The Next War - Operation Attila D+6, Night

Hamburg Central Station, 23:00 Zulu Time

Sergeant Sidorov's tank company stopped for the night near Central train station, after sixteen hours of fighting and two others T-72 lost.

"And so we're down to six", He thought. "Luckily the Germans left yesterday, and all we had to fight were Danish reservists and small groups of armed civilians."

He reached his backpack for some bratwurst and a chunk of black bread, taken a few hours ago from a grocery store. Probably a grocery reserved to the ruling class only, judging by the amount of food it had.

To tell the truth, every store he has seen in Hamburg had an impressive amount of goods of every kind; in several cases, he wasn't even able to discern what that stuff was for.

"Why in the hell they were preparing to attack East Germany? I've been stationed there for four years, and cannot imagine what they could hope to get they don't already have. Maybe my old Sergeant Instructor was right, after all; a German is always a German, no matter what."

He gnawed the black bread, watching the lights of the city fires.

20th Guards Army HQ, near Bremen, 23:00 Zulu Time

"Are you sure of your conclusions, Anton Vladovich?"

The commander of 20th Guards Army looked intently at the 40 years old man in front of him: shaggy uniform, tired look, dirty. A good soldier. Too many of his officers looked always ready for a parade in the Red Square, even after six day of war.

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant General. Our reconnaissance forces have identified elements from three different brigades belonging to 11th West German Mechanized Division, all defending Bremen.
The strength of the defense lines bring us to conclude that the enemy has regrouped and is now maneuvering at division level in Bremen area."

"Thank you, Anton Vladovich. Dismissed."

He closed his eyes and tried to organize the hundreds of small information pieces constantly flowing to his desk. NATO operating at division level, inside Bremen. According to Intelligence the same thing happened in Amsterdam, where a Dutch Division fortified the city.

A new strategy, or a defense against the unavoidable retaliation following a tactical nuclear attack?

Hard to guess. No doubt SHAEF was deeply worried by the collapse of NORTHAG. Maybe desperate enough to ask for tactical nuclear release.

Disperse the divisions to avoid offering juicy targets in open field? Risky.
Ignore the possibility and keep the concentration of forces for tomorrow's attack? Risky.

He stared at the situation map again, but it didn't help.

WP advance at D+6, 23:00 Zulu Time

The Next War - Operation Attila D+6, WP Land

WP advance slowed down due to supply problems, but NATO interdiction effects has been mitigated by the use of Division organic supply...for now at least.

NATO Supply Interdiction

Despite the losses inflicted to NATO air forces by 16 Vozdushnaya Armiya, the Westerners still had enough Wild Weasel and ground strike airplanes to heavily attack WP supply lines.

The fragile East Germany transport network did not help. Particularly in the North, the supply lines for several Fronts are forced to share the same rail or road for several kilometers. The additional anti air assets deployed in those areas stripped the rest of the lines of much needed air defenses.

When the dust settled, NATO has interdicted every available supply source, forcing Pact's division to choose between attacking with limited supply or using up the precious, difficult to replace organic supply carried by every division.

WP Land Phase, NORTHAG

Into Hamburg 

2nd Guards Tank Army, reinforced by one additional Soviet tank division formerly on Czechoslovakia garrison duty, overran the Danish prepared positions and advanced into Hamburg's center.

The city inhabitants, left for six days with little or no food by NATO commanders, gratefully accepted the combat rations distributed by their comrades of 9th German Democratic Republic Tank Division.

Bremen

Two divisions of 20th Guards attacked the surrounded 11/1 BAOR Brigade, forcing the British to surrender.

The rest of the Army reached the outskirts of Bremen after heavy fighting against elements of 11th German Tank Division. The Germans retreated into city after 12 hours of rough defense.

At sunset, the artillery regiments of the Army have been deployed in preparation for the attack to the city itself.

Southwest of Bremen, 3rd Shock Army destroyed the remnants of West Germany 3rd Division and advanced toward river Ems.

Crossing River Ems

1st Guards Tank Army focused on cleaning up Osnabruck area and crossing river Ems at Munster.

Surrounded elements of BAOR 2nd Armored Division were destroyed East of Osnabruck; at the same time, 3 divisions with heavy artillery support attacked and conquered the city after twelve hours of heavy fighting. NATO lost one BAOR brigade, Belgian I Corps HQ plus several support units.

At Munster, three attacking divisions overran the defending German Reserve Regiment and freed the city. A total of four Divisions crossed river Ems, ready to push forward.

WP Land Phase, CENTAG

As usual, nothing much happened in Central Army Group sector.

WP Land Phase, SOUTHAG

Nuremberg

1st Czech Army consolidated its positions West of Nuremberg, securing the bridge over the Danube and cleaning up the autobahn to Wurzburg.

Munich

Two Hungarian Army divisions destroyed German 23/1 Mountain Brigade near Munich.

The rest of the Army pressed toward Augsburg, reaching the outer city limits and encircling German 11/4 Brigade.

Overall Situation at D+6, 20:00 Zulu Time

Warsaw Pact advance continued, even though the supply problems are slowing down several divisions. Half of Hamburg has been liberated and River Ems, the last natural obstacle before Rhine, has been crossed.

The Next War - Operation Attila, D+6 Air War

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Soviet Union Wartime Headquarters
Chekhov, D+6, 01:00 Zulu Time

Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov stared at his cluttered desk for a couple of minutes, trying to elaborate a course of action. He feared this moment would have come since Operation Attila's start, but kept hoping his evaluations were excessively pessimistic.

They weren't.

Supply consumption for front line divisions had been at least double than expected. The whole offensive now has to draw supply from rear depots in Poland and Bielorussia, using the fragile DDR railroad network.

This would have been a manageable problem if that pompous ass of Korochkin had kept its promise to "achieve and maintain air superiority in the main effort area for as long as necessary", but of course he screwed up. Except for the first day, air superiority had always been contested everywhere, and NATO air strike missions grew exponentially in the last 24 hours.

"Very well," he thought "There is no other way. NATO deep strike bombers have to be stopped, no matter the cost."

Air War, North Sector

Warsaw Pact assigned 6 mig-23 air groups to Air Superiority and 35 air groups to Interception, most of them composed by single mig-21 squadrons. 10 bombers air groups were assigned to Ground Support level.

NATO decided to leave Air Superiority and Interception uncontested, and assigned 20 powerful air groups to Ground Support.

The result was a chaotic furball over Northern Germany, with hundreds of WP fighters trying to intercept NATO fighter-bombers. WP Losses were heavy beyond any possible comparison, with approximately 1/3 of NATO airplanes shot down, damaged or forced to abort. 

Air War, Central Sector

Warsaw Pact assigned 5 mig-23 and mig-21 air groups to Air Superiority, with 5 bombers groups in Ground Support level.

NATO answered with 15 Air Superiority and 8 Interception air groups, with 6 more Ground Support bomber groups.

In the end, Warsaw Pact airplanes were wiped out from Central Sector with heavy losses.

Air War, Overall

From a strategic point of view, Warsaw Pact air force ceased to exist at the dawn of D+6. Fighter losses are up to 40 - 50%, and without their support bombers will be probably unable to penetrate NATO air space.

Pact's air force is surely still able to put up a fight, but not to seriously contest air superiority held by Westerners.

NATO has also paid an heavy price, but retains a substantial capability to perform deep strikes into WP rear areas. In the next few hours we will discover if that's enough to effectively block the supply network running through East Germany.

The Next War - Operation Attila D+5 NATO Land

The Rout of NORTHAG

With British Army of the Rhine virtually destroyed, Dutch I Corps refusing to fight and Soviet units West of the Weser, NATO's North Army Group began to rout. 

The two minus German Division defending Hamburg avoided encirclement by retreating through the 30 km corridor between North Sea and Soviet advanced divisions. After escaping, they regrouped around Bremen and Oldenburg.
The defense of Germany's biggest city is left to a mixed force of Danish troops and local German reservists.

The 50 km front between Oldenburg and the MittelLandKanal is left practically unguarded, leaving Warsaw Pact a possible exploitation route to reach the river Ems.

In an attempt to stabilize the situation, German 12th Armored Division moved from CENTAG to an area West of the Ruhr. At the same time French I Corps moved 30 km North, probably to be used as main front line in the next days.

CENTAG Stripped

With the departure of German 12th Armored Division, US V Corps extended its area of responsibility further North. Also, Soviet HUMINT sources suggest that US 3rd Armored Division is regrouping around Wetzlar and assuming an offensive posture.

SOUTHAG

Despite the fall of Munich and Nuremberg, overall situation in South Germany is not too good for Warsaw Pact. With the arrival of French II corps, Czechoslovakian and Hungarian armies will have a hard time trying to break NATO front line.

NATO Air Raids

Starting with D+5, NATO air strategy moved to the offensive.

Wild Weasel raids in Czechoslovakia opened up three flak-free zone, used by the tactical fighter-bombers for attacking Bratislava and Zatec airports. Both airports were heavily damaged, along with several SAM sites defending the area.

Overall Situation At D+5, 23:00 Zulu Time

The Next War - Operation Attila, D+5, Warsaw Pact Advance at 02:00 Zulu Time

NATO movement phase has begun. The remnants of German I Corps are currently withdrawing from Hamburg, leaving city defense to reservists and sparse Danish troops.

While we wait for NATO's rout to complete, here's an overview of Warsaw Pact advance,at D+5, 02:00 Zulu Time.

The Next War - Operation Attila D+5, near dawn

Near Magdeburg, East Germany, 02:30 Zulu Time

The driver was getting more nervous every minute. After a visible internal struggle, he made up his mind and decided to talk.

"Comrade Master Sergeant, we've been stuck here for hours and the bridge's still 5 kilometers away. We'll never cross it before dawn."

He was a 17 years old boy from Ulan Ude, deep in Eastern Siberia, and he spoke a surprisingly good Russian for someone with Mongol parents. The miracles of Socialist centralized education, Master Sergeant Flyorov thought.

Flyorov tried to remember the boy's name, but his mind was blank; too many new recruits arrived in the unit during the last month to remember them all. 

To gain time, he leaned out the truck window and glanced ahead. The endless line of Ural and GAZ-66 supply trucks cluttered the road, visible only by the dimmed war lights. 

Borte. The boy's name was Borte. He turned to the driver, trying to look confident. 

"Don't worry Borte, most of this mess had been caused by the two antiaircraft regiments that passed one hour ago, I presume they had priority 'cause they want them in place before dawn. But now they're out of the road, we will move soon."

The boy thought about his superior's words for a couple of minutes, then turned to Flyorov, the eyes of a deer surrounded by a pack of wolves. "Comrade Sergeant, do you think they are going to attack us with airplanes? There's a lot of ammunition and fuel here, and all this stuff is important for our army, I mean, our Generals will not allow the Westerners to destroy everything, am I right, Comrade Sergeant?"

Flyorov struggled to stay professional. The last thing he needed was a panicked boy.
"Soldier, have you counted how many antiaircraft vehicles passed by? Dozens. And they are all going to defend the Elbe bridges. Any aircraft moving closer than 10 kilometers will go down in flame in a second. Nobody is going to attack the bridges or our trucks, unless he's drunk and wants a very short life."

Borte seemed to ponder again on the new information received and apparently calmed down.
They spent the following hours in silence, waiting for the column to move. Once in a while, Flyorov furtively peeked outside, always fearing to see the sky suddenly burning with the lights of antiaircraft fire tracers.

The Next War - Operation Attila, D+4 WP Land (2)

CENTAG

As usual, CENTAG front stayed quiet, with 8th Guards Army and USA V Corps watching each other.

Nuremberg

13th Czech Armored Division destroyed the last brigade of German defenders,  allowing I Czech Army to secure the city.
Three division advanced beyond the Danube after forcing 10/4 mech Brigade to retreat, but were unable to push forward due to supply problems and fatigue.

Munich

Two Hungarian divisions encircled elements of 1st German Mountain Division entrenched in the Eastern part of the city and proceeded to attack them.
Cut out from their supply sources, the AlpenJaeger are forced to ration ammunition and surrendered after a final attack by the 5th Hungarian armored Division. Workers of Munich joined their Hungarian comrades in the streets to celebrate the liberation of the city.
The rest of the Hungarian Army failed to achieve any significant breakthrough.

Situation at D+5, 01:00 Zulu Time

Pressure against NORTHAG continued with good success, with six additional NATO brigades destroyed in the last 24 hours and 3 more surrounded.

In SOUTHAG, both Warsaw Pact armies still encountered several problems, but were nonetheless able to obtain significant strategic achievements with the capture of Nuremberg and Munich.

The Next War - Operation Attila, D+4, WP Land (1)

It's been a very complicated land phase, with several hard fights costing me the first serious losses. 
This post focuses on NORTHAG combats. CENTAG, SOUTHAG  and overall situation map will follow shortly.

Hamburg and Around

With 2nd Guards Tank Army guarding the East side of Hamburg, a reinforced 20th Guards Army overran the Southern approach  to the city and moved North West toward Bremen, destroying elements of the 11th Panzergrenadier Division and a German reservists Regiment in the process.

Hanover

With 3rd Shock Army closing the Southern pincer around Hanover, two armored divisions of 20th Guards Army surrounded the city from North, using a SSM-delivered chemicals bombardment to neutralize 8/3 German brigade and open up a passage between the city and Weser river. Once the trap was closed, they proceeded to attack and destroy two Belgian and one German brigades defending the urban area.

 Minden and beyond the Weser

With the Hanover area secured, spearhead divisions of 3rd Shock Army assaulted Minden, defended by elements of German 3rd Armored Division.
The lead Soviet division achieved a breakthrough that allowed five division to cross the MittelLandKanal and move on the West bank of the Weser, infiltrating from the rear the defenses of British 1st Armored Division. At night, combat engineers repaired Minden bridge allowing supply convoys transit.

Gutersloh and Osnabruck

After the failure of the reconnaissance in force at Dortmund, 1st Guards Tank Army followed the well-known Red Army's motto "never reinforce a failure" and changed its axis of advance to Osnabruck.

First, the three NATO brigades at Gutersloh airport were surrounded and destroyed with the support of a division from 3rd Shock Army.

Second, Soviet 31st Guards Paratroop Division was transported North of the city by MI-6 helicopters to block any NORTHAG attempt to reinforce the city.

Having secured the rear, three additional armored divisions with heavy artillery support launched the main attack at Osnabruck, defended by BAOR mixed elements.
NATO decided to stand fast and dozens of helicopters moved in to hammer the advancing Soviet tanks, but paying themselves a high price in blood and assets. Despite the violence of Warsaw Pact's assault, at the end of the day the city was still in British hands and the attackers were too exhausted to renew the attack.

Kassel

Two Soviet armored division were detached from 8th Guards and 1st Guards Tank Armies to reconquer the city, taken by 26th German paratrooper Brigade with a surprise airdrop.

At the end of the day Kassel was back in Warsaw Pact's hands, with the encircled Germans still able to fight.

NORTHAG Overall Situation at D+5, 01:00 Zulu Time

The Next War - Operation Attila D+4, Air War

Warsaw Pact allocates most of his air assets to the North Air Zone, that NATO concedes without fighting.

The bulk of NATO forces obtains air superiority in the Central Air Zone obliterating ten WP air groups, mostly MIG-21 in single squadron formations with the mission of inflicting losses to NATO fighters.

When the dust of the dogfights settles, WP has lost 10 MIG-21 steps with several more damaged, while NATO losses amount to 4 steps, primarily Dutch air superiority fighters.

For the first time, NATO allocates five F4 squadrons to Wild Weasel missions.

The Next War - Operation Attila D+4, Dawn

Kamen, West Germany, D+4 0440 Zulu Time

"Recon One, Command. Smoke is on the way, one minute. Move back at full speed and delimit the mined area. Start with the North side. Tank company is already there to cover you, on hill 121, over."

"Command, Recon One. executing now, over."

As soon as the armored vehicles started to move back, French 155 howitzer opened fire and two of the Company's four BRDM exploded. The rest of the Soviet troop transports hastily retreated following the same route used to advance in the minefield, while the two BMP Motorized Battalions following the Regimental Recon Company halted in the forest, three hundred meters behind.

"What a nice start" Alexander Nekrasov said loudly. It took fifteen years in the Army to become Colonel of the 29th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment, 20th Guards Motorized Division, and here's the result.
"How's possible that after four days of war the high brasses didn't learn anything yet? A reconnaissance in force against a prepared NATO position supported by heavy artillery and helicopters, in urban terrain. What a smart idea. Moreover, the damned French artillery mined the approach route."

Thirty minutes after, Recon company had delimited the minefield with no further attacks from NATO.
"They're waiting our main forces moves out in the open before starting the real dance. I know it, and I cannot do a damn thing about it."

"Twenty Nine all, Command. Execute Plan A, over". All units acknowledged.
One minute later, sixty five howitzer and twelve rocket launchers opened fire on the enemy positions at Dortmund. After twenty minutes pounding, seventy BMP moved out of the forest and advanced South West toward to city.

French artillery began firing after 5 minutes, with their targets in open terrain. Almost at the same time, six Gazelle attack helicopters emerged from the woods North and fired HOT missiles toward the Soviet vehicles. One of the Helicopters exploded after releasing its weapons, hit by a Sa-9, but the 24 antitank missiles destroyed a dozen BMPs.

Then, radio communications went to hell as NATO Electronic Warfare saturated every available channel with interferences.While Nekrasov was trying to reestablish contact the advancing battalions, two American F4 approached the command post location at low altitude and dropped two CBU-52 cluster bombs on it.

Kamen, West Germany, D+4 0630 Zulu Time

"At last CinC-West has seen the light!" Pavel Leonidovich Alekseyev thought. 

As commander of the 20th Guards Motorized Division, he already had enough hard times in the previous days, and the idea to order his men a direct attack on Dortmund tormented him.
Now, the failure of the reconnaissance in force a few hours ago convinced his superiors of the necessity to change the axis of advance. The cost of that change has been paid by his division with five hundreds men and dozens of of vehicles.

Alekseyev approached his Chief of Staff, who was having a hard-gained 30 minutes sleep on a field cot. "Wake up Fyodor, we have some urgent work to do."

20th Guards Motorized Division Recon, 04:40 Zulu Time D+4

The Next War - Operation Attila D+3 (NATO Land Move Finished)

With NATO command chain back to normality, the fighting in Central Europe continues....

NORTHAG Movements

North Army Group decided to focus on two strongpoints. 

The first is Hamburg, where 11th German Division and two Landwehr mech Brigades are entrenched. Mixed Bunderswehr brigades and elements from Danish Army hold the line North of the city.

Hamburg area, D+3 23:00 Zulu Time

The second strongpoint is of the course the Ruhr area, where French I Corps moved in defense with an impressive support in artillery, German reserve Regiments and the whole British 4th Division.

Moreover, NATO helicopters using NOE flying attacked every single crossroad and bridge East of their front line, making movement a nightmare for 1st Guards Tank Army.

The Ruhr area, D+3 23:00 Zulu Time
(the two Soviet airborne divisions landed in the Ruhr are in the only 2 hexes not occupied by NATO units)

Finally, a German airborne brigade was moved by helicopters at Kassel, taking back the undefended city.

CENTAG Movements

Not much happened in the Central Army Group area, except for US F4 and French Mirage making an heavy raid at Papa airport, Hungary. Despite taking several losses, the raid was able to destroy the SAM-2 battery covering the area and damage the airport staging several Soviet Mig-23 and the whole Hungarian air force. 

Frankfurt area, D+3 23:00 Zulu Time

SOUTHAG Movements

In South Army Group area, German II Corps retreated further West, while French II Corps formed a second line of defense behind them. German 1st alpine Division was unable to disengage and remained at Munich.

Munich area, D+3 23:00 Zulu Time

At nightfall of D+3, NATO situation does not look very good, but German reservists arrival gave NORTHAG some additional troops to hold the line.

Overall situation at D+3, 23:00 Zulu Time

***** FLASH ****** WP Raid over SHAPE

Due to an heavy SU 19 incursion over the Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) at Mons, Belgium, NATO command chain has been temporarily disabled and no orders are being issued to AFCENT.

General Bernard William Rogers, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, has been wounded during the attack but is expected back on the command chair in a few days.

The Next War - Operation Attila - D+3 18:00 ZT

General Staff of the Armed Forces of Soviet Union Wartime Headquarters
Chekhov, D+3, 18:00 Zulu Time

"Have you read the last report from Korochkin?"  said Nikolai Ogarkov, throwing the 50-pages report at his subordinate. As Chief of the General Staff, he had lots of enemies, most of them people with enough power to destroy a man's life in a matter of seconds. But Comrade Marshal Viktor Kulikov was not one of them. They knew each other since the Great Patriotic War and he was one of the few high rank officers who shared his vision about the deep structural reforms needed in Soviet Union, both in the military and civilian apparatus.

Kulikov took the report with a sardonic grin. "It will be bigger than 'War and Peace' in a few days! I presume truth hides better inside a couple volumes of lies."

	D+0			D+1		D+3
	Steps		Variation	Steps	Variation	Steps	Variation
MIG 23	42	100%		37	88%	35	83%
MIG 21	180	100%		162	90%	142	79%
MIG 19	8	100%		7	88%	7	88%
SU 20	6	100%		6	100%	6	100%
SU 19	12	100%		12	100%	12	100%
SU 17	18	100%		18	100%	18	100%
SU 7	24	100%		21	88%	19	79%
MIG 17	48	100%		47	98%	46	96%
MIG 15	6	100%		6	100%	6	100%
MIG 21 R	32	100%		32	100%	30	94%
YAK 28 R	2	100%		2	100%	2	100%
L 29 R	6	100%		6	100%	5	83%
IL 14 R	6	100%		6	100%	6	100%
Transport	22	100%		22	100%	22	100%

16 Vozdushnaya Armiya situation assessment, D+3, 12:00 Zulu Time

"Yes, and it's a very harsh truth." Ogarkov replied. "TWENTY FIVE percent losses in our fighter squadrons! twenty percent of lost combat power, taking into account the reinforcements. And almost not a single word about damaged aircraft, that obviously 'will be almost totally repaired before D+4 dawn'. Repaired before dawn MY ASS. We perfectly know most of those aircraft will never fly again."
"Moreover, according to GRU, NATO has just received sixteen new F-4 squadrons from United States. SIXTEEN! Viktor, they are going to fuck us very, VERY hard."

"True, Nikolai. On the positive side, our land offensive is making good progress. NORTHAG is on the verge of collapse. The British are yet not able to establish a solid defence line, and we inflicted them heavy losses."

"Not good enough. " Ogarkov stood up from his chair. "Viktor, I want you to push West faster than ever. I want to see your T-72 FLY. I want them moving around strongpoints, slipping in defence gaps, JUMPING OVER OBSTACLES." 

"Just move WEST, Viktor. If we are fast and able enough, the second strategic echelon will close the deal."

The Next War - Operation Attila - D+3 (WP Land Move finished)

Hamburg Stalemate

Not having enough forces to assault 11th German Division defences in Hamburg, the bulk of 2nd Guards Tank Army stopped in front of the city, while one Soviet Division moved South of Elbe to continue the encirclement manoeuvre. Unfortunately, fanatic resistance by a German reserve regiment prevented any further advance.

In the 20th Guards Army area, 94th Guards Division destroyed 42/4 Dutch brigade and 9/3 German Brigade.

2nd and 20th Guards Armies positions at D+3, 18:00 Zulu Time

Final Movements in North Army Group Area

In the final hours of D+3, the rearguards divisions of 3rd Shock and 1st Guards Tank Armies moved forward, getting ready to attack at the following dawn.

3rd Shock Army positions at D+3, 18:00 Zulu Time

3rd Shock and 1st Guards Tank Armies positions, D+3 18:00 Zulu Time

1st Guards Tank Army positions, D+3 18:00 Zulu Time

At 18:00, May 6, 1980 (D+3), a cursory look at the strategic situation in Europe Central Front suggested a triumphant advance of Warsaw Pact's steamroller, with little or no chance for the West to stop it before the Rhine. NATO propaganda had a hard time trying to persuade the public opinion that despite the appearances the battle had just begun, particularly after years of insane declarations about the "forward defence" strategy in West Germany.

Overall situation at 18:00, D+3 Zulu Time
NATO corps are not outlined due to the blurred defence lines  

Actually, Warsaw Pact forces had several problems, and not all of them came with a handy solution.

• The Air Force was in terrible shape and probably unable to contest NATO superiority for more than 2 days
• Poland defection and Czech revolts subtracted at least 15 Division from available forces, leaving a weakened North Germany Front and forcing the other Fronts to overextend their assigned area
• Most Armies only had two more days of supplies available, after which they would have to receive them using railroads and Front Supply Heads
• Lines of communication and supply were fragile and only lightly defended, with several key bridges and crossing constantly hammered by NATO helicopters and airplanes

However, the second strategic echelon of Soviet forces was expected in East Germany starting from D+7. If Pact's forces were able to keep momentum for another few days, the almost continuous flow of second-line Divisions would solve most of the problems.

The Next War - Operation Attila - Timeline

Due to an error in days counting, I have revised and changed the overall timeline of the posts.

The (hopefully) exact timeline is now as follows:
April 29, 1980  D-4  turn 1, tension
April 30, 1980  D-3  turn 1, tension
May 1, 1980     D-2  turn 2, tension
May 2, 1980     D-1  turn 2, tension
May 3, 1980     D+0  turn 3, war begins, WP use chemical weapons
May 4, 1980     D+1  turn 3, war
May 5, 1980     D+2  turn 4, war, Hanover falls 
May 6, 1980     D+3  turn 4, war
May 7, 1980     D+4  turn 5, war, Munich and Nuremberg fall
May 8, 1980     D+5  turn 5, war, W. Germany troops evacuate Hamburg
May 9, 1980     D+6  turn 6, war, WP supply heavily damaged by air attacks
May 10, 1980    D+7  turn 6, war, NEDEFOR formed
May 11, 1980    D+8  turn 7, war, Netherlands Surrender, Denmark invaded
May 12, 1980    D+9  turn 7, war, NATO Operation "Hand of God" starts
May 13, 1980    D+10 turn 8, war, WP supply lines collapsed
                                  WP 2nd echelon troops arriving in W. Germany
May 14, 1980    D+11 turn 8, war, NATO SOUTHAG retreats 75 km
May 15, 1980    D+12 turn 9, war  Hamburg falls

I noticed the error while reading the New York Times from the first day of war:

The Next War - Operation Attila - D+3 (2)

Warsaw Pact Land Movement continues. 
Losses are moderate until now, but the decreasing chemicals effectiveness is giving me some problems. Moreover, without the standard rules +2 modifier in Division vs. Brigade attacks, a well-placed NATO brigade can become a hard nut to crack.

Battle for Hanover

10 Guards Division assaulted frontally the city centre, destroying 4/16 Belgian brigade defending it.

20 Guards Army North pincer had heavy fighting with 8/3 German brigade, that held ground for almost 36 hours stopping 2 assaulting divisions before retreating inside Hanover. Two Czech divisions of the Army rushed in to exploit the breakthrough, but they were unable to complete the encirclement and destroy the Dutch SAM site West of the city.

3rd Shock Army South pincer was not lucky too, as 2/1 German brigade stopped its forward Division at Hameln.

The rest of 3rd Shock Army, with heavy artillery support, smashed BAOR defences around Bielefield / Herford, encircling two German brigades at Gutersloh airport.

3rd Shock and 20th Guards Armies situation

Rush to the Ruhr

1st Guards Tank Army continued moving toward the Rhine. 

1st British Recce Regiment, directly on its advance path, was hit by SSM delivered chemicals and subsequently surrounded and destroyed by 20th and 55th Guards Divisions.

The rest of the Army, even though unable to use the helicopter-ridden autobahn, moved West at double speed and reached the outskirts of the Ruhr. Its spearhead Division, 27th Guards, crossed Lippe river and stopped 30 km from the Rhine.

Inside the Ruhr urban area, the survivors of two Soviet airborne Divisions dispersed and fortified to better defend from the continuous air-to-ground attacks by NATO helicopters.

1st Guards Tank Army advance

The Next War - Operation Attila - D+3

Air War

After several hot discussions in Moscow, Warsaw Pact decided to continue using the saturation tactics in the air struggle against the Western Capitalists.
In North and Central sectors, strong groups of air superiority fighters were assigned, assisted by smaller groups of MIG-21 used to overstretch NATO's air forces.
In the South sectors, Hungarian air units with a small Soviet complement were expected to force the Italians to give up the control of their air space.

It wasn't a good decision.
At sunset of May 6 (D+3) Warsaw Pact held Air Superiority in the North and South sectors, but in the centre American F15 and F4 emerged victorious, opening up a corridor for REFORGER airlift.

Moreover, MIG-21 and MIG-23 losses have been even higher than the previous days, up to the point of questioning Pact's capability to contest air control in the near future. Every airfield in East Germany was littered by damaged or inoperable aircraft, well beyond ground crews' repair capabilities, plagued as always by a spare parts shortage.

Pact Special Forces Assault Phase

In preparation to the assault on I Belgian Corps' positions in Hannover, 3rd Shock Army requested a special forces assault on the Dutch Hawk SAM batteries located 30 km West of the city.

The assault was carried out by 3 Soviet and 1 East German Spetsnaz units and went bad since start. Due to a probable information leak, 4 MI-6 were shot down during the approach phase and the attacking commando was welcomed by 100 West German Police agents and mixed Military Police units, supported by a couple armored vehicles.

After 2 hours of firefight, the whole assault force was killed or forced to surrender without being able to damage the Hawk batteries. 

Pact Airborne Assault Phase

In order to support 1st Guards Tank Army advance toward the Ruhr, 76th Guards Airborne Division was transported to Bottrop, 30 km behind German III Corps Main Battle Area, by helicopters flying in NOE mode. The division had just the time to consolidate before several American Cobra helicopters attacked its positions,inflicting moderate losses. To prevent further losses, the remaining Cobra assault helicopter were quickly grounded by a coordinated SSM-delivered chemical attack on their airports.

Pact Land Movement

In South Germany, after an SSM delivered chemicals disabled German II Corps' artillery supporting Nuremberg's defenders, Czech 1st Army assaulted the city with heavy artillery support. NATO positions were overrun and 3 divisions exploited the breakthrough crossing the Danube, suffering some losses due to a stiff resistance by the retreating 10/4 German brigade.

At the end of the battle, the whole area around Nuremberg had been contaminated by persistent chemicals. In an official declaration released at 22:00, May 6 (D+3), Warsaw Pact spokesman Major -General Yuri Lebedev declared that "in the previous days NATO refused our offer to declare Nuremberg Open City. This ill fated decision brought suffering to the same German citizens NATO declares to protect, and caused the almost total destruction of one of the finest cities in central Europe."

The ruins of Nuremberg

Further South, the Hungarian Army entered Munich, but failed to dislodge the 1st mountain Division Base defending the center of the city. Due to accumulated fatigue and NATO opposition, the whole Army get bogged down around Munich.

Hungarian Army situation