There are moments in history that no historian has the power to rewrite or modify. In the harsh autumn of 1941, when, as it seemed to the whole world, the issue of preserving the integrity of the Soviet Union was threatened, a lot of forces were thrown to defend Moscow. And despite the dramatic situation, the forces of three fronts on December 5, 1941 began a counteroffensive by Soviet troops near Moscow. From this day on slowly but confidently, the fascist invaders crowded the western borders of our state. But the operation to seize the USSR by the Nazis was not conceived so.
Barbaross plan
The summer of 1941 was tragic for the Soviet Union. On June 22, Nazi troops violated the state border and switched to active offensive operations. At the heart of the German offensive lay the famous plan of Barbarossa, developed by Field Marshal Paulus. It provided for the rapid advance of German troops throughout the European part of the USSR, the capture of all major cities, including the capital and Leningrad (could he have supposed that the battle of Moscow would be one of the turning points in this terrible war). The highlight of the operation, Paulus considered the capture in the shortest possible time the raw materials of the Caucasus. After all, the Wehrmacht might not have been enough European fuel supplies for a longer campaign.
It should be clarified here that the main strategy of this plan was to very quickly advance powerful tank groups, which were to break into the defense of the Red Army and cut its transport supply arteries. It was assumed that motorized German infantry, moving a little slower, would destroy the remnants of the military units of the Red Army that fell under tank attacks.
The infantry was instructed to create the so-called boilers, as well as to provide unhindered access of supplies to the attacking tank units. This task was assigned to the Army Group Center under the command of Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. It consisted of the 4th and 9th armies, carrying out infantry cover for a tank group, which was formed from the 2nd and 3rd tank groups. The total number of combat-ready tank divisions in these groups exceeded 60. From the air, von Bock's group was covered by the 2nd Luftwaffe air fleet, numbering about 1,680 combat aircraft.
Heroism of border guards
Despite the relative surprise of the strike, literally from the very first hours, the Germans encountered fierce resistance from the Soviet border guards, who, of course, could not contain the attacking tank wedges of the invaders. However, those watches that they staunchly defended (and the facts are known that in some places pockets of resistance smoldered for months), they made it possible to slightly alleviate the disastrous situation of the Soviet regular units in the western direction.
In other words, from the very first minutes of the war, the time-to-loss ratio began to work against the Germans. These thoughts are expressed in the memoirs of some German generals of the General Staff. Although in general this did not change the situation. The Germans with difficulty, but advanced, destroying the forces and equipment of the Red Army. True, they themselves suffered heavy losses.
Promotion inland
The war near Moscow, where the units of the Army Center group were located, was fiercely waged. German shock tank wedges captured more and more new frontiers, however, it was increasingly far-reaching columns that fell into fire sacks and ambushes themselves. There are cases when skillfully prepared artillery ambushes destroyed up to 20 German tanks in one battle.
Hitler's command did not pay attention to such alarming reports from its field commanders. It seemed that victory was in their pocket. The tragedy of the fiercely defending Red Army was still the complete air superiority of the Nazis. Armadas of junkers razed the land of peaceful cities, and fighters did not disdain the hunt, even for small groups of refugees.
Soviet aircraft, which were closely pushed to the borders, were almost destroyed. Therefore, for several weeks the enemy felt quite comfortable in the sky. But, despite this, individual fighters still took off. As in the case of the ground operation, already on June 22, the Germans suffered the first air losses. And on August 7, Soviet long - range aviation launched the first bombing strike on Berlin.
The purpose of this article is not to enumerate the names of glorious warriors and military units, which, fiercely defending, exhausted the German war machine on the way to the capital, thereby giving the opportunity to prepare a counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow. The names of these heroes, of course, no one will ever forget.
Operation Typhoon
And I want to note exactly the moment when the Wehrmacht received the first terrible, and according to some experts, its main wound. It will be about the day when the Soviet counterattack began near Moscow. It was with the seizure of the capital of the USSR that Adolf Hitler linked the main success of his lightning war.
At the very beginning, the General Staff of the German forces developed a special operation to capture Moscow, which received the code name "Typhoon". According to the plan, the use of the same tank "wedges" was supposed. Three tank attack groups planned to divide the defense of the Soviet troops and cover Moscow from several directions at once, in order to then enable the infantry to freely enter the city.
Protracted defensive battles
The day of the counterattack near Moscow was still far away, but the fascist operation began on September 30. Surrounding Soviet troops west of Vyazma, the Nazis planned their complete destruction. However, the defenders of the city put up fierce resistance, pulling on the German infantry, which was supposed to support the advancing tank groups.
And most importantly, the protracted battles near Vyazma allowed the Soviet command to significantly strengthen the Mozhaisk direction due to fresh reserves. It should be noted here that it was one of the important elements of the entire defense complex, which ensured the beginning of the counteroffensive near Moscow.
Siege position
Since October 13, fierce fighting broke out in all directions leading to the capital. The State Defense Committee decides to partially evacuate some enterprises and the diplomatic corps from Moscow. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalin himself, refuses to leave Moscow.
On October 19, a state of siege was introduced in the city. Thousands of Muscovites replenished units of the national militia, dug defensive ditches, installed special anti-tank barriers. The grouping of Soviet troops under Vyazma at the cost of tremendous efforts managed to break out of the encirclement, significantly battling the stretched German rear and significantly reinforcing with its personnel the units that defended the capital.
Military parade
In the second half of October, the Germans still maintained an offensive pace, continuing to rush towards Moscow. They occupied Oryol, Kalinin and reached the approaches to Tula. However, the overall plan for Operation Typhoon was clearly frustrated. The Nazis could not capture Moscow before the onset of severe cold weather.
In early November, when the battle of Moscow was relatively "calmed down", the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin had the idea to hold a military parade in Moscow. This was a very important and wise political step of the Soviet leadership. The parade took place on November 7th. This event made a tremendous impression on the entire population of the desperately opposing USSR.
The soldiers who marched at the parade saw Stalin's Mausoleum on the podium. It became clear to everyone that the most responsible and decisive battle was ahead, and even the country's top leadership was not going to evade it. The morale of the units of the Red Army serving at the front was unprecedentedly high. It can be safely stated that the battle of Moscow, the counteroffensive of the Soviet troops and the liberation of the state from the Nazis began precisely here, on Red Square.
Troop transfer from the Far East
In addition, an unpleasant surprise for the German General Staff was an emergency transfer of divisions from the Far East, which were there to avoid an attack by the allied fascists of Japan. The Soviet intelligence services carried out a unique operation to misinform the Japanese command, thanks to which fresh and well-armed troops arrived in order to support the Soviet counter-offensive near Moscow.
However, the German command did not know about this and continued to develop operational success. In some sections of the front, the Nazis managed to approach Moscow at 11 km. But, despite the most powerful onslaught, the Red Army survived. The German units, exhausted by battles, could no longer advance.
Crucial moment
From December 5 to 6, a counteroffensive by the Soviet troops near Moscow that was unexpected for the Germans began, and the defeated German units were driven back 150-200 km from the capital. The losses that the hitherto invincible Wehrmacht suffered were monstrous. Only one manpower destroyed more than 500 thousand people. Ahead were fierce battles and the long four years of the war. But the war machine of fascist Germany received its first crack precisely in the battle of Moscow.