Boldairade (Allies) vs Nirosi (Axis). Boldairade welcome

[Nirosi]

German tank crew in Latvia.

[Nirosi]

Death from bellow in the Atlantic.

[OldCrowBalthazor]

I have to say this is a most excellent AAR, Nirosi. Very well done! [8D]

[Nirosi]

Thanks you. I am glad people are enjoying it. [:)]

[Nirosi]

July 3rd, 1942 (End of Axis turn)

In Africa, Allied troops reached Tobruk and started the siege. At sea, the Allied fleet, probably in no shape to fight, left the area and was replaced by Allied submarines hunting our supply ships. The Italian fleet returned to Malta.

In the Atlantic, only mediocre hunting was reported by our U-boat flotillas, who suffered loses, and the raiding fleet. In a new development, some U-boats returning home were attacked by long range anti-subs patrols in the Bay of Biscay.

[Nirosi]

In Finland, Finish troops kept pushing East at moderate speed.

[Nirosi]

In Northern USSR, German Panzers took Tallinn easily. OKH is attempting to pocket a few enemy corps and armies between Minsk and Kaunas, but the attempt might be too obvious and Soviets troops are expected to pull back before we close the trap.

[Nirosi]

In the South, progress is very slow and difficult. There are no obvious gaps or weak sectors to exploit, and Axis troops are getting quite exhausted. A Soviet counterattack pushed back the Hungarians spearheading the attempted breakthrough South-West of Kiev and then also forced the LVII Panzer Corps to retreat but left alone the Romania mountain corps that had established a foothold across the Southern Bug North of Odessa.

Overall, the front barely moved, OKH is considering attempting a push forward across the Black Sea coast where defenses seem weaker, or even transferring some mobile corps North as the best chances to keep advancing in the Southern sector would be a quick progress in Belarus forcing the Ukrainian front to retreat as well for fear of been outflanked. In the Pripyat marshes, the Italian army is advancing slowly and, more importantly, stopping the Soviet cavalry from causing havoc in the rear areas.

[Nirosi]

July 17th, 1942 (End of Axis turn)

In Libya, Allied troops supported by massive shore support forced the Italians out of Tobruk after two days of battle. Axis troops managed a small counterattack but dare not push further in face of massive enemy forces facing them.

The situation in Africa is getting worrisome, as it is the only sector where we are at great risk. In the East, despite the massive Soviet forces we are facing, the Red Army is probably in no shape to seriously cause massive loses on our troops, while in the West, our defenses in France are solid, even more so when considering our estimation of the small Allied forces in the United Kingdom, according to night air recon and analysis by Abwehr.

In the Atlantic, after two difficult weeks, German surface and U-boat units dealt another heavy blow to British shipping sinking 1.2 million toons of shipping and about 20 or so escort ships. Our raiding fleet is still managing to escape the Allied ones.

In other news, massive Italian bombing of ships, by now exhausted crews of bomber units, in Gibraltar proved ineffective.

[Nirosi]

In Finland, the Fins are slowly advancing again trying to avoid unnecessary battles. Finish pool of men of fighting age is far from been unlimited and must be taken into account when deciding the overall strategy in the sector. Yet, the Finnish high command did order its troops to cross in Soviet territory.

[Nirosi]

As expected, in the Northern sector, Soviet troops retreated East to avoid been encircled. German troops pursued them taking Minsk in the process and closing in on Mogilev, defended by elite Soviet troops. OKH expect the Red Army to make a stand at the Berezina.

Mobile units in Estonia were redirected South-East and are driving, for now, on the Northern bank of the Daugava toward Vitebsk. Depending on Stavka’s reaction in the sector, they will either continue East, or try to push North instead toward Leningrad.

Spanish volunteers were sent to garrison Tallinn.

[Nirosi]

In Ukraine, Soviet troops retreated only moderately and only in some sectors but made no counterattack. The massive Soviet presence is making any progress there very slow, but it is not a stalemate yet. Both Krivoi Rog and Kiev seem to be within reach before the end of Summer with some luck, even more so now that the Southern Bug had been decisively crossed.

[Nirosi]

July 31st, 1942 (End of Axis turn)

In Libya, the situation is taking a turn for the worse. The German LX Corps and its valiant soldiers were destroyed after been attacked for seven consecutive days, after which the German headquarters regiments based a few miles behind the corps had to heroically repeal another six days of attacks before been obliterated on the 7th.

The sheer number of Allied forces made any counterattack pointless and Axis troops retreated toward Benghazi. As it is very doubtful that the port can be defended, therefore it might be wise to keep retreating toward Tripoli and force the Allies to extend their supply lines.

In the Atlantic, Allied merchant loses were still quite high but now 70% of the U-boats are back to base for R&R. The surface raiding fleet was resupplied at sea and headed straight North in the Atlantic with new orders.

[Nirosi]

In Finland all sectors were very quiet.

[Nirosi]

In the Soviet Union, OKH was surprised that Stavka ordered three counterattacks, two in Ukraine and one in Northern Belarus, each one forcing Axis troops to retreat.

In the North, German troops tried a single assault on Mogilev, but the elite Siberian troops easily repelled the attack. OKH ordered local commanders to lay siege and not waste resources with frontal assaults.

Most of the action was just North of Belarus, inside North-West Russia proper, where Axis tanks and panzer grenadiers pushed back Soviet defenders and encircled an army East of Sorot river. OKH is now waiting to see if those troops will be left to their fate or if the Red Army will try to break the encirclement.

[Nirosi]

In Ukraine much action happened. Near Kiev, German and Hungarian troops pushed back the 25th Tank Corps, leaving it at a very low operational level, destroyed the 4th Tank Corps after a pursuit, and, in doing so, encircled the Siberian Tank Corps. Probably the best unit of the Red Army. Cut off form the front line, Axis assaults eventually forced a collapse in morale and the corps surrendered on the afternoon of the August 12th. A fourth tank corps' position was assaulted further South, but it refused to budge despite the loses.

Along the Black Sea coast, Romanian and German troops managed to break the defenses in the sector and pushed deep forward by the Soviet Southern flank.

Although a success, both operations were very exhausting and drained many resources. Axis troops in Ukraine are in no shape to mount similar operations before a serious rest. OKH therefore hopes that those two successful operations scared Stavka enough to order a full retreat, hopefully as far back as the Dnieper.

[Nirosi]

August 14th, 1942 (End of Axis turn)

In Africa, the Allied steamroller keeps pushing West. Axis unit have no choice but to keep retreating as Allied reserves seem too numerous to contemplate any counterattack. As such, Bengasi defenders were evacuated to Misurata to avoid unnecessary loses.

In the Atlantic, Italian air raids on Gibraltar resulted in huge air loses with minimal effect while the German fleet reached the Norwegian sea, its new hunting zone.

Allied Bombing of Germany continued to put pressure on the Luftwaffe, now reaching its limits. Some reinforcements are expected by October to help defend our air space.

In other news, huge saboteur activity was noticed in Thessalonica.

[Nirosi]

In Finland, Soviet efforts are bigger than expected. It is dubious that Finish troops could seriously push the enemy back or outflank them. A small retreat was ordered by Marshal Mannerheim to shorten the defense lines.

[Nirosi]

In the Soviet Union, Stavka, probably ignoring about exhausted state of Axis troops, especially in the South, ordered a general retreat on the whole front. In the North, this sealed the fate of the trapped army that was forced to surrender by Axis troops who then resumed their advance toward Novgorod, Velikie Luki and Vitebsk. After much debate, OKH did order an assault on Mogilev, if only to shorten the front. This city was very well defended by crack Siberian troops, but, despite the determination of the defenders, the city fell after 5 days of very violent battle.

[Nirosi]

In the South, OKH only mounted one operation to capture Kiev with the help of the Hungarian army. Not only the Ukrainian capital was captured, but the operation also trapped the 24th Mechanised Corps. OKH does not expect the corps to be able to escape destruction in the coming days.

The rest of the Axis troops advanced East toward the Dnieper. This river, very well defended by the Red Army, will probably be the frontline for months to come as Axis troops are in not shape to cross it before the Fall.

Dnepropetrovsk and Vitebsk are for now the only priority objectives of the Wehrmacht before the end of the year.