German Third Army's Summer 2000 Offensive + Map

[Raellus]

I wanted to try to map out the German Third Army's offensive into northern Poland in the summer of 2000 and I got a bit carried away. The result is a partially complete operational map of central Europe. It's still not finished- I'm going to try to map the rest of the various units in central Europe- but it should help illustrate the course my hypothetical offensive took.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...4,9.854736&z=7

All the unit locations on the map are taken from GDW canon- the U.S., Soviet, and NATO vehicle guides and the map in the v2.2 Rulebook. I'm going to have to look at the East European sourcebook when I map the Soviet units in S. Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.

Unit locations are as of July 1st, 2000. Of course the offensive started earlier but I've assumed that the NATO units returned to (or close to) their original cantonments/starting points after the offensive was called off.

So, here's my take on the offensive. I've attempted to stay as close to GDW canon as possible but a lot of this is speculation since the source material is so vague and, in some cases, internally contradictory. The bit in italics near the end is purely my invention. I threw it in for my own selfish purposes. It is not canonical, nor is it intended to be.

This is the bare-bones version. I plan on writing up a more detailed version, outlining divisional movements and combat actions, at some point in the near future. Here it is. I hope you enjoy it. I don't mind constructive critisism.

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The plan that German Third Army staff drew up was fairly simple and straightforward. German III Corps would attack due east, advancing to contact and fixing units of Polish 2nd Army and Polish 1st Tank Army in place. German III Corps' objective was two-fold. Firstly, they were to destroy as much of the two Polish armies as possible. Second, German III Corps' attack would hold Polish 2nd Army and Polish 1st Tank Army in place and prevent them from shifting forces north to meet U.S. VII Corps' more ambitious attack.

Meanwhile, elements of U.S. VII Corps would attack west to cut off Polish units on the X peninsula and seize Gdynia. U.S. 50th Tank division would spearhead the attack, with Canadian 4th Mechanized Brigade in support. U.S. 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized), with elements of U.S. 2nd Marine Division in support, would attack on an almost parallel course a little further south. The remaining elements of U.S. 2nd MarDiv, using all of the remaining theatre amphibious assault elements* available to NATO, would land on the Baltic coast between Gdansk and Elblag, outflanking Polish 1st Army and pushing south as far as Malbork to secure the coastal highway for 8th (M)ID's deep penetration raid. U.S. 116th Armored Cavalry Regiment would act as III Corps reserve, exploiting success and/or responding to crisis situations that were sure to develop during the course of the offensive.

With German III Corps pressing the Polish 2nd Army and 1st Tank Army all along the front, the U.S. 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) would advance to the vicinity of Chojnice and secure the area as a jumping off point for its raid south, deep behind enemy lines. The purpose of 5th (M)ID's raid was to disrupt Polish 2nd Army and 1st Tank Army's lines of communication and supply and to destroy sources of enemy supply, depriving them of food and fuel for the coming autumn and winter.

The offensive met with great innitial success. The opening phases of the offensive went more or less as planned and both 8th ID(M) and 5th ID(M) advanced deep behind WARPACT lines, brushing aside what little resistance they encountered.

The first signs of alarm began when Soviet units believed to have been in the Ukraine appeared in the 5th ID(M)'s AO. Under constant attack by elements of an entire Soviet Army, over the course of a few days, the 5th ID(M) ceased to exist as a coherent unit.

Meanwhile, German III Corps was meeting unexpectedly stout resistance and, after pushing the front several kilometers to the east, slowly lost its abilitity to sustain the advance. Meanwhile, U.S. 50th Tank and Canadian 4th MIB did not have the manpower to reduce the pocket of enemy troops that their opening attack had cut off in the X peninsula. Even the commitment of the U.S. 116th ACR to the attack did not press the balance.

In the north, 8th ID(M) raced east along the Baltic coast at breakneck speed. After a few days, communications between the division and Third Army HQ stopped. Meanwhile, the 2nd MarDiv, strung out along the Baltic between Gdynia and Elblag, began to encounter powerful elements of yet another Soviet army believed to have been on internal security duties in Byelorussia- the Soviet 9th Guards Tank Army. Under pressure, and faced with prospect of meeting the same fate as the 5th ID (and possibly 8th ID), the 2nd MarDiv began a fighting withdrawal westward under pressure.

Shortly after the appearance of the Soviet 9th Guards Tank Army to the southeast of Elblag, German Third Army called off all offensive operations and ordered its constituent units (at least, those that could still respond) to their start lines. The offensive, which had started out so promisingly, had met with disaster and ground to a faltering halt.

*Anyone know what amphibious assets would be available? I'd like to keep it close to GDW canon, as much as possible.

[kato13]

Pretty neat map, if you have the long/lats of these I can map them as well.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Raellus

*Anyone know what amphibious assets would be available? I'd like to keep it close to GDW canon, as much as possible.

The only definate I found was the Tarawa. This was from a colour plate of the Osprey in the Nautical and Aviation book which said the aircraft shown was in the baltic (I think - memory is a bit hazy) and from the Tarawa.

In all my searches I did not come up with any other vessels (besides the vessel that later became the flagship for the US evacuation fleet - name escapes me).

It is conceivable however that many of the ships that took part in the later operation, may also have been involved in the Summer offensive - without fuel it's unlikely they would have left the theatre.

[jester]

It is pretty simple to find out what amphibious ships would be around. Simply look up what vessels were in the Atlantic and Med they would of been on rotation so you can pick and choose which vessels. There are several types of vessel as well which adds to the variety.

[Rainbow Six]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

In all my searches I did not come up with any other vessels (besides the vessel that later became the flagship for the US evacuation fleet - name escapes me).

DD981 USS John Hancock iirc.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by jester

It is pretty simple to find out what amphibious ships would be around. Simply look up what vessels were in the Atlantic and Med they would of been on rotation so you can pick and choose which vessels. There are several types of vessel as well which adds to the variety.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. "Our" world has everyone at war for a number of VERY destructive years. The rotation you mention does not take this into account.

Law had actually mentioned something about this way back when I first posted my assessement of the offensive roughly twelve months ago. According to him, the Tarawa wasn't even in the European theatre even though the Nautical book places it there.

The John Handcock IRL was decommissioned in October 2000 after having been deployed to the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and then Arabian gulf. By this reasoning, it should probably have been serving in support of the units in Iran rather than as flaskship for TF 34....

Good idea though, just a few too many problems to work... :S

With the vast majority of military shipping on the bottom of the ocean (or blocking ports - sunk before they could get out to sea), it's probable that the bulk of the US 2nd MarDiv's nautical transportation was civilian in nature. With the limited availablity of purpose built heavy landing vessels, any operation would need to be carefully planned and executed and also need one hell of a lot of luck!