Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

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vonik
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Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

The Campaign starts with the initial Barbarossa setting and with the hard cap on the number of units .

It has numerous handicaps which you would have avoided if you had started with the 1939 Campaign but we will have to live with it .
Let us list those handicaps by decreasing importance :
- you have not enough U boats and you have lost the Bismarck battleship
- the Italian forces at Tobruk are too weak
- the Hungarian armies are not on the start line and ready for offensive
- there are no Panzer forces on the southern front
- there was an unnecessary war with Greece which ties occupation forces

No war can be won without sound long term strategical planning .
For that we will divide the fronts in 4 main theaters of operations and to order strategical targets for each theater . Below you will read an extract of a strategical note by General Halder

1. UK and Atlantic theater


Even if the UK is tactically weak, presents no danger and there is nothing spectacular happening, it is this theater that will have absolute strategical priority .
The reason for that is that the UK and potentially the US will be allowed to build up their strength without significant opposition during at least 2 years .
During those 2 years Germany will have a very limited freedom of deployment of ground forces so that it is absolutely necessary to keep the growth of UK forces in check .
The tool for that will be the U boat war with the strategical target to destroy the Allied destroyers .
Production priority is on building only U boats untill the cap of number of units is reached .

The time line will be :

1941 – build up of U boat forces and transfer to Atlantic . Opportunistic strikes on RN if it tries to engage the U boats . Priority on destroyers then Carriers .

1942 – blocus of the Channel and of the Irish Sea . Agressively seeking and engaging the RN on every opportunity . Target is to eliminate the RN as a military factor .

1943 - invasion

2. Northern and Central Russian theater

The key production areas, transport nodes and supply centers are situated in northern and central Russia .
The decision in USSR will take place on this theater and the map shows the time line :

1941 – In the far North reach Leningrad and Novgorod . Keep the Finns at max force and attacking .
In the Center the priority is on space . No very high value towns can be captured in 1941 so that the target is to reach a convenient starting line for 1942 operations .
This line will be Vjazma – Orel - Kursk - Kharkov .
All Panzer and bomber forces will be dedicated to this theater where the maximum speed must be the rule . For that effect no choke points cutting supply or encircled Soviet forces can be left in the rear because we cannot afford to slow down the front units by going back to reduce ennemy
pockets .

1942 – The priority in this year will be to eliminate the Red Army so that it can no more represent a relevant threat for the Wehrmacht .
For that effect a massive offensive will capture Moscow and Ryazan and build a vast pocket for all Soviet troops between Kalinin and Leningrad . In the North, Leningrad will be captured and an offensive started on Petrozavodsk .
The territorial gains are modest but it is expected that the Soviet moral, industrial and transport capacity as well as the will to fight will be destroyed in 1942 .

1943 – This theater has no more priority . The remaining running Soviet forces will be thrown beyond the Volga reaching the final line Yaroslavl – Gorki .
Panzers and Luftwaffe will be transported to France for the UK invasion .

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3. Africa theater

Even if this theater consumes little forces, has no strong ennemy and is geographically limited, it has a considerable defensive strategical value .
Indeed we cannot afford to allow to UK forces with their naval domination of the Mediterranean to start harassing our possessions on the continent .
Small scale UK attacks on Sicily, Greece or even Italy can always be easily crushed but they would distract our forces and reinforcements needed on the Eastern front especially in 1941 and 1942 .

The time line will be as follows :

1941 – the map shows the critical situation . The Afrikakorps is understrength, badly supplied and with no operationnal reserve . The forces are insufficient to reduce the encircled british corps in Tobruk . The absolute priority is to stabilise a defensive front and to build a DAK reserve .
To that effect 2 Italian armies must be transported to Benghazi and the Italians must take over the defensive front . The DAK must disengage the Panzer forces, refit, resupply and build a reserve .

1942 – Tobruk must be taken and after its fall, the DAK goes over to offensive . Target is to flank and to encircle UK forces west of El Alamein . After the fall of El Alamein an all out offensive on Alexandria and Cairo can be started .

1943 – The residual UK presence in the Middle East is eliminated . DAK and the Italian forces push to Caucasus and Baku . A diplomatic effort will be made on Turkey to propose them to join Axis .

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4. Southern Russian theater

This theater has the lowest priority . There are no significant strategical targets beyond the Dnieper and our allies Romania, Hungary , Italy and Slovakia have no Panzer forces able to trigger vast anihilation battles in 1941.

The time line is as follows :

1941 – The only priority is Kiev . Taken by the Panzer forces as soon as possible, they push toward Kursk and Orel to reach the 1941 target line and join the Central Russian theater .
The allies will take Odessa and try to reach and control the western Dnieper bank .

1942 – Continuing opportunistic operations . According to the situation and available forces the targets are Sebastopol, Stalino, Rostov . Absolute interdiction to engage towards east of Kursk and Kharkov .

1943 – Equip Hungary and Romania with Panzers and start an offensive towards Stalingrad .
Absolute interdiction to engage south of Rostov with the exception of an eventual bridgehead before Romania crosses Kertch . Despite a probably weak Soviet opposition, a thrust to south and south east of Rostov would stretch our lines and dilute the power of the Stalingrad thrust .
The Stalingrad offensive will be reinforced by Central theater Panzers which are not necessary for the invasion of UK .

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Gez. Generalsstabchef des Heeres
General Franz Ritter Halder

The main strategical timeline is shown on this map

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vonik
Posts: 262
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

So now that we have read the strategical note of General Halder, we can see how things are going to really happen .

July 41

UK and Atlantic theater
The German industry is mobilised on a massive production of U boats . Raids on convoy lanes to keep the RN occupied .

Northern and Central Russian theater
Last resistance stops in the Bialystok pocket . Attacks on Riga and Minsk are in progress .
Panzers roll towards Pskov . Pinsk choke point fell fast to a concentrated attack what removes any threat coming from the Pripjat marshes which would be time consuming to eliminate because of difficult terrain and supply problems .

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Africa theater
The 2 badly equipped and understrength Italian armies landed in Benghazi . DAK created a mobile reserve and the Panzers retreated from the front .
The fragile anti tank unit was the only available force to stop the gap . The situation is still critical especially as the Italian industrial capacity is hardly able to reinforce to full strength .

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Southern Russian theater
The Lvov pocket is being liquidated . The Panzers roll full speed towards Kiev . The Romanians bypassed Odessa and attack Kirovograd . Hungarian forces still lag far behind the front .

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vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

August 41

UK and Atlantic theater
First appearance of the RN in the Biskay Bay . Unfortunately the Kriegsmarine with only 2 U boats at place is not yet ready to engage battle . Its strength is however enough to badly maul the UK destroyers and send the RN to England for recovery what buys time for the constitution of our U boat Baltic fleet .

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Northern and Central Russian theater
The Baltic fleet anihilated the Red Navy and after reception of more new U boats is ready to break in the Atlantic through the Channel .
Panzers gather to assault Pskov and to open the way to Leningrad .
A divine surprise has been a blitz assault on Gomel which took the Soviets unprepared and delivered the city . The possession of Gomel eliminates any flank threat on the Panzers rushing north from Kiev.
Any potential forces in and around Chernigov just became irrelevant .
Even if it slows down the offensive on Orsha-Smolensk the strategical value is worth it .

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Africa theater
The British general took himself for Rommel, launched a vast flanking manoeuver south of DAK and overreached . The full strength ready Panzer and anti tank reserves were prepared exactly for this kind of error and staged a fast counter attack .
UK lost their tank corps and a recon brigade and are in danger to be cut off in the south . This would mean a fully unexpected decisive victory at Tobruk and an unimpeded progress to El Alamein .
Unfortunately Malta has pounded Rommel's supply into dust and the Italian production is still unable to fully reinforce their units .
The supply situation and the ennemy corps in Tobruk therefore put a serious limitation on DAK's freedom of movement .

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Southern Russian theater
The final assault on Kiev is ready . The German motorised infantery used the opportunity to cross the Dnieper at Kremenchug what opens the way to create a vast pocket for the Soviets in the area Cherkassy-Belaja Tserkva .
A German infantery corps reached Dniepropetrovsk but has not the power to assault the city .
The Romanians still progress carefully in the south waiting for Hungary which is still on the way .

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vonik
Posts: 262
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

September 41


UK and Atlantic theater
As expected the UK destroyers took heavy losses and the RN steamed full speed home .
The Kriegsmarine is resupplying and refitting in the western French ports . 1 U boat is still raiding to keep the RN on its toes .



Northern and Central Russian theater
The Baltic fleet starts to gather at Kiel .
Estonia is liberated and the Panzers enter in Luga and Novgorod .
The difficult part starts only now because of the marshes north of Novgorod which prevent an efficient use of Panzers .
Vitebsk is surrounded, Orsha nad Mogilev occupied . The assault on Smolensk is ready to start .

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Africa theater
The disastrous supply situation of the DAK forced Rommel to retreat and the 2 UK armies escaped anihilation .
The situation is back to status quo as long as the supply doesn't improve . However the arrival of the
2 new Italian armies, even if unready and understrength, has significantly improved the strategical situation compared to the quasi disaster about to happen in june .
Without this speedy reinforcement decision in june, all our African forces would probably be now retreating fast to Benghazi if not to Tripoli .

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Southern Russian theater
Kiev occupied and the Cherkassy pocket closed as expected . A special mention is the surrender of the best Soviet general Zukov taken prisonner with his HQ in the pocket .
Nothing to report in the far South – Hungary is still on the way .

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vonik
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Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

October 41


UK and Atlantic theater
The Atlantic fleet refits ande resupplies . The 3 brand new U boats scout the approach to the Channel before the capital ships of the Baltic fleet arrive .

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Northern and Central Russian theater
Rain . Mud . Pause in offensive operations .
A Soviet submarine is trapped in the Riga bay awaiting surrender or anihilation by our destroyers .
Smolensk and Vitebsk fell, scouting infantery approaches Vjazma .
The Panzers coming from Kiev stand in front of Brjansk but are unready and unsupplied for an assault .
Everything waits for supply and the arrival of all motorized forces from Kiev to Brjansk .
No sign of significant Soviet resistance sofar . Is the Red Army already broken ?

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Africa theater
The supply situation has slightly improved but the DAK is still out of supply .
The British resumed their crude frontal assaults on our defensive line .
However as they lost their mobile forces, they achieve nothing and exhaust themselves in the process while Rommel reconstitutes and refreshes his Panzer reserve .
The unreadiness of the Italian armies is still critical .

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Southern Russian theater
The arrival of 2 full strength Italian corps at Odessa allowed the Romanians to start to slowly build an Odessa-Nikolayevo pocket .
Otherwise nothing to report . Hungarians still on the way .


vonik
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Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

November 41


UK and Atlantic theater
The RN finally decided to deliver battle to prevent the passage of our U boats towards the Atlantic .
Too late, too little . Our capital ships have devastated the UK destroyers while the U boats mauled the battleships .

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Northern and Central Russian theater
It stopped raining and an oportunity window opened to start the assault of Vjazma and Brjansk .
A Panzerkorps started to flank Orel .

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Africa theater
Halleluyah ! A supply convoy broke at last through ! The DAK is fully supplied, reinforced and refitted including the air support .
The Italians have taken over the defensive front with a slightly better supply and readiness too .
For the first time since june, an assault on Tobruk can be contemplated .
As for the exhausted british troops who have been running headfirst against a wall during 2 months, God have pity with them because Rommel won't .

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Southern Russian theater
The 16th Panzergrenadier Division took Kursk against negligible opposition winning an ideal starting point to encircle Orel .
An assault on Kharkov is about to start with massive Luftwaffe support .
The Hungarians march .

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vonik
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Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

End December 1941


UK and Atlantic theater
The Channel battle finished by a RN defeat . UK lost 2 battle ships, 1 light cruiser and most importantly 3 destroyers . The Kriegsmarine has now 7 U boats and 4 capital ships in the Atlantic .

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Northern and Central Russian theater

Leningrad is reached in the south and the Finns deliver high losses to the Soviets defending in the north .
Tirpitz and 2 U boats had to interrupt their movement to Atlantic to deal with the last Soviet ship Marat .
Vjazma is encircled and about to fall . Brjansk and Orel fell and the Panzers move towards Tula and Kaluga .
Unfortunately our troops were hit by an exceptionnaly hard winter and will need a pause at start of 1942 .

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Africa theater
Tobruk fell and the whole DAK immediately started the offensive .
The slow british infantery units on the coast make a race with Rommel's Panzers about who'll reach El Alamein first .
Odds are that they will loose the race and there don't seem to be any significant armored reserves east of El Alamein what could seal their fate .

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Southern Russian theater
Kharkov fell , the Odessa – Nikolayevo pocket was cleared with the help of the arrived Italian forces . The Hungarians are almost there .

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The overall assessement of the results by our armed forces for the year 1941 .


Our strategical targets for the year 1941 have been fully met .
- On the UK&Atlantic front we have inflicted a significant defeat to the RN and sank 3 destroyers . The Kriegsmarine controlls now the Channel and a huge U boat force is free in the Atlantic .
- On the Eastern front we have reached the line Vjazma-Orel-Kursk-Kharkov as well as Leningrad . The Red Army suffered devastating losses of 64 units among which 2 HQ, 34 corps and armies and 10 armored and mechanised units .
- On the African front we have mastered a potentially deadly supply crisis . In the last weeks of 1941 Tobruk was captured and the DAK went over to a full scale offensive towards El Alamein .

The war's strategical targets having be fully met in 1941, the OKW is confident that the year 1942 will see a final victory for our armed forces .

The winter 1941-1942 saw little activity on both sides . Our forces regrouped, resupplied and held the line waiting for the first days of better weather in april .
Rosseau
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by Rosseau »

Very nice AAR. At the start, I cannot say I envied your situation. Your plan was interesting. I wonder how a human would have reacted?

Thanks!
vonik
Posts: 262
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

ORIGINAL: rosseau

Very nice AAR. At the start, I cannot say I envied your situation. Your plan was interesting. I wonder how a human would have reacted?

Thanks!

Well my starting situation is exactly the one everybody gets when he selects the Barbarossa Campaign in the menu .
The purpose is then to propose an ultimate strategy for Germany that (mostly) wins both against AI and human Allies .
Actually we will see how it continues but what is obvious is that the result will basically depend on how it turns out on the UK&Atlantic front .
Sofar it looks rather well for the Kriegsmarine and it is not yet in its full strength .
If the AI doesn't keep pace with the growth of my U boat forces, then it probably already lost :)
vonik
Posts: 262
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

April 1942

UK and Atlantic theater
11 U boats have now joined the Atlantic . The Channel is under total control and the entrance to the Irish Sea is interdicted .
This measure was necessary because of the american declaration of war . Any eventual shipment or reinforcment from the USA to UK must be sunk .
The RN hasn't made any apparition since the battle of the Channel in November 41 and the Kriegsmarine doesn't agressively seek it to avoid unnecessary losses .

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Northern and Central Russian theater
Nothing special to be reported . Industrial priority has been switched from U boats to bombers because the maximum number of U boats has been reached and 2 new bomber Squadrons delivered by our factories are ready to join Leningrad to start an assault on the city .

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Africa theater
The flanking DAK Panzers rolled into El Alamein trapping 3 UK armies and making the Mersa Matruh pocket perfect .
It is not an overstatement that the UK forces ceased to exist in the Middle East in april 1942 .
Henceforth the African theater is set at the last priority 4 .

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Southern Russian theater
The Soviet resistance considerably stiffened around Dniepropetrovsk which is still in Soviet hands .
This succesful resistance was possible because of the lack of Panzer forces on the Southern front .
In order to remedy this weakness, our factories delivered 2 fully equipped Panzerkorps – 1 for Romania and 1 for Hungary .
The plan submitted by the Heeresgruppe Süd proposes to transport both Panzerkorps to Kharkov in order to engage them to south then sharply turning west with the intent to envelop and destroy the ennemy forces at and around Dniepropetrovsk .
The OKW approves this plan .

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vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

May 1942

UK and Atlantic theater
Nothing to report . The Irish Sea and the Channel are sealed . The convoy road south of Ireland is interdicted .

Northern and Central Russian theater
Fully surprised by the brutal assault of the Panzer groups the Soviet armies desintegrated in Tula and Kaluga .
The Heeresgruppe Mitte progresses on a large front against Moscow . The LVII Panzerkorps enters in the southern suburbs of the city .
The infantery armies are screening the left flank of the Panzer forces and don't loose time to cross the Volga to fight Soviet forces on the northern bank .

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Southern Russian theater
A blunder of major proportions or a genial use of opportunities ?
Following a fully unexpected breakthrough of Romanian forces across the Dnieper east of Kherson, the Heeresgruppe Süd took the risk to start the assault to south from Kharkov immediately without waiting for the 2 Hungarian and Romanian Panzerkorps .
The pocket for the Soviet forces at Dniepropetrovsk was thus created but the lonely 11th Army must hold alone a massive Soviet counterattack lead by armored and mechanised units from the Stalino area .
The commander of the Heeresgruppe Süd will earn either an iron cross with diamonds or a martial court .

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Africa theater
The DAK took Alexandria and we had the surprise to see US units appear on the front .
They are untried and with no experience so represent at worst a minor annoyance .
The pocketted UK armies surrendered to the Italians at Marsa Matruh .

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vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

June 1942

UK and Atlantic theater
The U boats raid convoy routes and seal the southern entrance in the Irish Sea . The rest of the Kriegsmarine enjoys the French wine in Bordeaux .

Northern and Central Russian theater
The Panzers progress on a broad front on the Tula-Moscow vector . The Moscow town itself will be bombed and attacked by mechanised infantery from the South .
The OKW observes with satisfaction that the Red Army heavily reinforces the northern Volga bank in the Rjev-Kalinin area . The more units there will be , the bigger will be the north western Kessel when we close it .
The battle in Leningrad shows goods progress of the Finns and with the arrival of new bomber groups the offensive towards Volkhov gains on momentum .

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Southern Russian theater
The 11th army held the desperate Soviet counter and the Dniepropetrovsk pocket has been sealed .
The Red Army strongly reinforced the Stalino sector but it is too late to save its Dniepropetrovsk armies . They are always reacting, not acting and thus are always one step behind the Wehrmacht's initiatives
Eugen Ritter von Schobert has been promoted to the grade of Generalfeldmarschal for this success .
Taking profit of this operation, the Romanians created a smaller pocket around Kherson .
The Soviet forces lost 2 units and farther 8 sit in the Kherson-Dniepropetrovsk trap .

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Africa theater
The DAK holds the Alexandria line and refits while waiting for the arrival of the Italian infantery .
vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

July 1942

UK and Atlantic theater

The RN tried to force the Irish Sea blocus and lost 3 destroyers and 1 battleship with no casualties suffered by the Kriegsmarine .
As a result, OKW ordered a full closure of the Irish Sea both on the Northern and the Southern side .
Aditionnally U boats are to patrol Bristol, Liverpool, Glasgow and Scapa Flowinterdicting any naval movement in these harbours .
With these measures UK is cut from any naval supply and has only 1 provisorily safe harbour in Edinbourgh which can also be closed if necessary .

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Northern and Central Russian theater

The XXIV Panzerkorps captured Moscow !
The Red Army gathered what is certainly the major part of their forces around Moscow and will probably attempt a counterattack .
To prevent any chance for this counterattack to succeed, and to cover the right flank, important Panzer forces are driving against Rjazan where the Soviets are in a very bad supply situation .
When Rjazan is captured, the next stop for the routed Red Army forces is Penza, hundreds of kilometers south east of Moscow .
The battle of Lenigrad reached its peak and the town is about to surrender .

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Southern Russian theater
The Heeresgruppe Süd regroups while cleaning up the remnants of the Dniepropetrovsk-Kherson pockets . After the failure of their attack, the Soviets try to establish a defensive front around Stalino but are hopelessly lacking strong armored forces .

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Africa theater

The Italians arrived to Alexandria and the DAK is ready for the last phase of the African offensive .
vonik
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Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

August 1942

UK and Atlantic theater
An unexpected assault by strong RN units in Irish Sea . These are probably the Mediterranean fleet units fleeing Alexandria and trying to reach UK harbours .
The operation has been coordinated with the USA because we had the pleasure to see many US destroyers simultaneously attacking our U boats at the northern side of the Irish Sea .
However the US and UK intelligence services must have dramatically underestimated the strength of our U boat fleet and it will cost them dearly .
In the Irish Sea battle that is about to be engaged, the RN will cease to exist . As a cherry on the pie, our capital ships will destroy the US destroyers and significantly cripple the US Navy .

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Northern and Central Russian theater
The operational intent of the OKW is to cut the Red Army at the Moscow front in 2 .
First Panzer thrust will aim Rjazan to remove the only supply center east of Moscow and to eliminate any threat on our front from the east and south east .
The more powerful second Pazer thrust will occur along the Moscow-Yaroslavl rail line .
The result of these 2 thrusts will be to definitively cut off supply all Soviet forces west of the railroad thus creating a giant pocket for the whole Red Army north and north west of Moscow .
Additionnaly the Soviet elements around Vladimir sit potentially in a second pocket if a drive from Rjazan to the North is feasible through this difficult forested ground ..
Lenigrad has been captured as expected and Volkhov is about to fall too .
The Russian moral is hitting the bottom .

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Southern Russian theater
The Heeresgruppe Süd gathered its Panzer forces on the left flank and the intent is to capture Kostomarovo, the only supply center at the Don bend . From there the Panzer will attack to the South attempting to flank the whole Red army front at Stalino .

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Africa theater
The Africa Campaign has been successfully closed with the capture of Cairo by the Italian forces and by the capitulation of all UK and US forces in Egypt .
The only task left is to liberate Irak and Syria which has been taken by the UK from its rightful owner France .
In the improbable case that it is needed for the Russian campaign, the DAK is allowed to push to Baku via Iran and/or to liberate Iran from the anglo-soviet occupation .
Henceforth the reports about the African theater will stop .

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vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

October 1942

UK and Atlantic theater
In addition to the ennemy capital ships we destroyed, our U boats discovered and sunk 2 UK Carriers .
The RN is anihilated in the Irish Sea battle, the US Navy lost its destroyers and retreated in the open Atlantic .
We don't hunt them and resume the blockade of UK .

Northern and Central Russian theater
In the North the Finns are liberating the territories lost in the winter war . Our troops took Volkhov and push to Petrozavodsk to join with the Finns .
The Soviet front in front of Moscow has been destroyed and a vast pocket built for 15-20 Red Army units of the north-western front according to the operationnal plan. T
he routed Soviet remainders retreated towards Vladimir .

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Southern Russian theater
The Stalino pocket has been built according to the plan and is in the process to be destroyed .
Our troops stand in front of Rostov and the Romanians are approaching Sevastopol .

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vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

End december 1942

UK and Atlantic theater
The Kriegsmarine has total control over the Atlantic and over all UK harbours .


Northern and Central Russian theater
A surprisingly strong Soviet forces slow down our offensive to Petrozavodsk even if the Finns make fast progress .
Vladimir is about to be surrounded and Yaroslavl is reached by the Panzer forces .
The operationnal target is to cross the Volga at Yaroslavl and to capture Vologda which is the last railroad connection for the Red Army still situated anywhere between Murmansk and Kalinin . This would expand the number of trapped troops in the giant Kalinin pocket by including everything that is west or north of Vologda .

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Southern Russian theater
The Romanians captured Sevastopol and are assaulting Kerch .
Rostov is reached and under attack .

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The overall assessement of the results by our armed forces for the year 1942 .

Our strategical targets for the year 1942 have been surpassed .

On the UK&Atlantic front we have achieved a total and uncontested domination . All UK harbours are closed by U boats and the RN was anihilated . Total UK losses are now : 3 Carriers, 7 Battleships, 6 Cruisers and 10 destroyers . In addition the US Navy lost 1 Cruiser, 3 Destroyers and 5 transports trying to reach the UK . The Allied naval forces will never be able to recover from this defeat and to contest our total domination of the Atlantic . The conditions of the invasion of the UK are met and no help from the USA or the Empire can come when it starts .

On the Eastern front the Red Army ceased to exist as a consistent armed force . Its elements subsist as isolated islands with no more any freedom to move and to operate . The Volga line was practically reached between Yaroslavl and Gorki already in 1942 although this target has been planned for 1943 . The only sector where the Red Army can still uphold a vague consistent continuous front is the Stalingrad region . This is however not due to their strength or performance but to the fact that we deliberately deprived the Heeresgruppe Süd of strong Panzer forces .
The Red Army losses are now at 162 units among which 6 HQ, 99 corps and armies and 19 armored and mechanised units .
The 1942 Soviet losses are double of what they were in 1941 and their industrial capacity is apparently no more able to deal with such a high loss rate .

On the African front the final target has been reached . Cairo was captured and all UK and US forces capitulated what eliminated any Allied presence in Africa and in the Middle East .

The OKW considers that the war has been won 1 year ahead of schedule . Nothing can now prevent an invasion of the UK . The only constraint is the time necessary to transport and refit our best experienced Panzer and Luftwaffe forces from Russia to France . The forces remaining in Russia will have for the only duty to eliminate ennemy pockets and to capture Stalingrad .

vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

April 1943

The only significant event is that the US army invaded Algeria . Algeria surrendred and the US troops approach fast Tunis .
Unfortunately the DAK is currently deep in Syria what leaves Tunisia and Libya open and with no defence .
The only hope is Vichy France who declared war on US and dispatched their only available infantery corps to Tunis .
That means that this 1 corps and 1 French garrison unit will have to hold Tunis untill the DAK arrives . The first DAK elements are being transported to Tunis at full speed .
The Italian forces will be left to continue liberating Syria and Irak because they are too slow to arrive in time in Tunisia anyway .
The Regia Marina which has been doing nothing since the beginning of the war will now have to fully engage in the protection of the Tunis harbour which is vital for the transport of the whole DAK if any such can occur in time .

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vonik
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RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

May 1943

The French sacrified a garrison but heroically held Tunis . First DAK forces – recon, anti tank and Panzergrenadiers arrived to Tunisia .
The recon immediately flanked towards Tebessa to put a pressure on the US who have their front units with low moral, no experience and out of supply .
The crisis is over and as soon as Rommel's HQ arrives to Tunis we will start a counter offensive .
Regia Marina suffered a heavy attack and lost 1 battle ship . The US Navy has been also badly mauled and lost 1 battle ship .
The only annoyance is that the US brought a giant bomber force of at least 6-7 bombers so that everything and anything keeps getting bombed every turn .
The DAK air support has no supply and keeps wisely out of the air which is under total US control .
We could put a fast stop to this american adventure by sending U boats to block Gibraltar and to destroy the US Navy in the Mediterranean but we prefer to keep a total blockade on the UK while preparing the Invasion .
The OKW trusts that Rommel will be enough to deal with the Americans .

On the Eastern front Rostov, Yaroslavl were captured while Vladimir is being surrounded and we restructure our forces .
All bomber forces, the most experienced fighter forces and the best Panzerkorps are being drawn out from the front to be transported to France .
The Moscow front gives its remaining mobile forces over to the Southern front which starts an offensive towards Stalingrad mainly with Hungarian and Romanian tanks .
Anecdotically our U boat in the Black Sea is in the process of sinking the Soviet Black Sea Fleet .

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vonik
Posts: 262
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

June 1943

The US forces in front of Tunis are unexperienced, dramatically unready and demoralized .
However we prefer to keep them in place and to start an overall counteroffensive along the whole front only when Rommel's HQ and DAK's Panzer arrive what is scheduled for July .

On the Eastern front we approach Kalach on the Don and almost the whole Don loop is in our hands .
We have also started a preventive offensive against Voronezh to eliminate this salient in our front which has been tolerated since 1941 .

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vonik
Posts: 262
Joined: Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:12 pm

RE: Barbarossa - the ultimate strategy

Post by vonik »

July 1943

Rommel and the whole DAK are in Tunisia . We are refitting and resupplying .
On the Eastern front Voronezh and Petrozavodsk are captured . The Red Army is in a such sad condition that it is not Worth more detailed reports .
Most operations consist to approach an ennemy position with our most important weapon, a megaphone, and to invite the Soviets to surrender what they do with alacrity .

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