Ne4w game v Desertwolf

[RangerJoe]

That reminds me of Major Howard at the Pegasus Bridge. "Hold until relieved, hold until relieved."

Hopefully, at that time you will be able to do something with the Americans in the Pacific.

Oh well, the previous commanders really screwed things up.

What did Mr Hardy say? "Another fine mess you've gotten me into!"

[Andy Mac]

In the north spread over my 3 armies I have 7 Inf Divs, 1 Mountain Divs, 2 Motor Rifle Div, 1 NKVD Div and 2 Tank Divs

Over the next year I get 7 more Rifle Divs in the north
I get round out Artillery units for about 4 other Rifle Bdes converting them to Divs

So I go from 11 Divs (2 Armour) to 22 Divs (2 Armour) in the North AND I get two reconstituded Divs so I will have 24 Soviet Divisions all with the excellent Soviet Arty and far superior squad firepower

I will have a crap air force but lets be clear if he doesnt take the north in next 6 months he is toast because I WILL break into Manchuria and the second i do so I can use RAF and USAAF aircraft to support my land offensive

Right now 1 Japanese Div broadly = 1 Soviet Div - In 6 weeks that changes and 2 Japanese Divs are 'maybe' as good as 1 Soviet Div

[Andy Mac]

US in pacific is borked I have zero carriers it will be late 43 early 44 before I can even contemplate an Amphib assault this is going to be War in the Land Mass of Asia for the next 18 months

[Andy Mac]

OK its getting interesting up north and to quote a famous military thinker...'dont panic captain mannering'

[Andy Mac]

On the Chita Front the river crossing to th south were a feint enought o keep me honest but a feint instead he is going round the back circling Chita to the north and trying to envelop my position - only 2 Divs are in the Chita hex itself facing off against 3 of mine behind lvl 6 forts

In the North at the road junction I have another 1 Div plus Tank Bde facing off v a japanese Div - BUT my recon says a major force is marching to that hex from below Chita - if he takes that hex off of me Chita is cut off.

So att his point the river line is of limited use to me so I am going to step back from the river and wheel north onto the main road this has a number of advantages

1. My Armoured reserve can move fast to counter any threats as they arise.
2. Avoids a surprise shock attack rout if he sneaks a mahor force up tot he river line undetected
3. Secures my LOC
4. Reduces the numbers of Hexes I need to protect

[Andy Mac]

At Ulan Bator I am picking up major movement into the hex next to Ulan Bator again to get into my flank and threaten the road.

Once again with interior lines I can adjust quicker than he can I think but its the same problem I only have so many Divisions and I am dancing to his tune as he tries to manouver around Fortress Ulan Bator and Fortress Chita

All he needs to do is get something past me once and I will be trapped.

BUT I dont want to give up either position without a fight because this has to be hurting him operating at the end of a logistics route.

Andy

[Andy Mac]

Whilst I have a lot of strength in 6 months right now my 3 Armies are weaker than his attacking force and only the interior lines and my excellent recon assets are keeping me on balance

[Andy Mac]

The problem is if I pull back my second defensive line is simply to vulnerable - even with forts I think the base in black in range of an air force based at ulan Bator is simply too easy to bounce me out

So the Chita/Ulan Bator line while not stand or die territory would be nice if I could hold on

[Evoken]

Wouldnt it make sense to pull back defensive line to West of Irkuts ? Its WR terrain gives you x3 bonus , almost untouchable by enemy airfoce and shortens the defensive live , also forts your troops build cant be destroyed by enemy attacks

[Andy Mac]

But also makes my counter attacks much harder

[Andy Mac]

Basically if I have to pull back that far i class this as a defeat it means when the time comes to go forward I will need to grind forward a single axis of attack taking horrendous casualties whereas if I can hold on where i am its me that will be manouvering around him in 9 months

[Andy Mac]

As you say with 4 or 5 Divs and arty dug in that hex west of Irkutsk is to all intents impregnable but I would prefer not to get pushed back that far

[Andy Mac]

Para drop in my rear annoying the garrison had only just left and the replacement was 3 days away

[Andy Mac]

I am actually relatively irritated by the par drop a company of japanese paras took a base when the garrison left for the front 2 days ago and the replacement garrison was 3 days away - its not crucial but it is annoying

I have a Cav Div en route and a few other assets heading that way anyway so I will retake it fact and eliminate 100 japanese paratroopers (or more if he reinforces !!)

[Andy Mac]

OK Ulan Bator is flanked in strength both North and South - my road remains secure for now but the pressure is building I dont want to step back but I may have to

I am sending some of the Arty back to the next line as its too valuable to risk getting retreated

My Divisions are remaining in Ulan Bator as is my AA to hold the linea little longer and give the Arty a good head start.

At Chita I can hold on as I have blocked the flanking movements but I really need 2 - 3 more Divs on the Ulan Bator front and my inability to launch even local counterattacks is stopping me.

Basically I can hold Chita or I can hold Ulan Bator holding both in the face of massive enemy armies is proving challenging

My fronts are basically too far apart to be mutually supportinve and my air force is just too weak in fighters to be effective.

The sensible thing is to step back now but it really limits my options later

I am facing 250,000 men at Ulan Bator how he is supplying them all is interesting

[Andy Mac]

He has equivalent to an Armoured Bde on my north flank and what looks like an entire Japanese Army on the Southern Flank (100k+ troops)

Another 120k are the head of the bull holding my main forces in place at Ulan Bator.

I think he has me this time will need to pull back unfortunately

[Andy Mac]

Disasterous day

I sent in the Soviet AF all 70+xp A2A and they got destroyed my fighters even the Mig 3 are simply not able to fight it out with Tojo's

japanese forces defeated and retreated a Full Soviet Div plus 3 Tank Bdes on the southern horn of his bull - I am now flanked to the North and South in strength and have no choice I need to pull back

If I stand and fight he will cut me off bypass and then force me out of the Chita position so I have made the hard choice to leave while I can.

Artillery is well on the way already as are most of the engineers so only AA and Infantry are left.

I am confident I can pull back ahead of the oncoming horde - I will re evaluate my ability to hold this position and Chita over the next few days - it may be that despite holding easily I may need to pull back to Ulan Ude line just to put my three armies in mutual support.

It just shows what good play can achieve after his initial assault on Ulan Bator he decided to probe the flanks and I simply dont have the troops to stop the sheer numbers of Japanese without air superiority and my air force has been sadly lacking

So well done to Desertwolf my initial check of his advance bought me 8 weeks but he has achieved what I assume is a major objective given the resources committed to it
Andy

[Bif1961]

In the movie "The Longest Day," Richard Todd played Major Howard, in an irony Richard Todd was actually a paratrooper and he and his unit was the unit that relieved Major Howard's unit. So in one of those rare twists of fate he played the man he knew and didn't have to act as a paratrooper at the Pegasus Bridge because he was actually there. As of 4 Feb 2021 Richard Todd's Red devil Paratrooper Beret will be offered for auction by his estate and they hope to fetch 5,000 pounds. Richard Todd died in 2009 at the age of 90 and the Beret was recently found amongst some of his over looked belongings.

[Andy Mac]

Thanks Bif

[Andy Mac]

I have a very difficult decision to make

My air force is useless (in Russia)

I can stop him at Chita but eventually he is going to flank me again and I need to get my 3 armies back into mutual support range.

So I am going to pull back to the Ulan Ude line and have my armies deploy in echelon covering the 5 hexes from Ulan Ude to Kryanks it puts the river at my back which I dont like because if he pushes me out then I need to be watch a follow up shock attack when he crosses the river.

Its not a great defensive line for 11 Divs to cover 200 miles of front but it gives me so many options to break out later on if required.

The real temptation is to just put the stopper in the bottle and pull back to the line between the mountains and lake Baikal - 92 miles across I can easily hold that line.