The German armies before Moscow were caught in the grip of winter. It seems extraordinary that although Blitzkrieg against Russia had been under preparation from at least 1934, no provision had been made for an extended campaign and the rigours of the eastern climate. No suitable cold-weather clothing had been provided, no ice axes, no lubricants which would work in the extreme temperatures now experienced; fires had to be lit under vehicles before they would start, tank turrets would not turn, horses froze to death, frostbite claimed thousands of troops. Much of this was due to the early
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