Hehe, gotcha again
Still, I like the quality of those updates. Keep them coming!
Indeed you did
Next update is halfway done, should be up by the end of the weekend.
Last edited:
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Indeed you did
Next update is halfway done, should be up by the end of the weekend.
Indeed you did
Next update is halfway done, should be up by the end of the weekend.
Here's to hoping the fascists keep you on your toes!
Chapter 4 - The Northern Offensive
Chapter 4: The Northern Offensive
(June 1942-February 1943)
After the ultimate failure of Operation Red Thunder, Stalin wanted to renew the offensive. Realizing that the German troops in the Ukraine would be on their guard after Red Thunder, Stalin chose a new target: the northern front. Indeed, while the Red Army had to fight for its life against the German Wehrmacht, the Red Army had held off Finnish forces with ease. Furthermore, Red Thunder had force the Germans to transfer many divisions from the northern front in order to hold off the Russian advance. Therefore, the STAVKA felt that the situation was ripe for a major breakthrough. Consequently, the Russian High Command planned a daring, two phase offensive in the north. The first phase was a broad-front offensive with a very ambitious objective: to knock Finland out of the war for good. The second phase was a rehash of the old plans for the winter offensive from earlier that year and had the same objective: to break the front in the north and surround as many divisions as possible in Estonia. On June 3rd 1942, Stalin ordered the first phase of his offensive to begin. On the morning of June 4th, hundreds of Soviet divisions stormed Finnish defensive positions all across the front. Mikkeli and Joensu fell rapidly. Once they did, the Red Army assigned all available resources to achieve a decisive breakthrough towards Helsinki. While Finnish defences were quickly smashed, the actual attack on Helsinki was a longer and more brutal affair. As Red Army forces got bogged down in the urban fighting in Helsinki, Stalin sent in more forces in order to seal enable the Red Army to continue its offensive before Finnish forces could mount adequate resistance. Finally, on June 17th, Helsinki fell to the Red Army advance. After raising the Soviet flag over the Presidentinlinna, Red Army forces carried on with the offensive. As the advance carried on Finnish troops were increasingly incapable of mounting an adequate defence.
The Red Army advance on in Finland in late June
On June 21st, Tampere and Turku fell to Russian troops. On the 24th, Finnish forces asked for an armistice. The following day, Finnish emissaries met with the Soviet Foreign Minister in order to negotiate a formal peace agreement. As the Finns now had little to bargain with, agreements were reached quickly. Realising it would not have the resources for a total occupation of Finland, and that it needed the troops currently tied down on the Finnish front elsewhere, the Kremlin agreed to compromise. In exchange for keeping independence, the Finnish government agreed to cease hostilities with the Soviet Union and to declare war on Germany. Following this glorious victory, German divisions in Finland were forced to surrender quickly. The victory over Finland also meant that Russia would be able to permanently assure a secure route from Britain to the Soviet Union for Lend-Lease supplies by carrying on and invading Norway.
The plans for the Russian invasion of Norway
Knowing that the Nazi occupied country would be weakly defended, Stalin diverted most of his troops from the Finnish front to the Northern front in order to begin phase two of the offensive. Remaining units would encounter little resistance while heading towards Oslo. Soon, Soviet forces were in the Norwegian capital. By September 19th 1942, the entire country was under Soviet control. Since the war was still raging on and Stalin wanted to assure a permanent end to Allied influence in Scandinavia and so chose to post-pone forming a puppet cabinet for the moment and decided to keep the country under military occupation. Soviet troops in Norway therefore had fought their last battle. Elsewhere, along the Northern German-Soviet front, preparations for the second phase of the offensive were finalised by the beginning of August. On August 4th, Stalin ordered the launch of the second phase of the offensive.
The initial battle plans for Phase 2 of the Northern Offensive
The first objective was to break through German lines and settle the frontline somewhere near Pskov running through to Velikiye Luki. Then, Soviet armoured elements would attempt a breakthrough at Voru in order to surround German troops in Estonia. The attacks along the front went well. At the second battle of Gdov, Soviet forces recaptured the city rather quickly and pressed on to Pskov. Meanwhile, the fighting around Velikiye Luki started to recede, as in a chance encounter elements of the 14th Infantry Corps that had broken through the lines ran into German reinforcements trying to cross the marshes to reinforce the city. With surprise on their side, Russian force inflicted heavy losses on the German reinforcements and forced them to retreat. This in turn enabled Red Army troops fighting in the city to defeat the defenders more rapidly, as the desired reinforcements had failed to come to the aid of their embattled brothers in arms. Furthermore, as the front collapsed around them, German forces found retreat to be increasingly hard, as they frequent found themselves to rear areas that were considered “safe”, only to find that these areas had been overrun by Soviet armoured elements. As a result of this, many German units suffered absolutely horrendous losses as they were constantly were harassed during their retreats. The worst of all theses was during the Battle of the Novorzhev Gap, where more than 17 German divisions from the German 18th Army and 14th Panzer Army tried to escape imminent encirclement at Staraya-Russa by pushing through a gap only a few hundred miles wide at Novorzhev. Although most divisions were able to escape (albeit with heavy casualties) a two divisions were caught in the encirclement. The subsequent battle for Staraya-Russa was brutal and brief, with the pocket being promptly crushed with most soldiers preferring to die than surrender to the Russians. Following this victory, Russian armoured elements that had assembled in Pskov continued their advance, striking at Voru with the ultimate objective of capturing Tallinn and reaching the Baltic Sea, therefore encircling German forces at Narva. With German forces still reeling from the blows recently dealt to them by the Red Army, Russian armoured corps had no problem breaking through the lines. Voru fell in a couple of days, and Tartu was liberated only 4 days later. Finally, on October 8th 1942, after a fierce battle with the four German corps that faced encirclement at Narva, Tallinn fell and the Narva pocket was sealed.
German Forces under Field Marshall Von Rundstedt encircled at Narva
Though land connection was closed off, the small port of Narva was still functional, and it was clear that German convoys were resupplying the embattled forces, as air reconnaissance clearly showed. In response, Stalin decided to use the still unfinished Soviet fleet at Leningrad to prevent German convoys from reaching the city. Also, Stalin ordered the port of Narva, as well as the city itself, to be brutally bombarded, in order to render the port unusable and to pin German troops inside their buildings. On October 18th, Soviet forces at Kingisepp crossed the strait to attack Narva. While a bridgehead was successfully secured and maintained, Russian troops were unable to take the city. 2 days later, German troops tried to break the encirclement and therefore save the four corps in Narva. This triggered a massive Soviet counterattack in and around Gulbene. Unable to attack and defend simultaneously, German forces were quickly forced to abandon the relief effort. Finally, on October 31st, the city of Gulbene was retaken and therefore all hope of freeing the beleaguered forces was lost. The German soldiers in Narva would have to fend for themselves. A few days later, Soviet forces captured Riga.Following this victory, Stalin decided that the priority would be to destroy the German forces at Narva and that offensive operations would be halted until this objective was completed. First, he ordered that the city be extensively bombed, day and night. He also asked the Soviet Navy to continue applying pressure by destroying German convoys in the Gulf of Finland and to continue bombarding the city. After severe losses, Hitler ordered resupply operations to Narva be halted. The German forces at Narva were now truly lost. Finally, on November 24th, Soviet forces launched a massive assault on Narva. Field Marshal von Rundstedt did his best to organise a cohesive defence, but his troops were dirty, hungry, low on ammo and grenades and exhausted by the endless Russian bombings.
The last stages of the Second Battle of Narva
Finally, against the orders of Hitler, who demanded German forces at Narva fight to the death, von Rundstedt ordered the surrender of all German troops in the Narva pocket on December 11th 1942. At the time of encirclement, von Rundstedt had a total of 5 corps under his command (some 250 000 men). By the time German troops were forced to surrender, only 4 severely under strength divisions remained in the city. The surrender at Narva was the first time German troops had surrendered to the Red Army in large numbers, and this fact was not lost on Russian soldiers. This great victory greatly encouraged Russian forces across the entire theatre of operations and greatly boosted the morale at home. The surrender greatly fuelled the growing belief in the Red Army that the Fascist invader could be defeated, and that, eventually, Russia would triumph. By the end of 1942, the Red Army had come into its own as a fearsome fighting force and now had seized the initiative across the front. Only time would tell what the year 1943 had in store for both sides...
-----------------------------------------------------
wow, 1 551 words, that's my longest update ever I believe ! Anyway, hope you enjoy Haven't started Chapter 5 but I have all my screens so we will see when I manage to get it done, but it should be done by Friday at the latest (if it's not, I'm sorry, please don't shoot me ... )
Chapter 4: The Northern Offensive
(June 1942-February 1943)
After the ultimate failure of Operation Red Thunder, Stalin wanted to renew the offensive. Realizing that the German troops in the Ukraine would be on their guard after Red Thunder, Stalin chose a new target: the northern front. Indeed, while the Red Army had to fight for its life against the German Wehrmacht, the Red Army had held off Finnish forces with ease. Furthermore, Red Thunder had force the Germans to transfer many divisions from the northern front in order to hold off the Russian advance. Therefore, the STAVKA felt that the situation was ripe for a major breakthrough. Consequently, the Russian High Command planned a daring, two phase offensive in the north. The first phase was a broad-front offensive with a very ambitious objective: to knock Finland out of the war for good. The second phase was a rehash of the old plans for the winter offensive from earlier that year and had the same objective: to break the front in the north and surround as many divisions as possible in Estonia. On June 3rd 1942, Stalin ordered the first phase of his offensive to begin. On the morning of June 4th, hundreds of Soviet divisions stormed Finnish defensive positions all across the front. Mikkeli and Joensu fell rapidly. Once they did, the Red Army assigned all available resources to achieve a decisive breakthrough towards Helsinki. While Finnish defences were quickly smashed, the actual attack on Helsinki was a longer and more brutal affair. As Red Army forces got bogged down in the urban fighting in Helsinki, Stalin sent in more forces in order to seal enable the Red Army to continue its offensive before Finnish forces could mount adequate resistance. Finally, on June 17th, Helsinki fell to the Red Army advance. After raising the Soviet flag over the Presidentinlinna, Red Army forces carried on with the offensive. As the advance carried on Finnish troops were increasingly incapable of mounting an adequate defence.
The Red Army advance on in Finland in late June
On June 21st, Tampere and Turku fell to Russian troops. On the 24th, Finnish forces asked for an armistice. The following day, Finnish emissaries met with the Soviet Foreign Minister in order to negotiate a formal peace agreement. As the Finns now had little to bargain with, agreements were reached quickly. Realising it would not have the resources for a total occupation of Finland, and that it needed the troops currently tied down on the Finnish front elsewhere, the Kremlin agreed to compromise. In exchange for keeping independence, the Finnish government agreed to cease hostilities with the Soviet Union and to declare war on Germany. Following this glorious victory, German divisions in Finland were forced to surrender quickly. The victory over Finland also meant that Russia would be able to permanently assure a secure route from Britain to the Soviet Union for Lend-Lease supplies by carrying on and invading Norway.
The plans for the Russian invasion of Norway
Knowing that the Nazi occupied country would be weakly defended, Stalin diverted most of his troops from the Finnish front to the Northern front in order to begin phase two of the offensive. Remaining units would encounter little resistance while heading towards Oslo. Soon, Soviet forces were in the Norwegian capital. By September 19th 1942, the entire country was under Soviet control. Since the war was still raging on and Stalin wanted to assure a permanent end to Allied influence in Scandinavia and so chose to post-pone forming a puppet cabinet for the moment and decided to keep the country under military occupation. Soviet troops in Norway therefore had fought their last battle. Elsewhere, along the Northern German-Soviet front, preparations for the second phase of the offensive were finalised by the beginning of August. On August 4th, Stalin ordered the launch of the second phase of the offensive.
The initial battle plans for Phase 2 of the Northern Offensive
The first objective was to break through German lines and settle the frontline somewhere near Pskov running through to Velikiye Luki. Then, Soviet armoured elements would attempt a breakthrough at Voru in order to surround German troops in Estonia. The attacks along the front went well. At the second battle of Gdov, Soviet forces recaptured the city rather quickly and pressed on to Pskov. Meanwhile, the fighting around Velikiye Luki started to recede, as in a chance encounter elements of the 14th Infantry Corps that had broken through the lines ran into German reinforcements trying to cross the marshes to reinforce the city. With surprise on their side, Russian force inflicted heavy losses on the German reinforcements and forced them to retreat. This in turn enabled Red Army troops fighting in the city to defeat the defenders more rapidly, as the desired reinforcements had failed to come to the aid of their embattled brothers in arms. Furthermore, as the front collapsed around them, German forces found retreat to be increasingly hard, as they frequent found themselves to rear areas that were considered “safe”, only to find that these areas had been overrun by Soviet armoured elements. As a result of this, many German units suffered absolutely horrendous losses as they were constantly were harassed during their retreats. The worst of all theses was during the Battle of the Novorzhev Gap, where more than 17 German divisions from the German 18th Army and 14th Panzer Army tried to escape imminent encirclement at Staraya-Russa by pushing through a gap only a few hundred miles wide at Novorzhev. Although most divisions were able to escape (albeit with heavy casualties) a two divisions were caught in the encirclement. The subsequent battle for Staraya-Russa was brutal and brief, with the pocket being promptly crushed with most soldiers preferring to die than surrender to the Russians. Following this victory, Russian armoured elements that had assembled in Pskov continued their advance, striking at Voru with the ultimate objective of capturing Tallinn and reaching the Baltic Sea, therefore encircling German forces at Narva. With German forces still reeling from the blows recently dealt to them by the Red Army, Russian armoured corps had no problem breaking through the lines. Voru fell in a couple of days, and Tartu was liberated only 4 days later. Finally, on October 8th 1942, after a fierce battle with the four German corps that faced encirclement at Narva, Tallinn fell and the Narva pocket was sealed.
German Forces under Field Marshall Von Rundstedt encircled at Narva
Though land connection was closed off, the small port of Narva was still functional, and it was clear that German convoys were resupplying the embattled forces, as air reconnaissance clearly showed. In response, Stalin decided to use the still unfinished Soviet fleet at Leningrad to prevent German convoys from reaching the city. Also, Stalin ordered the port of Narva, as well as the city itself, to be brutally bombarded, in order to render the port unusable and to pin German troops inside their buildings. On October 18th, Soviet forces at Kingisepp crossed the strait to attack Narva. While a bridgehead was successfully secured and maintained, Russian troops were unable to take the city. 2 days later, German troops tried to break the encirclement and therefore save the four corps in Narva. This triggered a massive Soviet counterattack in and around Gulbene. Unable to attack and defend simultaneously, German forces were quickly forced to abandon the relief effort. Finally, on October 31st, the city of Gulbene was retaken and therefore all hope of freeing the beleaguered forces was lost. The German soldiers in Narva would have to fend for themselves. A few days later, Soviet forces captured Riga.Following this victory, Stalin decided that the priority would be to destroy the German forces at Narva and that offensive operations would be halted until this objective was completed. First, he ordered that the city be extensively bombed, day and night. He also asked the Soviet Navy to continue applying pressure by destroying German convoys in the Gulf of Finland and to continue bombarding the city. After severe losses, Hitler ordered resupply operations to Narva be halted. The German forces at Narva were now truly lost. Finally, on November 24th, Soviet forces launched a massive assault on Narva. Field Marshal von Rundstedt did his best to organise a cohesive defence, but his troops were dirty, hungry, low on ammo and grenades and exhausted by the endless Russian bombings.
The last stages of the Second Battle of Narva
Finally, against the orders of Hitler, who demanded German forces at Narva fight to the death, von Rundstedt ordered the surrender of all German troops in the Narva pocket on December 11th 1942. At the time of encirclement, von Rundstedt had a total of 5 corps under his command (some 250 000 men). By the time German troops were forced to surrender, only 4 severely under strength divisions remained in the city. The surrender at Narva was the first time German troops had surrendered to the Red Army in large numbers, and this fact was not lost on Russian soldiers. This great victory greatly encouraged Russian forces across the entire theatre of operations and greatly boosted the morale at home. The surrender greatly fuelled the growing belief in the Red Army that the Fascist invader could be defeated, and that, eventually, Russia would triumph. By the end of 1942, the Red Army had come into its own as a fearsome fighting force and now had seized the initiative across the front. Only time would tell what the year 1943 had in store for both sides...
-----------------------------------------------------
wow, 1 551 words, that's my longest update ever I believe ! Anyway, hope you enjoy
Haven't started Chapter 5 but I have all my screens so we will see when I manage to get it done, but it should be done by Friday at the latest (if it's not, I'm sorry, please don't shoot me ... )
Narva = Stalingrad. And again, you got it at almost the historical date! Amazing, simply amazing.
Narva = Stalingrad. And again, you got it at almost the historical date! Amazing, simply amazing.
+1. Great update.
I hope that you'll be able to push inside the German borders in 1943.
The war should be over in 1944.
Narva = Stalingrad. And again, you got it at almost the historical date! Amazing, simply amazing.
That's what I was thinking.
I doubt he can reach Germany proper within 20 days, but lets hope he can pull it off, but yeah, the war should be over in 1944, I bet on June 6th! any counterbets?
Expect much more of that Victory or Valhalla, I saw it a lot in my SU game right till the very end. Anyway, good job on taking on the Germans! USSR is cool to play.
It seems that the assault on Narva was spearheaded by Finnish Troops, you even gave a Finnish commander overall command of the Assault!
This is a good AAR, and really does have some sort of historical feel to it!
I am interested to see what happens in the South!
This is a good AAR, and really does have some sort of historical feel to it!
I am interested to see what happens in the South!
20 Days?
The update stopped in February 1943 if I'm right. Oh and btw I bet on June 22nd.
20 Days?
Oh and btw I bet on June 22nd.
oh... I read wrong in the update, thought it said December 11th 1943
Chapter 5 - Operation Barracuda
Operation Barracuda
(February 1943 – February 1944)
After the Northern Offensive of 1942, the Soviet Union’s fortunes in the conflict with Germany had drastically improved: Finland was out of the war and the Red Army has won its most decisive victory against the Wehrmacht of the entire war at Narva, finally liberating Estonia after 2 years of German occupation. Furthermore, the victory at Narva had wiped out an important part of Army Group North’s effective strength. This defeat paralysed German forces everywhere, as the major defeat had rattled morale both at home and at the front. Now, Germany’s position was precarious. But even if they had suffered a major defeat, the Wehrmacht was far from defeated. Indeed, while the northern front was severely weakened, the rest of the front remained solid. In the west, the Germany’s position was much better, allowing the transfer of German divisions in France to fight on the eastern front. While Stalin had initially feared an Axis victory over Allied forces in Africa in 1941, Rommel, the Desert Fox, was pushed back at El Alamein in late 1941 and quickly driven back throughout 1942. By 1943, the entirety of Axis Africa was occupied by the British Army. Although Stalin consistently demanded the opening of a second front in Europe, his pleas fell on deaf ears: the Americans had deemed the war in Japan to be the most important and regarded Europe as a secondary theatre of operation. In 1943, with the stunning victory at Narva by the Red Army, Roosevelt decided to drastically reduce the amount of aid sent to the Soviet Union in favour of helping prop up the ailing British Empire, who by then was in a precarious position in India. Over the years 1941 and 1942, the Japanese Empire won decisive battles in China and the in the Pacific against the United States. These victories ensured total Japanese supremacy in mainland Asia. Finally, in March 1942, as Soviet forces were involved in Operation Red Thunder, China surrendered to the Japanese and accepted all their demands. Furthermore, they agreed to switch sides and fight alongside the Axis forces and declared war on Great Britain and the United States. After that, the UK faced a much broader front, and a more powerful enemy. Even though nominally a member of the Axis, the Chinese puppet government had a lot of trouble keeping order, and was busier policing its populace and preventing mutiny and were mostly disinterested in fighting what they saw as Japan’s war. However, by 1943 with Indochina and Malaya occupied by Japan and with Japanese forces pushing hard towards India. Finally, the advance was halted along a line in today’s Bangladesh. There the British would fight a long and arduous war of attrition in the jungle. Back in Russia, the STAVKA began planning its most ambitious plan yet: Operation Barracuda. The objective was the following: to push the German Wehrmacht as far back as possible, with the final objective being the settle the frontline along the Dnieper by the end of the year. The offensive was to begin in the north, in order to press the advantage they now had. Once the advance would be going well, the rest of the troops would attack all across the front hopefully catching the Germans by surprise and preventing them from resisting everywhere, as it was now clear that the Wehrmacht didn’t have the strength left to defend against a concerted offensive across the entire front. On February 11th 1943, the Red Army capitalized on a relocation of German forces in order to capture Riga. The Germans tried to retake the city, but quickly renounced to the attempt. On February 24th, Operation Barracuda was launched. The Red Army adopted a broad-front strategy of supporting attacks along its flanks before moving on in order to preserve a continuous front line and to avoid the possibility of encirclement. While the Red Army now had the advantage, German armoured corps were still very dangerous.
The later stages of the battle of Opochka
After the Soviet army liberated Opochka, the Red army launched attacks on Nevel and Daugavpils. Breakthroughs along this line were complete and Russian forces pressed on the Dnieper, eventually liberating Polotsk and Vitbesk. Although most Generals in the Red Army agreed after the war that they missed a chance of pushing through to Prussia by halting at the Dnieper, Stalin could not be convinced otherwise: he was afraid that should he allow his forces to chase the Germans across the river, a situation similar to that of Red Thunder would occur, and he was not ready to face the prospect of having the war drag on indefinitely. Following the capture of Vitbesk , the Red Army launched an assault on Smolensk. The Third Battle of Smolensk was a long and messy affair, with the German Wehrmacht stubbornly resisting to the Soviet advance. After 2 weeks of intense street to street fighting, German forces were dislodged from the city and pushed back towards Mogilev and Orsha. Meanwhile, Soviet forces launched massive attacks all across the southern front. The main thrusts of the offensive took place around Rossosh and Orel. The advance however was slow and arduous.
The Red Army attacks on Zaporozhye, Sumy and Melitopol during Operation Barracuda
As the Red Army pushed across the entire front, the Germans put up a stubborn defence everywhere they could. By June, the Russians had successfully taken Belgorod and Kharkov. In July, the Red Army pressed the advance and reached the eastern-most bulge of the Dnieper and took Melitopol, encircling German troops in the Crimean Peninsula.
The encirclement of German divisions in the Crimean Peninsula
On August 24th 1943, Soviet forces marched into the city of Sevastopol after a long battle with occupying German forces. This left the 6 German divisions trapped in the Crimean Peninsula in and around Kerch. The Soviet Air force was ordered to bomb the defenders into submission. The Soviet Black Sea fleet also provided support by bombarding the city. The siege would last until January 1944 and would cost thousands of lives. The city would take years to recover. Meanwhile, Soviet forces were still fighting to settle the line along the river. By August 22nd, Russian forces reached Priluki and launched a massive assault on the town were so much had be lost back in 1941. Ironically, the commander in charge of the defence of Priluki was Field Marshal von Brauchitsch, the same man who was in charge of the attack on Priluki back in the original invasion.
The later stages of the Second Battle of Priluki
The battle would last many days, with the defenders eventually being pushed back from the city by September 20th after taking (and inflicting) heavy losses. In November, the Russians crushed the German salient around Gomel and expelled the defenders from the city and the nearby cities of Rogachev and Cherginov. In late 1943, after increasing demands from Stalin to open a second front in Europe, Churchill launched an invasion of Greece. The landings proved to be a success and by January 1944 most of Greece had been liberated, and the British army was poised to exploit this success. This greatly worried Stalin, who had wanted to control the Balkan states after the war. Nevertheless, a second front distracting the Axis from the Eastern Front was better than nothing.
The Eastern Front, January 1944
By January 1944, the Soviet army had accomplished all its objectives for Operation Barracuda. The operation also set-up the stage for the impending liberation of Poland...
-----------------------
There you go, update 5. Enjoy
Operation Barracuda
(February 1943 – February 1944)
After the Northern Offensive of 1942, the Soviet Union’s fortunes in the conflict with Germany had drastically improved: Finland was out of the war and the Red Army has won its most decisive victory against the Wehrmacht of the entire war at Narva, finally liberating Estonia after 2 years of German occupation. Furthermore, the victory at Narva had wiped out an important part of Army Group North’s effective strength. This defeat paralysed German forces everywhere, as the major defeat had rattled morale both at home and at the front. Now, Germany’s position was precarious. But even if they had suffered a major defeat, the Wehrmacht was far from defeated. Indeed, while the northern front was severely weakened, the rest of the front remained solid. In the west, the Germany’s position was much better, allowing the transfer of German divisions in France to fight on the eastern front. While Stalin had initially feared an Axis victory over Allied forces in Africa in 1941, Rommel, the Desert Fox, was pushed back at El Alamein in late 1941 and quickly driven back throughout 1942. By 1943, the entirety of Axis Africa was occupied by the British Army. Although Stalin consistently demanded the opening of a second front in Europe, his pleas fell on deaf ears: the Americans had deemed the war in Japan to be the most important and regarded Europe as a secondary theatre of operation. In 1943, with the stunning victory at Narva by the Red Army, Roosevelt decided to drastically reduce the amount of aid sent to the Soviet Union in favour of helping prop up the ailing British Empire, who by then was in a precarious position in India. Over the years 1941 and 1942, the Japanese Empire won decisive battles in China and the in the Pacific against the United States. These victories ensured total Japanese supremacy in mainland Asia. Finally, in March 1942, as Soviet forces were involved in Operation Red Thunder, China surrendered to the Japanese and accepted all their demands. Furthermore, they agreed to switch sides and fight alongside the Axis forces and declared war on Great Britain and the United States. After that, the UK faced a much broader front, and a more powerful enemy. Even though nominally a member of the Axis, the Chinese puppet government had a lot of trouble keeping order, and was busier policing its populace and preventing mutiny and were mostly disinterested in fighting what they saw as Japan’s war. However, by 1943 with Indochina and Malaya occupied by Japan and with Japanese forces pushing hard towards India. Finally, the advance was halted along a line in today’s Bangladesh. There the British would fight a long and arduous war of attrition in the jungle. Back in Russia, the STAVKA began planning its most ambitious plan yet: Operation Barracuda. The objective was the following: to push the German Wehrmacht as far back as possible, with the final objective being the settle the frontline along the Dnieper by the end of the year. The offensive was to begin in the north, in order to press the advantage they now had. Once the advance would be going well, the rest of the troops would attack all across the front hopefully catching the Germans by surprise and preventing them from resisting everywhere, as it was now clear that the Wehrmacht didn’t have the strength left to defend against a concerted offensive across the entire front. On February 11th 1943, the Red Army capitalized on a relocation of German forces in order to capture Riga. The Germans tried to retake the city, but quickly renounced to the attempt. On February 24th, Operation Barracuda was launched. The Red Army adopted a broad-front strategy of supporting attacks along its flanks before moving on in order to preserve a continuous front line and to avoid the possibility of encirclement. While the Red Army now had the advantage, German armoured corps were still very dangerous.
The later stages of the battle of Opochka
After the Soviet army liberated Opochka, the Red army launched attacks on Nevel and Daugavpils. Breakthroughs along this line were complete and Russian forces pressed on the Dnieper, eventually liberating Polotsk and Vitbesk. Although most Generals in the Red Army agreed after the war that they missed a chance of pushing through to Prussia by halting at the Dnieper, Stalin could not be convinced otherwise: he was afraid that should he allow his forces to chase the Germans across the river, a situation similar to that of Red Thunder would occur, and he was not ready to face the prospect of having the war drag on indefinitely. Following the capture of Vitbesk , the Red Army launched an assault on Smolensk. The Third Battle of Smolensk was a long and messy affair, with the German Wehrmacht stubbornly resisting to the Soviet advance. After 2 weeks of intense street to street fighting, German forces were dislodged from the city and pushed back towards Mogilev and Orsha. Meanwhile, Soviet forces launched massive attacks all across the southern front. The main thrusts of the offensive took place around Rossosh and Orel. The advance however was slow and arduous.
The Red Army attacks on Zaporozhye, Sumy and Melitopol during Operation Barracuda
As the Red Army pushed across the entire front, the Germans put up a stubborn defence everywhere they could. By June, the Russians had successfully taken Belgorod and Kharkov. In July, the Red Army pressed the advance and reached the eastern-most bulge of the Dnieper and took Melitopol, encircling German troops in the Crimean Peninsula.
The encirclement of German divisions in the Crimean Peninsula
On August 24th 1943, Soviet forces marched into the city of Sevastopol after a long battle with occupying German forces. This left the 6 German divisions trapped in the Crimean Peninsula in and around Kerch. The Soviet Air force was ordered to bomb the defenders into submission. The Soviet Black Sea fleet also provided support by bombarding the city. The siege would last until January 1944 and would cost thousands of lives. The city would take years to recover. Meanwhile, Soviet forces were still fighting to settle the line along the river. By August 22nd, Russian forces reached Priluki and launched a massive assault on the town were so much had be lost back in 1941. Ironically, the commander in charge of the defence of Priluki was Field Marshal von Brauchitsch, the same man who was in charge of the attack on Priluki back in the original invasion.
The later stages of the Second Battle of Priluki
The battle would last many days, with the defenders eventually being pushed back from the city by September 20th after taking (and inflicting) heavy losses. In November, the Russians crushed the German salient around Gomel and expelled the defenders from the city and the nearby cities of Rogachev and Cherginov. In late 1943, after increasing demands from Stalin to open a second front in Europe, Churchill launched an invasion of Greece. The landings proved to be a success and by January 1944 most of Greece had been liberated, and the British army was poised to exploit this success. This greatly worried Stalin, who had wanted to control the Balkan states after the war. Nevertheless, a second front distracting the Axis from the Eastern Front was better than nothing.
The Eastern Front, January 1944
By January 1944, the Soviet army had accomplished all its objectives for Operation Barracuda. The operation also set-up the stage for the impending liberation of Poland...
-----------------------
There you go, update 5. Enjoy
Last edited:
Great update as usual.
Too bad that the Americans can't help you but the British are doing quite a good job.
I hope that you'll continue this AAR after the German defeat. I want to see the war against Japan and China.
Too bad that the Americans can't help you but the British are doing quite a good job.
I hope that you'll continue this AAR after the German defeat. I want to see the war against Japan and China.
help? what help? those imperialists think they can go through yugoslavia and get a bigger chunk of europe!
A good update! I'm glad to see your offensive achieved all of it's objectives.
I'm wondering if the next operation should be a quick push through Romania, and into Bulgaria to cut off the British advance.
I'm wondering if the next operation should be a quick push through Romania, and into Bulgaria to cut off the British advance.
We will see: I'd love to keep going, but lag might become a problem later on so only time will tell
help? what help? those imperialists think they can go through yugoslavia and get a bigger chunk of europe!
Evil imperialists
! But yeah, the invasion will make for an interesting cold war
