Leningrad has fallen! The isolated SOV forces have mostly surrendered and the remainder will be eliminated next turn.
The northern Moscow flanking operation has turned north towards Lake Ilmen in an attempt to surround the 750,000 SOV troops in the area. At least 8 armored and motorized GER divisions left their positions around Vyshny Volochek and moved in a 100 mile northern flanking operation instead of moving south towards Moscow as expected. West of Moscow GER lines were thinned and south of the city the GER forces remained stationary north of Orel.
GER mechanized forces south of Orel once again closed the pocket that was opened last turn and then sprinted west 160 miles, with the lead units capturing Tambov and all of its factories. Heavy GER recon showed a hole in the SOV defenses, which was exploited. GER mechanized divisions south of Voronezh moved 40 miles east and now rest 30 miles from the city. The majority of the GER units are still east of Lipetsk with just 2 divisions making it to Tambov. This probably reflects the fact that many GER armor and mechanized units were isolated in this area last turn and lacked supplies to travel further.
The Kharkov-D’town SOV defensive line was attacked in 4 places produced a localized 10 mile retreat.
SOV Response:
The fall of Leningrad and the GER flanking operation from Vyshny Volochek north mobilized many SOV units to reposition themselves to avoid being pocketed and to establish new defensive positions against the soon-to-be arrival of the Finns. An area 2/3 the size of West Virginia was abandoned the SOV units moved northeast to meet the GER panzers. Like West Virginia, the abandoned area contains nothing but forests, hills, and water. If the thrust continues, SOV leadership expects the GER mechanized units to rapidly run into supply problems and become a target for isolation themselves. SOV armor and cavalry units were moved from the northern Moscow defenses towards the GER thrust with that in mind. South of Moscow, units are shifted east to counter any GER attack from the Tambov blitz.
The Kursk pocket is solid and cannot be broken, spelling the doom of the entrapped units with over 100k men, 1000 guns, and 400 AFVs. The Tambov blitz could go north to Tula or south towards Voronezh/Kharkov/Stalino - going south would be easier as the SOV defenses are weaker. Since GER mechanized units are both north and south of Voronezh the city is abandoned to its fate. The units around the city move south to join up with the Kharkov defenses on the eastern end. 3 cavalry units cut supply off to the 2 GER mechanized units (29MOT & 47PAN) at Tambov. South of Kharkov minor repositioning of units takes place to maintain the integrity of the line.
All on map units - morale mean 50, experience mean 39. Rifle divisions - 14 out of 269 (5.2%) have experience > 49.
Battles – 7 holds, 26 retreats, 5 surrender, and 3 routs, with 27 airdrops
Casualties GER/SOV – 197.3k/1363k (+25.3k/80k) men, 1195/18.4k (+159/1300) guns, 1266/9.1k (+83/500) AFVs, and 545/2563 (+77/140) aircraft (including GER 191 (+26) recon and 66 (+13) transport).
