Doppelgänger: the Untold Story of the Third Reich
Fall Schneesturm: Week 5 (January 29th to February 4th, 1944)
Somehow, in my eagerness to get out of the Reichskanzlei on Friday evening, I had overlooked the last battle for the day. Höhne looks as though he will get rid of Iakubovskiy and 3rd Coastal Fortified Brigade in a matter of hours, perhaps driving it from
Demidov to somewhere closer to the coast. Which leads me to question: which coast was it defending? The Inner Gulf of Finland is 400 km away, the Baltic proper at least 600 km. To the south, the Sea of Azov is more than 800 kilometres distant. Another mystery.
No mysteries about the night's results: all was as expected. Felzmann called off his men in
Kirisi, with far fewer casualties than feared. 103rd Motorizavannaya pulled back from von Knobelsdorff, accepting it could not defeat the solid defence in
Pochinok. And Tarasov's tanks were repulsed from
Kamemsk Sahtinskij, though they did a little better than predicted. Perhaps 36.ID is not as tough as von Senger und Etterlin would have us think.
The emergence of the T-34 with its sloped armour as the main Soviet battle tank has made dealing with assaults much more difficult
A couple of newly formed flak regiments were railed east to support 4 and 7.ID which have been a little underpowered to date. Weissman chased Tarasov into
Gornyatskiy to see if he could deliver a decisive blow to 74th Tankovaya, and despite the presence of several other divisions it seems he may be able to seize that province from the Red Army. The latest incursion into
Malaja Vishera will not allow us to capture the marshes, but Cantzler is well organised and may surprise me.
I could do with a pleasant surprise, as the other sort are far too numerous. I had not expected anything but disappointment from "Handschar" in
Svatove, but I had not prepared myself for the disaster that was revealed with the post battle report. Nearly half the effective strength of the division is dead or missing, and the Russian losses total less than three dozen! What were the SS doing? Why did a senior officer not step in? Why am I surrounded by incompetents? I needed to go for a walk in the freezing windswept streets to calm down. No need to have orderlies poking their heads around my door to see why I was making strangled noises.
Having cooled down, literally as well as metaphorically, I returned to my review of the day's activities. The Russians gave up their assault on
Demjansk, but only to change attackers. With far heavier losses in the attempt to take
Kharkov, there was no appetite for further casualties. That made it a bit easier to read that Chernyakhovsky had been reinforced in
Golynki and had not only stolen victory from Dittmar but had dealt him a severe defeat.
It made me nervous even at Pries' otherwise quite routine operation to take
Orlovskiy. What if several guards divisions appeared? What if Zhirkov had more than one shaky Proletarian Division and an already fleeing Tannu Tuvan unit? While I was in that frame of mind, nothing useful could be done. It was late, it was dark outside, so it was time to leave the East Front until tomorrow.
First news Sunday morning was not, however, really to do with the East Front, though I suppose the pilots who periodically punish any Soviet aircraft they locate will benefit from better training. I had to attend, in my "Führer" mode, a Cabinet meeting to discuss a couple of matters that did not interest the real Reichskanzler. From what I gather of the latest improvement to the fighter training program, the tenth, it will mainly assist our embattled Luftwaffe in the west. The Cabinet had no hesitation in voting for the funds to be transferred to a further analysis of dogfighting tactics. There was something from von Neurath about the Soviet ownership of Dobre being reversed, but if the Romanians think they will get some provinces that we paid for with German blood and sweat they had better think again. Another flak regiment was ready for deployment (to 61.ID I believe) and that was the end of that meeting.
Fighter pilot training is a cheap way to improve our air defences but dogfighting techniques are more satisfying
After a few tentative if costly probes, the fighting in
Pochinok escalated into a real battle as Tamruchi ordered his three divisions to engage von Knobelsdorff's weary men. Dessloch's Kampffliegerkorps IV and Grauert's Kfk IX rejoined the air assault, but still the total number of missions flown Sunday was not predicted to reach double figures. The south is still a real problem area, with hundreds of bombers languishing on airfields with no bombs and/or fuel. Nevertheless, Grauert's intervention may have encouraged Zhirkov to abandon
Orlovskiy.
For a few days I have been carefully moving rebuilt fighter geschwader around airbases in France, gradually using them to rebuild what remained of our mauled jadgkorps. Now these husbanded reserves were released, and the impact was immediate. Joubert de la Ferte would have been startled to see clouds of Messerschmitts rising up towards his bombers as he cruised to another routine bombing mission over
Dusseldorf. Having called off that mission, he would have been frustrated to again meet Kammhuber over
Dortmund. By now his bombers had been reduced by two thirds: 200 bombers were either smoking ruins or limping homewards. For today at least, our factory repair crews will not shake their fists impotently at the RAF.
The Air Battle of Dusseldorf: a welcome change
The RAF did not take this lying down, sending its fighters to avenge the bomber crews who would not return. Kammhumber, Waber and von Bülow-Bothkamp had interceptors ready to meet the challenge, and dogfights took place over
L'Aigle,
Euskirchen and the
Channel, in which both sides lost heavily. In fact, we could be said to have come off worse. That was not a problem for Reichsminister Göring, who for once was ready to discuss the Luftwaffe with anyone who had the time to listen.
All that was very well, but important though the air battle in the west might be to our security troops (who were relishing the lack of commando observers calling down bombs onto their heads) and our factory managers, it was ground fighting in the east that would decide the outcome of the war. Things were improving there, though only by degrees. A small battle began for
Rylsk, and I sincerely hope it remains small and not swell into another maelstrom in which whole divisions are swallowed up and digested. More importantly we won no less than three battles consecutively. Wisch again escorted his division to safety in
Ulanove, giving the pursuing tanks a bloody nose, and 90th leichte regained
Borisovka after a bitter contest. Perhaps the most important was our retention of
Demjansk: the immediate resumption of the attack after the last withdrawal was quite a blow to the defenders .
The battles that started during the day began in the far south, with a guards division hitting 19th Waffen Grenadier der SS (the Latvian volunteers) in
Kurgannyy and Blümm's gebirgsjägers moving back into
Konstatinovsk. Neither could be said to be a certain victory, but we could be said to be slightly favoured to win. The next battle was in the northern half of the front, near Brjansk. Andreas is secure in
Mglin, the motorised cavalry of 2nd "Zaporozh'ye" not enough to strike fear into 23.ID. As for the threat of 8th Tuvanska in the Caucasus, the hills of
Novy Yankul will remain ours, at least according to General von Obstfelder whose 16th divize is dug in all over the slopes facing the oncoming enemy soldiers.
Only a few Soviet units still continue to use the T-27, including some unfortunate cavalry divisions
The last day of January was particularly cold in Berlin, and the meteorologists tell us that winter will not ease for some time. I feel for the millions of men on the east, many of whom will be sleeping in whatever shelter they can find. Hopefully there will be an early spring, though that, of course, will bring the mud. Even in the middle of winter, however, fighting continues. Though the two overnight battles should not result in much real fighting. Höhne has reported almost no resistance in
Demidov, the Proletarians melting away, unlike the heavy snow drifts. In
Khislavichi it is the Russians who are advancing freely, lack of ammunition forcing Friessner to order his men to fall back. (Friessner must be bitterly disappointed, as it was only a hour or so previously that he had thought he held the province from the Red Army: it seems he expended all his reserves, and many of his best men, in achieving that victory).
Schwantes' victory in
Serednya Buda was just as hard-fought, the Tigers too few to do more than defend themselves and the surrounding infantry taking considerable pain. No such drawback to success in
Novy Yankul. 16th divize lost not one man, the attackers nearly a 1,000. That is the sort of battle that will sap Stavka's manpower reserves. We may get a few more of those sorts of victories. General von Berg, in
Sumy, has three good divisions with which to hold off 36th "Zabajkal'skaya" Motorizavannaya Diviziya and although Cranz's 2nd Marine Division is far from the most powerful unit of the Wehrmacht he claims that the 121,000 men he faces are mainly Soviet allies who are not prepared to die for Stalin and victory in
Ipatovo is assured.
Even the Tiger is not invulnerable
The day (and the month) ended quite well. It is true that we lost
Kurgannyy, the Latvian SS not able to maintain the necessary impetus. It was also true that the Luftwaffe suffered one of its worst days, in terms of missions flown, for weeks. (Only two fliegerkorps were in action all day). However in
Komarichi Schulz was able to hang on, his dwindling ammunition lasting long enough to allow him to inflict 5,000 casualties on the 200,000 Russians intent on destroying 386.ID (mot).
The woes of the Luftwaffe were not over. In the early hours of Tuesday 1st February frantic calls were taken by von Axthelm's headquarters in
Saarlouis: Canadian bombers were attacking
Dortmund. There was nothing the Reichsluftverteidigung could do. The burst of activity by our fighters had exhausted all reserves of aircraft and pilots and there were no planes available to drive off the enemy bombers. Damage was limited to one factory complex, but the bombers returned later on to hit
Saarbrücken and set fire to another factory that had just been repaired. All that Göring could do was try to draw attention to the ten missions flown in the east. Perhaps he is right: we will win the war in Russia, not in the skies over Germany. But perhaps he is wrong: if the British increase their strategic bombing we might lose the war from lack of production.
That would be for the future. In the present, the Russians have hastily withdrawn from
Sumy, the warmth of their reception too much to bear any longer. To my relief the battle in
Rylsk ended before the Red Army could flood the area with more men. As it was, while we won, casualties were about equal. We lost
Khislavichi, but nobody can blame Friessner for that. He did well to take it in the first place and he could not have expected to deal with such a rapid and powerful counter-attack with his supply lines stretched beyond breaking-point.
The day was not particularly exciting. It might be thought that Vierow's decision to send 2nd Pesi into
Starobilsk was a challenging test of the division's capacity to overcome huge odds. I thought he had over-reached and would be forced to admit that five to one was too much for what is not one of our leading units. At the other extreme, it is certain that the 5,500 cavalry in
Borisovka cannot withstand 334th leichte and Kampfgruppe "Meyer".
It was a good start for February, however, with even our sole defeat in
Pochinok costing less than 2,000 men. Considering that von Knobelsdorff ended up fighting against nearly eight times his own 25,000 men, to escape that lightly while dealing out 4,500 casualties to the attackers was a close to a victory as one could get while conceding ground.
On Wednesday our agents in London told us that Scandinavian convoys, presumably to carry supply and armaments to Russia, were to begin. The only port available is
Murmansk, and the Kreigsmarine has the Nordseeflotte patrolling off the northern coast of Finland, so we are prepared. Admiral Raeder has not reported any enemy activity in the area, so perhaps it is just a bluff. In other news, a wounded hero from Russia has been travelling the Reich promoting warbonds which has given our Treasury a bit of a lift. With our participation in world trade severely curtailed, getting hard currency is difficult, and occasionally a few Reichsmarks are handy.
In the Arctic Sea, the sailors of the "Scharnhorst" also feel the cold
From a military point of view, two panzerjäger regiments were commissioned. One was sent to join 258.ID, but the other was assigned to 162 (turk) ID. This unit has been undergoing rigorous training to bring the Turkish volunteers up to the level required for fighting on the East Front. With a solid defence against enemy armour they are now ready and have been given to III Armiejakunta, one of Paulus' korps in the Leningrad Armee. (The Finns have run out of manpower reserves and we have had to detach 6 Divisioona: it is basically an empty shell).
Our efforts to cross the Seversky Donets have not been put on hold. In the pitch darkness of the winter night von Pfeffer-Wildenbruch began the latest attempt, trying to gain a foothold in
Kivsharivka. I am afraid I think it will be as successful as the attempts in neighbouring
Svatove: a disaster. There are too many men on the far side, the terrain gives the Russians plentiful cover and the Luftwaffe cannot guarantee that the northern banks will be flattened by constant bombing. All I hope is that the losses not be so high as to threaten the morale of the whole Wehrmacht.
My concerns about these river crossings were not imaginary. At 7AM Sauberzweig decided that enough of our soldiers had died and called of the assault on
Svatove. Just under 6,000 men lost to demonstrate that the Russians held the far shore in strength. I was also right about the ability of the Soviet 114th Cavalry to hold
Borisovka, but that victory was nowhere near compensating for
Svatove. On the other hand I was completely wrong about Blümm's attack on Abakumov. The Russian defence was far too strong and after taking nearly 50% casualties the gebirgsjägers could no longer maintain divisional integrity and the unit has been withdrawn to rebuild.
I had correctly judged the battle for
Kupjansk as being too close to call. Vahl's SS panzers gave their all, and the Luftwaffe had been able to deliver some assistance, but it was not enough. Somehow the Russians found another unit to commit to the fighting and that was sufficient to tilt the balance their way. Yet casualties were almost identical: a remarkable result for a battle that cost nearly 8,000 lives.
Mglin was another battle I assessed correctly, 23.ID not stretched at all in turning back the cavalry.
I am also confident of my predictions for the two battles that began Wednesday afternoon. Meyer has two first class divisions, "Das Reich" and 334th leichte to back his own divisional strength kampfgruppe, and the 10,000 men of 55th Tankovaya will regret getting in his way in
Borisovka. Pries will have a slightly tougher assignment in
Kurgannyy, but not much. The Latvian SS may have lacked the weight to take the province alone, but with the extra 22,500 men of 252.ID the two Soviet infantry divisions should not present such a problem.
Thursday was Reichsmarschall Göring's big day. The Führer has become a bit tired of his posturing and his endless promises, so it was me that had to attend the meeting at which the Minister for Air, in uniform that groaned with braid and medals, boasted of the arrival of a triumph of German ingenuity and skill: the rocket interceptor. The speech went on for some time, and I will admit I lost track of the details, but I think the theme was some tenuous link between the ancient Hermann who threw the Romans out of the Teutoburg Forest and the modern Hermann who would destroy the British over France. It ended with a fly past by some of the new aircraft, which was very impressive if short. Planes that fly at 1,000 km per hour are not in sight for long, and these aircraft were very small. Hopefully the RAF pilots will find them as hard to detect.
We did get to see one of the new aircraft on the ground
It will be a few days, however, before a whole jagdfliegerkorps is available, and it will take some time to set up an airbase to take them. Nevertheless, von Greim has been appointed as commander of the 1st Blitzjagdfliegerkorps, to be based at least for now, in
Strasbourg. When it is attached to the Reichsluftvertidigung that may change, as von Axthelm has overall command of our fighter shield in the west.
The departure of a panzerjäger regiment to join 24.ID went almost unnoticed, though I suspect General Fromm is more delighted with his 12.8cm PaK 44 L/55 guns than the thought that several thousand kilometres away a new fangled fighter will soon be part of the Luftwaffe.
Not that he or many other of our generals have immediate problems to face. Thursday was a calm day, with little activity reported. An early attack on 130th Panzer Division "Lehr" by the "Vitebsk" Rifle Division in
Pogar was the only important news for the morning apart from Meyer's jubilant claim to have finally cleared
Borisovka: his third victory speech for the same province. "Condorgruppe", after a considerable period of rest, was able at last to mount an attack by itself, though I wish General Simon had arranged for some assistance. Crossing attempts on the Donets to get into
Svatove have caused our troops to be cut down in their thousands in the past weeks.
Another General who has been quiet for some time is the commander of 86.ID, General Hell. Now he has announced that his men are advancing into
Divnoe, the furthest east the Wehrmacht has ever been and only 250 kilometres from
Stalingrad. Two victories rounded off the day, a fairly good win to the Latvians in
Kurgannyy, and a costly if well deserved win for Cantzler in
Malaja Vishera.
It seems that the skills acquired in completing the first 100 rocket interceptors allowed the factory workers to speed up the assembly of the rest. 300 new aircraft were delivered on Friday morning and they are already on their way to
Strasbourg. In a week or so we will see how they perform in combat.
They will have the time to get ready: France is still calm today as it was yesterday and the day before. Not so the Eastern Front. It would be exaggerating to say it exploded into activity, but four battles began on Friday, starting with a combined push from
Smolensk and
Pochinok into
Monastyrshchina, the garrison presumably hoping to deter any further assaults. There are a lot of Russians involved, but Friebe has plenty of men and whole panzer division so we will soon be back to besieging the city. Von Truenfeld was an early riser, sending "Das Reich" into
Belgorod at dawn, but he may be pushing his luck. Alekseev has 60,000 men and they have adequate if not plentiful supply.
Later a very optimistic General Pavlov sent an armour and a rifle division into
Kasciukovicy to take on Conradi's 17.ID and 2nd Ostmark. As the two Soviet units can only assemble 13,000 men it is not likely to have much impact on the 46,000 regular infantry that await them. Sorche's 6th Gebirgsjäger is also greatly outnumbered, but its opposition in
Konstatinovsk is nowhere near as impressive as that in
Kasciukovicy.
The Kriegmarine was the unexpected subject of the penultimate report of the day. Starved of money and research, it has slowly sunk to almost irrelevance in management of the war. Its steady erosion of the British merchant marine is, however, something important that it contributes to the war effort, and it was upsetting to hear that von Friedenburg's submarines were under attack from a huge force of carrier aircraft. There is nothing we can do but hope that most of his boats can escape the British planes to fight another day.
Some of our U-boats will not return: they cannot defeat the aircraft
The last report of the day and of the week, however, was unadulterated good news. Cranz's marines could not claim the entire glory for the victory in
Ipatovo, but it was still a triumph, 160,000 Russians defeated by less than 35,000 of our men. A wonderful finish for a pretty fair week.
Finalised Battles for Unternehmen Barbarossa Days 943 - 949 (29th Jan to 4th Feb 1944)
Code:
Location (Armee) Result German losses (engaged) Soviet losses (engaged)
Kirisi (LA) Defeat 217 (63,433) 129 (27,708)
1st Pochinok (PAH) Victory 17 (25,732) 937 (92,951)
Kamensk Sahtinskiy (AotC) Victory 1,242 (21,739) 2,033 (36,320)
1st Demjansk (LA) Victory 338 (22,990) 286 (95,479)
Kharkov (AotC) Victory 306 (74,746) 2,007 (10,959)
Golynki (LA) Defeat 3,561 (22,999) 908 (71,330)
Orlovskiy (RA) Victory 2 (22,500) 264 (38,284)
Ulanove (SS-kdo) Victory 102 (61,392) 1,752 (7,412)
1st Borisovka (PAvM) Victory 809 (20,924) 1,113 (8,862)
2nd Demjansk (LA) Victory 67 (22,651) 652 (6,404)
1st Khislavichi (MA) Victory 2,529 (39,846) 812 (17,819)
Serednya Buda (PAH) Victory 3,898 (71,262) 2,788 (28,948)
Novy Yakul (RA) Victory Nil (12,482) 970 (5,902)
1st Kurgannyy (AotC) Defeat 1,550 (25,479) 267 (81,880)
Komarichi (PAH) Victory 1,107 (22,485) 4,925 (198,823)
Sumy (AotP) Victory 211 (83,537) 1,493 (9,697)
Rylsk (PAvM) Victory 725 (22,984) 757 (33,422)
2nd Khislavichi (MA) Defeat 1,307 (37,310) 616 (18,151)
2nd Pochinok (PAH) Defeat 1,946 (25,707) 4,566 (192,758)
Svatove (SS-kdo) Defeat 5,954 (22,984) 88 (85,617)
2nd Borisovka (PAvM) Victory 2 (53,639) 516 (5,554)
Konstatinovsk (RA) Defeat 3,510 (7,059) 442 (34,052)
Kupjansk (SS-kdo) Defeat 3,978 (18,982) 3,971 (80,586)
3rd Borisovka (PAvM) Victory 59 (53,637) 1,686 (10,208)
2nd Kurgannyy (SS-kdo) Victory 1,005 (46,396) 1,508 (57,620)
Malaja Vishera (LA) Victory 3,195 (82,349) 1,275 (17,258)
Total 18/8 37,637 36,761
Probe
Code:
Location (Armee) Attacker Result German losses Soviet losses
Novaya Ladoga x 5 (LA) German Defeat 43, 55, 68, 415, 56 (637) Nil, Nil, Nil, Nil, Nil
Monastyrchchina x 3 (MA) Soviet Defeat 7, 8, 54 (69) 15, 83, 39 (137)
Pochinok x 4 (PAH) Soviet Defeat Nil, 2, 1, Nil (3) 70, 439, 271, 137 (917)
Osinovets x 6 (LA) Soviet Defeat Nil, Nil, 3, Nil, Nil, Nil (3) 322, 108, 368, 33, 334, 421 (1,586)
Lyssytchansk x 2 (RA) Soviet Defeat 5, 4 (9) 605, 93 (698)
Kramatorsk (RA) Soviet Defeat 14 905
Pobeda x 2 (RA) Soviet Defeat 28, 41 (69) 125, 58 (183)
Manychskoye (RA) German Victory 5 88
Krasnopillya (SS-kdo) Soviet Defeat Nil 66
Tuguluk x 2 (AotC) German Victory 2, 109 (11) 5, 68 (73)
Zolochiv (SS-kdo) German Victory Nil 89
Zolichiv (SS-kdo) Soviet Victory 1,432 260
Zolochiv (SS-kdo) Soviet Defeat 70 110
Smolensk x 2 (MA) German Defeat 565, 249 (814) 1, 1 (2)
Krasnyy x 2 (MA) Soviet Defeat Nil, Nil 331, 232 (563)
Kirisi (LA) German Defeat 17 6
Komarichi (PAH) Soviet Defeat 287 88
Komarichi (MA) Soviet Victory 498 210
Kramatorsk (PAvM) Soviet Defeat 1 199
Mitino (RA) German Victory 6 10
Nikolaevskaya x 2 (RA) Soviet Defeat Nil, 99 (99) 17, 220 (237)
Kuznetsovka (RA) Soviet Defeat 3 40
Belaya Kalitsa (AotC) Soviet Defeat 56 52
Borisovka (PAvM) Soviet Defeat 3 32
Total 4,106 6,551
Bombing Summary for Unternehmen Barbarossa Days 943 - 949 (29th Jan to 4th Feb 1944)
Code:
Location (Armee) Air commander(s) Air Unit(s) Casualties
Kresstsy (LA) Förster + Löhr VII Skfk + X Kfk 47, 261, 368 (676)
Kirisi (LA) Deichmann V Skfk 35, 139, 67, 165 (406)
Demidov (MA) Lörzer III Skfk 73, 108 (181)
Valdaj (LA) Löhr X Kfk 93
Valdaj (MA) Lörzer III Skfk 149
Malaja Vishera (LA) Löhr X Kfk 62, 213, 250 (523)
Deichmann V Skfk 34, 142, 76, 147 (399)
Förster VII Skfk 77, 114, 211 (392)
Lokot (AotP + PAvM) Korten + Dessloch VII + IV Kfk 155, 499 (654)
Orlovskiy (RA) Grauert IX Kfk 134, 24 (158)
Yelnya (PAH) Pflugbeil Esc. Azul 36
Kupjansk (SS-kdo) Peltz VII Skfk 206
Kupjansk (PAvM) Dessloch IV Kfk 95, 379 (474)
Sevsk (AotP) Korten VII Kfk 226
Rylsk (AotP) Korten VII Kfk 159, 260 (519)
Sudzha (SS-kdo) Peltz VII Skfk 229, 93 (316)
Smolensk (MA) Lörzer III Skfk 215, 139 (354)
Förster VIII Skfk 209, 61 (270)
Konstatinovsk (RA) Grauert IX Kfk 291, 134 (425)
Roslavl (AotP) Korten VII Kfk 168, 250 (418)
Kurgannyy (RA) Von Richthofen + Kesselring V Kfk + Skfk II 247, 327, 57 (631)
Borisovka (AotP) Korten VII Kfk 347
Kletnja (PAH) Pflugbeil Esc. Azul 62
Kletnja (AotP) Korten VII Kfk 124, 297, 85 (506)
Kivsharivka (PAvM) Dessloch IV Kfk 96
Gornyatskiy (RA) Kesselring Skfk II 143, 283, 63 (489)
Ipatovo (RA) Grauert IX Kfk 266, 283 (549)
Golynki (LA) Deichmann V Skfk 143, 102 (245)
Konstatinovsk (RA) Von Richthofen V Kfk 258, 140 (398)
Belgorod (SS-kdo) Peltz VII Skfk 183
Total 10,381
Unternehmen Barbarossa Days 943 - 949 (29th Jan to 4th Feb 1944)
Code:
Nationality Ground Losses Bombing Losses Total
German 37,637 + 4,106 = 41,743 Nil 41,743
Soviet 36,761 + 6,551 = 43,312 10,381 53,693
Anti-partisan activities
Probe
Code:
La Souterrainne France German Victory 6 16
Ruffec France German Victory 3 9
Unternehmen Barbarossa at midnight 4th February 1944
Leningrad Armee (Paulus)
Objectives: Tihvin, Demjansk
Victories: 1st and 2nd Demjansk, Malaja Vishera
Defeats: Kirisi, Golynki
A well earned break for Paulus' tired divisions
Moskva Armee (List)
Objectives: Liezna, Vitsyebsk, Smolensk, Demidov
Victories: 1st Khislavichi
Defeats: 2nd Khislavichi
Kasciukovicy (Plains): -2.8 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.2%
Pavlov (Reckless Assault): 99th Tankovaya, 11th Strelkovaya Diviziya
Conradi (Elastic Defence): 17.ID, 2nd Ostmark, 12. PzD
Conradi has everything well in hand
Monastyrshchina (Plains): -2.8 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.2%
Gorodeckiy (Shock): 1st Guards Motorised, 50th, 12th Tankovaya Diviziya, 16th Mechanised, 11th, 6th, 8th Border Guards Brigade RES: 83rd, 24th, 3rd Border Guard Brigades
Friebe (Elastic Defence): 1.PzD, 246.ID
This will be touch and go and supply is dwindling
Panzerarmee Hoth (Hoth)
Objectives: Bryansk, Kaluga
Victories: 1st Pochinok, Komarichi
Defeats: Serednya Buda, 2nd Pochinok
Mglin (Plains): -2.8 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.2%
Koshevoy (Reckless Assault): 47th Tankovaya, 6th Armour Division
Andreas (Ambush): 22.ID (mot)
Too many tanks, too little supply
3rd Panzerarmee (Stumme)
Objectives: Bryansk, Orel
Victories: Nil
Defeats: Nil
Pogar (Plains): -2.9 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.2%
Fokin (Attack): 5th "Vitebsk" Rifle Division
Bayerlein (Ambush): 130.PzD "Lehr"
Tired as his men are, Bayerlein is not concerned
Armee of the Pripyat (Dollman)
Objectives: Kyiv, Orel
Victories: Sumy
Defeat: Nil
It is Dollman's turn to experience supply issues. (21/1)
Supply is flowing, but intermittently (28/1)
The partisan blockade to the west is still holding up operations
Panzerarmee von Manstein (von Manstein)
Objective: Kursk, Voronezh
Victories: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Borisovka, Rylsk
Defeats: Nil
Svatove (Forest): -3.1 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.4%
Simon (Attack): Condorgruppe
Ershakov (Defend): 16th Guards, 27th "Omsk", 131st Rifle Divizya, 13th Mechanised Brigades
The chance of success is the same as that of previous attacks: Nil
Kivsharivka (Woods): -3.0 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.4%
von Wickede (Attack): 15.PzD
Trubnikov (Ambush): Opolcheniye, 3rd Tankovaya, 15th "Sivashskaya" Motorizavannaya, 14th Cavalry, 65th "Tyumen" Rifle Division
These Soviet divisions are all in good condition and are far too strong for a single panzer division.
SS Kdo (Hausser)
Objectives: Kharkov, Belgorod
Victories: Ulanove, 2nd Kurgannyy
Defeats: Svatove, Kupjansk
Belgorod (Plains): -3.0 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 37.2%
Meyer (Masterful Blitz): Kampfgruppe "Meyer", 2nd SS PzD "Das Reich"
Alekseev (Ambush): 3rd Armour, 39th Gorno-Cavalry, 9th Guards Rifle Division
The SS panzers are advancing at full speed
Rostov Armee (Henrici)
Objectives: Voroshilovgrad, Stalingrad
Victories: Orlovskiy, Novy Yakul
Defeat: Konstatinovsk
Gornyatskiy (Plains): -3.1 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.2%
de Angelis (Attack): 9, 34.ID
Korovnikov (Defend): Proletarian Division
With the enemy division at one third its nominal strength, de Angelis is certain of victory
Divnoe (Plains): -1.9 degrees, Mud 85.2%
Hell (Shock): 86.ID
Provalov (Defend): 1st Guards TC 6, Di'15 Shi, 1st Guards Cavalry Corps headquarters
The defence has already collapsed
Starobilsk (Plains): -3.2 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.4%
Vierow (Reckless Assault): 2nd Pesi divize
Ryazanov (Defend): 4 x Proletarian, 29th Tankovaya Diviziya RES: 3rd Guards "Bessarabian" Cavalry Division
The infantry alone would be sufficient to hold the far bank of the Donets
Konstatinovsk (Plains): -3.1 degrees, Mud 100%, Frozen 25.2%
Sorsche (Reckless Assault): 6th Gebirgsjäger Division
Abakumov (Defend): 110th, 51st Tankovaya Diviziya, 5th Mechanised Brigade
Sorsche has his nose in front, but the longer the battle goes, the weaker his division gets
Army of the Crimea (von Falkenhorst)
Objectives: Novy Yakul, Batumi
Victory: Kamensk Sahtinsky, Kharkov,
Defeat: 1st Kurgannyy
It is a long way to transport supplies to the Caucasus, and difficult to replace the massive consumption during combat.
Unternehmen Barbarossa at midnight 28th January 1944
Code:
Current Prior Total
German Ground losses 41,743 9,152,096 9,193,839
German Bombing losses Nil 9,172 9,172
German Total losses 41,743 9,161,268 9,203,011
Soviet Ground losses 43,312 8,776,233 8,819,545
Soviet Bombing losses 10,381 1,223,205 1,233,586
Soviet Total losses 53,693 9,999,438 10,053,131
War at Sea
Code:
Current Prior Total
U-boat losses Nil 14 14
Convoys German Nil 52 52
British 4 710 714
French Nil 26 26
Canadian 1 93 94
South African Nil 14 14
New Zealand Nil 110 110
Australian Nil 32 32
Belgian Nil 5 5
Norwegian Nil 37 37
Greek Nil 17 17
Soviet Nil 10 10
USA Nil 4 4
Total Allied Convoy Losses 5 1,059 1,064
Code:
Escorts German Nil 11 11
British 6 679 685
Canadian Nil 43 43
French Nil 12 12
New Zealand Nil 20 20
Australian Nil 44 44
Belgian Nil 9 9
Norwegian Nil 9 9
South African Nil 26 26
Greek Nil 6 6
Soviet Nil 7 7
Total Allied Escort Losses 6 852 858
sorry.
