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I have concentrated on the rails to the northern front and it's up to the front lines up there and the supply levels are

fantastic. Now if I could just get across that river. I see we're fighting over the river crossings still. I'm going to

bring in the boats to help with the northern crossing if they will reach that far.

The supply levels near Pskov drop off the cliff on the east side of the river more or less. There's a need for more

supply to the east of the river to continue the advance. I'd best make that the next most needy spot for the RR engineers.

Turn 13......13th August 1941

The good news is that all fronts just about remain stable this turn though the line adjacent to Pskov city is under incredible pressure and the city itself and its destroyed bridge is already in German hands. Pskov fell about 3 weeks later than historically but that means little at such an early stage.

Slightly further north at the Narva line the 254th and 11th German Divisions continue to be held off by the fanatics of the NKVD 20th Division and elements of the 55th Division but pressure is also increasing there too with the Kreigsmarine also being a nuisance.

At the Finnish Border the Finnish infantry continues to suffer from artillery fire the other side of the fortified line north of Leningrad. Given the Finns cannot enter Leningrad until after it falls it is likely they will pull back until the Germans do the dirty work I would think.
The rail line from Moscow to Leningrad seems absolutely vital and I am frantically trying to spare some troops to protect it when the Pskov line gives way but it is a struggle.

The air war is much more even this turn unfortunately with both sides losing around 200 planes though another German unit...this time JG 77 is wiped out totally over Moscow.

Further south the defenders of Odessa came out of reorganisation this turn and are in reasonable shape with the artillery within the city causing the besieging Rumanians a decent amount of casualties.

The defence line running North East and South West from Kiev along the Dnepr is under pressure at every crossing and the Germans are in particular force at the Orsha crossingwith both 7th and 19th Panzer Division's involved in the fight. For now the Soviet defences are holding.

In positive news we are now almost at turn 16 which will be halfway to the first ceasefire [:)]

This is the area south of Kiev and shows the Axis forces traversing a wide open area recently vacated by the

Soviets. Very few Soviet forces in this area so the main problem is traversing it quickly and repairing all the broken

bridges. I'm hoping I can use the engineers to leap over the river and mix it up with the Soviet units along the riverbank.

Supply levels are low in this area.

Here's the Orsha area just now and as you can see the attacks have started on the crossings and I'm hopeful that

some crossing somewhere will get me across the river. If I can get a toe hold somewhere I think I can defeat the Soviet

defenders here. Some of those stacks seem insurmountable.

I've gotten Kiev boxed in and units are streaming north and south from here. The railhead is almost at the front

lines and supply is good here. I'm going to try to see if I can leap the river from this side and if not then I'll look

for a place further north but somewhere I'd like to get across the river soonest.


The railheads in the north near Leninigrad are caught up to the front lines so the RR engineers are moving to

other railheads. There's one near Minsk that I'm working on next to catch the rails up for the takedown of

Smolensk. And of course the south needs some rail work. I think I'll send one RR engineer unit south as a token of

my acknowledgement of their plight. There's not much to do to get the Smolensk line caught up. Maybe 20 hexes of repair.

Soviet Turn 14.....6th August 1941

First things first....The Soviet defensive line held.....just ! All major crossings at Narva, Orsha, Smolensk and Kiev remain in Soviet hands despite ferocious German attacks and though Pskov river crossing still is held by the invaders the Soviet defenders on the North bank held their ground to prevent any breakthrough.

At the start of the Soviet Turn air losses were running at around 130 planes each which given the ramping up of Soviet production later in the war and the current handicap in air shock I am happy with.

Although the lines along the major rivers have held I am conscious I need a meaningful reserve for when they break. A substantial defence line has been formed West of Moscow and there are already meaningful forces at Leningrad Kharkov and Dnetpropetovsk what I really need is a decent mobile armoured force just behind the creaking lines but as yet nothing is available.

Making do with what I have the 27th Army is sent to East of Mogilev where the line seems particularly rocky whilst the 8th Army is sent to further south near Gomel to respond to any breakthroughs to the west in that sector.

Further reinforcements from 30th Army are despatched to the far north to assist in shoring up defences against the Finns.

Multiple bombardments from the encircled garrison in and around Odessa cause more casualties to the Rumanian besiegers and the heavy artillery batteries around Kiev and Smolensk also do decent damage but the rest of the artillery attacks are merely pinpricks and each round of fire brings more and more German interdiction..

Just before the turn ended Soviet air losses had increased to over 340 whilst German losses were about 280....Many Soviet formations were in reorganisation last turn which didn't help as only a few squadrons could fly.

Now to see if the heroic "Battle of the Bridges" can continue to cause the Germans problems or whether (and where) the front will shatter......

Here's the T15 front lines before I have started moving anybody.

Here's the Gomel area just now and you can see how Ian and I are fighting over the river crossings and the war has stopped until this little conflict is settled. I notice that Ian has placed some stout units in each of his crossings and that's going to complicate things a lot. The advance has stopped at this river's edge.

Soviet Turn 15....10th August 1941

A quick history check :

Historical dates for significant events around this time :

5th August 1941.....Fall of Smolensk

1st September 1941..Shelling of Leningrad began

13th September 1941.. Leningrad cut off from rest of Soviet Union

19th September 1941...Fall of Kiev

25th September 1941...Crimea cut off by Army Group South......


So to do a quick comparison with our game .....Smolensk still holds out....[:)]

.....No shells yet fall on Leningrad thanks to Narva Line holding [:)]

.....Still over a month to try and keep Leningrad supply open.[:(]

.....6 weeks to try and hold Kiev though forces remain strong there.[:)]

.....7 weeks ahead of schedule AGS is about to cut off the Crimea.[:(]

During the German turn there was a devastating assault on Orsha and the crossing is now in German hands though the eastern bank remains in Soviet control. The assault on the Orsha crossing cost over 380 Infantry and Engineering Squads, 62 tanks and 36 aircraft to the Soviets and German losses were only 50 Infantry and Engineering squads though 123 german tanks and 21 aircraft were also lost. This was the worst Soviet losses since the opening days of the campaign.

A similar assault on the Mogilev crossing by 3rd and 17th Panzer Div and 293rd Infantry Division was however beaten back by the Soviet 23rd Mechanised Corps.

Kiev and Smolensk crossings both remain firmly in Soviet hands as does the Narva river line to the west of Leningrad and Odessa's guns continue to wear down the besieging Rumanians.

An attempt to commit Soviet bombers to combat support and direct bombing missions is abandoned as losses mount. By the end of the Soviet turn the Germans have lost about 210 aircraft this turn and the Soviets about 320.

Soviet reinforcements have slowed however and there is for now only a trickle of fresh units arriving from the east.

There is now only 16 more turns or so until the first mud induced ceasefire is due which will be extremely welcome.

Here's Kiev just now. I've gotten it surrounded on the west side and I'm fighting over other river crossings too.

The fighting is fierce and sharp. The losses are heavy on both sides. But eventually I'll get across the river one way or

another. I just don't know where the first breakthrough will occur. Actually it's just as well that I'm not on the east

side of the river yet because the supply levels are so low no operations can be supported. So it's just as well. The

rails are getting closer all the time.

Here's what it looks like from Orsha down to Kiev and as you can see the river crossings are all plugged up

with Soviet units and there's no way around them and several attacks are already scheduled but I haven't moved everybody

yet so there's more attacks to do yet. I'd rather grab the river crossing proper but the hexes on each side of them are

important too. I've been looking around for engineers to put somebody on the river hex(es) so that a three-way attack can

be generated. That's what got Orsha for me. That and about 100+ aircraft. Which brings up a good thought:

maybe I should rail some RR arty to this spot to help out the advance. I've got them at Odessa and near

Pskov right now. Maybe I should spare one for this spot. I think maybe I can do that.

Here's the condition of the three regiments of a typical Infantry Division right now. One of

the regiments is 5% lower in supply than the other two and is yellow instead of green. Now I know that the regiments need

to be in the low 70's to be green. Good to know. So the condition of the regiments is that they are still combat ready

except one and it's close enough to stand on the front line for now. Any red ones go back to areas of higher supply to

refit ASAP. None of the regiments is hurting for any line items and if this is really typical I think we're a go for

lift-off for further advance.

Soviet Turn 16

The big news this turn is the fall of Narva which was reduced to rubble before the Germans pushed the gallant defenders back towards the new defence line anchored on Kingisep and the capture of Mogilev on the Dnepr.
A number of crossings are now in German hands including Zhlobin and Rogachev though Kiev and Smolensk remain Soviet.The 27th Army holding The area around Orsha is now under intense pressure.

The battles along the Dnepr have been particularly fierce. One rare successful defence was the Soviet 25th Mechanized Corps inflict 60 Infantry and Engineering squad losses,17 tanks and 6 aircraft on the German 57th Infantry Division supported by elements of 10th Panzer Divn. Soviet losses were 8 Infantry squads and 2 T26 "Tanks"....

The heavier battle was further north where units of the 7th Army
stood their ground against three rounds of intense assault by 217th Infantry Division and 8th Panzer Division...for the loss of 98 Infantry squads the Soviet troops inflicted more than 250 on the Germans plus 31 tanks.

Air losses this turn were almost exactly 200 for both sides.

Partisans are now beginning to be useful and rail bridges West of Minsk have been blown this turn...

Here's the T17 front lines before I have started moving units. Some Soviet counterattacks happened near D-town.

The supply levels at the fringes disappeared all of a sudden and I've built this supply map to help me trace

the supply flow and I've found a couple of places where partisans have made themselves at home on my railroad hexes and

they are tearing up the rails in my backfield. I'm going to have to chase them down and kill them and fix the rails for a

second time so far. This isn't their first incursion in my backfield. I'm having to deal with them on an ongoing basis

now.

Evidently, the partisans are working in wolfpacks or at least this group is....they have destroyed some rail and

dropped some bridges and are generally making a nusance of themselves.


I'm going to rebuild those bridges, beautiful bridges, long-lasting bridges, and I'm going to make Mexico pay for

them. 100% fool-proof guaranteed.

Here's what it looks like around Pskov just now. The fighting is over the river crossings and in this case the

railroad lines. I'm seeing a massive delay in the schedule and getting something done in this area is hard. The supply

levels are fine but the resistance is heavy. It's not clear that the Axis forces will prevail in this instance. Ian has

been railing unit after unit into the Leningrad area and he's been beefing up the front lines and making it harder yet to

make any progress. I'm thinking the advance has halted in this area.

I've been moving units for about an hour now and already some attacks are scheduled for the Smolensk area extending

to the west to Orsha where the Germans and Russians are deep into negotiations with an agreement about to be reached

hopefully. There's been a lot of pushing and shoving and I wouldn't be surprised if a fistfight broke out. There's been

rhumors about shooting going on. I'm going to have to send them an email to request an updated report, or rather, I would

but the internet hasn't been invented yet, so instead I'll dispatch a runner and supply him with a vehicle to speed him

along. I should have an answer back within about two hours or so. Ordinarily I'd use the radio but the Soviets are

jamming it with marching music. From Moscow. On every frequency we use. They must be broadcasting on almost every

frequency. They listen for German traffic on the radio and jam it when they find it. We've started doing the same.


Sometime early in 1944 the Germans are going to develop the "U" band on their radar sets and they are going to dedicate it

to gigahertz for line-of-sight transmission at almost light speeds. They would station a 4-E aircraft at 30,000 feet and

use him for the relay station to reach units at the fringes from Moscow in realtime. This is the birth of micromanagement.

There was a memo about it.