Ostfront 1941

[KLorberau]

This is a great AAR!! And what a see-saw battle back and forth......like two boxers slugging it out in the ring..........who will have the stamina to take the field???

I eagerly await the outcome.

KLorberau

 

[XHR]

This is a great AAR!! And what a see-saw battle back and forth......like two boxers slugging it out in the ring..........who will have the stamina to take the field???

I eagerly await the outcome.

KLorberau

The Germans are tumbling but still able to strike. I am not sure where I will be once the autumn rain starts...
Glad you liked it so far!

 

[XHR]

Back and forth (July 22nd, 1941)

General Barckhausen was the man, who took Kaunas in a surprise coup at 0400 hours the 22nd of July. Or so he thought as his III. Armeekorps moved into the deserted town. All was quiet, with a white peace of cloth hanging out of every third window. The men of the east-prussian 206. Infantriedivision were the first to enter the town, among them the pioneers of the Pioneer Batallion 206. carefully they looked for mines and traps – but none could be found. A deadly silence hung about and the soldiers fell quiet on their march. It was the quiet before the storm and everybody felt it. As fast as possible the HQ was established in a barn just outside Kaunas and the General moved in. Just when everything was setup hell broke loose as the Baltic Front launched an immediate counterattack towards the town.
Fieldmarshal Budenij had ordered a tank corps to break the defence lines of the Germans west of Kaunas while eight infantry divisions assaulted the city. The tank corps encountered resistance of the ill-prepared Regiment 503 which had been tasked to protect the connection towards the 1. Armee. The village of Sakiai was taken by the Russian tanks at 1000 hours and being the only strongpoint east of Kaunas the division commander of the 290. ID, Generalleutnant Theodor Freiherr von Wrede ordered the IR 503 to counterattack. Lacking the heavy weapons to defeat the tanks, however, the IR 503 was unable to comply and the attack got stuck while pinned down by enemy tank fire. In the meantime, the 7. Fliegerdivision and the remaining regiments of the 290. ID, along with the 206. ID fought against overwhelming odds in the streets of Kaunas. Bodies of the Russians lying around everywhere as mass attack after mass attack was launched against the defenders. When an enemy platoon that had broken the lines stormed the barn General Barckhausen's HQ was in disaster struck: totally surprised nearly half of the staff personal was killed before the Germans were even able to fire a single shot. The General jumped out of a window and cut himself badly, but was able to hide behind a stack of wood.

A MG in position outside Kaunas

As men of the nearby Artillerie-Regiment 290 of the 290. ID counterattacked the Russians retreated and the General was saved. Fighting a lost cause he gave the retreat order of his III. Armeekorps in the late afternoon and Fieldmarshal Budenij did not send his tanks in pursuit. It seemed he was content to have taken Kaunas back.

 

[unmerged(87183)]

Budennij seems to have learned a little about tanks this time. He probably wishes he had his cavalry back.

 

[Enewald]

The whole III Armeekorps on retreat?
Easy to imagine happening in HoI2, but somehow I'm nowadays thinking of the set-up in HoI3...
That would be like several entire divisions escaping from such a small area.

Have the Gods of War forsaken the German Heer?

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

Admiral Ackbar would have seen the trap, no doubt.

 

[XHR]

Maj. von Mauser: I think so, too. More and more the Soviets learn about modern, tank-based warfare

Enewald: The whole III. AK, indeed. Seems like I brought my point over - I also think this is quite a set back The struggle of the overextended Wehrmacht becomes a desperate one as all attacks have ground to a dangerous halt. Well... nearly all offensives

Kurt_Steiner: "It's a trap!" Well, the Germans could have use for such a leader

 

[XHR]

The second defeat of the 4. Panzergruppe

Kaunas was not the only disaster in the north. It was merely a distraction for the real move, the assault on Grodno, to relieve the still holding defenders of the town and to break open a path for the retreating forces from Sulwaki.
General Garmanik was tasked to crack the lines of the 4. Panzergruppe and to reach Grodno. His three-angled attack that started in the early morning hours of the 22nd hit the Germans like a hammer with over 16 divisions including three tank corps. While the 6. Panzerdivision north of Grodno tried to block the path against the advancing T-34 tanks of the 4. Tank Division it got mauled badly and tried to retreat west where the 58. ID (mot) was holding it's own against overwhelming odds of five infantry divisions ceaselessly attacking their lines. It was able to hold out long enough for the men of the 6. Panzerdivision to pass through. The 3. Waffen-SS Division was not so lucky. When their commander Obergruppenführer Eicke realized the situation he ordered his division back towards the only remaining bridge across the Memel river, north of Grodno. It was reached just in time to pass over it and blow it up when on the east side of the river the spearhead of General Malinins tanks showed up. Too late!

In the south, the 8. Panzerdivison was not that lucky. A fast and powerful thrust of the 48th and 51st Tank Division blocked the path to the west. The 8. Panzer did not give up though. It fought it's way through the light Russian tanks and reached the lines of the 3. ID (mot) at 1400 hours. The division only had 35 tanks left after their breakthrough and had suffered over twenty percent casualties.
At 1600 hours the first tanks of General Garmanik reached the outskirts of Grodno and were greeted marrily by their comrades.
The 4. Panzergruppe was in full retreat towards Alytus. Again.

 

[XHR]

A request from the author:
It is tough. I keep losing along the front and the future battle will probably not look any better although I will of course keep it up and do my best.
The question is - are you interested in reading a nerve-wrecking, tedious story of battles of retreats? Can I improve my aar for your liking a little? Do you like it the way it progresses? Please tell me your opinion! I am thankful for any advice since I am fully aware I am writing this for you!

 

[Enewald]

Hmm, Stalin seems to be too capable to hold the front-line and order the Red Army to fight back... Well in real life we can thank him for drinking a lot during the first weeks.

 

[Kurt_Steiner]

I have no idea how to improve the AAR -apart from winning

Anyway, the AAR is going on quite well, so, I don't know whow to improve it, or if it needs it at all.

 

[unmerged(51002)]

I would suggest you not give up an inch of ground and launch attack after attack, despite the odds.

Oh, and focus your research on rockets and complicated tanks.

Speaking of tanks, make sure you have as many panzer divisions as you can, even if it means reducing their actual strength far below their establishment strength.

FOR GLORY

 

[unmerged(87183)]

Good luck.

 

[Myth]

After such success, Phoenix is beginning to descend into disaster! This is not good. Don't give up though!

 

[unmerged(102913)]

The story is well narated and i believe the game is also well played. You post a lot of details, maps etc. which i personally like very much.

I really enjoy reading your AAR, don't be dissapointed if you don't manage to conquer the USSR by the start of winter, you can reach a defensible position and let the russians attack you.

It actually makes for a better reading if it's a real strugle rather than trushing the AI.

What i also believe is that time is in favor of the Germans due to their significantly better tech teams. So the starting advantage of the russians in infantry will start to become less and less important in the 2nd year of war. Provided you have the raw materials (rares really...) to continue the fight.

All in all i find this aar to be among the best i've read.
Keep up the good work!

 

[XHR]

Thank you very much for your feedback

To summarize, you want me to continue despite the odds - so I will do it! FOR THE GLORY, as Alexus said
I do have two really cool ideas in mind concerning the future of this aar but at the current speed it will take me ages to get there which is one of the reasons I will include a greater timespan in my updates (3 days to about a week, actually). That still makes at least 20-40 more updates in 1941 alone you can look forward to!
And who knows? If the Soviets steamroll my Wehrmacht, maybe it will not take that long but instead be more epic

I shall carry on, then! Expect an update tonight!

 

[unmerged(102913)]

Yes, of course continue!

Looking forward to reading the next update. Another thing to remember, a human player will eventually outplay the AI, so if this is your hardest times, the situation can only improve!

 

[unmerged(87183)]

I think it is time to pull the tricks out of your sleeve.

Stalin is ordering them ahead at all costs, caution to the wind.

Let them feel they won a battle, but really you have a defense in depth, and can then encircle and destroy their advancing force. A successful Barbarossa aleays needs some encirclments to win. Just because you can't advance around their forces, dosen't mean they can't advance into yours.

 

[XHR]

Kamlah: My hopes, exactly. My superiour intelligence will err... will... make losing easier

Maj. von Mauser: Well, yeah - but please do not forget I am following the orders of Hitler - the Führer will not retreat. Period. I have discussed that matter in the Wolfsschanze face to face but in the end I received a lengthy lesson about warfare and the lessons learned "in World War One." It was terrible, I tell you

 

[XHR]

The last breath of a dying Phoenix

Odessa!
That shining jewel on the coast of the Black Sea, the big port, the railroad junction. The city that thousands of German soldiers had been tasked taking.
The name being cursed and spit out by the soldiers of the 1. and 2. Panzergruppe swallowing dust as the panzers rolled over any resistance or simply bypassed it to leave it to the infantry.
Odessa! Vorwärts, Kameraden!
In the early morning hours of the 24th of July the failure to take the town became apparent. The panzers had gotten stuck in the deep defence that over 30 Russian divisions had set up in and around the town. Fieldmarshal of the Red Army Kulik had been given the task to defend the escape hole for the South-Ukrainian front. Since Werther had provided STAVKA with sufficient information about the ultimate goals of Operation Phoenix, the Marshal has had enough time – 9 full days to gather and organize his forces, to restructure and dig in, to reinforce and to entrench. General Rommel later wrote in his memoirs: “We had, up to that date, never met an enemy that well prepared for a defence against our panzers.”

The armored forces got stuck in the mud in Balta

A few days back everything had looked promising: the attack of the two Panzergroups was swift, the armored fist of the Wehrmacht on the southern wing of the Heeresgruppe Süd had struck with precision. FM von Witzleben had won a 7 hour battle with an encirclement and capture of nearly 6000 Russians in Balta, chasing General Popovs defenders southward. Guderians 10. Panzerkorps hat taken the city nearly unscratched that day, earning himself an Iron Cross. The afternoon of the 23rd it looked, as if nothing could stop the spearheads of the two Panzergroups.
The weather could, however.
It started pouring during the afternoon and conitnued into the night. Quickly the ground became a trap for the tanks and all Korps were immobilized or merely crawling forward, pulling tanks out of knee-deep mire. To the south, the whole Ukraininan Front, mostly infantry, used the weather to escape through Odessa to the east or joining in the defence. When the rain stopped and the attack of the panzers continued, there was no opening in the frontline before them that could be exploited. The trumps of the Wehrmacht had failed.