Postcards from the OstFront - a General-Level AAR

[BaronVonWalrus]

Double post please ignore

[BaronVonWalrus]

21 June 1942

Today has seen the final mopping-up of enemy resistance in both the Bartenyevka and Sapun Gora areas. Most of 25 Infanterie and the elements of 3 & 17 Panzer that had been allocated for its support had already been ordered along the road or by rail to Inkerman, for onward deployment in the gathering assault on Sevastopol itself.



The remaining cruiser moored in Sevastopol's docks must have suffered main drive damage in the first torpedo attack by our U-Boots, as it had been incapable of leaving its mooring. Without any remaining air or naval assets, the Soviets lacked the means to zero in on the U-Boots and this nameless cruiser ended up as an abandoned wreck.



With all enemy resistance outside the city and the as-yet un-investigated western coastline eliminated, almost the full weight of XIX Panzer Corps was assembling in the plains outside the city for the final stages of the operation.



22 June 1942

Our advance into the eastern districts of Sevastopol delivered positive results, with a combined arms assault by 3 Panzer clearing the airfield of defenders.



With the airfield secured, the 170mm batteries of 3 Panzer and 17 Panzer's 150mm artillerie were moved up into range of the city centre whilst the maths wizards in Big Gustav's enormous entourage worked out new gunnery solutions for the emplaced enemy gun positions as the train was brought into a new firing location.



I was present when Herr General took an uncomfortable telephone call from Generaloberst Von Manstein himself, in which we were reminded in clear terms of the need for a swift resolution to matters on the peninsula as our Corps had been earmarked to spearhead the upcoming "Case Blue" offensive to regain the territory in the Don Basin and drive on towards the Caspian Sea and the Soviet's oil fields. This call was translated into orders for urgent thrusts towards the western coastline and the Maxim Gorky II fortress, with a "stop at nothing" edict being handed down to the Panzer division HQs.



23 June 1942

Having re-boarded their transport planes, Fallschirmjager-Regiment 7 from 7 Flieger Division was given the task of capturing the airfield adjacent to Maxim Gorky II; we were all relieved to find it undefended!



Thanks to the elimination of enemy strongpoints further east and the air-landing of FJ-Regiment 7, we were able to cut off all access to Maxim Gorky II and set the scene for its demise. This would, however, require the enemy soldiers still holding out in Sevastopol to be forced back against the coastline so that the railway line could be freed up for Big Gustav to traverse to get into a suitable position to support the assault on Maxim Gorky II.





24-26 June 1942

Actions to reduce and either eliminate or force the surrender of the last Soviet forces in the field continued across these 3 days, culminating in decisive attacks by 1st Romanian Mountain Division to capture the last of the enemy naval infanterie, Pionerie-Regiment 93's assault on the gun emplacements overlooking Sevastopol's docks and Pioniere-Regiment 49's final assault at Maxim Gorky II.







Von Manstein arrived via Storch in person on the evening of 26 June, to personally congratulate Herr General and the assembled division commanders on the successful conclusion of the operation. On reflection, the essential decision had been reached once the Soviets failed to throw back our advance across the Chernaya river. Pressure from Von Manstein's command grew for a hard date for final victory to be met as he'd been instructed himself by Generalfeldmarschall Von Bock to ensure that XIX Panzer Corps was available and in good order to lead the upcoming Case Blue offensive, for which we would be need to be transferred to Von Paulus' 6th Armee command.

[BaronVonWalrus]

OOC

There's an objective write-up and some great photos relating to the Maxim Gorky I and the German assault on Sevastopol to be found here >> https://allworldwars.com/The%20History% ... ttery.html

[Blagrot]

I'm playing with heroes off, 25% randomness and 3 undos per turn. I have no shame on re-rerolling an attack where I need to finish off a remnant and the original attack roll is worse than the predicted result and allows 1 enemy strength point to survive. Still, at heart I guess I'm more Von Manstein than Guderian and I'm more comfortable with methodical assaults than I am with daring thrusts into the unknown. This all takes time, and I often find myself right up against the turn limit to secure final objectives. I'm tempted to get really historical and try a campaign with mainly infantry and panzergrenadiers - with one full panzer divsion - but I might need to turn off the turn limit for that!

Perhaps that just means that the scenario design has been done by people similar to us, eh?

Or at least they are well aware people who aren't military geniuses also like these games, they've managed to make most unit types useful too. I do feel the time limit is least threatening than in PC1 so far but judging by the AAR i'm far more reckless than you - I normally play armies like the soviets where casualties are a secondary concern...

[BaronVonWalrus]

28th June 1942

The last 48 hours has seen the XIX Corps' staff fight their own series of battles with the much-downplayed "bureaucracy of war", as not far short of of 80 thousand personnel and thousands of various vehicles has had to be spirited out of the Crimea and back north into the Ukraine to meet the jumping-off deadline for Case Blue. I don't know how this would have been achieved if our forces had taken more punishment than they did in the assaults at Sevastopol. Still, co-ordinating the planned advance over hundreds of miles of steppe will come as a relief from the mind-numbing frustrations we've faced in our handover from 11 to 6 Armee command and making sure our replacements and promised new vehicles have actually gone to the right places!

As our upcoming mission is about as unlike the Sevastopol operation as it's possible to get, the half-tracks have been reassigned to 25 Infanterie Division and the regiments from 7 Flieger Division have been retained. We were sounded out about our appetite to bring Big Gustav with us out of the Crimea, but there is only so much strain our logistics network can be placed under.......and only so many pieces of paperwork that can be filled in from a train without any sleep; the Dora railway cannon remains with 11 Armee although one of last rumours we heard before our transfer was that it was being earmarked for action in Leningrad. I wonder how many bits of the thing would fall off in any ill-advised transit between the Black Sea and the Baltic?

After reviewing our reserve, expansion of some formations and acquisition of more stocks of the latest vehicle models where possible, XIX Panzer Corps's Order Of Battle for Case Blue is:

3 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 3 (Pz IVG)
Panzer-Regiment 9 (Pz IIIN)
Pioniere-Abt 93 (SdKfz 251)
Artillerie-Regiment 49 (170mm Sdkfz 7)
Schwere-Panzerjager-Abt 300 (Sturer Emil prototype)
Sturm-Abteilung 203 (StuG IIIB)
Aufklarung-Abt 3 (SdKfz 232)

10 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 10 (Pz IVF)
Panzer-Regiment 13 (Pz IVG)
Pioniere-Abt 100 (mot)
Panzer-Artillerie-Abt 10 (Hummel Prototype)
Panzerjager-Abt 10 (StuG IIIF)

17 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 17 (Pz IVG)
Panzer-Regiment 27 (Pz IIIN)
Pioniere-Abt 49 (SdKfz 251)
Artillerie-Regiment 117 (150mm Sdkfz 7)
Panzerjager-Abt 49 (50mm PaK 38 SP)
Sturm-Abteilung 217 (StuG IIIB)
Aufklarung-Abt 117 (SdKfz 232)

25 Infanterie Division:
Infanterie-Regiment 25 (SdKfz 251)
Infanterie-Regiment 125 (SdKfz 251)
Pioniere-Abt 25 (SdKfz 251)
Artillerie-Regiment 25 (170mm, SdKfz 7)
Panzerjager-Abt 25 (50mm PaK 38 SP)
Sturm-Abteilung 225 (StuG IIIB)
Aufklarung-Abt 25 (Pz IIF)

7 Flieger Division:
Fallschirmjager-Regiment 7
Fallschirmjager-Regiment 9

JG26:
Gruppe I (Bf 109G)
Gruppe II (Bf 109G)
Gruppe III (Bf 109G)

ZG 99:
Gruppe I (Bf 110G)
Gruppe II (Bf 110G)
Gruppe III (Bf 110D)

XIX Corps Assets in support:
Bruckenpioniere-Abt 19
Bruckenpioniere-Abt 12
Bf-109PR Flight

In reserve:

Infanterie-Regment 49
Infanterie-Regiment 149
Schwere-Artillerie-Regiment "Eiffel" (170mm, SdKfz 7)
Sturm-Abteilung 210 (StuG IIIB)
StG 3 - I (JU 87D)
KG 88 - I (JU 88A)
KG 88 - II (Do 217E)

[BaronVonWalrus]

It's not easy to draw up comprehensive operational plans from a cramped train carriage and without really having much intelligence on enemy dispositions, but permit me to share what Herr General and the division commanders have come up with as an outline plan. The synopsis is:

17 Panzer will cut off Rostov from the north whilst 7 Flieger will air-drop on the south side of the city - we were unable to "get behind" Rostov in our 1941 operation here so this is a lesson learned. Once the city is captured, 17 Panzer will drive around the "outside" of the Don Bend to attack and capture Kalach, with 7 Flieger's fallschirmjaegers in support.
Meanwhile, 3 Panzer will advance and capture Voroshilovgrad and push east towards the rail hub at Millerovo. 10 Panzer, slightly futher north, will advance and secure Rossosh. With the rail line from Rostov secured, these divisions will link up and look to trap any Soviets between them and Kalach in a kettle by securing the river crossing at Bolguchar.
25 Infanterie will advance towards Voronezh in the north of the operational area and secure all approaches from the west and south before seizing the city.
JG 26 and ZG 99 are to be split up across all available airfields as we have no means of knowing where enemy land or air power is concentrated.

[BaronVonWalrus]

28th June 1942

And so, new operations over ground many veterans of XIX Panzer Corps trod last year begin. Whilst the scale of Herr General's command has grown since our last visit to the Don and Donets, the honour roll of our brave dead has grown much larger and yet here we are once again striving for territory we have secured once already. Still, this time the goal of this summer's offensive is worthy and strategically sound - the oilfields of the Caucusus.

From north to south, allow me to summarise the reports from the Corps' formations on day one of the Case Blue operation:

25 Infanterie make use of Corps' bruckenpionerie to cut off Staryy Oskol.



10 Panzer move out across the river from Kupyansk and make contact with a poorly-equipped Soviet conscript regiment.



3 Panzer with attached bruckenpioniere splits to both attack and bypass Lysychansk.



17 Panzer made contact with an enemy reconnaissance force NW of Rostov. Whilst there have certainly been some bad days during my tenure with XIX Panzer Corps, imagine a day where you expect to do nothing more than watch potential river crossings for probing reconnaissance and instead you don't notice your enemy's reconnassiance fixing your position without your knowledge, passing your position on to a fully-equipped front-line panzer regiment. Imagine that panzer regiment smashing your contingent into pieces with total impunity and then, when they break off to reorganise and resupply, imagine cowering in what's left of your position underneath a storm of artillerie fire and seeing your own supply network disintegrate. And then, as the artillerie barrage ends, imagine sitting their helpless to prevent a collection of half-tracked prime movers converted to carry 50mm PaKs rolling up 500 metres away and picking off anything in your command not already reduced to a smoking wreck. That, dear reader, is what the last day of life for the couple of thousand or so Soviets in the that unnamed aufklarung formation looked like.



29th June 1942

Soviet reactions to our initial advances were patchy. In 25 Infanterie's sector, ZG 99 was called in to help deal with enemy tanks whilst cavalry made a nuisance of themselves on the flanks of the division.



The division's newly-incorpated Panzerjager-abteilung saw its first action in destroying a number of the remaining enemy T-50s, allowing the Pz IIFs of the aufklarung-abteilung to wrap up matters.



In 10 Panzer's sector, the enemy had been able to funnel some more manpower to their battered Conscript regiment and had supported it with a cavalry formation. All this would ultimately achieve would be more dead and captured Soviets.



In 3 Panzer's sector, Pioniere-Regiment 93 delivered the coup de main at Lysychansk.



However, at Rostov, the enemy had responded by bringing up a regiment of heavy KV1s in response to 17 Panzer's exploits.



In the skies, II Gruppe of JG 26 added substantially to its tally of confirmed kills. The aces across its 3 Staffel will soon be running out of space on which to affix kill badges!



30th June 1942

25 Infanterie reported the mass surrender of the garrison at Staryy Oskol, whilst a wing of enemy P40-type fighters was engaged and fully destroyed by planes from both our attached fliegerkorps.





Further east, reconnaissance overflights of Voronezh revealed it to be moderately-defended.



Near Rostov, the attacking KV1 force had been surrounded and it capitulated quickly, early in the day.



Pioniere-Regiment 49 advanced into the NW suburbs of the city, where it spend the afternoon and evening holding its ground against a mixture of air, artillerie and infanterie attacks without doing much more than metaphorically flinching.



Herr General must have been in a generous mood, because he authorised an unheard-of volume of awards to the diehards in that assault regiment today!

[BaronVonWalrus]

1st July 1942

One of the cornerstone elements of the operational plan - cutting off Rostov both north and south - was achieved today with 7 Flieger Division's landings south of the city enabling them to take control of the road south. There aren't the days in the timetable to allow 17 Panzer to simply wait for the defenders to give up, so noose-tightening movement and low-risk offensive operations must continue over the next couple of days without sacrificing the division's fighting potential.



Moving further north, 3 Panzer has almost fully reformed north of the river at Lysychank thanks to the ability of the bruckenpionerie to essentially move their bridges down the river partially assembled. The enemy had engaged 3 Panzer in regimental strength late in the day yesterday, and this isolated red formation had been quickly trapped and forced to surrender today.



10 Panzer reported a reasonably quiet day as it advanced towards Rossosh.



In contrast, 25 Infanterie's forward elements have swept to take the unguarded airfield at Ostrogozshk and, having made contact with the enemy, arrayed themselves decisively to both isolate the town's garrison and exact a punishing toll on the mobile FlaK units sent to harry them.





2nd July 1942

Routine mopping-up at Ostrogozshk hasn't taken much of 25 Infanterie's capacity today.



The enemy aufklarung formation screening Rossosh was bombed out of its initial positions by ZG 99, chased and eliminated by 10 Panzer's combat regiments. The town itself will present a very minor obstacle to progress.



3 Panzer has successfully flanked the defence at Voroshilovgrad; Corps' doctrine usually prohibits engagement from bridges, but it was rightly thought that the sledgehammer force of the veteran Panzer-Regiment 3 and it's Panzer IVGs would be a force orders of magnitude too powerful for the enemy's 76mm guns deployed for artillerie rather than PaK fire. Again counter to doctrine, 3 Panzer's pioniere forded the river to assault and eliminate what was left of the enemy artillerie regiment before they could organise effective fire against the panzers.



With this daring maneuver delivering the best possible results, the path was opened for 3 Panzer's aufklarung-abteilung to move across the bridge and close the encirclement of the town.



News from Rostov today has been mixed - whilst there appears to be no prospect of a Soviet breakout attempt, a wing of the fearsome Sturmovik close support aircraft have been wreaking havoc on 17 Panzer. This has necessitated Corps ordering two thirds of our supporting 109s and 110s to the Stalino airfield to ensure that this substantial threat is wiped from the sky as soon as possible!



3 Jul 1942

With the Rostov skies now less dangerous for 17 Panzer and 7 Flieger Division thanks to the combined efforts of JG 26 and ZG 99, the noose continues to tighten with the garrison's supporting static guns removed as threat and the airbase captured.



At Voroshilovgrad, an attempt by the defenders to force a breakout through Pioniere-Regiment 93 had proved futile. The hardened men of the assault formation made the beleaguered Soviet conscripts pay in what can, sadly, only be described as a massacre. I doubt Soviet propaganda blames Dear Uncle Joe for his callous disregard for the lives of his people when it recounts the untold hordes of ordinary men forced into uniform with little training or equipment and ordered to face off against a well-equipped, trained and motivated opponent.



Having swept aside the pathetic defenders of Voroshilovgrad, 3 Panzer pivoted NE to follow the road and railway in the direction of Millerovo and was augmented by Panzer-Regiment 27's arrival as the latter had been deemed surplus to requirements at Rostov. Later in the day, it engaged a couple of red cavalry regiments which quickly found themselves surrounded and without any hope.



Further north at Rossosh, yet more cavalry (perhaps from the same division as those engaged by 3 Panzer) had entered the field. 10 Panzer, lacking the full range of supporting elements attached to our other divisions, was not able to fully contain it and the Soviets were able to inflict a number of casualties on Pioniere-Regiment 100 which it caught in column formation aboard their trucks.

[BaronVonWalrus]

4th July 1942

In a day of otherwise routine operations and the usual grind of Corps administration, 17 Panzer reported that one of two elite Guards regiments it was in contact with in Rostov had been forced into a surrender; the city is expected to fall into our hands fully tomorrow.



5th July 1942

As expected, the last vestiges of Soviet defence in Rostov have evaporated, opening up the route for 17 Panzer (minus one of its panzer regiments and its mobile PaK abteilung) to motor around the river bend to Kalach and seal off the supply (and retreat) routes to the east.



As part of the preparations by 3 Panzer for its attack at Millerovo, our new spotter flight of unarmed PR-variant 109s was detailed to overfly the area beyond the town to provide intelligence on enemy reserves or in-depth defences. They advised us of sightings of an unusual red tank, with a sponson-mounted main gun built into the lower front right side of the vehicle and a small turret mounting a heavy autocannon-type gun similar to those seen on our earliest panzer models. "It looks like a museum relic!" was our disparaging assessment. 3 Panzer's commanders were more immediately concerned by the revealed presence of a heavy KV-1 based regiment.



Further along the north/south rail line at Rossosh, 10 Panzer reported the surrender of the isloated and without-hope garrison.



6th Jul 1942

At Millerovo, the augmented 3 Panzer spent the day fully committed to offensive operations with support from the reliable crews of ZG 99. Priority had been given to the dug-in guns in positions behind the town, whose destruction would allow the capture of the town to be relatively trouble-free.



Further south, 17 Panzer's advance along the south bank of the Don continued although Herr General made clear his concerns to Generalleutnant Licht about the timetable and the deadline for Licht's division to be in control of Kalach by. I regretfully took dictation from Herr General to write a letter for 6 Armee Kommando's attention, calling attention to the lack of confidence Corps had in Licht's suitability for the demands of command of a spearhead division like 17 Panzer.

On the north bank opposite the division, an enemy bomber wing was engaged and destroyed in the vicinity of its airfield.





7th July 1942

A temporary lull in 25 Infanterie's progress, mainly due to necessary reorganisation and replenishment but with an element of indecision (to be fair, indecision by Corps as much as the division itself), ended today as the division crossed the Don with the aid of Corps' bruckenpioniere at Pavlovsk; the plan being to secure this road into Voronezh and ensure that the assault on that city would not be interrupted by reds coming in from this area. This move was timed with orders for 10 Panzer to fight its way through a mixed force of enemy riflemen and cavalry towards the north/south river crossing at Boguchar.



3 Panzer, by now occupying the southern end of this almost-continuous front line, had become the focal point of a Soviet tank attack by front-line regiments fielding the latest T34 and KV1 variants albeit in numbers likely to irritate and damage, rather than seriously threaten, the Corps' primary formation. Whilst the panzers maneuvered and fought around the town, Pioniere-Regiment 93 successfully stormed the settlement.



3 Panzer was able to engineer a direct engagement of the T34 regiment by its Sturer Emils following constriction of the enemy's supply line, with reassuringly devastating results for the Soviets.



Panzer-Regiment 3 steamed through weakening enemy resistance, flattening the remaining Soviet 76mm guns before rolling over the T34s that had fled Schwere-Panzerjaeger-Abt 300's killing zone.





8th July 1942

The third day of the division-scale engagement around Millerovo saw the essential decision of matters reached, including the capitulation of the cut-off heavy tank force and the capture of the local airfield. A force of those bizzarely-shaped (and definitely not Red Army style) fighting vehicles remained in the area. We would later learn that these were American-made "M3 Lee" medium tanks, which meant that we were now having to cope with the industrial resources of the Americans as well as the Soviets.



9th July 1942

3 Panzer (with support from 10 Panzer elements) has reported the capture of several of the american-made tanks. Despite their ridiculous appearance, they are armed well enough to overmatch Panzer IIIJs and have effective anti-personnel armaments. Still, they appear lightly armoured and of clearly inferior build quality - both ours and the Soviets front-line panzer regiments (and specialist panzerjaegers) would be more than a match for these M3 Lees.



Some good news has come in from 17 Panzer HQ - they have closed towards Kalach and have called upon Corps to direct 7 Flieger Division to start their operations in support.



Near Voronezh, earlier air reconnaissance had revealed substantial enemy reserves within perhaps two days' distance east of the city - at least one tank division and one rifle division. This has complicated matters somewhat, with the original plan to use 3 and 10 Panzer to trap and eliminate everything between Millerovo and Kalach now abandoned due to the huge risks posed to any unsupported attack by 25 Infanterie at Voronezh given the intelligence about the enemy reserve force. Orders were given to ZG 99 to move aircraft to the Ostrogozshk airfield and start harrassing the reserve force.



25 Infanterie have been ordered to reorganise and pause before advancing on Voronezh, to allow 3 and 10 Panzer to reform and move up in readiness to provide support.



11th July 1942

With plans in place and preparations complete, 25 Infanterie's assault on Voronezh has begun in earnest whilst 3 and 10 Panzer will soon begin their drive NE to establish a solid defensive front ahead of the Soviet reserve force.



With limited room to maneuver south of Kalach and bound by orders not to stray too far east and beyond the reach of our supply network, 17 Panzer has been delayed by small but effectively-positioned defending forces near the airfield. These have finally been put into an unsustainable position and Kalach itself lies within reach, but now that the rest of the Corps is committed to Voronezh, 17 Panzer will have to move fast to secure Kalach and the road bridge west over the Chir River.



12th July 1942

I am pleased to report the benefits of effective planning and Corps administration in our successful efforts in Voronezh - given remit by Herr General to act independently to secure suitable assets to expand our existing divisons where possible, I had been able to generate the creation of Panzerjaeger-Abt 25 from a core force of 50mm PaK 38 half-track mounted guns that had been sent into armeegroup reserve as more and more StuG IIIFs have been finding their way into front-line divisions. This "cheap and cheerful" force has given 25 Infanterie some self-sufficiency against light and medium-armoured enemy units in clear terrain and today it's reported the final destruction of an enemy tank force that had been flushed out of the city proper by the landsers.





Elsewhere in Voronezh, a unit of Stalin Organs was comprehsnsively finished off by Pioniere-regiment 25.



13th July 1942

With matters within the city essentially decided and with air attacks ongoing against the as-yet-uncommited enemy reserve, our own "wall of steel" has been forming up east of Voronezh in readiness for what surely be an attempt to reverse the situation? One wonders why the Soviets didn't commit this force as soon as 25 Infanterie's assault on the city became obvious?



With it clearly being a good day for decisive developments, Pionerie-Regiment 49 with 17 Panzer has reported the end of resistance in Kalach. Swift action is now required to pivot west back across the river to close in and take the final key river crossing.



15th July 1942

Thanks to the recall of Panzer-Regiment 27 from its temporary attachment to 3 Panzer, 17 Panzer has been able to entrap the small enemy division stationed around the Chir river crossing. With a good balance of forces and the veteran Pioniere-Regiment 49 at its disposal, the capture of this final objective quickly - within a couple of days - is not in doubt.



Commanders across 3 and 10 Panzer have made it known to their HQs - and to Corps - that they have had enough of the short sitzkreig east of Voronezh; Herr General concurred with the view that this powerful Soviet reserve force must be brought to an engagement even it the Soviets themselves appeared to be slow to commit themselves. Orders were given for a slow advance with all units to remain in very close contact so as to present a blanket of fire in any part of the line as and when contact was made.





16th July 1942

With the pre-set "halt" date arriving tomorrow, I am pleased to report the imminent capture of our final objectve by 17 Panzer, where the defenders are quite literally "down to the conscripts".



Near Voronezh, the Soviet reserve army - somehwat more substantial than first thought - has finally given our panzer crews the battle they've been awaiting.



Who knows what impact this enemy force could have had on the outcome of our operations if they had moved to engage as soon as our actions at Voronezh became apparent and before we'd been able to marshal such overwhelming force in the area? The impact 3 and 10 Panzer had on them, however, was decisive.



17th July 1942

2000 hours today is the official "halt" of the formal operation from Corps' perspective. The final act at the Chir River bridge has been played out and the Soviet reserve army in the north has been utterly broken; its primary T34 and KV1 components destroyed while its rifle and cavalry elements are in retreat and disarray. These remnants will be most assuredly crushed within the next 24 hours or so, but that matter has been delegated to 10 Panzer and I will defer to any record of events kept by their HQ for the detail of that quite predicatable outcome.

[BaronVonWalrus]

OUT OF CHARACTER FINDINGS:

Soviet cavalry are frustratingly mobile, but this is the steppe and is good terrain for them so I have praise rather than criticism for their prevalence - Ghenghis Khan wasn't wrong, after all. I got stung a couple of times by cavalry charging in from beyond my spotting (and recon) range,avoiding tougher units and hitting transport-mounted guns or Pioniere for expensive damage! (If the AI can do this smart stuff, why does it leave decisive-strength reserves sitting around idle, though??)

Although I took all the allowed time (as usual?) the only time pressure I felt was the race east. I might have been able to advance faster by just ploughing across the map from Millerovo to Kalach, but I was determined to make use of the obvious "back door" to Kalach that the scenario designer put in. Also, I'm trying to play the campaign as a "considerate General" with one eye on potential losses at all times - we can leave the Zhukov-style wholesale disregard for life to the Reds. It's paying off as I learn the game and get used to what my units can and can't do - I was down to 11.5k prestige after the pain of Moscow and now sit on 19K without really going out of my way to capture enemy units unless they are high value and isloated in open terrain (calling out those KV1s and T34s that surrendered in this operation!).

I was pleased that I resisted the temptation to splurge out on Big Gustav and used the slots to fill out the more lightweight divisional rosters with previously-lacking recon and SP AT where possible; I was able to "stay in character" and largely stick to divisional objectives with 25 Inf especially becoming more self-sufficient with the addition of recon and 2-slot SP AT.

The only gripe was the Voronezh reserve army. Sure, if I hadn't done some aerial recon then I could have been in for all sorts of problems (and that perhaps is the point from the devs point of view?) but it would be great for the AI to know that "it's been sussed out" and that sitting around doing nothing is no longer the right thing to do. Can the ground unit AI "see" air spotters flying into their normal spotting range, or can they only spot other ground units? Anyway, it would be great if a big force like this - big enough to have a material impact on the scenario if brought into play early enough - could have a "plan B" trigger if "plan A" hasn't fired by turn x or if another key player victory hex has been taken.

Stalingrad next. 35 turns according to the turn 0 screen, so forgive me in advance for not taking per-day screenshots! I'll be rotating 3 Panzer and its expensive to repair 3-star units out as I expect substantial attrition - I expect I'll finally get the chance to add 132nd Infanterie to the game in its place and I reckon I'll be paying Gustav's price tag as well.

EDIT! I forgot about my massive "Lightbulb moment" in this operation! I'd previously focused on using the bruckenpionere as a means of getting directly from A to B as a sort of "one-way street" en route to an objective or for a strategic-level flanking maneuver (Sevastopol). Well, apart from using them sadly as cheap-to-repair extra bodies for encirclements or emergency buffers to protect high value artillerie when out of other alternatives

I just hadn't thought about advancing them along the river hexes to allow a division to advance as a unit on two sides of a river simultaneously, allowing units to criss-cross the river at will to get the best tactical positions! How obvious and how good a mechanic....

[Horseman]

The reserves at Voronezh have a specific trigger which I believe is to take and hold the objective.

Knowing this it is possible to ignore them until you're ready for them (because you have them encircled?) but personally I hate that sort of gamey play.

I have previously suggested in other topics that units should all have a default "enemy sited, ATTACK!" trigger. That way once they see you, they're coming for you. Of course that cold also be exploited to a certain extent if not done correctly.

There are other instances where you can game the system to make things a lot easier than they were really mean to be. I won't tell so as not to spoil future missions for you (though I get the distinct impression that even if you do know about these sorts of exploits you'd probably not use them)

Anyway - keep up the good work, I'm still thoroughly enjoying this AAR.

[BaronVonWalrus]

The reserves at Voronezh have a specific trigger which I believe is to take and hold the objective.

Knowing this it is possible to ignore them until you're ready for them (because you have them encircled?) but personally I hate that sort of gamey play.

I have previously suggested in other topics that units should all have a default "enemy sited, ATTACK!" trigger. That way once they see you, they're coming for you. Of course that cold also be exploited to a certain extent if not done correctly.

There are other instances where you can game the system to make things a lot easier than they were really mean to be. I won't tell so as not to spoil future missions for you (though I get the distinct impression that even if you do know about these sorts of exploits you'd probably not use them)

Anyway - keep up the good work, I'm still thoroughly enjoying this AAR.

I haven't played anything "later" than my current campaign status and haven't even tackled the standalone scenarios yet - it's likely that I'm developing techniques of play suited to the particular campaign settings I've adopted (i.e. as many vanilla units as I can possibly squeeze in without any overstrength, subdividied into coherent formations, no heroes) which may be sub-optimal in the scenarios (I'm not sure I'll ever dip my toe into multiplayer unless its a PBEM with some house rules, some time in the future). Still, loads of gamplay to get through yet not least a second campaign playing as part of Panzerarmee Afrika.

I've read other AARs and, whilst I respect the (very) serious ability and commitment to winning on display, I intend to remain focused on tackling the operations as battles rather than exercises in making the most of the envelopment mechanics. Again this is sub-optimal, but XIX Panzer Corps (probably soon morphing into 19 Armee) is going to "fight" and i'm going to look at the maps and deployments "my way" and those infanterie regiments are going to get used to their maximum.

I'm 4 turns into Stalingrad (but have got distracted by my music collection and Virtual DJ as often happens on a weekend) and my personal battle plan / deployment / initial turns / initial air recon results are leaving me feeling quite confident. I'm sure that there's a sting in the tail though

[BaronVonWalrus]

23rd Aug 1942

All the administration needed to see us move into Von Paulus' command in 6 Armee is complete, space has been made for our formations to move up on the road and rail links towards the city on the Volga and the final preparations for the jump-off have been completed. Delivering a decisive blow here - leading to a secure crossing over "Volga Matreyka" and establishing a firm foundation for a war-winning drive to the oilfields of Caspian Coast - is the clear, achievable goal. I am proud to report that Herr General has seen fit to formally designate me as the Corps' "1a" Operations Officer; some comrades have whispered to me that a promotion to Oberst may be in the offing if my management of the Corps' business at Stalingrad is seen as a contribution to victory. Imagine - an "Anglo-Saxon" aide-de-camp in a German armeekorps!

Strings have been pulled and we have been given permission to both re-form and adopt 132nd Infanterie-Division, which had been badly mauled at Sevastopol before our arrival there. The remaining Grenadier, Pioniere and artilleire regiments of the 132nd have been combined with the two experienced infanterie regiments in our reserve that were formerly the core of 49 Infanterie Division (Mot). We have been able to form a reasonably full roster of support elements around this new core, although they are freshly formed and lack the veteran's perspective that exists throughout the vast majority of the Corps. 132 Infanterie will replace 3 Panzer in the line for this most urban of operations, with that elite division being given some much-needed rest. Metaphorically, the biggest string that got pulled was the one that diverted the 50-something railway carriages that comprise the entourage for the mighty Dora railway gun from their planned destination from the city named after Lenin to the one named after his successor.

XIX Panzer Corps Order Of Battle as of 23 August 1942 is set out below. I will use (G) from today onwards to denote "Grenadier"-designated and equipped infanterie regiments, following our acquisition of two of these regiments with their organic mortar and heavy MG companies:

10 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 10 (Pz IIIN)
Panzer-Regiment 13 (Pz IVG)
Pioniere-Abt 100
Panzer-Artillerie-Abt 10 (Hummel Prototype)
Panzerjager-Abt 10 (StuG IIIF)
FlaK-Abteilung 100 (20mm Flakvierling 38)

17 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 17 (Pz IVG)
Panzer-Regiment 27 (Pz IIIN)
Pioniere-Abt 49
Artillerie-Regiment 117 (150mm Sdkfz 7)
Panzerjager-Abt 49 (StuG III/8)
Sturm-Abteilung 217 (StuG IIIB)
Aufklarung-Abt 117 (SdKfz 232)
FlaK-Abteilung 117 (20mm Flakvierling 38)

25 Infanterie Division:
Infanterie-Regiment 25
Infanterie-Regiment 125
Infanterie-Regiment 225 (G)
Pioniere-Abt 25
Artillerie-Regiment 25 (170mm, SdKfz 7)
Panzerjager-Abt 25 (50mm PaK 38 SP)
Sturm-Abteilung 225 (StuG IIIB)
Aufklarung-Abt 25 (Pz IIF)

132 Infanterie Division:
Infanterie-Regiment 49
Infanterie-Regiment (G) 132
Infanterie-Regiment 149
Pioniere-Regiment 132
Artillerie-Regiment 132 (150mm, SdKfz7)
PaK-Abteilung 132 (50mm PaK 38 horse-drawn)
Sturm-Abteilung 232 (StuG IIIB)

7 Flieger Division:
Fallschirmjager-Regiment 7

JG26:
Gruppe I (Bf 109G)
Gruppe II (Bf 109G)
Gruppe III (Bf 109G)

ZG 99:
Gruppe I (Bf 110G)
Gruppe II (Bf 110G)
Gruppe III (Bf 110G)

StG 3:
Gruppe I (Ju 87D)

KG88:
Gruppe I (Ju 88A)
Gruppe II (Do 217E)

XIX Corps Assets in support:
800mm "Dora" Railway Gun "Schwere Gustav"
Bruckenpioniere-Abt 19
Bf-109PR Flight

In reserve:

3 Panzer Division (all elements as per prior OOB)
Schwere-Artillerie-Regiment "Eiffel" (170mm, SdKfz 7)
Sturm-Abteilung 210 (StuG IIIB)
Fallschirmjaeger-Regiment 9
JG26 - IV (Bf 109F)
ZG99 - IV (Bf 110D)

[BaronVonWalrus]

23rd August 1942

Corps' plan for the initial thrusts into Stalingrad are set out below. The priority is to secure the Central and Southern railway stations and ideally eliminate any threats in the city's southern districts before establishing a solid north-facing front and methodically sweeping away all opposition en route to the core industrial facilities. 17 Panzer has been tasked with ensuring flank security for the first stage and will contain any threats emerging from the northern outskirts of the city and the Mamayev Kurgan hill - its sector includes the main rail line, so it will be able to count on the decisive firepower of Big Gustav in support of its mission.

[BaronVonWalrus]

OUT OF CHARACTER

Bear with me, lots and lots of turns and a fair amount to write up, but the mission is complete! Human wave after human wave........one or two very hairy moments where "local penetrations" didn't get "sealed off by decisive counterattacks" and I had to focus very hard on getting the right short-term tactical "sticking plaster" in place. However, unlike my efforts at Moscow, I can see how my basic plan and disposition (perhaps turning the two 1-slot Flaks into another StuG IIIB) here could be leveraged into a full "all bonus hexes achieved" victory now I have an idea of what to expect (and where). I also had my first total destruction of a core regiment, which hurt. As did the numbers of 2-star 20-strength enemy units of various types......

Expect the battle report over the next day or two.

[BaronVonWalrus]

23rd August 1942

The view of the approaches to the west of Stalingrad for the divisions deployed by Corps for this sure-to-be-bitterly-contested operation look like this, moving along the line from south to north:

132 Infanterie, with initial orders to cross the tributary river flowing into the Volga and capture the railway station in the south of the city. Their initial deployment puts them close to an occupied enemy airfield and a force ofT-70s. The problem posed by the latter only lasted a couple of hours as it was pushed back to the river by PaK fire, long-range air support from ZG 99 and combined arms assaults.....where what was left of it duly surrendered.



10 Panzer's task is to provide flexible, armoured support to the two infanterie divsions it's been deployed between - primarily along the narrow flood plain separating the city centre from the south western districts, which should see it link up with 25 Infanterie in the planned assault on the central station.



25 Infanterie, with initial orders to eliminate all resistance en route through the suburbs to the city centre, where it will spearhead the assault on the central station. Its first order of business would be to isolate and deal with the T34 regiment picketed near its jumping-off point.



Finally 17 Panzer, with the unglamorous assignment to ensure flank security for the city centre operations by containing any reinforcements from the north of the city and from the Mamayev Kurgan. Equally paramount for it is the protection of the Dora Railway Gun, whose rail artery runs along the northern flank of 17 Panzer's operational area.



In addition, there are also a scattering of infanterie regiments subordinated to Corps command across the area which have been hurriedly assembled from the battered remnants of worn-out divisions that were previously struggling to make an impression here.

24th August 1942

The enemy has pushed up infanterie regiments to the bridge in 132 Infantere's sector in an attempt to block any advance, including entire formations of soldiers equipped primarily with a new model of drum-fed sub-machine guns. These close-quarters weapons require little skill to use - just spray away in the right general direction - but they lay down a fearsome volume of fire and must be considered a threat in large numbers. Thankfully, the 132nd was able to engage this enemy force as it tried to cross the road bridge en masse where it was pinned down by Grenadier-Regiment 132.



In the local airspace, new variants of the Soviet Yak fighters had been active, strafing 132 Infanterie's supporting guns. This move brought them into the outer limit of JG 26's range from their initial deployment base, which helped us learn that these new Yaks are no harder than the old ones to dispatch - both the fighter wings operating against 132 Infanterie were destroyed.



Along the line in 10 Panzer's starting sector, the newly-attached 4-barrel 20mm FlaK guns forced many of the attacking Pe-2 bombers to miss targets or abandon their runs.



The enemy infanterie providing a picket line outside the city proper in their sector was easily reduced and overrun by the division's panzer regiments.



25 Infanterie dealt effectively with the peripheral defences in its sector, eliminating a Soviet heavy infanterie regiment and forcing enemy tanks to retreat thanks to support from 10 Panzer's Panzerjaeger-Abt 100.



Supported by subordinated "auxiliary" infanterie, the division also trapped and forced the surrender of most of a T34 regiment.



17 Panzer, supported by BIg Gustav, had been engaged by Soviet forces overnight on its initial approach. After a short but intense firefight lasting into the morning, Panzer-Regiment 17 embarked on a devastating series of coup de grace overrunning the remaining elements of 4 (!) Soviet formations. Perhaps the shot Herr General had placed across Generalleutnant Licht's bows for his lack of urgency in our previous operation had worked? Nevertheless, Panzer-Regiment 17 was mentioned in Corps' dispatches for its élan and excellent application of doctrine and I tasked my subordinates with confirming the exact allowances of First-Class Eiserne Kreuzes and Ritterkreuzes Corps had been allocated for this operation.



25th Aug 1942

With 17 Panzer forming a hedgehog defence in full strength to guard against unknown enemy strength to its east and north-east, a recon flight was called for over the Mamayev Kurgan. This revealed a substantial, entrenched and supported defence on and behind the hill that 17 Panzer is patently unequipped to take by main force. Still, its orders are to contain and manage the situation is this sector (and tie up the opposing enemy group) so that our operations at the main railway stations can succeed; having the world's largest artillerie piece and it's 30km range at its disposal will allow the division to establish a broadly static posture whilst Big Gustav shells the enemy positions with impunity.



25 Infanterie with auxiliary and air support advanced quickly today, destroying another infanterie unit and the T-70s it engaged with on the previous day with a combined arms attack.



Further south, 132 Infanterie swept aside the remaining "SMG" infanterie and crossed the road bridge in force.



26th Aug 1942

Contact with more Soviet reinforcements being sent to throw 132 Infanterie back across the river prompted General Lindemann to wisely order a re-disposition of his division behind the river, with Grenadier-Regiment 132 asked to sandbag itself in as best as possible on and around the bridge but with the support of the division's PaK and artillere contingent ranged behind it - turning what might have been a marginal position into a formidable one for all but the most formidable attacking thrust. East along the river, 10 Panzer elements had enabled the isolation of a troublesome strongpoint complex.



17 Panzer reported engagement in battalion strength by T34s, which appeared to be the remaining strength of the regiment that had been shelled by Big Gustav at the Mamayev Kurgan airbase the previous day. More alarming was the appearance of a full-strength T34 regiment bearing down on the NE flank of the division.



Once again, 17 Panzer demonstrated exemplary internal command & control, mobilising efficient and decisive responses to the enemy tanks. Both the divisions panzer regiments - supported by the divisional artillerie and the giant Dora cannon - mastered the situation, sealing off the NE incursion after destroying the "airbase" T34s in detail.



27th Aug 1942

The commander of the enemy tank regiment sealed off the previous day by 17 Panzer surrendered with due process this morning - whilst Corps now could call upon enough captured T34s to form perhaps 2 full regiments with capacity for replacements, what message would using the enemy's vehicles instead of our own send to our brave troops? Whilst the ideology of the politicians in Berlin is - literally as well as metaphorically - miles away from our daily reality, "lowering the will to fight" is a real concept; whilst we turn a blind eye to the liking of our men for the rugged reliability of the Soviets' new drum-fed SMGs - especially when our own MP40s are not widely available to junior ranks - using the enemy's T34s (unless its in the direst emergency) seems a bridge that it would be very dangerous for us to cross.



I humbly admit the need to correct an entry in yesterday's diary - the isloation of the strongpoints in the southern sector yesterday relied on an airdrop by 7 Flieger Division as well as elements on 10 Panzer Division. Overnight however, Fallschirmjager-Regiment 7 came under heavy pressure and found itself substantially weakened and cut off themselves. A temporary Kampfgruppe of "auxiliary" infanterie, with suppport from Sturm-Abteilung 25 and Panzer-Regiment 13 executed an emergency reilief attack, which heavily reduced and isloated one of the attacking enemy regiments and restored communications and supply to FJ-Regiment 7 which would enable it to extricate itself and restore itself back towards normal combat readiness.



Slightly further north, 25 Infanterie chose to report how quiet a day it had experienced; it had spent the day re-grouping into a solid formation following the engagements of the previous 4 days in readiness for the next push through the streets towards the central station.



Grenadier-Regiment 132 found itself - as expected - the focal point of the enemy's attentions in the southern sector today. However, every enemy attack upon it had to contend with concentrated PaK and artillerie fire (as detailed in yesterday's report on 132 Infanterie's disposition) and the landsers held the bridge with relative comfort in the end. Lindemann shrewedly ordered his PaKs and kanones to swap emplacements, which allowed the PaKs to take the repulsed enemy tanks under direct fire as they struggled to re-organise along the river bank.



28th August 1942

After a period of defensive operations and local counterattacks, both 132 Infanterie and 10 Panzer have been ordered to exploit their success and advance towards their initial objectives.



However, this Corps imperative resulted in the evaporation of FJ-Regiment 7 as a coherent force following its routing into the river area which saw the fragments left of its strength surrender to the Soviets. I do not know what fate awaits these comrades. It is with regretful reflection that I am able to report - "on the other hand" as it were - the strategic success of the instruction from Corps to these formations today as illustrated from this end-of-day overview. It is worth observing the blood-red of the ribbons that often accompany medal awards.



Closer to the central station, 25 Infanterie once again faced local resistance in regimental strength. It is fair to say that Herr General relies heavily on the close-combat experience of this division, indeed ordering me to ensure that I do everything within my power to ensure that any and all of its wounded "stay in the system" and don't find themselves discharged to another division's replacement formation. On more than one occassion, I have received a telephone call from a Leutnant or Hauptmann thanking me for ensuring the safe return of wounded men to their parent companies; it is a soldier's truth that the safest place on the front is amongst men you have relied uponfor your very life in the past.



17 Panzer report a now-static situation in their sector, north of the Mamayev Kurgan, with Big Gustav taking the enemy hillside positions under fire from a very safe distance. The skies above the sector were far from static however, with JG 26 destroying an enemy Yak wing further eroding their aerial strength. We remain uncertain at this time as to whether or not it's safe to commence unescorted bombing missions, so for now only our 109s and 110s are flying.



29th August 1942

After a week of operations, it seems our caution around enemy air reserves was well founded - two wings of a previously unseen enemy fighter type announced their involvement in the battle with a powerful intervention against JG 26 above the Mamayev Kurgan. Major Schopfel reported that his pilots regarded these new enemy aircraft as on a par in combat performance to our Bf 109Gs in purely mechanical terms, with the relative pilot skill and situation of the engagement being determining factors. Regardless, none of this nonetheless important action served to deter 17 Panzer advancing further southeast towards the looming hill.



30th August 1942

17 Panzer's advance has secured the Mamayev Kurgan airbase, with runways long enough to support KG 88 which will duly be ordered to rebase. The northern flank of the division is bounded by urbanisation into which a recent Soviet probe retreated; the subordinated "auxiliary" infanterie forces moving up with 17 Panzer wisely resisted the urge to chase the Reds into the streets and they remained in contact with the division.



The city centre, today, has been the site of widespread actions with I Gruppe of JG 26 adding substantially to its confirmed kills count (with some FlaK support) defending the skies above 25 Infanterie. Grassner's veteran formation reported contact with well-equipped Soviet troops, presumably "Guards", supported by more of the drum-fed-SMG-toting Red troops.





Still, Grassner and his men are not known around the Armeegroup as masters of the battlefield for nothing - the Guards force was prioritised and eliminated as a priority and the overall threat well managed.



Slightly further south along the Volga tributary, the joint advance of 132 Infanterie and 10 Panzer had brought them into contact with a SMG close-combat regiment, which appeared to be to be noticeably more heavily-manned and better-led than the other such formations so far encountered. Still, our own leadership and local force of arms reduced and eventually routed this threatening force, forcing their remnants into an honourable surrender.



31st August 1942

The end of the month sees a day of quiet for 132 Infanterie as it takes the opporuntity to re-gather and re-organise. Lindemann called Corps for a reconnaissance overflight of the south rail staion, which unfortunately revealed substantial enemy concentrations in and around the station itself.



However, the central station has been assaulted by 25 Infanterie and 10 Panzer today in a cacophony of artillerie shells, flamethrowers and close combat. Part of the station complex has been secured already, but plenty of work remains before the whole station is ours and the surrounding streets can be declared as cleared.

[BaronVonWalrus]

1st Sept 1942

The reds haven't given up in the central area yet - a reinforced Guards force has been rushed up on 25 Infanterie's NE flank and 3 fresh enemy air wings were seen flying into the nearby airfield.



2nd Sept 1942

After an day of attrition on both sides around the station, we are closer to securing the entirety of the complex. However, Infanterie-Regiment 125 has found itself exposed with the dangerous force of enemy Guards adjacent to them.



It's clear that the enemy has stirred into action more widely, as 17 Panzer has come under pressure near the Mamayev Kurgan from a fresh wave of SMG-eqipped regulars and "conscript-grade" militia.



3rd Sept 1942

Today has seen 17 Panzer's situation take a considerable turn for the worse as the Soviet effort to dislodge them as gathered more and more impetus. More enemy infantry - including another one of the increasing number of reinforced and obviously-veteran Guards regiments - has emerged from the northern urban area and pushed back our "auxiliary" regiments acting alongside 17 Panzer with substantial losses on our side. T34s have also battled with 17 Panzer's heavier elements around the airbase, although that engagement has gone less well for the enemy. Still, the almost-collapse of 17 Panzer's northern flank has forced Big Gustav's hurried withdrawal back up the rail line - the division is on its own here and will either have to execute a fighting tactical withdrawal or find ways to master this volatile situation; we understand the Panzer-Regiment 17 is being tasked with acting as a bulwark against the reinforced Guards unit....but it can't be in two places at once, so the enemy better not have more tanks in the wings south of the hill!



The battle for the central station isn't quite over, but the situation is clearly in our favour now. The final enemy aircraft that had been moved up a couple of days ago have met their demise and some thoughtful tactical deployments of 25 Infanterie''s range of assets has brought about the capitulation of the reinforced veteran Guards force facing them. There's little left in the area to prevent a successful conclusion of this phase of the operation.





In the southern sector, 132 Infanterie is having its own problems with Soviet reinforced veteran regiments - without having the same range of assets or levels of combat experience to call upon as 25 Infanterie.



4th Sept 1942

Unfortunately, this relative lack of combat power has been made to count by the enemy today. Infanterie-Regiment 149, reduced to about 2/3 of its normal potential but by no means "down and out", was hit with concerted enemy attacks by fresh, previously uncommitted units, overnight with the decisive damage being done by a well-executed assault by yet another reinforced veteran regiment. Some survivors were able to make their way to other areas held by the 132nd, but the regiment ceased to exist as a coherent entity.



The rest of the division wisely consolidated its disposition around its StuGs and artillerie during the rest of the day and the Stukas of StG - I Gruppe were called in to eliminate the remaining strongpoints in the nearby fortified areas to their east. Additionally, our remaining FJ-regiment has been dropped into the sector to provide additional durability - Herr General confided in me that he almost instantly regretted this decision given the brutal nature of the street-by-street combat and the apparent mobility of the enemy infantry forces.



25 Infanterie was able to partially lift the gloom that had settled over my staff, with its reports of final success in the capture of the central station, with Pioniere-Regiment 25 almost destroying an entire Soviet artillery regiment alone in one devastating attack.



6th Sept 1942

After the loss of one of its regiments, 132 Infanterie has had its south station assault orders "put on hold" for now given the volume of enemy forces obviously still present in the surrounding areas and has gone over to a defensive posture, allowing the enemy to come onto its consolidated postions where its remaining combat regiments are all supported by either the StuGs or 150mm guns. The division is making slow progress east parallel to the river, maintaining its formation.



After 3 days of fierce fighting and tense situations, 17 Panzer has reported a noticeable weakening of enemy momentum and some much-needed breathing room. The temporary withdrawal of Big Gustav was just that and its return to some of its previous firing positions has certainly given the Soviets some food for thought in and around the Mamayev Kurgan. Over these 3 days, the estimated enemy casualties aren't far off 60,000 men in this sector.

[BaronVonWalrus]

7th Sept 1942

With the pressure on its flanks greatly eased thanks to the resourcefulness and local initiatives of its whole command structure (from division HQ through to company commanders and their squad leaders), 17 Panzer has been able to adopt a more offensive mindset. For most of the battle to date, Aufklarung-Abteilung 117 has away from the thick of the action reserve providing flank security; today, it was brought into the line and made effective use of its knack for being able to "hit and run" to finish off enemy remnants whilst keeping out of range of counterattack from nearby positions.



In the central district and with the main railway station secured, 25 Infanterie and 10 Panzer have continued pushing towards the Volga. The airfield in this area has been captured and local reconnaissance indicates that remaining enemy resistance in and around the river ferry terminal on this side of the Volga is both dug-in and present in insufficient numbers to do anything apart from fight defensively from its established positions.



In contrast, the southern sector still sees the Soviets actively contesting ground and in an offensive posture. Recent attacks in division strength - again including reinforced veteran units - has kept the pressure on 132 Infanterie. I have to regretfully report that Herr General's misgivings about the deployment of FJ-regiment 9 in support were proved right, as the Soviets focused their attacks on this formation - with the brave men of the regiment eventually collapsing under the strain and evaporating as an entity. I have a feeling that both Herr General and the Armeeoberkommando will be quick to reassign 7 Flieger-Division (or what's sadly left of it) elsewhere after this operation.



9th Sept 1942

The unending stream of Soviets moving up to contest matters with 132 Infanterie in the southern sector shows no sign of abating. The latest wave, including armoured cars, has served to keep the 132nd's collective back against the river although it has been able to remain largely in control of its defensive situation.



The red tide also continues to surge against 17 Panzer's front at the Mamayev Kurgan. However, since overcoming the emergency of 3rd / 4th Sept, this battle has increasingly become one of desperation on the Soviet side. The latest chapter has seen more Soviet Guards thrown into the fray - they are still sorely overmatched by the mixture of resources available to a full panzer division however and the division reported the capture of a number of Guards who had lost the will to fight on in an increasingly futile situation.



10th Sept 1942

Is the light at the end of the tunnel coming closer for 132 Infanterie? Today's spotter flights over the south of the city have not revealed the usual levels of enemy activity, instead confirming known defensive positions and little else. Perhaps after much-needed re-organisation and the breathing space offered by today's lull, the division will be able to resume its own offensive operations and advance to the southern railway station?



25 Infanterie's drive to the Volga has today seen them secure the entirety of the ferry complex, with Infantere-Regiment 125 taking the plaudits for the final blow. This denies the enemy a ready-made reinforcement route from the opposite bank and will allow 25 Infanterie and 10 Panzer to be released to: a)range northwards to squeeze out any enemy concentrations between the ferry terminal and 17 Panzer's sector and b) eliminate pockets of defence further south along the river bank to secure the flank of 132 Infanterie.



11th Sept 1942

The photographs taken by our aerial spotters today caused a mixture of tension and outright disbelief at Corps HQ. It appears that our capture of the west-bank ferry terminal had come in the nick of time - here's the reconnaissance picture and I'll let you imagine the reception it received......Herr General has ordered 25 Infanterie and 10 Panzer to ensure that they maintain security of potential landing sites (not just the ferry piers) as an utmost priority in the next phase of operations.



With what appears to be the exhaustion of enemy offensive action against them, 17 Panzer has allocated its Pioniere and StuG - with artillerie and "auxiliary" infanterie support - to the capture of the urban centre north of the Mamayev Kurgan and west of the Red October district.



12th Sept 1942

Increasing operational freedom for 17 Panzer is being achieved due to the continued erosion of the enemy's combat power on the Mamayev Kurgan itself. Whilst the Soviets remain in position, they are clearly no longer in control of the situation and Corps concurs with General Licht's assessment that his division will achieve a victory here within the next two to three days and without major issue.



Perhaps spurred on by their previous hardships, 132 Infanterie has worked itself into a potentially decisive position at the southern station - the Soviets having thrown some of the regiments previously thought to have been allocated to its defence against the division in the desperate and merciless exchanges of the last week.



13th Sept 1942

In a completely unexpected development, fresh Soviet air wings made an appearance in the north east of the city in an attempt to halt 17 Panzer's bid to secure the area. This force consists of IL-2s and YaK escorts - the only airfield they could have come from appears to be too far away for these planes to be able to attack the division's panzer regiments and other vehicles, thankfully.



This intervention did not hinder our operations though, with Pioniere-Regiment 49 reporting capture of the objective later in the day.



14th Sept 1942

Finally, we have been able to take the irksome heavy FlaK battery covering the array of gun positions behind the Mamayev Kurgan under Big Gustav's fire. The massive gun has proved essential in reducing enemy forces dug in on the hill for many days (despite regular reinforcement) and has helped stablise defensive situations for 17 Panzer with timely interventions against high-priority enemy attacking units such as Guards and T34s. The denouement is not far away.



25 Infanterie has been pushing north from the ferry terminal and has secured the enemy supply depot further along the river bank today.



Our hopes that the enemy's reserves in the south of the city had been exhausted proved to be unfounded - they threw yet more fresh regiments against 132 Infanterie overnight but the overworked men of the division held things together and maintained their assault on the southern station despite having to draw upon (yet) another cadre of replacements.



In the riverside seam between 132 and 25 Infanterie's sectors, Corps' Bruckenpioniere have enabled 10 Panzer to get its Hummel and Pioniere-Abteiliungs into advantageous positions in preparation for the capture of the supply depot south of the ferry terminal.



15th Sept 1942

It's interesting how frequently that decisions arrive in more than one sector on the same day. 132 Infanterie's objective seemed straightforward at the planning stage and even after the initial "entry into the city" phase of our operations, but they found themselves confronted by - at a rough count - the combat elements of at least 5 divisions worth of Soviet troops over the duration of their slog through the south of the city. Although the lost Infanterie-Regiment 149, both the FJ regiments that were parachuted in to bolster efforts were likewise lost and the pool of replacements was well and truly tapped, the fact remains that Lindemann's division overcame these overwhelming odds in unforgiving territory and they have established a position in the southern station.



Around the Mamayev Kurgan, 17 Panzer's containment and flank security mission had to contend with a similar (perhaps slightly higher) Soviet tide augmented by T34s and an actual entire division of heavy guns. However, 17 Panzer had advantages over 132 Infanterie in terms of its own OOB depth, room for maneuver and the dominant presence of both the 800mm Dora gun and the exceptionally-performing Panzer-Regiment 17 and its Pz IVGs. Nevertheless, Licht's contingent conclusively overturned the slightly negative perceptions that had begun to surface after the Rostov to Kalach operation and it's fair to say that the relative ease of our success in the city centre was down to the massive and constant bleeding inflicted on the enemy in the battles around the hill.



18th Sept 1942

With most of the city now quietening down apart from routine local actions against small defensive positions, a large assault force had been assembled to secure the final core objective - the Red October complex. 17 Panzer, it's subordinated "auxiliary" regiments together with redeployed 10 Panzer elements (thanks to the secured railway network) are now in position to reduce and eliminate the defenders.



Spotter flights confirmed the relieving news that the massed Soviet forces on the eastern bank - about another 5 divisions' worth of manpower - were staying put, lacking as they did any obvious landing / bridgehead site on what was now most definitely the German side of the Volga.



Spotting flights by ZG 99 over the south of the city, no less thankfully, revealed no more obvious threats to the wellbeing of the worn-out men of 132 Infanterie.



19th - 21st Sept 1942

Unchallenged, textbook assaults on the Red October complex and the "optional objective" of a large riverside supply depot remain the only actions left for the diary to report. With the capture of these goals, Herr General stuck to a decision he said he'd made over a week ago not to over-extend the Corps in the face of the massed enemy reinforcements lurking on the other side of the river; the urban centre in the uttermost south of the city, along with the large tractor factory, could be left to the rest of 6. Armee to deal with and time would essentially be marked by XIX Panzer Corps until our planned relief date arrived.











Here ends the report from the victory at Stalingrad by XIX Panzer Corps. All glory to those of our comrades who will not see the light of tomorrow's dawn.

[BaronVonWalrus]

11th Dec 1942

I once heard a saying that went along the lines of "In is going to be easy, out is going to be a bitch." Getting into Stalingrad and securing the western banks of the Volga was far from easy - it was a bloodbath......and now, out?

Where does the blame for this debacle lie? Our esteemed Grofaz in Berlin ordering Von Paulus to hold the city to the last man and bullet? Von Paulus for putting the continued existence of his entire force ahead of that order (perhaps a judgement skewed by the risk to his own life for such a thought), the airlift of supplies......the time for recriminations here at the sharp end of the conversation is over; Operation Winter Storm has been launched from the south to try and force an escape route to our beleaguered position and Von Paulus has tasked Herr General with the responsibility to make that link-up happen whilst effectively defending the perimeter of the shrinking pocket we find ourselves in and keeping the enemy away from the two airfields being used to fly in the only supplies we can get.

So, not only was "in" next to impossible, but "out" is equally challenging! At least Von Paulus was good enough to scour the remaining divisions for men and materiél to bring our compliments back up to their listed strengths - before the Soviets cut through and closed the pocket, we had been able to acquire some new equipment to replace some of the venerable but now outclassed vehicles that had seen service with us over the last couple of years. We have been given the last remaining set of dice that 6.Armee has in its possession and the time to roll them is upon us.

The Order Of Battle for XIX Panzer Corps for this operation is as follows:

3 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regimenr 3 (Pz IVG)
Panzer-Regiment 9 (Pz IIIN)
Aufklarung-Abt 3 (SdKfz 234)

Artillerie-Regiment 49 (170mm Sdkfz 7) - RESERVE
Schwere-Panzerjaeger-Abt 300 (Sturer Emil prototype) - RESERVE
Sturm-Abteilung 203 (StuG IIIB) - RESERVE

10 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 10 (Pz IIIN)
Panzer-Regiment 13 (Pz IVG)
Pioniere-Abt 100
Panzer-Artillerie-Abt 10 (Hummel Prototype)
Panzerjaeger-Abt 10 (StuG IIIF)
FlaK-Abteilung 100 (20mm Flakvierling 38)

17 Panzer Division:
Panzer-Regiment 17 (Pz IVG)
Panzer-Regiment 27 (Pz IIIN)
Pioniere-Abt 49
Artillerie-Regiment 117 (150mm Sdkfz 7)
Panzerjaeger-Abt 49 (StuG III/8)
Sturm-Abteilung 217 (StuH 42)

Aufklarung-Abt 117 (SdKfz 232) - RESERVE

25 Infanterie Division:
Infanterie-Regiment 25
Infanterie-Regiment 125
Infanterie-Regiment 225 (G)
Pioniere-Abt 25
Artillerie-Regiment 25 (170mm, SdKfz 7)
Panzerjaeger-Abt 25 (StuG III/8)
Sturm-Abteilung 225 (StuH 42)
Aufklarung-Abt 25 (Pz IIF)

132 Infanterie Division:
Infanterie-Regiment 49
Infanterie-Regiment (G) 132
Infanterie-Regiment 149
Pioniere-Regiment 132
Artillerie-Regiment 132 (150mm, SdKfz7)
PaK-Abteilung 132 (50mm PaK 38 horse-drawn)
Sturm-Abteilung 232 (StuH 42)

JG26:
Gruppe I (Bf 109G)
Gruppe II (Bf 109G)
Gruppe IV (Fw 109)

Gruppe III (Bf 109G) - RESERVE

ZG 99:
Gruppe I (Bf 110G)
Gruppe II (Bf 110G)
Gruppe III (Bf 110G)

StG 3:
Gruppe I (Ju 87D) - RESERVE

KG88:
Gruppe I (Ju 88A) - RESERVE
Gruppe II (Do 217E) - RESERVE

XIX Corps Assets in support:
800mm "Dora" Railway Gun "Schwere Gustav"
Bf-109PR Flight
88mm/36 FlaK-Abteilung

Bruckenpioniere-Abt 19 - RESERVE
Schwere-Artillerie-Regiment "Eiffel" (170mm, SdKfz 7) - RESERVE
Sturm-Abteilung 210 (StuG IIIB) - RESERVE

[BaronVonWalrus]

OUT OF CHARACTER

With only 3 upgrade slots to play with and substantial needs for cutting-edge equipment in many areas, I decided to disband a couple of obsolescent units to ensure that my experienced units got the upgrades. My StuG IIBs had taken beatings in 1942 so I hadn't used elite replacements for them much, if at all. Still, they got through a lot of work, so two of my StuG battallions got upgraded to shiny new StuH 42s with a third StuH unit being a "green" formation given the previous battalion's designation. My other upgrade was 3 Panzer's recon group, which got a huge boost with new SdKfz 234s. I also turned JG26 - IV into a Fw 109 wing with brand new planes as the original IV Gruppe had less than one XP star, so its 109's were disbanded.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through the battle at the moment and hope to finish it within the next day or two. The "unkillable" super-heavy enemy artillery east of Stalingrad is painful, although my north-facing line has been a bloodbath for the Soviets I remain hopeful of effecting the link-up with the Winter Storm forces in time, although counter-attacks through Kalach or in the south (if scripted) could be problematic as the main force is securing the line north of the airfields.