Turn 26 - Late May 1920: Kolchak for Tzar!
The short version of this turn's events: 30.000 more dead on all sides, the Bolsheviks lose 3 NM because of Minsk, Kiev and defeats against the Siberians but manage to gain back 2 NM from the Southern White. Durk's comment: "I am safe in my homeland, but I am getting battered to smithereens."
Sidenote: It seems the Polish NM may be completely irrelevant. At least any NM the Polish gain or lose on the battlefield only affects Siberian NM. Similarly, their casualties are added to the Siberian count.
Ukrainian front: The main objective here is to free Southern White troops from the Ukraine. If Durk can redeploy an increasing number of troops to the Don Basin, Red pressure on Rostov should lessen. Unfortunately, the Polish Army can't help in the struggle for Rostov directly since it is confined to the Ukraine.
Pilsudski's attack on Kharkov was stopped in the most embarrassing manner. A Red militia blew up the railroad tracks right in front of his army. Since it contained two armoured trains, this effectively stopped the march on Kiev.
This turn rain and mud limit the reach of offensive operations severly. Therefore Pilsudski will only be able to reach a less ambitous target: he will swing south-east and take Poltava from the Green.
Not only will this cut-off Matsiletsky's only retreat route but Poltava also seems like a good place to establish a forward supply base.
Iwaszkiewicz took Konotop and smashed Kirov's red militia while doing so. He got lucky and gained a vital point of NM. His fast moving division will be joined by Jazwinski's small division (it arrived as part of an event and has yet to build up cohesion). Next turn, the fast moving troops in Iwaszkiewicz corps will head south-east.
Tolstov will secure the broken railroad link to Kharkov. His corps is weak but I don't expect the Red Army to leave Kharkov, it would be insanity with Pilsudski's powerful corps advancing east.
This turn Ukrainian reinforcements arrived. 4 new infantry division under Petliura's personal command (the fifth division was part of the original Polish army, I gave Petliura divisional command rather than leave this troops loose in a stack). Unfortunately the new units arrived with hardly any cohesion - potentially this division could have close to 500 pw. Eventually (provided the game lasts long enough) Petliura will push the offensive beyond the Ukrainian borders. Unlike Polish troops Ukrainians aren't restricted to certain areas of the map. Getting these troops was the reason why it was paramount that Polish forces took Kiev (I didn't know about the NM penalty for the Bolsheviks then).
Siberian front: Simbirsk has fallen and the entire garrison was annihilated. Unfortunately, this victory didn't gain me any NM. But at least I captured a unit of Red river transports. Together with a supply train, it will be used to build a depot in the city.
The Red river fleet continues to be a pest: Last turn, it interrupted Smolin's march to Kazan. Without these reinforcements, Akutin's force guarding Kazan is desperately weak. Ordzhonikidze could easily retake the city this turn. To prevent this Semenov is ordered to Sviask (the small town just opposite of Kazan). Should Ordzhonikidze's try an attack, he would run into Semenov's superior force and get badly mauled. Luckily, the alternative attack route on the northern bank of the Volga is currently impossible since the mud slows down movement too much.
I asked my Southern White ally for help against the Red fleet on the Volga - the Siberian fleet is still too weak. Here is his answer: "The Caspian Sea's fleet set sail last turn to conquer and connect with your forces, but ran into Ian's destroyers; who lived up to their name. I have no river ships left." Oh my ...
Trotzky tried to escape the encirclement with yet another attack against Saransk. Fortunately for him this ill-advised attempt was abandonned without a battle. This turn, Kappel's corps will tighten the net even further. Trotzky should be starving by now. I really don't understand why Ian doesn't abandon Trotzky and his remaining armoured train to save at least Parsky's infantrymen. The Red forces in this area are miles away from the next Communist supply source. In Ian's shoes, I would have ordered a tactical retreat a long time ago.
Dybenko is another bother. Once again he tries to interrupt my railroad network. Kalmykov is send after him to convince him that this isn't a polite thing to do.
As you can see, I am slowly increasing the Siberian frontline numbers again. In particular, I have brought all my cavalry divisions back. The slightly bigger demand on supplies is more than made up for by their superior mobility.
I should probably simply try to crush Trotzky with one big stack, but as a result of my supply crisis my forces are spread out. Concentraing my forces could create openings for Trotzky to slip through. Still, if the Bolsheviks survived yet another turn, I may reconsider ...
Central Russia: The Bolshevik regime is losing the grip on its population. All around Moscow peasants have risen up against the revolution; vital railroad lines have been interrupted by Green forces. The first cities have fallen into their hands. Obviously the Bolshevik leadership has pressed the population too hard to make up for the horrible losses on the frontlines. It's yet another sign that the days of Bolshevism in Russia are numbered. Kolchak is already shopping for coronation mantles ...