End of Turn 19 - Spring 1944
In Southern Russia, a reinforced Army Group South forced Rokossovsky and Vatutin back over the Dnepr, but then withdrew on the non-combat phase back on a line from Kiev through Kirovo and Bessarabia. The Southern Soviet armies have been starved of reinforcements as the Russians pour all available troops into the north to crack the Axis defenses around Leningrad and Latvia.
In the North, a cut-off Leningrad finally falls to Soviet pressure. Mannerheim and what was left of the Finnish-German defenders march into captivity in Siberia. The German Eastwall defensive line continues to hold, though the Germans continue to fortify their defenses in depth by forting down infantry behind the Dvina in Lithuania.
In the Med, the Allies invade Taranto and Southern Italy. They opted for this territory as it provided much more port transport capacity than several of the other options and had a lighter defense than Sicily or Naples. With the invasion and Allied dominance of the sea zones, Sicily is cut off and out of supply. Kluge and Garibaldi have formed a defensive line with the remnants of the Southern Italian forces to defend Naples and the Allied approaches to central Italy and Rome.
In France, German attacks and Allied counterattacks ravage the Brittany countryside, but result in very little territory gains or losses. The Allies managed to clear the Atlantic coastline of German units and fortifications, but had to withdraw during the mechanized phase back into Brittany. Two seasons of attrition warfare has begun to sap German strength in France with all available local reinforcements being drawn into the armies defending Normandy and Paris. With the thinning of garrison troops in Vichy, Rhone, Champaigne, and Dijon, French resistance has stepped up in these regions and the Germans are no longer collecting PP from these territories. The remnants of the Luftwaffe has withdrawn out of range of Allies fighter in England and Brittany.