Battle On The Ice: fracas vs ToxicThug11 GC

[ToxicThug11]

Fascist boots have stepped into the Soviet motherland.

Millions have died. Minsk and Vitebsk have fallen. The Ukraine is lost.
Leningrad is held by suicidal counterattacks and mountains of bodies.

Desperate counterattacks are launched to relieve the capital of Ukraine SSR, Kiev. Stalin forbids retreat.

22nd June 1941. Unternehmen Barbarossa destroys countless Soviet formations and encircles many more.

Continued losses at this rate will utterly deplete the Red Army of AFVs, men and planes.


Turn one results in the pocketing of most AFVs in the Southwestern Front and the encirclement of most of the Western and Northwestern Fronts.

Turn two and three result in the destruction of these pockets along with one million men and 8,000 AFVs... 17,000 guns are destroyed.

Comrade Stalin is not pleased.

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[ToxicThug11]

T6:

The battle rages at Smolensk and Leningrad with viscious counteroffensives. Unnamed fields, woods and bogs become the graves of hundreds of thousands of Soviets. One panzer division is utterly smashed around Smolensk, at the cost of many thousands of Soviet dead.

Just as the Wehrmacht shows signs of slowing...

Guderian makes his mad dash south.

Is this the end of the USSR?

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Order 227 is in effect. NO RETREAT.

[Killmaster851]

Exuberant to see another Kulik AAR.

[Veterin]

That will be an impressive pocket if it closes/holds!

[ToxicThug11]

"I believe this threat of encirclement is an delusion, which exists chiefly in the minds of commanders of the Southwestern Front and 37th Army!"
-Actual quote from Boris Shaposhnikov, August 1941

On the ground, encirclement was quickly becoming a reality. Von Kleist and Guderian are attempting to link up from Kremenchug and bridgeheads nearby Chernigov.

This turn, upon seeing the disaster unfolding at Kiev, STAVKA decides to act.

Violent counter attacks throw the German spearheads back.

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[Stamb]

That will be an impressive pocket if it closes/holds!

Axis thought that they are going to do damage on a Soviets, but comrade Kulik has another view on this situation

[ToxicThug11]

Album of Soviet counterattacks this turn. Two German motorized divisions routed!

https://imgur.com/gallery/croG3rD Click here to view.

The images are too large to be uploaded to the forum.

[ToxicThug11]

That will be an impressive pocket if it closes/holds!

Indeed, a shockingly fast advance for so early in the game...

Here I attempted a very large attack on the XXIX Motorized Corps.

This bloody assault failed, however the Germans suffered 32 Panzer losses and a further 50 damaged! This represents a third of this divisions AFVs being wiped out. These "spoiling" attacks have the benefit of wasting the enemies fuel, supply and ammo too.

My own losses were outdated BT-7 M1937s, T26 M1937 and a few OT-130 flame tanks. More concerningly we lost over a hundred guns of all calibers.

[ToxicThug11]

Stunning successes against outnumbered Germans at Leningrad, as we manage to throw back the Germans week after week.

Soviet counterattacks are having local tactical success, however the Germans have stunningly decided to cut the dual track railway in a display of strategic ingenuity. STAVKA deploys four divisions in the Valdai Hills from the reserve. No doubt these drives into the harsh terrain will stress the Wehrmact's logistical situation in AGN, where the Port of Riga experiences frequent bombings and VVS planes in Tallinn frequently fly out to interdict any German cargo.

This turn, at the expense of 136 Soviet planes, our missions have downed 46 German planes including BF109s.

The secondary benefit of this attritional warfare against the Luftwaffe is that it uses up German freight to intercept our outdated planes every single turn.

[ToxicThug11]

Continued, the Leningrad Front in detail.

[Hardradi]

Nice concentration of force against enemy regiments along the Leningrad Axis.

I like your opponents Valdai Offensive.

[ToxicThug11]

It's certainly shaping up to be an interesting game!


The Germans, in spite of two motorized divisions routing, continue their advance to nip the pocket.

But is it too late? Marshal Shaposhnikov and Vasilevsky discuss the possibility of a full withdrawal from the Kiev Military District.

Order No. 270, issued on 16 August 1941, by Joseph Stalin during the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, ordered Red Army personnel to "fight to the last," virtually banned commanders from surrendering, and set out severe penalties for senior officers and deserters regarded as derelicting their duties.

Stalin refuses to even entertain the idea of withdrawal from the Kiev Military District.
Further counterattacks are ordered despite supply and ammunition depleting. Few voices dare question the sanity of Stalin's order to remain in such an exposed position.

Situation at the Southwestern Front

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Initial probing attacks and large bombing raids are followed by seemingly endless masses of Soviet soldiers shouting "Ura". T26 tanks and T34 tanks lead the way after huge thousand gun artillery bombardments.

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The situation grows more unstable as German teeth close around the Southwestern Front

[ToxicThug11]

Here you can see my plans for attempting to relieve Kiev.

[ToxicThug11]

Stalin watches eagerly as his counteroffensive fizzle out into unsupported charges on German panzers, both sides equally exhausted from the incessant battles for Kiev! Untrained pilots, militia divisions and inexperienced tank crewmen prove no match for veteran German panzer divisions supported by the Luftwaffe.

The Kiev pocket is finally nipped off, the largest encirclement in the history of warfare.

700,000 men, 8,033 guns and 915 tanks are encircled by the might of the Wehrmacht.

[ToxicThug11]

Just as the pocket is closed, STAVKA grants permission to Mikhail Kirponos, Vasilevsky and leaders of the Southwestern Front for a withdrawal.

The 18th Tank Division in STAVKA's strategic reserve near Orel is sent south to attempt to break out the wavering Southwestern Front.

NKVD blocking detachments attempt to restore order in the disintegrating Soviet Army.

A fierce battle to break the German encirclement occurs. The 18th Tank Division does battle against a regiment of the 29th Motorized Division. It is successful in creating a corridor for Soviet troops to escape through, however it is too little too late.

What is certain is that the battle here is not over. Soviet soldiers are determined to extract a high price for Kiev. Closing the pocket is one thing, liquidating it is another.

[tm1]

Just as the pocket is closed, STAVKA grants permission to Mikhail Kirponos, Vasilevsky and leaders of the Southwestern Front for a withdrawal.

The 18th Tank Division in STAVKA's strategic reserve near Orel is sent south to attempt to break out the wavering Southwestern Front.

NKVD blocking detachments attempt to restore order in the disintegrating Soviet Army.

A fierce battle to break the German encirclement occurs. The 18th Tank Division does battle against a regiment of the 29th Motorized Division. It is successful in creating a corridor for Soviet troops to escape through, however it is too little too late.

What is certain is that the battle here is not over. Soviet soldiers are determined to extract a high price for Kiev. Closing the pocket is one thing, liquidating it is another.

Yikes !!!

Did I read 7 Tank Div's trapped, sounds like a lot of trucks going to the Wehrmacht for re use.

[Stamb]

epic pocket by fracas!

[ToxicThug11]

Did I read 7 Tank Div's trapped, sounds like a lot of trucks going to the Wehrmacht for re use.

Nine tank divisions, and four mechanized divisions. Not to mention the 8000 assorted guns which requires thousands of trucks. Overall, STAVKA estimates roughly 25,000 trucks are stuck in this pocket (see my Commanders Report, under Veh).

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Counteroffensives will decide the fate of Kharkov and Kursk.

[ToxicThug11]

STAVKA this week ordered counteroffensives to relieve what is being called the "Kiev Pocket".

Masses of material were allocated to the area around Belgorod, Kharkov and Kursk.
Red Army documents suggest the following strength of the relief forces:

• 10 Cavalry Divisions of various strengths (13th Army Led by Marshal Budyonny)

• 10 Infantry Divisions, full strength and rested (10th Army to be led by GM Ivan Bagramyan)

• 4 Cavalry Divisions of various strengths (2nd Cavalry Corps led by Pavel Batov, subordinate to GM Malinovsky, 5th Army )

• 473 MiG-3 Combat Ready

• 261 IL-2 Combat Ready

• 84 Lagg-3 Combat Ready

• 48 Su-2 Combat Ready

These two Armies and one Corps allocated from the Central Front will most certainly weaken the Front at Bryansk, however this is most certainly necessary to save the Southwestern Front from utter collapse.

[ToxicThug11]

The Belgorod - Lgov Offensive goes perfectly.

Exhausted German divisions are swamped in a wave of Soviet infantry and tanks.

The exhausted and poorly supplied Germans are no match for well supplied, rested Soviet troops.

Soviet infantry, Soviet tanks, Soviet air support and Soviet artillery are amassed and unleashed upon exhausted German defenders. The hunters become the hunted!

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