"TARNOPOL: 4500 German Soldiers; 55 Survived" Topic

"In 1944 Tarnopol was a town of 35,000 people (Buchner, 1995). The city was about 40 km west of the old Soviet-Polish border on the east bank of the River Seret. It had been Polish from 1920, was annexed by the Soviets in 1939, and captured by the Germans in 1941 (Wikipedia: Tarnopol Voivodship). The town was a transport hub with several railway lines running through it, the most significant being the Lvov to Odessa line which was the last railway line east of the Carparthians linking these two cities. Cutting this railway line would force the Germans to supply their southern forces via the long route through Rumania. Tarnopol was in a largely flat area, although a sprinkling of low hills, small woods, and villages dotted the plain. The River Seret and a marsh bordered lake cut off the western section of the town, comprising the suburbs of Zagrobela and Kukowce, from the main part of town. The connection was via a bridge over a dam. Moniushko (2005) described the town as being of "well built brick" houses, although Buchner says "stone". Tarnopol was a German garrison town (4,600 men after reinforcements) and its only defences were field fortifications within a 2-3 km radius of the city centre. The town also lacked an airfield, and during the siege the garrison had to rely solely on unreliable air drops for supplies…."
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Quite interesting wargame here…

Relief of Tarnopol, April, 1944.

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