Foreign military studies 1945-1954 Manuscript P 190 continued
"b. Means of transportation
1. The railways
The capacity of the Russian railways depended on the amount of the existing trackage and on the availability of equipment and of station and yard facilities, which could not be judged according to Central European standards. The fact alone that there was not enough Russian rolling stock available made it necessary to convert the tracks from wide to standard gauge. Only by these speedily applied measures was it possible to move the supply trains from the zone of interior to their final destination without the time-consuming transshipment at the border, which would have caused much delay. The daily average of rail shipments into the Army Group Center area , was as follows:
July 24 trains 10.700 tons
August 22,7 trains 10.215 tons
September 26 trains 11.700 tons
(No records could be found for the months October - December 1941
With the coming of winter and the growing activity of partisans, the capacity decreased steadily, reaching its lowest point in December 1941 and January 1942.
2. Truck transport
a) According to T/E , the organic truck load capacity available to different types of units was as follows:
infantry divisions 90 tons(plus 180 tons of horse drawn capacity) infantry corps 30 tons motorized divisions 240 tons panzer (or motorized corps) corps 60 tons
panzer divisions 360 tons
Panzer and motorized divisions and corps have an additional 50 tons of POL transport capacity
b) Depending on the number and types of divisions to be supplied and their tactical missions, the armies were allocated a varying number of non-organic truck columns . At the time the various armies became operational , their non-organic truck transport was as follows:
Fourth army 4440 tons 22nd june
Ninth army 2970 tons 22 june
Second army 1645 tons beginning of july
Second Panzer Group 5000 tons 22 june
Third panzer group 3240 tons 22 june
Fourth Panzer Group 3320 tons beginning of September
c) Army High Command allocated to the Supply Field Agency of Army Group Center a heavy transport capacity of 25000 tons; during the summer of 1941 this amount was increased by approximately 5000 tons
C. Supply phase lines (22 June- 31 December 1941)
22 June During the initial phase of the military operations the supply proceeded without difficulty
25 June Army depots were moved forward to the line Oboz Lesna(north of)-Lida-Alytus. As the distance from the depots to the two supply sub-districts increased it became necessary , especially for the armored formations , to establish new depots in the Minsk-Molodeczno area. Suitable locations were
30 june found on 30 june, and immediately afterwards the depots were setup .
15 july By mid-july the new base section was enlarged and other depots were installed further east at Bobruisk , Borissov, Lepel, and Polotsk and consolidated in the “Dnjepr supply district”.
The establishment of this supply district extended the operational radius of the infantry divisions up to Smolensk , and that of the armored formations as far as Moscow. To reach these objectives however, the daily tonnage moved by rail would have had to average 6.300 tons and that trucked by heavy transports 30.700 tons.However, these requirements could not be met. 15 July On 15 july the combat forces were carrying on an average 75 percent of their basic load, sufficient POL to travel 120 miles, and seven days rations. The second and ninth army depots were almost empty. On the other hand, the Dnjepr supply district had in storage ammunition for approximately five days of combat, POL for a movement of about 25 miles and half a day's rations for about half a days rations for [u]all[/u] units in the Army Group area.The flow of supplies was steady but slow.By the establishment of the Dnjepr district and the conversion of tracks to standard gauge greater quantities of supplies could be shipped directly to the supply depots.It was now possible to shift the base area, a measure that had meanwhile become urgently imperative.In view of the overall situation ,the plans for future operations, and the condition of the road and rail net, the following plans were adopted to assure a normal flow of supply: 1) Efficiently operationg depots had to be moved forward along the Army Group's main axis of advance in the direction of Moscow via Smolensk. To implement this policy the Orsha depot was established on 22 july and the Smolensk depot on 2 august. 2) On the southern wing the depots were established along the axis Slutsk-Roagachev . First the Bobruisk depot was set up, then the one at Mogilev 3) Along the northern wing , where road and rail communications were particularly defective, the Polotsk depot was initially the principal supply point.The Nevel and Vitebsk depots were subsequently established further to the east and southeast.
10 August : The heavy truck transport - since 4 august no longer employed for hauling supplies from Sub-districts 1 and 2 -was capable of covering a total distance of about 250 miles, which was roughly the milieage between the railheads and Moscow. During the months of August and September the Dnjepr supply district was further expanded so that it developed into an efficient base section.The depots were distributed over an area of approximately 250 miles.The supplies stored in this area were needed to feed the autumn offensive. By the beginning of august the Dnjepr Supply District depots contained , POL for 45 miles, and four days rations. The two Panzer Groups had the following at their disposal: 1) Second Panzer Group - 50 percent the basic load of ammunition , POL for about 155 miles and four days rations; 2) Third Panzer Group - 133 percent of the basic load of ammunition , POL for about 110 miles , and fourteen days rations. By mid august the over-all supply of ammunition for the entire Army Group was increased to 133 percent of the basic load. September : The Gomel and Roslavl depots , which were closest to the front , were given priority for supplies arriving within the Army Group area. At the same time every effort was made to expand the Smolensk supply district. 10 September : On 10 september , the armies , including the Panzer Groups , had at their disposal , on the average, more than 75 percent of the basic load of ammunition and four consumption units of POL , good for a distance of approximately 185 miles. The Army Group Center average, including GHQ units and reserves , was 133 percent of the basic load of ammunition and one consumption unit of POL, ennough to cover of approximately 45 miles."
