September 1940 - May 1941
General Events
The Allied forces successfully continued their offensives in Africa. By the end of January 1941 they have defeated Ethiopia and gained complete control over the Horn of Africa. They had also gained complete superiority on the Libyan front; after the Italians lost Tobruk and Benghasi, it was just the matter of time till they would reach Tripoli.
Situation on the Eastern Mediterranean Theatre, May 1941
The Axis somewhat compensated for these setbacks by conquering Yugoslavia, most of its territory divided between Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. This has led the United States to declare a national emergency - clearly a sign that they were waking up from the isolationist policy of the last 20 years.
Partition of Yugoslavia at the hands of Axis.
Armed Forces
As much as the Soviet people would like to live in peace, everyone realized that the world was growing closer to a global war. After Germany crushed the Allies on European mainland, they were free to wage war for Lebensraum in the east against us. And while the nonaggression pact between us and Germany was still in effect, our western borders had to be strengthened just in case - after all, a nonaggression pact and 600 army brigades are way safer than a nonaggression pact and 500 army brigades
Because of that, during this timespan our mighty industry was almost completely dedicated to military buildup. We have deployed 15 infantry divisions, 18 artillery brigades, 36 anti-tank artillery brigades, 12 anti-air artillery brigades, 1 cavalry division and 3 tank divisions. The forces of our western military districts have completely finished transition to the new organizational structure. Now each army corps consisted of 4 infantry divisions, with at least one of them strengthened by an ART/AT/AA brigade. The armored and motorized divisions were also consolidated according to the plans devised by marshal Shaposhnikov; there were either mechanized corps with 1 tank and 2 motorized divisions or tank corps with 2 tank and 1 motorized divisions.
The entire Red Army, Soviet Navy and VVS were assigned to 4 Groups of Forces (in western military terminology they would be called Theatres): Severozapadnaya Gruppa Voisk, Yugozapadnaya Gruppa Voisk, Sredneaziatskaya Gruppa Voisk and Dalnevostochnaya Gruppa Voisk. Each one of them was comprised of at least one military district, fleets (when appropriate) and air corps.
Northwestern Group of Forces, comprising of Minsk, Riga, Leningrad, Arkhangelsk and Smolensk military districts, was commanded by Marshal Shaposhinkov and covered our borders with Finland and Germany. Arkhangelsk Military District consisted of 14th Army (4 infantry divisions) and was responsible for defense of the Kola Peninsula. The forces of Leningrad Military District, made up of 7th Army (4 infantry divisions) and 23rd Army (8 infantry divisions, 2 motorized divisions, 1 tank division), were deployed alongside the line from Vyborg to Kuolismaa, protecting Leningrad and Petrozavodsk. Riga Military District forces protected the recently created Baltic Socialistic Republics; 8th Army (12 infantry divisions) and 11th Army (8 infantry divisions, 2 motorized divisions, 1 tank division) stood up in 2 echelons on the Palanga-Kaunas line. Minsk Military District was the strongest one in all the Northern Group of Forces. It consisted of 3rd Army (12 infantry divisions, 2 motorized divisions, 1 tank division), 4th Army (12 infantry divisions, 2 motorized divisions, 1 tank division) and 10th Army (12 infantry divisions), that covered the border between Byelorussian SSR and Germany. Smolensk Military District was the reserve of the Northern Group of Forces and was tasked with training new troops.
Our Northern and Baltic fleets also belonged to the Northwestern Group of Forces. Northern Fleet consisted of 3 recently built Series XIV submarine flotillas, that should disrupt the enemy shipping in the Atlantic and Northern Sea in case of war. Our submarines in the Baltic were more numerous (9 flotillas) but of much older Series II design. These submarines have already proven themselves quite well during the Finnish Winter War, and were expected to inflict significant losses to the enemy shipping in the Baltic Sea. The surface vessel under the Baltic Fleet disposal were 2 aged battleships, Marat and Oktyabrskaya Revolyuciya, coupled with 2 destroyer squadrons of post World War design. They were sufficient for little else than coastal defense. It should also be noted that our only transport flotilla was recently transferred from the Far Eastern Fleet to the Baltic Fleet;
The VVS forces of the Northwestern Group of Forces amounted to 10 fighter divisions, 24 tactical bomber divisions and 2 CAS divisions, basing on the airfields of the Riga and Minsk Military Districts.
OOB of Minsk and Riga and Leningrad Military Districts
Southwestern Group of Forces was assigned with defending our borders with Germany, Hungary, Romania, Turkey and Persia. It consisted of Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov, North Caucasus and Transcaucasus military districts under the overall command of Marshal Timoshenko. Kiev Military District had under its disposal 12th Army (12 infantry divisions, 1 motorized division, 2 tank divisions), 6th Army (12 infantry divisions, 2 motorized divisions, 1 tank division) and 5th Army (10 infantry divisions, 2 mountaineer divisions, 1 motorized divisions, 1 tank division); these troops protected the western border of the Ukrainian SSR. Odessa Military District was made up of 9th Army (11 infantry divisions, 1 mountaineer division, 1 motorized division, 1 tank division) and 13th Army (12 infantry divisions) that were deployed in Bessarabia. North Caucasus Military District, consisting of 2 infantry divisions and 3 mountaineer divisions stood on the border with Turkey. Transcaucasus Military District forces consisted of 2 mountaineer divisions and 3 cavalry divisions, that were deployed on the border with Persia.
The Black Sea Fleet was almost in the same state as the Baltic Fleet: it consisted of battleship Parizhskaya Kommuna, 1 heavy cruiser, 3 light cruisers and 1 destroyer squadron, with each of them dating back to the 1914-1918 Imperialist War. However, it was easily the most dominant naval force in the Black Sea. The only threat to it could be Regia Marina and Royal Navy, in case Turkey would align either with Axis or with Allies.
Southwestern Group of Forces had also under its disposal 9 fighter and 4 tactical bomber divisions, basing in Ukraine.
OOB of Kiev and Odessa Military Districts
Far Eastern Group of Forces was less numerous than the previous two, having in total 17 infantry, 3 motorized and 1 mountaineer divisions. However, their quality well made up for the lack of quantity - all these divisions were completely manned and equipped, and were among the most experienced in the entire Red Army. It also had under its disposal the Far Eastern fleet with 3 Series V-bis submarine flotillas and 2 fighter divisions.
Middle Asian Group of Forces was the weakest of all. It had under its disposal only 2 mountaineer and 3 cavalry divisions; although for the time being neither Perisa, nor Afghanistan or Sinkiang presented any threat in that region.
Our military design bureaus kept up the good work; in November a team from the Kharkov Comintern Locomotive Plant led by led by Mikhail Koshkin developed the A-32 medium tank prototype, that would later become the T-34 medium tank. This machine had 40 mm sloped hull armor, was armed with a 76.2 mm high-velocity gun and possessed an excellent balance of firepower, mobility, protection and ruggedness. Unfortunately comrade Koshkin contracted pneumonia on a tank's test-drives. He was posthumously awarded the USSR State Prize for his efforts and dedication.
Mikhail Ilych Koshkin, chief designer of the T-34 tank
Another important development was that of self-propelled rocket artillery, designed by a group of RNII (Reactive Science Research Institue) engineers. Essentially, it was a multiple rocket launching system mounted on a truck. While these weapon systems were more fragile and less accurate than conventional artillery, they had a tremendous firepower and were much cheaper. After thorough examination of the test examples, several brigades were ordered into production to augment the motorized divisions.
The only fly in the ointment was the noticeable lack of officers - our officer schools could not keep up with the growth of the armed forces. By February 1941, we had only 63677 officers, while there were needed 75050 to properly cover all our forces. To rectify this situation, by the spring of 1941 some research projects were cut back, and the funding was allocated to create new schools with a shortened education course.
We have also started a road construction program in Western Russia, aimed to improve our troops and supplies transportation. In April 1941 first phase of this program was complete.
Infrastructure network in the western part of the Soviet Union, recently built roads are marked in red