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.