Counterattack on the Oka - The Matrix Games version of East Front II

Altukhovo, 50km N of Orel: [Best played as Axis] Until the fall of Voronezh, Stalin remained convinced that the target for the Axis 1942 summer offensive was Moscow. This resulted in much of the Soviet Army's striking power being positioned in front of Army Group Center while the formations in southern Russia withdrew in the face of Army Group South's advance. In truth, Army Group Center had been stripped of many of its mobile divisions to support the drive toward Stalingrad and into the Caucasus. Thus in early July when Zhukov's Western Front launched a spoiling attack north of Orel, the 2nd Panzer Army was extremely hard pressed to contain the Russian attack. Following reports that the Russian 12th Tank Corps was attempting to cross the Oka River near Altukhovo late on July 9th, Kampfgruppes Kray and Warnicke were rushed to the area with orders to hold the river line. Instead of an easily defensible riverbank, the panzers found the 97th Tank Brigade deploying from hastily constructed pontoon bridges.