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I would start with plan B, which would allow you to link the areas A and B afterwards.
 
Glad to have spurred on a debate! I went with plan B as will be seen in the next few posts.

I thought about Leningrad but considering the bloodbath that took place to take Estonia (i.e. the advance through the forests) I felt such a move would not be beneficial. Especially considering that since I hold Narva and the AI holds the opposing position, it would be very difficult to make an advance via Estonia. Therefore to attack Leningrad, I would have to do so from the east of Lake Peipus which means busting through a heavily manned frontline through forests with an open flank.
 
Master of the Dnieper (16 Feb – 28 March)

During the winter break the panzer armies were withdrawn from the frontline and reorganized. With a powerful reserve force now available, the reorganization of the frontline and the armies began. Fourth Army, holding the line from the Pripet marshes to Kiev, was downsized and transferred to Army Group Centre. Eighth Army, the sole formation of Army Group North Ukraine, was brought up to strength. The reserves were moved up to the front, and Army Group South Ukraine reorganized its forces into a neater manner and placed Fifteenth Army in reserve. The total force assembled totaled 74 infantry divisions, 30 panzer divisions, 3 panzer grenadier divisions, and 8 motorized divisions.


Yellow: Eighth Army; Green: Eleventh Army
Blue: Ninth Army; Red: Fourteenth Army
Orange: Twelfth Army
Grouped together behind the front is Fifteenth Army and the five panzer armies.​

By the middle of January, the troops were all in position and awaiting the thaw so they could attack. At the end of the month, the ice started to melt turning the ground into a quagmire and restricting movement to just the paved roads. During the first few days of February, the ground became more firm and the attack was set for the 10th. However, on the 9th a massive storm broke out across most of the Ukraine once again turning fields into seas of mud. The storm lasted the better part of a week, although the meteorologists noted that behind the frontline the weather was not as bad. With that, the order was given for the Luftwaffe to begin the aerial offensive in support of the operation.

At dawn on the 15th, close to 2,000 FW190’s took to the air. Their objective was to conduct fighter sweeps over airfields from the Caucasus to the south of Moscow: anything that was in range of the Ukrainian Front. Over the course of the day, an estimated 1,000 Red Air Force fighters took up the challenge and massive aerial battles occurred across the length of the country. Despite the huge numbers involved only 80 of our planes failed to return, and our pilots only confirmed the destruction of 100 Soviet machines. The fighter sweeps continued for the next few days until the Red Air Force refused to do battle.

On the 16th, the ground was still boggy but not as nearly as bad as the week before. With the ground drying out fast, it was decided to launch the first phase of Case Clockwork. Three infantry divisions, from Eleventh Army, surged forward to assault Dniprodzerzhynsk, while a further two attacked from the flanks. By the end of the day it had been established that the Soviets had ten divisions holding this small sector, including two armored divisions. Over the next two weeks the Eleventh Army rotated its divisions in and out of the battle, and the Ninth Army became more and more involved in the fighting. On the last day of the month, the Red Army fled back across the river after suffering heavy casualties. In total, both sides had thrown over half a million men (although not at the same time) into the battle for this insignificant strip of turf.


Infantry, from Fifteenth Army, during the advance into the city​

As Ninth Army has been posed to conduct the main attack of phase one and instead had been drawn into the above battle, it was moved into reserve and the Fifteenth Army moved up to takes its place. After a few days of delay due to this changeover, the Fourteenth Army launched the attack on the city of Dnipropetrovsk on 4th March. The assault divisions rapidly pushed deep into the city, and were then leapfrogged by fresh units. The same process repeated driving the Soviets back towards the Dnieper. On the 23rd, as victory seemed in sight, the Soviets ferried three fresh divisions into the city. They launched an immediate counterattack and took back several city blocks. Over the next week, bloody street by street fighting occurred until the back of Red Army resistance was broken. On the 28th, the city fell and the remaining Soviet forces did whatever they could to get across the river back to friendly lines. The fall of the city left us, finally, as masters of the Dnieper.
 
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The Battle of Vesele (29 March – 22 April)

As the infantry of Fifteenth Army pushed towards the Dnieper and final victory in Dnipropetrovsk, Ninth Army started moving forward from its place in the reserves to reinforce the Fourteenth Army. During the evening of the 28th, as confirmation was received that the city had fallen, the order was given for phase two of Operation Clockwork to begin.


During the early hours of the 29th, three divisions of the Fourteenth Army started to cross the Dnieper. In small boats, the first wave of nine battalions – just over 2,500 infantrymen – secured the initial beachhead unopposed. As the remaining infantry crossed and attempted to push further inland, they found themselves facing five dug-in and well-armed Soviet rifle divisions.

RiverCrossing

Infantry in the second wave, cross the river.​

With the initial bridgehead firmly held, construction started on pontoon bridges and the Ninth Army started to cross. For the next 15 days, the infantry fought a bloody battle to advance 20 miles south from the river to capture the town of Vesele while at the same time securing the flanks of the assault from possible Soviet counterattacks. The attack cost 15,000 casualties, the vast majority being received by the Ninth Army; who in the last two months had lost close to 30,000 men or about 25 per cent of its strength.


The panzer armies crossing the river.​

With Vesele firmly in our hands, the panzer armies started to cross. The Sixth SS Panzer Army formed the vanguard and once completely across launched an immediate attack south out of the bridgehead. The remaining forces marshaled in the area around Vesele for the next stage of the operation. Over the next week and a half, the Waffen-SS advanced forty miles to the coast of the Sea of Azov and mauled two Soviet armored divisions in the process. Their success left the Crimea cut off, and dozens of Soviet divisions trapped.
 
The Battle for the Crimea (23 April – 5 June)

As the armored vehicles of the Sixth SS Panzer Army arrived at the coast and signaled the success of their mission, four panzer and two motorized divisions struck west. The Red Army had yet been able to construct new defenses to face the penetration across the river, rather their positions faced north. The armored strike was swift, crashing through the flank of unprepared Soviet formations. Around 14,000 prisoners were taken in the process, two whole divisions.

With the next series of towns secure, six mobile divisions leapfrogged ahead and attacked the next set. The Red Army had by now rapidly prepared defensive positions. The Soviets held on just long enough to allow the majority of their force to retreat west. Once the next set of towns was taken, the process repeated: Six divisions – four armored and two mobile infantry – attacked, seized the next series of towns and were then replaced by fresh formations. The Red Army did their best to conduct a fighting retreat and very few men were left behind.


The bloodbath of Chaplynka​

At Chaplynka the Soviets made their final stand and attempted to halt the advance on the Crimea. Along a fifty mile front of farmland, 150,000 Soviet soldiers rapidly dug-in facing east to meet our onslaught. It was a brave gesture and their resistance did slow the advance down. The same tactics that had been used over the previous week were used again: six divisions attacked, rapidly penetrating into the Soviet defensive line. Instead of forcing the Red Army to withdraw further west, it forced the various Soviet units into the small villages and other areas that had been fortified and dominated the road network. What followed was a bloodbath. Concentrated artillery and tank fire leveled the small villages, as panzergrenadiers went house to house clearing out the defenders all to open up the roads for the continued advance. On 7 May, Soviet resistance ended and two days later the lead tanks entered the Crimea.


The "Kherson" redoubt​

The Red Army troopers who had escaped the previous battle either fled onto the peninsula, or into the farmland south of Kherson. The latter had rapidly been turned into a redoubt. A small force was left to mask this area from the east, while the main panzer force drove into the Crimea with the goal of seizing Kerch and halting any possible escape. As the panzers drove south, the infantry of Twelfth and Fourteenth armies crossed the Dnieper to launch an assault on the "Kherson
redoubt. To further trouble the Red Army, and to improve our position south of the Dnieper, Ninth Army launched a massive attack to take Tokmak and Melitopol thus endangering the southern flank of the city of Zaporizhzhya.


Ninth Army infantry prepare to attack.​

For nine days, artillery fire poured into the Soviet redoubt while the infantry assembled for the assault. Then, once the infantry had assembled, they advanced into the Red Army position. Token resistance was offered and on the 20th, officers from the redoubt offered its surrender along with over 65,000 men.

In the meantime, the panzers rolled out across the Crimea and a panzergrenadier division attempted to rapidly take the major city of Sevastopol. The Red Army had marshaled a large force to garrison the city, and it sortied out to upset our own plans. Likewise, on the other side of the peninsula, a force had gathered to defend the road to Kerch. While the main objective had been to seize Kerch to stop the Red Army escaping with too many men, this was now no longer possible. Rather, a major effort was made to reach the southern coast to isolate Sevastopol from Kerch and any reinforcements. The intention had then been to focus on Kerch; however the Sevastopol garrison was unusually aggressive for Soviet soldiers. They launched numerous attacks and attempted to liberate as much territory as possible. This dictated a change of plan and an assault on the city by the numerous panzergrenadiers that had surrounded her. A prolonged battle ensured: one that the Soviets had no hope of winning. Heavy and determined resistance was offered, however the Soviets had not prepared for a siege of the city. After ten days, on the 24th, and running out of ammunition, the Red Army garrison – close to 60,000 men – surrendered.


Panzergrenadiers during the battle of Kerch, surrounded by knocked out Soviet tanks.​

The following day, the Red Army started evacuating from Kerch. The majority of the panzer divisions moved north to marshaling areas and rail stations to transfer to the area around Kiev. Infantry moved up to relieve the panzer and panzergrenadier divisions at Kerch, and then they too started the process of transferring to Kiev. The infantry then continued to the battle to drive the Soviets from the Crimea. While the outcome of the battle was clear, it still took until 5 June for the fighting to be wrapped up. Due to how the Red Army had conducted the campaign on the peninsula, they were able to withdraw most of their forces from Kerch.

During planning it was envisioned that around 30 divisions (over 200,000) would be destroyed as a result of the operation. With the fall of the Crimea, the total number of prisoners taken since the start of the operation had reached nearly 140,000 men, not including the unknown number of Red Army soldiers who had went ‘missing’ as a result of the rapid advance our panzers had made. In addition, sources suggested that the Red Army had lost close to 160,000 casualties as a result of the fighting. The operation was therefore achieving its goals, although thus far at the high price of 86,000 men (close to the one third of the expected casualties to be sustained during the year).
 
80k casualties is quite a lot to stomach but the number of Soviets being killed or captured makes the cost worth it.
 
My yearly casualties have been around 300k, and am now down to around one million left in my manpower pool ... so about three years worth of replacements. So yes, those 80,000 are quite harsh considering what I have fought so far have been the smaller battles. The main offensive is just about to open up.
 
Great narrative of the onslaught.......I was also hoping for plan B, but agree with LewsTherin that after the initial victory goals, swing up north and have a modified plan A strike out to possibly encircle Ruskies in a pocket between Army Group Center and South Ukraine......

Excellent start so far....keep it up.
 
I have a few updates to write up, but I am now at the end of summer. Considering the penetration I have just made, if after I have cleared everything else up (most likely the rest of the campaign season) can repeat that then Moscow should be within range of my forces. Have to finish off the southern front first though, all will become clear as I post updates.

At the moment, the Soviet AI's surrender process is only at 16 per cent and the USSR's national unity is about 88 per cent. Obviously as the victory locations come under my control in the south those figures will change. It seems that a drive on Moscow, and the capture of the city, will do little to achieve overall victory ... well other than setting up the opportunity to grab a huge load of territory and boost AG C forward.
 
The Battle of Boryspil (21 June – 20 July)

The redeployment of forces to the general area around Kiev had started before the fighting in the Crimea had ended. It did, however, take some time to marshal all the forces necessary for the upcoming operation. Once the bridgehead was secure, sufficient forces would need to cross the river to hold the territory gained and to breakout. Thus, the operation could not be launched until all forces had arrived.

Army Group North Ukraine had been sustainably reinforced for the upcoming phases of Operation Clockwork. In addition to the five panzer armies and Eighth Army, the army group now commanded Ninth and Fourteenth Armies along with several independent infantry corps, the mountain corps, and the airborne corps. In total, over one million men and close to 5,000 tanks. More force was being directed at this upcoming battle than had been utilized during the invasion of Poland or France.


Army Group North Ukraine, amassed and waiting.​

On 21 June, before the sun had hit the horizon, phase five of the operation began. Artillery thundered across the length of Eighth Army’s frontline striking positions in front, around, and in the town of Boryspil on the far bank of the Dnieper. Six divisions launched themselves across the river in assault boats and threw themselves upon the first line of defense. Two further divisions launched an attack to the south, aiming to seize the village of Berezan to divert attention. Accurate intelligence had been gathered before the battle, in this area – less than twenty miles long – twenty Red Army divisions had been gathered: four Soviet soldiers per every meter of the front.


The National Newspaper informs the people of the
heroic deeds of our men, undertaking the attack across the Dnieper.​

After five days of fighting, the Eighth Army had breached the first layers of the Red Army defensive system and the Fourteenth Army started to take over the attack. As they pushed forward gaining more ground, inches paid in a high price of blood, aerial reconnaissance highlighted that numerous Red Army formations were retreating and thereby units were not being sent into the battle but rather moving further east. The conclusion reached was that the Soviets were pulling units back to create a defense in-depth in preparation for the expected onslaught once the bridgehead was secure.


Infantry, after clearing out a Red Army trench, prepared to attack the next position.​

As the fighting, nether the less, intensified at the crossing site, the Fifteenth Army – of Army Group South Ukraine – launched an attack along the coast of the Sea of Azov in an attempt to distract the Soviet’s strategy and divert attention. After only a few days, this attack had to be called off as it became painfully aware that the army lacked the reserves to take advantage of the Red Army’s weakness in the south. This prompted a reorganization of the army group, to facilitate a future assault.

At the main crossing, the battle was nearly lost. The men of both Eighth and Fourteenth armies were exhausted. The timely arrival of fresh reinforcements on the 11 July resulted in a turn around. The Red Army, it would seem, had barely been holding on. This injection of reinforcements resulted in the final formations retreating from around Boryspil. With the bridgehead secure, bridges were rapidly established and the panzer divisions started rolling across the river. By 20 July, the east bank was firmly in our hands and the breakout battle poised to begin.

The bridgehead had not been won cheaply. Excluding the few hundred casualties suffered in the south as part of the strategic distraction, over 31,000 men had been killed taking and securing the bridgehead. All information indicated that the Red Army had only suffered around 25,000 casualties in their defensive action.
 
That is another high price in casualties. Wow. But at least a victory. Now the Panzer formations can be released to cause havoc for the Russians. By the way. That last photo has some decal on the soldats helmets. WTF is it? Some sort of skull??
 
Oh they have been causing havoc. I am a month ahead from the last update, just need to write it up and then I am uptodate.

As for the picture, I will be damned if I can find it again. I could have swore it said something about they were troops fighting along the Svir River. So I have no ideas what the story is behind it. I would interested to find out too.
 
Sort of look like something I saw about German Hussars or something from WW1?? Some sort of Deaths head.
 
I did some research and it turns out that the Ostbattalions (Russian volunteers in the German army) wore something like this on the front of the helmet to distinguish them from standard Heer troops. So that would be my guess.
 
It looks like a light bulb. Perhaps that particular soldier is in charge of coming up with ideas :laugh:
 
It looks like a light bulb. Perhaps that particular soldier is in charge of coming up with ideas :laugh:

Let's just hope he's not an Austrian former corporal. :laugh:
 
:laugh:

I have done some research and have been able to confirm they are actually Finish troops, not Germans. They are most likely members of the Finish unit Kevyt Osasto 4 (Light Detachment 4 I believe). Although I have no bloody idea why they painted skulls on their helmets. There are some photos showing full blown skeletons ala this.