SigUp
Posts: 1062
Joined: 11/29/2012 Status: offline
|
Turn 5: 17th July 1941 - 23rd July 1941 Army Group North After being inactive for more or less two weeks, Army Group North's armies once again raised the hammer against the Soviets. Seven infantry divisions of I., II. and X. AK reached the Luga and immediately began the crossing of the river against heavy enemy fire. In a crucial battle the elite 21st Infantry Division managed to break the dug-in 133rd Rifle Division in a hasty attack on 19th July. The battle was personally overseen by I. AK's new commander Generalleutnant Walter Model, former commander of 3rd Panzer Division. II. AK was equally successful and by the 20th July the Germans had created a 30-mile wide bridgehead over the Luga. Only 30th Infantry Division of X. AK was stifled by Soviet resistance, some 20 miles west of Novgorod. The breach created by the infantry was then exploited by Hoepner's panzer units. Manstein's LVI. AK (mot.) used 8th Panzer Division as its spearhead and reached Divenskaya on 21st July. Meanwhile XXXXI. AK (mot.) aimed at breaking into the swamplands north of Novgorod to prevent the Soviets from forming a solid second line of defense there. With the help of LVI. AK's SS Totenkopf and 3rd Motorized Division Torkovichi was captured on the 23rd July. A day earlier 1st and 6th Panzer Division drove two rifle divisions out of the swamps and caused heavy losses on the Soviets. By the end of the week the spearheads of 4th Panzer Group stood 40 miles south of Lake Ladoga and only 20 miles away from the critical railway junction of Mga. Army Group Centre A week after launching the Smolensk campaign, Hoth's panzer group had to deal with their first setback. A successful Soviet counterattack reopenend communication lines to the (now confirmed) 12 divisions in the Smolensk pocket. With the aid of 9th Army, 3rd Panzer Group resealed the pocket, while sending LVII. AK (mot.) towards Durovo. Behind the river the Soviets already set up solid fortifications. Any attempt to cross the river will need infantry assistance. South of Smolensk 2nd Panzer Group tightened the ring around the trapped units, while forward elements captured Roslavl. 4th Army's infantry reached the Sozh in the meantime. Army Group South South of the Pripyats 6th Army continued its advance on Kiev. While XVII. AK covered the army's flank around Korosten, eight divisions of XXIX., XXXXIV. and LV. AK closed in on the capital of the Ukraine. The door to the city was opened when 130th Rifle Division, after holding out against 75th Infantry Division, was bounced by a determined attack from 168th Infantry Division on 20th July. South of 6th Army, 17th Army marched in the direction of Kremenchug - Dnepropetrowsk, while 11th Army sent its forces over the Yuzhny Bug, with the exception of LIV. AK, which was tasked with aiding the Rumanians in capturing Odessa. After pushing east for weeks, von Kleist's panzer group swung north towards the Dnepr between Chigirin and Kremenchug. Unfortunately Das Reich and LSSAH reached the river with not enough MPs to attempt a crossing (they arrived with 14), so the gap between Kremenchug and Chigirin wasn't taken advantage of (as well as the weak cavalry division guarding the river west of that gap). Meanwhile XIV. AK (mot.), as well as parts of III. AK (mot.) rested. XIV. AK possesses relatively high stocks of fuel and was also subject of aerial deliveries by Luftflotte 4. The plan is for XXXXVI. AK (mot.) to open up the river next week with XIV. AK (mot.) as the crossing force. The drive towards Dnepr bend meanwhile was left to the Rumanian Cavalry Corps. In other news, the last remnants of the Stanislav - Lvov pocket were eliminated by Rumanian and Hungarian forces, with OKH carefully avoiding any clashes between the two nations. Finnish Front In Karelia the Fins countinued their attacks to reclaim lost territories. VI. and VII. AK of the Karelian Army reached the Janis and five divisions were preparing to storm the river line. The majority of the Kannas Army near Vyborg on the other hand was still preparing for their attack. Only II. AK attacked, with 15th Division reclaiming Keksholm and 2nd Division reaching the outskirts of Vyborg, known as Viipuri to the Fins. Also, Hankö was recaptured on 19th July to the delight of the Finnish government. Air War A week after sustaining their heaviest losses since the week one airfield bombings, the Luftwaffe had a fine outing. Not counting the 32 lost recon aircraft, the Luftwaffe suffered only 19 total losses, while shooting down 134 Soveit planes. The most intense air battles happened over the skies of Army Group north. In the battle for Divenskaya 135 German fighters and 97 bombers encountered 79 Soviet fighters and 14 bombers. While losing only 3 Bf 109, I. Fliegerkorps registered 21 Soviet fighters as shot down. A few days later over Sluditsa the Germans sent out 110 fighters and 99 bombers, which encountered 38 Soviet aircraft, among them 19 SB 2, which were all shot down.
< Message edited by SigUp -- 11/25/2013 8:57:08 PM >
|