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3 NOVEMBER 1940 - STALEMATE FOR ARMY GROUP CENTRE

German advance reaches the limits of operational capacity as exhaustion and increasing Soviet resistance on the Central Front brings offensive operations to a halt. OKH advises Hitler to rest and re-coup & establish a Winter Line and renew the Offensive in the Spring.

SOUTHERN FRONT 10 NOVEMBER 1940

Stalin orders an all out Offensive in the Ukraine to divert German attention from the imminent capture of Kiev

After heavy losses the Reds make some progress and on the verge of re taking Uman and thus cutting Axis supply lines.

17 NOVEMBER 1940: Kiev falls to the Wehrmacht, Rommel's' Panzer Korps with the 7th Panzers in the lead enters the city from the East after heavy fighting.

Order had now been re-established in the City.

8 DECEMBER 1940: ZHITOMIR POCKET IS NOW CUT OFF - AXIS FORCES WILL PROCEED TO SLOWLY STRANGLE IT THROUGH THE WINTER MONTHS.

15 DECEMBER 1940 MOSCOW FRONT

Marshal Zhukov has been recalled from semi exile in Vladivostok and put in Command of the Moscow Front, Stalin orders an all out Offensive to drive the Fascists back from the approaches to the Soviet Capital.##

The worst of the Winter is coming coming to an end and the first buds of Spring is in the air.


ARTIC FRONT 2 February 1941

The Germans along with their allies the Swedes and the Finns just cannot succeed in taking the port of Murmansk. To add to their woes a Soviet relief force is advancing from the South. Can they maintain the siege or will they be forced to retire and call it a day? Only time will tell....

ARMY GROUP NORTH 2 FEBRUARY 1941

The offensive towards Leningrad has ground to a halt - the Germans and the Balts have made progress but not at a steady enough pace to break through Soviet lines and make a dash for the city - the home of the Revolution.

To the South the Pskov salient holds out at for a bit longer. OKW will have to decide whether its worth the cost to grind it down or just seal it off as the Russian forces there are too weak to poise a threat to the Baltic States without considerable re- enforcements.

ARMY GROUP SOUTH 2 FEBRUARY 1941

Fighting on the Central Front has pretty well ground to halt, both sides launched limited offensives over the Winter months but neither of the opponents was able to make any significant advances.

The Russian defenses are now so strong there is now really no realistic possibility of the Germans being able to take Moscow.

ARMY GROUP SOUTH 2 FEBRUARY 1941

Zhitomir pocket is still just about holding out but in an ever reducing perimeter, its only a matter of time till it is fully eliminated & the Axis forces there and be redeployed elsewhere.

To the East the Germans have evacuated their forces from the city of Kursk to avoid encirclement & are withdrawing in reasonably good order to establish a better defensive line.

The Uman - Cherkassy line has stabilised as Rommel's dash south to seize the bridges at Dnepropetrov on the Dneiper River has been thwarted by Stalin committing enough of his precious Reserves to block such a catastrophe occurring.

Around Odessa there is no change as both sides are too entrenched for either to make any meaningful progress.

9 FEBRUARY 1941: THE RELIEF OF MURMANSK

General Rokossovsky's relief Army finally links up with the Murmansk garrison thus breaking the siege of the Soviet Union's only warm water port in Europe.

UKRAINE 16 FEBRUARY 1941 - OPERATION HERCULES BEGINS

ARMY GROUP SOUTH UKRAINE UNDER FIELD MARSHAL ROMMELLCROSSES THE DNEIPER RIVER AND STRIKES SOUTH AND WEST WITH THE INTENTION OF CUTTING OFF THE SOVIETS ON THE WEST BANK AND DESTROYING THEM.

BETTER MAP!

WESTERN UKRAINE 2 MARCH 1941

Rommell's Army Group South continues to make good progress - Soviet re-enforcements have not been enough to stem the tide but they did come as a rude shock to the General who was assured by the Abwehr that no serious resistance was to be expected.

German Paras [SS & Fallschirmjäger] have been dropped behind enemy lines and are blocking any more troops reaching the operational area. If the panzers can get to the bridges across Dnieper river its all over for Soviets in this neck of the woods as their supply lines will be cut- that's the plan anyway.

ARMY GROUP NORTH 9 MARCH 1941

Pskov salient has now been pocketed. AGN will attempt a slow strangulation in the weeks to come...

ARMY GROUPS NORTH & CENTRE 16 MARCH 1941

Spring thaw has brought Offensive operations to a halt.

ARMY GROUPS SOUTH AND UKRAINE SOUTH 16 MARCH 1941

Spring thaw has brought offensive operations to a halt just as Rommel had Victory in his grasp...

However STAKVA is gathering considerable forces to launch a Counter attack in the direction of Kiev to the East of the Dnieper River.

When the ground dries again the fate of the Ukraine will be decided ...

NOTE: The Partisan War is now well underway.

SPRING PLANS 1941

Army Group South under Rommel will now switch focus from seizing the bridges over the Dnieper to making an all out assault to the south west to seize the city of Kherson. The Axis forces south of Uman will simultaneously attempt a breakthrough to link up with Rommel's panzers.

Across on the eastern side of the Dnieper the Soviets are mustering their fresh Reserves to drive on Kiev and take the heat off their troops on the West Bank.

Operation Countenance is successfully concluded, Teheran has now fallen to the Allies and the Shah Reza Pahlavi has been sent into Exile.
Crown Prince Mohammad Reza Pahlavi took the oath to become the new Shah of Iran as a client of the British Empire.

20 APRIL 1941 - OPERATION GEBURTSTAG BEGINS

OBJECTVE: ODESSA & THE ELIMINATION OF THE SOVIET FORCES ON THE WEST BANK OF THE DNEIPER RIVER

27 APRIL 1941- AXIS FORCES HAVE MADE REMARKABLE PROGRESS AS SOVIET RESISTANCE CRUMBLES