Drive to the East (Dankhippos Axis vs Zebtucker Soviets)

[dankhippos]

The Army Group Commanders are given their Objectives and the Operations commence across the border! Time to kick the door in and be home by Christmas!
Jawoll!

[dankhippos]

Soviet Fronts are smashed and pocketed in AGN's AO. Totenkopf Div clears Riga of resistance, and Flieger Fuhrer OstSee Naval interdicts the Kurland coast. The Majority of PG4 crosses the Daugava nad gets ready to rush to Pskov.

[dankhippos]

Bialystok- Misnk pocket forms. 3PG and 2PG meet at Minsk. Soviet forces on the Border are hit hard to make the pocket reduction able to be finished in one turn. Lead elements of 3PG are only 40 miles from Vitebsk.

[dankhippos]

In the south Lvov is secured and 1PG rushes forward to cut the rail at Proskurov and pocket many of the Soviet divisions NE of Lvov.

[dankhippos]

Overall it went well. Turn took about 2 hours per AG with the south taking the longest. The depth of the push in the north and center will convert nicely into momentum for the next few turns. Some units flew out of the pocket, but I would rather get the turn done then worry about those. All of the pockets will hold besides the Lithuanian one, which is a BUMMER, because it will slow down AGN's infantry.
Pictured Below is the start of Turn 2

[dankhippos]

4th and 3rd PGs move northwards and find Pskov, Parnu, and Velikie Luki well defended. The infantry armies start to follow

[dankhippos]

2PG heads towards Gomel while AGC infantry reduces the turn one pocket to zero.

[dankhippos]

Romanian troops and Panzers from 1st PG close the Lvov pocket, while a Motorized corps traps a few Soviet Divisions near the Pripyat Marshes, while the last two Corps from 1PG pocket a soviet Army in Podolia. On the Romanian border Soviets are pocketed or at least ZOC locked to prevent escape.

[dankhippos]

Invasion going as planned!

[dankhippos]

Here the 297th ID nudges the 164th RD into the pocket that will be resealed shortly

[dankhippos]

The pocket along the Daugava is sealed for the third time. Motorized elements rush into Estonia. Infantry makes it to the outskirts of Pskov, and the city itself is taken.

[dankhippos]

PG 3 starts to clear out the Soviet defenders guarding the land bridge and the rest of the Vitebsk outskirts.
Schidt, Lemelsen, and, Nehring smash the Soviet frontline to prepare for the capture of the city

[dankhippos]

A ratio of 52 German tanks for 565 Soviet tanks. 4 German aircraft for 118 Soviet AC. A well fought battle for Nehring!

[dankhippos]

While Hoth's Panzer Group faces stiff resistance at Smolensk, Guderian rushes forward across the Dnepr.
In Ukraine,5 Soviet Divisons are ensnared in Volhynia and the Podolia pocket is re-sealed.
On the Romanian border, more of the Soviet SW Front is pocketed or destroyed

[dankhippos]

Soviet OOB is being kept down nicely.

[CarstenJansing]

nice beginning for the Axis

[dankhippos]

nice beginning for the Axis

Thanks! There is plenty more to come. I can appreciate my opponent Zebtucker, as his defending forward (historically accurate but cause big soviet losses in game), really is creating a fun game!

[dankhippos]

Tallinn is secured and PG4 slowly advances, taking care to rest some divisions.
In the Center, Vitebsk is assualted and the units defending it are pocketed. PG 2 and 3 coordinate to pocket the Soviet army defending the Heavy river. In total 11 divisions are pocketed.
In the south,1 PG faces extreme stiff resistance while attempting to clear the road to Kiev. Good progress is made, but the Soviet forces are likely to rush back across the Dneper

[dankhippos]

Logistics keep up with the war machine so far.

[dankhippos]

The two Panzer Groups hold the line against Small soviet counterattacks against the Pocket. Around 130 thousand Soviets are caught in the Mogilev-Vitebsk pocket. Elements from the 4th and 9th Armies are tasked with clean up while the wary Panzer Groups take the week to regain strength.