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Turn 160 (July 6th, 1944)

Rumanians were willing to cooperate, Germans and Hungarians were unprepared, and the Soviets were totally surprised. Suddenly, Rumania is an ally of USSR. Her forces consist of 9 infantry divisions, 4 mountain divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 1 armored division, 1 security division and 84 smaller units, grouped in two armies: 1st and 3rd. Despite the chaos of a hasty surrender, they have a vital strategic goal before them - to secure and protect three passes through the southern Carpathian mountains, heading towards Brasov, Sibiu and Arad. Rumanian allies (puppets?) have now a very dangerous task ahead of them, as they must hold alone for a month, against a possible German counterattack. Their only advantage will be defensive terrain:

STAVKA was expecting all the mountain passess to be heavily fortified by Axis forces and thus, seeing no chance for an easy conquest, ordered NKPS units away from the southern sector of the front, towards Ukraine. Those units are now back in Bessarabia, and under strict orders to work around the clock to repair the rail line from Odessa to Braila as fast as possible. Without that rail line operational, it's impossible to move significant forces towards western Rumania. 160 miles of rail to repair:

Contact with German units was restored in the Ukraine, on the pre-war border with Poland along the Zbruch river. 3rd Ukrainian Front was ordered to disengage and prepare for a move south, to Rumania:

The exit from the marshes is close, just behind Pinsk:

Kaunas captured, Eastern Prussia (and revenge) is so close:

Latvia is captured without a fight, for a while Soviet units are allowed to roam far and wide as there is no trace of German forces in the area:

87th Rifle Corps was renamed 61st Guards Rifle Corps. 20th Mountain Division was renamed 5th Guards Mountain Division. 15th Rifle Division was renamed 196th Guards Rifle Division.

Strength:
men: 10 760 304 vs 4 012 220
guns: 182 572 vs 38 962
AFVs: 15 246 vs 6 100
aircraft: 21 611 vs 1 764

Trucks:
in units: 283 775 / 283 750 (100.01%)
in the pool: 234 827 / 206 377 (113.79%)
in repair: 99 008

Losses:
killed: 4 988 vs 4 030
captured: 384 vs 6 387
disabled: -18 098 vs -7 412
guns: 166 vs no data
AFVs: 215 vs no data
aircraft: 216 vs 122

Including:
in combat: 106 vs 61
from AA: 57 vs 3
on the ground: 0 vs 37
operational: 53 vs 21

good pair of turns, but even if you are back to some mobile warfare it does look like Cpt Flam is managing his retreat well - unless you can manage to exploit that Rumanian surrender and get into central Hungary?

His retreat is steady and slow as it should be (thanks to level 3-2 forts 3-4 hexes deep, with many units in reserve mode), so far only one mistake that cost him 160k troops and that's all. However, I was surprised he gave me Rumania for free (especially the mountain passes).

Turn 161 (July 13th, 1944)

1st Rumanian Army etrenches on the northern side of Transylvanian Alps, waiting for reinforcements. There is no sign of the enemy yet. Is the soft underbelly of Hungary unprotected? 13th Guards Tank Corps, belonging to 1st Guards Army, enters Brasov. The rest of the Transcaucasus Front (except the "mountain" army) follows, moving slowly through the narrow pass. It's task is to attack directly to the north, in order to trap some German units still on the wrong side of the Carpathians, and open another passage through the mountain range for another Front. 3rd Rumanian Army turns west, advancing towards Sibiu (Hermannstadt). Some Rumanian divisions ended up in Ukraine after the truce, and now they have to move quickly, mostly on foot, in order to catch up with their respective commands. One unit arrives from Odessa by sea, unloading in the port of Constanta:

The mountain barrier in its middle part is traversible only through two gaps - southern via Targu Ocna, and northern via Campulung. Thanks to a threat from the rear, the southern one may be captured soon. There is no hope in conquering the other, unless the Germans withdraw willingly, and so some armies are ordered to rest and refit, while maintaining contact with the enemy:

Axis forces continue their hasty withdrawal from Ukraine, and so their 327th Infantry Division was sacrificed, as a rearguard force:

Enemy fled behind the Styr river. Soviet units no longer need to maintain a cohesive line while advancing, so cavalry units race to the fore, to capture as much of this miserable piece of swamp-land as possible in one week. Rovne is captured without a fight:

Red Army is again in Grodno, after three years of bloody struggle:

Wehrmacht withdrew to Prussia, almost entire Latvia and Lithuania are back under USSR's control:

Rifle corps are upgrading to newest TOE, they will be even more powerful than before.

Strength:
men: 10 788 092 vs 4 041 829
guns: 184 719 vs 39 480
AFVs: 15 546 vs 6 230
aircraft: 21 458 vs 1 619

Trucks:
in units: 287 587 / 287 626 (99.99%)
in the pool: 240 442 / 194 386 (123.69%)
in repair: 94 986

Losses:
killed: 5 780 vs 3 615
captured: 11 vs 75
disabled: -19 491 vs -7 041
guns: 83 vs 137
AFVs: 427 vs 56
aircraft: 240 vs 101

Including:
in combat: 109 vs 57
from AA: 55 vs 0
on the ground: 0 vs 21
operational: 76 vs 23

Turn 162 (July 20th, 1944)

1st Rumanian Army still stands alone, protecting the vital western passes through the Transylvanian Alps. 1st Rumanian Mountain Division captured Aiud, a very dangerous position, since soon an entire enemy Army Group will be withdrawing nearby. Transcaucasus Front trudges north to Brasov. Mobile forces (13th Guards Tank Corps from 1st Guards Army, 14th Guard Cavalry Corps from 46th Army, and 1st Rumanian Armored Division from 3rd Rumanian Army) attacked German rearguard east of Targu Ocna, but failed to seal the narrow escape route:

Soviet mountain divisions advance through the Carpathian Mountains to help with the encirclement of enemy divisions. Rail in Moldavia is repaired 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but is still far from completion. 3rd Ukrainian Front has to move using its own transport for now, and all trucks and tanks are put to use carrying the riflemen:

Significant advance towards Lvov (just 40 miles away), with multiple towns liberated from the Axis yoke. German division in Dubno surrendered to 12th Guards Tank Corps. Contact with enemy forces is restored, but the railheads are now as much as 140 miles away. Fuel and spare parts are not reaching the units in required numbers:

The swamps of Polesia are now behind, and the central Polish plain is not far away. 30 miles left to the Hero City of 1941 - Brest Litovsk: