The AARt of War - German AAR

Chapter I: Prior to the War

Back in 1936 it was obvious there will be a war. German High Command estimated they will have no more than 3 years to prepare. Fuhrer issued order to General staff saying that preparations must begin as soon as possible. Industrial capacity was very limited so it had to be decided which branch will be prioritised. After series of meetings, decision has been made.

"Directive nr.1


Due to limited industiral capacity Kriegsmarine is not going to be prioritised for production. Only few new ships are to be ordered (including 2 battleships, “Turpitz” and “Bismacrk”). They will be divided in 2 task forces, each consisting of 1 battleship, 2-3 Heavy/battle cruisers and 8 screens. Construction of Aircraft carrier is out of question due to lack of IC and technology. After formation of task forces priority will be given to the submarines, which will be used to disrupt enemy over-sea supply lines. 1 transport group is to be built too.

Luftwaffe will be divided in groups. 3 fighting groups, each consisting of 4 air wings are designated for the West while 1 for the East. 3 medium bomber groups (3 Tac wings), 2 close air support groups (3 CAS ings) and a transport group (2 wings) are to be formed before the outbreak of war. 1 Heavy bomber group is also ordered but it will not be ready until the 1940.

Land forces are given the highest priority. 4 infrantry armies, supported with one panzer corps are to defend frontier towards France, Belgium and Netherlands. 2 infrantry armies and the 1. Panzer army (3 INF Corps/2 Panzer Corps) are designated for the eastern frontier. One mixed army consisting of 2 mountain corps, 2 regular infrantry corps and 1 panzer corps (of 2 division only) is to “guard” frontier towards Denmark. Infrantry divisions will consist of 3 infranty brigades and 1 artillery brigade. Composition of panzer division is not exact. Current light panzer regiments MUST be all upgraded to the medium panzers."

(authors note: this is just a small intro, I will post real chapter with screens and everything in few hours.)

Chapter II: The Fall of France


Here, you can see situation ot 10th of April.

Now lets get back a little.


After the fall of Poland 1. Panzer Army was sent to the Ardennes region to lead the Invasion of France. But before they could arrive, German 5. and 6. armies, which were defending the Belgium-Netherlands frontier were on the edge of defeat. Their defence has been breached on several places. III Panzer Corps attempted counter-attack but ih was forced to retreat to avoid encirclement. By that time I and II Panzer corps of 1. Panzer Army arrived on their positions but 3 infrantry corps that were suppose to guard the flanks of the spearhead were far behind. German High Command, fearing that any postpoment of operation would give allies enough time to crush 5. and 6. armies, ordered the attack. Luxemburg quickly fell and infrantry division of 3. Army made a breakthrough at Sedan. I and II Panzer Coprs immidiately rushed thorught that gap. Enemy quickly abandoned their offensive in the North and rushed reinforcements to stop new German offensive. Lack of the 1. Panzer army infrantry Corps showed when spearhead was forced to a halt, after series of counter-attacks on its flanks. What was imagined as a quick and easy victory turned into a bloody struggle.



Northern pincer: I Panzer corps is in reaching distance of Paris but it can not launch attack without its flanks secured. Reinforcment are currenltly being rushed there but it will take time until they arrive.

Southern pincer: II Panzer corps attacked only to relieve the I. Now, themselves are in danger of being cut off.




German assault on well entrenched Anglo-Dutch positions failed with high losses. 6. Army General staff ordered attack on their flanks in order to isolate hard point. Simultaneously 5. Army began series of attacks on entraped Franco-Belgian forces. Battles are fierce, with very high losses on all sides. These attacks are part of Operation "The End" with final goal of defeating France. If 5. and 6. armies manage to eliminate allied pockets, they could launch an attack on the northern coast of France and threaten Paris from the North.



Seeing the opportunity, I Panzer Corps launched its attack on Paris. During the fighting that lasted for 15 days, French launched series of counter-attacks on both of flanks. I Panzer Corps found itself on both defensive and offensive. More than 15 counter-attack were repelled with disastrous losses for allies. This battle became popular as "The Meus Graveyard". I Panzer Corps took only light losses, but some of the units fighting in city were almost annihilated. Big problem was allied air superiority. Luftwaffe had been worn down so allies had the clear sky and could bomb troops anytime. German forces will eventually capture the city, but with the help of the reinforcements (3 infrantry divisions).







1st stage of the operation "The End" was executed. Final attack on Belgium-Dutch pocket started. If Wehrmacht succed in destroying thah pocket, most of troops that were tied up there will suddenly invade norther coast of France. In that case, sall of France will be in matter of days. Unfortunately, final attack failed. Altough, everything was not lost. 2 corps of the 6. Army managed to break enemy lines and divided that large pocket in 2 smaller. Operation was not a complete failure, after all.



After securing Paris, German forces unleashed their fury on northern coast. It was simultaneously attacked from south and east. German tanks seemed unstoppable. Meanwhile, commander of BEF, entraped with his forces in pocket, with no chance of escaping, negotiated surrender. Same's been done by French commander in second pocket. France had no chance, but to surrender.



Remnants of allied forces tried to fight their way to the coast, but were annihilated in the procces.

Nationalist coup in Spain failed again and the Republican goverment refused to give transit right. New operation is on drawing table, with the final goal of conquering Gibraltar.



Authors note:



Here, you can see total losses of the Western campaign. In IC, they were larger than allied. I have learned some painful lessons here, what was supposed to be an easy victory, turned into a bloody struggle that lasted for more than 6 months. I believe my biggest mistake was decision not to wait for 3 infrantry corps to arrive from Poland. Also, my entire invasion force was stuck for a 2 weeks in battle with ONLY 4 French infrantry division! That gave them time to send some reinforcemenets from the north and completely stop advance. I have also lost air superiority rather quickly. I still cant seem to understand how that happened. I've had 20 fighter wing divided into 5 groups and still, i lost. I didn't pay much attention to air war, so i think Brits must have engaged my group 1 by 1, with all they had. Due to loss of AS, entire Rurh industry was torn into pieces. I lost about 60 IC. BTW, meanwhile, Norway was occupied.

I am planning to post another update in few hours. I will cover period of few months, from the 7th Army assault on Spain to redeployment of armies to the Soviet border. Stay tuned

Chapter III: The Invasion of Spain

OKW planned to take control of Gibraltar but it was not possible due to Republican victory in Spanish Civil War. Several nationalist coups backed by Abwehr failed and Republican goverment refused to give transit rights. Only option left was to invade Spain and force them to join the axis. 7th Army was ordered to prepare for the offensive. They were joined with IV Panzer Corps, transfered from Norway, consisting of 2 Panzer and 1 motorised division. Operation was codenamed "Black".



The first part of the plan involves capturing of the bordering regions, which will be done by elements of the 12th and 9th Corps. Advance will be covered from air by the Luftflotte one. Airports in Madrid and Barcelona will be destroyed by strategic bombers. Second part involves capturing of Barcelona from the air and transfer of Panzer Corps to the front. Third and the final part involves capturing of Madrid and capitulation of the Spanish goverment. Panzer Corps will break enemy lines and blitz towards Madrid while infrantry will cover its flanks. With Madrid and Barcelona captured, Spanish goverment will have no choice but to accept terms of surrender.



Order of battle of the 7th Army on the day of the invasion.





Spanish goverment was caught by suprise and there weren't a single enemy division to oppose execution of the first part of the plan.




USA is closer and closer to joining the war. Gibraltar has to be taken before that happens!


Everything was going smooth. By the New Year's Eve IV Panzer Corps was on the gates of Madrid. The only deviation from the plan was decision not to take Barcelona due to small range of German fighter aircraft.



Bloody battle of Madrid has been won in only 6 days with with heavy losses! IV Panzer Corps, supported by paratroop landings behind enemy lines was able to dislodge defenders rather quickly. We sustained 1532 killed and few thousand wounded. 48 tanks had been destroyed.

Disastrous news struck soon. Spain has joined the Allies! German invasion just pushed them into their hands. Now, it will take months to defeat Spain, due to allied reinforcements. UK sent few infratry divisions and many warplanes! 7th army was quickly reinforced with entire infrantry corps (it will take time until they got organised) and 1 panzer division, attached to the IV Panzer Corps. Another group of fighters had been sent! Troops inside Madrid had been cut off, but coridor will be re-established soon.



RAF fighters made their first appearance on the sky, challenging theLuftwaffe air superiority.



German forces became to streched, so 7th army general staff requested reinforcements, but were denied. Altough, they had permission to use 2 infrantry divisions of the 13th Corps, which were stationed in Bordeaux.



13th Panzer division was encircled and almost destroyed. German fighters didn't have tanks large enough to carry sufficient amount of fuel so Brits and Spaniards had the clear skies. Their bombers attacked in formations, one after another. Many tanks and other vehicles were burned to the ground. Only due to fanaticism of German soldiers, enemy failed to drive them into the sea. One infrantry division will be soon landed there to save the 13th Panzer. Commander, von Cochenhausen, received Iron Cross as a reward.



Spain is on the edge of defeat and German troops are closing on Gibraltar.



Gibraltar is encircled and attacked by 2 infrantry and 1 Panzer division. Brits failed to reinforce it and small garrison can't withstand the might of German forces.



With most of its army destroyed and land taken, Spanish goverment fled to the UK leaving their people at the mercy of the Germans. OKW agreed it is impossible to defend Spain and France at the same time when the USA joins, so puppet goverment has been installed. 7th Army was ordered to redeploy to the eastern border while entire corps of recruits is sent to defend Gibraltar.



Brits wanted to retaliate by bombing the Rurh industry, but their task force was almost destroyed by the luftwaffe.


Authors note: Next series of chapters will be about preparations for Barbarossa. I have decided to postpone it for the spring of the 42' since i need more time to 'clean the garden' and produce more troops (particularly Panzergrenadier and armored divisions). Regarding invasion of Spain, I did not expect them to join Allies after my attack. It prolonged the war for 5 months! I couldn't send more troops there, since i have transfered most of my forces to the eastern border. France is protected by a single army, Army of France, while homeland (including Norway and Denmark) is protected by the 2nd Army. I hope so it is clear why i had to postpone the invasion of the Soviet Union. I need to reinforce France with entire army (including at least 1 panzer corps) and maybe even send aid to Italians (who are trying to capture the Suez, but are pushed back).

I will probably split fighters in groups of 2 too, due to ridiculous stacking penalty which i haven't noticed earlier. Ty for the advice.

Chapter IV: Preparations for the Operation ''Barbarossa'', part one

Army ornagization

Entire force designated for the operation will be split in 3 army groups (North, Center and South). Each army group will consist of at least 2 armies and will have its own Air fleet. Army group "North" will have 2 regular armies attached while army groups "Center" and "South" will also have an additional Panzer Army. Panzer armies won't only consist of panzer corps. Most commonly used army organization involves pure infrantry and pure panzer armies, which is bad. Lets say you are planning a major operation. You are massing all armor designated for that operation in one panzer army, that will spearhead the assault and make a breakthrough. Since panzer army won't have any infrantry divisions attached, you will have to use elements of infrantry armies to cover the flanks or to even use panzer divisions (which is unlikely, but who knows). Your operation can be quickly stopped by enemy counter-attacks on other sectors of the front and since most of your armor is used elsewhere, your pure infrantry divisions can't stop enemy tanks. That is similiar to what happened to the Germans in the battle of Kursk where Soviet counter-attacks on other sectors forced them to a halt. If you are going to lend some panzer divisions to the regular armies, whats the point in organizing them in one panzer army? Strong and unified command is key to the victory! Not to mention you are just increasing lines of communications.

Cuz of that, i have changed that organization (it is also unrealistic, which i don't like).



Panzer corps will consist of panzer and panzergrenadier divisions. There will be a difference beetwen panzer divisions of panzer and regular armies. Panzer divisions of panzer armies will consist of 1/2*ARM|1/2MECH|SPG|ENG/TD. They are are naturally stronger, since they will lead the attack and possibly face fearsome Soviet armored counter-attacks (thats why i have added TDs ). Panzergrenadiers are suppose to support the attack and at the beginning i won't have more than 1 panzergrenadier division in panzer corps. Independent Heavy-armor divisions will ONLY be used in a battle with large amount of enemy armor.

* '/' means 'or'

Regular armies will consist of 4 infrantry and 1 mechanised corps. Compositions of infrantry corps is well-known since mechanised corps is something new.
Infrantry by itself is not strong enough to hold the line if enemy has sufficient armored force. Task of mechanised corps is to support infrantry and to conduct smaller offensive operations. In the time of defence, they will be held in reserve to mount a counter-attack if the defensive line is breached. They will consist of panzer (ARM|MECH|MECH) and panzergrenadier divisions (MECH|MECH|TD or MECH|MECH|TD|TD). I have decided to use TDs becouse these divisions will probably be thrown into a fighting with enemy tanks.





Example of Army group composition. Notice the mechanised corps, panzergrenadier divisions are missing since they are still in the production que.

In-game staff



OKW decided it will be a good idea to take few Mediterranean ports except Gibraltar, to be used as a springboard for the possible invasion of British Egypt. Decision fell to Greece, that is fighting a desperate war with the Italians. Elite paratroopers have been sent to seize the Athens, the capital of Greece. After fierce fighting, they had succeded but with the help of the tactital bombers operating from Albania.




They attemp to seize the city in counter-attack but fail.



Soon, with the entrance of Yugoslavia into the war, Greece will be overrun. In the final operations, German paratroopers will seize Crete and end this operation with minimal losses. Germany has gained few valuable ports in a very small cost.






Brits try to land and take Gibraltar by suprise but are beaten back with horrible losses (around 2216 to German 18). German commander was surprised by the stupidity of this attack. It soon became clear that this operation was a diversion.



German defences in France were caught by surprise. French resistance, backed by the UK, captured large territory. Amphibious landing of several British divisions followed. 2 Germans divisions, stationed in Bordeaux, could just watch the enemy landing and prepare defence. Since there are no fast and mobile units stationed in France, newly formed elite I SS Panzer Corps is rushed to crush the enemy.


Authors note:

In the next chapter, i shall present my plan for the "Barbarossa" and hopefully crush the allied invasion of France.

I will post a new chapter in few hours. It will include final preparations for the Barbarossa and the heroic struggle of the 1. SS Panzer Corps to halt the British advance into France.

Chapter V: Preparations for the 'Barbarossa' part two; Allied invasion of France

Arrival of the 1. SS Panzer Corps quickly stabilized the front. Most of territories were retook and their advance was halted just at the doors of Bordeaux. But, with the landing of several Canadian divisions, which KM Task Force 1 failed to prevent, things are again looking grim for the Germans.



Another British fleet tried to send in more more divisions but was sunk. This event was very important for the morale of the German soldiers who began to lose faith in a positive outcome of the campaign.



From this moment everything went bad. With heavy air support 1. SS Panzergrenadier division "Deutschland" was able to defeat a far numerical superior enemy and capture the La Teste region but it had been worn down and forced to retreat to strating positions after enemy counter-attack. 1. and 2. SS Panz-div failed to capture Bordeaux and had to prepare defensive positions.



Enemy, seeing the opportunity launched a massive counter-attack. They underestimated the brave German soldiers and were taught a lesson. They had almost 3000 man KIA compared to German 187.



Since "Germania" had to refit, LSSAH was left alone to defend the Marmande region. Enemy launched even more massive attack than earlier and almost broke through the German lines. Only a counter-attack on the enemy flank, launched by 1. SS panzgren. "Deutschland" and 183. infrantry division saved those brave men.



During the Battle for Marmande, 2 weak infrantry divisions of the 18. Corps that were cut off in the south had to retreat to Spain after sustaining severe losses. Commander of the 1. SS Panzer Corps, Hauser, feared that if enemy managed to send in more reinforcments, his men would be overrun and captured. He requested adittional troops but was denied. With Barbarossa starting in 2 months, there we simply no troops available to send to France. He was instructed to stay as long as possible on defensive and wait for the opportunity to counter-attack. Commander of the KM Task Force 1 sworn not to let any enemy reinfocements land while U-boats were sent do sink the Allied convoys carying supplies.



This time, Brits tried to break German lines on the Creon sector, which was defended by 2. SS Panz-div "Germania" and the 196. infrantry division. Only thing that was keeping these soldiers alive, was the air superiority.



Poor Brits did not understand they were rushing in a trap. When their attack lost momentum, German counter-attacked at the La Teste sector. This time, it was real.



They quickly abandoned their attack on the Marmande but that did not help them a lot. Their lines were broken! La Teste has fallen!



Notice the devastating effect of German bombers.



6 newly assembled divisions of recruits organised in 2 Corps have arrived! They were attached to the newly created 3. Army under the command of General Heye. He's been ordered to prepare a plan for the destruction of British pocket. German High Command wants to clear it's garden before they launch "Barbarossa".



Meanwhile, Italian have launched another attack on Egypt and are currently advancing. We just hope they will be able to hold the momentum, unlike previous attacks.


Final preparations for the "Barbarossa"

Entire force is divided in 3 Army groups, each operating in 1 sector and each having it's own tasks. Operation "Barbarossa" ends with each of 3 army groups taking positions of the Dnieper-Daugava line, where they will spend the winter. It is almost impossible to conduct any massive operations during the winter, so High Command agreed to postpone final operations for the spring of 1943'. Initial operation will mainly focus on destruction of Red Army, rather than industrial and political centers.

Army Group "North"


Structure:

-5th Army
-6th Army
-Luftflotte 1

This is the weakest army group without a single panzer corps (there are 2 mechanised corps instead, check their composition in the previous chapter) since it will fight mainly in forests. Their sector is not heavily defended so there is no need for more troops.



Army Group "South"

Structure:

-1. Army
-7. Army
-1. Panzer Army
-Luftflotte 3

The strongest army group, consisting of the elite armies which won many battles. Huge encirclement is planned by the 7. Army and 1. Panzer Army by smashing through their flanks while 1. Army is holding the line. 7. and 1. P Army are then to follow the Southern Bug river and in conjuction with Romanian allies try to conduct another massive encirclement. 7. Army is then to cross the Dnieper and capture the Crimea while the 1. Panzer Army is to advance towards the Dnipropetrovsk.



Army Group "Center"

Structure:

-4. Army
-8. Army
-2. Panzer Army
-Luftflotte 2

Initial task of this army group includes protecting the flank of 1. Panzer Army. Rest is secret




Author's note: This AAR is up to date so feel free to advise me regarding Barbarossa.

MC5 said:

Wow, the Allies are really aggressive with there landings in France. Hopefully those delays will not hurt the invasion of the USSR. The only advice I have for an invasion there is encirclement, destroy the USSR divisions faster than they can replace them. Also sometime building infrastructure is very helpful, in the Poland/Western Russian region.

Click to expand...

Well, i am a bit dissapointed since there wasn't a single American division... I have already considered where to build infrastructure, since it will be hard to supply 500-600 brigades...

Chapter VI: Barbarossa

Operation: French toast

Since High Command wants to avoid at any cost two-front war, 3. Army has been given task in destroying an allied pocket in southern France. Operation was codenamed "French Toast". Operation was very simple, on paper.



With KM Task Force 1 blockading Bordeaux, allied forces could only be supplied by a port in Bayonne province. In first phase of the operation, 1. SS Panzer Corps supported by 1 infrantry division launched attacks from 2 directions in order to cut allied supply line and encircle Bordeaux. Attack was succesful, of course.



Allies launched several counter-attacks but all failed. With their last retreat route towards Spain (they somehow have military acces) cut by the 18. Corps, only option left was to fight till death.



Enemy units from Bordeaux were close from breaking the encirclement so attack on the city had to be carried by only 4 divisions (which will be reinforced later with another 3). Air superiority was lost so another 400 fighters have been sent (4 wings).



Almost 80.000 allied soldiers were encircled in Bordeaux with another 40.000 in the mountains of Oloron.



After almost 2 weeks of fighting, encircled troops have finnaly surrendered. With surrender of troops in Oloron a couple of days earlies, 3. Army has finnaly finished the operation. Now, "Barbarossa" can begin!



British fleet was spoted near the coast and engaged by the KM Task Force 1. With fighters providing air cover, British fleet was beaten. They lost 3 ships, inlucing one capital.

Barbarossa




Barbarossa began on 10th of July. Since early destruction of Red Army is vital for the operation succes, first attacks are to be carried where concentration of Red Army is highest, in the southern sector. According to plan, 1. Panzer Army and 7. Army launched their attacks on the enemy flanks. Fighers provided cover, while bombers were sent to destroy enemy planes on ground. 1. Panzer Army achieved a breakthrough while the 7. was stuck in mountanious region of the Carpathes.



1. P. Army's panzer corps quickly exploited the breakthrough and reached the point where they should meet the 7. Army. But, the 7. Army was still stuck and advanced rather slowly, so encirclement had to be pulled off by themselves. They had to attack in Stanislavow, leaving many Soviet divisions out of the area of encirclement.



Red Army launched several counter-attack which were all repelled.



134.000 soldiers were encircled in Dolina region. They were attacked by the elements of 7. Army.



After 7 days of resistance, pocket finnaly fell. 133.000 Red Army soldiers perished. With the several divisions lost earlier toll could be as high as 200.000. High Command wasn't satisfied. They expected nothing less than destructio of more than 300.000 soldiers in the first phase. This was not possible after all, due to 7. Army being stuck for weeks. Attack with a whole army through the Carpathes was a bad idea.



1. Panzer Army is preparing for the second phase, along with the elements of 7. Army. 9 panzer divisions are to spearhead attack towards Odessa following the Souther BBug river, while infrantry is to cover it's flanks. If this attack succed, bulk of Soviet forces in the souther theatre will be destroyed and High Command will be able to launch attack on the other two sectors.

Stay tuned for the next update Btw AAR is up to date which means i haven't fired the operation yet. Feel free to comment.

Just to inform you all, i will post a new uptade in hour or two. It will be very interesting with a lot of fighting and uncertain outcome

Chapter VII: Failure

Recap: In the opening 2 months i was able to capture around 200.000 Soviet soldiers in the south. Now, i am about to launch even more ambitious operation on the sector where Soviet troops are most concetrated, the South. I am seriously lacking infrantry to conduct this operation (Like Germans in Kursk), but i will give my best.

In command of whole operation, was General Erich von Manstein. On the 23rd of August, he ordered the attack.



Breakthrough was achieved in the Kaments-Podolsky, by 3 infrantry and 2 panzer divisions. Troops immidiately prepared for the exploitation phase.



By the 12th of September, after heavy fighting, panzer spearheads were in reaching distance of Odessa and threatened to cut off many Soviet divisions. As a consequence of rapid advance, Germans became to streched and it was hard for infrantry to guard all provinces.



In order to counter the threat of encirclement, Soviets launched their own operation at the flanks of 1. Panzer army, codenamed Uranus. They simultaneously launched attacks on both flanks. 1. Panzer army is now in danger of being encircled itself! Reinforcments were quickly rushed and strategic reserve was comitted to that sector. But, will that be enough to prevent destruction of the 1. Panzer army?



Soviets achieved breakthrough at the least defended section, at the Kadyma region. Soviets were rushing through that gap in order to avoid encirclement. When Fieldmarschal von Manstein heard of this , he was a bit relieved. Enemy was trying to escape, instead of focusing on the destruction of the encircled German forces. They must be afraid of the 7. Army that is rushing to save their encircled brothers!



In order to close the gap, Manstein ordered attack. He could count on only 2 divisions at the moment, but he promised them heavy air support and sent more reinforcements.



Enemy launched another attack, this time on the Kamenets-Podolsky sector. Large fleet of Soviet bombers was spotted and since German fighters had to support troops fighting to close the gap, 900 new fighters were sent from the Baltic. Apperance of this units suprised the Soviets, who unexpectedly lost air superiority over the region.



Regardless of heavy fightings around the gap, Manstein ordered attack on large Odessa garisson. "I won't miss this chance" he said. His decision was correct since Germans will later be forced to retreat from the "won" battle and garrison shall be reinforced with 400.000 soldiers.

Meanwhile German forces were pushed back at the Kodyna and enemy managed to even extend the gap.



IV Panzer corps of the 7. Army finnaly arrived to the front and launched fearsome attack on the enemy. Things are now looking better!



Soviets launched operation "Mini Uranus" in order to save Odessa. They launched several counter-attacks of the flanks of German forces. This will later lead to retreat of the Germans and loss of 1 infratry and 1 heavy-armored division (ouch!).



On the 28th of September, after 2 weeks of heavy fighting, German warces were finnaly able to close the gap, but with the help of 2 paratroop divisions.



In the next 10 days Soviets were pushed back and eventually lost about 10 divisions. Germans are on a good way to capture 10 more.



After 4 months of fighting in the south, Germans finnaly launched offensive in the Center and North. The Soviets have quite weakened this part of the front and sent reinforcements to the south, as the German command planned to use it as advantage. It is clear that the Operation "Barbarossa" has FAILED! Goals of the operation were to establish a defensive line on the Dniepar-Daugava line before the New Year, which is now impossible due to long fighting in the South. German High Command decided to take that line at no matter the cost. Soviets have been severly underestimated. Quick victory can not be achieved. If that line is not reached soon, Germany may loose the war!




With the redeployment of fighters from France to the East, RAF had the clear skies (over France only, Germany was still defended). Their bombers flew many sortiers againts German troops on the ground, inflicting serious losses. The time has come to take revenge. German scientist produced a "Flying bomb", magnificent weapon that could be launched from the French side of the coast and could deal serious losses to British infrastructure. First of them are fired and proved to be devastating. German High Command ordered more to be built. This it the weapon that could change the tide of war!

Authors note: I did not expect that. I have seriously underestimated the Soviets and lost almost entire panzer spearhead of 4 divisions! Unfortunately, Heavy-panzers were too slow to avoid encirclement Somehow, 400k garrisons arrived in Odessa (i was like "What the ****?) so my plan is to encircle Odessa, secure flanks and ONLY then launch attack on the city. Now, i have to destroy remaining Soviet divisions in the pocket and refit many of my divisions. If I hadn't launched attack on the Northern and Central sectors, I believe my troops in the South would be overrun.

In my opinnion, this was a very interesting chapter (cuz I FAILED to trap more than 20 division (estimated at least 50)) so comment please

Ikarases said:

I guess your encirclement was a bit too daring. Such a long strip of provinces is tough to defend. I guess you´d fare better with normal "15 km/h - direction Moscow" overruning better. Just try to win, ok?

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Naah. I want to experience a full scale two-front war, since I am a realist freak. Rushing towards Moscow would be to easy. Next encirclement I am planning is much less daring and imagine, it won't happen in the south

Chapter VIII: Operation 'Teuton Knight', planning

During the fights in the south, German forces launched attacks in the northern and central sector in order to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching south. Succes in the center was limited, while Germans itself were very surprised by the effect of the frontal attacks in the north. Soviets had been routed by a sheer force. I Mechanised corps of the 5. Army, supported by the KM Task Force 2, followed the coastline and was able to capture Riga, thus creating a perfect chance for an encirclement.

After nearly destruction of the 1st Panzer Army, High Command abandoned the idea of massive encirclement and instead focused on the smaller ones, where one flank is guarded by a natural obstacle.

In compliance with this doctrine, Fieldmarschal von Kleist (commander of the 6. Army), developed a plan with the goal of reaching left bank of the Daugava river, destroying several Soviet divisions in the process.

Operation "Teuton Knight"

Units included:

Army group 'North'
5th Army
6th Army
KM Task Force 2

Army group 'Center'
8th Army
Luftflotte 2



Von Kleist planned a simple two-pincer encirclement. I and II Mechanised corps are to spearhead the northern and southern pincers. They will meet in the Karassa region (seized by the paratroopers earlier) and close the pocket. Northern pincer will be supported by a few infrantry divisions (since there are no Soviet reinforcements on the way), while southern will be supported by a 2 full infratry corps of the 6th Army.

Units of the northern group will follow the Daugava river encountering little of no resistance. Southern group will have a more complicated task, since it will have to capture Wilno and only then proceed towards the Daugava.

Central line will push Soviet defenders towards the river, isolating and capturing Kaunas in the process.

Since flank of the southern group is very vulnerable, it will be guarded by the 8th Army, which will start its own offensive towards Minsk. Operation is to begin as soon as possible.


Authors note: This was a short chapter but its all I can do now, since i have to update my British AAR too. I am planning to post an update about execution of the operation tommorow.