OneArmedMexican wrote:If you have some mounted partisans left I would go for some winter
railroad raiding in his backyard.
The great thing about those units: they have a special (hidden) attribute:
"winterized". Like partisans and some cossack units raiders don't take damage due to harsh weather. I hope you saved the ones you get in Orsk and the Far East.
At first, I completly undervalued these raiders. But since I realized that they are winter proof, railroad service in Siberia has broken down in my last Red campaign.
Unfortunately I managed to mangle them all =( Blucher was annihilated with the Orsk stack, and the Far Eastern ones have managed to cut a railroad, but have been seriously hurt in the process. Hopefully they can take in some replacements once they reach an empty hex. Movement takes forever on the retreat!
Thanks for the compliments, everyone. =)
Turn 14: Late December 1918
Merry Christmas from Russia! This is why there are so many Russians - Russian winters. Nothing to do but stay inside and drink and..
Sorry.
The cold has led to a quiet Siberian front, but elsewhere, the Whites continue their advance. This turn, all my screenshots will have numbers in the top-left corner, which will correspond to the numbers on this map:
(Apologies, they're all jumbled and out of order.) I hope this will help show the context of the war, and explain why I feel a little hemmed in. It's war on every front!
Well, the most intriguing move so far on the part of the Whites is that their Northwestern Army, currently under Rodzianko, has left Pskov and is venturing north in the direction of Petrograd - aka St Petersburg. Observe:
The arrow is, of course, a guess. I wouldn't be surprised if he detoured towards Novgorod - but at the same time, I expect him to go straight for the jugular. If I lose Petrograd, my national morale goes to the toilet and a Bolshevik victory becomes much less likely. He (correctly) presumes that the majority of my forces in the area are dedicated to holding back Miller. I'm going to have to bring in the new armies forming in the Moscow area to counter NW Army.
Speaking of Miller..
Pariah sent him south against my force at Petrozavodsk! The man's been repulsed, and fairly decently, too. I'm pleased - but he hasn't been destroyed, and Antonov-Ovseenko is too incompetent to lead a proper advance. So these forces are still locked down. Still, good to know that I've essentially 'dealt' with the White Northern Army.
Let's move south. Kharkov wasn't quite so easy as I expected:
Shame, but it looks like I haven't lost MUCH time. The Whites are slow to advance as well (although they've already got the Crimea and they're moving northwards.. hmm). Meanwhile, my partisans are advancing around the flanks to chop up railroads, and S.S. Kamenev has arrived to command the newly-formed Ukraine Front. I have high hopes to take big chunks of northern Ukraine once everyone's nice and organized, but I might not have time. The Volunteer Army will soon be free to head north - Sorokin and his Don Front are not long for this world. Witness:
Denikin's drinking buddy, Mai-Mai, walloped Sorokin but good. The man has less than 10,000 troops remaining against some cold and bloodthirsty Whites. Bisherakov is blocking my escape. Novorossisyk is the Alamo.
I'm still pretty pleased with Sorokin - I hadn't expected the troops to last til winter, and they're still here.. what's left of them.
Just a little northeast, along the Tzaritsyn-Novorossisyk railroad, I've had Stalin inching forward with a load of armoured trains, menacing the Cossacks. Well, that backfired.
I hope I can get him out of there! Kind of. Stalin's a bit of a crap commander - jumped up beyond his station if you ask me - and part of me likes to take risks with him. Maybe if I get him killed or disgraced, I can avert future genocides, eh?
Anyways, Voroshilov is sitting in Tzaritsyn with the 10th Army - recently reinforced by sailor's detachments from the Caspian and Black Seas - so I feel secure, on the whole.
Things are also looking good in Siberia.
The line is stable, with a full 100,000 troops manning the front from Kazan to Saratov. Kazan is a bit of a salient - but with only 2 crossings of the Volga under enemy control, I feel I can risk it. Flanking Kazan will be hard to do, and I can always pull out. Holding it is a bit of a bonus.
So, 1918 is over. I feel pretty good about it! I managed to delay in the South and hold in the East, after a few scary months. In the long run, though, this is just a preamble. New challenges are coming - foreign interventions, Yudenich on the march, and Denikin free to advance north towards Moscow. 1919 will be the year of the Whites.
To win, I'll need to make use of the interior lines and efficient railway network of central Russia - Sovdepia - to shuttle troops from one front to the next, countering crises as they arise. To this end, I've sunk a decent amount of cash into expanding my rail pool and infrastructure.
Fingers crossed for the new year!