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[SIZE="4"]DRANG NACH OSTEN
An AAR of the German Intervention in Russia – 1921-1922

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Berlin – 7-8th January 1921
General F. von Bredow, head of the Abwehr has required an audience from the GeneralStab to discuss recent information and development in the East. Reports indicate that since the almost total victory of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War, some factions in the Sovnarkom are pushing for an offensive to the West, in order to expand the Revolution and provoke the downfall of the imperialist regimes. Red troops have moved into the Ukraine and a coup is imminent in Kiev and Kharkov.
The German Imperial government has sent an ultimatum to Moscow, demanding immediate withdrawal and backing down from their support to revolutionary attempts. The Bolshevik response is expected anytime now.
Some orders were sent to Lodz where general J.Pilsudsky has been required to raise two more legion of Polish troops


Kiev – Late January 1921
The invasion of Northeastern Ukraine by Red troops has caught most Ukrainian officials and the local German garrisons. Few troops are available to react. An immediate transfer by rail of the 2 available Ukrainian divisions from Ekaterinoslav and Poltava to Kharkov has been ordered. The Odessa division will move to Kremenchuk to secure that vital Dniepr crossing, while the Black Sea division will move closer to Melitopol, to watch Green and anarchist activity near the sea of Azov.

The Governor of Lugansk reports that the Don Cossack forces refuged here have gone increasingly restless and are planning a surprise raid towars Novocherkassk to liberate their former capital (and may be link with the remaining White forces still fighting a desperate battle in the Kuban)





Player Comments – T0
In the preliminary turn, there is not much to do as most Central Powers forces are locked. Only 4 Ukrainian divisions are available, with the Don Cossacks. Defending Kharkov is a priority and 2 divisions moved there by rail can hold for a while. The Don raid to Novocherkassk is a gambit, to distract the Reds from their offensive and, possibly, obtain reinforcements if we hold there long enough to gain Rostov later on (Krasnov will show up with Don troops if both cities are controlled)
Only 2 Poles troops are available at start, so we build them asap (those mounted infantry are useful because of their high movement speed)


Interphase T0-T1
Well, the Reds have decided to go forward the hard way: the ultimatum was rejected and general war has started. Severe winter conditions in Eastern Ukraine have somewhat slowed down operation, but a Red offensive has taken Belgorod where the 1,000 men garrison was eradicated. Coups engineered by the local Soviets have occurred in Kiev and Kharkov and Bolsheviks insurgents have taken control of both city centres, lowering our morale significantly. To add insult to injury, an Anarchist cavalry raid captured Makeievka.











The 27,000 Cossacks have fought a terrible battle at Kamenskaya over several days and managed to capture the Red lines there. In the process, they trounced the poorly coordinated Voroshilov’s 17,000 men and then Snesarev‘s 30,000 Red soldiers trying to move northwest towards Lugansk and (probably) Kharkov….but the valiant Cossacks progress towards Novocherkassk is halted and their troops will need rest.

Player Comments – Interphase
The opening moves were not as expected, but are surprisingly interesting. The Cossacks did well in blocking a major Red offensive. I feel stupid having lost Makeievka to a raid of Anarchists, as I should have kept it easily with an Ukrainian brigade sent there instead of Kharkov.


Full war choice by the Reds offer more options to choose and an intense war from the start. I just lost the Baltikum Koprs option (which is available only in limited war situations, giving a corps of free German troops in the Baltic states). Turn 1 will be quite long to organize now.

TURN 1

Berlin – GeneralStab - Early February 1921
So general war has started. We have reports that the Austro-Hungarian and Turks, despite being Central Powers too, will not join (at least not before May for the Austro-Hungarian they are blocked 6 turns – The Turks will remain blocked till Caucasus is invaded by the Reds), so we have to organize resistance with our available armies and our Ukranian vassals.
Our priority for the next 4-6 weeks will be to hold on the Dniepr line, so we must recapture Kiev as fast as possible, and possibly keep a foothold in the East, either towards Rostov or in Kharkov. In the center, we must protect the approaches to Poland and threaten Minsk (and later Smolensk, on the way to Moscow).
In the north, nothing much is to be done, and the Finns and Balt neutrality plays in our hands for the time being (we can always involve them later).
Our most important tool for now is our railroad network: we must use it to the maximum to move forward our armies: those from Central and Southern Poland will go towards Kiev and the Dniepr, with at least 2 of the recently received Reserve Korps






Germany – War Ministry - Early February 1921
Morale will be of utmost importance in this war, an ideological as well as military struggle. And logistics too. So our first Options decisions are to recall FM Paul von Hindenburg, the beloved hero of the nation (+10 NM), which compensates the General mobilization (-10 NM).
We shall also increase the rail pool and sell arms to all possible minor allies (Balts, Ukraine, Whites, Caucasus) to keep them fit for the war. On the minus side, we shall make some requisitions in the Ukraine to get some more needed supplies
But the most important decision (besides the +5 NM effect) is the blockade of Russia. As Germans, we know how decisive such a move can be!

The main expenses are reserved for military production though. A key decision we take is to give maximum support to our Ukrainian vassal: their troops are closer to the front lines (so can react faster) and their loss less drastic to our morale. We shall build also some reserve and conscripts.
More Polish troops are raised.

Those in the center and north will concentrate north of the Pripyat (and take the border city of Baranavichy as a stepping stone towards Minsk), also with available reserves.
The OberOst shall relocate to Brest-Litovsk for the time being, to keep options open.
All available air squadrons bases are moved by rail too, as far as possible.

Kiel – HochSee Flotte Command - Early February 1921
The Imperial Navy has a key role to play in this war. Two fleets under Scheer are immediately to blockade the Gulf of Finland, while Admiral Souchon is ordered to steam to Kerch Straits to bottle up any potential sortie of the Reds. A third fleet, the Battle Cruisers with Admiral Hipper moves to the Norwegian Sea to intercept the enemy up north. The rest of the fleet awaits further development in Kiel.
Orders are sent to the Black Sea squadron to move upon first opportunity (in 1 turn) to Novorossyisk to take our military mission near the Whites back to Odessa or Constanta.





Supplying our army will be critical in the east, an effort on buying logistical units is undertaken.
A special attention is taken to 2 secret plans we have in mind: decoy operations in the far north and the Caucasus (which may turn to full-size offensives if the red do not react. The maritime transport fleet is increased, as well as Marines troop, and some Mountain troops are raised too.
Because the front is far from home, having a good set of replacement is critical, so the balance of our assets goes to them (Ukrainian first).

The Ukraine – Early February 1921
We have decided to reorganize the Ukrainian army, in order to recapture Kiev and Kharkov as fast as possible. Corps are beefed up. In the long run, we plan to redeploy all the Ukrainian in the east, around Kharkov. For the moment, stacks in Kiev and Kharkov are ordered all-out assaults to recapture the key cities above all.
Delmensigen Korps will move fast from Jithomir to Makeievka, in order to prepare a future offensive towards Rostov and support the Cossacks if need be.
The military advisors are dispatched inside militia garrisons to train them, the generals with them sent to command leaderless Ukrainians who desperately need a better command.
The Don Cossacks shall entrench and wait for German support in the recently conquered Kamenskaya lines.





Player Comments – T1 decisions
The key for me is to get ready for a Spring offensive with troops holding good staging points. No need to lose more troops than necessary in the harsh winter weather. Let’s concentrate 2 main army groups forward (Center and Ukraine) and see how the situation unfolds. So building replacements and new units is given priority,

Interphase T1-T2
Two battles started almost immediately for the control of Kiev and Kharkov: The assault in Kiev was bloody but the rebellious soviets were finally eradicated.





The same seemed to appear in Kharkov when suddenly a force of 60,000 Bolsheviks under Antonov-Ovseenko appeared to rescue the rebels. Losses from gunfire were heavy but Wolf’s Ukrainian corps managed to hold them in stalemate and take refuge into the city ruins… a siege is likely unless we decide for evacuation






The German offensive operation on Baranavichy took the Red by surprise, and they quickly left the border town under heavy gunfire.
In the meanwhile, the German navy has reached patrol position and troops moved forward by rail are slowly reaching the front. Makeievka was liberated by a German forward corps, the Anarchist cavalry having destroyed the rail line and fled the city.
There was not much fighting elsewhere, probably due to the cold

Player Comments – Interphase
Things continue to go well, but the reports from the end turn are quite interesting: the Reds are transferring forces from Central Asia and recruiting a lot, and also some propaganda campaign. All the while protecting their Northern harbors too: it seems they are planning for a war of attrition.
The only surprising move from them was the declaration of war on the Balts. This creates another group of Soviet insurgents in the Baltic capitals, and opens a wide front. It might prove interesting in the long run, as if I am forced to halt southern and central offensives to protect my allies, it also makes us much closer to Petrograd. But it will force me to recall troops from other occupation zones in the West and this reduces our morale. I noticed the mood of the German people to go down slightly (event) and the communist sympathies in the homeland rise. I must be careful about domestic agitation…
Looks like Turn 2 preparation will be monstruous…

Hi Potemkin, good AAR, I will be following it ... I think this campaign is going to be very very exciting when played by Pbem against a human opponent

This is excellent, just the thing I was waiting for! Please continue!

Very well written.

But you do know that the AI for this scenario is not finished. You will be playing against a rather passive adversary. Clovis promised it will be the next thing on his to do list.

This campaign feels like another game ! That is the best part of RUS. 2 big campaigns relatively different diplomatic options, units and sides in one game.
That is good written AAR, well done I hope it continues.

Excellent AAR! Please keep it coming.

TURN 3

Berlin – GeneralStab - Early March 1921
Our plan still unfolds according to schedule. Nieman Armee will be landing at Narwa within a few days, and Army Group North has assembled for an offensive towards Pskov. Balt cavalry and reserves are going along, securing the flanks of the advance
In the center, Reserve Korps and the new Polnische Legion are targeting cities covering the approaches of Minsk. This city looks heavily defended and will be the target of Army Group Center.
Marshal Hindenburg has been appointed at the head of the newly created Army Group B in Kiev, and an operation to capture or destroyed the Reds redoubts on the other side of the Dniepr launched.
In the central and southern Ukraine, positions are reinforced, with blocking points at Lugansk, Poltava and Kamenskaya, all with a German army and every Ukrainian force available (the Corps from Kharkov has been instructed to retreat to Lugansk).
The Don Cossacks will attempt to raid Novocherkassk once more, to be followed by a German army if they succeed in capturing it.
Measures for future deceptions are implemented: the Alpen Korps has been railed to Odessa for future use in the Caucasus while Von Schroeder’s Marine Korps builds up in Kiel, in anticipation for an amphibious operation when the weather improves.

The Imperial Navy continue its transportation and support operation while keeping a closer eye to the Red fleet.

Germany – War Ministry - Early March 1921
Replacements have been brought in once more, and new constructions as well. We have decided to concentrate on speed (cavalry and armoured cars) and punch (artillery and armour) for anticipated siege of key objectives.
Our Engagement Points are still a bit feeble, so we limited ourselves to some propaganda campaign, recalled an Army from occupied France to Kiel (for further operations) and sent more support to the Balts.


Interphase T3-T4
The war has been raging this turn, but not always to the Kaiser’s armies advantage unfortunately. The situation is not critical so far, but some of our plans were severely rebuffed and sanctions may be needed.






Things had started well when the Cossacks captured Novocherassk in a daring raid.






But the operations in the North did not succeed as expected. Pilsudsky’s Poles reached Bobruisk, but the garrison was tougher to crack than expected and the attacked ended up in a siege. We must do something fast there, otherwise the supply situation shall deteriorate quite fast.





The two pronged assault in direction of Pskov was a half success, when the northern assault on Pechory lines saw 4,000 Bolshevik repulse ten times that amount of brave Landsers. The Germans retreated to get some rest, leaving a Balt division to besiege the remaining defenders. The southern portion of the defenses fell nevertheless, so we have now a way to go directly to Pskov (but the city looks heavily defended).

More in the center, our encirclement of Minsk was a success: a full Red army is trapped inside the city, surrounded by two German ones and allied Balt divisions. We shall send some more siege artillery and get them at some point. Let’s entrench and avoid useless losses.


As the turn ended with a bad news for us: Mackensen’s corps of 28,000 moved a bit too fast into a planned assault in Donestsk, uncoordinated with other forces sent from Maleievka (Mackensen is a known hothead). The 30,000 Bolshevik under Voroshilov made a staunt defense and our troops have been repulsed with heavy casualties.





All in all, two defeats and a stalemate in 15 days have dried out our replacement reserves and left us in dire situation in at least two sectors. We must halt the tempo of operations.

Our main issue is that we are dramatically short of recruits, and Russia is vast. We have to wait for our reinforcements.





But those devil Communists are now agitating again and they have started a campaign directly inside Germany. Although it’s not dramatic yet, we must be extremely careful about it, because the more the Reds loyalty shall increase in our homeland, the less we shall have support for this war (drop in production, recruits and other resources). We must severely crack down on the Reds at home before even resuming operations in the East.





A last interesting news made it to the General Stab yesterday though: many in the Kaiser’s entourage have read the pamphlet of H. Guderian, a promising officer who wrote “Achtung Panzer”, a pledge for the use of armoured units in a more independent and flexible way. I suppose that in some time key decisions in the matter will be taken, and that we may have to try new types of units on the battlefield.

Guderian vs. Soviet Russia... I wonder how it will turn out?

TURN 4

Berlin – GeneralStab - Late March 1921
Spring is nearing, and we have decided to implement our first deception operation, with the landing of the Naval Korps and a complete army in Murmansk. This promises to be a difficult task, as we are aware the Reds beefed up their defenses in the north, in order to protect the last ports where they can receive smuggled goods. Three battle fleets will be assigned to the operation, as well as all the transport capacity of the Imperial Navy.

The second deception operation is launched as well; the Alpen Korps has just landed at Novorrossyisk and obtained permission from the local White Russian to use their railroad for an offensive towards Stavropol in the heart of the Kuban.

On the main front, we shall move forward towards Pskov and attempt to breach the fortified lines in front of the city, while in the South we must capture Donetsk to ensure further offensive operations against Rostov (with an attack planned in the rear directly from Novocherkassk and another bypassing Donetsk and heading directly towards Taganrog with von Werder’s Reserve Korps). The Ukrainian troops will do their utmost to recapture Ukrainian cities previously lost to the Reds (Sumy) or the Greens (Berdjiansk), and the Balts will attempt a small landing behind Yamburg to cut the Reds railroads there.

All other forces should regroup and rest to receive the upcoming replacements.

Germany – War Ministry - Late March 1921
The main action this turn is to call a reinforcement army to Kiel where it will join the assembled fleet for the operation against Murmansk. This costs us a bit in VP and morale, but we can afford it.

Interphase T4-T5
The first naval battle of the war occurred in Neva Bat where the squadron under Admiral Scheer caught a foray of 3 Red cruisers: one was sunk while the other two retreated with some damages. The Baltic Sea remains under control! The Fleet then bombarded the coastal defenses but the Bolshevik coastal artillery returned quite a few hits and we are now bound for Tallinn and repair in its friendly harbour.





The assault on Donetsk by GL Von Kirchbach army (100,000 men) managed to force the 3:1 outnumbered Bolsheviks under Voroshilov to retreat towards Rostov, but a few thousand men led by Avtonomov have taken refuge inside the city in the hope of delaying our advance eastwards.

Unfortunately, the encirclement moved planned failed: Werder’s reservists were delayed in the swamps near Taganrog and could not catch the Reds there. East of Rostov, heavy rainfall prevented Linsingen’s army and the Cossacks to even reach the outskirt of Rostov, which unfortunately will allow the Reds to regroup there.





Our allies were not successful this turn: the Ukrainians were repulsed at Sumy and retreated towards Poltava, while the Balts failed in taking Pechory lines in front of Pskov.