Turn 47, May 7th 1942Finally the weather clears up again, my forces no longer waddling through seas of mud!
I had planned to wait another week or two to get all forces into position for
Operation Alberich, but the situation around
Vyshnyvolochek practically forced my hand to strike sooner. The Soviet lines here were still rather weak and not yet heavily fortified, with the threat of Russian reinforcements 'closing the door' looming over the whole battle plan. So, despite not all forces yet in place I launched the great offensive in the North:
The heavily reinforced
II Korps smashed a 40 mile gap into the Russian front line and then once again the Panzers are unleashed: spearheaded by the
SS Totenkopf division 5 Panzer and 4 MotInf divisions of
LVI and
XXXXVII Panzerkorps, thunder North to meet up with
XXIII Korps battling through the Russian divisions on the
Oyat river. The leading formations cover more than 120 miles, and while not yet able to close the giant
Kessel the Red Army in this area is suddenly threatened by a crisis of epic proportions:
No less than
18 rifle brigades, 39 (!) rifle divisions, 11 cavalry divisions, 10 cavalry and guards cavalry corps and 10 tank corps are threatened with annihilation!
The attack is a great risk, with
XXXIX Panzerkorps not yet in position (its leading formation, the 18th Panzerdivision having just reached the breakthrough area) but the situation was just too inviting for an attack. There's still a 50 mile gap between
Totenkopf in the South and XXIII Korps in the North, we'll see what happens there soon...
In the Moscow area the situation stays calm, besides the usual limited attacks.
In the
Tula area I'm observing a powerful Soviet build-up, including no less than 8 tank corps. I'm currently contemplating using the three Panzerkorps in the area to eliminate this potential threat, codename
Operation Hagen. Maybe next week...
In the
Stalino-Rostov area heavy fighting continues. To the west of Rostov the infantry divisions of
XI Korps cross the Don river, while to the East
XIV and
XXXXVIII Panzerkorps cross the river in force. Special commendations go to
9th Panzer and
25th MotInf divisions who, with strong Luftwaffe support, severely maul the powerful Soviet 7th tank corps, destroying more than 60 tanks in battle with very light own casualties.
Rostov has been surrounded!
And 200 miles to the North the
III Panzerkorps is now in position for the offensive towards
Stalingrad.
On the Crimea
Sevastopol has been taken! After an immense artillery preparation the assault groups of
I,
XXX, and
LIV Korps stormed the fortress after savage fighting. With the fortress port cleared out I can now concentrate on advancing towards the Kuban. And the Caucasus!
Another good week! Sevastopol finally taken, Rostov surrounded, a giant trap forming in the North and my mobile formations in the South poised to strike towards Stalingrad, I don't want to be the commander of the Red Army right now.
