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ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

Germans in AGC have not been very aggressive...are they trying to encircle all Western front and Moscow with AGS and AGN?

Not with AGN just yet. They sent three panzer corps to Leningrad by taking 57th Panzer Corps from 2nd Panzer Group to reinforce the 4th. So AGC is short panzers with two corps up the center at the moment. The south is dealing with the bulk of the panzer corps which don't have fuel issues just yet. But that area is our biggest threat at the moment.

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

Check that it's the new save...had bit of delay posting it to Dropbox. [:-]

Would you object if Lictuel assigns 49th Army to Bryansk Front now and moves the two tank/motorized divisions, 48th and 220th by Voronezh to the west? They could be useful next turn in the defense.

Not at all. They'd be useful.

Great fun AAR comrades!

PH, how do you do such a big screenshot of the entire front at fairly high zoom level?

I will have a look at the updated turn today or tomorrow at the latest. Last days of my vacation.

@M60 I was planning on pulling back into Crimea sadly there are no forts prepared on the choke points.
Also are you sure 49th to Bryansk and not Reserve Front? that one is way closer (49th is right in front of Moscow)

You are right. Reserve Front would make more sense. I thought they had more armies, but only two and they should have four eventually.

Yes, Leningrad's defenses weren't sufficiently prepped either. Normally, I'm prepping Rostov as well at this stage, but that's just me.

Your lack of faith in our forces capability to halt the fascist invaders are noted, comrade.

Perhaps you recall comrade Marshal, that at the conclusion of the Winter War with the Finns, Comrade Stalin called for a critical self-assessment of our shortcomings. As good Bolsheviks, we have a duty to be honest with ourselves when it comes to identifying weaknesses in our defenses.

Here is an excerpt from a book describing the meetings Stalin ordered after the conflict. Not as skimpy as Amazon's read and quite revealing.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Stalin_and_the_Soviet_Finnish_War_1939_1.html?id=wFihAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Lubyanka has plenty of cells for defeatists and counter-revolutionary enemies of the people. Or would comrade M60A3TTS prefer a punishment battalion? [:D]

ORIGINAL: Psych0

Great fun AAR comrades!

PH, how do you do such a big screenshot of the entire front at fairly high zoom level?

I take a screenshot and paste it into windows paint. Then I take a new screenshot, cut out the relevant part and paste it into the original screenshot. Usually it requires something like 5-7 screenshots to get the full picture.

ORIGINAL: M60A3TTS

Perhaps you recall comrade Marshal, that at the conclusion of the Winter War with the Finns, Comrade Stalin called for a critical self-assessment of our shortcomings. As good Bolsheviks, we have a duty to be honest with ourselves when it comes to identifying weaknesses in our defenses.

Here is an excerpt from a book describing the meetings Stalin ordered after the conflict. Not as skimpy as Amazon's read and quite revealing.

https://books.google.com/books/about/Stalin_and_the_Soviet_Finnish_War_1939_1.html?id=wFihAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button#v=onepage&q&f=false

Dear Comrade Commander of the Northern Fronts.

You will recall that STAVKA has been most generous in letting front commanders handle their responsibilities as they see fit without giving too many detailed orders.

This is unprecedented and has been achieved through great efforts, by this Marshal, to convince our Comrade General Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee that military success is most likely to be achieved by allowing front commanders great freedom in organizing their defences. If it were not for the efforts of this Marshal, the front commanders would only have one order, which would be "not a step back".

I am not an unreasonable man, however, and I could consider constructing major defensive lines behind the backs of our frontline troops at the express request of a front commander. However, that front commander must realize what he then implicitly tells us about his belief in his ability to successfully defend our motherland.

STAVKA has considered your request to construct defences around Rostov and has reached the following conclusion:

1. There will be no defensive positions prepared around Rostov.
2. We will send two high ranking political commissars to your command headquarters to oversee your actions and report back to us in two weeks time. (You will not get any APs for the next two turns).



SIGNED
Marshal Hortlundski

Send your spies, Comrade Marshal. They will see all that is necessary. The admin points are needed more elsewhere, so this is actually a good idea.

I cannot request anything as it pertains to Rostov. That is not within my area of responsibility as you well know. If the commander of the Southwestern Direction wishes to act upon my comment, that is something he must take up with you directly.

VOROSHILOV

I think Southern and South West Front are critical now, North only bit less. I don't see Western, Bryansk or Reserve Front be in grave danger frontally. But I fear double (or single) envelopment from north and south. Central commander feels that since he has 3 fronts under his command and enough forces, effort should be to save Leningrad and stop the panzers from south.

If South commander has need (and he will have), I'd recommend giving him at least temporary authority over Reserve Front units in south. We need to plug the threat towards Moscow from south.

If he goes through with his plan to cut off the spearhead near Kharkov, that will buy some time as the panzers will be having supply problems soon. Stalino will need attention too if the STAVKA is going to have time to get the needed industry out.

Currently issuing orders to the troops. Is it possible for Stavka to release some rail capacity? Some units are critically low on mobility who could use a transport by train.

You can use 15 000 railway points

Southern command has finished issuing orders. File is in the dropbox (SovT8NCSdone.psv)

Short summery as follows:

Expended ~12k rail cap and 23AP

Defenses have been established at the northern entrance of the Crimean peninsula, it is not expected that these will hold due to a lack of prepared positions and the close proximity of superior German formations.

A hasty network of hedgehog defenses has been established on the Zaporozhye - Stalino axis. Another such network has been established on the Kharkov - Voronezh axis. It is hoped that this will delay the German army for a week or two.

A number of mechanized formations have been assembled under the 12th army's command around Kursk. Southern command advises the removal of Pavel Ponedelin. During a discussion about how to employ armored forces he suggested attaching lances to tanks before driving through tightly packed enemy infantry with them. As a result southern command has serious doubts about his ability to employ our mighty tank forces.

The airforces attached to southern and south western front are currently out of position, Stavka might want to redeploy these.

Based on the current reconnaissance reports southern command would like to urge central command again to send reinforcements south. Current forces are deemed insufficient to stop the Wehrmacht formations.

Southern command out.

If you have routed and unready units not set to refit, they may not be useful the following turn.

Huh, thanks for the reminder, I was no longer aware of that fact for routed units. I will quickly check the turn and update if needed.

edit: adjusted turn a bit, there were indeed units not set to refit that needed it.

Looks like you got hit by the iron fist of Hortlund, M60AttS.
Something similar happened to me after I used the Airforce without his ok. Well, I caused a diplomatic disaster by bombing finland and had to exchange my beloved Pe 8 against a U2

Just keeping the seat warm til you get back.