November Phase
'Papa Joe', as some called him in private, was in quite a sour mood during the final hour of his late night war council. The reports of German advances into the Ukraine and through Rostov had caused quite a stir. His demands for a shift of the entire reserve army under Group South-West was putting a serious strain on the logistical resources already commited to halting the German advance north of Kiev. When Field Marshal Timeshenko informed the Soviet Premier of the month-and-a-half necessary for their redeployment, 'Papa Joe' flared with anger and demanded the time be reduced by half or else he would find someone else willing to try! As the torrent went on, it went almost unoticed at first, the wail was blotted out at first by the screech of the mad dictator. When the sound became of such a constant blair that even Stalin stopped to listen. An air-raid on Moscow? The wail of the sirens were soon accompanied by the drone of engines...bombers! But then the engines began to cut off, one-by-one.
"All that distance, just to run out of fuel!" Cried a now jubilent Stalin.
His elation quickly turned to horror as the room was rocked by a massive explosion. Had they been suicide pilots or was it a lucky strike? The stunned dictator climbed to his feet and peered around the room. It haldn't hit them, but it was very close. He moved to a shattered window of the conference room and pulled aside the shredded curtain. The crater now pocketing Red Square was the size of tank! There was evidence of a fuselage, but it looked like no airplane he had seen before. As he was surveing the damage done, he saw, in the distance, another explosion. Then another occured, closer, just across the Volga. He turned to his recovered staff and asked;
"What are these things doing in Moscow!?" 'Papa Joe' now had another reason to be upset.
"I have been concerning myself with these airial photographs of Moscow and I have determined that it has been crippled as a juncture for Soviet response, therefore, as a strategic necessity at this time. I am also aware of our own difficulty in maintining supply to the critical advance of Army Group South at the same time as providing the rest of the Wehrmacht with it's demands. With our autumn offensive ended and the winter goals well in-sight, it is such that we make for those targets which present the least resistance to our advancing troops. The Red Army is now, but a shell of itself six months ago. Without any strategic depth remaining and only a stubborn lot resisting from Leningrad to Orel, it is our perogative to move where we like this winter. While we are unable to seize all of our goals by the end of the year, we are capable of capturing the oil-rich south. This will further the Russian collapse and provide us with the resources to become independent in our Crude Oil needs. Perhaps not the blitzkreig of five months as I had originally forseen, but their defeat is still assured. Mark my words gentlemen! In a year, no one will worry of Russia again!"
Things set in stone yet again crumble. The Fuhrer is set on his 'new' goals. The shift of troops have begun and the direction altered. With Moscow having been rejected as the defacto-goal for the entire operation it is imperative that the Reich manage the new aims before the year ends, both for strategic success as well as domestic satisfaction. Time is closing in, but with the Soviets as bloodied as they have been, it is doubtful if three months could save them. Even so, they will not have that time anyhow.
On the first day of the new month. Army Group South shows the succes of it's new offensive when the Kapitanivka Pocket of 57,000 Russians is smashed and the last impedimend to the advance of Model's 3rd Army removed. The German Panzers would be quick to exploit the massive gaps now appearing in the Russian lines!
Delayed by over a week, the strategic depth charts are released showing supposed force dispositions along the length of the Eastern Front.
With no help to be afforded from any other source, the Sevestopol garrison is quickly overwhelmed by pincer attacks by the 8th Panzer-Division and Von Sodestern's 162nd Infantrie-Division. The lightning-fast five-hour battle saw a handful of Germans lost to almost 1500 Bolshiveks killed! As the Germans approach the docks, the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet try to scuttle several ships. The spirit of the October Revolition is strong with these sailors, though fruitless in the end. The very same hour, Bulgaria signs her fate by resisting German political entreaties.
Within a day after the Sevastopol surrender, on the fifth, 17,000 more Russians were captured by Army Group North after the armor-pocket battles of Svedasai were won! However, Dollmann's 8th Army was thrown back in it's first attempt to further reduce the newly established Szczuczyn Pocket (anyone know how to say that one?) The bedraggled marines of Lt. Genreal Glokke's I. Marinekorps, ill-equipped to fight the T-34's found in the pocket, were repeatedly halted and suffered nearly 5,000 casualties by the end of the first two weeks of battle.
Hours after a last desperate counter-attack by routing Soviets near Svedasai, a further 16,500 Russians are captured at Birzai.
As the north is embroiled in a game of 'catch-up' with the Russians and the south quickly blisters through a virtually undefended Ukraine, the center, after almost three weeks of fighting, sees the might of the Reich win through! Rommel leads his panzers victoriously through the ruins of Gomel on the 14th. Occuring only hours after the V1 strikes began on Moscow, it is said by some that providence has intervened in the cause of the Fatherland. Others recognize tactical audacity and strategic concentration as the grounds for these coincidences.
The gains in the November Phase have shocked the entire OKW! Rostov, Sevastapol, Tallinn, Gomel, Orel, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkov and Vorohnez all taken in the past month. That is equal to the last five months combined! What can they do now? Muhahahaha!
Army Group North's 2nd Army, under Von Bergmann, has approached Leningrad in reasonable time. It will establish a line and await reinforcements from 8th Army before continuing the drive towards the city of Lenin.
On Army Group North's right flank, 8th and newly formed 12th Armies were to make one last push east of Lida, with the goal of reducing the distance that Panzerkorps 'Moder' would have to go. Needless to say, on November 17th, General Fleck of 7th Army recieved a telegram from OKH commander Field Marshal Kesselring with just two words; 'TWO WEEKS'! The center might have been pushed to second priority, but it was still capable of making deadlines...or was it?
While the gains in the middle were admirable, it was the victories of 'Operation Autumn Mist' that trully shook the Russian Theater. Reports had been vauge at first, due to the scattered disposition of the forces involved in the breakout, but the strategic picture quickly came together. Victory was all but assured. The capture of Orel by the 5th Panzer-Division on the 11th made possible the bombing of Moscow with V1's possible. The 14th of November was a date which made history as cruise-missles fell on a major-power's capital!
The crossing at Kerch was unopossed and after the fall of Rostov, the Panzers were quick to exploit the non-existent Soviet defense.
With the final phase of 1941 about to commence, the Wehmarcht is beginning to suffer severe supply defficiencies. It is questioned weather or not the plans in the south have become overly ambitious. The redeployment of Army Group South begins according to Fuhrer Directive 25. and this is intended to put at rest the grumblings of the OKH.
The battle of encirclement of the first five months has seemed to pay off! The north has made great gains and the south is driving freely into the soft underbelly of the Russian Bear! If Army Group Center can reform and allow the other sections to press their advantages, it will be the beginning of the end for the Soviets!
November Phase Casulties
German Losses: 75 AFV's, 125 Fighters, 100 Medium-Heavy aircraft, 300 Guns, 500 Light Vehicles and 30,000 KIA
Soviet Losses: ?350? AFV's, ???300??? aircraft of all types, ?1,000? Guns, ?1,600? Light Vehicles and 56,000 KIA/176,000 Captured!
P.S.
"Sorry about the delay fellow AAR enthusiats. I was taken by a bout of the flu and have begun to recover. Further delays are hoped to be avoided.
__MOSCOW__
The Kremlin
November 14th, 1941
02:30 hrs Local
The Kremlin
November 14th, 1941
02:30 hrs Local
'Papa Joe', as some called him in private, was in quite a sour mood during the final hour of his late night war council. The reports of German advances into the Ukraine and through Rostov had caused quite a stir. His demands for a shift of the entire reserve army under Group South-West was putting a serious strain on the logistical resources already commited to halting the German advance north of Kiev. When Field Marshal Timeshenko informed the Soviet Premier of the month-and-a-half necessary for their redeployment, 'Papa Joe' flared with anger and demanded the time be reduced by half or else he would find someone else willing to try! As the torrent went on, it went almost unoticed at first, the wail was blotted out at first by the screech of the mad dictator. When the sound became of such a constant blair that even Stalin stopped to listen. An air-raid on Moscow? The wail of the sirens were soon accompanied by the drone of engines...bombers! But then the engines began to cut off, one-by-one.
"All that distance, just to run out of fuel!" Cried a now jubilent Stalin.
His elation quickly turned to horror as the room was rocked by a massive explosion. Had they been suicide pilots or was it a lucky strike? The stunned dictator climbed to his feet and peered around the room. It haldn't hit them, but it was very close. He moved to a shattered window of the conference room and pulled aside the shredded curtain. The crater now pocketing Red Square was the size of tank! There was evidence of a fuselage, but it looked like no airplane he had seen before. As he was surveing the damage done, he saw, in the distance, another explosion. Then another occured, closer, just across the Volga. He turned to his recovered staff and asked;
"What are these things doing in Moscow!?" 'Papa Joe' now had another reason to be upset.
__WOLF'S LAIR__
November 16th, 1941
13:12 hrs Berlin
November 16th, 1941
13:12 hrs Berlin
"I have been concerning myself with these airial photographs of Moscow and I have determined that it has been crippled as a juncture for Soviet response, therefore, as a strategic necessity at this time. I am also aware of our own difficulty in maintining supply to the critical advance of Army Group South at the same time as providing the rest of the Wehrmacht with it's demands. With our autumn offensive ended and the winter goals well in-sight, it is such that we make for those targets which present the least resistance to our advancing troops. The Red Army is now, but a shell of itself six months ago. Without any strategic depth remaining and only a stubborn lot resisting from Leningrad to Orel, it is our perogative to move where we like this winter. While we are unable to seize all of our goals by the end of the year, we are capable of capturing the oil-rich south. This will further the Russian collapse and provide us with the resources to become independent in our Crude Oil needs. Perhaps not the blitzkreig of five months as I had originally forseen, but their defeat is still assured. Mark my words gentlemen! In a year, no one will worry of Russia again!"
Things set in stone yet again crumble. The Fuhrer is set on his 'new' goals. The shift of troops have begun and the direction altered. With Moscow having been rejected as the defacto-goal for the entire operation it is imperative that the Reich manage the new aims before the year ends, both for strategic success as well as domestic satisfaction. Time is closing in, but with the Soviets as bloodied as they have been, it is doubtful if three months could save them. Even so, they will not have that time anyhow.
On the first day of the new month. Army Group South shows the succes of it's new offensive when the Kapitanivka Pocket of 57,000 Russians is smashed and the last impedimend to the advance of Model's 3rd Army removed. The German Panzers would be quick to exploit the massive gaps now appearing in the Russian lines!
Delayed by over a week, the strategic depth charts are released showing supposed force dispositions along the length of the Eastern Front.
With no help to be afforded from any other source, the Sevestopol garrison is quickly overwhelmed by pincer attacks by the 8th Panzer-Division and Von Sodestern's 162nd Infantrie-Division. The lightning-fast five-hour battle saw a handful of Germans lost to almost 1500 Bolshiveks killed! As the Germans approach the docks, the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet try to scuttle several ships. The spirit of the October Revolition is strong with these sailors, though fruitless in the end. The very same hour, Bulgaria signs her fate by resisting German political entreaties.
Within a day after the Sevastopol surrender, on the fifth, 17,000 more Russians were captured by Army Group North after the armor-pocket battles of Svedasai were won! However, Dollmann's 8th Army was thrown back in it's first attempt to further reduce the newly established Szczuczyn Pocket (anyone know how to say that one?) The bedraggled marines of Lt. Genreal Glokke's I. Marinekorps, ill-equipped to fight the T-34's found in the pocket, were repeatedly halted and suffered nearly 5,000 casualties by the end of the first two weeks of battle.
Hours after a last desperate counter-attack by routing Soviets near Svedasai, a further 16,500 Russians are captured at Birzai.
As the north is embroiled in a game of 'catch-up' with the Russians and the south quickly blisters through a virtually undefended Ukraine, the center, after almost three weeks of fighting, sees the might of the Reich win through! Rommel leads his panzers victoriously through the ruins of Gomel on the 14th. Occuring only hours after the V1 strikes began on Moscow, it is said by some that providence has intervened in the cause of the Fatherland. Others recognize tactical audacity and strategic concentration as the grounds for these coincidences.
The gains in the November Phase have shocked the entire OKW! Rostov, Sevastapol, Tallinn, Gomel, Orel, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkov and Vorohnez all taken in the past month. That is equal to the last five months combined! What can they do now? Muhahahaha!
Army Group North's 2nd Army, under Von Bergmann, has approached Leningrad in reasonable time. It will establish a line and await reinforcements from 8th Army before continuing the drive towards the city of Lenin.
On Army Group North's right flank, 8th and newly formed 12th Armies were to make one last push east of Lida, with the goal of reducing the distance that Panzerkorps 'Moder' would have to go. Needless to say, on November 17th, General Fleck of 7th Army recieved a telegram from OKH commander Field Marshal Kesselring with just two words; 'TWO WEEKS'! The center might have been pushed to second priority, but it was still capable of making deadlines...or was it?
While the gains in the middle were admirable, it was the victories of 'Operation Autumn Mist' that trully shook the Russian Theater. Reports had been vauge at first, due to the scattered disposition of the forces involved in the breakout, but the strategic picture quickly came together. Victory was all but assured. The capture of Orel by the 5th Panzer-Division on the 11th made possible the bombing of Moscow with V1's possible. The 14th of November was a date which made history as cruise-missles fell on a major-power's capital!
The crossing at Kerch was unopossed and after the fall of Rostov, the Panzers were quick to exploit the non-existent Soviet defense.
With the final phase of 1941 about to commence, the Wehmarcht is beginning to suffer severe supply defficiencies. It is questioned weather or not the plans in the south have become overly ambitious. The redeployment of Army Group South begins according to Fuhrer Directive 25. and this is intended to put at rest the grumblings of the OKH.
The battle of encirclement of the first five months has seemed to pay off! The north has made great gains and the south is driving freely into the soft underbelly of the Russian Bear! If Army Group Center can reform and allow the other sections to press their advantages, it will be the beginning of the end for the Soviets!
November Phase Casulties
German Losses: 75 AFV's, 125 Fighters, 100 Medium-Heavy aircraft, 300 Guns, 500 Light Vehicles and 30,000 KIA
Soviet Losses: ?350? AFV's, ???300??? aircraft of all types, ?1,000? Guns, ?1,600? Light Vehicles and 56,000 KIA/176,000 Captured!
P.S.
"Sorry about the delay fellow AAR enthusiats. I was taken by a bout of the flu and have begun to recover. Further delays are hoped to be avoided.
