Defending The Reich

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Hi

Well most of my AAR's have been where Germany is in the leading position to defeat Russia and while I am preparing a new 41 invasion I thought I would see how I would go being on the back foot for a change.
So I have decided to play The Vistula Campaign and try to defend Germany from the Russian hordes !

The setup

The designer recommends that it should be challenging level when playing as The Axis however I think I will start off with normal for the time being, I will monitor the AI after each turns if it gets easy I will up the levels but given the size of the Soviet strength and the Axis forces state I think they will smash through my defences quite easily and steam roll The Axis to Berlin or get bogged down, either way it could end up being quite a boring AAR so I will try to make it interesting and fun as best I can being its a PVE game.

Air War : will be simple, I have no experience of managing the Air War and certainly for this campaign I have no need to I cant see the Luftwaffe in any position to offer effective resistance even if I had some idea.

I will start with the open Soviet operations since they get to attack first then begin the defence of the Reich, so here goes as this could end by turn 13.


Prologue

Jan 20th 1945

With the Baltic Fronts successfully trapping Army Group North in the Kurland Peninsula Lithuania isolating it from Germany's main defence line in East Prussia the Red Army turns its attention back to Poland.
After stopping at the gates of Warsaw in August the Soviets now prepare to launch large scale operations in the Warsaw, Krakow and East Prussia regions in the south the Soviets prepare there forces in Slovakia and the Transdanube regions.


Kurland

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Vistula–Oder offensive

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Prologue : Soviet Offensives
Jan 20th 1945

Budapest offensive

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Axis Forces suffer tremendous losses as they fall back into Germany.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za5lCNz ... WL&index=3

The Soviet Offensive begins !

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 20th 1945 Turn 2
Army Group North

The Kurland Pocket

For Schoerner ( AG North ) the situation is dire his Armies forced back into the Peninsula and at least 100 miles from the main Axis line, 460,000 men cut off with only sea and air resupply the only life line. Just south of the Army Group the small beachhead of General Hans Gollnick's XXVII ArmeeKorps holds out at Memel but for how long AG North is to weak to advance and link up with the Memel defenders likewise Axis forces in East Prussia are being pushed back.
Attacks on Schoerner's forces from 2nd Baltic Front have been light this week with the enemy concentrating there assaults on our forces in Poland giving the breathing space for 16th Armee and 18th Armee to reinforce the front line and strengthen the fortifications and hope the line can hold.

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16th Armee troops in Kurland fortifications

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 20th 1945 Turn 2
Army Group Centre

On the main front our forces are completely overrun as three Soviet Fronts smash through the defence lines in the East Prussia, Bialystok and Warsaw sectors, 3rd Pz Armee , 2nd Armee and 4th Armee retreat back towards the Oder river and the bay of Danzig to form new defensive positions , in the head long retreat one of the Red Army advance spearhead units ( 8th Guards Tank Corps ) is cutoff but with Soviet forces close behind there is no time to mount any kind of organised attack against the lone enemy unit.
Army Group Centre ( Reinhardt ) orders 3rd Pz Armee and part of 4th Armee to defend Koenigsberg, the Sambian Peninsula has been heavily fortified for some time now however a number of units begin digging in along the Alle river as a first line of defence, the rest of 4th Armee along with 2nd Armee are to form a defensive barrier around the cities of Elbing and danzig and the Vistula river, the good news for Reinhardt is Felix Steiner's 11th SS Pz Armee has started to arrive and is also forming up along the Vistula.
Army Group Centre logistics situation is bad as the command is short of supplies, ammunition and weapons and unless more troops and equipment can be shipped forward this new line forming up may not hold also.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 20th 1945 Turn 2
Army Group A

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In the centre an even bigger disaster for the Axis as two Belorussian Fronts sweep forward, smashing 9th Armee and driving it back as units of the 1st Belorussian Front capture Warsaw and push towards Torun, Red Army tank units advancing over a 100 miles in some sectors even as 6th SS Pz Armee units move through the Wartheland region to reinforce the shattered remains of 9th Armee as it falls back towards Lodz, OKH also orders PanzerKorps Großdeutschland to move to the city and hope the unit can stem the tide of the advancing enemy.

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Further south 2nd Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front overrun our lines and the city of Krakow is captured forcing General Harpe ( Army Group A ) to evacuate his Headquarters from the city in haste towards the Upper Silesia region , Radom is also taken 4th Pz Armee unable to contain the Soviet assaults. Fritz Graeser's once powerful Pz Armee driven back and in flight towards the Prosna river.

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On the border of Slovakia 4th Ukrainian Front hits 17th Armee forcing it back towards Ostrava, defending forward of the North Carpathian Mountains is 1st Pz Armee and 1st Hungarian Army here Red Army attacks are not as heavy though the enemy did take some ground but the terrain made movement difficult still Harpe orders both Armies to pull back to form a more defensible line.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 20th 1945 Turn 2
Army Group South

Attacks on the southern front are of less intensity here although a major assault against 8th Armee by the Soviet 27th Army gained a foot hold inside Slovakian territory, but the biggest push was by 2nd Ukrainian Front which forced back IX SS Mountain ArmeeKorps in Hungry and encircling the capital Budapest, Axis forces are 20 miles from the besieged garrison with seemingly no chance of opening a corridor for the trapped forces there to escape.

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In the extreme south of the line the situation remains quiet as 2nd Pz Armee defends its fortified positions from the Yugoslav border to Lake Balaton here 3rd Ukrainian Fronts 26th and 57th Armies make ready there forces to attack.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 27th 1945 Turn 3
Army Group North

The Kurland Pocket

Another bleak week for the troops of Army Group North cutoff in The Kurland Peninsula, enemy attacks are not as heavy as on the main front however 2nd Baltic front's 10th Guards , 22nd and 42nd Army's attacked 16th Armee positions in three sectors.
The 10th Guards pushing towards the town of Tukums to secure the airbase, there was heavy fighting in the woods east of the town but Generalleutnant Von Krosigk's XVI ArmeeKorps contained the assault forcing the enemy to pull back.

Further south the Soviet 22nd and 42nd Armies struck General Volckamer's L ArmeeKorps which was defending two positions along the Jelgava / Liepaja rail line, the first push which was 10 miles east of the rail junction was held the enemy then launched a second attack but Volckamer's Infantry units blunted the enemy assault forcing them back, while this battle raged the Soviets second drive on L ArmeeKorps line was gaining ground Axis forces looked to be in trouble with Red Army mechanised troops pushing forward and were close to forcing a breakthrough until the timely arrival of the 12th Panzer Div from VI SS Latvian Korps, the counterattack forced the enemy back stabilising the line.

At Memel the situation remains quiet apart Red Air Force raids there is no ground attacks against the defenders but XXVIII ArmeeKorps remains isolated from either of the Axis fronts.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 27th 1945 Turn 3
Army Group Centre

The situation continues to remain chaotic as Reinhardt's Army Group races to reach the defensive forts protecting Keonigsberg and further south to defensive positions in front of the City of Elbing, with all 3rd Pz Armee forces now behind The Alle river and most of 4th Armee making the slow march to the Drweca and Vitsula rivers. With 3rd Pz Armee units barely in positions behind the the Alle river the Soviet 11th Guards Army launches two assaults attempting to force a crossing however the defenders hold the attacks up the red Army is unable to cross the river.

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Further south Soviet forces launch massive attacks against 2nd Armee in East Prussia, PanzerKorps Großdeutschland and 6th SS Pz Armee defending West Prussia are unable to counter the Red Army drive and are forced back, the city of Wloclawck is captured as the enemy drives westward towards the Fatherland, Soviet Armies from both 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts hit 9th Armee ( Army Group A ) forcing it back to the Warthe and Prosna rivers.
The only good news for the German High Command is that the lead elements of Felix Steiner's 11th SS Pz Armee has reached the Vistula river and is beginning to fortify the river line.

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2nd Armee falls back

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 27th 1945 Turn 3
Army Group A


With 9th Armee being driven back to the Fortress city of Poznan the rest of General Harpe's Army Group A is pushed back into Wartheland, Upper Silesia and Lower Silesia. Two of 4th Pz Armee's ArmeeKorps the XXXXII and XXIV Pz withdrawing to take up defensive positions in front of Breslau with the rest of the Army along with the battered 17th Armee retreating towards Brieg, 1st Belorussian Front and 1st Ukrainian Front attacks overwhelming Harpe's troops which also saw the General abandon the city of Czestochowa his Headquarters hastily moving 10 miles east of Brieg for now.

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On the extreme southern end of Harpe's line The Hungarians and 1st Pz Armee make a staggered withdrawal through The Northern Carpathian Mountains fighting is light here but 4th Ukrainian Front's massed forces keep the pressure on Axis units despite the bad weather and the terrain, Heinrici ( 1st Pz Armee ) hoping to make a stand at Zilina in Slovakia and hold the Yablunkov Pass unfortunately news reaches his Headquarters that Red Army troops having begun crossing the Slovakian border en masse against 8th Armee.

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Army Group A's westward flight out of Poland

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Jan 27th 1945 Turn 3
Army Group South

In the south a catastrophic disaster has taken place for General Woehler with 8th Armee's front line collapsing from a massive assault, the 2nd Ukrainian Front's offensive launched on a 150 mile wide front has forced an opening, unable to hold from the repeated attacks 8th Armee falls back in disarray to Zvolen and Nemecka leaving a 20 mile gap in the line with 6th Armee which itself comes under heavy attack but manages to hold onto its defence line for now. Hermann Balck ( 6th Armee ) rushes every available reserve forward to reinforce his line, while reports of the heavy fighting along the front reach Army Group HQ and the subsequent enemy breakthrough is taking place Woehler is given the bitter news that Budapest has fallen after elements of seven Soviet Armies ( 7th Guards, 1st Rum, Pliev Cav / Mech Tank, 8th Guards, 5th Shock, 46th and 4th Guards ) assaulted the city defenders after a massive artillery barrage smashed the city's fortifications, 63 000 thousand men at arms surrendered.

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While these disasters were unfolding in Slovakia and central Hungry in the southern sector of the Transdanube region there was little to no fighting as 3rd Hungarian Army and 2nd Pz Armee continued to dig in and fortify there lines even as 5th Shock Army, 42nd Army and 26th Army launched concentrated attacks in two sectors to gauge the strength of the Axis line in the extreme south, both attacks resulted in heavy losses to enemy forces which forced 3rd Ukrainian Front to withdraw some of these units back to regroup.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 3rd 1945 Turn 4
Army Group North

No real fighting in the Kurland area but an enemy Mot Brigade pushed 10 miles west towards Tukums airbase, further south along the line Red Army units begin to redeploy with front line commanders interpreting this as there would be an impending assault, the Soviet 14th Guards Infantry Corps crossed the river north of Jelgava to directly face elements of VI SS Latv ArmeeKorps.

On the 18th Armee front Intel reported that two entire Artillery Div's had moved in just behind the Soviet 22nd Army's positions facing I ArmeeKorps and II ArmeeKorps troops entrenched inside the heavy fortifications.

On the coast at Memel the defenders continue to hold though Red Army units have pulled back the city remains cutoff with blizzard conditions threatening resupply across the Kurische Nehrung.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 3rd 1945 Turn 4
Army Group Centre

The first week of February sees six Soviet Armies of the 1st Baltic Front launch an assault against the Koenigsburg defence perimeter, the large scale attacks initially were held by fanatical resistance by units from 3rd Pz Armee and 4th Armee but shear wait of numbers forced troops back from the outer defences, the Soviets pushed through in three sectors in the north where they crossed the river in force but were finally halted at the second defence line.
Along the southern defence belt the enemy pushed across The Alle river and captured the town Schippenbeil with its airbase, the enemy gains here were smaller as the HG Fallschirm Pz Korps counterattacked and stabilised the front at least for the time being.
But the enemy is now only 20 miles from the Fortress city and the rest of 2nd Armee and 4th Armee are yet to reach there designated defensive positions and dig in due to the speed of the advancing enemy.

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While there is heavy fighting in East Prussia German forces fall back in disarray through West Prussia and Wartheland as three Soviet fronts again launch a 150 mile wide assault on retreating Axis forces, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian Fronts striking towards Bydgoszcz taking Torun in a matter of a day as they completely overwhelm X SS ArmeeKorps defending the city, further south 1 SS Pz Korps fails to contain enemy attacks and fails back allowing the enemy to capture Konin and Stawiszyn, 9th Armee and PanzerKorps Großdeutschland are driven back relentlessly, with German forces scrambling to setup a defensive line forward of Poznan, Soviet forces are now within 100 miles of the Pomerania Defensive Line, the situation looking more grim by the weeks end.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 3rd 1945 Turn 4
Army Group A

With 9th Armee being remorselessly driven back towards The Oder Defence Belt by 2nd Belorussian Front the rest of Harpe's Army Group faced intense pressure along its front, attacking from the Czestochowa area the Soviet 6th and 21st Armies attacked 4th Pz Armee and Harpe's reserve forces pushing them back through the forests in Upper Silesia, 1st Ukrainian Front forces attacked further north but 4th Pz Armee managed to hold on but more Soviet armour was moving forward to the front.

On 4th Pz Armee's right flank 4th Ukrainian Front struck 17th Armee with five armies ( 1st Guards, 2nd Guards, 11th Guards, 1st Guards Tank and Oslikovsky Cav / Mech Tank ) forcing two ArmeeKorps to fall back towards Ostrava, this push by the enemy threatened 1st Pz Armee and Hun 1st Army which were slowing withdrawing through The Carpathian Mountains towards Zilina.

The only good news for Harpe was that General Roehricht's LIX ArmeeKorps had halted 1st Guards Tank attempt to capture the city of Katowice and stop the enemy from forcing a rupture of the front line between 4th Pz Armee and 17th Armee.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 3rd 1945 Turn 4
Army Group South

After there success in capturing Budapest and the opening assaults on 8th Armee the Red Army launches a second week of heavy attacks against Hans Kreysing Army, the assaults cause breakthroughs in two sectors of 8th Armee's northern line threatening parts of Army Group A's retreat from Slovakia.

With Hungarian Capital secure 1st Ukrainian Front turns its full attention towards 6th Armee, Balcks line is broken in three places as seven Soviet Armies hit the defenders and force back Axis troops to the towns of Imely and Komaron on the Danube river, an attack at Leva by the enemy is held as our troops using the Fron river as a barrier against the Soviets operations.

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In the extreme south there is heavy fighting as 3rd Ukrainian Fronts 3rd Guards, 8th Guards and 46th Armies attempt to push through 2nd Pz Armee positions, despite repeated assaults on the line the enemy cannot force a breakthrough of the three lines of defence built up in area south of Lake Balaton.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 10th 1945 Turn 5
Army Group North


Kurland Pocket

In the Baltic States there had been relatively little fighting the Red Army was concentrating its main drives in Poland and Germany pushing back Axis Forces from Romanian to East Prussia however the quiet was shattered as 2nd Baltic Front struck 16th Armee along a 60 mile front, six Armies ( 1st Shock, 1st Rom, 10th Guards, 19th, 22nd and 26th Army's ) attacking towards the town of Tukums breaking through the main forward defence line and forcing back units from XVI ArmeeKorps, there was heavy fighting in the VI SS Lat ArmeeKorps sector but the Soviet 19th Army was held here.
Further south attacks by the 10th Guards and 26th Army's broke through L ArmeeKorps positions forcing a hasty retreat to our second line defences, the enemy launched more attacks against L ArmeeKorps and XXXVIII Pz Korps positions in a effort to force a breach between the 16th and 18th Armee line, here the enemy was beaten back but 16th Armee's front line is now in danger of collapsing.

There were no direct attacks against 18th Armee positions, General Boege's front line remaining intact for now as reports indicate there were large movements of enemy troops away from 18th Armee positions and redeploying south around the fortress city of Memel.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 10th 1945 Turn 5
Army Group Centre


East Prussia

Attacks along Alle river are light as a large number of enemy units are redeployed away from the main Koenigsberg defence allowing the IX ArmmeKorps to retake Schippenbiel and reestablish the line along the west bank of the river, The Soviets moving the bulk of 1st Baltic Front north towards Memel and south to oppose 2nd Armee and 4th Armee defending a line Braunsberg to Deutsch Eylau.

Soviets attacks from 1st Baltic Front and the northern Armies of 3rd Belorussian Front striking on a 60 mile wide front smashed through our lines in numerous places, battered and unable to hold our troops fall back to a makeshift second line the situation critical with reports that 4th Shock and 65th Army have forced a gap in the line between 4th Armee units and are now only 20 miles Elbing.

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Further south 3rd Belorussian Front's main assault struck 11th SS Pz Armee, Steiner's troops were still arriving other units had barely dug in when the Red Army's massive assault hit disorganised units, attacking from there positions in and around Torun there enemy advanced to within 10 miles of Bydgozcz, the Soviet assault had opened up the Axis line along 11th SS Pz Armee's 100 mile front with many units retreating towards the Vistula river.


On the extreme south of Army Group Centre's line 1st and 2nd Belorussian Front's opened up new attacks against 6th SS Pz Armee and 9th Armee with the front line completely collapsing after initial determined defence managed to hold briefly, the enemy bringing forward fresh forces and overwhelming our depleted units, after second the wave of attacks took place the line crumbled with chaos ensuing as Axis units retreated.
Despite torrential rain and the ground turning into a quagmire the enemy drive seems to show no signs of slowing as enemy armour moved with ease after the breakthroughs, are our forces scrambling back to the Poznan Fortress and the Sea Low heights defence line with the main central Axis front in complete disarray.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 10th 1945 Turn 5
Army Group A

The situation on Harpe's front being no better than the other Army Group's with three Soviet Front's ( 1st, 4th Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian ) attacking Army Group A in Lower Silesia relentlessly driving back 4th Pz Armee even with the heavy mud and pouring rain Soviet Armies smash the front line and drive west, Fritz Graeser Panzer units unable to make any effective stand as Red Armour pushes towards Breslau and Brieg.

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Once again at Katowice LIX ArmeeKorps holds but is now threatened with encirclement as units of 2nd Ukrainian Front push towards Ostrava due to both flanks of 17th Armee breaking.
The attacks towards Ostrava also threaten 1st Pz Armee who's retreat through the Carpathian Mountains is becoming painstakingly slow to execute due to lack of trucks and fuel, most troops are forced to foot slog through the passes at snail pace and fighting rearguard actions are costing time.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 10th 1945 Turn 5
Army Group South

In The Balkans The Red Army push sees no sign of stopping, having pushed back 8th Armee in two straight weeks of attacks 4th Ukrainian launches a third assault on the disorganised line of Hans Kreysing's Army which collapses and forces Axis troops to retreat towards Zillina pocketing 1st Pz Armee and Hun 1st Army.
South of 8th Armee more attacks by Soviet Armour breakthrough in many places along 6th Armee positions, General Balck's forces unable to withstand the assaults, counterattacks by Panzer units proving ineffective with the enemy advancing 20 miles closer to Bratislava, 5th Guards Tank Army spearheads are now only 60 miles from the city.

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Only in the extreme south of the Axis line there is no major fighting, 2nd Pz Armee's sector remains quiet once more as 3rd Ukrainian Front again redeploying its units back from the front and going over on the defensive.

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