Carnage al Dente
Chapter XX - The Push for Moscow, part II
Players: UK, 0.5 USA, 1.5 USSR, GER, ITA, JAP, HUN
Maxyboy playing both USA and aiding USSR on two cpu. Von Rosen back from vacation, playing Hungary.
Recap: Germany have pushing relentlessly against Moscow although forced to fight in France and Romania as well. Albeit the battle of France remains, the Romanians have been punished and pacified. The Push for Moscow will continue...
August 23rd, 1941
Although St. Aubin was saved for the moment, thus destroying the British hopes of capturing about an army corps of Axis units in a pocket, the danger was not over in France. Italian air force sometimes backed up by German and Japanese air forces, had a hard time trying to keep the skies free. It became a cat-&-mouse hunt were the Italians tried to avoid the hurricanes but tried to reach the bombers. Sometimes they succeeded, sometimes they failed. In the dog fights it was clear their British counterparts were stronger, but the difference was not as big as earlier during the war.
Nevertheless, the British offensive seemed to have come to a halt.
August 25th, 1941
The great Italian victory in St Aubin had secured an escape route for the retreating Axis units in southern France. It seemed however, as they could fend for themselves. In Loches, just south west of St Aubin, they refused to retreat any longer and gave the charging Brits a tough welcome. Although the Brits had more units, they did not managed to get them optimally into the battle and suffered for it. In the late summer-heat, fires burned and blood flowed.
August 30th – September 2nd, 1941
A week earlier, the Germans had taken the province north of Angerville, hoping to take the pressure away from St Aubin. That succeeded. Now, however, the Brits had retaken that province and launched a strong attack on Versailles. One of the attacking divisions came from Angerville, and at it was the only division in Angerville, it became a suitable target.
Zingales attacked fiercely out from the thick forests where he had been dug in. Zingales was a decorated hero from the war against the Rus. He had been in charge of the division who had reached as far as Rostov, north east of the Azov Sea, before the Romanians had turned on them. While Zingales had been flown out of Rostov, all his men had been killed or captured by the Soviets. After that, Zingales bore a deep hate for Romanians and Brits. While the Romanians had been punished, the Brits had not.
The British 3rd Infantry Division quickly canceled the attack on Versailles. With that, the British attack soon lost pace and was pulled back. If Major General Barker had hoped that would be enough, he was wrong. If he thought the Italian soldiers were greatly inferior, he was wrong. Eventually he got things right and quickly retreated out of Angerville. The province that had been the Allied base during the epic battle of St Aubin was now in Italian hands. Il Duce had made certain than several journalists travelled shortly behind the troops to make some good stories.
September 10th, 1941
About a week later, the British leadership did what the Axis leaders had expected from them – They started a massive pull back from the entire front. The Axis wolves would try to snatch at their heels, hoping to capture a division or two….
August 22nd, 1941
This was a significant date as the Soviet capital today was surrounded. Germany, running short on rare materials, intended to attack within short.
September 2nd, 1941
A Hungarian army was on their way to support the German southern front against the Rus.
September 3rd, 1941
The German attack on the Soviet capital was a hard and merciless one. The Red Army had no chance to open the pocket and after ten days of bloody battle, defending units started to break. After two weeks of battle, Moscow fell.
As the Italians were deeply involved in battles on the West Front, it came almost as a surprise to them – although a very welcomed surprise.
September 15th, 1941
Only two weeks later, Leningrad fell to the Fins. It was clear that the Red Army had abandoned this entire front, probably wanting to link up with other parts of their shattered line of defense.
The victories at Moscow and Leningrad came faster than the Axis had perceived. The Italian leadership lacks enough information to give a clearer picture.
Authors note: I later found out by the Allies/Commies that this entire part of the front had became out of supply after the fall of Moscow, and they did not dare to stay and risk complete loss of the troops.
September 16th, 1941
The losses must have shocked the Bolsheviks even more. In just two weeks, Soviet had gone from a huge power to a unity close to breaking. The Axis suddenly realized they would not even have to take Stalingrad. A few more cities (VPs) would do.
September 22nd, 1941
With the aid of the Hungarian army, the Axis gained the strength to really initiate a push. As the Red Army realized a huge sack was about to be formed, they left their well dug in lines along the river. The Axis responded by attacking them en masse.
October 14th, 1941
Aided by the Hungarians, the German forces threatened Rostov. Rostov had fallen to the Italians in early May the same year, before the Romanian betrayal. Now it seemed to fall to the Axis machinery of war once again. Still, the Red Army made a controlled retreat and did not lose units in the process.
The Italian colony had now grown to also include the Crimea Peninsula and Sevastopol.
October 11th, 1941
The Red Army had managed to create a strong northern front that could stop the Germans. They seemed to have forgotten the Fins, however, and suddenly their supply lines were threatened. The Axis was certain Soviet would fall if Archangelsk was captured and aimed their northern forces in this direction.
September 26th, 1941
During the end of September, it was clear that the Brits were on the retreat. The Axis pressed on furiously to capture any unit, but with the German attention being split on the entire East Front, it was tricky and the Brits retreated cunningly and held his forces together.
October 2nd, 1941
The Brits retreated to the relative safety of the river. The joint Axis forces managed to find a weak spot and attacked there. The lone British medium armor division had to fight hard to fend off the attackers, but had a lot of strategic advantage in the natural environment.
Soon enough, the armor was supported by another division which made the Axis cancel their attack immediately. The end of this battle marked the end of this second British attack on France.
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confused
