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.