Zaporizhia

**Zaporizhia** is a scenario in *Panzer Corps 2*.

## Briefings

This report will have to wait a moment, mein General, Field Marshal von Manstein has arrived.

General %playername%, it is good to see that you are still alive. In these trying times, I admit I feared the worst.

We have been retreating hundreds of kilometers from Stalingrad all the way back to this elbow of the Dnieper River. Begging your pardon, Herr Field Marshal, but I do not believe 'trying times' is strong enough of a description of our predicament.

*Field Marshal Erich von Manstein lets out a sigh.*

If only you knew how right you are, Oberst. I have been at war on two fronts ever since I received command of Army Group Don last year.

Two fronts?

Yes, and the second front is closing in on me as we speak. High Command has flown out here to personally inspect the situation. If I cannot convince him of the need for immediate, offensive action, I suspect your long retreat has only just begun.

High Command is coming here in person? My apologies, I had no idea things were *that* grim.

**Primary Objective: Protect High Command Grounded Transport.**

It is a most precarious position, having to fight this battle so close to the real front lines. I have read your reports, is it true that General %playername%'s Command is at less than 30% strength?

Yes sir, Herr Field Marshal. Our retreat has exhausted our forces and left us scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel for supplies.

Then I pray the mere 50 kilometers between us and the Soviet frontline will be enough of a buffer. In case it is not, I am counting on you and General %playername% to provide security for my meeting. I trust that is not asking too much?

I have already taken the liberty of sending out a small screening force to patrol the perimeter. We should be hearing from them any moment now.

I shall take my leave of you then. My safety, and the safety of High Command itself, is in your hands, Herr General.

*Oberst Stefan Wagner is silent as he waits for Field Marshal Manstein to walk out of hearing distance.*

Mein General, we have a serious problem. That report I was about to give you before the Field Marshal arrived... our screening force has spotted a formation of Soviet tanks approaching. It is a very small force, so I felt there was no need to burden the Field Marshal with this information... but as he had made it clear, we are in charge of security for this highest level meeting.

**Bonus Objective: Destroy entire first wave of Soviet tanks.**

**Narrative Objective: Ignore exhausted forces in the southeast.**

While the vast majority of our ground forces are unavailable...

As is the entirety of our aircraft...

We do have this handful of units free to respond.

I recommend we pull our screening force back to this swampy area. It would be a prime location for our infantry to ambush the enemy tanks.

As a final reminder, we should not spend any time or effort to free up the majority of our army. Even if we could free them for combat, there is no fuel or ammunition available for them to assist us.

To victory, for Germany!

### Debriefing

Mein General, I have confirmation: all remaining Soviet units are in retreat!

We have secured the field and the immediate threat to High Command has passed.

Still, I am concerned that any Soviet force came this close to us, so deep behind our frontlines.

Perhaps Field Marshal von Manstein will have answers for us, next we speak with him.

**Historically, Germany and its Axis partners were forced into a number of retreats during the winter of 1942.**

**The loss of Stalingrad created a huge vacuum in the German lines, so much so that Germany was forced to abandon all of its gains in the Caucasus region.**

**Further north, the destruction of the Hungarian defenders of Voronezh created another gap in the Axis lines, one large enough that Germany was also forced to abandon its positions at Rzhev. This concession ended the immediate threat to Moscow which had existed since the winter of 1941.**

**It is precisely because of these disastrous events that German High Command would fly out to the Eastern Front, to engage in face to face meetings to review the situation.**

**While the meetings with the German Army Group Commanders was taking place, however, a small force of Soviet tanks had penetrated the German lines, and advanced several dozen kilometers straight towards Zaporizhia.**

**Ultimately, the Soviet tanks would stop their advance just short of the airfield where German High Command was preparing to take off from, mostly due to a shortage of fuel and ammunition.**

**They would never know just how close they came to capturing the German High Command, and never again would Allied forces get this close to German High Command until Berlin 1945...**

## Walkthrough

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## Locations

* Zaporizhia

* Dnipropetrovsk

* Dnieper River

* Novomykolaivka

* Orikhiv

* Bilmak

* Pavlograd

* Zaporizhia

* Dnipropetrovsk

* Dnieper River

* Novomykolaivka

* Orikhiv

* Bilmak

* Pavlograd

## Messages

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Special reinforcements have arrived to join the fight! I am informed that these tanks have been reverse engineered from captured Russian T34s, incorporating their best design features and supercharging them with an overload of German engineering! The tanks we have received as reinforcements are just combat prototypes, but looking at their specs, I am most eager to see the production model in action later this year.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Mein General, I have a shred of good news to share, for a change.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Our efforts in saving what we could of Sixth Army have not been in vain. While the survivors are not fit for duty nor equipped to do so at the moment, I have been assured they are steadily recovering, and send their continued thanks.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Having so many survivors indebted to us is more rewarding than any medal, and I suspect our need for more manpower on the Eastern Front will see that debt paid sooner than later.

* Bonus Objective to Destroy entire first wave of Soviet tanks completed.
Earned Commendation Points: 3.
Total Commendation Points: %d.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Special reinforcements have arrived to join the fight! I am informed that these tanks have been reverse engineered from captured Russian T34s, incorporating their best design features and supercharging them with an overload of German engineering! The tanks we have received as reinforcements are just combat prototypes, but looking at their specs, I am most eager to see the production model in action later this year.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Mein General, I have a shred of good news to share, for a change.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Our efforts in saving what we could of Sixth Army have not been in vain. While the survivors are not fit for duty nor equipped to do so at the moment, I have been assured they are steadily recovering, and send their continued thanks.

* ***Oberst Wagner:*** Having so many survivors indebted to us is more rewarding than any medal, and I suspect our need for more manpower on the Eastern Front will see that debt paid sooner than later.

* Bonus Objective to Destroy entire first wave of Soviet tanks completed.
Earned Commendation Points: 3.
Total Commendation Points: %d.

## Notes

* If players import a core force that possesses 1 strength point worth of Captured SMG Inf Infantry from completing the Operation Blut scenario, a variable will be set on turn 3 that will result in additional German forces in Operation Roland.
* Destroying the first wave of enemy tanks will award 3 Commendation Points.
* A Level 2 Panther (P) Tank will appear west of Zaporizhia on turn 4.
* Notable allied units:
	+ High Command Transport, a Me 323 Grounded with 30 Strength points.
	+ Manstein's HQ, a Strongpoint with 9 Strength points.
* Notable allied formations:
	+ Staff Transport
* Notable enemy units:
	+ 37th KV-1/42, which is Level 2 and has a hero with the Fearsome Reputation and Aggressive Counterattack traits.
	+ 55th T-34/43, which is Level 2 and has 6 Strength points and a hero with the Double Attack and Tank Killer traits.
	+ 56th T-34/43, which is Level 2 and has a hero with the Leadership, No Retreat, and No Surrender traits.
	+ 58th T-60, which is Level 2 and has 4 Strength points and a hero with the Readiness and Flag Killer traits.
	+ 60th GAZ-67B, which is Level 2 and has a hero with the Survivor and Evasive traits.
* Enemy reinforcements will arrive near Pavlograd or west/northwest of the village at (24,10) on turns 6 and 10.