1st Ukraine Front - Insiders look at a Play Test

[Strela]

Soviet Turn

As the day turns to afternoon, Russian forces are intent on reducing the pocketed Germans and pushing their mechanized forces forward.







616th Sapper Bn from 337th Rifle Division manages to clear the bunkers north of Baran’ye Pole.







With German Engineers and AT guns cut off in northern Baran’ye Pole, the 337th Rifle Division launches fierce assaults against the ruined town. The Germans take heavy losses.







27th Army has now almost cleared the highway from Luka to beyond Medvin. Baran’ye Pole should hopefully be cleared by next turn. 167th & 180th Rifle Division continue to make slow progress towards the river crossing at Povadovka. 233rd Tank Bde pauses while it overruns the remaining STuG’s of 202nd Abt. The German armor facing 27th Army is no more. The Sherman’s of 3rd Bn push forward and are stopped just outside of Pisarevka.






The trapped Germans just south of Vinograd, are assaulted by wave after wave of Soviet troops and begin to surrender in significant numbers.






The Vinograd pocket is now clearly 3 groups of isolated forces. The southernmost is almost annihilated while the westernmost is pushed out of its entrenchments. 5th MC continues to push through the gap south of Vinograd and assist with the mopping up. 74th Rifle Division presses the German flanks and continues to push towards Roskoshevka.

5th GTC hands the Vinograd pocket off to the 40th Army infantry and pushes towards the G’niloy Tikich bridges. 1st Tank Bn, 21st Guard Tank Bde is handled roughly outside Redkodub, when it stumbles on a thick PAK front. The rest of 5th GTC has reached the Tichnovka pocket and the besiegers become the besieged.





German Turn 15

Many Axis units are now becoming isolated or pushed back from their entrenchments. The line has been definitively broken and there is little likelihood of it being recovered. The focus now is on rescuing all units that can be and the remainder to hold the Soviets for as long as possible.







In the 88th & 198th Infantry sector, the link between the two divisions is severed. Soviet tanks are outside Pisarevka and there is a danger that 198th Infantry Division will be pocketed. 88th Infantry starts to pull back from Medvin, there is no chance of holding the highway now. There is very little to prevent the Russians pushing to Lisyanka and its vital bridge.







The Luftwaffe is called in and manages to hit one target disrupting a number of Russian units in the process. Two other strikes scatter harmlessly.







There is little that can be done for the pocketed forces at Vinograd. They continue to be compressed into a smaller area and the two smaller pockets will be gone by next turn. The Russians continue to pressure Roskoshevka on the far left flank, but heavy defensive fire is slowing their advance to a crawl.

Ominously, Soviet tanks have been reported at Bushanka on the G’niloy Tikich and the AT company is still preparing its positions. There are very few crossing left across the river and they have to held long enough for 198th Infantry Division forces to cross.







Looking at the overall situation it is obvious how the German defenses have splintered with the bulk of 198th Infantry Division around Povadovka desperately trying to cross the river, while the trapped units at Vinograd will be lost soon.

The Russian armor appears to be spread out but is essentially invulnerable as there are no Germans to counterattack.