Invincible and Legendary
The history of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriottic War
August 1942 part 1
Home Front and Foreign Affairs
By early August 1942, Axis forces had occupied 15% of the Soviet Union’s important cities. People’s support for the war in the Soviet Union at this point was estimated at just shy of 79%, leading to a national surrender progress of 19%. A surrender progress of 20% will enable the Great Patriottic War decision that grants 3500 manpower and unconditional surrender is forced at 100%.
Baltic Front
Last month's Soviet assault against Bulgarian positions in Mariampolè ended in victory on the 1st of August. 1250 Soviet and 2400 Bulgarian troops died and the Red Guard stormed through their defences behind the Memel, securing a bridgehead west of the river once more. At the same time however, German forces broke the right flank of the Soviet Baltic Front at Ariogala and Jurbarkas at the cost of 3000 Soviet and 1500 Axis dead. Because of this threat to the flank, the offensive across the Memel was shut down immediatly and all available forces were diverted to holding the riverbanks. But holding the east bank of the Memel would have been impossible with German armour already across further south, so the Red Army fell back. A futile attempt to slow the Germans down with a counterattack in their flank results in hundreds of Soviet casualties while the German onslaught continues.
Red Guard divisions have occupied the Bulgarian trenchlines around Mariampolé, hoping to complete the encirclement of a German division of heavy armour. Another Bulgarian counterattack is repulsed, with 300 Soviet and 1200 Bulgarian losses. The Axis attack on Kaisadorys has been called off as more Soviet infantry formations hit the German south flank. In the mean time Red Army infantry is sweeping through Lithuania, driving the Germans back towards the Prussian border once again. The lone German tank division occupying forward positions around Plunge is driven back by a Soviet infantry corps, whilst to the south a fierce battle rages in the streets of Kaunas.
The German response against Mariampolé is immediate and relentless as waves of Stuka dive bombers and 4 infantry divisions descent upon the Red Guard around the town. Under this ferocious attack the Soviet army will not be able to advance into Mérech and complete the encirclement of German heavy armour in Alytus, so the attack is called off and the divisions ordered to fall back to Kaunas. Ariogala is also abandoned again without much of a fight when German SS divisions hit the town from 2 sides. Exhausted Soviet infantry and armour fall back to link up with forces in Raisenai in order to bolster the lines there.
A fierce Soviet counterattack is launched on the Baltic coastline against Palanga, pitting an entire infantry corps against a single German infantry division. Outflanked and outgunned the Germans take 1400 casualties compared to 600 Soviet and are forced to fall back to Rietavas. Several Soviet attacks in Lithuania push the German army back across the border into East-Prussia once again, though German forces in Taurage and Ariogala still hold firm.
Polish Front
The Bulgarian army gathers several divisions and attacks Kamien Koszyrski in early August. Despite heavy German air support the attack soon bogs down against the heavy artillery of Soviet 9th Corps. Bulgarian regiments are decimated by heavy artillery fire as their attack is stopped in its tracks by 9th Corps infantry.
Bulgarian forces south of Kamien Koszyrski are thrown back from their positions as the Soviet Army attempts to shorten its lines. Massed Soviet tanks from half a dozen tank divisions crush German infantry and cavalry in Swislocz, killing 2000 and closing on Brest-Litovsk once again.
Not far from 9th Corps positions a Red Army counterattack against Baranivka is repulsed by heavy German air attack on the 13th, causing 2000 casualties to 1000 German defenders. Still aiming to prevent an Axis breakthrough around Brest-Litovsk the Red Army throws the Red Guard with tank support against the flank of the Axis offensive from the city. Though the guard is able to force some German divisions back and the main German thrust is fought to a standstill in Bereza, losses are too heavy and the city will likely soon be abandoned.
After the Hungarian offensive across the river Bug was foiled last month in the battle of Vinnytsya, the Axis shifted their attention to the northern end of the river and once again massed infantry and armour for another push towards Kyiv. Red Army infantry and armour launch a pre-emptive strike against Chudniv to disrupt these plans, inflicting losses in excess of 1500 men on a German mountaineer force in the area. However, the Soviet counterattack proved insufficient and massed German armour broke through the Khmilnyk defences and penetrated all the way to Kalynivka.
Soviet tank divisions then regrouped south of the German spearhead and hit the German second line in Khmilnyk in an attempt to cut off the German tank division spearheading the attack. This fails when more German armour arrives and an SS division hits the Soviet north flank, forcing them to disengage from Khmilnyk. Other Soviet tank forces hold the flank around Chudniv whilst the Polish Front forces the Bulgarians back further north. Large scale dogfights erupt over Stryzhavka as German and Romanian bomber formations are attacked by Soviet fighter formations.
Romanian forces launch a counterattack across the Bug but are easily repulsed at Stryzhavka. With this distraction gone the full weight of the Soviet infantry corps there is brought to bear against Khmilnyk, forcing the Germans to abandon the town on the 13th. A Romanian counterattack against the same city is forced back 2 days later, costing another 360 Soviet and 1100 Romanian lives.
Caucasus Front
Fighting in the western Caucasus during early August amounted to little more than the occasional raid by one or two Axis divisions against well-entrenched Soviet formations. One of the larger attacks came when a German infantry division attacked Uchkulan against 2 Soviet infantry and an armoured division, resulting in 75 Soviet and 500 German dead.
However, Soviet RADAR and communication interception systems in Sevastopol revealed increasing Axis troop movement in Romania and Turkey. Wether these forces are headed for the Syrian, Persian or Caucasus front, the war on the Soviet Union’s southern front is about to heat up even further.
Having failed to make a serious impact on the Ukranian Front, the Turkish airforce has been sent back to the Caucasus Front where they attempt to bomb Soviet positions in the mountains. But with Soviet fighter aircraft on standby it doesn’t take long until the bomber formations are decimated over the mountains.
The war on the ground continues as German armour attempts to break through in the central mountain passes, outflanking Soviet defences behind the Térek river. Several Soviet mountaineer divisions draw the enemy formations into the mountains as other forces hit the Turkish army in the flank, bringing the attack to a premature end. In response to the increasing pressure in the central sector, 3 Soviet mountaineer divisions are relocated there from the safe eastern flank.
Far Eastern Front
After months of hardly any news due to the sheer distances involved in the Far Eastern theatre of the war, the Red Army was reinforced somewhat in late-July. These forces turned and forced the Japanese back in the battle of Artemovskij on the 22nd of last month. But the Japanese would not give up easily and ordered Manchurian and Mengkukan forces to attack again and retake the vital bridgehead. The poorly planned attack quickly went south and took the shape of a Great War-era assault on the western front. with this attack bludgeoned, remaining Axis forces north of the river began to retreat as well.
