General Keating remains convinced that SMOLENSK is impregnable, so again he doesn’t try an assault. Keating prefers to concentrate on making progress north and south of the city. To this end he makes another lunge across the Dnepr just westof SMOLENSK, (see below), but the Russians are likely to be able to retreat quick enough to avoid any real problems there.
Comrade General Trout duly punishes this latest incursion, killing yet another German regiment. Trout is so pleased with the stout resistance put up by the defenders of SMOLENSK that he plans to reward them by leaving them there, while the rest up the army continues to retreat. Perhaps he plans to fudge the situation maps a little to disguise this retreat from Stalin. It will be intetresting to see just how hard Trout fights for YARTSEVO, the next major objective north of the Dnepr.
See below for an overview of how the battle has developed so far:
