WARGAMESOSD

Demyansk Shield - The Frozen Fortress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wargames.wilkey.org.uk
The Soviet Northwestern Front
At the beginning of 1942, the troops of the Northwestern Front, advancing in the direction of Staraya Russa, had achieved considerable success in encircling the 16th Army in the area of Demyansk. However, they failed to destroy the 16th Army. On 21 April, Kampfgruppe Seydlitz was to reopen supply lines to the pocket by opening the Ramushevo Corridor. Soviet troops repeatedly tried to cut the corridor, but the attacks were unsuccessful. In October, Stavka replaced Pavel Kurochkin in command of the Northwestern Front with Semyon Timoshenko. Timoshenko received an order from Stalin to eliminate the German troops in Demyansk.

Due to weather conditions, the new offensive started on 28 November. Fierce fighting lasted for two weeks. Despite the end of the offensive on 23 December, the troops of the Northwestern Front launched a renewed offensive by the 1st Shock Army and 11th Army to cut the Ramushevo Corridor, but by 13 January 1943 were unable to break the German lines. The 34th Army and 53rd Army then attacked, but were also unable to defeat the German forces.

Courtesy of Wkipedia

Sukhaya Niva

The preparation of the Soviet offensive came as no surprise to the German command. Realizing that holding the Demyansk bridgehead would be extremely difficult, Georg von Küchler asked Hitler to allow the withdrawal of troops back to the line of Staraya Russa and Kholm. At first, Hitler refused, but on 29 January changed his mind. The command of the 16th Army immediately began implementing the withdrawal. At the same time, German troops continued to defend their strong positions. The Ramushevo Corridor was particularly strongly fortified, with 1200-1500 mines every kilometer in some places, and pillboxes and bunkers every 300 to 350 meters.

Axis and Soviet units south of Demyansk

Soviet forces of the Southwest Front press forward at the start of Turn 1 with the ultimate goal to encircle Demyansk. On 15 February, the Soviet 11th and 53rd Armies attacked to cut the Ramushevo corridor and the 34th Army attacked to the northeast of Demyansk. Faced with fierce resistance, the Soviet forces failed to cut the corridor and prevent the Germans from retreating. On 20 February, Stavka recommended Zhukov to attack with the 27th Army, 1st Shock Army and Khozin Special Group before the previously planned date due to the German retreat. On 23 February, the 27th Army attacked south of Staraya Russa, and the 1st Shock Army attacked at the base of the Ramushevo Corridor, attempting to prevent the Germans from crossing the Lovat River. By this time, the Germans had vacated most of the bridgehead and Demyansk had been abandoned by the II Army Corps on 22 February

The Axis Occupation of Demyansk

The above illustration shows the Axis clearly in control of Demyansk, mainly by SS units (black tiles) at the start of Game Turn 1.

The Demyansk salient was held by the German troops for more than a year, based on a large scale operation to encircle Soviet forces with converging attacks from Demyansk and Rzhev. In March, the Soviet troops caused the Germans to withdraw from the Demyansk salient and retreat across the Lovat. Almost simultaneously, the Germans withdrew from the Rzhev-Vyazma salient. As a result, the possibility of a German attack in the Moscow area was ended. However, the results of the offensive were relatively modest, and the Stavka objectives for Northwestern Front were not achieved.