Defending Greater Germania 1942 - Includes combined WitW and WitE2 AARs

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North Africa
Situation Report Feb 16th 1943 Turn 15
Libya

Once again The British resume there frontal Armoured attacks against our fortified lines with the same results, Montgomery seems to be holding back his infantry units for the time being.

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Southern Tunisia

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Finally after holding out for several weeks The French Constantine March DMC Inf Division surrenders, almost completely out of water and supplies low on ammunition and no hope of rescue its commanding General accepts General Fehn's ( DAK ) ultimatum,nearly 10,000 Free French Troops lay down there arms.

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Also forced to surrender The French 2 Brigade / Algerian Inf Division, the unit in a hopeless position and realising resistance futile, signalled to the HQ of the Commanding General Afrika Korps there intention to cease hostile actions and march to the nearest Axis unit under the white flag.
The surrender was accepted.

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North Africa
Situation Report Feb 16th 1943 Turn 15
Stat Reports / Battles

Allied Forces launched repeated attacks against our lines but failed to achieved any kind of effective results, with our Forces entrenched in heavily fortified zones The Allies seem unlikely at this time able to inflict any real breakthrough's.

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Another week of huge losses for The Allies as nearly 13,000 Free French troops join there comrades as POW's.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 18th 1943 Turn 14
AG North

The fight for the Port City intensifies as Axis troops breakthrough with sheer weight of numbers against dogged Soviet defence. as the Soviet buildup along The Volkhov River continues I try find whatever spare troops I have to reinforce the line.

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Realising the situation Kempf's Armee poses the enemy throws a wall of Infantry units from 8th, 42nd,49th and 67th Armies in front of the advancing troops hoping to halt there offensive.

16th Armee destroys a few enemy units and tightens its grip on the rest of the trapped troops of The Northwestern Front.
Within this pocket are remnants of 31st, 34th, 3rd Shock, 4th Shock, 53rd and 8th Guards Armies.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 18th 1943 Turn 14
AG Centre The Rzhev Salient

For over 3 months Axis and Soviet forces have been locked in a bitter battle for control of the area, The Soviets trying to destroy the Ostheer and retake Demyansk, as well as cut off and destroy the German Salient centred around Rzhev itself.
Despite all this The Ostheer has held strong denying Stalin this victory.
Using superior operational and tactical planning we have turned the tables on the enemy, our feint by 3rd Pz Armee has succeeded as the enemy has redeployed more troops to appose this move, now the 9th Armee sector is virtually undefended opening the way now for us to strike North.

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While the battles rage in front of Moscow another major battle continues, here both 2nd Armee and 2nd Pz Armee grimly defend to maintain control of the city of Orel, the Russians are throwing everything they have to retake this City,the battle hangs in the balance. Both German Armee's refusing to yield territory against superior numbers.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 18th 1943 Turn 14
Army Group B / Don

After failing to force back The Hungarian 2nd Army Soviet units redeploy again back to the gap in the line and move towards The Aidar River, 2 German divisions have arrived together with the shattered Italians I try to form a line to block The Soviet spearheads which do not seem to be coordinating there movements, this may help us.
There is still large numbers of enemy units facing The Hungarians and 4th Pz Armee.

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Despite the chaos unfolding with the sacking of Manstein, 6th Armee maintains its cohesion and is able to counter a Guards attack on its flank and encircle the enemy in the process.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 18th 1943 Turn 14
Army Group A

Despite the The Soviets having greater numbers in the 1st Pz Armee sector, no major attacks apart from 1 which is held easily by German Mechanized Forces,General Von Mackensen's troops dig in along the river line, further North the Infantry / Cavalry of 17th Armee also begin to fortify there positions around Stavropol.

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On the Black Sea Tuapse and Sochi still remain in enemy hands though the airbase at Gagry is under German control, so supplies to the trapped enemy units comes by sea,though General Ruoff's 17th Armee is spread thin the terrain works to his advantage with the enemy unable to breach the line.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 18th 1943 Turn 14
Stats Report

Manpower losses for the enemy were again lower than hoped for however the good news was they suffered heavy losses in Artillery and over 800 in AFV's, the down side is we suffered heavy losses across the board, enemy POW's has almost reached the half million mark,there may be hope yet to stave off a disaster.

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Our supply situation is improving by the week as our lines in the South around the Stalingrad area and in The Caucasus region start to stabilise.

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Supply, Fuel, Ammo and Vehicle requirements for units in the field are not looking to bad, but the our vehicle numbers under repair are still alarmingly high.

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The Soviet on map forces are massive, I must destroy as much Armour as I can also need to reduce enemy troops on the ground and hope I can level the playing field before The Allies invade Mainland Europe.

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North Africa
Situation Report Feb 23rd 1943 Turn 16
Libya

For the most part its quiet on this front, Montgomery has finally moved his infantry forward towards Marsa Brega, this could mean The Allies are ready for a major push against The Axis positions here.
21st Panzer Division is in bad shape, not certain how much more the unit can take, in fact the whole Armee is not looking good despite the successes in recent months, its finally taking a toll.
With long supply lines and minimal replacements reaching the battered units, we wont hold here indefinitely, they will breakthrough our lines eventually.
French units are arriving in Libya also, this looks a gloomy picture.

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North Africa
Situation Report Feb 23rd 1943 Turn 16
Southern Tunisia

The picture is only a little better here than in Libya, we have been lucky and destroyed many enemy units, The British 1st Army ( Anderson ) has operated in a disorganised fashion and there attacks uncoordinated, this has given us an advantage but this will change soon.
Reports are coming in of many arrivals of fresh troops in Algeria, it wont take long for them to travel to the front and be in a position to launch major attacks.
Decided to take 15th Panzer Division out of the line and send it to Djilma Air Base North East of Sbeitla to rest and refit for the coming battles.

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Northern Tunisia

General Anderson ordered some attacks against La Calle on the coast with his armour but these were contained, also South near Le Kef some fighting took place with French Infantry supported by some British armour, 5th Pz Armee counterattacked and the battle also ended in a stablemate situation.

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North Africa
Situation Report Feb 23rd 1943 Turn 16
Stats Report

While ground fighting this week was lite, Allied Air Force bombing was heavy once again my lines of communication were hit hard, the rail system continues to be there preferred target choice together with constant attacks on my units themselves.
The good news is we are still able to truck supplies inland and the The Allies don't seem to want attack the rail lines running along the coast.

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While the Allies may control the skies over the land, Axis Air units are still for the most part in control of the sea lanes running from Mainland Europe to Tunisia, Malta still remains a thorn in our side.

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For the most part supplies are OK with the exception of 2 Commands.

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Allied Manpower continues to grow in numbers as do the AFV numbers, every battle our forces fight our Panzer numbers reduce with no replacements.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report 25th Feb 1943 Turn 15
AG North

Finally Leningrad is cutoff along with Kronstadt and Oranienbaum,we must consolidate our gains and prepare for a summer assault on the city.
The enemy must be cleared from Karelian Isthmus and Osinovets isolated, The Volkhov Front must be pushed away from the lake Ports, this will not be easy as 18th Armee is facing parts of 4 Soviet Armies defending the river line alone.
2nd Shock,10th, 37th and 52nd Armies, with more troops on the way. Also The Soviets have begun to fortify Novaya lodoga with the terrain aiding the defenders.

South of Lake Ilmen Kempf's Armee pushes further across The Valdai Hills and moves towards its objectives Bologe and Vyshny Volochek with the aim to link up with 9th Armee at Matsatikha from there the Armee will become part of the Northern Pincer arm along with 16th Armee against Moscow.

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16th Armee supported by parts of 9th Armee systematically destroy the encircled troops, Toropets and Andreapol are captured and our forces take more ground in a effort to secure a major rail link running from Northern Russia to the South.
More good news as 2nd Korps ( 16th Armee ) captures Ostashkov, Generaloberst Busch Commander 16th Armee reports that the pocket should be eliminated in roughly 2 weeks.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 25th 1943 Turn 15
AG Centre

With the success of the 3rd Pz Armee operation complete Generaloberst Georg Hans Reinhardt orders all mobile forces back to there defensive lines,at the same time General Brandenberger orders 9th Armee to begin its offensive, the Armee will strike North aiming towards Torzhok and Kalinin, the attack starts with a wide push along the front Staritsa is taken as is Selizharovo, enemy resistance is lite as they don't have the numbers to stop the push North.

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While the battle on the Moscow front rages the battle for Orel seems over as the SS Panzer Korps has finally driving off The Guards, and 2nd Pz Armee supported by 4th Armee launches a limited offensive and catches a enemy Inf Corps by surprise and encircles it.
Fighting on the 2nd Armee front has petered out as the momentum now swings in our favour,still this sector of the front The Soviets have huge numbers of men and materials grouped around three Fronts.The Bryansk,Central and Voronezh , Intelligence reports indicate the two German Armee's are facing 11 Armies alone in this sector.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 25th 1943 Turn 15
Army Group B / Don

Here in the South the enemy miss the chance to deal a big blow to the strung out Axis Forces, not moving in forces and still focusing on the Hungarians there advance towards The Aidar River is uncoordinated and small in numbers this results in a reversal of fortune as a Tank Corps is cutoff and surrounded, with two other units in danger of suffering the same fate.

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In the Rostov region the enemy has seemed to slowed its offensive somewhat, waiting for more reinforcements to arrive, this gives 6th Armee the breathing space to conduct some local attacks and destroy The Guards units trapped as they tried to slip past our lines.

Two Cavalry Corps the 3rd Guards and 4th Guards are attacked as is the 3rd Guards Mech Corps (5th Guards Tank Army North Caucasus Front ) the Mech Corps is destroyed and the Cavalry take heavy losses.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 25th 1943 Turn 15
Army Group A

Here In The Caucasus the Enemy drive against 1st Pz Armee is faltering, with the quick redeployment of units from 17th Armee the Soviets seem reluctant to launch major attacks, also looks like they are redeploying troops away from the region and sending them North for the crucial Moscow battles.1st Pz can now fight on almost equal terms giving us a fighting chance to hold our positions through the summer.

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On The Black Sea Front little has changed since last week with neither side making any pushes, I have a lot of troops around the Tuapse area in a effort to take the Port but the weather and the Russian Air force are holding me at bay.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report Feb 25th 1943 Turn 15
Stats Reports

This weeks figures were encouraging as the enemy lost nearly 200,000 combat troops, nearly 4000 artillery pieces and almost 700 AFV's, still there is a lot fighting to go and we need more replacements to build our under strength units.

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In the air our planes were victorious with minimal losses and inflicting tremendous losses on the Red Air Force.

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Production is slowly improving and with many of the enemy joining our ranks we are able to put this to good advantage, with many joining our Auxiliary forces and assisting us in the great struggle against The Bolsheviks.

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While this weeks combat figures are heartening the reality still remains that our enemy maintains a commanding lead in manpower and materials, in a war of attrition we cannot hope to win against these numbers.

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North Africa
Situation Report March 2nd 1943 Turn 17
Libya

The relative quiet of last week at El Agheila is shattered as 8th Army's 10th and 30th Corps launch repeated assaults against The Marsa - Brega Line, The Ital XX Mot and XXI Inf Corps coming under sustained Armoured and Inf attacks with British and French forces throwing everything at Rommel's troops in a effort to break the line.

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21st Panzer Divison now down to 58 Panzer's and facing almost three times there numbers with the support of the Italian Infantry manages to hold the line.
With every passing day Rommel realises the dire situation PanzerArmee Afrika faces as The Allies get stronger and The Axis get weaker.

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So he Boards a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch and heads for Tunisia leaving General Fritz Bayerlein in command.

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North Africa
Situation Report March 2nd 1943 Turn 17
Southern Tunisia

In the South The Allies have gone over to the defensive, breaking contact with our troops on the front line apart from a British Armoured Brigade in the Tozeur area.
The lull in the fighting here gives our forces time to rest and build up supplies and ammunition.

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Northern Tunisia

Some probing attacks by The Allies followed by Axis counterattacks result in The Afrika Korps bloodying the nose of The US II Corps and XIX French Corps, two enemy Inf units ( 1 US and 1 French ) being pushed back with heavy losses.
Aerial recon spots Allied reinforcements moving up to the front to bolster General Anderson's 1st Army after the series of defeats that have been inflicted on him to this date.

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North Africa
Situation Report March 2nd 1943 Turn 17
Stats Reports

Heavy bombing is the order of the week By The Allies AGAIN !
With most of my aircraft withdrawn to Italy and the Eastern Front I can do little to oppose them apart from attacking convoys.

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Showing to stat sheets of the losses for this week one for Axis Turn and the other The Allies turn, as well as the Air losses for the turn which showed that at least our AA gunners made them pay for bombing our supply lines.

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Eastern Front: Ukraine
Situation Report Feb 19th - March 13th 1943

While heavy fighting was happening across the entire length of the Front line in Russia Adolf Hitler had arrived at Vinnitsa for a series of high level discussions with Senior Military Commanders on the Strategic situation and to layout his plans for future operations.

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Eastern Front
Situation Report March March 4th 1943 Turn 16
AG North

At Leningrad 18th Armee consolidates its position around the city, on The Volkhov Front the fighting is fierce as The Red Army battles to to retake 3 key rail junctions in the towns of Budogoshch, Kirishi and Posadnikovo.
The battle swings back and forth with Budogoshch falling to the enemy, however we mange to hold the other 2 towns.
Reports indicate however the Soviets are preparing a armoured counterattack as more Tank Corps are reported moving up to the front.

On 18th Armee's flank Kempf's Armee is facing minimal opposition and makes good ground unopposed in some cases and its lead units now only 50 miles from Lesnoe.

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On the 16th Armee Front The Soviet Forces trapped there are all but destroyed allowing the troops to move forward towards the main objectives, the enemy though has rushed more Tanks Corps forward in an attempted to halt our drive Northward to secure the vital rail line.

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