Turn Report

Partisans: Reducing Axis territory and increasing Axis security limits the Partisans to 2 rail hits this turn.

Finland/Norway:  No action again this turn as the Soviets crawl slowly to the German line at Kautokeino. Even the single SS inf battalion falling back along the coast from Kirkenes is outside effective attack range as supplies are slowly hauled forward.

Leningrad Front: The recent German lodgement on the north of the Dvina immediately East of Riga is pushed back over the frozen river.  No attempt is made against the German enclave around Dougavpils, however the bridgehead 30 miles SE of Podolsk is widened and Orsha is captured in a 9 to 1 frontal attack.

Moscow Front: The trapped pair of 16-10panzers; isolated, out of supply and completely surrounded are eliminated in an automatic elimination.

On the Bryansk-Gomel road the 4-6-6 inf xx which kept the escape route open for the gaggle of stugs, mobile artillery and panzer cadres succumbs to an assault, but the Knights Cross goes to the 1-7 security regiment which has held a Mech Corps at bay for a month and now is eliminated only by the combined efforts of a Mech and Tank corps.

South of the road the Soviets grind forward against a mixed bag of Axis units struggling to move west hampered by ZOCs, terrain and the need to maintain cohesion.  A 5-6 infantry division is totally eliminated in a coordinated three hex attack against the retreating, mainly German, forces.

West of Kursk the Soviets continue to push into empty space as the German line falls back West. Only the lack of Soviet units prevents attacks against the thinly spaced German units, and the lack of mobile units in strength prevents penetration of the German line.

 

AGS: South of Kharkov a new Soviet threat is developing as a pair of Soviet Tank Corps with Artillery support and a parallel attack by Guards infantry attempt to batter through the German fort line between Kharkov and the Donets river line. The Soviet plan is to exploit southwest to prevent the retreat of the Rumanian army.  Fortunately German and Rumanian tank forces are in place to hold the southern tank attack in check but the Guards infantry advance south of Kharkov causes concern to the defenders as two forts are eliminated and the river crossed.

Meanwhile Soviet forces driving directly West from Stalingrad reach the northern suburbs of Rostov.

Air Combat: In one of the most dedicated series of similar offensive air missions of the war the Soviets launch an operation tasking every air mission this turn to rail bombardment. The results are disappointing. Of the 26 missions; 2 stacks have the fighters stripped away by patrol attacks and one mission is returned by such attacks. Of the remainder 10 missions are intercepted by German fighters resulting in 4 Aborts and 4 Kills. As a result of all this activity only 18 viable missions remain. Due to the poor weather and reduced visibility over the targets only 4 of these missions cause effective damage to the German rail net.

Combat Report

Attacks; Auto = 2, Diced = 13.
Losses:           Soviet = 20, Air = 4.
Axis: Forts = 3, German Isolated = 32, Un-isolated = 41, Pos AA = 3, Eastern = 3, Rumanian = 4. (Total = 80).
Loss Ratio; Jan ’44 Axis/Soviet = 92/91 = 1.01