Ansatz 'Barbarossa'
July 1st-July 10th
The Lwow-Hotin Pocket
ReichsFührung der SS, Berlin - 1941, July the 3rd - 1430
Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler meets Brigadeführer Gottlob Berger, Chef des SS-Hauptamtes.
- "Herr Reichsführer... I think you should have a look on this.
.............................
- I see... It seems that the Wehrmacht is trying to copy us and to set-up its own foreign units. Die Schweine !!!
- Don't lose your temper, Herr Reichsführer. As far as I know, there will soon be a legal issue on this.
- ...? Explain yourself, Berger !
- It's quite simple, Herr Reichsführer. According to our laws, foreigners aren't allowed to serve into the Wehrmacht, but only people who have been granted the german citizenship, through one way or the other.
- I see... I should then be able to use this argument in order to get those new units under the authority of the SS.
- Exactly, Herr Reichsführer !
- Brilliant, mein lieber Berger !!! Do you know when these units are going to be ready ? After all, I'll rather let the Wehrmacht taking care of the training. It will save us a lot of money ... and troubles.
- Danish and sweedish units are first to be sent in Hamburg, then in Posen for basic training. As soon as the set-up will be achieved, the flamish unit will be sent in East-Prussia. All these formations won't be combat-ready before the end of the year, I assume. This will give you enough time to clear the small "legal" issue...
- Fully right. I think I can persuade the Führer on this.
Btw, any news from our
'Sonderkommando Dirlewanger' ?
- The unit has already been deployed in Poland,
Distrikt Lublin. Together with the
SS-Kavallerie-Brigade, they're taking care of the security in the area of
General Gouvernement.
- Very good. Nice job, Berger !"
Die deutsche Wochenschau - 1941, July the 5th
[] Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt... []
Our brave troops keep their victorious advance inside enemy territory.
In the northern sector, the armies under the command of Feldmarschall von Leeb smashed the soviet defenses at Marijampole and Alytus. The Bolsheviks suffered tremendous casualties and our Panzertruppen are at the gates of Wilno, the Lithuanian Capital. During their advance, our troops have been welcome with open arms by the local population.
In the sector of Heeresgruppe 'Mitte', the armoured columns of Hoth and Guderian keep roaring eastwards. Ten-thousands of enemy troops have been by-passed and are about to be encircled. The fall of Minsk is now a matter of days !
Pockets of Lwow and Hotin
The greatest success have been already achieved in the south. Under the command of Generalfeldmarschall von Rundstedt, the hero of the Western Campaign, the Panzerverbände of Generaloberst von Kleist, after a drive of over 650km, linked up with our romanian allies south of Uman.
At least 400.000 soviets troops, including the staffs of 6 armies and one army group, are now trapped and doomed.
This brilliant move opened up wide the gates of Ukrain and southern Russia."
OKH Hauptquartier, Poznan - 1941, July the 10th - 1600
Meeting between Feldmarschall von Brauchitsch, CO OKH, General Halder, CO General Staff, and all Army Group Commanders.
- "Meine Herren, thank you for coming to this meeting. It will be the last one here in Poznan. We're about to move the HQ of the Ostheer to a small town in East-Prussia : Rastenburg.
General Halder, do you have the last update from the
OKW about our operations in the Arctic ?
- Yes, Sir.
Meine Herren, as you known, our Unternehmen
'Platinfuchs' was a complete success : the city and harbour of
Murmansk have been seized and thanks to the Luftwaffe, the heavy armoured counter-attacks against our
3. Geb.-D have been stopped. The
Luftgau Kdo 'Norwegen' carry on with his harassing attacks against the soviet armoured division sighted in the area so as to weaken their offensive potential.
Murmansk MUST stay in our hands !
On the other hand,
'Polarfuchs' is a bloody stalemate. Since the capture of
Njamozero 10 days ago, our troops haven't still be able to make significant progress in the area. A great concentration of enemy forces have been sighted in
Apatity, N-E of
Njamozero, so General
von Falkenhorst had to cancelled the drive on
Kandalaska and to redirect the
211. Pz.-Abt north for a joined attack with the
Pz.-Abt 40. These two armoured units finally managed to drive back the soviet forces but to a very high cost, both in lives and equipment.
In better shape, the
211. Pz.-Abt has been sent south to support the main attack of the
XXXVI. Hö.K. on
Tumcha. General
Feige reported only very small gains but he remains optimistic towards the final result of the battle.
Finnish troops in action at Akhonaara
Akhonaara has fallen into the hands of our finish allies and
von Falkenhorst will very likely send north some units of the
3. Armeijakunta in order to help. It is of ultimate importance that we cut the soviet supply lines to the Kola Peninsula ! Otherwise, sooner or later, General
Dietl and his men will be doomed...
- At last, our finnish friends decided to move...
- In der Tat, Herr Feldmarschall.
They advanced on both sides of the Ladoga Lake and the bulk of their troops have reached the Neva and are at the gates of
Leningrad. The Capital of Communism is too well defended unfortunatly. The Finns are waiting for reinforcement but it still unknown if they want to cross the Neva for now.
However, the FHO still confirmed that the soviet forces keep moving south instead of facing the finish threat. We have a big unknown here !
- May be they want first to establish a line of defense behind the Swir...?
Anyhow, it's not our concern for now. Thank you, General Halder.
Feldmarschall
von Leeb, the situation of the
Heeresgruppe 'Nord', please.
- Danke Herr Feldmarschall.
The situation of the
Heeresgruppe 'Nord' is giving full satisfaction : after 10 days of intense fighting, we've been able to smash through the soviet defenses at
Alytus. As it was their key position, the Reds haven't been able to recover since then.
16. Armee is now moving N-E with 3 of its Corps while the
II. AK is heading east towards the Dvina.
After the fall of
Wilno on July 6th, most units of the
4. Panzergruppe have a free path towards the Dvina, which bridges have been seized by our
Brandenburger. The
XXXX. AK (mot.) has been ordered to reinforce the bridgehead and then to attacks left towards
Riga, following the right bank of the Dvina. The
XXXXI. AK (mot.) will do the same but on the left bank. In these two sectors, we expect a strong resistance because we're facing fresh divisions which have just arrived from the North. Full air support from the
I. Fliegerkorps has been assigned to both Armeekorps but our airplanes have now a long way to fly now. This will reduce the amount of sorties.
- There're big enough air facilities in
Kaunas, aren't they ?
- True, Herr Feldmarschall. Unfortunatly,
Kaunas is still in soviet hands. General
von Küchler is assaulting
Kaunas with 5 divisions for nearly a week now. The city itself is almost encircled with the
291. ID, west, attacking north towards
Raseiniai and the
XXVIII. AK (
16. Armee), east, progressing north towards
Jonava. He's fully confident that
Kaunas will fall soon but until then our aircrafts still have to fly from
Koenigsberg.
- What about
von Manstein ?
- His
LVI. AK (mot.) is currently attacking south to north with the Dvina to cover his right flank. His task is to clean up the left bank east of
Wilno ; this being done, the
II. AK will be able to establish a strong defensive position along the river.
- Aren't you afraid he will try to get a bridgehead across the Dvina ?
- With a guy like him, everything is possible, Herr Feldmarschall...
- Ich bedanke mich. Feldmarschall
von Bock ?
- Meine Herren, the
Heeresgruppe 'Mitte' is about to reach its main objective, i. e. the total destruction of the soviet group of forces of the Bialystock Salient.
North, after some delays, intended for the most part, the
3. Panzergruppe conducted an all-out assault in
Lida and
Lipinski in which 4 soviet divisions have been completly overrun. The vanguards of the
LVII. AK (mot.) have reached the suburbs of
Minsk while its
12. PzD is moving S-E towards
Stolpce... and the Niemen. Recon elements of the
1. Kavallerie-Division,
2. Panzergruppe, have been reported only a few kilometers further south and they're about to reach
Nieswiez. Once the
12. PzD will have reached
Stolpce, ca. 40 soviet divisions will then be "eingekesselt" (
encircled NotA).
Further north, the
XXXIX. AK (mot.) is currently reorganizing. Soon it will be able to push towards
Vitebsk and
Smolensk and it will still have enough means to drive S-E so as to start the encirclement of
Minsk.
- The Soviets have a strong position on the other side of the Dvina... in
Polatsk, I think. Aren't you afraid they might launch a counter-attack to cut off your units communication lines ?
- Thanks God, I have disobedient subordinates. Despite his orders to concentrate all his means for the drive through the Niemen, General
Strauss sent his
V. AK in the wake of the
3. PzGr. With a little perspective, it was the right decision. These two divisions will be enough to secure the rear of General
Schmidt.
The main concern remains the soviet forces in
Horodyszcz ; however, they are currently attacked on their front by the
FJ-Rgt 'Hermann Göring', on their left by the
8. ID, while the
19. PzD keep watching on their right, ready to intervene.
On the northern face of the Salient, the
9. Armee started to put pressure on the soviet units in order to disorganize their defense. Supported by armoured and Nebelwerfer units of the
VIII. AK, the
'Lehr' Brigade keep attacking S-E so as to fix some enemy units.
102. RHG units also started some "cleaning" actions on the western face.
SitRep - July the 10th, 1941
On the southern face of the Salient, the
4. Armee took
Brest-Litovsk after days of furious fighting. General
von Kluge started to castle his corps from west to east. The
VII. AK took
Kobryn and is about to attack
Chomsk in order to make the junction with the
9. Armee. Once done, the
XX. AK will take care of the soviet units east of
Chomsk as the
XII. AK will be free to move eastwards to support units of the
2. PzGr.
General
Guderian's Panzertruppen are about to close the Bialystok-Pripyat Pocket. The
1. Kav.-D will be in
Nieswiez by tomorrow with the
3. PzD coming in right behind. This will give two divisions to stop any soviet breakthrough attempt and/or to support the attack of the
LVII. AK (mot.) on
Stolpce.
The
4. PzD will cover their left flank while the
10. ID (mot.), also on its way to
Nieswiez, will be kept in reserve.
Guderian's right flank is being held by the
XXXXVI. and
XXXXVII. AK (mot.). Both are currently involved into very hard battles in order to cross the Pripyat. Once being done, they will initiate a pincer movement around
Homyel, with the Desna to cover the right flank and the
XXIV. AK (mot.) to cover the left one. This movement will pave the way for the
2. Armee, in charge of attacking and taking
Homyel and
Kiev. Heavy artillery pieces, from type Karlsgerät 600mm, are on the way to help with this task. We've seen them in action in
Brest-Litovsk : they worked wonder !
- Well done, Fedor. Keep up with the good work !
Feldmarschall
von Rundstedt, your SitRep, please.
- Vielen Dank.
Actually, there's nothing significant to report and everything is working according to the plan for the
Heeresgruppe 'Süd'.
After the initial breakthrough on June 22nd, the
6. Armee keep moving eastwards without problems. 3 encircled soviet divisions have been destroyed and its vanguards are ca. 80. km S-W of
Kiev. The
XXIX. AK has been advised it could be diverted to support the attack of the
2. Armee on Kiev but the main body of the
6. Armee should reach the Dniepr within 8-10 days.
The
17. Armee stayed behind. It's currently busy reducing the Lwow Pocket while the
Karpat Csoport is taking care of the Hotin Pocket. 8 divisions have already been destroyed and we made over 70.000 prisonners. It is estimated that nearly 40 divisions totalizing ca. 300.000 men are still being trapped in these two pockets. It might require another two weeks to reduce them.
The
1. Panzergruppe is currently reorganizing its elements. The
XXXXVIII. AK (mot.) is helping our Hungarian allies to reduce the Hotin Pocket.
Meanwhile, the
XIV. AK (mot.) is moving N-E to regroup with the
9. PzD south of
Kiev. The
III. AK (mot.), on its side, keeps moving S-E to provide flank cover to the
11. Armee.
- Very good job indeed. Big congrats.
General
von Schobert. I assume you're going to speak for Marschall
Antonescu ?
- Jawohl, Herr Feldmarschall.
The situation of the
Grupul Armate 'Antonescu' is quite good.
My
11. Armee managed to punch a hole within the soviet lines, at first In
Orhei, then in
Kotovsk. Capturing
Balta became a child play after that. I've launch all my cavalry and motorized elements into the breach. A soviet counter-attack temporarly stopped my romanian units at
Pervomayski but the
76. ID (mot.) is about to out flank the enemy forces and to rush towards the Black Sea coast.
Brandenburger units of
HGr. 'Süd' are driving ahead. If everything goes fine, we should be able to close the bag within 2-3 days. Ca. 20 soviet divisions might get trapped in the Odessa Pocket and I've got all my other corps deployed to tighten the noose around them.
The
3. Armata did a very good job in covering my left flank and helped greatly to close the Hotin Pocket. Its units are now the anvil against which the
Karpat Csoport is hammering... and Ivan between them. General
Dumitrescu sent his
Corpul de Cavalerie to help the
11. Armee. On this side, eveything's ok.
Unfortunatly, the
4. Armata remains stuck, still unable to cross the Prut at
Cillia. The arrival of the
Divizia Garda came just in time to compensate the collapse of the
15. Divizia Infanterie since the
72. ID alone is not strong enough to break through the soviet defenses. I don't have the figures but we assume that the casualties must be very heavy. I've sent an officer to get General
Mattenklott's opinion : according to him, the Soviets are about to collapse and with them, all their defense in this sector. A painful birth, indeed...
- Well... From my perspective, everything goes fine and according to the plan. General Halder, anything to add ?
- Indeed, Herr Feldmarschall.
My first point will have to do with the Luftwaffe.
We are all well aware of how important was the role of the Luftwaffe in the past 18 days. Sadly, it won't last very long.
I've got here the last report given to me by the
OKL.
SitRep Luftwaffe - July the 10th, 1941
As you can see, the Luftwaffe has lost 25% of its strength in less than 3 weeks. Front reports also indicate that the soviet fighters got a lot more agressive which explains the casualties. Feldmarschall
Milch told me that he will be forced to slow down air operations in the next weeks in order to keep his formations combat-ready. Please, keep that in mind when you're going to plan your operations in the future, meine Herren.
You should also take into consideration that due to our quick advance, our airbases get farther and farther from the front. This is also the reason why we should take
Minsk,
Homyel and
Kiev as soon as possible.
My second point is about supply.
Some of you already reported some supply issues, mostly on fuel. It's not going any better !
Railroad engineers at work
You all know that the Soviets use a different track gauge. It's going to take time to convert them to our current gauge. All our railroad engineers are into the breach but until everything is fixed, we're going to rely mostly on trucks and on planes, the latest provided there're no enemy fighters within range. We already had a bad experience last week and we don't have transport airplanes to waste.
I'm done now.
- Vielen Dank, General Halder.
All right. Meine Herren, you have your orders ; keep up with the good job. You can dismiss"
