von Kleist's Masterstroke
Heeres Gruppe Sud A continues to perform with superb distinction in it's southward thrust. It's 600k men form a seemingly unstoppable force that treats Soviet units like flies, swatting them down and rolling onward. At the head of this beast is the rapidly advancing 1st Panzerarmee under the esteemed General von Kleist. The 24th Panzerkorps is the tip of the spear, and on the 15th it's trio of divisions reached the outskirts of the objective cities of Kryvvy Rih and Dnipropetrovsk. On the 17th, the 60th Motorized Division captured Dnipropetrovsk after a brief struggle. On July 18 the 25th Motorized of the X Motorized Armeekorps began assaulting the city while the XXIV Panzerkorps enveloped the city to the South. By early morning of the 25th, a combined 4 division assault forced the beleaguered Soviets west into the increasingly smaller cauldron.
To the northwest of the schwerpunkt the Soviets are putting up more substantial resistance. The 3rd Armee has to contend with incessant mechanized counter attacks by the 1st Soviet Mechanized Army along the it's frontage. Bitter fighting for the town of Zhashkiv has left the XVI Korps mangled, over 10,000 casualties in one week, and in retreat. Marschall Manstein himself has ordered a counterattack to suppress these incursions and rout them back into "The Zhashkiv Kessel" but only the 10th Sturm Division could be rallied for the effort. The heavily equipped Sturm assault division had no problem fighting for the town with it's Stosstruppen and assault artillery, but won't be enough if the Soviets counter with their armored forces. The issue presently is supply, with all surplus fuel and provisions furnished to the panzer divisions for their blitz, there is a disorganized effort to replenish the supporting forces in the 4th and 3rd Armees. With only a narrow corridor open for convoys, and limited unpaved roads available, the logistics service is having one hell of a time doing their jobs. Because of this chaos the 43rd Korps is utterly unable to bring their strength to bear for the inevitable Soviet counterstrike into Zhashkiv, let us hope the 10th Sturm can hold.
10th Sturm Division soldiers dug in on a slope outside of Zhashkiv
On the Southern axis there is still stalemate. The newly promoted Feldmarschall Heinrici cannot break through the Bug Fortified Line as his Army Group is not made of superhumans. The 2nd Panzerarmee is slowly but surely breaking it's way through the entrenched Soviet 27th Mechanized Corps, a Herculean task for even the elite Panzertruppen. The Bug River Line is something I have left unmentioned before now. Towards the conclusion of the 1941 campaign with Zhukov's massive front encircled in Romania, Stalin and his generals saw the writing on the wall. It was obvious that Ukraine would be left dangerously undermanned, and that Army Group South would be in no condition to attack through the winter, so STAVKA (Soviet High Command) ordered the immediate construction of a new defensive line. Right away they conscripted a massive labor force of Ukrainian citizens and set them to digging trenches, laying reinforced concrete bunkers, and building a large complex of winter quarters and barracks for garrison troops. Then Red Army engineers came in, stringing miles of razor wire, welding hundreds of metal tanks traps, and laying thousands of anti-tank and anti-personal mines in a series of fortifications rivaling the famous French Maginot Line. To complicate an already difficult assignment, H.G. B has to contend with raids from the Soviet side of the river, and on July 17, a full scale armored attack on Berezivka by the 21st Tankoviya. This attack smashed it's way through the Jugoslawien and Rumanien sectors, leading with it's T-34s, nigh impenetrable to our allies' antiquated and underpowered anti-tank weaponry. In the ensuing rout of the Yugoslav II. Korps and Romanian 1st Armee more than 8000 men were killed/wounded/captured.
Destroyed bunker on the Southen section of the Bug River Fortified Line
It was not until July 21st that the leading divisions of the 2nd Panzerarmee broke through at Mykolaiv, with the XXIII and XXV Panzerkorps now sprinting unopposed to seal the trap with the 1st Panzerarmee. We appear to be trapping 27 divisions, nearly the entire strength of the Red Army's Dnieper Front. Only two motorized divisions, thirty thousand men, and two armored divisions, twenty thousand haven't been encircled. This adds up to around three hundred and fifty thousand men, and when it is pacified, will leave the Don Basin and Eastern Ukraine open to capture. Included in the kessel is most of the 1st Mechanized Armiya, the Red Army's premiere counter to our Panzerarmees. The loss of one of the five of these formations will be a serious blow to Soviet morale and combat power.
Landsers of the 20th Motorized Divisions crossing the Bug River in inflatable boats.
In Norway, despite heavy casualties, the 12th Armee is pushing back the British invaders. Our forces have won 4 subsequent battles of varying size and intensity as they slowly push out in a crescent advance pattern. In spite of complaints from OKH about high casualty rates the offensive will proceed. I must repeat, we need to tie down British forces, bleed them dry, and then push them out of Norway. This comes straight from the Fuhrer's desk, and those who disobey Directives suffer the consequences.