screening force that are not engaged will pull back to the Bug and deny the enemy any crossing points. I will need to put together a force to hold a line from Kirovgrad to Cherkassy and link up the Ingul river line with the now very strong 19th Army on the Dnepr.
A Panzer Force has attempted to force a crossing of the Dnepr just North of Kanev. I should be able to push this back, at least until his assault is significantly reinforced.

The more open spaces of the Southern Front makes it much more difficult to defend than in the North, the risk and consequences of breakthrough are potentially very high. I have to give up a lot of ground to prevent the destruction of my armies in this theatre.