Smolensk - Eastern Europe, 1943
Settings:
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Tickets: 30 000
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Respawn limits:
- Soviets: 45 times/team, 4 times/player.
- Germans 30 times/team, 3 times/player.
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Recommended time limit: 60 minutes
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Recommended number of players: 30-32 (15/15 or 16/16)
Historical background
The second Battle of Smolensk (7 August–2 October 1943) was a Soviet strategic offensive operation conducted by the Red Army as part of the Summer-Autumn Campaign of 1943. Staged almost simultaneously with the Lower Dnieper Offensive (13 August–22 September), the offensive lasted two months and was led by General Andrei Yeremenko, commanding the Kalinin Front, and Vasily Sokolovsky, commanding the Western Front. Its goal was to clear the German presence from the Smolensk and Bryansk regions. Smolensk had been under German occupation since the first Battle of Smolensk in 1941. Despite an impressive German defense, the Red Army was able to stage several breakthroughs, liberating several major cities, including Smolensk and Roslavl. As a result of this operation,the Red Army was able to start planning for the liberation of Belarus. However, the overall advance was quite modest and slow in the face of heavy German resistance, and the operation was therefore accomplished in three stages: 7–20 August, 21 August–6 September, and 7 September–2 October.
Although playing a major military role in its own right, the Smolensk Operation was also important for its effect on the Battle of the Dnieper. It has been estimated that as many as 55 German divisions were committed to counter the Smolensk Operation — divisions which would have been critical to prevent Soviet troops from crossing the Dnieper in the south.
Strength (by en.wikipedia.org - 'Soviet estimate')
Germany: Soviet Union:
ca. 850,000 men ca. 1,252,600 men
ca. 500 tanks ca. 1,430 tanks
ca. 700 aircraft ca. 1,100 aircraft
Casualties and losses:
Germans: Soviet Union:
70,600 (total) 451,466 (total)
107,645 (KIA) 343,821 (MIA/WIA)
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