Götterdämmerung - A PzC AAR

[Oberon]

Looks like you've created a pretty solid breakthrough there. Of course the real fun will be piercing the bubble around the trapped troops. Get them out and you can probably turn this around fairly easily I'd wager.

[eddie]

Great AAR Raptor!

[Raptor1]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Looks like you've created a pretty solid breakthrough there. Of course the real fun will be piercing the bubble around the trapped troops. Get them out and you can probably turn this around fairly easily I'd wager.

Yes, I was wondering what to do if...when...I actually get there. The Soviets have some powerful forces around which will be hard to break quickly even if encircled. I thought about having the troops in Buda attempt to break out (Thus contradicting the Führer's orders), but their offensive ability is terrible and they are completely outmatched when it comes to artillery, so I'll hold off that until IV SS Panzer Corps is really close. Also, I'd like to hold Buda if I can, though I'll probably have to evacuate Pest in either case.

[Raptor1]

Alright, time for another post that won't include any After Actionness but will hopefully make the following events make more sense (To me, mostly).

----
Day 3 - January 3rd, 1945
0200 hours

Staff Report
Current Weather: Snow
Visibility: 1km
Forecast: 2km-3km

Order of Battle in Area of Operations

Army Group South

• Sixth Army
  • LVII Panzer Corps
    • 8th Panzer Division
    • 20th Panzer Division
    • 211th Volksgrenadier Division
    • 357th Volksgrenadier Division
    • Reichsgrenadier Division Hoch und Deutschmeister
  • IV SS Panzer Corps
    • 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf
    • 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking
    • 6th Panzer Division
    • 96th Infantry Division
    • 711st Volksgrenadier Division
    • Szent László Infantry Division (Hungarian)
    • 3rd Panzer Division
    • Division Group Pape
  • III Panzer Corps
    • Division Group Bieber
  • I Cavalry Corps
    • 1st Panzer Division
    • 23rd Panzer Division
    • 3rd Cavalry Brigade
    • 4th Cavalry Brigade
• Third Army (Hungarian)
  • VIII Corps
    • 1st Hussar Division
    • 2nd Armoured Division
    • 23rd Infantry Division
  • II Corps
    • 25th Infantry Division

Total Strength Outside Pocket: 38,410 Infantry, 1,172 Guns, 1,176 Vehicles

• IX SS Mountain Corps
  • 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
  • 22nd SS Cavalry Division Maria Teresia
  • Feldherrnhalle Panzer Division
  • 13th Panzer Division
• I Corps (Hungarian)
  • 10th Infantry Division
  • 12th Infantry Division
  • 1st Armoured Division

Total Strength In Pocket: 32,378 Infantry, 348 Guns, 224 Vehicles
----

With the conclusion of the Battle of Tok and the halting of all offensive operations at the end of the previous day, Sixth Army HQ prepared for continued operations against the Budapest encirclement.

To ease command difficulties, all major units participating in offensive operations in the salient have been put under the command of IV SS Panzer Corps.

Units Reassigned to IV SS Panzer Corps

3rd Panzer Division from LVII Panzer Corps
Szent László Infantry Division from LVII Panzer Corps
Division Group Pape from III Panzer Corps

All data from aerial reconnaissance, signals intercepts and ground spotting has been compiled into a (hopefully) clear picture of Soviet opposition to the continued offensive:

Apart from the isolated remains of the 86th Guards Rifle Division, Sixth Army intelligence is fairly certain that the majority of the 49th Guards Rifle Division is located between 3 to 6 kilometers west of the 3rd SS Panzer Division. Beyond this, it is estimated that between one and two Soviet divisions are located in defensive positions around Pilisvorosvar. In the 5th SS Panzer Divisions' area of operations, it is expected that no major formations are located in a position to defend against against an advance on the encirclement, though scattered units may provide resistance.

The southern defence line, currently composed of most of the 6th Panzer Division and Division Group Pape and beginning to be reinforced by the 96th Infantry, 711st Volksgrenadier and 3rd Panzer Divisions, is expected to come under imminent attack by forces from the south. The enemy is assumed to include one Rifle Division and one Tank Corps, but there is not much information about the current strength of Soviet forces south of the salient and therefore this is only a guess.

Information from troops in Budapest indicates that the following Soviet units are participating in offensive action against the pocket:

Buda:

59th Guards Rifle Division
68th Guards Rifle Division
180th Rifle Division
320th Rifle Division
2nd Guards Mechanized Corps
108th Guards Rifle Division
109th Guards Rifle Division
99th Rifle Division
316th Rifle Division
11th Guards Cavalry Division
83rd Naval Infantry Brigade

It is apparent that the attack on Buda lacks armour support, with only a few T-34 units of the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps and some Soviet light and lend-lease medium tanks of the 11th Guards Cavalry Division spotted.

Pest:

30th Rifle Corps
155th Rifle Division (Assumed part of 30th Rifle Corps)
151st Rifle Division (Assumed part of 30th Rifle Corps)
2nd Infantry Division (Romanian)
297th Rifle Division
9th Infantry Division (Romanian)
8th Cavalry Division (Romanian)
317th Rifle Division
18th Special Rifle Corps
66th Guards Rifle Division

Additionally, NKVD units and Front engineers are participating in the offensive against Pest.

Offensive plans are laid out for the next several days; with the scale of Soviet forces in most areas still unknown, it is impossible to know how long the offensive will take. The 3rd SS Panzer Division, after destroying the remains of the 86th Guards Rifle Division, will split into two Kampfgruppes. One group will attack the 49th Guards Rifle Division from the west and south, in conjunction with an attack from the north by the Szent László Infantry Division, in an attempt to destroy the Soviet division. In the meantime, the second group of the 3rd SS Panzer Division will head north and link up with the armoured elements of the Szent László Infantry Division, then attack Pilisvorosvar from the north in an attempt to outflank Soviet defences. Once the 49th Guards Rifle Division has been annihilated, the remaining units will join the attack and breach the line. Once the path is clear, the Szent László Infantry Division will proceed to encircle Soviet forces around Buda. At the same time, the 5th SS Panzer Division will rapidly advance through two axes, one at the road through Budaors and the other through the hill at Budakeszi, and will similarly envelop the Soviet attack on Buda. Meanwhile, the divisions to the south will conduct a mobile defense against the expected Soviet counterattack, while reinforcements gradually arrive to support them.

[eddie]

Have you begun the final assault against Budapest yet Raptor?

[Raptor1]

Not quite, though I'm fairly close.

I'm about 2 turns away from finishing the next day, don't have almost any time to play this right now so it's going very slow. Should update it by tomorrow or so, I think.

[Raptor1]

Most units spend the remainder of the night resting, except those units directly engaged in combat, such as the 5th SS Panzer Regiment at Zsambek and elements of the 3rd SS Panzer Division northeast of Kirva.

The offensive resumes at dawn. The 10th Panzer Regiment encounters tanks of the Soviet 7th Mechanized Corps southwest of Torbagy and hastily pulls back to defensive positions. SS Wiking, as expected, advances while encountering little resistance except for 46th Army tank destroyers. By 0800, the 86th Guards Rifle Division has been destroyed by SS Totenkopf. Meanwhile, contact with the majority of the 49th Guards Rifle Division's fighting strength is established as it attacks and sends the leading elements of the Szent László Infantry Division routing in disarray.



The 3rd SS Panzer Divisions begins its pre-planned flanking maneuver, and the 49th Guards Rifle Division realizes its weak position and begins to withdraw from its attack. However, the foot infantry is too slow and is caught and encircled over the next four hours. In the meantime, the 7th Mechanized Corps advances on the southern defensive line with a probing attack on the 10th Panzer Regiment and a large armoured offensive against positions held by the 6th Panzer Division and SS Regiment Ney near Bickse. SS Wiking begins to encounter large concentrations of artillery used against Budapest, including batteries of heavy howitzers, Katyushas and massive 203mm siege guns (Whoever played MoWAS is familiar those things).



The outflanking attack on Pilisvorosvar reaches its destination and finds only light resistance, with the defending troops of the 2nd Guards Mechanized Corps apparently having successfully retreated to the southwest. By 1600 the majority of the 49th Guards Rifle Division has been crushed, with only minor resistance remaining, and the remainder of the Szent László Infantry and 3rd SS Panzer Divisions turn to advance up the ridge separating them from Budapest. At the same time, a counterattack by the 6th Panzer Division, together with troops from the newly arrived 3rd Panzer Division and the 11th Panzer Regiment, manages to drive back the 7th Mechanized Corps' attack and encircle most of the attacking tanks.



With nightfall, most operations once again cease for troop resting. By 2200, Pilisvorosvar and the 7th Mechanized Corps' pocket near Bickse are cleared. Meanwhile, the 62nd Guards Rifle Division begins an attack of unknown strength on the 25th Hungarian Infantry Division's line north of Lake Balaton. Otherwise, nothing of note happens for the rest of the day.

End of Day 3



The destruction of the 7th Mechanized Corps' attack and the flanking and taking of Pilisvorosvar has been fairly large successes, except for the latter town's defenders managing to escape largely unharmed. SS Wiking's advance has been slightly less rapid than I would've liked, but still pretty good.

The 5th SS Panzer Division is now a mere 5 kilometers from troops inside the Budapest pocket.



Casualties and Losses

Axis -
Infantry: 5,753
Guns: 63
Vehicles: 194

Allied -
Infantry: 17,230
Guns: 353
Vehicles: 367

[eddie]

It looks like the northeast secter of Budapest doesn't have that many Russian units there, wonder if that's a weak point that might be exploited? Maybe a breakout attempt there, then moving north to the first crossing so they can head west towards the German lines.