Slitherine

With the Commonwealth infantry closing in on the Burgas pocket, it's crucial to close every route the surrounded enemy forces can use to retreat to safety. The most direct route is northwest, where a gap is still open that can be used by the surrounded troops to reach the Yusoglavian lines around Stara Zagora.

The LII Motorized Corps has been sent west to hold or otherwise destroy three bridges that could be used for the retreat. The enemy surely is sending mobile forces to secure them, so it will be a race between limited forces. Air support will only be available for a couple windows of opportunity due to distance from our airfields and the current air battles around Burgas.




14/10/1942
The LII Corps spreads out, every Division has been assigned an objective:
The 202nd Motorized Division will be assigned the two Artillery Regiments available and sent to Kiten.
The 204th Motorized Division will be sent to Dimovo.
The 7th Mechanized Division will be sent to Brusartsi.
The three Engineering Battalions (+60 resources) just arrived will be sent to every bridge to mine it or blow it up. I’m still unsure which Division will get the Support Guns Regiment.


15/10/1942
Both the 202nd and 204th Motorized Division engage enemy units near their assigned bridges: it seems the enemy wanted to be sure to keep the bridges open and intact, a smart move. We’ll have to remove those units and clear the way for our Engineers.




16/10/1942
Elements of the Yugoslavian 35th Motorized and 133rd Pesadija Divisions are spotted south of Kiten. My Artillery Regiments take position behind the first line together with the LII Corps HQ. The Support Regiment is assigned to the 7th Mechanized Division and heads west. The fighting in Kiten and Dimovo go on.


17/10/1942 - morning
The spotted enemy Divisions come up in full force around Kiten, and another Pesadija Division (the 134th) is spotted as well. Fortunately, my two Artillery Regiments finish their set up operations and start firing on the enemy troops that are attempting to cross the bridge. The artillery fire fragments the bridgeheads and allows a counterattack from the 202nd Motorized Division, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy units.

The 7th Mechanized Division reaches Brusartsi and engages an enemy Pesadija Regiment.

The 29° Bomber Group has sent two full Bomber Wings to assist our Operation. The planes will loiter on the battlefield as long as possible, but the lack of airstrips will force them to retreat soon.




17/10/1942 - afternoon
Brusartsi and Dimovo are conquered. An enemy Huszàr Brigade is spotted near the former, then disappears in the woods west of the town; the 7th Mechanized Division is trying to form a defensive perimeter as enemy Mehanizovane Regiments appear south of their positions.

Dimovo seems secure, but Kiten is under assault by overwhelming enemy numbers. During the bomber raids, our planes spot an enemy Regiment from 134th Pesadija Division fording the river uncontested, east of the town. This is bad news as an enemy advance from there could cut off the entire LII Corps from supplies. Our Sappers plant a minefield NE of Kiten following an enemy penetration in the nearby woods.




18/10/1942 - morning
The 204th Motorized Division is sent to help the 202nd around Kiten; it stops two enemy flanking attempts west and east of the town. With Dimovo now undefended, our Sappers plant a minefield at the entrance of the town and blow up the bridge.

The 7th Mechanized Division fends off enemy Mehanizovane units at Brusartsi. Our Bombers go back to their airfields to resupply.


18/10/1942 - afternoon
Enemy pressure at Brusartsi intensifies: an enemy Artiljerija Regiment pounds the 7th Mechanized Division and is trying to flank the city on the eastern side; the 9° Huszàr Brigade is doing the same on the western side.

The arrival of the 204th Motorized Division at Kiten helps stabilizing the front; the enemy is trying to break through our positions, but it’s efficiently contained.

Avro-Havilland B1
After the success of the Avro XIV, the firm tried to follow up with a much bigger bomber that was intended to be something akin to a “flying fortress”. The Avro XV had three engines, four machinegun turrets, and double the payload of the predecessor; sadly, it was also thrice as expensive and as maneuverable as a sack of potatoes.

The War Cabinet rejected the design and forced Avro to go back to the drawing board. A competitor named Havilland immediately jumped on the opportunity with a new, lighter frame with two completely new engines dubbed J-1000. While the engines were incredibly good, the rest of the airframe was lacking, so the War Cabinet ordered the two firms to collaborate.

It took an entire year to come up with a production model, but the result was good: the Avro-Havilland B1 had two J-1000 engines that operated efficiently at high altitudes and were reasonably fast for a bomber. The ventral and dorsal turret gave the plane enough protection without too much added weight, and the usual precision of the targeting instruments from the Avro XIV was kept.

19/10/1942
The 7th Mechanized Division is forced out of Brusartsi by the enemy concentration of forces around the town. The Sappers are trying to plant enough mines to slow down the enemy, but we may be forced to give more ground. The presence of the Huszàrs makes holding the front difficult.

The situation at Kiten seems under control.




20/10/1942 - morning
An enemy Motostrelci Division has been spotted north of the battlefield! They will surely try to help their comrades escape by forcing open one of the bridges. Just as I thought I had stabilized the situation at Brusartsi, this may ruin my efforts… I will relocate the 204th Motorized Division west.


20/10/1942 - afternoon
As I feared, the enemy Motostrelci reinforcements have cut off the 7th Mechanized Division from supplies. I have to retreat, hoping I can re-establish my supply lines before too many enemy units break through Brusartsi. I tried to blow up the bridge, but nearby enemy units prevented me from doing so; I fear my Sapper Battalion in the town is doomed.


21/10/1942
The enemy occupies Brusartsi and crosses the river; the 7th Mechanized Division takes up defensive positions across the main road, strengthened by a Support Regiment. The 204th Motorized Division has reopened the supply lines and is engaging the enemy unit that cut it.




22/10/1942
The 7th Mechanized Division has been again cut from supplies, and its battle readiness is close to zero. The 204th Motorized Division has been able to intercept and deal with the enemy Motostrelci Division that was wreaking havoc in our lines, but Brusartsi has been opened for two days and most Yugoslavian troops in the area could have left through it already, despite Kiten and Dimovo being now under control.


23/10/1942
A deserted Brusartsi is occupied again. The Yugoslavian 9° Huszàr Brigade is spotted moving north, having bypassed the 7th Mechanized Division’s roadblock. A Regiment from the 204th Motorized Division has tried to intercept it, but has been almost wiped out. Our troops try to intercept the enemy unit with the help of a Support Regiment, but it’s going to be hard unless the enemy bites the bait and accepts an attrition battle instead of choosing a fighting retreat.

CAI-6 Interceptor
The original CAI was a brilliant design, but it was already aging by 1940; the high losses against the faster and more optimized for dogfight Commonwealth Fighters forced the War Committee to push for a successor.

The CAI conglomerate worked at several designs throughout 1941 with two variants reaching prototype production: the CAI-5 armed with a single 20mm gun plus 4 machineguns, and CAI-6 armed with the classic twin 20mm gun and 2 machineguns. Minor differences in performance were overlooked in favor of the armament debate: more machineguns would have helped against the Commonwealth Fighters, but the single 20mm was still deemed inadequate against the enemy Bombers.

In October 1941 the Yugoslavian spy network caught news and crude understanding of the new Avro Bombers reaching the initial production stage, and the War Committee decided in favor of the CAI-6. Early production started in December, with January 1942 seeing the first squadrons reaching the frontlines.

As it was with the CAI-1, the CAI-6 is capable of high ceiling flight, rapid climbing, and could wreck its targets in a single run. It was still vulnerable to the modern enemy fighters, but as usual it was deemed a good trade-off for its abilities.

24-25/10/1942
The enemy hesitates, and I manage to block the road north with my units. The Huszàrs have now to break through my lines to retreat from the battlefield, and it’s not going to happen. The 7th Mechanized Division manages to trap the enemy Brigade in a forest with a small mountain range behind it. The enemy tries to fight its way out for two days, inflicting high losses, but ultimately failing.