The Great Patriotic War

[loki100]

Interestingly, Semper Fi added the ability to use both land and sea supply, and I've noticed the AI using it entirely on its own initiative (in the Baltic and elsewhere) when I set supply convoys to automatic. So the German AI is probably doing the same thing - after all, why not do it for its own account when it does it for the human too .

Ah that explains it. Thats probably a good sign, so with HOI my instinct is they've introduced the capacity for the AI to do something like this in one patch and then it appears in a much more refined form in the next patch. It'll be a good way to correct some of the existing frustrations with the supply model.

 

[loki100]

"This is the Hour of Lead" – The Upper Volga, October-November 1941

Even as the Germans occupied Vologda and pushed onto Archangelsk their main effort was a renewed thrust at Moscow. By late September, they had taken Rybinsk and even had forces to the east of the Volga. However, they needed to take the twin cities of Jaroslavl and Kalinin to secure control of the Upper Volga. Jaroslavl would allow them to interdict the Trans-Siberian railway and Kalinin was the last obstacle to a direct assault on Moscow.



Yaroslavl

At Jaroslavl, the initial German drive at the end of September had been stalled by airdropping the 2 Paratroop divisions from the STAVKA reserve. These held the approaches to Yaroslavl for long enough for elements of 1 Army to move from reserve. As in the Arctic, Soviet resistance stiffened just as the German assault weakened due to poor weather



and constant attacks on their supply lines. This intervention was sufficient to hold up the Germans at Uglic with this small town only falling on 7 October.



By the time the town fell, Soviet ground troops had already commenced a counterattack. The town was retaken after a brutal 12 day battle on 18 October



and then the Germans were pushed back into Rybinsk in further heavy fighting on the west side of the Volga from 19 October to 5 November.



Even before the German offensive on the west bank of the Volga was halted, 1 Army set about eliminating their bridgehead across the Volga at Posehone, with 10 Panzer finally being driven back on 5 October.



With the east bank back firmly in Soviet hands, the risk that the Germans could link up with their colleagues pushing south of Vologda was lessened. However, the situation remained critical and the next stage, if at all possible was to regain Rybinsk. The threat was clear when the Germans made a determined attempt to retake Posehone from 17 to 21 October, spearheaded by 10 and 17 Panzer divisions.

By the end of October, the German offensives in this sector were over, but as long as Rybinsk was held, there was a danger they could again push either south or east. 1 Army made two, near continous, attempts to take the town from from 28 October to 15 November, with the Soviets being beaten off losing almost 3,700 for just 1,100 dead.



1 Army had had to divert some of its forces to seal off the German breakthrough at Vologda and what was left was insufficient to dislodge the well organised German defenses.



Kalinin

Following the September battles, Kalinin stood out in a salient into the German lines. Thus as with 1 Army, 8 Army initially sought to halt any further breakthroughs and then to eliminate the most dangerous of these salients. First Kazin, to the east of the city was regained on 7 October and then this was used as a springboard to regain Sonkovo on 21 October, an offensive conducted by 14 Mechanised Corps.



Briefly Soviet tanks reached the Rybinsk reservoir on 2 November, pocketing the German units at Rybinsk. However, a the T-60s of 14 Mechanised Corps were no match for an assault by 10 Panzer moving down from Cherepovets and German communications were quickly restored.


T-60s of 18 Mech pushing towards Rybinsk

However, combined with the victories around Jaroslavl the gains had the effect of placing the German forces at Rybinsk potentially either in a pocket or as a spearhead, depending on which army had strategic mastery. It also hinted at the possibilities that might be opened up if a more sustained attack was made in this direction.

Although the Luftwaffe was still contesting the skies, the VVS had sufficient fighters to repel most of their attempts to bomb or intercept and Sturmoviks flying from the airfields at Moscow added to the pressure on the Germans.



Mednoye, to the west of Kalinin was retaken on 27 October,



and combined with the fall of Rameski on the same day this seemed to secure the Kalinin sector.


(SU-76s moving forward at Kalinin)

However, the Germans had much more operational flexibility here (and also greater freedom in the choice of supply route) than they had at Rybinsk. The allocation of fresh troops meant they retook Mednoye in more brutal fighting from 3 to 19 November.



The Germans followed up this victory by recapturing Rameski on the 22nd.

Thus for a cost of 20,766 Soviet and 18,416 Axis dead, the front lines were mostly unmoved from the end of September to the start of December. The only signficant gain was 8 Army held on to its gains to the east of Kalinin. Critically this put their front line less than 25km from the Rybinsk reservoir, was a sector of the front that was lightly held and there were no major river obstacles to a drive to the north.

Implications

If this potential was to be exploited though, both 8 and 1 Army needed significant reinforcements. The current forces were inadequate to both take and hold any significant gains. However, STAVKA could take one important lesson especially from the Kalinin operations. For the first time since early July, Soviet armour (in this case the 2nd Tank Corps) had been used on the offensive and grouped together.


(Zis-30s from 2nd Tank Corps, gave the Soviet armour greater offensive punch)

If 8 Army had lacked the force to hold the ground it briefly took, it certainly had a tool capable of driving the Axis forces back.

 

[Enewald]

Hmm, the war shall be decided north of Moscow.
Makes no sense, the industry lies elsewhere.
There is tundra there, no stuff worth conquering.
Brilliant of the AI.

 

[Darth Moose]

There is tundra there, no stuff worth conquering.

Not at all. Reliable intelligence sources indicate that Santa Claus lives in the North Pole. The German AI (a.k.a. Hitler) clearly knows that it will get coals for Christmas this year, and is attempting a pre-emptive strike on the Jolly Old Man.

The war with the USSR is incidental. If Stalin had given military access to the Germans, this war would not have been fought.

 

[Enewald]

Not at all. Reliable intelligence sources indicate that Santa Claus lives in the North Pole. The German AI (a.k.a. Hitler) clearly knows that it will get coals for Christmas this year, and is attempting a pre-emptive strike on the Jolly Old Man.

The war with the USSR is incidental. If Stalin had given military access to the Germans, this war would not have been fought.

Oh, ours lives at Korvatunturi.
Too bad the Soviets came 1944 and killed him and his entourage. That is why the new ones all use red clothes.

 

[Stuyvesant]

I like the screenshot from the battle of Sonkovo, it has a real 'everything, including the kitchen sink' vibe to it: I see light armor, medium armor AND heavy armor!

Is it just my failing memory, or are you starting to employ more (and more successful) counteroffensives? It seems that you are succeeding more often in retaking provinces, even if it only lasts for a few days. You are starting to get a handle on the Germans (or so it seems - for the moment at least. Don't know the circumstances surrounding the four-month bloodletting you mentioned yet).

 

[Surt]

Oh, ours lives at Korvatunturi.
Too bad the Soviets came 1944 and killed him and his entourage. That is why the new ones all use red clothes.

In the rest of the world Santa lives up north, in Soviet Russia the state makes you live up north!!!

 

[Jape]

Dear comrade, I kindly ask you to continue handing Hitler's ass to him. Kind regards, Jape.

 

[unmerged(150041)]

Dear comrade, I kindly ask you to continue handing Hitler's ass to him. Kind regards, Jape.

From Vladivostok to Leningrad
We're running all the IC we have
And every time a wheel goes round
It carries Mr. Hitler to the buryin' ground.

 

[Deus Eversor]

since germans are so far in the east in the north i think you should push for the baltics

 

[loki100]

Not at all. Reliable intelligence sources indicate that Santa Claus lives in the North Pole. The German AI (a.k.a. Hitler) clearly knows that it will get coals for Christmas this year, and is attempting a pre-emptive strike on the Jolly Old Man.

The war with the USSR is incidental. If Stalin had given military access to the Germans, this war would not have been fought.

Oh, ours lives at Korvatunturi.
Too bad the Soviets came 1944 and killed him and his entourage. That is why the new ones all use red clothes.

In the rest of the world Santa lives up north, in Soviet Russia the state makes you live up north!!!

Pah, as everyone knows scientific marxism-leninism has proved that the so called 'father christmas' was but a bourgeois reactionary ... until the transition to full communism the appropriate socialist icon is of course grandfather frost

I like the screenshot from the battle of Sonkovo, it has a real 'everything, including the kitchen sink' vibe to it: I see light armor, medium armor AND heavy armor!

I'd missed that, but yes I seem to have included every type of armour I had available, no wonder the Germans gave up ... & don't forget I hit them with Sturmoviks as well

Is it just my failing memory, or are you starting to employ more (and more successful) counteroffensives? It seems that you are succeeding more often in retaking provinces, even if it only lasts for a few days. You are starting to get a handle on the Germans (or so it seems - for the moment at least. Don't know the circumstances surrounding the four-month bloodletting you mentioned yet).

since germans are so far in the east in the north i think you should push for the baltics

The answer to the 2 points is related. In effect there is roughly even parity so I can only get the weight to attack by stripping other sectors, and hitting either axis-allied formations or if they are in supply problems. So what is starting to happen is I hit them, drive them back, they react and I lose most of my gains. What I can't do is to risk a deep exploitation or I'll get cut off, so its all very much back and forth. I daren't reach for the Baltics till I have greater control over the North West.

From Vladivostok to Leningrad
We're running all the IC we have
And every time a wheel goes round
It carries Mr. Hitler to the buryin' ground.

Dear comrade, I kindly ask you to continue handing Hitler's ass to him. Kind regards, Jape.

I'm trying really ... what I need to do is to start generating pockets, that'll in turn even up the odds even more, so more pockets etc ... the real challenge is getting and closing the first ones.

Hmm, the war shall be decided north of Moscow.
Makes no sense, the industry lies elsewhere.
There is tundra there, no stuff worth conquering.
Brilliant of the AI.

agree. It seems supremely disinterested in the Ukraine where it could easily take Kharkov and Kursk and a load of IC and leadership - much too keen when its on the offensive with gaps rather than picking targets.

 

[loki100]

"Twas Like a Maelstrom" Fokino 10-24 December

Prior to the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army had seen the defense as a temporary transition, either to absorb an enemy offensive (before launching a counterattack) or when their own offensive had reached its limits. At no level, strategically, operationally or tactically, had the RKKA prepared for 5 months on the strategic defense, punctuated by the short operational counterblows.

To this was added a serious lack of anti-tank equipment and training. The Soviets had not expected the Germans to deploy so much armour and had particular problems in dealing with the Heavy Tiger Tanks. Some local solutions had been found such as using KV1s or SU-76s to deliver well prepared ambushes but there was a critical need to improve the capacity of the rifle divisions to defeat the Panzers.

Some of the solution came from improvements in weaponry both at the divisional and army level. Thus the rifle divisions were given better AT rifles



and their AT guns were upgraded to 45mm.



The army AT brigades were re-equiped with 85mm guns, soon to be adopted by Soviet armoured formations.



However, new equipment badly employed was no advantage and equally STAVKA looked for any evidence of tactical innovation.



In this the Fokino engagements in December were critical to the growing Soviet mastery of the defense when faced by armour.



The battle itself was strategically important as it deflected the German attempt to regain Bryansk and allowed 10A and 3A to release some formations to assist in the main Winter Offensive.

The Soviet defense, which included a DNO division, was centred on the small town of Zhukovka on the Desna river. Key was to deny the Germans control of the main Roslavl-Bryansk highway, which as the weather deteriotated, was key to the efficient movement of troops and supplies.



In keeping with Soviet operational doctrine, the DNO formation was placed away from the main combat focus, in this case behind the unbridged Desna. However, the result was to leave 2 rifle divisions to face initially 16 Panzer and 78 Infantry on their own. This situation worsened with the addition of 5 SS Panzer. Fortunately this formation was attacking from the south, across minor roads, small streams and broken ground.

The DNO formation lacked the heavy weapons to seriously engage the flank of 16 Panzer. However, with the broken terrain along the partially frozen Desna, it was able to push formations into the German rear while 16 Panzer was unable to find a suitable crossing point for its tanks and trucks. In effect 2 DNO fought almost as a partisan formation and almost every night German supply convoys were ambushed or outlying positions overrun. The militia then falling back to the relative safety of the east bank of the Desna.

8 Minskoya had to bear the brunt of the defence. Of particular interest to STAVKA was the action at Novaya-Burda from 12-17 December.


(Soviet AT section Novaya-Burda)

Elements of the division, with additional anti guns, dug into the wooded terrain between the river and the main road. There in a sequence of ambushes, something like 30-40 German tanks were destroyed. Finally the Germans drew elements from 78 Infantry and attacked in force, faced with an overwhelming assault, in the tradition of the Russian artillery, the last man of each crew destroyed their guns. The few survivors slipped across the Desna and joined up with 2 DNO. Although the rest of the division was then pushed into a small pocket backed up against the Desna, 17 Panzer was effectively a spent force.



(Damaged armour from 17 Panzer being sent back for repairs, unfortunately the Germans were able to evacuate most of their damaged tanks)


(not all were so lucky though)

However by 20 December, 5 SS Panzer was pushing across the broken ground to the south-west. Here it crashed into the positions held by 177 Rifle, in particular the high ground around the defiles at Novoselki. Again, well dug in AT sections held up the Germans at key points


(AT section of 177 Rifle)

and this time riflemen equipped with Molotov cocktails were able to close up the Pz-IVs of the German spearheads. The battle raged for 4 days, until 10 Army released 8 Mechanized Division. Even though it only had 1 brigade of T-60s, the arrival of fresh Soviet forces was enough to stop the final German attacks. Equally, 10 Army had launched a new attack to the south of the battlefield, threatening the communications of 5 SS Panzer.



The significance to STAVKA was that this was the first time Soviet rifle formations operating largely without armour or tank destroyers had stopped German panzers. Key was not just the skilled deployment of the AT sections but close co-operation with the rest of the infantry.

 

[Enewald]

Nice Christmas day.
And Moscow is safe!

 

[unmerged(150041)]

Nice update. The typewritten orders are so blurry as to be illegible, however.

 

[Darth Moose]

The orders read fine if I click on "view image", just a scaling issue when embedded in the page.

AT doing well - good to hear. I guess you don't need AA guns, as you have control of the air.

 

[Stuyvesant]

Pah, as everyone knows scientific marxism-leninism has proved that the so called 'father christmas' was but a bourgeois reactionary ... until the transition to full communism the appropriate socialist icon is of course grandfather frost.

He comes bearing gifts every year around the winter solstice: frozen stiff Nazi corpses? Must say I prefer the non-scientific bourgeois reactionary one, myself.

That was some battle near Zhukovka (of course, with a name like that, I doubt that your Commander in Chief of Forces on West Front would've allowed it to fall anyhow). If even your militia can stand up against SS Panzer divisions, the Germans are in deeper trouble than I expected. The Germans are a mere shell of their former selves, if they can't even succeed when they're attacking A) across a river, B) in the midst of winter, C) while out of supply, D) undoubtedly being hammered by Soviet airpower against a simple militia division.

 

[unmerged(219522)]

Well yesterday I took my first venture into the AAR section and found this...A few hours later and I had finished reading this, and it's brilliant - Looking forward to reading more

 

[unmerged(34917)]

The Soviets are doing a fine job keeping the Germans at bay. I really like the orders. Keep it up!

 

[loki100]

Nice Christmas day.
And Moscow is safe!

for the moment, I've held them, I now need to damage them ...

Nice update. The typewritten orders are so blurry as to be illegible, however.

The orders read fine if I click on "view image", just a scaling issue when embedded in the page.

The Soviets are doing a fine job keeping the Germans at bay. I really like the orders. Keep it up!

I'll see if I can fiddle with the resolution but its a bit tricky as I had to extract them by screenshot in the first instance (they aren't pdf or graphic images). I'm afraid thats all that exists in English & given Paradox's rules on language I'm a bit loath to post up a page in Russian. They do indicate just how obsessed in real life STAVKA was with German armour and looking for ways to enable the rifle divisions to handle armoured attacks.

AT doing well - good to hear. I guess you don't need AA guns, as you have control of the air.

I started to build a few post winter war. Since my air had done so much damage to the Finns I was pretty worried. Since the start of the War I've not built any more (& actually lost one) but as since Sept German air attacks are so rare I'm not going to bother. I've sort of applied Soviet AT doctrine (the best anti tank weapon is a tank) to the air war (the best AA weapon is a fighter/interceptor).

Its down to their mess with fuel stocks. Everytime I manually intervened to sort it out, I had a month or so of air combats then it all went very quiet again.

He comes bearing gifts every year around the winter solstice: frozen stiff Nazi corpses? Must say I prefer the non-scientific bourgeois reactionary one, myself.

That was some battle near Zhukovka (of course, with a name like that, I doubt that your Commander in Chief of Forces on West Front would've allowed it to fall anyhow). If even your militia can stand up against SS Panzer divisions, the Germans are in deeper trouble than I expected. The Germans are a mere shell of their former selves, if they can't even succeed when they're attacking A) across a river, B) in the midst of winter, C) while out of supply, D) undoubtedly being hammered by Soviet airpower against a simple militia division.

indeed, wonder if the great man came from there? It may also be a bit of post war renaming (those maps are from the 50s so pretty ok for topography and communications but given the tendency of towns to get renamed according to who was in/out of favour, I'm not sure all the place names are correct for the 40s).

Well yesterday I took my first venture into the AAR section and found this...A few hours later and I had finished reading this, and it's brilliant - Looking forward to reading more

High praise indeed, really glad you've enjoyed it so far.

 

[loki100]

"You are not so fair, Midnight" Evolution of Soviet offensive doctrine Sept-Dec 1941

In preparing for the planned Winter counterattack, STAVKA drew both on fundamental doctrinal issues and recent combat experience.

If the RKKA had to learn how to conduct a sustained strategic defense, it was also facing major problems in implementing its offensive doctrine. This had evolved from experience in the Civil War and always emphasised manouvre and the need to strike deep behind the front. This was sometimes tempered by an acknowledgement that first the front needed to be broken, probably in a sustained battle, but the assumption was that this would happen.

Practical lessons at Khalkin Gol and in Finland tended to bear this out. Both had seen high tempo engagements followed by a campaign of manouvre till the decisive point was achieved. The Japanese had effectively asked for a cease fire when Soviet armour sliced through their communication lines, the Finns had surrendered when the bulk of their army had been outmanouvered and the road to Helsinki lay open.

By the start of December 1941, the RKKA had had to practice a different form of offensive, or, more strictly, had never found the capacity to go beyond the type of combat designed to breach the front.

Although 9 Army's operations in SW Ukraine had appeared to be in line with Soviet doctrine in reality it only took ground due to the Rumanian's lack of operational discipline (and this was to be repeated during the Suvorov Offensives in 1942) and this was quickly lost once they were reinforced by German forces.

Three offensives in the Rzhev-Smolensk-Bryansk sector, combined with 8 Army's October-November offensive offered valuable lessons.

13 Army had attacked at Rzhev to relieve the pressure on 8 Army's defense of Kalinin from 10 to 29 September. In terms of lives lost and actual gains it was a disaster with almost 9,000 Soviet dead and just over 6,000 Germans. It had, however, probably saved Kalinin.

10 Army, with elements of 3 and 5 Armies, launched a counterattack at Bryansk from 16 September to early November (in reality the fighting in this sector never ended). This had been driven by need (to deflect any drive on Moscow) and opportunism. In particular attacks were broken off when they encountered strongpoints and non-German units were frequently targetted such as at Kirov in early October.



These weak points, combined with steady pressure, allowed the Soviets to sustain the offensive, retake Bryansk on 24 September and establish bridgeheads on the west bank of the Dniepr and across the Desna. The net result was near even losses with over 30,000 Soviet dead, 30,000 German and 3,000 from their allies.

The Smolensk offensive followed from this and was an attempt to exploit German disarray in this sector. It opened on 27 November and ended in disaster by 4 December with nearly 7,000 Soviet dead and just over 5,000 Germans. Had the Germans not been initially ill prepared the imbalance would have been worse. If Smolensk taught the STAVKA anything it was that before pushing west, there was a critical need to shorten the front so as to be able to protect their flanks and sustain any offensive.

Thus for the winter offensive STAVKA wrestled with 2 questions – where and how. Equally it was not just seeking to regain ground, or to pin down German formations, having built up a strategic reserve, Stalin was looking for a strategic victory. At the least this was defined as German formations utterly destroyed in encirclement battles.


(Strategic position across the NW 1 Dec and relative OOBs)

The lesson of Rzhev was that for any offensive to work, the Germans needed to be stopped from switching formations between crisis points. If their flanks were engaged then they would find it harder to reinforce the actual target. The lesson from 8 and 10 Armies was that the offensive needed to have sufficient force to maintain momentum once it had disrupted the front. The ideal was that the offensive armies had 30-50% more formations than the Germans and they were flanked by forces at least strong enough to engage in major operations.

The underlying challenge was that on the key sectors, at best the RKKA had parity of numbers.

Key to Soviet strategic planning was the existence of 12 Army as the strategic reserve. Built up from recently raised formations and units pulled back into reserve it could be added to any of the sectors. In combination with re-allocating formations between the various frontline armies, it might give the RKKA an advantage of 50% on one well chosen axis of advance. STAVKA was clear in its goals – this force was a one-off opportunity not just to retake ground (welcome though that would be), if such an advantage was to sustained, somewhere the Germans needed to be badly weakened.