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SigUp -> Turn 14: 18th September 1941 - 24th September 1941 (1/9/2014 2:22:43 PM)
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Turn 14: 18th September 1941 - 24th September 1941
Army Group North
[image]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/5453/uzkz.jpg[/image]
Around mid-late September von Leeb's Army Group began to reach its absolute limits of advance in the northernmost part of the front. In the vicinity of Lake Ilmen, however, the force concentration was still strong enough to beat back heavily dug-in Soviet divisions and push them away from Msta and Pola. At a conference in Smolensk between Halder and von Leeb the two generals agreed to turn 4th Panzer Group north as soon as the situation allowed it. The Panzer Group was asked to capture Kalinin and Torzhok while forcing a Soviet evacuation of the Valdai Hills - an area von Leeb considered of utmost importance for an effective defence.
Army Group Centre
[image]http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/6171/60ex.jpg[/image]
A little mistake there "Juzhnyj" Front should read "Zapadnyj" of course.
A day after the Rzhev pocket was opened by a Soviet counterattack Hoth assembled Model's elite I. AK to push the Soviet forces back. In seven days of hard battles the corps restored the pocket while clearing a corridor of 30 miles width. By 24th September the three divisions stood in the Lama - Moskva gap, determined to drive the Red Army further towards Moscow. A decisive push, however, was still out of reach with the majority of 9th Army bound by the Rzhev pocket, which it hope to eliminate by the end of the month.
A concern to the commanders of Army Group Centre was the bulge of Kaluga which severely restricted German mobility in the Kaluga - Tula region. With the Soviets fortifying the Moskva-Volga Canal von Bock and his staff began to discuss the possibility of rerouting 3rd Panzer Group's mobile forces, as well as significant portions of 9th Army to the Temkino sector, in order to push the Soviets out. [Note 1]
Meanwhile to the south Orel and Kursk became heavily fortified frontline cities. With the Germans lacking the infantry strength for frontal assaults Guderian's panzers were driven south with the intention to bypass and encircle the cities.
Army Group South
[image]http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/6499/ikhn.jpg[/image]
In the South the German advance still couldn't generate enough steam with logistics and urban areas playing the role of stumbling blocks. Still, in the week from 18th to 24th September 1st Panzer Group managed to push six Soviet divisions into a pocket around the Donets east of Kharkov. The Ukrainian metropole itself was captured in a combined effort on the 22nd, with Belgorod falling a day later. Thus the road towards Kursk - Oskol lay open and the Red Army responded by pulling back, leaving only a few divisions as roadblocks.
On the Crimea LIV. AK continued to work its way towards Sevastopol with resistance increasing with every day. Adding to that, torrent-like rainfalls commenced on the evening of the 24th, turning the ground into severe mud.
Partisan War
Continuing the trend from the early September weeks, partisans began to attack the German rail net in all parts of the country. In the North a partisan battallion managed to break Army Group North's sole rail line between Vore and Petseri. Meanwhile south of Vitebsk the secondary rail line towards Gomel was attacked at Bogushevsk. But luckily for the Germans construction troops managed to repair the damage by the end of the week. Last but not least two seperate partisan units blew up rails near Zatishye and Bessarabskaya with no consequence to Army Group South's second West-East line from Ungeny to Apostolovo.
[Note 1: AGC's northern flank begins to stretch to a breaking point. I don't have the infantry forces to cover it while attacking towards Moscow the same time. So by default I already have to send out 4th Panzer Group north. The issue, however, is what to do once November hits. I have no desire of leaving an entire Panzer Group out in the blizzard.]
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