Defending Greater Germania 1942 - Includes combined WitW and WitE2 AARs

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 8th 1943 Turn 34
AG South

Fighting along The Oskol River continues as infantry from 2nd Armee cuts off 4 Red Army units including the 1st Guards Airborne, Voronezh Front attacks with 4 Armies in the Belgorod / Kharkov sector trying to smash through Axis lines, but the assault is blunted by infantry heavily fortified along the river bank. North of Voroshilovgrad Gen Karl Adolf Hollidt XVII ArmeeKorps eliminates 42nd Guards, but the enemy has made some gains as they retook Starobelsk and Nizhnya Duvanka, Also as Schlemmer's Panzer's move to encircle an Artillery Div , reports reach Gen Woelher's ( AG South Commander ) HQ that columns of Soviet Mech / Tank units moving from Chernyshkov towards belaya Kalitva with infantry already crossing the river.

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More trouble on 6th Armee's front the right flank guarded by Romanian troops collapse from intense fighting with the Soviet 42nd Army and 67th Army launching a major counteroffensive and pushing towards Ipatovo, with only 1 German unit and a Slovakian Mech unit opposing the advancing Red Army units.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 8th 1943 Turn 34
Army Group A

As 1st Pz Armee's armoured forces maintain control of territory around the besieged city of Grozny, infantry units push North and encircle a number of enemy units including a command HQ possibly the 46th. With the bulk of his forces concentrated at Grozny XXXX Pz Korps ( Von Swcheppenburg ) 2nd SS Pz Division pushes on and captures Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea an oil producing centre.

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With The Black Sea all but under German control XXXXIX GebirgsKorps pushes further into the Georgian interior towards Tbilisi against virtually no opposition,reports indicate enemy forces have retreated into Northwest Iran.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 8th 1943 Turn 34
Stats reports

Ground / Air and Leaders killed.

A losses 34.jpg (387.26 KiB) Viewed 1235 times

Losses 34.jpg (396.6 KiB) Viewed 1235 times

Leaders 34.jpg (33.86 KiB) Viewed 1235 times

losses for this week not has high as previous ones , but the bigger news Zhukov is now in Command of 6th Guards Army

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 8th 1943 Turn 34
Stats reports

OOB / Production / Destroyed Units and Supply

OB 34.jpg (307.07 KiB) Viewed 1234 times

Destroyed Units 34.jpg (363.26 KiB) Viewed 1234 times

Supply 34.jpg (365.71 KiB) Viewed 1234 times

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Western Front
Situation Report July 10th 1943 Turn 2
Army Group B

As plans begin to take shape for the defence of The Atlantic Wall OKW and Army Group B begin to reorganise troop dispositions along the coast line, from the North Sea to The Gulf Of Lion every available unit will be stationed on the beaches.
The Islands of St Helier ( Jersey ) and St Peter Port ( Guernsey ) to be evacuated and the units to take up defensive positions at Granville.
In the course of evacuating 2/319th Infantry Division convoy was attacked by British Air and Sea forces resulting in the unit destroyed, despite this setback morale is high in the ranks of the Westheer.

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Rommel And Speidel .jpg (85.61 KiB) Viewed 1233 times

FM Rommel and his Chief of staff reviewing troop deployments

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Western Front
Situation Report July 10th 1943 Turn 2
Army Group B

The week has seen even more enemy air activity as the enemy tries to disrupt our war effort in the East by bombing a number of our Industrial Centres, German air units were engaged in heavy fighting taking losses but managed to contain Allied actions, despite this some centres did suffer damage.

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Cities bombed 2.jpg (501.85 KiB) Viewed 1230 times

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Italian Front
Situation Report July 10th 1943 Turn 2
Army Group C

The Invasion of Sicily
Allied Forces have landed in force, Airborne and Seaborne units land on the beaches and at the towns of licata,Gela,Pachino,Noto and at the port of Siracusa, despite determined resistance from units of the Italian 6th Army superior enemy numbers force the defenders back, but the Allies do not have it all there way, at Gela the the US 3/82nd Airborne Division is destroyed and North of Noto the Brit 3/1st Airborne Division coming under heavy fire from Axis ground forces is also destroyed.

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IF Battles 2.jpg (563.11 KiB) Viewed 1229 times

IF Battles 2c.jpg (529.52 KiB) Viewed 1229 times

These two combats show the 2 Airborne units destruction

IF Battles 2g.jpg (244.59 KiB) Viewed 1229 times

Despite this setback The Allies secure there beachheads and begin to disembark armoured forces and start to push inland, Agrigento is captured and US / Brit forces move towards the Catania area, here Axis forces repel several attacks, led by the Hermann Goering Panzer Div and 504 Heavy Pz Battalion our forces clash with US 2nd Armoured Div and the Brit 23rd Armoured Brigade.

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Italian Front
Situation Report July 10th 1943 Turn 2
Army Group C

With news reaching his HQ at Ciampino Gen Kurt Zeitzler ( Army Group C ) orders 5th Pz Armee to be sent by rail South to support Axis forces defending the island, the Italian 5th and 7th Armies are put on full alert with all available units deployed to cover the Italian mainland coastline in case of more Allied landings taking place.
The Ital XXXI Corps is sent to support 5th Pz Armee in the calabria area.

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As the ground battles on Sicily take place Axis and Allied air units class for control of the skies.

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IF Battles 2a.jpg (550.39 KiB) Viewed 1228 times

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Tiger 131 ( 504 Pz Bat ) preparing for action with the Hermann Goering Panzer Division

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Western ? Italian Fronts
Situation Reports July 10th 1943 Turn 2
Stats Reports

OOB / Production and Air / Ground losses

WITW OOB 2.jpg (514.73 KiB) Viewed 1227 times

WITW Production 2.jpg (583.95 KiB) Viewed 1227 times

WITW Losses 2a.jpg (563.36 KiB) Viewed 1227 times

WITW Destroyed Units 2a.jpg (501.67 KiB) Viewed 1227 times

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 15th 1943 Turn 35
AG North

18th Armee continues its drive towards the Finnish border while 4SS Pz Gren Div with supporting Infantry launches a direct assault of Volkhov, the town falls, Infantry units now push towards the port of Kobona.
Red Army units fall back to Sviritsa but the vast majority of the Volkhov Front is pocketed along the lake coastline.

More good news as reports come in that the Oranienbaum Fortress is captured with most of the garrison surrendering, East of the Volkhov battle Kempf's forces encircle one Tank Corps while the second's attempt to link up with the lake defenders is blocked by 18th Armee Infantry.

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FM Kuechler establishes Army Group North's HQ in occupied Leningrad now that the city has been officially cleared of enemy activity.

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One of the many official flag raising ceremonies taking place in The Baltic City.

16th Armee Infantry units begin to dig in Northeast of Moscow as reports indicate Soviet forces massing, finding a gap in German lines a lone Tank Corps moves through rear areas trying to disrupt our lines of communications.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 15th 1943 Turn 35
AG Centre

Hard fighting on the Moscow front as our forces begin to overrun the encircled 6th and 3rd Guards Tank Army's troops , Istra falls and 3rd Pz Armee is only 10 miles from Khimki, tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers are captured.
In the North enemy forces are pushed back as 9th Armee maintains the pressure on the 3 Defending Soviet Fronts, here the Soviet 8th Army and 11th Guards Army are threatened with encirclement.

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Heavy fighting at Istra as our troops engage in house to house fighting

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South of the Moscow fighting both 2nd Armee and 2nd Pz Armee complete the elimination of enemy pockets only the defenders at Voronezh remain, both Army's are ordered to go over to the defensive and wait for much needed to supply lines to catch up. The rapid advance by Army Group Centre and in particular 2nd and 2nd Pz have far outpaced our rail repair units converting enemy rail lines for use to supply our forces.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 15th 1943 Turn 35
AG South

With the timely Intel report received by Gen Woelher , the impending enemy counteroffensive at Kamensk is thwarted with the enemy thrown back in disarray,Schlemmer's Panzer's move quickly and his Armour begins crossing the river into the rear areas of the enemy, Red Army units are trapped against the Donets River. With nowhere to escape it seems like another disaster for the Soviets.

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After there victory at Shakhty the 62nd Inf is order to move back across the Don River and take up a defensive position along the Sal river where 2 enemy Infantry Corps are threatening to force a crossing and push through to Rostov.

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On the 6th Armee front reinforcements are rushed to halt the Soviet 42nd and 43rd Armies drive towards Salsk which is only 30 miles from Paulus's HQ.

In the Stavropol sector LII ArmeeKorps ( Ott ) moves to counter a Red Army armoured push along the Upper Kuma river near the town of Budenovsk.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 15th 1943 Turn 35
Army Group A

While elements of LII ArmeeKorps move to counter a Soviet push in the 6th Armee sector the rest of Gen Ott's troops together with units from III Pz Korps crush the encircled forces of the 46th Army with many thousands of Red Army troops laying down there arms.
Grozny still holds out despite being surrounded by overwhelming numbers but the defenders refuse to give up, further East XXXX Pz Korps maintains a steady drive down the Caspian Sea coastline with elements from 23rd Pz Div capturing Derbent, complete control of The Caucasus is within the grasp of Generaloberst Von Kleist's Army Group A.

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The Soviet Army in the Black Sea region is defeated and demoralized, 17th Armee's victories along the Black Sea against The Trans-Caucasus Front completing the disaster for Stalin's Government as the Western Allies will no longer be able to provide valuable Lend-lease material for the Soviet war effort.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 15th 1943 Turn 35
Stats Report

This week sees more heavy losses in manpower and materiel for the Soviet Armed forces, while our own losses remain steady.

Losses 35.jpg (398.43 KiB) Viewed 950 times

Destroyed Units 35.jpg (397.51 KiB) Viewed 949 times

Production for the war effort grows every week.

Production 35.jpg (379.02 KiB) Viewed 950 times

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Western Front
Situation Report July 17th 1943 Turn 3
Army Group B

The Allied Air Offensive continues, this week the Capital Berlin being targeted along with the Hannover industrial region, other areas to come under heavy air raids, NE France with Paris receiving a lot of attention, Wallonia in Belgium and NW France also received extensive enemy air activity.

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Despite this Axis ground and Air force units put up heavy resistance causing large Allied aircraft losses.

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Italian Front
Situation Report July 17th 1943 Turn 3
Army Group C

Allied air operations in Southern Italy centred round the Naval Bases at Taranto and Brindisi also Bari and Foggia, Naples was also struck by the enemy, Axis air units took to the air and engaged Allied aircraft as they flew across Tyrrhenian Sea, both sides taking losses.

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The biggest battles however though came from intense combat as both sides battled to gain air control over Sicily, Allied bombers concentrating attacks against our ground forces as well attacks on Messina, Calabria was also targeted being departure Port for German units crossing to the Island, Axis air units countered by intercepting many raids against our troops moving into the battle areas.

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Also Axis fighters performed patrols out in The Straits Of Sicily and The Gulf Of Tunis to breakup enemy formations before they could reach the Island

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Italian Front
Situation Report July 17th 1943 Turn 3
Army Group C

Intel reports indicate that the vast majority of both the US 7th Army and Brit 8th Army have landed in Sicily and now control almost one third of the Island, Axis forces have been putting up tenacious resistance, the Italian 6th Army is under heavy pressure and in some places forced back with considerable losses,fortunately troops from the Hermann Goering Panzer Div and the 164th PzGren Div have been able to hold Allied armour up at Gerbini Airbase near Cantania as well, despite this several armoured assaults by the enemy forced Axis forces to withdraw from Caltanissetta, with it now in the hands of the US 6th Corps. The Allies launched repeated attacks against Axis forces defending along The Platani River but were held.

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Better news for the defenders was the arrival of lead units from 5th PZ Armee which crossed the Strait Of Messina, LXXXX ArmeeKorps ( Gen Hermann Balck ) together with the 29th Pz Gren Div and 334th Inf Div landed on Sicily without loss and should be ready to move into position to counter any Allied breakthrough of Axis defence lines within hours. The rest of 5th Pz Armee will cross to the Island in the coming days to reinforce the beleaguered Italian Army.

The Italian XXXI Corps is also on standby to move if needed.



Wanting to get a first hand view from Commanders in the field the Armed Forces chief arrives at Army Group C HQ

FM Witzleben At Army Group C HQ.jpg (131 KiB) Viewed 946 times

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Western Front / Italian Front
Situation Report July 17th 1943 Turn 3
Stats reports

Partisan Activity / Production

Despite Axis security forces best efforts and the new German Governments new policies, underground elements continue disrupt the production efforts destined for the East, attacking targets in Belgium and NE France, with some minor activity in The Netherlands.
In Italy too forces opposed to the Government attack rail infrastructure facilities in the North of the country.

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While these attacks do some harm our production remains solid as we continue to build up war materials and weapons for our forces fighting in the East.

WITW Production 3.jpg (467.09 KiB) Viewed 944 times

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Western Front / Italian Front
Situation Report July 17th 1943 Turn 3
Stats report

Our air losses while high are concerning but we inflict high losses on the enemy.

WITW A Losses 3a.jpg (512.11 KiB) Viewed 943 times

The ground battles so far have been in great numbers as the enemy tries to push us from Sicily, however our losses so far match those of our opponents which is good to see.

WITW Losses 3.jpg (504.31 KiB) Viewed 943 times

Battles 3c.jpg (332.36 KiB) Viewed 943 times

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Eastern Front
Situation Report July 22nd 1943 Turn 36
AG North

The assault on the Volkhov Front continues as 18th Armee forces the defenders into containable pockets, further East Army Detachment Kempf steadily takes ground and isolates Soviet Units sent to counter our offensive, the enemy here seems completely lacking any kind of cohesion as they throw units forward only to be cutoff and destroyed.

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16th Armee's fortified line builds at pace as the remnants of the Leningrad and Kalinin Fronts marshal there remaining forces for battle, however it appears The Red Army as little ability to mount any kind of effective offensive operations in this sector against our resolute and disciplined troops.

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