Arctic Front: Fury at Viborg Bay (3 x 3 Team Game)

[Crossroads]

Picture: Katyusha rocket artillery in action near Vyborg (RU) / Viipuri (FIN) / Viborg (SWE).

** Fury at Viborg Bay EF:FB

[i]Complexity: 10
Turns: 45
Modified complexity: 10 * 45 = 450
Size modifier: 9

First side: Axis

Visibility 7

Allied Air 24; Ammo 80; Smoke 50
Axis Air 24; Ammo 80; Smoke 20
AI Allied 75; Axis 35

Major Loss 4250; Minor Loss 5500; Minor Win 7250; Major Win 8750

[Karelian Isthmus, 120 km North from Leningrad, Finland.] [H2H] [HIS] [GD] [ALL : N AF: N VV]

On June 20 1944 the defence of the Karelian Isthmus continued to be on a brink of a disaster. The seemingly unstoppable armored Soviet formations continued their advance deeper into Karelian Isthmus, towards the city of Viborg and the excellent road network into inner Finland therefrom.

Worried about the quickly worsening overall situation at Baltic sector, Hitler decided to lift the arms embargo he had ordered on Finland in the beginning of the year. Soon, the Stuka's and FW-190s of the Flight Detachment Kuhlmey made their presence known, while joining the battle were the German 120. infantry division together with the 303. StuG Rgt.

While the retreating Finnish units had managed to avoid encirclement, the material losses had been high. With reinforcements now arriving to Isthmus in number from quieter sectors of Eastern Karelia, and panzerfausts and schrecks available in great numbers for the first time, the shell shocked defenders started to again believe in their capabilities of stopping the Soviet advance.

Yet, the Leningrad Front commander Govorov remained confident. The fast moving offensive was precisely on schedule. He repeated his order for relentless pressure on the retreating enemy, certain that the final encirclement of the Finnish III and IV Army Corps would take place any day now.

(Players note: Access to 'suspensions bridges' spanning a length of a full hex can be blocked by using a successful Damage Wall or Bridge command on the medium bridges located over a hex side with a deep river at either end of each suspension bridge. Access can be restored through successful Build Lt Hexside Bridge or Lay Vehicle Bridge commands over the same hex sides.)
(Players note: Loading Crewed Boats and Pontoon Ferrys into trucks requires an Engineer unit in the hex. First load Engineers into the boat/ferry, then load the boat/ferry with engineers on it into a truck. This results with the boat/ferry being loaded in a truck, and engineers again unloaded in the hex.)
(Axis player note: Axis side is provided with Construction engineers for creating trenches from any improved positions in place, to simulate the late minute efforts for strengthening the neglected VKT-line positions.)

[** Requires players to install East Front: Forgotten Battles Mod version 1.35 or newer **]
[Scandinavian Terrain sub mod recommended to be enabled when playing this scenario.]
[Can be played as 3x3 team game. Allied players: A corps each. Axis players: A division each, with Armored Division as a common reserve unit.]

Historical notes - Snippets from Wikipedia:

Viborg and Tienhaara

Soviet 1944 offensive had started on June 10, 1944 and in matter of days broke through of the fortified Finnish defense lines in southern Karelian Isthmus. (See: **Bitter Kuuterselkä LWM)

On June 20 the advancing Soviet forces were already literally on the gates of Viipuri (Viborg), Finland's second largest city. The relatively inexperienced Finnish 20th Brigade had been transferred to defend the city, with strict orders from High Command to prevent the city from falling to enemy. However, it was still inadequately supplied after its transport, and lacked effective anti-tank weapons, and mostly had only the ammunition they carried with them.

Not prepared for Soviet armored assault, led by 108th Corps' 90th Rifle Division supported by 260th Separate Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment and 1238th Self-propelled Gun Regiment, the first phase of the Leningrad Front's Vyborg offensive was soon completed. The capture of the city only after a brief battle shocked the whole Finland, as the defending 20th Infantry Brigade ran out of artillery shells by noon, and soon after fled the city to the safety of the northern shores of Kivisillansalmi Bay, destroying all bridges behind them.

After capturing Viborg the lead elements of the Soviet 21st Army attempted to push forward along the main road leading north from Viborg but strong artillery support, narrow area of operations, and very favorable terrain made it possible for the Finnish 61st Infantry Regiment to hold Soviet advance forcing the Soviet 21st Army to look for a more suitable location for breaching the Finnish VKT-line.

Tali - Ihantala

The Soviet forces next attempted to press on with the offensive at Tali, some 15 km east of Viborg. The Soviet army tried a breakthrough along both sides of Lake Leitimojärvi but was stopped after advancing only a few kilometers. However, Soviet tanks from the 27th Tank Regiment were able to force their way to the vital Portinhoikka crossroads.

The Finns were able to organize a counterattack with the reserves of the 18th Division, parts of the 17th Division and some battle groups from the 4th Division. Later that afternoon the Finnish armored division joined the battle and managed to push the Soviet attackers back to their starting point.

After bringing fresh troops to the front the 21st Army managed to push Finnish lines all the way to Ihantala but failed to create any breakthroughs to go any further. Soviet forces were then ordered to cease offensive operations and take up defensive positions as Stavka redeployed forces back to other fronts.

The battle fought over the area is considered to be the largest battle in the Nordic countries history.

Viborg Bay

Though Soviet advance forces captured Viborg on June 20, the main offensive got stuck into stubborn Finnish defense in both the Tienhaara and Tali-Ihantala region. Despite heavy fighting and use of fresh reserves, the Finnish VKT-line bend but did not break, forcing the Leningrad Front again to seek alternate routes past the Finnish defenses.

What followed was roughly the same plan as in the Winter War and called for a crossing of the Viborg Bay: the 59th Army was ordered to capture the islands dominating the Viborg Bay and to perform an amphibious landing on the opposing shore.

In costly battles the 124th and 224th Rifle Divisions of the Soviet 59th Army managed to capture the islands dominating the Viborg Bay, but failed to gain bridgehead on the northern shore of the bay.

Across River Vuoksi

With both the initial attempt at Tienhaara and Tali-Ihantala as well as the crossing at Viborg Bay blocked, the Leningrad Front now turned its attention to the still undecided battles raging at Äyräpää-Vuosalmi region (see: **Across River Vuoksi LWM).