Turn 3 - July 3, 1941

June is behind us and the first phase of the campaign is over. In the north and center, early encirclements have mostly been cleared which frees the infantry armies to move forward. They rush to catch up with the panzer groups, whose lead elements have started tangling with the Soviet "second echelon" (or the so-called Stalin Line). This line extends roughly from Pskov in the north down, through Vitebsk and just west of Smolensk, then along the Dnepr until we reach the Pripyat Marsh. In theory it continues all the way down through Kiev and follows the Dnepr to the Black Sea, but we don't know what the enemy has along that southern portion of the line as we won't risk air assets reconnoitering areas too far out of our AO.

Operations - Army Group North

18th Army is finishing up its sweep through Lithuania and takes Riga, a major Baltic port. At one time the game allowed the Axis armies to draw supply from here, as it lies closer to the front than the advancing railheads from East Prussia. That may have changed with patches though as it's considered a bit of an exploit. 16th Army meanwhile moves up on the southern wing through Daugavpils and prepares to slot in as the mobile divisions depart for another drive northward. Panzer Group 1 takes a bit of a breather and re-pivots, preparing to break through on the Soviet right flank.

Reinhardt's corps pulls back as part of this move. While the enemy defenses are light on the left flank, the terrain is poor for mobile units; the panzers will have to cross three rivers separated by swampland just to break through into open terrain southeast of Pskov. So that effort turns out to be a dud and the new operational plan will have Manstein's 56th corps breaking through northwest of the city with the help of recently-arrived infantry support. Reinhardt will be held in reserve. If Manstein is able to break through with ease, we'll try sending Reinhardt back through in the south with an eye toward encircling the 3-4 Soviet armies defending Pskov along the Velikaya.

Of course this all depends on how much fuel can make its way to the panzer divisions this turn. After movements this week not a single unit in the group has more than 20% of its required fuel.

Operations - Army Group Center

Good news and bad for Bock's army group. The good is that the big Bialystok-Minsk pocket has been collapsed and we have no more Soviet holdouts to tie up the bulk of the army group west of the front. The bad is that the panzer groups have run into very stout Soviet defenses, particularly surrounding Vitebsk. Also of concern is the widening of the front in general, before we have even begun the link-up with Army Group South. In fact it's long enough that I'll have to break it up into separate screenshots. First the north wing:

The Vitebsk-Smolensk "land bridge" is defended by strong, well-fortified enemy units and does not present us with a good opening for an armored penetration. To the north of the land bridge the enemy also has fortified positions along the east bank of the Dvina, which is not a much better option than the direct assault on Vitebsk. It is very clear that the Soviet Western Front was not destroyed in the Minsk encirclement and still opposes us to the east, probably mixed in with reserve armies digging in here from day one. Panzer Group 3 spends very little time advancing and instead crosses the Dvina further downriver, to the northwest of the Soviet defensive line where it can prepare for a drive on the flank.

And the south:

Panzer Group 2 (Guderian) on the south/right wing is in an excellent position, having seized the Dnepr crossing point at Mogilev. The other potential crossing points at Zhlobin (south) and Orsha (north) are not occupied by the enemy but we hold off on taking them to avoid horizontal overextension. There are powerful enemy units on our left flank and we do not want to expose ourselves there. The panzer group's dispositions are very close to what they were historically at this point but we want to avoid a key mistake in Guderian's Dnepr crossing by not opting for a broad-front advance at all three crossing points; instead the plan is to concentrate the group at Mogilev and push through there. The panzer group is a scalpel not a hammer!

The infantry of von Kluge's 4th Army (blue counters) makes its way east behind Guderian and will have several divisions east of the Berezina next week. This army will be responsible for supporting Panzer Group 2's attacks eastward where necessary and protecting the right flank of the army group as Guderian stretches it to the northeast.

Strategic Considerations

Smolensk is the main strategic objective for Army Group Center in this second phase. Almost as important is the destruction of the Soviet Western Front, as it will continue to stand between us and Moscow. The operational plan for achieving these objectives is to create another encirclement using the two panzer groups as the pincers.

Hoth will make for either Dorogobuzh or Yartsevo depending on what the enemy gives us. Guderian makes for Yelnya, and the groups meet somewhere in the middle. As the panzers advance, the flanks of the army group will become increasingly drawn out. As mentioned before, 9th Army (left wing) and 4th Army (right wing) will slot in as the mobile formations press on to protect against counterattack on the flanks and preserve the integrity of the closing ring around the Western Front. We also have a newly arrived army (2nd) that has just unloaded from the trains at the railhead behind Panzer Group 2 / 4th Army and will go wherever help is needed.

The strength of the enemy, along with the terrain, leave in doubt the issue of whether Hoth's Panzer Group 3 can keep pace with Group 2 or even break through at all. If this proves to be a problem early, 9th Army will do its best to help out in creating the breakthrough and we may need to siphon artillery support off of other units on a more defensive posture to make this happen.

Operations - Army Group South

News in the south is quite good, with the Romanians pushing north to link up with Panzer Group 1 and seal the Lvov pocket.

In the extreme south, 11th Army has finally joined the fight and makes modest progress into Bessarabia, capturing Kishinev. With no armor and little offensive power from the Romanian contingent, progress for 11th Army will be slow until perhaps Panzer Group 1 starts causing trouble far in the rear.

The port city of Odessa is the main strategic objective for this group and the responsibility for achieving it falls primarily on the Romanians. 11th Army will help out as needed, but will be used primarily to maintain a continuous front from the bulk of Army Group South down to the Black Sea coast (which may involve bypassing Odessa).

Strategic Considerations

The city of Kiev is the primary strategic objective for all of Army Group South. However it isn't totally clear what the operational means to achieving this objective should be. With the Lvov pocket sealed and likely collapsed next turn, Panzer Group 1 appears to have quite a bit of open country to its east.

There is still a ramshackle line sitting between us and Kiev, which could be easily encircled, but perhaps we should be more ambitious and head for the Dnepr, or even bolder and head for the industrial "heartland" of Ukraine. The lower Dnepr bend is anchored by two major industrial centers, Dnepropetrovsk and Zaprozhye, and those are the entry points into the resource-rich areas around the Donets River and beyond. Other than Kiev which is mostly a political objective, the campaign in the south will be all about starving out the Soviet Union by depriving her of her industrial/manpower base.

Casualty Report

More heavy losses for the Soviets. We captured 173,000 enemy soldiers this week, bringing their total combined losses to 511,000.