August 1941

Eastern Front

The XXVI Corps opens the final assault upon Tallinn, artillery fire opening the battle. Heavy fighting erupts at Harku. North of Lake Ilmen, the I Corps made progress at Novgorod, forcing 48th Army out of the city with serious losses.

Following his redeployment onto the flank of the X Corps, Manstein unleashes a ferocious attack against the 34th Army. Slicing through the thinly held Soviet flank, the 3rd Motorized and the SS Totenkopf divisions inflict heavy casualties as they push across the rear of those units fighting the X Corps. Simultaneously, the X Corps counterattacks and pins the 34th kArmy frontally, the entire attack taking the Soviets completely by surprise.

Elements of the 2nd Army fight their way into Gomel, while the XXIV Panzer Corps pushes south toward Starodub, into the rear of the 21st Army. The movement south compels Guderian to commit the XLVII Panzer Corps to protect the increasingly exposed eastern flank. The XLVII is immeadiately brought under sustained attack at Pochep. The attacks of the 2nd Army and the 2nd Panzer Group has successfully forced apart the Central and Southwest Fronts, severing the 21st Army from the Central Front. Bitter fighting rages at Unecha where the 13th Army is fighting isolation.

Potapov pulls out of positions in the Korosten sector. Reichenau's 6th Army spots the Soviet withdrawal and launches an immediate attack, inflicting heavy casualties upon the rear of the 5th Army.

The XIV Panzer Corps is involved in heavy fighting at Dnepropetrovsk, while other units of the corps reach Zaporozhe. Despite efforts to rush the Soviet defenses, the Germans are unable to capture the hydroelectric dams spanning the river. Fierce battles ensue as the Germans fight to gain a bridgehead on the eastern bank.

The Stavka alter its defensive plans in the Kiev region. Kirponos is ordered to pull the 5th Army back across the Dniepr, while Vlassov holds its strong bridgehead on the west bank at Kiev. To protect the weak right wing, Podlas' 40th Army is formed to fortify and hold the Desna near Novgorod Seversky, forming a link between the 21st and 13th Armies. Tyulenev is ordered back across the Dniepr.