Narrative
Army HQ somewhere in the Western Soviet borderlands.
Supreme Commissar Soviet Forces West addresses the assembled Field Marshals, Marshals and senior Generals.
“Gentlemen, this week Odessa will be ours and with its capture we will have returned all of Sacred Mother Russia to our control. Our lands have been recovered with much sacrifice and bloodshed but under the leadership of Comrade Stalin we have prevailed.
Uncle Joe has one more request of you.
He reads a prepared statement;
“Comrades of the Western front we have given much and, while we may allow ourselves a moment of celebration, we must be in no doubt that the fight is not yet over. We must continue to attack the Nazi war machine and now, more than ever, with increased vigour. We must not pause in our endeavours until the Red Star flies over the ruins of Berlin and the Nazi menace is eliminated for ever. I expect all forces to be relentless in their assault and vigorous in their pursuit of the enemy. No more caution, the enemy is on his knees – now is the time to strike him down.
Turn Report
Artic Front; (1 attack) The worsening weather robs the Soviets of their supply parity yet still two attacks along the coastal strip are mounted. Manoeuvre surrounds a German stack which is eliminated on retreat while a DE eliminates another. The gradual erosion of German forces is taking its toll as even on a reduced front they cannot maintain a solid line. Reinforcement is desperately needed to halt the Soviet advance.
Byelorussian Front: (7 attacks) Effective Axis defence in the North of the sector continues to deny the Soviets any real territorial gains. They take a fort left in a salient south of Konigsberg designed to break up any meaningful advance and clear the peninsular west of the fallen city. Northeast of Allenstein a hex is captured on a DH but to the south of the city a valiant defence halts their assault with a NE result. In the south of the sector the Soviets try to consolidate the bridgehead over the Western Bug but German armour minimizes their thrusts and air cover allows the defenders to withdraw under their protection (DR).
Ukraine Front: (7 attacks) In a rare victory an attempted crossing of the Bug 50 miles west of Kowel is repulsed by the defenders but this overshadowed by events a few miles south where armour concentrates north of Lvow and a hole is punched in the Axis lines. Armour and mech units pour through the gap moving north, west and south. In a second prepared assault infantry, cavalry, rocket artillery, engineers and other forces with air power blasts the city of Lvow which falls on the first assault. The combined effect of these actions pins 3TK, 16pz cadre, 10th Pzg cadre, SS 4 Nor, 103 Tk Brigade, 2x Artillery brigades, 2 inf divisions a security regiment and a Luftwaffe penal battalion in a pocket northwest of the city.
In the south forces reach the Hungarian border and pick off units caught in the lowlands but are too weak to assault into the mountainous terrain.
The Lwow pocket: Soviets exncicle substantial parts of AG Center, September 1944
Steppe Front: (3 attacks) Odessa Falls; Massed forces with Air and Naval support takes on the mixed Axis defending force who are supplied by sea and with their own air defence at a low-odds 3:1 (-1). A DH grants them total victory over the isolated enemy.
Further west Soviet armour and mech forces moving south and west combine and break though the Axis fortified river defence north of Galati. With comrade Stalin’s demands fresh in their minds the corps advance as far west as possible plunging out of supply and reaching the outskirts of Buchuresti.
Soviet mechanized corps exploit into the Romanian plains, September 1944
Air Combat: More airspace is contested this turn. Offensively the SVS flies a series of Harassment operations in the centre of the line aimed to limit the mobility of the Axis and consequently their ability to respond effectively to the breakout around Lvow.
Combat Report:
Attacks = 18. (plus Over-runs = 5)
Losses Soviets = 32. Air = 4.
Axis: Forts = 6, German Isolated = 13, Un-isolated = 75 (incl over-runs), 1×3 pt FA, 5 pts AA. Air = 1
Rumanian = 4, Hungarian Isolated = 12, Un-isolated= 3, Eastern = 1
Total = 108.
Combat Ratio: Sept I ‘44 Axis/Sov = 124/83 = 1.49:1
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