143 - AF is short of fresh water - WW2 - May 23, 1942

by Panzer
So he wants to make a deal with you that concerns Poland? Didn't he make a deal with Germany
just the other year that concerned Poland?
Yeah.
Well, keep an eye on that guy.
Okay.
May 23, 1942
Your ally asks you for assistance. For mighty naval ships to help them in a vital, but very dangerous mission.
You do this for them and it is a success. And a few weeks later you
ask them to return the favor.
How would you feel if they said NO?
I'm Indy Neidell; this is World War Two.
Last week, the retreating soldiers of Burma Corps reached India ahead of the Japanese,
even as Thai troops invaded Burma from the other end of the country. But while British
forces had been unsuccessful there, they were finally finding some success in the skies
over Malta. One new offensive began, as the Soviets attacked toward Kharkov, pre-empting
a German one in the same region, and in the Crimea, the Germans won the Battle of Kerch,
leaving only Sevastopol holding out down there.
That pre-empted German offensive- Operation Fridericus- was not canceled, however, and
in fact begins this week on the 17th.
Of course, the Soviet offensive is still in progress, though on the 17th the Soviet 28th
and 21st armies are no longer making much headway north of Kharkov against the German
6th Army and they are stopped the 18th, although the Soviet 6th Army has by that time turned
north to try to link up with them. In the southern salient, the Soviet Red Army has
routed the Romanians and captured Krasnograd and is making for Poltava, but this has stretched
out their armor along a path over 100 km long and is seriously diluting their strength as
a fighting force, and even before the surprise German counter offensive starts they're having
trouble protecting their left flank. This, and the heavy build up of German armor in
the region, has caused Soviet Commander Semyon Timoshenko to lose faith in the attack, and
he has his political commissar Nikita Khrushchev ask for permission to halt until he can secure
his left flank. Josef Stalin says no.
By the end of the 18th, Ewald von Kleist's counter offensive with the 1st Panzer Army
in the south has been immediately successful in gaining a great deal of ground, with spearhead
units reaching the confluence of the Donets and Oskil Rivers. By doing this, they've sabotaged
Soviet 9th army's communications so badly that it's no longer a cohesive fighting force,
and certainly cannot any longer be a screen for 6th army heading north.
Also by this time the Luftwaffe has destroyed over 150 enemy tanks and hundreds of other
vehicles. Then on the 19th, Friedrich Paulus begins his 6th Army counter attack from the
north, which is planned to link up with Kleist after surrounding as many Red Army troops
as possible. On the 23rd, Kleist and Paulus meet up at Balakleya, southeast of Kharkov,