Nice to read of the fall of Vladivostok, nice start to rolling upon the Soviet Bear from the East. It will be interesting to see if Slim is able to march to Moscow from the East and actually link up with Allied forces marching from the West.
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Nice going! It seems the Bear is unable to cope with a coordinated allied offensive... 
If he does then the war in the west would have to be going very badly indeed, lots of bad ground between Siberia and Moscow and no Trans-Siberian railroad to race along.Draco Rexus said:
Lord E: ...The third forces Slim had mustered were the one he would command personally...
GOOD for Slim. he took the most critical force ! !
Lord E: ...The Vladivostok campaign had given the Allied important victories...
so true ! ! also, don't forget to hit any moving Soviet unit with air power ! !
good luck in Europe ! !
magnificent updates ! !
GOOD for Slim. he took the most critical force ! !
Lord E: ...The Vladivostok campaign had given the Allied important victories...
so true ! ! also, don't forget to hit any moving Soviet unit with air power ! !
good luck in Europe ! !
magnificent updates ! !
Chief Ragusa Yes, I think it is important not to neglect the Far East also as there are a lot of land to occupy there, and also there are, a little surprising to me, LARGE Soviet forces there so I need to keep focus there also to push them back and don’t give them a chance to occupy China. Yes, Leclerc is doing very fine so I am happy about that
Draco Rexus Well let us hope the Allies from the west will be able to get a little further east before linking up with Slim because as someone said if Slim is able to move into Moscow something must have gone very wrong on the main front…
Murmurandus Well it has been working so far, let us hope it will continue working
El Pip Indeed, there sure are… so let us hope it is not Slim who is the first Allied general in Moscow
J. Passepartout Indeed, it sure is
stnylan Thanks
General Jac If not tomorrow soon my friend, soon… I hope
GhostWriter As it turned out Slim took the most important one, because the Soviet AI is determined on defending Mongolia and Siberia and there are sending LARGE force into Mongolia to stop my advances…
Thanks, more about Europe is up next
All It has been a long time since the last update… too long I think. But real life has been really busy, the end of the year at university and then I have started in a new job so there has been a lot going on. Last weekend I were on a holiday trip so I was unable to get online and write, so unfortunately there has been a long time since the last update. But today I have had time to write and therefore I give you… a new update
Draco Rexus Well let us hope the Allies from the west will be able to get a little further east before linking up with Slim because as someone said if Slim is able to move into Moscow something must have gone very wrong on the main front…
Murmurandus Well it has been working so far, let us hope it will continue working
El Pip Indeed, there sure are… so let us hope it is not Slim who is the first Allied general in Moscow
J. Passepartout Indeed, it sure is
stnylan Thanks
General Jac If not tomorrow soon my friend, soon… I hope
GhostWriter As it turned out Slim took the most important one, because the Soviet AI is determined on defending Mongolia and Siberia and there are sending LARGE force into Mongolia to stop my advances…
Thanks, more about Europe is up next
All It has been a long time since the last update… too long I think. But real life has been really busy, the end of the year at university and then I have started in a new job so there has been a lot going on. Last weekend I were on a holiday trip so I was unable to get online and write, so unfortunately there has been a long time since the last update. But today I have had time to write and therefore I give you… a new update
The fall of Kiev
Just as Montgomery’s forces had finished their destruction of the Polish pockets General Patton was already planning his next moves. Having played an important role in the closing of the Polish pocket Patton had been promised by Montgomery his own chance to move freely after the Polish pockets had been destroyed. Patton was always a general dreaming of great things and feeling that his army was the most mobile and the one most able to attack forward quickly Patton was only happy to be given a chance to prove himself. Eisenhower had been very reluctant to agree to Montgomery’s promise to Patton about giving Patton a chance to show off. Instead Eisenhower wanted to attack on a broad front slowing down the attacks to secure the flanks and attack on a broad front. Montgomery as supreme commander was the one who had the final say and sensing a good chance in the plan put before him by Patton Montgomery rejected Eisenhower’s wish and instead insisted on attacking where he felt the possibility for a breakthrough were at its best. This area proved to be the one right in front of Patton’s army, the road to Kiev.
The city of Kiev was to be the main goal for Patton’s offensive
Given the green light by Montgomery Patton at once started to get his army ready for the offensive. Wanting to start at once he felt that every day the soldiers needed to rest was a day wasted, but still Patton knew that his men need their rest if they were to be able to give him the great campaign and the great victories he wanted.
While Patton waited to the south the Allies continued moving forward. The French under General Gamelin were closing small pockets in the Bessarabia area, having managed to trap 4 divisions in Iasi Gamelin was determined not to give them a chance to break free and therefore the faster the forces were destroyed the better. On the early morning of the 2nd of July Gamelin started his attacks and during the next days his forces moved quickly forward. The large French forces had few problems with destroying the Soviet fighting spirit and on the 4th of July the remaining divisions surrender to Gamelin leaving all of Bessarabia in Allied hands. Finding the front almost undefended when he visited Gamelin on the 5th of July Montgomery ordered the offensive to continue towards Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
The situation in Bessarabia during Gamelin’s attack against the Soviet pocket
The same morning, the 5th of July, Patton was able to start his offensive. Together with Eisenhower Patton attacked Tarnopol with 44 divisions. The 9 Soviet divisions in the province put up a good defence, but having been bombarded by the Allied air forces and Allied artillery for days the frontline troops were already tired and shell-shocked and during the first day of the offensive the front broke. Desperately trying to strengthen his second line of defence General Rybalko emptied all prisons and grabbed all men he could find and sent them to the front to act as soldiers and shields for his troops. Untrained and with little or no equipment or weapons these “militia” divisions stood little chance against the Allied war machine and by nightfall on the 6th of July Rybalko had to telephone Moscow and inform Stalin that Tarnopol had been lost and that he was retreating towards Kiev.
General Rybalko and his army had no chance against the Allied war machine and were forced to retreat to Kiev
With the fall of Tarnopol Rybalko knew he had no chance of defending Zhitomir and Vinnitsa and instead of wasting his forces in a hopeless bloodbath Rybalko left behind his forces militia units to defend the provinces while withdrawing his main forces to the outskirts of Kiev where he at once started building defences and anti-tank ditches.
For Patton and Eisenhower the race was now on. While the attack on Kiev was Patton’s plan and operation Eisenhower was not one to give away all the honour to Patton without competition. The two American generals raced forward and on the 9th of July they had secured both Zhitomir and Vinnitsa and both of them stood on the gates of Kiev.
But while the two Americans had been competing Montgomery had waited. Having allowed for the Americans to compete Montgomery had made sure that also British’s forces were present in the armies racing towards Kiev and as it stood on the early hours of the 10th of July it was neither Patton nor Eisenhower who stood closest to Kiev. As it turned out it was Patton’s second in command during the operation the British General Lord Gort. Having been given a secret order by Montgomery to do his best to try to grab the city before the Americans Lord Gort had overstepped Patton’s orders during the night and moved his forces fast forward and as day started Lord Gort’s forces stood only three kilometres from the city. Rybalko had seen his defences break during the entire campaign and when he was informed that the Allies stood just outside the city Rybalko knew that there was little he could do, not wanting to see the city destroyed he instead started to withdraw his forces and leave the city open for the Allies. Lord Gort having heard from his scouts that the Soviets were leaving at once moved his forces forward and as it turned out it was the British and Lord Gort who were the first to enter Kiev. Three hours after Lord Gort had established his headquarters in the town hall that Rybalko had left only four hours earlier Patton moved into the city. A little angered to see the Union Jack above the city Patton soon calmed down when he saw that Lord Gort had also made sure to have the American flag flying above the town hall.
The fall of Kiev marked the start of the second phase of the Soviet invasion. Having broken the first line of defence the Allied commanders now found open plains in front of them, undefended and open the plains marked the started of what would alter by called “The Allied race”. Within a month this race would take the Allies to the outskirts of an even more important Soviet city, a city that because of its name was seen as the most important in the entire Soviet Union by Josef Stalin.
Just as Montgomery’s forces had finished their destruction of the Polish pockets General Patton was already planning his next moves. Having played an important role in the closing of the Polish pocket Patton had been promised by Montgomery his own chance to move freely after the Polish pockets had been destroyed. Patton was always a general dreaming of great things and feeling that his army was the most mobile and the one most able to attack forward quickly Patton was only happy to be given a chance to prove himself. Eisenhower had been very reluctant to agree to Montgomery’s promise to Patton about giving Patton a chance to show off. Instead Eisenhower wanted to attack on a broad front slowing down the attacks to secure the flanks and attack on a broad front. Montgomery as supreme commander was the one who had the final say and sensing a good chance in the plan put before him by Patton Montgomery rejected Eisenhower’s wish and instead insisted on attacking where he felt the possibility for a breakthrough were at its best. This area proved to be the one right in front of Patton’s army, the road to Kiev.
The city of Kiev was to be the main goal for Patton’s offensive
Given the green light by Montgomery Patton at once started to get his army ready for the offensive. Wanting to start at once he felt that every day the soldiers needed to rest was a day wasted, but still Patton knew that his men need their rest if they were to be able to give him the great campaign and the great victories he wanted.
While Patton waited to the south the Allies continued moving forward. The French under General Gamelin were closing small pockets in the Bessarabia area, having managed to trap 4 divisions in Iasi Gamelin was determined not to give them a chance to break free and therefore the faster the forces were destroyed the better. On the early morning of the 2nd of July Gamelin started his attacks and during the next days his forces moved quickly forward. The large French forces had few problems with destroying the Soviet fighting spirit and on the 4th of July the remaining divisions surrender to Gamelin leaving all of Bessarabia in Allied hands. Finding the front almost undefended when he visited Gamelin on the 5th of July Montgomery ordered the offensive to continue towards Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula.
The situation in Bessarabia during Gamelin’s attack against the Soviet pocket
The same morning, the 5th of July, Patton was able to start his offensive. Together with Eisenhower Patton attacked Tarnopol with 44 divisions. The 9 Soviet divisions in the province put up a good defence, but having been bombarded by the Allied air forces and Allied artillery for days the frontline troops were already tired and shell-shocked and during the first day of the offensive the front broke. Desperately trying to strengthen his second line of defence General Rybalko emptied all prisons and grabbed all men he could find and sent them to the front to act as soldiers and shields for his troops. Untrained and with little or no equipment or weapons these “militia” divisions stood little chance against the Allied war machine and by nightfall on the 6th of July Rybalko had to telephone Moscow and inform Stalin that Tarnopol had been lost and that he was retreating towards Kiev.
General Rybalko and his army had no chance against the Allied war machine and were forced to retreat to Kiev
With the fall of Tarnopol Rybalko knew he had no chance of defending Zhitomir and Vinnitsa and instead of wasting his forces in a hopeless bloodbath Rybalko left behind his forces militia units to defend the provinces while withdrawing his main forces to the outskirts of Kiev where he at once started building defences and anti-tank ditches.
For Patton and Eisenhower the race was now on. While the attack on Kiev was Patton’s plan and operation Eisenhower was not one to give away all the honour to Patton without competition. The two American generals raced forward and on the 9th of July they had secured both Zhitomir and Vinnitsa and both of them stood on the gates of Kiev.
But while the two Americans had been competing Montgomery had waited. Having allowed for the Americans to compete Montgomery had made sure that also British’s forces were present in the armies racing towards Kiev and as it stood on the early hours of the 10th of July it was neither Patton nor Eisenhower who stood closest to Kiev. As it turned out it was Patton’s second in command during the operation the British General Lord Gort. Having been given a secret order by Montgomery to do his best to try to grab the city before the Americans Lord Gort had overstepped Patton’s orders during the night and moved his forces fast forward and as day started Lord Gort’s forces stood only three kilometres from the city. Rybalko had seen his defences break during the entire campaign and when he was informed that the Allies stood just outside the city Rybalko knew that there was little he could do, not wanting to see the city destroyed he instead started to withdraw his forces and leave the city open for the Allies. Lord Gort having heard from his scouts that the Soviets were leaving at once moved his forces forward and as it turned out it was the British and Lord Gort who were the first to enter Kiev. Three hours after Lord Gort had established his headquarters in the town hall that Rybalko had left only four hours earlier Patton moved into the city. A little angered to see the Union Jack above the city Patton soon calmed down when he saw that Lord Gort had also made sure to have the American flag flying above the town hall.
The fall of Kiev marked the start of the second phase of the Soviet invasion. Having broken the first line of defence the Allied commanders now found open plains in front of them, undefended and open the plains marked the started of what would alter by called “The Allied race”. Within a month this race would take the Allies to the outskirts of an even more important Soviet city, a city that because of its name was seen as the most important in the entire Soviet Union by Josef Stalin.
Wouldn't have much fun in Stalingrad, eh? I don't think that counts for the allies though, on to victory!
I don't think that counts for the allies though, on to victory!
Lord E: ...it turned out it was the British and Lord Gort who were the first to enter Kiev...
most excellent ! !
Lord E: ...a city that because of its name was seen as the most important in the entire Soviet Union by Josef Stalin.
only Moscow can be the most important city in the Soviet Union ! !
magnificent update ! !
most excellent ! !
Lord E: ...a city that because of its name was seen as the most important in the entire Soviet Union by Josef Stalin.
only Moscow can be the most important city in the Soviet Union ! !
magnificent update ! !
Made me smile certainly. More such amusing, and victorious, events please.stnylan said:
There was I thinking you were going to let Patton fbe first into Kievand then have 'the first troops to enter the city were from the 1st Norwegian Armoured Division'. Lord Gort entering first, now there was a surprise.
How many allied armies are converging on Stalingrad?
How many allied armies are converging on Stalingrad?
Murmurandus I think we can say that is a far guess
J. Passepartout Forwards… Yes, I think it was kind of funny to see Lord Gort arrive first and grab the city
General Jac Not, much fun in Stalingrad NEIN!
Let us hope it won’t count and that we shall see more victories ahead…
stnylan Yeah, I thought it was very funny
GhostWriter Lord Gort did well indeed, and yes Moscow is important but in this case we are talking about Stalingrad actually…
Terraferma Very soon I think…
El Pip Actually so did I, I enjoyed it so I will do my very best to continue in the same way…
Chief Ragusa Of course a possibility might have been to let the Norwegians enter first, but as it ended it was actually Gort and I thought that was very cool so I thought it would work well to make a point of it…
Hmm… from the top of my head I think it is close to 60-70 divisions… but they are not just going towards the city they are also moving towards Sevastopol and from there to Baku and to the north of Stalingrad towards Ural mountains…
All It looks like the Soviets have lost their will for fighting in the south as you shall soon see. We move quickly forward and soon our great armies will stand on the gates of Stalingrad….
I have a new update ready and should have it posted soon.
J. Passepartout Forwards… Yes, I think it was kind of funny to see Lord Gort arrive first and grab the city
General Jac Not, much fun in Stalingrad NEIN!
Let us hope it won’t count and that we shall see more victories ahead…
stnylan Yeah, I thought it was very funny
GhostWriter Lord Gort did well indeed, and yes Moscow is important but in this case we are talking about Stalingrad actually…
Terraferma Very soon I think…
El Pip Actually so did I, I enjoyed it so I will do my very best to continue in the same way…
Chief Ragusa Of course a possibility might have been to let the Norwegians enter first, but as it ended it was actually Gort and I thought that was very cool so I thought it would work well to make a point of it…
Hmm… from the top of my head I think it is close to 60-70 divisions… but they are not just going towards the city they are also moving towards Sevastopol and from there to Baku and to the north of Stalingrad towards Ural mountains…
All It looks like the Soviets have lost their will for fighting in the south as you shall soon see. We move quickly forward and soon our great armies will stand on the gates of Stalingrad….
I have a new update ready and should have it posted soon.
The collapse of the south front
After Lord Gort with his BEF and Norwegian General Steffens of the NEF entered Kiev on the 12th of July 1945 a new phase began on the southern front in the Soviet Union. So far the Allies had faced strong and determined resistance, but after General Rybalko’s defence of Kiev and the surrounding areas failed, and most of his army group was destroyed by Allied forces a large gap opened in the Soviet lines. Another such gap had already been discovered and taken advantage off further south, after General Gamelin had pocketed and destroyed all Soviet forces in Bessarabia Gamelin and the British General Crocker, known in the British Army as the “Conqueror of Rome” after his command in the defeat of Italy, started moving large forces trough the large gap created in Bessarabia. Leading the advance were the King of Belgium’s Royal Horse Cavalry. The Belgians found large open plains in front of them and moved forward as fast as their horses could run.
King Albert of Belgium’s Royal Horse Cavalry was leading the attacks towards the Crimean Peninsula
Moving forward with very little or no resistance facing them the Belgian cavalry entered the Crimean peninsula on the 20th of July the same day as Patton’s armoured divisions entered the city of Kharkov chasing the few Soviet defenders in front of them. Patton had already chased the Soviet’s from city to city and by the fall of Kharkov General Rybalko’s army was close to total destruction. When General Crocker’s divisions destroyed and trapped six more Soviet divisions in Krivoy Rog Stalin and Zhukov decided to remove Rybalko from his position as army group commander. Instead of Rybalko General Bagramian was give command of the reorganized Soviet army group who had once been Kiev Front, but now was renamed Stalingrad Front. Stalin ordered the army group pulled back to defend Stalingrad and instead of facing Patton directly Bagramian started to rebuild his army north of Novorossiysk guarding the path to Stalingrad.
The new commander of the new Stalingrad Front General Ivan Bagramian with his Chief of Staff Vladimir Kurasov planning how to defend against the Allied attacks
The change of Soviet leadership did little to halt Patton’s advances. The first day of August American Marines entered Sevastopol to find the Soviet Black Sea had just left the harbour only hours before the American arrival. But anticipating this move by the Soviet naval leaders Admiral Cunningham commanding the British Mediterranean Fleet had already positioned his fleet outside of Sevastopol waiting for the Soviets to appear. When the Soviet Fleet entered open waters it was at once attacked by British carrier based airplanes, battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers. Cunningham was determined to destroy the entire Soviet Black Sea Fleet once and for all, and had positioned all his firepower so that it could attack the Soviets. Two hours after the Soviet’s had entered open waters it was all over, the entire Soviet Fleet had been sunk and destroyed by the British with no British ships destroyed and only minor casualties among the British sailors. To the bottom of the sea went one Soviet battleship, two cruisers, five destroyers and a transport. Just as he had done against the Italians Admiral Cunningham had in one quick battle removed all threat to Allied sea power.
A Soviet ship from the Black Sea Fleet sinking after the Battle of Sevastopol. A battle ending in total Allied victory.
While the sea battle ended after just two hours there was still months left of the campaign, but for the Allied soldiers racing through the plains closer and closer to Stalingrad it didn’t feel like weeks but only like hours. Racing forward the Allied soldiers faced very little resistance and was greeted well by the civilian population. By the end of August Patton’s armoured divisions were once more facing Soviet resistance. General Bagramian’s Stalingrad Front had finished its reorganization and received reinforcements from Siberia and now it stood prepared to fight against Patton and Crocker leading the Allied attacks. But it was soon clear that although reorganized what had once been the Kiev Front still suffered from the wounds it had received in July and for the Allies it looked like the advance would continue and that the city of Stalingrad might be taken in early September. While the attacks had been developing very well in the south also the Central and Northern Front had seen several developments, developments that would make it possible for Montgomery to threaten to capture an even larger prize than Stalingrad.
After Lord Gort with his BEF and Norwegian General Steffens of the NEF entered Kiev on the 12th of July 1945 a new phase began on the southern front in the Soviet Union. So far the Allies had faced strong and determined resistance, but after General Rybalko’s defence of Kiev and the surrounding areas failed, and most of his army group was destroyed by Allied forces a large gap opened in the Soviet lines. Another such gap had already been discovered and taken advantage off further south, after General Gamelin had pocketed and destroyed all Soviet forces in Bessarabia Gamelin and the British General Crocker, known in the British Army as the “Conqueror of Rome” after his command in the defeat of Italy, started moving large forces trough the large gap created in Bessarabia. Leading the advance were the King of Belgium’s Royal Horse Cavalry. The Belgians found large open plains in front of them and moved forward as fast as their horses could run.
King Albert of Belgium’s Royal Horse Cavalry was leading the attacks towards the Crimean Peninsula
Moving forward with very little or no resistance facing them the Belgian cavalry entered the Crimean peninsula on the 20th of July the same day as Patton’s armoured divisions entered the city of Kharkov chasing the few Soviet defenders in front of them. Patton had already chased the Soviet’s from city to city and by the fall of Kharkov General Rybalko’s army was close to total destruction. When General Crocker’s divisions destroyed and trapped six more Soviet divisions in Krivoy Rog Stalin and Zhukov decided to remove Rybalko from his position as army group commander. Instead of Rybalko General Bagramian was give command of the reorganized Soviet army group who had once been Kiev Front, but now was renamed Stalingrad Front. Stalin ordered the army group pulled back to defend Stalingrad and instead of facing Patton directly Bagramian started to rebuild his army north of Novorossiysk guarding the path to Stalingrad.
The new commander of the new Stalingrad Front General Ivan Bagramian with his Chief of Staff Vladimir Kurasov planning how to defend against the Allied attacks
The change of Soviet leadership did little to halt Patton’s advances. The first day of August American Marines entered Sevastopol to find the Soviet Black Sea had just left the harbour only hours before the American arrival. But anticipating this move by the Soviet naval leaders Admiral Cunningham commanding the British Mediterranean Fleet had already positioned his fleet outside of Sevastopol waiting for the Soviets to appear. When the Soviet Fleet entered open waters it was at once attacked by British carrier based airplanes, battleships, heavy cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers. Cunningham was determined to destroy the entire Soviet Black Sea Fleet once and for all, and had positioned all his firepower so that it could attack the Soviets. Two hours after the Soviet’s had entered open waters it was all over, the entire Soviet Fleet had been sunk and destroyed by the British with no British ships destroyed and only minor casualties among the British sailors. To the bottom of the sea went one Soviet battleship, two cruisers, five destroyers and a transport. Just as he had done against the Italians Admiral Cunningham had in one quick battle removed all threat to Allied sea power.
A Soviet ship from the Black Sea Fleet sinking after the Battle of Sevastopol. A battle ending in total Allied victory.
While the sea battle ended after just two hours there was still months left of the campaign, but for the Allied soldiers racing through the plains closer and closer to Stalingrad it didn’t feel like weeks but only like hours. Racing forward the Allied soldiers faced very little resistance and was greeted well by the civilian population. By the end of August Patton’s armoured divisions were once more facing Soviet resistance. General Bagramian’s Stalingrad Front had finished its reorganization and received reinforcements from Siberia and now it stood prepared to fight against Patton and Crocker leading the Allied attacks. But it was soon clear that although reorganized what had once been the Kiev Front still suffered from the wounds it had received in July and for the Allies it looked like the advance would continue and that the city of Stalingrad might be taken in early September. While the attacks had been developing very well in the south also the Central and Northern Front had seen several developments, developments that would make it possible for Montgomery to threaten to capture an even larger prize than Stalingrad.
Moscow? St Petersberg? Both?
After Kiev it sounds almost as if Patton has something to prove.
After Kiev it sounds almost as if Patton has something to prove.