There was only one point in the Second World War when Nazi Germany had a chance of winning. That point was October 1941, when most of the Red Army’s forces before Moscow had been smashed or encircled, and no reserves were available to defend the capital. All that stood in Hitler's way were a handful of Soviet rifle divisions, tank brigades and hastily assembled militia.
According to German accounts, their spearheads were stopped by the mud, but a close examination of German records shows this was not so. Instead it is clear that it was the resistance of the Red Army and bad, arrogant planning that halted the Wehrmacht. This is the dramatic story that Jack Radey and Charles Sharp tell in this compelling study of a previously unknown part of the Battle of Moscow. Using archival records from both sides, they reveal how the Soviets inflicted a stunning defeat on a German plan to encircle six Soviet armies the middle of October 1941.
Jack Radey has researched deeply into the history of the Second World War in general and has made a particular study of the conflict on the Eastern Front. He has written many games, articles and film scripts on subjects as wide ranging as the Korsun Pocket, Borodino ’41, American Civil War battlefields, D-Day, Iwo Jima, and Barbarossa.
Charles Sharp has a long-standing interest in military history. He spent twenty years in the US Army from the Vietnam War. He served in the army through the end of the Cold War and the first Iraq War, retiring in 1992. Since then he has written fifteen books on the Soviet and German armies in the Second World War, published in the Soviet Order of Battle series, and lectured on military history.
The Battle of Moscow...
Related Scanning WWII dates...
- 02 Oct 41: Day 1 of 98Panzer Group 2 advances toward Moscow ahead of rest of Army Group Centre
- 11 Oct 41: Day 10 of 98Rumors of impending fall of Moscow cause thousands of civilians to flee
- 19 Oct 41: Day 18 of 98Army Group Centre captures 670,000 Russians, 1,000 tanks, 4,000 guns
- 27 Oct 41: Day 26 of 98Soviets launch counter-attacks around Moscow to halt the German advance
- 15 Nov 41: Day 45 of 98In temperatures of -20°C, German troops resume offensive against Moscow
- 25 Nov 41: Day 55 of 98German ground troops actually reach Moscow, but cannot sustain their attack
- 27 Nov 41: Day 57 of 98German Panzers are 19 miles from Moscow; armed patrols can see the Kremlin
- 29 Nov 41: Day 59 of 98German Army Group Centre's offensive in Russia begins grinding to a halt
- 02 Dec 41: Day 62 of 98German patrols are now just five miles from the Kremlin in Moscow
- 08 Dec 41: Day 68 of 98The Soviet offensive succeeds in breaking through the lines in many places
- 20 Dec 41: Day 80 of 98German troops have pulled back to more than 62 miles (100 km) from Moscow
- 07 Jan 42: Day 98 of 98Moscow is no longer under threat; the Battle of Moscow is over
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- The Greatest Battle:
Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow That Changed the Course of World War II - The Defense of Moscow 1941:
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How the Red Army Stopped Hitler