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EXPLANATORY NOTES
RED FRONT - a vast, complex, difficult and highly entertaining scenario of the WWII Soviet-German conflict, authored by Captain Nemo.
STAVKA - High command of all Soviet armed forces
Scorched Earth - Successful STAVKA strategy of destroying the transportation system and allowing the Germans to capture NO Soviet cities, only rubble. One result of this was that, after the summer of 1941, the German Luftwaffe was rarely seen over the front lines due to a lack of bases and repair facilities.
CA - heavy cruiser (US Navy nomenclature)
DD - destroyer
BACKGROUND
Recently, the victorious Soviet government has granted historians limited access to previously secret STAVKA orders and to the minutes of some STAVKA meetings from the first year of the Great Patriotic War. From these it is evident that STAVKA was prepared to be highly unorthodox in the desperate days of 1941-1942. Unfortunately, all dates have been censored from the material so that some of what follows is conjectural. However, details of the orders and the probable reasoning behind them may be of interest to students of military tactics and strategy.
ORDERS *** AND EXPLANATORY EXTRACTS [ ] FROM MINUTES
***Red Fleet is to station a task force of CA's and DD's southeast of Spitzbergen and to regularly patrol map grid 0,0.
[Some references to agent's report (Richard Sorge?) that there is a U-Boat refueling and rearming base somewhere on Spitzbergen.]
***Red Fleet is to position a Q-ship (freighter)and DD or CA in minefield east and north of UK and minefield west of Murmansk, as close as possible to Petsamo. The warships are to make regular, limited patrols into adjacent hostile waters to gather intelligence and attack targets of opportunity.
[Apparently intended to decoy U-boats and Kriegsmarine surface units away from convoy routes. Also some discussion about possibly drawing Luftwaffe attacks. Several references to intelligence reports from agent "Lucy" that Kriegsmarine has standing orders to head for nearest enemy vessel.]
***Red Fleet is forbidden to use CA's to attack powerful enemy land units.
***Red Army is to attack powerful enemy units only with 152mm howitzers. All Front commanders will ensure that there are at least three howitzers in any cities designated as Must Hold.
[Orders appear to have been issued at beginning of hostilities, possibly triggered by intelligence reports of the existence of the Karl mortar. Reading between the lines, it appears that vehement protests from Red Fleet were overcome only by detailed analysis of relative cost and attacking strength of CA's and 152mm howitzers, the inability of CA's to attack inland targets and the probable need for CA's in future amphibious operations.]
***Red Army is to maximize the number of Red Army units in front line cities in the winter of 1941-1942. Any units that can reach the line Leningrad-Moscow-Rostov by March 1942 are to be ordered to start moving immediately. Units needed to maintain order in cities are not to move.
[It is probable that this order was issued in June or July 1941. However, there is no mention or explanation of this order in the minutes of meetings at this time, only a lengthy discussion of whether Minsk, Kiev or Gomel might be held.]
***Red Army is to maximize use of Red Army units for recce and for attacks on enemy units, regardless of the odds. All remnants of destroyed Red Army units are to move towards the Pripet Marshes, gathering men as they move through the thinly-held enemy rear areas. Once they reach the Pripet, they will link up with Partisans and head for Kiev.
[This order (December 1941?) is even more draconian than the crucial "Scorched Earth" order issued in June 1941. Evidently, Red Army units are purposely to be sacrificed in order to create Partisan units in Kiev (you may recall that at this point Kiev was firmly in Soviet hands). STAVKA's thinking may be summarized by Marshal Zhukov's recorded remark that "even a dumb lieutenant from Pskov should be able to gather enough men to form a couple of Partisan units". Estimates of the number of Partisan units that could be in Kiev by May 1942 range from 80 to well over a hundred. General agreement that these units will be used for a major westward offensive in the late fall and winter of 1942.]
***The recommendations of the Academy of Sciences report on the oil and gas potential of the USSR are to be implemented.
***Red Army is to make ten Labor Brigades available to the Ministry of Petroleum Production as soon as possible.
***Ministry of Petroleum Production is to train Labor Brigades to operate oil drill rigs. Initial drill sites are to be in spruce north of Leningrad, bereza near Tikhvin, mountains west of Baku, forest south of Kuybyshev and marshes near Saratov.
[There is nothing in the minutes about these orders. The summary of the Academy of Sciences report only mentions "new theory of oil formation¡", "not marine but riverine organisms" and "river and bones". Although nothing was announced at the time, it is now known that oil was found in the summer of 1942 at all five drill locations. These new sources of oil may explain why STAVKA used relatively minor forces to defend the Caucasus in the summer and fall of 1942, preferring to concentrate everything on the heroic defense of Stalingrad.
This was probably the beginning of the exploration program that subsequently has found numerous oil and gas fields throughout the western USSR. The orders and the geological reasoning behind the drilling program are still shrouded in secrecy. A cryptic, handwritten footnote "transform, then irrigate/mine" on the order issued to the Ministry of Petroleum Production only deepens the mystery.]
Editor's Note: There are 3 articles on Red Front strategies in the War Academy section of this web site. Also, a very interesting and entertaining Red Front Democracy Game has just started at this site.
RED FRONT - a vast, complex, difficult and highly entertaining scenario of the WWII Soviet-German conflict, authored by Captain Nemo.
STAVKA - High command of all Soviet armed forces
Scorched Earth - Successful STAVKA strategy of destroying the transportation system and allowing the Germans to capture NO Soviet cities, only rubble. One result of this was that, after the summer of 1941, the German Luftwaffe was rarely seen over the front lines due to a lack of bases and repair facilities.
CA - heavy cruiser (US Navy nomenclature)
DD - destroyer
BACKGROUND
Recently, the victorious Soviet government has granted historians limited access to previously secret STAVKA orders and to the minutes of some STAVKA meetings from the first year of the Great Patriotic War. From these it is evident that STAVKA was prepared to be highly unorthodox in the desperate days of 1941-1942. Unfortunately, all dates have been censored from the material so that some of what follows is conjectural. However, details of the orders and the probable reasoning behind them may be of interest to students of military tactics and strategy.
ORDERS *** AND EXPLANATORY EXTRACTS [ ] FROM MINUTES
***Red Fleet is to station a task force of CA's and DD's southeast of Spitzbergen and to regularly patrol map grid 0,0.
[Some references to agent's report (Richard Sorge?) that there is a U-Boat refueling and rearming base somewhere on Spitzbergen.]
***Red Fleet is to position a Q-ship (freighter)and DD or CA in minefield east and north of UK and minefield west of Murmansk, as close as possible to Petsamo. The warships are to make regular, limited patrols into adjacent hostile waters to gather intelligence and attack targets of opportunity.
[Apparently intended to decoy U-boats and Kriegsmarine surface units away from convoy routes. Also some discussion about possibly drawing Luftwaffe attacks. Several references to intelligence reports from agent "Lucy" that Kriegsmarine has standing orders to head for nearest enemy vessel.]
***Red Fleet is forbidden to use CA's to attack powerful enemy land units.
***Red Army is to attack powerful enemy units only with 152mm howitzers. All Front commanders will ensure that there are at least three howitzers in any cities designated as Must Hold.
[Orders appear to have been issued at beginning of hostilities, possibly triggered by intelligence reports of the existence of the Karl mortar. Reading between the lines, it appears that vehement protests from Red Fleet were overcome only by detailed analysis of relative cost and attacking strength of CA's and 152mm howitzers, the inability of CA's to attack inland targets and the probable need for CA's in future amphibious operations.]
***Red Army is to maximize the number of Red Army units in front line cities in the winter of 1941-1942. Any units that can reach the line Leningrad-Moscow-Rostov by March 1942 are to be ordered to start moving immediately. Units needed to maintain order in cities are not to move.
[It is probable that this order was issued in June or July 1941. However, there is no mention or explanation of this order in the minutes of meetings at this time, only a lengthy discussion of whether Minsk, Kiev or Gomel might be held.]
***Red Army is to maximize use of Red Army units for recce and for attacks on enemy units, regardless of the odds. All remnants of destroyed Red Army units are to move towards the Pripet Marshes, gathering men as they move through the thinly-held enemy rear areas. Once they reach the Pripet, they will link up with Partisans and head for Kiev.
[This order (December 1941?) is even more draconian than the crucial "Scorched Earth" order issued in June 1941. Evidently, Red Army units are purposely to be sacrificed in order to create Partisan units in Kiev (you may recall that at this point Kiev was firmly in Soviet hands). STAVKA's thinking may be summarized by Marshal Zhukov's recorded remark that "even a dumb lieutenant from Pskov should be able to gather enough men to form a couple of Partisan units". Estimates of the number of Partisan units that could be in Kiev by May 1942 range from 80 to well over a hundred. General agreement that these units will be used for a major westward offensive in the late fall and winter of 1942.]
***The recommendations of the Academy of Sciences report on the oil and gas potential of the USSR are to be implemented.
***Red Army is to make ten Labor Brigades available to the Ministry of Petroleum Production as soon as possible.
***Ministry of Petroleum Production is to train Labor Brigades to operate oil drill rigs. Initial drill sites are to be in spruce north of Leningrad, bereza near Tikhvin, mountains west of Baku, forest south of Kuybyshev and marshes near Saratov.
[There is nothing in the minutes about these orders. The summary of the Academy of Sciences report only mentions "new theory of oil formation¡", "not marine but riverine organisms" and "river and bones". Although nothing was announced at the time, it is now known that oil was found in the summer of 1942 at all five drill locations. These new sources of oil may explain why STAVKA used relatively minor forces to defend the Caucasus in the summer and fall of 1942, preferring to concentrate everything on the heroic defense of Stalingrad.
This was probably the beginning of the exploration program that subsequently has found numerous oil and gas fields throughout the western USSR. The orders and the geological reasoning behind the drilling program are still shrouded in secrecy. A cryptic, handwritten footnote "transform, then irrigate/mine" on the order issued to the Ministry of Petroleum Production only deepens the mystery.]
Editor's Note: There are 3 articles on Red Front strategies in the War Academy section of this web site. Also, a very interesting and entertaining Red Front Democracy Game has just started at this site.
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