Defending Greater Germania 1942 - Includes combined WitW and WitE2 AARs

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North Africa
Situation Report April 27th 1943 Turn 25
Northern Tunisia

The Northern part of Tunisia sees attack and counterattack by both sides resulting in The British 1 brigade / 1st Infantry Division forced to surrender and The Allies suffering an number of Tank losses.

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With strong defences built up along Hilly and Mountain terrain Axis forces have been able to thwart the enemies attacks despite there superior numbers on the ground.

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North Africa
Situation Report April 27th 1943 Turn 25
Northern Tunisia
Stats Report / Battles

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 29th 1943 Turn 24
AG North

Things are quiet along the Volkhov Front with some small infiltration movement by units of Kempf' s Armee, Soviet defence lines have strengthened making full scale assaults hard to create any breakthroughs.
18th Armee will now prepare for summer operations unless there is some opportunity to create a opening against the enemy.

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likewise South of the 18th positions, 16th Armee. Kempf Armee and 9th Armee bide there time, a number of Red Army units remain trapped, but the enemy does not seem to be interested in launching any rescue effort, possibly owing to the limited number of troops in the area as opposed friendly forces, Axis units at this moment have strong defensive terrain on there side under these weather conditions.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 29th 1943 Turn 24
AG Centre

4th Armee ( Von Manteuffel ) and 3rd Pz Armee ( Reinhardt ) halt there offensives as the enemies resistance stiffens in the heavily wooded terrain, 4th Armee now only 20 miles from Kaluga faces 4 Soviet Armies, 2 Red Army Inf Corps remain trapped despite a number of breakout attempts by the encircled troops.

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On the 2nd Armee ( Von Salmuth ) / 2nd Pz Armee ( Schmidt ) front fighting has died down as the enemy had pulled back much of his forces after failing to force a breakthrough, after the loss of Voronezh both Armee's have weathered the onslaught from The Red Army which has suffered huge losses fighting to take back two key cities in The Central Russian Uplands.With the bad weather continuing, OKH is optimistic that there will be no more major offensives at this present time as enemy forces have been worn down.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 29th 1943 Turn 24
AG South

After containing the initial enemy breakthrough then counterattacking the enemy destroying a number of Soviet units, the Axis line has stabilised somewhat here too, even the battered Romanian forces are holding there own against greater enemy numbers.

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Once again it seems Soviet forces have redeployed in an effort to smash open the line in the Don / Donets River sector, opposing them are three Panzer Divisions of XXXXVIII Pz Korps ( Schlemmer ) as well as supporting Romanian / German Infantry units.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 29th 1943 Turn 24
Army Group A

After trapping six enemy units in last weeks operation, 1st Pz Armee attacks and annihilates virtually almost all of the encircled troops, only the Soviet 147th Inf Corps survives the inferno for now, enemy reinforcements rush to the battle area all in vain.

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On the Black Sea 17th Armee pauses its advance on the strategic airfields, exhausted from heavy fighting in the Mountains, units rest to recover there cohesion, three Russian units remained trapped behind the lines.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 29th 1943 Turn 24
Stats Report

Air Losses for the Axis remain low while the enemy suffers high losses again this week.

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Our ground losses are quite low this week, despite the destruction of several enemy units there manpower losses were lower than I expected and I was very surprised with the numbers of AFV's lost considering I destroyed a Guards Tank Corps.

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Slowly but surely whittling down the enemy's OOB numbers.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report April 29th 1943 Turn 24
Stats Report

The weather continues to worsen but I feel it helps us as keeps enemy activity to a minimum and gives us time to recover.

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The supply is improving all the time as supply lines move closer to the front.

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Cant see any major issues with production figures at this time, though I would like to get vehicles repairs down, but I can see these will rise with the current weather situation as expected.

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North Africa
Situation Report May 4th 1943 Turn 26
Libya

With Tripoli about to fall to The Allies , Axis rearguard troops make for Nalut and Dehibat towns on the Libyan / Tunisian border hoping to use an inland route to escape 8th Army.

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While this is taking place plans for the evacuation of Axis forces begins in earnest as The Italian Fleet begins to assemble its units and makes ready to sail.

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North Africa
Situation Report May 4th 1943 Turn 26
Southern Tunisia

Not much happening here as Rommel orders all Axis Forces to remain on the defensive and be prepared to fall back towards the embarkation ports in Northern Tunisia when the evacuation fleets arrive.

The British 1st Army also remains inactive waiting for Montgomery's forces to reach The Mareth Line so a double attack can be launched.

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Since it will be sometime before large numbers of transports arrive the illusion of holding Tunisia must be maintained so Rommel arrives at Mareth to inspect the fortifications there.

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North Africa
Situation Report May 4th 1943 Turn 26
Northern Tunisia

Like the South here to in the North no real action apart from some minor skirmishes by the Allies with The British IX and V Corps attacking against well dug in units of 5th Pz Armee and Afrika Korps, the attack was held with the enemy fairing worse.

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In the air Allied Desert Air Force continue with there saturation bombing of ground units.

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Losses for both sides after Allied turn 26

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[EwaldvonKleist]

If the war continues this way, the Allies should seek a negotiated peace or wait for the A-bomb. If North Africa continues to stabilize, you can edit yourself in extra troops for the rest of WitW.

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If the war continues this way, the Allies should seek a negotiated peace or wait for the A-bomb. If North Africa continues to stabilize, you can edit yourself in extra troops for the rest of WitW.

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High Priority Communication from OHL Command

Using Enigma machine with special TRITON KEY

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To Army Group A HQ Southern Russia Caucasus Region

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Message reads as follows


Before we get into future strategic decision making, there are other topics to be addressed.

The first order of business being a heartfelt THANK YOU Field Marshal from the new leadership in Germany for your supreme efforts with Army Group A in The Caucasus and on The Black Sea.

The inspiring leadership of you and your Commanders in the field that turned what was looking like a complete disaster for the Southern wing of The Ostheer to a possibly achieving a great success in securing the vital oilfields.

You have not gone unnoticed at Schloss Wilhelmshöhe ( OHL Command HQ ) don't be surprised if your summoned there to receive those long overdue and much deserved DIAMONDS to go with your OAK LEAVES and SWORDS.

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But on to other matters strategic, while Axis forces maintain a strong hold in Tunisia ( North Africa ) the situation is becoming more delicate as the weeks continue, Manpower in the form of replacements is very low, supply is also low as the further 8th Army advances the more control of the sea lanes fall into Allied control.
Axis air power is being drained as the Allies forward air bases start to dominate the skies.

But the biggest issue is materiel, ammunition, artillery and most critically Panzers we have received no replacements in months and our Mechanised formations are slowly being eroded away.

The withdrawal of as much Axis forces with Armoured units a priority is a must.

This is the strategic plan that will be implemented

Good luck Field Marshal with your up and coming new Offensive code named Operation Schamil


Regards

FM Gerd von Rundstedt Chief Of Staff OHL

Message ends

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Eastern Front
Situation Report May 6th 1943 Turn 25
AG North

Once again very little fighting on the Leningrad / Volkhov River fronts, the weather continues to make conditions hard for mobile forces, though Inf units from 18th Armee and Kemph's Detachment try to infiltrate behind several Cav , Mech and Tank units, this results with the enemy launching some counterattacks to push us back.

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The constant enemy losses in Southern Russia is forcing Stalin to redeploy his Northern forces to meet the heavy losses inflicted and thus weakening the Soviet front line North, gaps are appearing and widening by the week as this drain on there manpower hurts them.

Only the weather and own losses keeps us from taking advantage.

On the 16th Armee / 9th Armee front here to the gaps in the enemy front lines widen allowing some small gains by 9th Armee around Vyschny Volochek, another week passes with a number of enemy units still cutoff, it seems The Red Army has consigned there fate.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report May 6th 1943 Turn 25
AG Centre

With the weather not much better on the Moscow Front and with Soviet defences strengthening, the situation remains static with both sides conserving there forces.

At this point 4th Armee does not have the strength to breakthrough and capture Kaluga.

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At Orel and Kursk no fighting at all with both sides content to rest and build up there strengths, larges stretches of the front our troops are not even in contact with the enemy.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report May 6th 1943 Turn 25
AG South

After there hard fought victories at Kharkov the victorious 2nd Hungarian Army get some respite as here too the enemy breaks off contact to regroup,the Romanian sector is still under threat but as the enemy seems in disarray, High command is confident the situation is under control.

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At Rostov both 6th Armee and 4th Pz Armee units hold firm even with the continual build up from enemy forces advancing towards the front from Stalingrad.
Using the rivers as barriers and strong points the enemy despite greater numbers seems reluctant to attack.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report May 6th 1943 Turn 25
Army Group A

Operation Schamil

With destruction of The Soviet 147th Corps Von Kleist orders Army Group A to begin the drive on Grozny, another enemy unit is trapped as 1st Pz Armee begins to push forward, North of the German drive The Soviets throw whatever troops they can find as fierce battles erupt with both sides launching assaults.

17th Armee covering the Northern flank of 1st Pz absorbs the enemy assaults and counterattacks in the Stavropol sector, the enemy is thrown back with heavy losses.

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On the Black Sea front the Southern wing of 17th Armee moves to secure the the vital air fields and block any Soviet reinforcements from breaking through and linking up with there trapped comrades.

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Note :
For historical reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Schamil

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Eastern Front
Situation Report May 6th 1943 Turn 25
Stats Report

Apart from the German offensive in The Caucasus, losses in the North , Centre and South were low again for both sides, The Soviets did lose and number of AFV's.

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The OOB for both sides remains the same, hopefully when summer comes I can put a dent in the manpower numbers.

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Just for something different I am posting the turn 25 manpower screen.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report May 6th 1943 Turn 25
Weather / Production and Supply

Pretty much the same for all three from last week.

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North Africa
Situation Report May 11th 1943 Turn 27
Libya
Tripoli falls

Montgomery's 8th Army Captures the city as reports come in that the enemy is on the outskirts of Zwara and only 20 miles from the Tunisian border. the last of Axis units and support forces fly out of the two airbases close to Zwara.

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Rearguards units continue to make for Medenine.

News of Tripoli's capture reaches the European mainland and now brings a added urgency for the Axis withdrawal, escort forces of The Italian fleet put to Sea.

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