Carnage al Dente
Chapter XXXIII - The Push for Moscow
Players:USA, UK, SOV, GER, JAP, ITA(spec)
ITA controls the
entire German East Front
Recap: When Axis lost their chance to grab the initiative, the Allies instead opened up a new front through Romania and neutral Bulgaria where Germany now is under severe pressure. But the long planned offensive against Moscow is now ready to be launched...
January 30th, 1943
1. Moscow. The entire Soviet front seems a little weak on this sector. It is understandable since its been dead-calm for almost half a year. Even though the Red Army has armor at the front, they don’t have more than one or tops two divisions at the front. Hopefully, they don’t have much in the second line except HQs. The front is simply too long and they have been forced to pull reinforcements southwards due to the German autumn offensive there – threatening (however falsely) to open up a route to Stalingrad.
2. The Red Army is extremely weak here. Two provinces is just “defended” by HQs and there are only one infantry division in bordering provinces. The German attack here will not be awfully strong, but will cause some chaos.
3. The Germans have some four armor divisions with engineers behind the line, ready to push straight north, as a spearhead for this section of the front. It will destabilize the position of the Soviet troops south of Moscow and force them to think more on retreat than clever defense. Hopefully, some may be captured in a pocket.
4. The main thrust will be just north and south of Moscow. It is believed the Soviet defense will be strongest here, helped by the terrain and rivers. The Germans have assembled quite an amount of troops here and the Red Army should not be able to resist it.
But it is all about time. The Red Army is known to have excess forces in the south and they will most certainly pull them north. There is of course a chance the Soviet leadership will simply retreat out of Moscow and instead use is forces in the south to push through the rather thin German line to connect with the Brits….
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February 2nd, 1943
The attack towards Moscow started the 1st of February. The Red Army had positioned medium armors in Obninsk. They were well dug in and would be difficult to dislodge, but luckily, the Germans came in force.
Further north, the Soviets had lots of infantry in a trench system in the snow covered forest. They battles there were hard and they would prove even harder to beat. The battled became grim in the freezing white winter forrests. But not even the snow covered pine trees were safe. The broke and shattered as well. But the Italian leadership was worried it was all going too slow. Still, they had not showed their full force so hopefully the Soviet leadership would not realize yet what iron fist was about to hit him.
February 9th, 1943
Although the going around Moscow was slow, the panzer blitz from the south had desirable effect and crashed through the defenders. A pocket was formed around the city of Tula in which two infantry divisions and with their corresponding HQ was caught. A light panzer division had blitzed through the thin Soviet line. The Italian leadership was not worried.
The Soviet leadership had apparently started to realize that this was not a small stab, but a real offensive, and the Red Army was desperately trying to form up to defend their main city.
February 13th, 1943
Two weeks into the operation and a sack has slowly been formed around Moscow. The Red Army is desperately trying to stall the spearheads but a few panzer divisions is spilling through and is threatening the opening of the sack, and the supply line of the defenders of Moscow.
In the south, the Tula pocket had been crushed. A quite powerful Red army corps is trying to attack the sack from outside, to support the Moscow-troops, but they are in turn subjected to stalling battles and have so far failed to mount an attack against the besiegers. Still, the force is strong enough to pose a real threat to the operation.
February 17th, 1943
It was like a game of chess with attacks, blocks and counter attacks. Finaly, Moscow was surrounded but not with the huge chunk of troops that was hoped for. Weary Soviet forces was tying to retreat out and away from the Moscow-area but the Italian-lead wehrmacht chased them relentlessly – still hoping for a price.
Further north, in Dubna, two more Soviet divisions had been captured. They had been fighting bravely to stall the German attack on Moscow knowing they would be trapped themselves. Well, life is not fair. They would not be shown the mercy of getting away.
Still, everything was calm in the city of Moscow itself. The southern Red Army Corps, trying to open the sack from the south, had had to abandon that mission due to German attacks and had retreated eastwards orderly. Few things could save Moscow now.
February 18th, 1943
The German spearhead panzers managed to finally close the second sack, capturing the remaining of the Moscow-fighters. A few Red Army divisions and HQs immediately surrendered but the others ended up in a pocket. The Germans did not have many units guarding the surrounded troops, but the Russians had no second line, no rescuing force it seemed, and the captured troops had been fighting on and off for three weeks. Their chances for survival were meager.
In Moscow however, the three divisions guarding the city had not been part of any other battles. They were likely to be healthy and dug in – which was not the case for the German formations.
Never the less, not counting the units in Moscow, the Red Army lost some 7-10 divisions during this offensive. It was good news for the Axis.
February 15th, 1943
While the Germans were celebrating victories in the East, they were hard pressed in Mid Europe. They had been forced to retreat to the borders of post-war Hungary and they could still not stop the Allies. One small victory was the destruction of two British armor divisions (encircled in this pic). Would that be enough to weaken the Allied gusto?
February 17th, 1943
It would not… The Americans, supported by some British forces and the Bulgarians, attacked Yugoslavia in a well coordinated attack. The Yugoslavians did what they could to hold the back, but they were clearly inferior. The Axis threw what little excess troops they had against the northern American paratroop divisions. Could that city be reclaimed before Beograd fell, then the Yugoslavians would be likely to stay in the fight against the cruel Allies.
This was dark days. If Yugoslavia would fall, and turn on the Axis, there were little forces left to stem yet another tide.
February 22nd, 1943
The Allies had given up taking Italy – or they simply realized there where richer hunting grounds elsewhere. The Italian followed them and engaged them a couple of times, but the Allies chose to retreat and slip away. Instead, the Italians sent troops northwards to the new front that threatened to open up against or within Yugoslavia.
Late February, 1943
In their desperate hunt for rare materials, the Germans hit the Swedish capital and took it rather swiftly. The reward was quite small.
Greater news, however, was that Japans long struggle in the Far East finally paid off when the Russians were chased out of Mongolia together with the old government. Japan installed a new government and continued to harass the not so great Bear.
March 4th-6th, 1943
During the second half of February, the German forces around Moscow cleared the pockets which had been created around Moscow during the glorious offensive. While a few divisions were sent to central Europe, where the need was great, some marched to the hills of Shchelovo to be able to attack Moscow without crossing the river. Some divisions, however, attacked from other places to confuse the defenders.
The preparations had been solid and the great city fell after only three days of battle. Where Stockholm had been a disappointment, Moscow was a real treasure. Over 7000 units of rare materials were still stored here and Italy immediately opened up a direct trade link to Berlin with some 50 units/day which effectively saved the 3rd Reich from getting the shortage which was looming over their heads – only a week away.
With the great loss due to the Moscow Push, the Red Army was painfully weak. Their chances of withstanding spearhead attacks from the superior Wehrmacht was extremely limited. The Italian leadership wanted to use this to deliver yet another, hopefully crushing, blow to the Red Army. It was hoped this would more or less cripple Soviet from any offensive maneuvers, allowing the Germans to pull substantial part of their eastern armies to the center of Europe and crush the Allies there. The Allies had never before ventured so deep into Europe. This was the chance to capture them there and end the war once and for all.
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Next Chapter - A Vicious Trap!