M60A3TTS
Posts: 4014
Joined: 5/13/2011 Status: offline
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Due to the relative strength of the two sides currently, which has reached turn 40, certain things need to remain confidential even now. This thread will try and remain within three turns of Axis reporting which is currently the case, 26 and 23 respectively. Obviously the great time and effort required to document their ground and air campaign makes for a slower report time. The rather sparse nature of our reporting will be taken care of later as more of a fill-in-the-blanks recap. I will address three points within the continuing air campaign. Light tank production has been impaired. We have tank brigades in the Urals without any light tanks. But those units haven't been selected for any sort of role. They simply sit in the rear and gain experience. Up at the front, we have numerous tank brigades with most or all of their light tanks. This is not a difficult thing to do when managing the resupply effort. So are we impacted by the bombing of light tank factories? Not particularly. We may feel the shortage down the road, but as many a child has been told on a long drive, "we're not there yet". Repeated Axis reports comment on how many of this type or that type of aircraft have not been produced. Those figures may be accurate, but won't be confirmed here. The estimate of such things is work for an accountant. Our ground commanders are working towards objectives set by the STAVKA whether there is a Red Air Force flying or not. During this blizzard offensive, we accomplished a certain number of things without many planes so that when our air force is truly needed in summer, it will be there. Before summer begins, our Yak-1 factories will be at full production. Because they aren't in January is hardly a crisis in the making. The Red Air Force is going to grow despite the best efforts of our opponent, and with equipment that is game-changing. Specifically those are the Yak-7B, La-5 and Yak-1B. With the arrival of these types, we will regain control of the air. Factories are being sent to the Urals as they become threatened by air or ground forces. To do anything otherwise would be foolish. If factories leave Stalingrad now, it isn't because some aircraft are dropping a few bombs, it is because the city will be a key target of any summer Axis ground offensive. The large scale evacuation is a multi-week process and makes sense to do while things are relatively stable during the blizzard period. In seventeen weeks after a 100% evacuation, factories resume full production. If we are going to lose "x" number of arms or vehicles or tanks, it makes sense to pay the cost sooner rather than later.
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