S of Demyansk, 150km SE of Novgorod: 30 August, 1943

[Hypothetical "alternate history" scenario; best played against 
Human opponent, or as Axis]
  
It's almost 2 years since the fall of Moscow & Leningrad,
the collapse of the USSR, and Stalin's overthrow. The Provisional
Russian government, led by a junta of former Red Army generals,
continues its struggle to form a functioning society behind the
armistice line of the Volga River. The Kriegsmarine's defeat
in the Atlantic and the bloody stalemate in Africa have resulted
in peace talks between Germany, Italy, the UK & United States.
With the Western Allies heavily engaged in their war with Japan,
Adolf Hitler is undisputed master of continental Europe. But
the fighting is far from over. The territories of Germany's Eastern
empire are proving much easier to have conquered than effectively
rule. The Caucasus, the Pripyet Marshes, and the forests of Belorussia
are literally crawling with "bandits": partisans who fight a
no-quarter guerilla war of savage raids, reprisals, & sabotage.
Many of these freedom fighters are Soviet soldiers who "melted"
into the landscape when the USSR collapsed, taking their weapons
& equipment with them. Ever increasing numbers of men & women
from the cities & farms are joining them rather than toil under
the oppressive Axis heel... Now the "bandit" problem is becoming
intolerable. A dramatic raid on Grozny and the assassination
of the Governor-General of Ostland has Hitler in a rage. The
army's experimentation with mobile "Ostjäger" divisions to combat
the partisan threat hasn't produced tangible results; the Abwehr
now believes that the rump Russian state - perhaps in collusion
with Britain & America - is actively supplying the rebels. SS
chief Himmler is personally tasked by Hitler with destroying
the partisan bands. He handpicks a group of ruthless Waffen-SS
& SD generals to "cleanse" the problem areas by any means necessary;
they have carte blanche in their authority. Himmler's new warlord
in the northern sector is Gruppenführer Bruno Tanz, a one-time
Einsatzgruppe leader who has his own ideas about how to root
out the partisans. What Tanz doesn't know is that the dynamic
"General" Sergei Kamyshkin - former Guards Airborne officer &
leader of the largest, best-equipped guerilla force in northern
Russia - has planned the biggest operation of the Partisan War
to date, with but one goal: kill a lot of Germans.  ... Tasking
Order for Sonderkommando Tanz / 0300 hrs, 30 Aug. 1943: "The
garrison at Molvotitsy has been under attack for 20 hours by
strong bandit forces; last night a relief column from Demyansk
was repulsed 10 km from the town. These bandits, strength unknown,
are to be cordoned off & liquidated. Col. Rhinemann's Ostjäger
will strike from the east along all roads from Gnutishche northwards,
while an armored SS kampfgruppe attacks from Demkino. A battalion
from the parachute regiment based at Vitebsk will be airdropped
4 km NE of Molvotitsy itself, to rescue the garrison & cut off
escape routes in that direction. Main roads running north of
Molvotitsy will be sealed off by 177. Security Division in a
concurrent operation... German soldiers! Molvotitsy is to be
retaken & the terrorist scum trapped like rats in a sack. The
bandits must be utterly destroyed!"  (Design Note: This scenario
uses a copy of the map file created by D. Bevard for "Holding
the Bear at Demyansk.")