Turn 19, 23rd October 1941



No major battles were fought during this turn, the front has been mostly static due to mud again.


In the North I keep bringing the Finns into the line, relieving German troops to deploy on other fronts. The Leningrad sector so far suffered the least from the mud since the rail network in the North is quite good, the short distance from the railheads keeping my troops in supply.

Northern strike group started to assemble in preparation for Operation Westerwald. Any kind of offensive warfare besides a limited number of preparatory attacks where Red Army units had exposed themselves was still impossible due to the mud and the logistics problems that comes with it.



In the Smolensk-Moscow sector the 6th Infantry Division managed to rout two Soviet rifle brigades in preparation for the southern attack of Westerwald. 16th and 19th Panzerdivisions start moving into their assault positions. If Westerwald doesn't succeed in destroying a large number of Red Army divisions and shortening my front line the winter will get dangerous really quickly...



The vast expanse between the Oka river south of Moscow and Rostov at the coast of the Black Sea sees the Red Army continuing their slow withdrawal with my troops following behind. In the Tula sector the Soviets keep concentrating a large number of formations, looks like the forces for a southern pincer movement towards Moscow. The preparation for Westerwald leaves only four Panzerdivisions around Moscow, I need to strengthen the lines around Tula ASAP with reinforcements from the Leningrad front.



Down south the critical situation in the Stalino-Voroshilovgrad-Rostov sector slowly gets under control again. The attack on Rostov has failed because I overextended my lines and outran my supply in the mud but I managed to pull back my armoured spearheads in heavy defensive fighting in atrocious weather conditions. Still, all three Panzerkorps (III, XXXXVIII, XIV) are now in need for a week or two of refit/resupply.

At least my infantry formations are slowly coming up to reinforce the line (or actually form a line at all!) and to the west the Romanians have started clearing the area between the Black Sea and the Dnepr.



On the Crimea the situation is unchanged, I bring up reinforcements and try to keep my divisions supplied, but no major battles are fought under the current weather conditions.


"...late afternoon the Air Tasking Order came in [and] we found the A-10 part and we said, "We are going where!? We are doing what!?"

Capt. Todd Sheehy, Hog pilot, on receiving orders during Operation Desert Storm