Rank and File: A clerk's war Germany 1936 (Semper Fi)

Wednesday 6th to Monday 11th August 1941 (Part II)


The Kriegsmarine has announced that 1st Schlachtflotte has completed its mission in the Inner Gulf of Finland and is to return to Stettin for a rest period. While there is no doubt that Narva, the lynch pin of the Estonian pocket, is now safe, and that Tallinn is also secure, the real reason is not so encouraging. During the night the fleet again came under attack from Russian naval bombers and the weary pilots of von Greim’s 1st and 2nd Trägergruppe dragged themselves from their cots and climbed into the cockpits of their aircraft. Less than half the original pilots are still alive, and the incessant calls for more flights are draining what morale is left. The return to Stettin is an acknowledgment that one aircraft carrier is not enough to protect the fleet for an extended period.


Just after midnight Polen Army Sud crept a little closer to Brjansk, but it was only a little. 102.ID was not really up to the task of crossing the Sozh against determined opposition. General Mishinin has two divisions in good order who have had time to prepare some entrenchments and to clear arcs of fire. Unless Buhle receives substantial assistance he will find it hard to get a foothold on the east bank.


General Kesselring can be counted on for good news, and he did not let us down today. He reported that Keitel and 109.ID have won the battle of Pärnu. The Estonian pocket is now in fragments. A few divisions are trapped on the west coast in Risti, a couple more in Abja Paluoja and the rest in a small enclave between Tallinn and Narva. The news from von Kluge’s Österreich Army was nearly as welcome: 3rd Gebirgsjäger has repulsed the three Russian divisions that had threatened to break through in Svitlovods’k. What detracted from the victory was the cost, as Brand suffered 379 casualties.

As I was busy delegating filing and other tasks regarding the documentation associated with these events, I had an interruption. Usually I would have been quite sharp with anyone interfering with my work – I am hard pressed to keep up with my workload without people delaying me. This, however, was a very senior officer and he was a bearer of good news. My superiors have recognised that the avalanche of paperwork arriving from the East is too much to handle, and from now on the various army HQs will carry out a preliminary sorting of the documents. We will see how this works. No doubt there will need to be adjustments, but the directive is to take effect immediately.



The Baltic Army has only one task: to mop up the remains of the Soviet units that occupied Estonia. This was made easier by the relief of the besieged Fallschirmjägers in Tallinn, and now the Russians have given up their attempt to recapture the city. Although our two divisions were only armed with light weapons, they killed more than 2,000 of the attackers during the siege.

General Kesselring’s complaints to OKL about 1st and 2nd Seefliegerkorps have been heard by OKL. The presence of the hundreds of Focke-Wulf 200C “Condors” at the front line airbases of the Baltic Army has been a bone of contention for weeks. It had seemed a wonderful idea to transfer the unused naval bombers east to provide additional air support for the Baltic Army, but it has not worked out. It is not clear why, but the four units have not flown one offensive mission since being attached to Kesselring’s command, and they occupy valuable space and use massive amounts of supply. Baltic Army HQ would rather these are used by Wever’s 8th Kampffliegerkorps and Lörzer’s 8th Jagdfliegerkorps. The order went out early on Sunday for 1st Seefliegerkorps to leave Demjansk for Wilhelmshaven and 2nd Seefliegerkorps to head to Nantes from Tallinn.

Signs of desperation are coming from the trapped Russians. General Keitel, resting 109.ID in Pärnu after its recent heavy fighting, reports waves of Russians pouring from Risti. There is no danger: it seems to be the final frenetic efforts of men who realise that there is no escape. We should soon start to see similar activity to the north, as Mustvee has fallen to von Weich and the defenders are retreating along congested paths into Kohta-Järve.




OKH has instructed von Manstein that he has ambitious new objectives: Novgorod and Leningrad. So it was a relief that von Sodenstern wrapped up Ozero Seliger quickly. Only an hour later the battle for Dno was won, and any threat to Pskov was minimised. The bulk of Polen Army Nord is still to the south, however, and it is important to ensure the long exposed flank is protected before the main drive north takes place.

General von Both took the chance to seize Khitino to stabilise the front. It took no time at all to convince General Pavlov his tanks and infantry should leave, but unfortunately General Voronov had different ideas. It took another day of fighting to defeat 33 Belorusskaya, but then 68.ID had Khitino to itself. Hard won success in Roslavl’ allowed Polen Army Nord HQ to relax, as the Soviet units defeated there will be out of action for weeks. With the capture of Zaluc’e by Curtze’s 20.ID late on Saturday von Manstein’s eastern flank was secure.

Once convinced that Pskov was not in danger, von Manstein gave his korps commanders freedom to continue north. I Armeekorps was first to move and was able to take Luga without much difficulty, 142 Strelkovaya taking just 100 casualties before it retreated north. General Hausser’s 1st Panzerkorps perhaps took the freedom too literally, as General Nehring continued east, into El’nja. It could perhaps be seen as bolstering the flank as it will make Rommel’s task of taking Smolensk easier, but von Manstein may not see it that way. In Nehring’s defence, the province was lightly held and he took an opportunity that presented itself. It won’t take him long before he can reposition his tanks north.


There was a reminder that the caution should be shown to the right flank when VVS bombers hit Hänicke’s 56.ID in Andreapol’. Able to hit our troops not once but twice, the Russian bombers disrupted our attack on Nelidovo, intended to move the front up to the Daugava, a much more defensible line.


Luckovo was taken without a single casualty. According to General Kalmukoff’s report, 161 Strelkovaya was already retreating before his lead units crossed into the province. Are the Russians completely demoralised or are they planning a defensive line in front of Novgorod? On the basis it is better to be safe than sorry, late in the afternoon Wever’s bombers struck the long lines of Soviets marching north, killing more than 300. If there is going to be fighting in front of the ancient capital, it will be a little easier now.

Polen Army Sud (Rommel)​

Fresh orders also went to Polen Army Sud HQ: its target is now Brjansk. Although his main objective may have changed, Rommel was not going to leave Smolensk for someone else (such as von Manstein!) to capture. He ordered von Leski to handle it and 3rd Panzerkorps sent von Sponeck’s 4th Panzer Division into the city, which was packed with retreating Russians. He had some support from Hoffman von Waldaus’s dive bombers, but Russian fighters made a surprise raid which inflicted so much damage that 4th Schlachtfliegerkorps had to cancel all missions. After Generalleutnant Wabe’s Messerschmitts paid a visit, Falaleev pulled his fighters out and Kitzinger’s Junkers replaced the dive bombers. But without massive air support the advance bogged down. Within days not only had 2nd leichte Panzerkorps had to lend support in the form of 16.ID (mot), but to Rommel’s embarrassment, 18.ID from Polen Army Nord had to assist.


2nd leichte PzKorps was probably in a good position to lend an infantry division, as my brother and his fellow panzertruppen of 3rd lePzD “Angriff”, having driven the Russians from Vozvysennost’ were waiting for supplies to arrive before continuing the drive east.

Late on Monday Rommel’s plan started to come together. General Bremer with two divisions swooped on the solitary mountain division protecting the northern suburbs of Smolensk. By midnight 101 Strelkovaya had given up. When El’nja falls to Nehring (surely just a matter of hours) Smolensk will be surrounded on three sides.

1st Hadtest​

The Hungarians had nothing to report: they are holding the perimeter of the Pripyat, waiting for the word to start the slow advance to close the trap.

Balkans Army (Guderian)​

Keen to recover his reputation, still tarnished by the Pripyat debacle, Guderian was quick to provide all the details of Dippold’s conquest of Zin’kiv, though there wasn’t much to tell. 386.ID, assisted by a massive bombing campaign, finished the job in a couple of days. Not long after, Balkans Army HQ informed Berlin that Generals Rösener and Jodl had taken Borzna and Konotop respectively. The two divisions (35.ID and 100.ID (mot)) had attacked the adjacent provinces simultaneously and the Soviets had not been able to react quickly enough. In fact, the attacks were so similar that victory was claimed within minutes of each other. That was where the similarity ended. While 100.ID (mot) paused to recover, Rösener and 35.ID found two other Russian divisions blocked their way and a full scale battle erupted.

After heavy losses, Balkans Army finally crossed into Nizhyn, where the Desna intersects the Dniepr. 15 Tankovaya could take no more, but if Köstring thought his troubles were over, he was wrong. Barely had 13.ID (mot) completed its transfer across the pontoon bridges than it was under attack from four Soviet divisions. Things looked critical for a few hours before the arrival of 10th PzD and 108.ID (mot) forced a sudden cessation of the Russian attack.


While Guderian may be unhappy with the performance of some of his divisional commanders, he can have nothing but praise for General Bieß. He has been given some very difficult tasks and has achieved some miraculous victories. Much of the credit must be given to the men of “Bitburg” division, a unit that bears with pride the name won in the early days of the war. If Bieß can pull off his current assignment he and his men will deserve every bit of praise. They are attacking no less than five Soviet divisions, all of them in moderately good order. I wish them luck, but I fear this could be another long and costly affair,


But it seems that Guderian expects his other officers to emulate the example set by Bieß. 10th PzD is advancing straight north in the face of Kiselev’s five divisions. Admittedly the defenders of Trubcesvsk are not in quite as good condition as those in Shishhaki, but they do have rivers guarding both flanks which will make Schmidt’s job much harder.


In Berlin we were still trying to comprehend how Guderian could repeatedly authorise his men to take on odds of five to one when a late bulletin arrived. 98.ID had launched a night attack, and in the first few hours prisoners had been taken from at least four different enemy divisions! It looks as though Guderian and the Balkans Army are gambling on recovering their lost reputation through a series of risky attacks, hoping that the Soviets crumble. It could pay off: should the Balkans Army reach Brjansk first it would look quite impressive as they seem to have the harder job.

1st Italian Expeditionary Army​

General Pintor is still trying to get his men into position to start a concerted push for Kharkov. It seems the Italians have even worse maps of Russia than we do.

Österreich Army (von Kluge)​

Progress in the south is painfully slow, the Soviets making us pay for every metre. The constant counter-attacks are also sapping the endurance of the men, and the logistics of sending fuel and supply from Berlin are challenging. Nevertheless, General von Kluge has the good fortune of having Jänecke’s 1st Gebirgsjägerkorps, a unit that will not rest until it has achieved its goals. Despite having been fighting almost constantly since the start of Unternehmen Barbarossa, General Volkmann had no hesitation in volunteering 1st Gebirgsjäger Division to clear Kryvyy Rih of 10 Strelkovaya, which was done in less than a day.

An indication of the determination of the Gebirgsjägers can be seen in the action of 7th Geb.Division. On Saturday (the 9th) Förster’s men won the battle of Hlobyne, but only two days later they moved into Krasnodom. While it would be impressive enough that they were able to attack so soon after a major battle, the fact that they are faced by five Russian divisions makes it doubly so. (There are also three Soviet divisions in reserve, but two of those are the cavalry divisions mauled in Hlobyne).


It is not just the Gebirgsjägers that are showing they can handle heavy combat. 61.ID is in action in Oleksandrivka, outnumbered two to one but still prepared to push towards Dnepropetrovsk. The problem is not the morale of the men, it is the lack of boots on the ground that is slowing progress in the south.



Finalised Battles for the period 6th to 11th August 1941

Demjansk: 52 (10,000): 199 (13,467)
Novy Buh: 35 (9,862): 66 (9,871)
Jarcevo: 392(19,986): 828 (43,837)
Pskov: 83 (10,000): 121 (10,000)
Lubieszów: 424 (6,000) (Italian): 191 (17,998)
Lubieszów: 6 (19,997) (Hungarian): 3 (9,000)
Jogeva: 411 (31,644): 970 (24,863)
Zhlobin: 43 (19,911): 159 (14,982)
Pärnu: 1,270 (9,992): 1,605 (35,213)
Krychaw: 37 (12,000): 124 (18,585)
Cesis: 8 (8,677): 24 (9,994)
Obolon: 11 (25,892): 10 (7950)
2nd Pärnu: 47 (8,654): 96 (8,737)
Svitlovods’k: 379 (19,998): 325 (25,671)
Ozero Seliger: 98 (9,994): 196 (16,987)
Dno: 390 (26,993): 485 (23,084)
Vozvysennost’: 490 (11,994): 795 (41,953)
Tallinn: 546 (18,000): 2,081 (17,990)
Khitino: 97 (10,000): 141 (36,709)
Hlobyne: 311 (19,990): 951 (27,903)
Luga: 48 (10,000): 107 (8,593)
Kryvyy Rih: 37 (9,999): 71 (8,843)
Zaluc’e: 421 (29,986): 662 (30,550)
Roslav’l: 2,624 (31,948): 1,649 (31,916)
Borzna: 42 (10,000): 52 (33,479)
Nizhyn: 1,420 (41,979): 1,504 (33,996)
2nd Khitono: 41 (9,901): 97 (8,799)
Zin’kiv: 202 (19,983): 318 (23,588)
2nd Nizhyn: 27 (9,483): 12 (32,315)
Luckovo: 0 (9,996): 6 (10,057)
Safanovo: 46 (19,991): 159 (8,997)
Mustvee: 644 (9,992): 1,461 (48,162)

Total Battle Casualties for the period 6th to 11th August 1941

Italian: 424
Hungarian: 6
German: 10,250
Russian: 15,648

Prior Casualties

Italian: 333
German: 255,646
Russian: 264,043

Total Battle Casualties to date

Italian: 424 + 333 = 737
Hungarian: 6 + Nil = 6
German: 10,250 + 255,646 = 265,896
Russian: 15,648 + 264,043 = 279,691



Bombing Summary for the period 6th to 11th August 1941

Axis

Roslav’l: Grauert with 4th Kampffliegerkorps: 125
Roslavl’: Sperrle with 1st Kampffleigerkorps: 262, 354, 165 (781)
Pskov: Wever with 8th Kampffliegerkorps: 300, 141 (741)
Jarcevo: Sperrle with 1st Kampffleigerkorps: 229
Hlobyne: Gamondi with 1st Italian Exp. Air Force: 184, 131, 206 (521)
Vozvysennost’: Weise with 5th Schlachtfliegerkorps: 180
Nizhyn: Müller-Michels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps: 183, 282, 87, 94, 92, 45 (783)
Dno: Wever with 8th Kampffliegerkorps: 249, 328, 130, 267, 265 (1,239)
Zaluc’e: Kitzinger with 3rd Kampffliegerkorps: 366, 291, 173 (830)
Zaluc’e: Keller with 7th Kampffliegerkorps: 231, 351, 189 (771)
Zaluc’e: Wever with 8th Kampffliegerkorps: 178, 257 (435)
Zin’kiv: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps: 200, 146 (346)
Zinkiv: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps, 2nd Kampffliegerkorps, 1st It. Exp. Air Force: 288, 334 (622)
Zin’kiv: Gamondi with 1st Italian Exp. Air Force: 167
Zin’kiv: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegerkorps: 203, 239 (442)
Smolensk: Hoffman von Waldau with 4th Schlachtfleigerkorps: 77
Smolensk: Kitzinger with 3rd Kampfliegerkorps: 255, 322, 245 (822)
Konotop: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps: 43, 35 (78)
Khitino: Löhr with 2nd Schlachtfliegerkorps: 248, 116 (364)
Borzna: Müller-Michels with 5th Kampffleigerkorps: 101, 238, 248 (587)
Borzna: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffleigerkorps: 139, 337, 153 (629)
Nelidovo: Keller with 7th Kampffleigerkorps: 253, Nil, 168 (421)
Nelidovo: Löhr with 2nd Schlachtfleigerkorps: 144, 209, 261 (614)
Luckovo: Wever with 8th Kampffleigerkorps: 307
Krasnodom: Gamaondi with 1st Italian Exp. Air Force: 190

VVS

Andreapol’: Berzanin with 3rd and 4th BAD: 96, 83 (179)


Total Bombing Casualties for the period 6th to 11th August 1941

German: 179
Russian: 12,301

Prior Bombing Casualties

German: 3,322
Russian: 182,839

Total Bombing Casualties to date

German: 179 + 3,322 = 3,501
Russian: 12,301 + 182,839 = 195,140




East Front Casualties for the period 6th to 11th August 1941

Italian: 424 + Nil = 424
Hungarian: 6 + Nil = 6
German: 10,250 + 179 = 10,429
Russian: 15,648 + 12,301 = 27,949

Prior East Front Casualties

Italian: 333
German: 258,968
Russian: 446,882

Total East Front Casualties to date (does not include surrendered units)

Italian: 424 + 333 = 757
Hungarian: 6 + Nil = 6
German: 10,429 + 258,968 = 269,397
Russian: 27,949 + 446,882 = 474,831

Forster said:

Well, no matter what, we will still enjoy reading it. I for one, really enjoy all the detail you throw into the aar. I have to admit, I could not do it, I don't have the patience. One of my favorite posters has the two vultures sitting on a branch with one making the comment "Patience my ass, I'm going to go out and kill something!"

Click to expand...

Patience I have, time is the issue. I worked out it was taking me more than 6 hours to do an update, by the time I wrote it, formatted all the pictures, updated and corrected everything, uploaded all the pictures and then posted and edited. When an update is only two days, you can see my problem. So I have been trying to come up with a way that keeps nearly al the info, but is easier to prepare. The current update is Mk I. Stiill needs work, but vastly quicker to get ready. (May not look it, but trust me it is). What I need to do now is revise my note structure and screenshot practices to save more time.

VonMudra said:

If its not TOO much extra work for you, I love the detail. Hearing about each and every battle, and therefore knowing and being able to see where the critical combat is taking place, where success and failure is being had, etc, makes riveting reading, and has kept me reading this AAR since it's inception. IMO, I think you should keep doing what you're doing! Of course, the final choice is indeed up to you

Click to expand...

See note above. I hope I have kept enough detail - I am trying to get rid of a lot of less important stuff while still providing a mountain of fetail for those intersted. Let me know what you think. (That applies ot everyone of course). As alweys, I don't promise to follow advice, but I will read it. For the amount of time I pout into this, I have to enjoy it or it will peter out. And I found the above much easier to prepare. I don't mind the writing, it is all the messing about that annoys me. But my majot ocncern is that I was struggling to keep up with real time.

Megaherz said:

The casualty ratio of Germany isnt good....how are you doing in MP compared to the SOV and how long does the SOV have to hold until MP will become a problem?

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At the moment (17/8/41) I have about 520 MP. It is now dropping about 1 per day. (A while ago it was about 3 per day!) So I would say at current loss levels I have about a year before MP is a real problem. Though that doesn't take into account building new units.

The good news, however, is that my losses per day are dropping. I need to get below about 2,000 per day to achieve stability.

It does avoid the issue of the impact of winter - I'll just have to hope losses to weather are not too bad and that my intended reduction in offensive action offsets any increase.

As for the Red Army, my intelligence is that they have 1111 MP on hand. (Remember I don't load as Russia to "peek".) Unfortunately I can't remember what it was when Barbarossa started. But anyway, a long way to go. They are losing about 4-5 per day, as far as I can judge, but I don't know what the replacement rate is: I suspect less than 4. I have noticed some units recently that are substantially below full strength, but that may be just a supply issue.

EDIT: I went and looked at Russia at the outbreak of war (I don't think that will compromise my self-imposed "no peeking" rule - it isn't all that relevant now!). They had 1577 MP then. So Germany has dropped about 600 MP and Russia has dropped about 400.

Not too good, but I had horrific losses crossing the major river defence lines. I am now crossing rivers against much weaker defence so my losses are much reduced. Fingers crossed for winter. (I have also captured some big population centres so my recruitment is rising).

Modo said:

The 1 division attacking 5 is a common sight during Barbarossa. The org bars are of equal height, but that's a misrepresentation (which was introduced in HoI3 for no good reason IMO). There are no miracles happening--the German divisions can have double or triple the organization of the Russians, both at full org.

Click to expand...

I am not too worried about the odds per se, I am just a bit concerned that I still have so many units in the rear recovering from losses. The only way to inflict massive ground battle casualties on the enemy is have at least parity in numbers. I have too many battles where I win but suffer heavier casualties. So I need every unit possible available for combat. (This is one reason why I took command of the Exp. Armies)

To increase the loss ratio I need to have more multi-divisional attacks. The worst odds I recall in the AAR was one div against 110k Russians (11:1) which I won, but although the Reds were almost all on a sliver of org, they still inflicted matching casualties.

And I agree, the disply can be misleading. It shows percentage of maximum org, not the raw figure which would be more useful when evaluating relartive strength.

Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th August 1941


I think this routine suits me more. Instead of a continuous procession of documents arriving in my office, all demanding urgent processing, I now get a summary from the various HQs every 5 days or so. Of course I still get other administrative reports, but they are a fraction of my normal workload. If things carry on like this I may be able to have a weekend off. Gisela has not been looking too happy.

The brightest minds in the Wehrmacht must be resigned to the war in the east continuing into next year. At least that is what I read into the latest publication from the General Staff. The subject is “Improved Mechanised Offensives”. The aim is to increase the organisational level of our mobile infantry, both motorised and mechanised. (There is mention of cavalry but as they are all on security in the occupied territories is unlikely they will be used in an offensive). I think it must be intended for operation in 1942 for the simple reason that we don’t have a single mechanised unit at the moment: the first is not due to be commissioned until late October. So it seems reasonable to assume that it be next spring that the lessons incorporated in this research pay off.

Another indication that our researchers are looking at a long war is the nature of the replacement project. Some sort of “electronic computing machine” is to be developed presumably to assist in the more mathematically challenging research. We are already world leaders in the field and this will put us years ahead of the rest of the world. But it will be the middle of next year before the project is completed, and then we will start to use it on these new projects. Are our leading scientists anticipating a war continuing into 1943? I really hope not: there must be an end to this soon. A country cannot be at war for years without dire consequences, as we found in 1918.


A copy of a message to the Italian Government was intersting: we have asked Il Duce if his Army of Libia could concentrate on the Tel-Aviv – Yafo area. From the attached notes some very important people are getting annoyed at the Italian dithering on the west bank of the Suez Canal. We did not conquer Spain and close the Mediterranean to the Royal Navy so that the Italians could let them in the back door!

There were a few other items during the week, but nothing that sticks in the mind. I think I cleared up a lot of the flotsam and jetsam that had accumulated while I was submerged with paper-work. I do recall that Gisela and I had a couple of pleasant lunches and that one afternoon I exercised my supervisory powers and allowed her to have the afternoon off. I vaguely recall I didn’t return to the office myself that day.


Then the thick bundles arrived from the east, some still covered in thick dust, I assume from being carried in motor-cycle pannier bags on the trip from the HQs to the nearest airfield.

Baltic Army (Kesselring)​

Now that the non-performing “Condors” have left, Wever and his aircraft have more fuel and supplies. 8th Kampffliegerkorps was able at last to pay a visit to the Russians in Slancy who have been attacking our Sturm-Marines in Narva. The Junkers only managed one mission before Vorozheikin arrived with more than 200 Yaks and MiGs, but that was enough. Soon after dawn on Tuesday the guns to the east of Narva went quiet. (To the west of course, they had stopped the day before when Mustvee was captured by von Weichs and Kohlta-Järve fell into chaos as tens of thousands of demoralised soldiers crowded the roads). According to the report I read the Marines could hardly believe it: from the ruins of the city they materialised, covered in dust, half deaf from shelling and exhausted from lack of sleep. With 2,150 of their comrades entombed in the rubble, the survivors realised that they had finally outlasted the Red Army and Narva was ours. I saw that General Halder, commander of the 1st Marine-Sturmkorps, while acknowledging the sacrifice of his own men, paid tribute to the Kriegsmarine. “Without the dedication and bravery of the crews of the supply vessels that brought in food and ammunition during the siege, all our efforts would have been in vain. And we must not forget the sailors of 1st Schlachtflotte, and in particular the pilots of 1st and 2nd Trägergruppe, who kept the Red Navy at bay so that we might have this day of victory.” A moving, if rare, example of inter-service gallantry.

The VVS are either remarkably astute or have good sources of information in our rear. With the assault on Narva over, General Kesselring asked Halder if his men were capable of immediate action. Halder of course said his men were always ready. (How that reminds me of my own days, the damn officers were always confident that we longed for more action!). A plan was quickly thrown together that at 9AM on Wednesday 1st Sturm-Marine Division would attack Kohtla-Järve, held by a completely worn out mountain unit. The plan was for Wever to co-ordinate his bombers with the attack, but while his aircraft were taxiing down the runways at Kholm, they were attacked by Russian fighters under Astakhov. Losses were heavy and the mission had to be aborted. General Böttcher, not one to be put off by a plan collapsing around his ears, sent his men forward anyway, and was rewarded with victory after only 7 hours.


At the same time, General Lüdke began the elimination of the Abja-Paluoja pocket. General Konev and 99 and 177 Strelkovaya are no real threat, but they are tying up too many troops and Kesselring is tired of waiting for the Russian commander to recognise reality and order his men to surrender. Lüdke has been told to make Konev see reason.

To ratchet up the pressure in Estonia even more, Brandenburger’s heavy tanks ground forward again, this time into Tapa. Here too, the Russians were desperate. 27 “Omskaya” and 47 Strelkovaya looked ready to collapse and Kesselring thought the sight of massive armour coming their way should do it. He was proved right when all resistance ceased during the night of the 13th August.

On Thursday the full impact of the Russian defeat at Narva became apparent. The divisions attacking from the east have not just stopped their assault, they have completely vanished. General Leeb of 13.ID, who advanced into Slancy, reported piles of abandoned equipment and burnt out vehicles, presumably those damaged and unable to be driven east. Not a single soldier remained. Aufklärungsabteilung in Sosnovyj Bor told the same story. The road to Leningrad was open!


Kesselring, still new as an army commander but as able as the next man to recognise an opportunity, ordered Leeb to head east as fast as he could. In Gadcina the road was blocked by 142 Strelkovaya, but Primakov’s men were never going to be able to resist 13.ID in full combat mode. They held Leeb’s men until 3PM then fled. In the meantime, 2nd Marine-Sturm occupied Sosnovyj Bor without any trouble at all. The Baltic Army now holds two provinces bordering Leningrad.

In Western Estonia things were just as positive. In Abja-Paluoja, Konev’s men were bombed into submission, and Keitel not only defeated the attackers from Risti, he sent 109.ID straight after them. There are only three worn-out rifle divisions opposing him and they had nowhere to go.

Then I caught my breath. Was that right? I re-read the short paragraph – I had read it correctly the first time. The Russians had captured Tallinn!! After all the hard work to defend the city for weeks while the Baltic Army fought its way from Lithuania, a Russian division had simply marched into the undefended city. Kesselring had some weak defence that he had not been instructed to hold the city, just to clear the remaining pockets. He claimed that when command of the Fallschirmjägers was handed to the Baltic Army that he did not realise that meant he had to garrison the city. Now the Russians have captured the stockpiled supplies on the wharves and the two pockets we had been crushing have been joined. Keitel’s trapped enemy in Risti have an escape route.


The next memo showed the immediate impact of the blunder. The three Russian divisions in Risti gave up any pretence of holding 109.ID and headed north towards Tallinn. One could sense Keitel’s frustration as he penned his report on the battle. 25,000 Russian soldiers should have been prisoners on Saturday night, instead they are marching north at full speed. To add insult to injury, the VVS has flooded the area with fighters, so there is no chance of bombing the exposed columns as they head for Tallinn.

After a brilliant start, Kesselring has managed to completely destroy his credibility as an Army commander. Unless he can recover the situation quickly he may get the dreaded recall the Berlin to discuss his future (or whether he has one). Maybe Böttcher and 1st Sturm-Marine can save him. They have started attacking the 56,00 Soviets crammed into Kivioli – a decisive win here could be seen as partially compensating for the loss of Tallinn.

Polen Army Nord (von Manstein)​

Nehring won his battle for El’nja, south of Smolensk, but did not seem to start moving north. In fact he remained in El’nja for four days, rebuilding supplies and resting his men, before taking 1st Panzer Division south-east into Semenovka. He did crush Alexandrov’s 18 Strelkovaya in a few hours, but von Mansteins’s curt comments on the report indicate he would rather have one of his best units back north assisting in the drive on Leningrad.

The east flank of Polen Army Nord is still a concern, and von Wietersheim was told to create a buffer for the airbases around Dmjansk. There was a possible threat from General Kamkov in Derglets who had about 30,000 men available. Whether they were capable of an attack will never be known: 11.ID stormed into Derglets, carrying all before them. After a day’s fighting (and losing more than 1,500 men to bombing) 123 and 126 Strelkovaya, 205 Motorizavannaya and 36 Kavaleriy were not capable of anything other than fleeing the battlefield.

Wonderful though the performance of 11.ID was, it was overshadowed by the dash of Feige’s 8.ID. After a forced march across the province of Simsk, abandoned by the retreating Russians, the lead elements of the division entered Novgorod and found it a ghost town. A HQ detachment put up a short resistance and fled. More of Feige’s men arrived and when an enemy rifle division was met early on the 14th, there were enough of our soldiers to chase them from the city. For just 26 men we have taken the city that even the Mongols were never able to capture.


Among other news, General List is bringing 18.ID back northwards, but he is doing it the hard way, via Novoselki. Through some strange coincidence, the Russian commander in the area is a General Novoselski, leading to some confusion at first. Regardless of his name, he has done a good job preparing his position and List is not making much progress. Perhaps it did have some good effect though. It may have been word of the attack to his south made General Bulatov decide that his situation in Nelidovo was worse than he thought. Whatever the cause, he has ordered his 50,000 troops to retreat, leaving the battle field to Generals Hänicke and Gallenkamp. Nearly 5,500 men died in the 8 days of fighting in Nelidovo, 2,400 of them from 56 and 87.ID.

Not that you could tell that from General Hänicke. While Gallenkamp was still marching his men into Nelidovo, 56.ID was already in combat again, in Azanovo. With less than a day’s respite, they were chasing an estimated 83,000 Russians across the endless plains. So far the only opposition has been their aching legs and blistered feet. It probably doesn’t help when they look up and see Kitzinger’s aircraft effortlessly crossing the sky. While no doubt grateful that the enemy is being slowed by the bombing, in my opinion every footslogger will be thinking that those aircrews will be sleeping in proper beds tonight, after a real meal. And with no blisters. Even the sight of an occasional dogfight between Kutakhov’s fighters and the Focke-Wulfs of JG 72 would not detract from the envy.


Von Manstein must have a good Luftwaffe liaison officer, as most of his attacks receive air support. Even General Wünnenberg, fast becoming known as the luckiest commander in the Wehrmacht because of his easy victories, got the benefit of a mission from Keller’s Kampffliegerkorps. (Of course there are some unkind persons who say Wünnenberg’s success is because of favouritism shown by von Manstein. All I can say is those spreading such rumours have never met the commander of Polen Army Nord. If they had, they would never believe he would breach his professional responsibilities in such a way.) As usual, 9th Panzer was at rest within a day: late on Saturday Polnovo was quiet and the division was waiting for supplies to be brought up.

One general who could do with some air support is Kalmukoff, whose 10,000 men are deep in the forests of Krestnyy, engaged in sometimes hand-to-hand fighting with 20,000 Russians. 88.ID is struggling, even though one of the Russian divisions is a second line garrison unit. The combination of good defensive terrain, two to one odds and prepared positions is proving deadly to our infantry.

Tucked right at the bottom of the Polen Army Nord report was a small item about Khitino. I was sure that this had been cleared last week, so I checked. I was right, 68.ID claimed success after two battles for the province. But it was clear from the final paragraph that von Sodenstern’s 60.ID, assisted by Löhr’s dive-bombers, had been involved in combat operations against Russian cavalry. It wasn’t a long battle, just hours, but who were they fighting? A close review of all the records in the bundle showed that Kesselring was not the only commander to make a mistake. After the second victory, General von Both had been ordered to take his division south. Nobody had thought to garrison Khitino, and the Russian cavalry division had just ridden in. Not as serious as Tallinn, and now corrected, but a sobering reminder that all our generals are fallible.




It now seems inevitable that Guderian will beat Rommel to Brjansk. There seem to be more and more Russian troops blocking Polen Army Sud, and many of its units must rest before further combat. General Ott’s 43.ID has been recovering and is now able to take its place at the front. It has been assigned to take Desna, held by General Kurochkin, a survivor of the Great Purge. Although his force is of questionable quality, exhausted and drained after weeks of fighting and retreating, nevertheless he has got two armour divisions and plenty of soldiers. Ott’s men face an uphill battle, but late on the 13th it was officially announced that Smolensk has fallen. Several divisions will be freed up just to the north of Ott’s area, and he may be fortunate enough to get some reinforcements.

One unit he will definitely not be receiving is 4th Panzer. Von Sponeck took his tanks straight through the main roads of Smolensk and out the other side, in hot pursuit of the defenders. He caught up with them in Verkhnedneprovskiy, where he had to slow to handle the rearguards left by General Konoteev.


The only other activity reported by Rommel’s HQ was an attack into the Pripyat. Svyetlahorsk is the province west of Homyel’, the city that holds the door open for escaping Russian units. It must be that Rommel hoped a surprise attack (we have ignored the swamps for weeks) would catch the Russians off-guard. If that was the case, it didn’t work. Keppler’s 1st leichte Panzer and the attached 104.ID (mot) barely entered the marshlands before they were bogged and under attack from three well armed and equipped rifle divisions. If they don’t evacuate soon they could be slaughtered in the mud.

1 Hadtest (Shvoy)​

General Shvoy is still under orders to simply hold his ground and, if attacked too strongly, to withdraw. His only task is to prevent (or slow) a Russian breakout to the west. The word in Berlin, however, is that very soon he will be ordered to send his men into the swamps to dig out the Russians. Not a task anybody else wants to do.

Balkans Army (Guderian)​

There was an attempt by Russian bombers to hit our rear recovery areas in Zgurovka, but Felmy and nearly a thousand fighters were able to show the enemy aircraft the way home. Otherwise the Luftwaffe kept up its rotation of bombers over Shishaski, Buryn and Borzna. Our bombers did report an increase of enemy fighter activity, but not enough to impede their operation.


Several of Guderian’s units are still south, in the area now delegated to the Italian Expeditionary Army. One of these is Geyr von Schweppenburg’s 2nd leichte Panzer Divsison. Like some many of our panzer leaders, he tends to interpret orders to fit his own wished, and on being requested to bring his division north to assist in the drive on Brjansk, he moved north-east. This of course brought him into Khorol where he was immediately in action against three Russian rifle divisions. Guderian, having done similar things himself, was not amused by von Schweppenburg’s protestations of innocence that he was simply obeying orders. However, with 2nd leichte engaged in fighting, he could not do much. The Italians, still moving east, must be overjoyed – that’s three divisions they will not have to shift.

Guderian would have been far more pleased with General Höpner. 4th leichte’s advance was on a straight line to Brjansk, driving over the plains of Altuhovo. He would also have been pleased with the Luftwaffe’s response: Kesselring had dive-bombers over the battlefield within an hour. It paid off, as within hours the Soviets were streaming north east, with Höpner’s men racing after them. Although 4th leichte had minimal losses, the bombers were not so lucky. Several raids by enemy fighters saw at least 25 Henschels shot down.

In further good news for the Italians, Bieß defeated the Soviets in Shishaki (with, it must be said, the assistance of Gamondi’s bombers). It was not this that made the Italians grateful, it was that our advancing troops ran into the rear areas of Rokossovsky’s two divisions which were busy attacking the Italians in Zin’kiv. Needless to say, when General Crüwell arrived with 13th Panzer and 386.ID (mot) Rokossovsky had no choice but to halt his own attack and beat an ignominious retreat.

In fact the only rationale behind Herzog’s attack on Sumy is a desire to assist the Italians. Is there an instruction to Guderian to allow the Italians an easy path? I could quite understand Ministers von Ribbentrop, Goebbels and Frick coming up with a devious stratagem to convince the Italians to send more men. Could they have won over the Führer and caused him to issue a secret order to OKH? 36.ID is not moving anywhere near the objective of the Balkans Army, it is moving at 90 degrees to the axis of advance. As if that were not bad enough, 36.ID (mot) is now locked into a battle that does not look as though they will win without substantial assistance.

Italian Expeditionary Army (Pintor)​

Just after midnight on the Tuesday the Italians made their first major assault as part of Unternehmen Barbarossa. General Bambini sent “Firenze”, “Parma” and “Pinerolo” into their baptism of fire. (“Pinerolo” has been involved in fighting previously, in Kyiv, but not as part of an Italian command). Zin’kiv would not prove too difficult, held as it was by a single Soviet rifle division. To make it even less dangerous, the Russians were already badly weakened. Just to make sure, however, Müller-Michels and Schwartzkopff took their Junkers over the area, bombing anything that moved. As a result, by dawn on Wednesday the Italians had their first victory in the east.


They didn’t have long to savour the moment: just before daylight on Friday General Garboldi was attacked by General Rokossovsky. Garboldi had just two divisions (“Firenze” and “Pinerolo”), both of which were still shaken from their first large battle. It is hard to say how the battle might have gone had not Rokossovsky been attacked in the rear by Crüwell’s panzers. As it was, the Italians had another victory within days of their first.




There was a sombre tone to the first couple of items in the report from Österreich Army HQ. 26.ID had taken Dniprodzerzhyns’k, but at a cost of just under 800 men. Even more depressing was the news that victory in Snihurivka had come at an even higher cost (1,402) and that the Russians had immediately counter-attacked Brämer’s crippled division. Fighting went on during the night but the exhausted men of 12.ID could not match the enthusiasm of General Kirponos and 62 Turkestanskaya and were forced to abandon the hard-won territory in the morning. By the time its soldiers made it back to Bashtanka, 23.ID had less than 8,300 men remaining from its paper strength of 10,000. Just as important, it had lost all its supplies and much of its morale.


Von Kluge was not about to just hand over the province for which his men had paid such a price. As soon as word of the Russian attack reached his HQ, Generals Friedrich-Willich and von Roques had been sent urgent messages: move your men into Snihurivka and do it now! Like all the units in Österreich Army, 2nd Gebrigsjäger and 46.ID are getting used to the vast distances of the Ukraine and a long march through the night was, if not welcome, at least not unusual. Rokossovsky’s advancing troops were met by nearly 20,000 men ready for a pitched battle. There was no real battle: by 9AM the Russians were heading back east.

There was no similar happy ending in Krasnodom. 7th Gebirgsjäger was forced to give up its attempt to take the province. With a thousand men dead, against Russian losses of less than 300, General Förster had no choice but to call back his lead troops. Frustratingly, soon after the decision, 1a Divisione Alpina “Taurinese” arrived with 7th SS-Freiwilligen Gebirgsjäger Division “Prinz Eugen”. If they had arrived a few hours earlier the battle may have gone the other way.

The less than encouraging news did not affect von Kluge’s determination to keep moving east. Volkmann was ordered to take Nova Kokhova, a task that seems well within the reach of 1st Gebrigsjäger. The other attack authorised on Friday was not so well thought out. Von Roques and 46.ID, newly arrived in Snihurivka, was instructed to cross the Dniepr into Novooleksandriya. Von Bock was ordered to support the attack from Mykolayivk, but Lapshov has a first rate rifle division and can expect some help from 17 Tankovaya. While not writing off the attack, here in Berlin the strategic analysts seem to think von Roques will need either a massive air bombardment. It is not as if von Kluge is not aware of the risk of underpowered attacks, as he had to admit to OKH that he had allowed Heunert to call back 61.ID form Oleksandriya. 880 men died in the five days we spent trying to evict two Soviet rifle divisions. A complete waste of lives that should never have been allowed to take place.



Finalised Battles during the period Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th August 1941

El’nja: 318 (11,460): 536 (19,440)
Narva: 2,149 (33,980): 4,167 (44,871)
Snihurivka: 1,402 (39,673): 1,078 (18,984)
Dniprodzerzhyns’k: 796 (19,991): 495 (25,991)
Zin’kiv: 92 (27,945) (Italian): 180 (16,996)
2nd Snihurivka: 12 (8,301): 48 (8,999)
Kohtla-Järve: 29 (9,609): 58 (7,944)
Novgorod: 0 (9,993): 7 (464)
Tapa: 55 (11,992): 165 (16,788)
Smolensk: 804 (29,963): 1,315 (42,359)
Buryn: 490 (29,984): 143 (38,077)
3rd Snihurivka: 22 (19,995): 41 (18,998)
2nd Novgorod: 26 (10,000): 54 (8,420)
Nelidovo: 2,376 (29,991): 3,106 (56,703)
Krasnodom: 1,068 (9,995): 274 (60,650)
Derglets: 324 (19,987): 545 (38,011)
Altuhovo: 80 (9,999): 82 (35,985)
Pärnu: 427 (18,096): 1,237 (16,116)
Risti: 106 (8,823): 72 (24,934)
Shishaki: 1,052 (29,982): 661 (48,214)
2nd Zin’kiv: 222 (11,995) (Italian): 120 (26,127)
2nd Shishaki: 109 (19,992): 225 (15,828)
Oleksandrivka: 880 (9,994): 892 (16,997)
Polnovo: 42 (9,992): 117 (16,995)
Abja-Paluoja: 332 (21,999): 601 (17,584)
Semenovka: 29 (11,920): 143 (9,995)
Khitino: 12 (9,995): 97 (5,995)

Total Battle Casualties for the period Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th August 1941

Hungarian: Nil
Italian: 314
German: 12,940
Russian: 16,459

Prior Casualties

Hungarian: 6
Italian: 737
German: 265,896
Russian: 279,691

Total Battle Casualties to date

Hungarian: Nil + 6 = 6
Italian: 314 + 737 = 1,051
German: 12,490 + 265,896 = 278,386
Russian: 16,459 + 279,691 = 296,150


Bombing Summary for the period Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th August 1941

Shishaki: Gamondi with 1st Italian Exp. Air Force: 73, 178, 73, 239, 80 (643)
Buryn: Müller-Michels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps: 104, 196, 51 (351)
Buryn: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegrkorps: 109
Buryn: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps: 161
Slancy: Wever with 8th Kampffliegerkorps: 142
Zin’kiv: Schwartzkopff with 2nd Kampffliegerkorps: 314
Zin’kiv: Müller-Michels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps: 206
Derglets: Wever with 8th Kampffliegerkorps: 225, 341, 303 (869)
Derglets: Kitzinger with 3rd Kampffliegerkorps: 212, 350, 274, 161 (997)
Borzna: Müller-Michels with 5th Kampffliegerkorps: 232, 135, 143, 98, 129 (737)
Borzna: Kesselring with 1st Schlachtfliegerkorps: 234, 138, 272 (644)
Abja-Paluoja: Löhr with 2nd Schlachtfliegerkorps: 187, 108 (295)
Azanovo: Kitzinger with 3rd Kampffliegerkorps: 207, 350, 408, 156 (1,121)
Polnovo: Keller with 7th Kampffliegerkorps: 192
Khitino: Löhr with 2nd Schlachtfliegerkorps: 189

Total Bombing Casualties for the period 12th to 16th August 1941

German: Nil
Russian: 6,970

Prior Bombing Casualties

German: 3,501
Russian: 195,140

Total Bombing Casualties to date

German: Nil + 3,501 = 3,501
Russian: 6,970 + 195,140 = 202,110



Total Casualties for the period 12th to 16th August 1941

Hungarian: Nil
Italian: 314
German: 12,490 + Nil = 12,490
Russian: 16,459 + 6,970 = 23,429

Prior Casualties

Hungarian: 6
Italian: 757
German: 269,397
Russian: 474,831

Total East Front Casualties to date (not including surrendered and overrun units)

Hungarian: 6 + Nil = 6
Italian: 314 + 737 = 1051
German: 12,490 + 269,397 = 281,887
Russian: 23,429 + 474,831 = 498,260

Megaherz said:

Wow, a year....What is more worrying in that estimation is that you dont even control Moscow,Leningrad and not even Sevastopol !

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We will have Leningrad soon, and maybe Sevastopol. And we will have Moscow in the Spring I hope. If I can't crush the Red Army within a year I never will. German losses are dropping and I fear the Italians and Hungarians are about to find out what a real ally does.

Baltasar said:

It may be prudent to switch the AI to defensive stance once weather conditions prohibit air operations on a continual basis. It's better to sit out a winter in Russia than to try fighting the bear on his terms. Operations in the south can continue longer, though, and it is here where you can most likely achieve some more gains. In the north however, I'm afraid operations will have to stop within 6 weeks. If not for the weather, then surely because of the state of your formations.

Offensives can continue in March / April and you'll find plenty things to do. Building infrastructure, airfields, securing areas, clearing out pockets, upgrading units etc etc.

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I plan to cut all operations to a minimum when the weahter turns. As soon as the airpower starts to become pointless I'll go onto defensive and probably start a biig reorg of my forces.

GamezRule said:

Wow! I just found this, and I must say it is excellent! Currently on page 18!

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Thanks GamezRule - page 18? Ah, those were the days! At least I have a few days before you want daily updates!

shepherd352 said:

In my most recent game, I switched to AI control from about July 1941 onwards. The AI did a pretty good job of continuing to push East. During Winter I tried to put it on Defense but it still kept creeping forward. The only way I could keep any armies stationary (to reduce supply demand) was to turn some of the AI off. Manpower was not a big problem, due to all the extra territory I controlled. When Spring 1942 came, I relaunched te AI and it finished the job.

The new look in te report is good, especially if it is easier to put together.

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I have found it nearly impossible to stop the AI doing some attacks, but I'll try. I may try weakening them by creating "rest armies" in the rear. The AI is releuctant to attack on defence when it thinks it is too weak,

The new format is still a work in progress, but I do find it eaier and, most importantly, more enjoyable to put together. I am now only two days behind, so I can start to take notes in a manner more suited to this. That should not only speed it up but make it even less arduous.

Baltasar said:

AI will attack even in defensive mode when the odds are favourable. This may mean you're taking losses, but the AI considers it worth the cost.

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Yes, I have struck this in the past. It can be annoying, but losses (as far as I recall) were not horrendous. If I can live with it I will - I really want to let the AI prove itself.

Enewald said:

How about renaming army names or renaming Ukraine Balkans?

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I was just thinking of that yesterday. Several units have performed well. And, as I mentioned above, a reorg of the Wehrmancht is looming. 5 German Armies inthe East is not enough for all my units so I will probably start a 6th and shuffle some people around. That will lead to some renaming.

Mr. Capiatlist said:

Your last update had 21 images, you'll need to delete one to continue.

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Done - I must have miscounted