12-14 October (Axis)

Guderians’s Blitzkrieg II (including Enemy at the Gates and Case Blue)

12^th – 14^th October 1941

Turn 4 (Axis)

Reinforcement DR = 5,5 (-1) so 1 FTR, 1 Other Air, 2 Pax, 1 Eq

Rebuilds: Bf 109; He 111; 900 “Lehr” Motorised Infantry Brigade; II/35 Panzer Bn, 14^th PzD

Supply DR = 6,6 so 18 (+1) SP

Star’aya Russka

German intelligence reported that 11^th Corps HQ, together with a large stockpile of supply, was based in the town of Valday.  32.ID was close by and preparations were made for an attack.  Hopes of success were not high, as it was known that the Soviets had provided at least one rifle division to protect the town and its contents.  Should the HQ be driven out, however, not only would there be a chance to capture fuel and ammunition, but the several divisions to the west would be cut off from command.  The Luftwaffe did its part by sending in both Heinkels and Stukas despite the presence of heavy flak defending the HQ.  The extra aircraft were needed as half the Heinkels were shot down but the mission achieved its purpose of disorganising the defenders.  Then the infantry moved in.  In heavy fighting 26^th Strelkovaya, badly damaged by 256.ID a week ago, was wiped out, but the Russians held firm.  32.ID  retreated, having taken losses itself.

Nelidovo – Sychevka

An infantry division pulled back across the Dvina near Andreapol, but the town remained held firmly.  An infantry regiment marched west to protect the railhead.

Infantry from Zemtsy moved east to link up with the garrison at Nelidovo, but no action was taken against the Soviet forces to the north of the town.

An attack on the fort line west of Sychevka was barely successful, the combined strength of 129.ID and armour from 1^st Panzer Division just enough to drive the defending infantry out and allow the weakened German infantry to take the fortified area.    To the south, a flammpanzer battalion spearheaded infantry from 7^th PzD in breaking a divisional line set up by 140 Strelkovaya slightly east of the Vyazma fort line.  Again, though victorious, the attack barely succeeded.

Vyazma – Spas Demyansk

The Soviets have left garrisons to slow the advance along the direct route to Moscow.  Tasked with holding Safonovo, 222 Strelkovaya had just reached the town and was not yet prepared for an attack.  After sending two regiments forward to harry the Russian rear guard, 162.ID hit Safanovo, killing half the defenders and chasing the survivors south to Dorogoburzh.  The area secure, General Hoth moved up 3^rd Panzer Group HQ. 

10^th PzD moved a little further east, where it encountered a worker brigade.  Expecting a walk-over, the German attack was poorly co-ordinated (DR 1,1 followed by 2,2).   The Soviet High Command, which had decided not to send supplies to the embattled workers, cursed the missed opportunity to inflict casualties.  As it was, the lightly armed and poorly led troops did not die in vain: the Germans, who had hoped to use the momentum from victory to also take care of the 64^th Area Defence Brigade further along the road to Myetlovo, had to halt to recover.

2^nd PzD moved south-east, reinforcing the units who had survived the Soviet attempt to clear the Bryansk road.  Once again the last Soviet link to Bryansk is cut.

Bryansk

With Spas Demyansk fairly secure, infantry started to clear the railway south to Bryansk.  Emerging from the deep woods, an infantry regiment quickly eliminated the Bryansk rail engineers based at Kyut-kovo.  There was a harder battle at Lyudinovo, further north, but 260.ID was able to destroy 173^rd Strelkovaya without loss.

The Luftwaffe had been having difficult hitting targets and this continued near Bryansk where 278^th Strelkovaya, protected by the swampy ground, resisted all attempts to break its morale from the air.  For the first time in Unternehmen Taifun, German artillery was called in.  The guns of the “Das Reich” artillery regiment achieved what the bombers could not, and then the SS infantry moved in. “Deutschland” and the Fleming “Langemark” regiments were able to not only shatter the now disorganised Russian riflemen but also to capture several hundred tonnes of supplies.  (Though the Soviets managed to destroy the same amount before surrendering)

With “Das Reich” now adjacent to the western suburbs of Bryansk, German infantry division crossed the Desna unopposed and threatened the rail link north.

Orel – L’Gov

With the vast expenditure of fuel and ammunition elsewhere, for once it was the turn of some of Guderian’s troops to hold their fire.  Although some units moved forward to surround a worker’s brigade near Orel and a railway engineer battalion on the road to Kursk, the only combat was to clear the road to Kromy – Orel road of Russian tanks.  The first attack by 12^th Infantry Reg’t, 4^th Panzer Division was a dismal failure, and the unit was cut to pieces by the Soviet tanks.  A second attempt by 1/35 Panzer Bn went better, and 24^th Tank Brigade ceased to exist.

Kharkov

After nearly two weeks in which he has concentrated on the north-east sector, General Guderian has now released his reserves.  Three mobile divisions, 9^th Panzer, 16^th and 25^th Motorised Infantry, have moved south-east, from Sumy towards Kharkov.  There has been no resistance, as any Soviet units have been by-passed, the advancing troops simply securing a bridge over the Vorskla north of Kharkov.

Poltava

As the Russian push west towards Poltava ceased, the Axis began to move west.  There was no combat, but infantry divisions marched alongside the road to Kharkov and both sides of the tributary of the Vorskla River that follows the road east.

Near the swamps south-west of Kharkov, however, 16^th Panzer dealt savage blows to the Russians.  The battle for the air was a draw, as the Luftwaffe lost a few Heinkels in exchange for some I-16 fighters.  But the German pilots could claim the ultimate success, as a large group of cavalry were demoralised by the bombing.  III/2 Panzer Bn, 16^th PzD was ready and the tanks rolled forward, completely destroying both 38^th Cavalry Division and 2^nd Separate Cavalry Regiment (only reconstituted a week earlier). 

The tanks kept going north, hoping to overrun a tank unit, but the commander decided that discretion was the better part of valour and retired south.  There it joined in a mass attack on Russian infantry that eliminated 293^rd Strelkovaya and saw 275^th take losses and retreat in confusion.  Not one German unit suffered any losses.

The presence of a Corps HQ in the front line was tempting, but repeated attempts by the Luftwaffe to disrupt it and the NKVD unit protecting it were unsuccessful.  With regret, OB Sud ruled an attack would be too risky. 

Denepropetrovsk – Zaporezh’e

East of Dnepropetrovsk, a vast semicircle of infantry covered the road on which supply and communications run north and south.   With the rear secure, the reduction of Zaporezh’e began.  Courageous bombers braved the fierce flak over the airfield to hit the defending infantry that were then attacked by a combined “Wiking” and Hungarian infantry force.  The assault was carried out with precision (consecutive 6,6 die rolls) and none of the garrison, the elite 4th Strelkovaya, survived.  The only negative note was the loss of a Hungarian armoured car unit, foolishly sent out of supply range and never heard of again.

Rail engineers reached just west of Dnepropetrovsk.

Melitopol – Arabatskaya – Crimea

14^th Panzer Division linked with the forward elements of “Wiking” and probed south towards Melitopol.  About halfway along the connecting road, they found the way barred by a large Soviet infantry force.  In the ensuing battle, Augklärungsabteilungen from both divisions inflicted heavy losses on the Russians.  A high quality regiment, presumably intended to stiffen resistance, was destroyed, and the accompanying infantry division fled 10 miles east.    The rest of panzer division moved up, but no further advance was made.

With the total loss of the force sent to hold the Melitopol – Arabatskaya road, the pull back towards Novaya Khakova became a retreat.  The gap between the forward units of the Red Army and the rearguard of the Rumanian – German armies grew to 15-20 miles.  Without the need to provide control and supply to units far to the south, the Axis pulled nearly all troops to within 5 miles of the railway.  The forward wagon supply base was disassembled and the wagons sent west to safety.

Even more surprising, the Germans pulled back from Krasnopol on the Crimean Isthmus.  A new defensive line was formed between the towns of Perekop and Armyansk.  Obviously any attempt to capture the Crimea has been put on hold.

Supply:                   Axis rec’d = 19 SP

                                Axis used = 24.2 SP

                                Soviet used = 2.1 SP

Dead Units

Axis                         2(4)6 Hungarian Armoured Car Battalion

                                7(4)3 12^th Infantry Regiment (4^th PzD)

Soviet                      11(1)1 Infantry Division (173)

                                2 x 12(2)2 Infantry Division (278, 297)

                                2 x 13(3)3 Infantry Division (4, 26)

                                8(4)5 Cavalry Division (38)

                                2(3)4 Cavalry Regiment (2^nd Separate)

                                4(0)2 Alert Brigade

                                1(0)2 Railway Engineer Battalion (Bryansk)

                                6(2)5 Tank Brigade (24)

Air losses

Axis                          Bombers              2 x Heinkel step (1 from Flak)

Soviet                        Fighter                  I-16 step