Turn 12 - Late October 1919: Mud-wrestling
The Siberian
Autumn Offensive is starting to relief the pressure from my Southern allies. Here is what Durk wrote when he send me this turn: "Much more fighting on my front. I can see Ian pulling units away." Kiev and Novocherkassk are now under siege by Southern White forces.
Winter seems around the corner. It has started to rain and the whole country has turned into mud. Operations will slow down considerably this turn.
Northern Front: The long expected flanking attempt against the Kama Line finally came. If the Red Army wasn't such a tardy bunch it would have stumbled right into Verzhbitsky's waiting corps. Shorin picked up two additional infantry divisions during his move which undid two days worth of marching. From the replay it seems Shorin would have arrived in time for a battle with Verzhbitsky but for this delay. A shame. Suddenly the Red Army Command must realize that it underestimated the true strength of the Siberian defences in the North.
Red forces along the Kama: 1577 pw
White forces in the Kama Line: 1896 pw
Most likely Shorin will either retreat or dig in where he is. He might attack Perm supported by Blucher but I doubt the Red leadership would risk a repeat of the first Battle of Perm. Another option would be a march on Ekaterinburg. In the mud the Red soldier wouldn't get far though and risk being cut off next turn. I could intercept such a move but I wouldn't mind Shorin getting further behind my lines. It would only make him more vulnerable.
Center and South: The Autumn Offensive keeps its momentum. In the South Khanzhin succeeded in pushing Avkensentevski back across the Volga. Amidst the mud, 4.300 dead White soldiers lie side by side with 7.600 of their former enemies. The Siberian cause gains 2 NM.
Further north, Savelev crushed a Red cavalry brigade while reconquering Bugulma (+ 1 NM). This turn Dutov will assume command over this stack. Chapaev slipped through his fingers, though. He reappeared in Buzuluk where he destroyed a White cavalry regiment. At least the Siberian leadership now has exact informations on his strength: his divisions consists of one cavalry and two smaller infantry brigades (205 pw).
Kappel managed to cross the Volga with 62.000 men. The idea was to have a corps big enough that it won't depend on another successfull crossing for reinforcements. The downside of this idea is that Kappel will have to conquer a sufficent supply source west of the Volga soon. This time he has simply too many men with him for another long march.
Four options present themselves:
1. I could unleash Kappel upon Samoylo's force at Syzran. Most of it has already retreated inside the city. It would take Kappel 9 days to get to Syzran though. This might be enough to get reinforcements there. But most importantly Syzran has no depot and the Siberian supply infrastructure at Samara has already reached the limits of its capacity.
2. A forced march would get me to Penza. While it has a depot, it is just too far behind enemy lines for my taste.
3. Another march on Simbirsk: the city is weakly defended. I wouldn't get there within a single turn, though. Moreover the city has no depot.
4. Kappel will lead his corps south and cut off the Saratov-Penza railway. This will isolate Saratov from reinforcements. The river Medveditsa will shield Kappel from counter-attacks and he is certainly strong enough to crush Avkensentevski's beaten force in turn 13. Khanzhin might even be able to intervene in a fight for Saratov. The only risk I can see is reinforcements heading to Saratov from the Southern front. Luckily Durk has destroyed the railway at Tambov which will slow reinforcements down. The mud will increase that effect. It is very well possible that the troops Durk saw leaving from the South won't arrive until the end of turn 13.
The decisive factor in the decision for Plan Saratov is the level 4 depot in the city. It will come as a great relief to my strained supply network in this sector. If Kappel failed to take the city, he could still dig in and built a depot which can be supllied from Samara and Uralsk. This should sustain him until winter allows a retreat.
In the meantime Akutin will take two of the three divisions in Samara and try to catch Chapaev. By railway he should be at Buzuluk before the Red partisan leader can slip away.
Dutov is ordered to retake Buguruslan, I plan on building a depot there next turn. There is a big stack of supplies at Ufa. Hopefully the new depot will help push more towards Samara.
Recruitment: I am reaching the limits of the Siberian unit pool. This turn the last available infantry brigades and militias have started construction. From now on out I won't be able to field more huge divisions. I still can build a few more cavalry brigades, though. Perhaps the units pool will be restocked for 1920 - I think late infantry becomes available at that point. Unfortunately, I believe it will only be available in single regiments, not brigades.