The German orders for the capture of Moscow in October 1941 specified the use of
51 divisions, including 13 panzer divisions, to encircle the city. As the
Germans closed in on the capital, the fighting got fiercer and more desperate.
The delay of the German forces after Smolensk left little time for the drive
to Moscow before the onset of winter. Both German and Russian High Commands
were well aware of this, nevertheless, "Operation Typhoon" went ahead as
planned. The attack was costly and first bogged down in endless mud, making
the roads impassable. Next the offensive was literally "frozen in it's tracks"
when the harsh Soviet winter set in. The Germans were not provided with winter
clothing and their vehicles and equipment were simply not prepared. Yet dispite
all this, they reached the western suburbs, barely 17 miles from the Kremlin,
but they never encircled the city and Soviet reinforcements arrived. Some of
these fresh Russian troops were Siberian divisions, equipped and trained for
winter fighting. Can you capture Moscow in the face of the strengthening Red
Army and the onset of the bitter Russian Winter?
Moscow '41