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[Barthheart]

June 22, 1941 - Operation Barbarossa begins!

Personal diary of FM Leeb.

The "Corporal" has really done it this time. His boot kissing yes men have convinced him that Russia can be taken in 6 weeks! It would take that long to drive there with no opposition! I know the Soviet army is weak and disorganized but... oh well. I shall carry out my orders to the bset of my ability and trust in my men and their training and loyality to me to get the job done.

I have been given command of Army Group North which consists of the 16th and 18th Armies and the newly formed 4th Panzer Army, my mobile spearhead. We are tasked with "liberating" the Baltic states and capturing the "Cradle of the Revolution" - Lennigrad. The terrain is well suited to panzer operations with only a couple of major river obstacles. With some luck we should be able to force our way across these before the Russians can put together any serious resistance.

Also, I am to liaise with our new allies - Finland. They should come in handy in the assault on Lennigrad. They are good fighters and spoiling for some payback after the Winter War.

Let us hope that we all make it out of this "advanture" alive......

[Barthheart]

June 28th, 1941

Personal diary of FM Leeb.

The end of the first week of the invasion. Things are going according to plan... so far. The Russians are so suprise at our boldness that they offer little resistance.

18th Army has captured Memel and made good progress towards Riga, the first major crossing for them.

4th Panzer has broken through and is entering excellant panzer terrain for a fast advance.

16th Army has secured a bridge crossing of the Nieman River near Kaunas and occupied the city.

[Barthheart]

June 28th continued...

Our Finish friends to the north have also had stunning success! They have captured most of the Russian forst near Lennigrad and destroyed large numbers of aircraft caught on the ground.

[Barthheart]

June 28th continued....

Maybe we have a chance at this after all. Our losses are low and moral is high.

Maybe I have under-estimated the "Corporal" after all.... we shall see.

[Barthheart]

Personal diary of FM Leeb:

July 5, 1941

At the end of the second week of fighting we are still make excellant gains in territory. The Russians have completely melted into the countryside offering no resistance this week.... just running.... to fight another day no doubt.

Advances by Kuchler's 18th Army have pretty must secured northern Lithuania and have entered Latvia. Riga is close at hand.

Hoeppner's 4th Panzer have made astounding progress of almost 250 km in the first 13 days of fighting.

Busch and his 16th Army are making steady progress up the highway, if it can be called that, towards Dvinsk.

With the help of the Luftwaffe I will use follow on troops to mop up the two small pockets left in the dust of our advance.

[Barthheart]

July 5th continued....

Our Finish friends again give a good account of themelves as they advance right to the outskirts of Lennigrad! And without great loss of life on their part.

The Kreigsmarine has soundly defeated the Russian Northern Fleet sending all to the bottom of the Gulf of Finland.

(Pic shows Finnish losses only this turn)

[Barthheart]

July 5th continued.....

My reports back to OKW are met with disturbingly casual acceptance.... as if our advance was no great feat and it appears they are slightly dissappointed it has only been 250 km!! They have no idea of the effort involved to get this far. Only by our fine training and troops, and some luck, have we made such progress! The 'Corporal" and his cronies will be the death of us all......

Nevertheless, I soldier on to the best of my and my troops abilities. We should have Lenneigrad captured by the end of September.....

(Totals as of July 5, 1941)

[Barthheart]

Personal diary of FM Leeb:

July 11, 1941

Kuchler has just reported to me that 2nd Panzer Division, newly attached to the 18th Army, has broken across the Dvina River and fought it's wat through Riga and into the factory district beyand the city proper! The Russians had blown two of the three bridges crossing the river. 2nd Panzer was able to drive off the engineers before they could blow the last one.

Hoeppner's 4th Panzer Group has advanced to the banks of the Dvina and has put commandos across for preparations for crossing.

A little farther south 16th Army, under Busch, has reached Dvinsk only to find the bridge there destroyed by retreating Russian troops. Luftwaffe and artillery have reduced the defenders of Dvinsk to a mere shell and he expects to cross on the 12th.

[Barthheart]

July 11th , 1941 continued....

The Fins have made some progress as well, but at a heavier cost. The Russians have moved some armour up to support the troops around Lennigrad.

We are getting reports of some new kind of tank the Russians are fielding. Finnish armoured cars and AT weapons are finding it very difficult to kills these beast because of their oddly sloping armour.... many shells seem to just glance off..... I'll have to get some of our armour specialists up there to investigate this more. Hopefully the Fins can capture one for complete study.

Inspite of this the Finnish troops have captured the airfield north of Lennigrad and have entered the suburbs of the city itself. The local army barracks has been overrun.

[Barthheart]

July 11th, 1941 continued....

Our casuality reoprts back to OKW are finally being applauded! Our losses are well below what was projected, although how much they won't tell even me....
So I guess my job is safe for a few more weeks.

[Barthheart]

Personal diary of FM Leeb:

July 18th , 1941

We have been on the march for nearly a month now and are still making very good progress.

Kutchler's 18th Army has secured Riga and the surrounding area and continues north.

4th Panzer, under Hoeppner, has crossed the Dvina River in force and continues his mad-man's rush across the Russian country-side.

Busch has taken Dvinsk with the 16th Army, after the Luftwaffe blasted the last defenders from their holes. He is making steady progress east.

[Barthheart]

July 18th continued.....

To the north, the fighting around Lennigrad is becoming a bit of a meat grinder. The Fins report that now even old men and women armed with shovels and racks are seen in the front lines. They also report capturing a industrial zone with operating factories and advancing into the city proper. They have the city center surrounded!

[Barthheart]

July 18th, 1941 continued....

Overall our losses have been astounding low. But then again we have not met the "hordes" of peasant soldiers we were warned of. So either they didn't exist or they can run faster they we can drive.....

With our inital stockpiles of supplies and fuel almost exhausted we shall have to slow the advance somewhat. That will not please my commanders, but we should still be in Lennigrad by September.

[Barthheart]

Personal diary of FM Leeb:

July 26th, 1941,

Kutchler has reportedly captured reminants of the Soviet 11th Army headquarters. This should make the local troops disorganized for a while.

The 4th Panzer Group is incountering increasing soviet troops concentrations on his drive to Pskov. Maybe they will finally stand and fight.

Busch's 16th still moving ahead at a steady pace.

A small band of villagers with a few soviet army stragglers banded together near Kaunas and started to harass the local garrison. Rear area security troops quickly captured and shot all of the would be partisans. We need to keep on top of this activity or we'll end up with the same morass as Yugoslavia has become.....

All of my armies are moving slower now as the OKW is not sending fuel to the front fast enough. Our inital stockpiles are gone. Typical office staff planning - plan the collapse of Russia in 6 weeks but only stockpile 4 weeks worth of fuel!

Because of this we only advanced about 60 miles this week. This country seems to be without end! The roads, such as they are, can barely handle our traffic, the rail lines are all the wrong width.... An army marches on it's stomach, and fuel tank, and it seems will be hungry very soon.....

[Barthheart]

July 26th continued...

The Fins are meeting very stiff resistance in Lennigrad. In fact they had to give up some gains in the city proper. OKW has dispached more troops to help bolster their lines.

[Barthheart]

July 26th, 1941 continued.....

OUr losses are still way below projected levels while we continue to bleed the Russians of vital manpower. This is a testiment to the superb training and fighting spirit of our troops!

[Barthheart]

Personal diary of FM Leeb:

August 2, 1941,

Well it's been 6 weeks now and this "rotten house" has not collapsed from our "booting in the door". It's just too damn big for that to happen.
Still we are making good progress. By September I shold be able to link up with our reluctant Finnish allies around Lennigrad.

While Kuchler's 18th Army atorms through Estonia, capturing Tartu this week, the Fins are in a meat-grinder battle for the outskirts of Lennigrad. We need to get ther soon...

[Barthheart]

August 2, 1941 continued...

In the south, Busch and the 16th Army continue their drive towards Veliki Luki without meeting any resistance.

Hoeppner's 4th Panzer had some fighting around Ostrov and Pskov but took the cities with few losses on our side. During these battles though the Luftwaffe lost some fighters to a surprising appearance of a couple of Soviet fighters. Hopefully they can get quality replacements from the Western front.

[Barthheart]

August 2, 1941 continued...

We are still moving forward almost unopposed. Only our Finnish friends are taking significant losses.

They did report however that they were able to knockout and capture the hulk of this new tank the Russians are driving. They called it a T-34. Sloped front and side armour, low ground pressure are the good points. Dreadful gearbox and driving compartment though. Their troops managed to disable it by fire-bombing the rear deck which has open grills directly to the engine compartment!

Losses to date:

[Barthheart]

Personal diary of FM Leeb:

August 9, 1941

Not much to report this week. We continued to steamroll ahead.

18th Army captured Talinin, guarded only by a few old men with ancient rifles, and apporached the Narva bridges.

4th Panzer plowed past Pskov and through Dno, thanks in part to heavy Luftwaffe bombing.

Then Fins however have made some tactical withdrawls due to hugh Soviet units in the area. Hopefully this will keep the Soviets busy until Kuchler and Hoeppner can arrive.