Turn 9 - Early September 1919: All is quiet on the Siberian Front
Only two minor skirmishes occurred this turn. Kappel's long march is over. Plan Rabbit was a full success.
Meanwhile the
Southern White seem increasingly on the defensive. For a long time Durk has held a position on the Western bank of the Volga as his main defense against the Red army in Tzaritsyn. This turn that position has been lost to the Red Army. Even more worrying, Novocherkassk, the center of Don Cossack loyalists is now under siege.
In the Ukraine French and Greek forces are making progress and have reached the outskirts of Kiev.
Northern front: As predicted the fighting stopped on this front. I am not really worried about a flanking attempt either. In the South, Zinoviev's stack consists mainly of armoured trains which can't leave the railway tracks. In the North Shorin still hasn't recovered from his last attack on Perm. Mezheninov's stack is the only real threat but he is lacking the supply trains needed to sustain him east of the Kama. If Ian starts to reorganize his stacks, I will have an early warning.
What really surprises me is Budyenny's presence in Zinoviev's stack. It seems a waste of an excellent commander. Outranked by Zinoviev and Parsky and without a division he won't gain senority.
Center: Kappel has safely arrived at Burguslan. Samoylo tried to intercept him once more but failed yet again.
It is time to get my troops in place for the next stage of my
Autumn Offensive:
Kappel and Dutov are going use the Samara-Ufa railway until they reach Surgut just east of Samara. One turn later they will attack Samara with Voitsekhovski assisting.
I am wondering what Samoylo's next move will be. I doubt he will continue to chase Kappel; Dutov's army should make him cautious. Most likely he will either march north to Bugulma (possibly to launch another flanking attempt against the Kama Line) or reinforce Samara. Dutov's advance to Surgut is intercepting his most likely route to Samara, though. Since the region is completely under Siberian control, Samoylo would have to attack Dutov's superior forces. His alternative route leads through Green territory. He would have to beat a Green stack which would cost him some men and cohesion.
Meanwhile Voitsekhovski is blocking the Samara-Syzran railway at Troitsk. At least almost; for the moment the Bolsheviks still have 26% military control in Troitsk. Consequently, Grittis can still use the railway and even more importantly enter the region without switching to offensive posture. The trap is not yet closed.
The important question is whether Ian has figured out my plan. If he has, the smart move would be to abandon Samara and get his forces back behind the Volga. However, his intelligence on my main army at Ufa must be sketchy since he is lacking scouts there. If I get lucky, he hasn't yet realized just how many troops I have concentrated in this sector and will doom Grittis with inactivity.
At Ufa, Grivin is left behind with a smaller corps. He will be reinforced on September 15th by a newly recruited division arriving from the East. Similarly Voitsekhovski will receive a cavalry division headed north from Uralsk. There is a small risk that it could get intercepted if Grittis chose to abandon Samara and outflank Voitsekhovski to the South.
Southern front: Khanzhin stays at Uralsk. I have currently a requisition operation in the area and don't won't to risk its abortion. Moreover, I am recruiting some new troops in the city.
Central Asia: Verzhbitsky destroyed a seizable part of the surviving Red forces last turn. One supply train was captured and Ivanov wounded (+ 1 NM). All that is left of the Red forces are two cavalry regiments, two battered infantry regiments and one supply train. Verzhbitsky will take one cavalry division and try to round them up while heading North towards Orenburg. Samarkand and Tashkent will each remain protected by one infantry division.
Recruitment: With several conscription and requisition operations finished this turn. I am able to recruit a lot of new units (most importantly 12 new infantry brigades). While I have managed to keep loyalties stable in most of my empire, the Far East has dropped below the critical threshold of 60% loyalty. Soon the first Green rebels should rise. Hopefully they will unlock some Japanese units.