Seminole
Posts: 2105
Joined: 7/28/2011 Status: offline
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Turn 7 Overall Strategic Map at the start of the turn. First things first - The Lost Division. 44th Mtn Div, last formation remaining on the map from the Stanislav Pocket, holds out against two Hungarian assaults. Stalin orders supplies flow to the unit, and sufficient numbers arrive to bring them up to beachhead supply status. The unit is nearing depletion. Even with supplies it simply can't last for over two months behind enemy lines. German forces are clearly concentrating on Leningrad. The defenders are giving ground slowly, but the Wehrmacht manages to pin several rifle divisions to the Baltic. STAVKA supplies several fresh rifle brigades which are immediately sent to the front lines to screen the panzer thrusts toward the Luga river. Northwest Front takes responsibility for defenses from Novgorod to Velikie-Luki. It doesn't appear that the Germans will attempt to hook below Lake Ilmen, but the Russians have to keep the possibility in mind. Saaremaa Island - Estonia Germans attack brigade holding crossing. While they compel a retreat under fire they are unable to exploit the moment and make a crossing. The divisions that escaped from Tallinn and fell under Stuka bombardment at sea were barely cohesive upon arrival: 8th Moscow PM RD - 13% exp rifle squads 2nd Moscow PM RD - 19% exp rifle squads both restocked to >90% TOE due to port supply. I had wanted to create a trap for the German infantry division on this island by moving a Rifle Division to the northernmost island while the other held the port and the brigade managed a fighting withdrawal. I was going to cut off the German infantry with the northern division and piss off OKH, but the gamey replacement cycle kills the joy of it. If they hadn't been intercepted and came on the island at their 80%+ TOE I would have liked to try this gambit, but it felt cheap, so I changed plans. The KGB obtained Fuhrer Directive No.33 is validated by the events in the Smolensk region. German mechanized forces have split north and south, the exact composition of the diversion of forces is not yet clear, but Gomel is threatened, and so the operations in the marshes must be brought to a close. Approximately 8 German infantry division equivalents are currently trying to comb the swamps. Army Group South has decided to focus its panzer corps on Kiev, but the progress is slow, and provides time to continue building the Dnepr Line farther south. At Odessa the enemy units draw closer, but haven't yet isolated the ground resupply route. Overall Strategic Map at the end of the turn.
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