Real time Discusion thread

The Wehrmacht drove a deep wedge into Russian lines near Klin, northwest of Moscow. Battles raged around Volokolamsk, Mojaisk, Narafominsk and Tula. Russian counter-attacks were successful in Leningrad area and in Donetz sector. Elements of German LVI.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of the Infantry Erich von Manstein) advance 10 miles east from Klin to capture the town of Rogachevo and threaten Moscow from the North. To the south of the Soviet capital, Guderian relaunches his attempt to encircle and bypass the city of Tula. XXIV.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of Panzer Troops Geyr von Schweppenburg) (3.Panzerdivision, 4.Panzerdivision and 17.Panzerdivision) charges northeast and captures the road junction at Venyov 30 miles east of Tula. German XLIII.Armeekorps (General of the Infantry G. Heinrici) on the southern flank of Army Group Center was involved in heavy fighting against the Russian defensive position south of Aleksin. At one point aerial reconnaissance showed a 15 km long Russian column approaching the German flank. The depleted Germans regiments formed a protective screen at the edge of the forest and managed to repel the counter-attack before renewing their own offensive. The German 87.Infanterie-Divisionen (Lieutenant General B. von Studnitz) was involved in fierce fighting. One company was down to 40 men from 70 two weeks earlier.

With part of Afrika Korps and the Italian Ariete Division already heading toward Sidi Omar, the 15th Panzer Division today heads northeast toward Sidi Aziz. To their shock, the German tankers find no enemy to be seen and their only opponents the omnipresent RAF Desert Air Force. The 5th Panzer Division of the 21st Panzer Division hits the 7th Indian Brigade at Sidi Omar, but are fought off with great difficulty by the 1st Field Regiment of the Royal Artillery. The German tanks try again, but the Royal Artillery picks the panzers off over open sights at 500 meters and destroys or damages almost all of them. It is a brilliant defensive victory by the British caused by their valor and the overconfidence of the panzer commanders. The rest of the 21st Panzer Division heads unmolested to the border at Halfaya, the key to the vital coastal road.

It was a cold hazy day with a temperature of -4 Degrees Fahrenheit as the combat group of 10.Panzerdivision attacked the town of Istra 48 km northwest of Moscow from the north. It was a costly engagement. In the forest fighting which ensued the attackers suffered heavily from the shrapnel of Soviet multiple mortars, but they succeeded in pushing the Soviets—Manchurian units from Khabarovsk—out of the woods and, with a last supreme effort, reaching the northern edge of Istra. The 10.Panzerdivision finally captured Istra but then had to fight off Russian counter-attacks supported by artillery. Meanwhile the battalions of the "Reich" SS Infantry Division had come up. Just outside Istra, in a loop of the river, was the foreboding fortress of that town, guarding its western approaches. The SS Motorcycle Battalion Klingenberg first of all had to burst through a fortified line in the forest immediately west of Istra on the Volokolamsk-Moscow road, held by units of the famous 78th Siberian Rifle Division. The "Reich" SS Division succeeded in capturing the citadel by a surprise assault. The "Deutschland" and "Der Fuehrer" SS Infantry Regiments, supported by the "Reich" SS Artillery Regiment, had broken in from the south and infiltrated into its gloomy, barricaded streets. Hitler's and Stalin's guards, as usual, fought another frightful encounter and gave each other no quarter. The Siberians were eventually forced to withdraw. Istra, the keypoint of Moscow's last line of defense, thus was taken.

Soviet Kalinin Front begins counterattacking German 9.Armee on the northern flank of Army Group Center. In the Moscow region, Guderian’s forces have been fighting around Kashira for three days. Further advancement without re-enforcements is not possible. Soviet 1st Guards Cavalry Corps was counterattacking German 2.Panzerarmee near Kashira. Major-General Belov drives back the 17.Panzerdivision relieving pressure on Tula. In their advance toward Moscow under extremely difficult wintry conditions, units of 9.Armee reach the Volga Canal 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of the Soviet capital. Some armed patrols have penetrated the western suburbs of the city and got a good look at the Kremlin. The sound of the guns from the battle raging in front of Moscow can be heard clearly in the capital. The Germans are only 25 miles away. They have broadened the wedge that they have driven into the Russian forces northwest of the city and are claiming to have captured the town of Klin. They are however, still being held at Tula, south of Moscow. They had also taken Solnechnogorsk and were headed for the Russian outpost at Kryukovo. But the main German attack was further east and aimed at Krasnaya Polyana, Lobnya, and the Moscow-Volga Canal. German SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) ‘Reich’ completed the captured of Istra west of Moscow from Siberian 78th Rifle Division. 37 miles North of Moscow, the 7.Panzerdivision of LVI.Armeekorps (mot.) (General of the Infantry Erich von Manstein)-3.Panzerarmee, reached Yakhroma – 58 km north of Moscow – and captured the crossing over the Moscow-Volga Canal. The 71st Marine Brigade was flung against the German bridgehead but despite enormous losses the underequipped sailors failed to retake the crossing. The Germans are now are facing newly-formed Soviet 1st Shock Army.

The Germans tried again to reach Moscow from the north, west and south. The western attack was the most successful, breaching the defences on the Mozhaisk Highway, and reaching Golitsyno. At the urging of Army Group Center commander Field Marshal von Bock, von Kluge finally sends German 4.Armee into action 16 days after the beginning of the renewed advance on Moscow. This delay has allowed Red Army to move troops away from this sector to defend Moscow from the attacks from the North and South. They committed infantry regiments with little armoured support and made little headway. The untried French Legion attacked but disintegrated and had to be withdrawn. Three German infantry divisions and one German armored division advanced along the Minsk-Moscow highway, penetrating through the lines of the Soviet 33rd Army, capturing Naro-Fominsk 43 miles southwest of Moscow. Only the 258th Division broke through the Russian defences but there were no troops to exploit the gap. One of the men of the 258th Division mentioned attacking “battle-hardened Siberian troops, in strong defensive positions, protected by extensive minefields and fortifications” as “an icy blizzard swept across the snow-covered landscape”. The blizzard prevented the Luftwaffe from flying in support and froze the machine guns. Aside from casualties the German divisions were outrunning their supply. In the 6.Panzerdivision few vehicles were still running. Only one or two assault guns had armor piercing shells and none of the tanks. The remaining vehicles couldn’t advance because the Soviets had destroyed the road ahead. The tank crews were fighting as infantry. And Russian resistance was stiffening. Hoepner’s 4.Panzergruppe was fighting for a succession of fortified villages. SS-Infanterie-Division (mot.) Reich (SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Paul Hauser) found themselves battling the Siberian 78th Rifle Division. The German’s found the Russians “well-armed and equipped – and every man is fighting to the death”. As a result of the German successes that day Stalin released two reserve armies to plug the gaps in the front. In the north the Germans broke through the remnants of the Kalinin Front in the early morning and captured Krasnaya Polyana from Rok. The German heavy artillery were within 20 km of Moscow, and hence within firing range. 6.Panzerdivision were at the outer most bus stops of the capital. A motorcycle patrol from 62nd Panzer Engineer Battalion (2.Panzerdivision) penetrates the flimsy Soviet defensive line and made it to the train station at Khimki, only 18 km from Moscow. This was the high-water mark of the German offensive. At noon the tanks and infantry of the 3.Panzergruppe (Reinhardt) approached the dug in Russian 35th Rifle Brigade at the Lobnya station. German heavy artillery and mortars bombarded the Russian positions before the tanks, half-tracks and infantry attacked cautiously. The defenders noticed there weren’t many Germans in the attacking formations. Their own mortars opened up and inflicted some losses including an armoured car. The Russian infantry waited until the attackers were within 100 m before firing. They concentrated on the enemy infantry. The German tanks tried to retaliate but were constricted because of the railway embankment. Under heavy bombardment the German tanks began to reverse away leaving the dead and wounded behind. Since the beginning of Barbarossa on June 22, German losses are 195,334 killed or missing and 572,000 wounded. Field Marshal Fedor von Bock asks Army headquarters to suspend operations around Moscow. General Walther von Brauchitsch insists the attacks continue.