Thanks for your patience, guys.

cheers



Turn 39, March 12th 1942


German (operational) troop strength at the beginning of this turn has increased again, to about 3.1 Mio men, with the number of tanks ready for action increasing to 1.814 as well. The number of operational aircraft on the Eastern Front has been pretty stable the last couple of months, hovering at ~ 2.800.


Army Group North:

Operation Maiglöckchen

In the early morning hours, the forests and marches still shrouded in dense mists, assault groups from the Finnish IV Corps and the German XXVIII Corps broke into the Red Army positions north of Nebolochi. Devastating air attacks by the Finnish Air Force and the Luftwaffe caused heavy casualties among the Russians and soon the front line crumbled under the relentless assault. 60th Motorized Infantry division quickly deepened the penetration, handing over the momentum to SS Totenkopf division which completed the planned movement for the northern pincer by swinging south.

At the same time to the South XXIII and XXXVII infantry corps, attacking between Bologoe and Vyzhnyvolochek blast a 30 mile gap through the Russian front line. Having cleared a way through the Red Army positions Col.General Hoepner unleashes his XXXXI and LVI Panzerkorps. 1st and 6th Panzerdivision drive through the remaining Soviet troops like a hot knife through butter and 36th MotInf division finally links up with Totenkopf after heavy fighting, closing the trap! 9 rifle divisions, 10 rifle brigades, 1 cavalry divisions, 4 cavalry corps and 3 tank brigades are caught in the Kessel!



150 miles to the South-East the great Battle of Kalinin has been won! More than a 100.000 Russian soldiers surrender, 2.000 guns and 100+ tanks are captured! Among other formations the 1st Shock Army has been wiped out to a man. Our losses have been light, although several of my Panzerdivisions are still in dire need of refitting. 10th, 12th, 17th and 19th Panzerdivisions count less than 30 thanks on average. Thankfully, the other 6 Panzerdivisions in this sector are back to well over 100 tanks each.

To the East of Moscow the small Kessel at Ramenskoe has been liquidated, 35.000 Russians have surrendered.



The number of fresh Red Army formations appearing on the front is a tad disconcerting though, although most of these new brigades and divisions have only very low combat value.

To deal with that problem I'm thinking about yet another limited offensive thrust, Operation Rheingold. In the Moscow area I have a Panzerdivision, two MotInf divisions and the elite Regiment Großdeutschland, while I could easily muster three Panzerdivisions in the Tula area for a raid towards Ryazan. I need about two weeks to prepare for this operation, we'll see how the situation looks by then.



All along the front from Kaluga to Voronezh I conduct 20+ carefully orchestrated attacks, causing another 50.000 Red Army casualties and routing two dozen formations of brigade and division size, my own losses about 1/10 of the enemy's. The Soviet forces in this area are by now very weak, quite an inviting opportunity for a Panzerarmy...



In the South Operation Abendrot ends with the complete annihilation of the encircled Soviet troops! More than 80.000 Russians surrender, 1.500 guns and 150 tanks are captured.



On the Crimea the situation is unchanged. Other than starting to transfer artillery regiments from all along the front to 11th Army there's not much to do right now. 6 infantry divisions are on their way to the Crimea, once they're in place I can start worrying about taking Sevastopol.




This was a very good week. The Red Army lost almost 300.000 men, while my casualties are a mere 10.000.

Red Army operational (ready) strength at the end of my turn has dropped to 4.166.000 men and 2.600 tanks.






Last edited by Para_Bellum; 10/12/11 12:31 PM.

"...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