Operation Blue: Jajusha (Axis) vs fiva55 (Sov) - Completed -

[fiva55]

Scenario: Operation Blue
Version: 1.03 /1.04 beta
Players: Jajusha (Axis) fiva55(Sov)

Background
The Stavka, was unable to discern the direction of the main German strategic
offensive anticipated in 1942. Stalin was convinced the primary German strategic
goal in 1942 would be Moscow, in part due to Operation Kremlin (Fall Kreml),
a German deception plan aimed at Moscow. 57% of all Red Army troops were deployed
in that region.


However, the direction of the German offensive was still defended by the Bryansk,
South Western and Southern Front, whose forces accounted for 25% of all troops,
nearly 30% of all Soviet artillery, over 38% of all tanks and 42% of all Red
Air Force aircraft of the Soviet Union.*

*Morozov, V.P, chief editor, Part 6, Volume 5, Defence of Stalingrad, table,
History of the Second World War 1939-1945 (in Russian)

[fiva55]

TURN 1
WEEK OF 6/27/1942
BEGIN OF WEEK REPORT

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BRYANSK FRONT REPORT

FROM: BRYANSK FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: URGENT! MAJOR GERMAN OFFENSIVE! POSITIONS OVERRUN!

FRONTLINE OVERRUN. 2 RIFLE DIV OF 13TH ARMY ISOLATED. 3 RIFLE DIV OF
40TH ARMY ISOLATED. RELIEF OF ISOLATED COMRADES IMPOSSIBLE. REQUEST
PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW.

[Signed]
General-Leytenant Chibisov
[center]
[/center]
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SOUTHWESTERN FRONT REPORT

FROM: SOUTHWESTERN FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: DISASTER!

MAJOR GERMAN OFFENSIVE ONGOING. POSITIONS OVERRUN. 1 TANK BRIGADE AND
3 RIFLE DIV OF 21ST ARMY CUT OFF. ENTIRE 9TH ARMY ISOLATED.
REQUESTING ORDERS.

[Signed]
Marshal Timonshenko

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SOUTHERN FRONT REPORT

FROM: SOUTHERN FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: FRONT COLLAPSED

FRONT COLLAPSED. 37TH ARMY COMPLETELY ISOLATED. 3 NAVAL INF BDE AND
1 RIFLE BDE OF 56TH ARMY TRAPPED. REQUEST PERMISSION FOR BREAK OUT.

[Signed]
General-Leytenant Malinovsky

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[center]Frontline overview begin turn 1
[/center]

[fiva55]

TURN 1
WEEK OF 6/27/1942
STAVKA ORDERS

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FROM: STAVKA
TO: BRYANKS, SOUTHWESTERN, SOUTHERN FRONT HQ
SUBJECT: STAVKA ORDERS

RELIEVE ENTRAPPED COMRADES WHENEVER POSSIBLE. CREATE DEFENSE IN DEPT.
REINFORCEMENT INCOMING.

[Signed]
Marshal Shaposhnikov

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RELIEF ATTEMPT REPORT


FROM: 57TH ARMY HQ
TO: SOUTHWESTERN FRONT HQ
SUBJECT: RELIEF ATTEMPT

Have launched an attack to relieve 9th and 56th Army.
Suffered heavy tank casualties, but attack was successful.
Trapped comrades are now retreating east.

For the Motherland.

[Signed]
General-Leytenant Rokossovsky

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[fiva55]

[PeeDeeAitch]

Panzer regiments are always a target - moreso in 1942.

[fiva55]

Indeed, as long as I'm not on the receiving side, I do enjoy seeing those "invincible" panzers getting pummelled. [:D]

Although those panzers in the sc may have deserved that status, since they somehow managed to destroy 144 afv, losing just 5 of their own.

[fiva55]

TURN 2
WEEK OF 7/4/1942
STAVKA RECEIVED REPORTS SUMMARY

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ATTACKS BY AXIS
10 HELD
16 RETREATED
10 ROUTED
2 SHATTERED
8 SURRENDERED

LOSSES
MEN 458.245
GUNS 3.619
AFV 723

ISOLATED
ELEMENTS OF 28TH A. 9TH A. 38TH A. 12TH A. 37TH A. 12TH. A

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[Mynok]

That doesn't look like a comfortable ride at all. Isn't that a BT-5 deathtrap he's riding?

[PeeDeeAitch]

That's a Stuart.

[fiva55]

Yep, Lend lease at it's best.

[fiva55]

TURN 2
WEEK OF 7/4/1942
STAVKA ORDERS

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FROM: STAVKA
TO: BRYANKS, SOUTHWESTERN, SOUTHERN FRONT HQ
SUBJECT: STAVKA ORDERS

REINFORCE CENTER ASAP. RR CONSTRUCTION BRIGADES ASSIGNED TO ARMIES HQs
TO HELP DIG IN. ISOLATED ELEMENTS ARE ORDERED TO DELAY ENEMY AS LONG
AS POSSIBLE.

[Signed]
Marshal Shaposhnikov

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[center][/center]

[center]
Soviet Defensive Plan, aka "Little Italy"
[/center]

[Mynok]

Decent carpet you have there.  

[fiva55]

TURN 3
WEEK OF 7/11/1942
STAVKA RECEIVED REPORTS SUMMARY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AXIS ATTACKS RESULTS
12 HELD
15 RETREATED
21 SURRENDER
08 ROUTED

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BRYANSK FRONT REPORT

FROM: BRYANSK FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: Minor skirmishes

Forward elements of Germans tried unsuccessfully to establish bridgehead.
Main body should arrive this week. Attacks all along our front expected this week.
Soviet defenders will hold or die trying.

[Signed]
General-Leytenant Chibisov

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SOUTHWESTERN FRONT REPORT

FROM: SOUTHWESTERN FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: Ground held

German armour only penetrated first line of defense, seemed to have changed axis of
attack afterwards. First line retreated in good order. Will proceed with fortifying sector.

[Signed]
Marshal Timonshenko

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SOUTHERN FRONT REPORT

FROM: SOUTHERN FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: Enemy crossed Don

Rostov still in Soviet hands. Could not prevent German armour from crossing the Don.
Request immediate reinforcements to contain breakthrough.

[Signed]
General-Leytenant Malinovsky

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[fiva55]

TURN 3
WEEK OF 7/11/1942
STAVKA ORDERS

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FROM: STAVKA
TO: BRYANKS, SOUTHWESTERN, SOUTHERN FRONT, NORTH CAUCASUS HQ
SUBJECT: STAVKA ORDERS

STAVKA reinforcements incoming to contain breakthrough in sector of Southern Front.
Southwestern and North Caucasus front are ordered to send all troops they can miss
to help Southern front. Front line commanders should remain alert in case the Germans
change their axis of attack again.

[Signed]
Marshal Shaposhnikov

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[fiva55]

TURN 4
WEEK OF 7/18/1942
STAVKA RECEIVED REPORTS SUMMARY

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AXIS LOSSES
MEN: 307.612
GUNS: 860
AFV: 262

SOVIET LOSSES
MEN: 600.522
GUNS: 6.131
AFV: 869

AXIS ATTACKS RESULTS
11 HELD
26 RETREATED
04 ROUTED

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SOUTHWESTERN FRONT REPORT

FROM: SOUTHWESTERN FRONT HQ
TO: STAVKA
SUBJECT: GERMAN BREAKTHROUGH

GERMAN BREAKTHROUGH. 24TH ARMY SHATTERED. REQUEST IMMEDIATE REINFORCEMENT.

[Signed]
Marshal Timonshenko
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[Ketza]

ORIGINAL: Mynok

Decent carpet you have there.  

Never say that in a strip bar.

[Mynok]

Yes, I can see how that might be a problem. I'm safe though.  I don't frequent those places. [;)]

[fiva55]

TURN 4
WEEK OF 7/18/1942
STAVKA ORDERS

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FROM: STAVKA
TO: SOUTHWESTERN FRONT
SUBJECT: STAVKA ORDERS

DO WHATEVER NECESSARY TO DELAY GERMANS. REINFORCEMENT INCOMING WITHIN THE WEEK.

[Signed]
Marshal Shaposhnikov

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[fiva55]

[b]Excerpt from the memoirs of Marshal Konstantin Rokossov [/b] At this time of the war I was still in command of 57th Army. Though the 57th was officially designated an infantry army, I had under my command 3 tank corps. I never figured out why my army wasn't renamed a tank army, but I suspect it might be to fool the Germans. It could also be as simple as an administrative oversight, but I prefer too think that the first reason was the real reason. [img]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4199/rokossovsky.jpg[/img] I remember this week well. It was during the 4th week of the German summer offensive of 1942. The Germans, after feinting to the south, redirected their attack towards 24th Army, Southwestern front. There, they managed to break through our defences, penetrating deep into our territory. They could have driven straight to Stalingrad, if not for the presence of 1st Tank Army, who managed to delay their advance long enough for reinforcement to arrive. The situation was still perilous. Stalingrad was not ready for a siege, and no fortifications lied between the German spearheads and Stalingrad. Having concentrated an enormous amount of their offensive strength, in the form of 7 of their armoured divisions and 4 of their motorized division, any direct counter attack was doomed to failure. At that time, I was considered an expert on mechanized warfare, due to my few limited successes in delaying the German advances in the first few years of the Great Patriotic War. Fort that reason, I was ordered to delay the Germans as long as possible. At my disposal was 57th Army and 1st Tank Army. Unfortunately, frequent interdiction attacks prevented me from having 57th Army in place on time, so I reassigned 3 tank corps from 1st Tank Army to 57th Army. The spot chosen for a counter attack was the flank of the German spearhead, held by 9th Panzer division. [IMG]http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/7826/momentsbeforeattack.jpg[/IMG] Though the Germans had overall material superiority in this sector, we achieved local superiority at the location of attack. Supported by 4 regiments of rocket artillery and over 200 planes, 300 tanks of 1st, 16th and 17th Tank corps (111 of those were T34s and 20 of those were KV1s), stormed the German 9th Panzer division. Though the first wave of our tanks was almost completely annihilated,the second and third wave managed to get close enough to drive the Germans back. [IMG]http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/6723/battleresults.jpg[/IMG] This is how we ended the week. The German spearhead was isolated, if only briefly, allowing our soldiers a few days respite to dig in and fortify the area between the Germans and Stalingrad. [Signed] General-Leytenant Chibisov Dated 07/18/1942

[fiva55]

TURN 5
WEEK OF 7/25/1942
STAVKA RECEIVED REPORTS SUMMARY

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AXIS LOSSES
MEN: 326.149
GUNS: 1.273
AFV: 512

SOVIET LOSSES
MEN: 645.481
GUNS: 7.358
AFV: 1.379

AXIS ATTACKS RESULTS
13 HELD
31 RETREATED
06 ROUTED

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