October 2, 1941 – World War II: The German Army begins its offensive to capture Moscow
On October 2, 1941, shortlyafter the Kiev campaign ended, on Hitler’sorders, the Wehrmacht launched its offensive on Moscow. For this campaign, codenamed Operation Typhoon, the Germans assembled anenormous force of 1.9 million troops, 48,000 artillery pieces, 1,400 planes,and 1,000 tanks, the latter involving three Panzer Groups (now renamed PanzerArmies), the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (the lattertaken from Army Group North). A seriesof spectacular victories followed: German 2nd Panzer Army, movingnorth from Kiev, took Oryol on October 3 and Bryansk on October 6, trapping 2Soviet armies, while German 3rd and 4th Panzer Armies tothe north conducted a pincers attack around Vyazma, trapping 4 Sovietarmies. The encircled Red Army forcesresisted fiercely, requiring 28 divisions of German Army Group Centerand two weeks to eliminate the pockets. Some 500,000–600,000 Soviet troops were captured, and the first of threelines of defenses on the approach to Moscowhad been breached. Hitler and the GermanHigh Command by now were convinced that Moscowwould soon be captured, while in Berlin,rumors abounded that German troops would be home by Christmas.
(Taken from Invasion of the Soviet Union – Wars of the 20th Century – World War II in Europe: Vol. 6)
Battle of Moscow On October 2, 1941, shortly after the Kievcampaign ended, on Hitler’s orders, the Wehrmacht launched its offensive on Moscow. For this campaign, codenamed OperationTyphoon, the Germans assembled an enormous force of 1.9 million troops, 48,000artillery pieces, 1,400 planes, and 1,000 tanks, the latter involving threePanzer Groups (now renamed Panzer Armies), the 2nd, 3rd,and 4th (the latter taken from Army Group North). A series of spectacular victories followed:German 2nd Panzer Army, moving north from Kiev, took Oryol onOctober 3 and Bryansk on October 6, trapping 2 Soviet armies, while German 3rdand 4th Panzer Armies to the north conducted a pincers attack aroundVyazma, trapping 4 Soviet armies. Theencircled Red Army forces resisted fiercely, requiring 28 divisions of German Army Group Centerand two weeks to eliminate the pockets. Some 500,000–600,000 Soviet troops were captured, and the first of threelines of defenses on the approach to Moscowhad been breached. Hitler and the GermanHigh Command by now were convinced that Moscowwould soon be captured, while in Berlin,rumors abounded that German troops would be home by Christmas.
Some Red Army elements fromthe Bryansk-Vyazma sector avoided encirclement and retreated to the tworemaining defense lines near Mozhaisk. By now, the Soviet military situation was critical, with only 90,000troops and 150 tanks left to defend Moscow. Stalin embarked on a massive campaign toraise new armies and transfer formations from other sectors, and move largeamounts of weapons and military equipment to Moscow. Martial law was declared in the city, and on Stalin’s orders, thecivilian population was organized into work brigades to construct trenches andanti-tank traps along Moscow’sperimeter. As well, consumer industriesin the capital were converted to support the war effort, e.g. an automobileplant now produced light weapons, a clock factory made mine detonators, andmachine shops repaired tanks and military vehicles.
On October 15, 1941, onStalin’s orders, the state government, communist party leadership, and Sovietmilitary high command evacuated from Moscow, and established (temporary)headquarters at Kuibyshev (present-day Samara). Stalin and a small core of officials remained in Moscow, which somewhat calmed the civilianpopulation that had panicked at the government evacuation, and initially hadalso hastened to leave the capital.
On October 13, 1941, whilemopping up operations continued at the Bryansk-Vyazma sector, German armoredunits thrust into the Soviet defense lines at Mozhaisk, breaking through afterfour days of fighting, and taking Kalinin, Kaluga, and then Naro-Fominsk(October 21) and Volokolamsk (October 27), with Soviet forces retreating to newlines behind the Nara River. The way to Moscow now appeared open.
In fact, Operation Typhoonwas by now sputtering, with German forces severely depleted and counting only30% of operational motor vehicles and 30-50% available troop strength in mostunits. Furthermore, since nearly thestart of Operation Typhoon, the weather had deteriorated, with the seasonalcold rains and wet snow turning the unpaved roads into a virtually impassableclayey morass (a phenomenon known in Russia as “Rasputitsa”, literally, “time without roads”) that brought Germanmotorized and horse traffic to a standstill. The stoppage in movement also prevented the delivery to the frontlinesof troop reinforcements, supplies, and munitions. On October 31, 1941, with weather and roadconditions worsening, the German High Command stopped the advance, this pauseeventually lasting over two weeks, until November 15. Temperatures also had begun to drop, and theGermans were yet without winter clothing and winterization supplies for theirequipment, which also were caught up in the weather-induced logistical delay.
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Stalinand the Soviet High Command took advantage of this crucial delay by hastilyorganizing 11 new armies and transferring 30 divisions from Siberia (togetherwith 1,000 tanks and 1,000 planes) for Moscow, the latter being made availablefollowing Soviet intelligence information indicating that the Japanese did notintend to attack the Soviet Far East. Bymid-November 1941, the Soviets had fortified three defensive lines around Moscow, set up artilleryand ambush points along the expected German routes of advance, and reinforcedSoviet frontline and reserve armies. Ultimately, Soviet forces in Moscowwould total 2 million troops, 3,200 tanks, 7,600 artillery pieces, and 1,400planes.
On November 15, 1941, cold,dry weather returned, which froze and hardened the ground, allowing theWehrmacht to resume its offensive. Forthe final push to Moscow, three panzer armies were tasked with executing apincers movement: the 2nd in the south, and the 3rd and 4thin the north, both pincer arms to link up at Noginsk, 40 miles east ofMoscow. Then with Soviet forces divertedto protect the flanks, German 4th Army would attack from the westdirectly into Moscow.
In the southern pincer,German 2nd Panzer Army had reached the outskirts of Tula as early as October26, but was stopped by strong Soviet resistance as well as supply shortages,bad weather, and destroyed roads and bridges. On November 18, while still suffering from logistical shortages, 2ndPanzer Army attacked toward Tulaand made only slow progress, although it captured Stalinogorsk on November22. In late November 1941, a powerfulSoviet counter-attack with two armies and Siberian units inflicted a decisivedefeat on German 2nd Panzer Army at Kashira, which effectivelystopped the southern advance.
To the north, German 3rdand 4th Panzer Armies made more headway, taking Klin (November 24)and Solnechnogorsk (November 25), and on November 28, crossed the Moscow-VolgaCanal, to begin encirclement of the capital from the north. Wehrmacht troops also reached Krasnaya Polyanaand possibly also Khimki, 18 miles and 11 miles from Moscow, respectively, marking the farthestextent of the German advance and also where German officers using binocularswere able to make out some of the city’s main buildings.
With both pincersimmobilized, on December 1, 1941, German 4th Army attacked from thewest, but encountered the strong defensive lines fronting Moscow, and was repulsed. Furthermore, by early December 1941, snowblizzards prevailed and temperatures plummeted to –30°C (–22°F) to –40°C(–40°F), and German Army Group Center, which wasfighting without winter clothing, suffered 130,000 casualties fromfrostbite. German tanks, trucks, andweapons, still not winterized, suffered operational malfunctions in the winteryconditions. Furthermore, because of poorweather prevailing throughout much of Operation Typhoon, the Luftwaffe, which had proved decisive in earlierbattles, had so far played virtually no part in the Moscow campaign.
