Not quite...
IIRC he always says "STOP!" as soon as a defensive move is required.
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Not quite...
IIRC he always says "STOP!" as soon as a defensive move is required.
Uh oh, the Soviets are frustrating Reichenau!
Just noticed my mistake - since the death of the old austrian fieldmarshal, von Rundstedt has taken the command of 4. PG. I messed it up - sorry!
All those "von XYZ" really confuse me
o
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The Failure of Heeresgruppe Nord
Retreating Panzer III of the 5. PzKorps after the defeat in Grodno
The Luftwaffe it was, then. The only force still left to the Germans to achieve victory. The Heinkels and Stukas should be a flying cavalry, winged reinforcements and the desperately needed relief. Countless attacks were flewn from the airfields in Warsaw and Königsberg, bombs detonating and scorching the earth that was chosen as the battlefield. Fiery steel rained onto the defenders and the earth was ploughed with deep craters. And yet they were not to be beaten. At 1400 hours on the 28th, it seemed for a moment as if the 5th Panzerkorps would make it. Hubicki's Panzerdivision still was the freshest unit on the german side and hade made steady progress for the last 30 hours or so on the southern front.
That was where General Pavlov had decided to strike. 10 divisions was all he could spare for the counterattack. Just 10 divisions against 14 german ones! Normally that would have been out of question. This time, however, was different. At 1400 hrs his army started to attack the southern german front in Alytus and hit the german lines hard.
The phone in the Wolfsschanze never ceased to ring that day. Angry shouts, commands, furious action – Korps were ordered here, then moved elsewhere, then back again – is was to no avail. Even Hitler had to recognize that the battle for Grodno had been lost a second time. The attack was called off and all participating units were immediately ordered to dig in and to keep Alytus out of the Stalins grasp. If anything at least this minimal aim should be reached, as Alytus would be badly needed for the next attack.
The fighting continued into the night of the 29th and Hitler even got his hopes up for a counterattack of the 1. Armee into Siauliau, to put pressure from the North on the advancing Russians.
It was not to be. Pavlovs forces swept away the totally exhausted defenders of Alytus like a storm sweeps away dry leaves in autumn. The german positions were overrun and at midnight the whole frontline collapsed as the survivors retreated towards the Reich.
The defence, however, had been just long enough. Further north, this should prove fatal to the Kessel of Mazirbe. The III. AK attacked from the South directly into the heart of the encirclement and captured nearly 25,000 Russians. Mazirbe was not to remain in german hands. With the fall of Alytus, all german forces north of Memel were ordered to retreat to avoid russian encirclements. The attack on Riga would not be carried out.
A week into Barbarossa OKW had to admit that the Soviets had been underestimated. Now damage control seemed to be the law of the hour.
Retreating Panzer III of the 5. PzKorps after the defeat in Grodno
The Luftwaffe it was, then. The only force still left to the Germans to achieve victory. The Heinkels and Stukas should be a flying cavalry, winged reinforcements and the desperately needed relief. Countless attacks were flewn from the airfields in Warsaw and Königsberg, bombs detonating and scorching the earth that was chosen as the battlefield. Fiery steel rained onto the defenders and the earth was ploughed with deep craters. And yet they were not to be beaten. At 1400 hours on the 28th, it seemed for a moment as if the 5th Panzerkorps would make it. Hubicki's Panzerdivision still was the freshest unit on the german side and hade made steady progress for the last 30 hours or so on the southern front.
That was where General Pavlov had decided to strike. 10 divisions was all he could spare for the counterattack. Just 10 divisions against 14 german ones! Normally that would have been out of question. This time, however, was different. At 1400 hrs his army started to attack the southern german front in Alytus and hit the german lines hard.
The phone in the Wolfsschanze never ceased to ring that day. Angry shouts, commands, furious action – Korps were ordered here, then moved elsewhere, then back again – is was to no avail. Even Hitler had to recognize that the battle for Grodno had been lost a second time. The attack was called off and all participating units were immediately ordered to dig in and to keep Alytus out of the Stalins grasp. If anything at least this minimal aim should be reached, as Alytus would be badly needed for the next attack.
The fighting continued into the night of the 29th and Hitler even got his hopes up for a counterattack of the 1. Armee into Siauliau, to put pressure from the North on the advancing Russians.
It was not to be. Pavlovs forces swept away the totally exhausted defenders of Alytus like a storm sweeps away dry leaves in autumn. The german positions were overrun and at midnight the whole frontline collapsed as the survivors retreated towards the Reich.
The defence, however, had been just long enough. Further north, this should prove fatal to the Kessel of Mazirbe. The III. AK attacked from the South directly into the heart of the encirclement and captured nearly 25,000 Russians. Mazirbe was not to remain in german hands. With the fall of Alytus, all german forces north of Memel were ordered to retreat to avoid russian encirclements. The attack on Riga would not be carried out.
A week into Barbarossa OKW had to admit that the Soviets had been underestimated. Now damage control seemed to be the law of the hour.
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So Grodno finally falls, but you manage to snatch a minor victory at Mazirbe. Interesting where it'll go from here...
I guess Grodno can be written off as an objective - there are 18+ russian divs there and with my beaten army I do not see any chance of retaking even Alytus. Maybe Heeresgruppe Mitte will be more successful.
Defeat in Torun
The 4th Waffen-SS-Division fought bravely at Torun
The battle for Grodno in the North still raged on but in Torun, just south of Königsberg, the Russians had made another attack on General von Axthelm's L. AK. While the last time he had been able to defeat the attackers this time General Romanenko had brought an overstrength tank corps along and von Axthelm had virtually no anti-tank weapons. All he had were the infantry guns of his 68. Infantriedivision. These guns were too weak to crack the armor of the new russian tanks and were already called “Panzeranklopfgeräte” by their users a term meaning “thing to knock gently on the tank”. Ferociously on their side fought the 4. Waffen-SS-Division “Polizei”. Although even worse equipped with anti-tank guns, they managed to lead 20 russian tanks into a tank trap destroying them with hand grenades and explosives.
It was not long before the L. Armeekorps left their positions and did a fighting retreat to Königsberg. The path to german soil was now open, just as Hitler had feared.
There was a last ace up the Führer's sleeve, however. As soon as a breakthrough was apparent, the last german reserves, the 15th and 16th Army on their march from Berlin to the front were to intercept Romanenko's tanks and to retake Torun once the Russians had captured it.
The two armies reached their staging area at 1500 hours on the 28th of June and waited.
The 4th Waffen-SS-Division fought bravely at Torun
The battle for Grodno in the North still raged on but in Torun, just south of Königsberg, the Russians had made another attack on General von Axthelm's L. AK. While the last time he had been able to defeat the attackers this time General Romanenko had brought an overstrength tank corps along and von Axthelm had virtually no anti-tank weapons. All he had were the infantry guns of his 68. Infantriedivision. These guns were too weak to crack the armor of the new russian tanks and were already called “Panzeranklopfgeräte” by their users a term meaning “thing to knock gently on the tank”. Ferociously on their side fought the 4. Waffen-SS-Division “Polizei”. Although even worse equipped with anti-tank guns, they managed to lead 20 russian tanks into a tank trap destroying them with hand grenades and explosives.
It was not long before the L. Armeekorps left their positions and did a fighting retreat to Königsberg. The path to german soil was now open, just as Hitler had feared.
There was a last ace up the Führer's sleeve, however. As soon as a breakthrough was apparent, the last german reserves, the 15th and 16th Army on their march from Berlin to the front were to intercept Romanenko's tanks and to retake Torun once the Russians had captured it.
The two armies reached their staging area at 1500 hours on the 28th of June and waited.
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Oh man, if they drive to the Baltic then any units you have in Lithuania and Latvia will be cut off. Will you withdraw and shorten your lines, perhaps in the hope of a later counterattack?
Yes. I will try exactly this. My forces are overextended and the front must be cut short. Let's hope that the Führer will not intervene
btw. damn this is tough!
More bad news to come
btw. damn this is tough!
More bad news to come
Thirteen bloody hours (1500 hours 27th of June)
An Unteroffizier of the regiment "Grossdeutschland" near Stanislawow
At 1500 hours Hausser's 1. Panzerkorps finally reached the burning remains of Stanislawow. Quickly the 1. Kavalleriedivision was send to take positions east of the airfield, where hastily left trenches from the Russians waited to be reoccupied. And just in time!
The Infantrieregiment “Grossdeutschland” had just settled in their new position along the outskirts of Stanislawow when the Soviet counterattack was opened by heavy artillery fire. General Marlennikovs army stormed with eight fresh rifle divisions and before long, the tired and battered Germans were fighting for every house again. General Dietl's desperate call for reinforcements reached the HQ of the 2. Panzergruppe at 1800 hours.
“Send in everything you can!” he screamed into the phone while explosions and gunfire could be heard. Then the line was dead.
Fieldmarshal von Witzleben of the 1. Panzergruppe in his HQ in Tarnopol received the Führerbefehl No. 15 just an hour later. It read:
“To the commander of the 1. Panzergruppe.
The attack towards the russian positions west of Kiev around Zhitomir will not be carried out. The strategic necessity demands for a decisive trust southwards to take Vinnitsa and to relief the defenders of Stanislawow. Once Vinnitsa is taken, the 1. Panzergruppe continues to push southward to take Odessa.”
At 1900 hours the Stumme's 11th Panzerkorps and Nehring's 12th Panzerkorps received the attack order. Three tank divisions and three more motorized infantry divisions threw themselves against a superior and well dug in foe consisting of more then 15 Red Army divisions. The attack slowed down and ceased just minutes after midnight. The relief of Haussers PzKorps had failed.
At 0400 on the 28th, after thirteen blood-soaked hours, Haussers 1. PzKorps left the ruins of Stanislawow and retreated. It was another Soviet victory.
An Unteroffizier of the regiment "Grossdeutschland" near Stanislawow
At 1500 hours Hausser's 1. Panzerkorps finally reached the burning remains of Stanislawow. Quickly the 1. Kavalleriedivision was send to take positions east of the airfield, where hastily left trenches from the Russians waited to be reoccupied. And just in time!
The Infantrieregiment “Grossdeutschland” had just settled in their new position along the outskirts of Stanislawow when the Soviet counterattack was opened by heavy artillery fire. General Marlennikovs army stormed with eight fresh rifle divisions and before long, the tired and battered Germans were fighting for every house again. General Dietl's desperate call for reinforcements reached the HQ of the 2. Panzergruppe at 1800 hours.
“Send in everything you can!” he screamed into the phone while explosions and gunfire could be heard. Then the line was dead.
Fieldmarshal von Witzleben of the 1. Panzergruppe in his HQ in Tarnopol received the Führerbefehl No. 15 just an hour later. It read:
“To the commander of the 1. Panzergruppe.
The attack towards the russian positions west of Kiev around Zhitomir will not be carried out. The strategic necessity demands for a decisive trust southwards to take Vinnitsa and to relief the defenders of Stanislawow. Once Vinnitsa is taken, the 1. Panzergruppe continues to push southward to take Odessa.”
At 1900 hours the Stumme's 11th Panzerkorps and Nehring's 12th Panzerkorps received the attack order. Three tank divisions and three more motorized infantry divisions threw themselves against a superior and well dug in foe consisting of more then 15 Red Army divisions. The attack slowed down and ceased just minutes after midnight. The relief of Haussers PzKorps had failed.
At 0400 on the 28th, after thirteen blood-soaked hours, Haussers 1. PzKorps left the ruins of Stanislawow and retreated. It was another Soviet victory.
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The saving of Romania
Captured russian soldier in Braila
While General Hausser fought in Stanislawow for the airfield the romanian 8. Corps had finally reached Iasi and cut off the supply lines of General Kirponos and his army in Braila. Four russian divisions were trapped!
The assault against the Kessel of Braila started at 1700 hours and the Germans and Romanians threw every available unit into it. The attackers outnumbered the encircled Russians nearly 5:1. General Jacob's 11. Armee with 7 divisins attacked with 12 allied romanian divisions while the lone 8. Corps held the hills of Iasi.
At 0400 hrs in the morning, the soldiers of the 11. Armee arriving from the west shook hands with the romanian troops coming from the east. The Kessel had been wiped off the map. Nearly 40,000 russian soldiers started their march into captivity.
The brave 8. Corps was in the meantime defending the hills of Iasi with everything it had. Dead horses lying on the streets everywhere, since the 8th (a single cavalry division) had lost nearly half of it's horses. The corps was beaten thoroughly and forced to retreat across the Pruth river during the night, leaving lots of their equipment behind.
General Gorodovikovs army retook Iasi but was not able to rescue a single soul out of the Kessel. He had been just a couple of hours too late. Romania had been saved for now.
Captured russian soldier in Braila
While General Hausser fought in Stanislawow for the airfield the romanian 8. Corps had finally reached Iasi and cut off the supply lines of General Kirponos and his army in Braila. Four russian divisions were trapped!
The assault against the Kessel of Braila started at 1700 hours and the Germans and Romanians threw every available unit into it. The attackers outnumbered the encircled Russians nearly 5:1. General Jacob's 11. Armee with 7 divisins attacked with 12 allied romanian divisions while the lone 8. Corps held the hills of Iasi.
At 0400 hrs in the morning, the soldiers of the 11. Armee arriving from the west shook hands with the romanian troops coming from the east. The Kessel had been wiped off the map. Nearly 40,000 russian soldiers started their march into captivity.
The brave 8. Corps was in the meantime defending the hills of Iasi with everything it had. Dead horses lying on the streets everywhere, since the 8th (a single cavalry division) had lost nearly half of it's horses. The corps was beaten thoroughly and forced to retreat across the Pruth river during the night, leaving lots of their equipment behind.
General Gorodovikovs army retook Iasi but was not able to rescue a single soul out of the Kessel. He had been just a couple of hours too late. Romania had been saved for now.
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This is not the rotten buidling that was going to fall once you kicked on the door, as Goebbels had said...
Oustanding narration, by the way, very thirlling and catching!
Oustanding narration, by the way, very thirlling and catching!
Thanks a lot. As a non-native English writer I know I make a lot of mistakes and you probably cannot compare it to some of the (I have to admit it) awesome written AARs around here. But I really try to keep up the excitement.
Not exactly the "rotten building", no. But I am still having a lot of fun though not a week has passed and I am most likely not on the road to victory. It is certainly a different gaming experience - since I am writing an AAR I will try to put up a decent fight!
Another encirclement? Four Soviet divisions destroyed? Excellent!
Slowly but surely the Red Army is reduced to dust
EDIT: Probably only about 250 more divisions to encircle
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The defence of Königsberg (0400 hours 29th of June)
Pioneers ferry a field gun across the Nerwa for the attack on Sulwaki
With Romanenko's breakthrough at Torun the Russians held all trumps along the northern part of the front. Sulwaki was in Soviet hands, and the armored spearhead of Romanenko's tank corps aimed directly at the Reich. The Soviet's stragic aim was to cut off the defeated Heeresgruppe Nord and the whole 4. Panzergruppe not even a weak into the war and to destroy the fascists who had dared to invade Russian soil. The early failures of the German attacks had strengthened the morale of the soldiers as can be read in a letter from a tank gunner named Piotr S. dated 28th of June, 1941:
“We are chasing the Hitlerists out of Russia now. They are going to pay for their crimes against our people once and for all! Tomorrow will be the day of our next victory!”
Crucial for the flank of the 6th Mechanized Corps with the 7th Tank Division and the 29th Motorized Division were the hills northwest of the town Sulwaki which were in the hands of the 83rd Corps led by General V.D. Ivanov. His two Rifle Divisions were dug in in their positions and expected a German counterattack from Königsberg.
The previous evening, three german generals had met in Königsberg to discuss defensive matters. General Paulus from the II. Armeekorps, General von Salmuth of the X. Armeekorps (Mot) and General von Küchler of the 4th Army were gathered around the map table. It showed a detailed map of Sulwaki and the hills and a fat red line indicating the trust of Romanenko's corps. They knew a decision had to be made quickly. General Paulus explained: “The Russians expect an attack from the X. Armeekorps to lift some pressure off Königsberg. We are going to attack Sulwaki from the South instead. My corps together with von Berg's I. Armeekorps are crossing the Nerwa south of Sulwaki as we speak and I expect them to be ready to attack in just a few hours. With the help if the 4. Armee we will probably be able to storm the hills and force Romanenko's tank corps into a sharp turn to aid their comrades. The moment they do so, the X. Armeekorps will make it's move and attack with the majority of their two motorized divisions at Elk, a village south-west of Sulwaki, bypassing the hills. If all goes well, we will be able to retake Sulwaki before the day's end. That's all gentleman.” The generals headed off to their units.
The plan was sound and carried out with precision and speed. At 1300 hours all Soviets between Sulwaki and Grodno were on full retreat. Königsberg had been saved for a second time.
Pioneers ferry a field gun across the Nerwa for the attack on Sulwaki
With Romanenko's breakthrough at Torun the Russians held all trumps along the northern part of the front. Sulwaki was in Soviet hands, and the armored spearhead of Romanenko's tank corps aimed directly at the Reich. The Soviet's stragic aim was to cut off the defeated Heeresgruppe Nord and the whole 4. Panzergruppe not even a weak into the war and to destroy the fascists who had dared to invade Russian soil. The early failures of the German attacks had strengthened the morale of the soldiers as can be read in a letter from a tank gunner named Piotr S. dated 28th of June, 1941:
“We are chasing the Hitlerists out of Russia now. They are going to pay for their crimes against our people once and for all! Tomorrow will be the day of our next victory!”
Crucial for the flank of the 6th Mechanized Corps with the 7th Tank Division and the 29th Motorized Division were the hills northwest of the town Sulwaki which were in the hands of the 83rd Corps led by General V.D. Ivanov. His two Rifle Divisions were dug in in their positions and expected a German counterattack from Königsberg.
The previous evening, three german generals had met in Königsberg to discuss defensive matters. General Paulus from the II. Armeekorps, General von Salmuth of the X. Armeekorps (Mot) and General von Küchler of the 4th Army were gathered around the map table. It showed a detailed map of Sulwaki and the hills and a fat red line indicating the trust of Romanenko's corps. They knew a decision had to be made quickly. General Paulus explained: “The Russians expect an attack from the X. Armeekorps to lift some pressure off Königsberg. We are going to attack Sulwaki from the South instead. My corps together with von Berg's I. Armeekorps are crossing the Nerwa south of Sulwaki as we speak and I expect them to be ready to attack in just a few hours. With the help if the 4. Armee we will probably be able to storm the hills and force Romanenko's tank corps into a sharp turn to aid their comrades. The moment they do so, the X. Armeekorps will make it's move and attack with the majority of their two motorized divisions at Elk, a village south-west of Sulwaki, bypassing the hills. If all goes well, we will be able to retake Sulwaki before the day's end. That's all gentleman.” The generals headed off to their units.
The plan was sound and carried out with precision and speed. At 1300 hours all Soviets between Sulwaki and Grodno were on full retreat. Königsberg had been saved for a second time.
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Fighting strength of Heeresgruppe Nord and 4. PG (1941-06-29, 1300 hrs)
The price of the unsuccessful campaign of the Heeresgruppe Nord and the 4. Panzergruppe to take Grodno can be seen in the following notice of the Heeresgruppe to OKW.
Meldung of the fighting strength of all units in the area of Königsberg-Sulwaki-Grodno at 1941-06-29, 1300 hrs.
4. Panzergruppe
- 4 PzKorps: not combat-ready
- 5. PzKorps: usable for defensive actions only
- X. AK (Mot): with reservations usable for defensive actions
Heeresgruppe Nord
- 1st Army: usable for defensive actions only
- 2nd Army: not combat-ready
- III. AK: with reservations usable for offensive actions
- IV. AK: ready for attack
Signed, Generalfeldmarschall W. Keitel, HQ Heersgruppe Nord
The price of the unsuccessful campaign of the Heeresgruppe Nord and the 4. Panzergruppe to take Grodno can be seen in the following notice of the Heeresgruppe to OKW.
Meldung of the fighting strength of all units in the area of Königsberg-Sulwaki-Grodno at 1941-06-29, 1300 hrs.
4. Panzergruppe
- 4 PzKorps: not combat-ready
- 5. PzKorps: usable for defensive actions only
- X. AK (Mot): with reservations usable for defensive actions
Heeresgruppe Nord
- 1st Army: usable for defensive actions only
- 2nd Army: not combat-ready
- III. AK: with reservations usable for offensive actions
- IV. AK: ready for attack
Signed, Generalfeldmarschall W. Keitel, HQ Heersgruppe Nord
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Coming up - probably tomorrow.
Sulwaki really is crucial for the whole of East Prussia...