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 Russian Campaign: Korsun  Our goal was to pocket the whole German force here at Korsun before the spring weather arrives. We haven't quite done it, but we are on our way. Uman is a bit of a mess but we appear to have the stronger forces. The net is being closed on the other side at Novoukrainka which is all but in our hands. In the middle, Shpola and Smela are cleared, but Zvenigrodka is a tougher nut to crack. The holding force is just managing to hold the line at Korsun even as the main battle force arrives.  The air battle has been hindered by the snowy weather, but it has been a familiar story: massed Soviet planes overwhelming the dwindling number of high-quality German fighters that are in the theater. Allied Turn: February 17, 1944 Snowing(Frozen) More snow is dumped by a fresh storm.  Novoukrainko is finally taken; all that remains is to take Uman and squeeze the middle.  At Uman we are making progress. It appears this group won't be assisting at Zvenigrodka, but they must control this situation. At least the airfield here ought to hold thanks to our mobile artillery.  The Lucky 13th retreats toward Korsun, and the rest of our core arrives to work on Zvenigrodka. The assault on Korsun will come from mostly green auxiliary troops out of Cherkassy. Axis Turn: February 17, 1944  The German armor has weakened around Korsun. The Panther takes the airfield but there are no more mobile units here, and we'll be able to bring our full force. (A notable thing about these tank models other than the Panther D: they have a very high Close Defense of 5, making them actually quite effective at holding city hexes.)  Counterattacks out of Uman have an air of desperation about them. Although it's not a bad idea if the goal is to drain the ammo of the SU-152. In this snow, it's difficult to resupply them to full. Allied Turn: February 20, 1944 Snowing(Frozen)  A few units are knocked out of Zvenigrodka.  Uman is captured as the airborne infantry holding it are forced to raise the white flag.  The forces at Korsun are weak, but at this point we're just using them in repeated attacks to deplete the supplies of the Germans. Axis Turn: February 20, 1944  At Zvenigrodka a few Soviet units take damage, but we're beginning to overwhelm them.  The SU-152 proves capable again as it protects a truck from taking damage. Allied Turn: February 23, 1944 Snowing(Frozen)  Kanev still needs to be taken, so we've moved more infantry in to work at it. Bombers are around to help out too.  The twin Stugs repel a KV-85, but that is just more reduction of their ammo supply. Axis Turn: February 23, 1944  Somehow I thought this recon car was out of ammo, but it turned out not to be the case, and our core AD unit is lost.  Korsun tries again to attack us but they are unable to do much. The German planes are almost without a base, since we're contesting Korsun and Uman is in our hands. Allied Turn: February 26, 1944 Overcast(Frozen)  The weather has not been perfect but today we're able to secure domination of the skies.  Fighting is still bitter and progress is slow, but we're managing to make some headway with the attack from the south.  Kanev falls, and we drive the Panther off the airfield at last.  Zvenigrodka does not yet fall, but we are on the verge and out to capture it before the month is out. Axis Turn: February 26, 1944  An AT gun comes out of Korsun and kills one of our infantry units, but we have more to spare now. Allied Turn: March 1, 1944 Overcast(Frozen) ** LAST TURN **  Four new units arrive today, and they are all quite good. There will be more on them in the next battle, but for now we can see the IS-2 has arrived. It is the most powerful Soviet tank and bears the name of Stalin himself.   Initial attacks are unsuccessful at dislodging the troops in Zvenigrodka.  Our Engineers are able to knock them out, and the city is ours!  Bombers do their best to weaken the objectives at Korsun. We've won the battle, but need to take the last two spots to secure a Major victory.  The bombing and what little artillery we have to use [most of the units are out of ammo] clear out the cities, and we'll be able to move in and take them.  Capturing Korsun is the last move after we grab a bit more experience where we can.  The final map, showing how much we crushed the German army here. Ending Prestige: 1606 Result: Major Victory (2750 prestige awarded)
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| ← # ? Dec 10, 2013 08:27 |
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