Usuário:Carlos28/Battle of Moscow
Avanço da Wehrmacht em direcção a Moscovo (1 de Novembro – 5 de Dezembro) editar
Inundações artificiais editar
Some historians have suggested that artificial floods played an important role in defending Moscow.[1][2] They were primarily meant to break the ice and prevent troops and heavy military equipment from crossing the Volga river and Ivankovo Reservoir.[3] This began with the blowing up of the ru waterworks reservoir dam on 24 November 1941. On 28 November 1941, the water was drained into the Yakhroma and Sestra Rivers from six reservoirs ( ru, ru, ru, ru, ru, and ru reservoirs), as well as from Ivankovo Reservoir using dams near Dubna.[1] This caused some 30-40 villages to become partially submerged even in the severe winter weather conditions of the time.[1][4] Both were results of Soviet General Headquarters' Order 0428 dated 17 November 1941. Artificial floods were also used as unconventional weapon of direct impact.[5]
Soviet counteroffensive editar
Although the Wehrmacht's offensive had been stopped, German intelligence estimated that Soviet forces had no more reserves left and thus would be unable to stage a counteroffensive. This estimate proved wrong, as Stalin transferred over 18 divisions, 1,700 tanks, and over 1,500 aircraft from Siberia and the Far East.[6] The Red Army had accumulated a 58-division reserve by early December,[7] when the offensive proposed by Zhukov and Vasilevsky was finally approved by Stalin.[8] Even with these new reserves, Soviet forces committed to the operation numbered only 1,100,000 men,[9] only slightly outnumbering the Wehrmacht. Nevertheless, with careful troop deployment, a ratio of two-to-one was reached at some critical points.[7]
On 5 December 1941, the counteroffensive for "removing the immediate threat to Moscow" started on the Kalinin Front. The South-Western Front and Western Fronts began their offensives the next day. After several days of little progress, Soviet armies retook Solnechnogorsk on 12 December and Klin on 15 December. Guderian's army "beat a hasty retreat towards Venev" and then Sukhinichi. "The threat overhanging Tula was removed."[10]:44–46, 48–51
On 8 December, Hitler had signed his directive No.39, ordering the Wehrmacht to assume a defensive stance on the whole front. German troops were unable to organize a solid defense at their present locations and were forced to pull back to consolidate their lines. Guderian wrote that discussions with Hans Schmidt and Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen took place the same day, and both commanders agreed that the current front line could not be held.[11] On 14 December, Franz Halder and Günther von Kluge finally gave permission for a limited withdrawal to the west of the Oka river, without Hitler's approval.[12] On 20 December, during a meeting with German senior officers, Hitler cancelled the withdrawal and ordered his soldiers to defend every patch of ground, "digging trenches with howitzer shells if needed."[13] Guderian protested, pointing out that losses from cold were actually greater than combat losses and that winter equipment was held by traffic ties in Poland.[14] Nevertheless, Hitler insisted on defending the existing lines, and Guderian was dismissed by 25 December, along with generals Hoepner and Strauss, commanders of the 4th Panzer and 9th Army, respectively. Fedor von Bock was also dismissed, officially for "medical reasons".[15] Walther von Brauchitsch, Hitler's commander-in-chief, had been removed even earlier, on 19 December.[10]:42[16]
Meanwhile, the Soviet offensive continued in the north. The offensive liberated Kalinin and the Soviets reached Klin on 7 December, overrunning the headquarters of the LVI Panzer Corps outside the city. As the Kalinin Front drove west, a bulge developed around Klin. The Soviet front commander, General Ivan Konev, attempted to envelop any German forces remaining. Zhukov diverted more forces to the southern end of the bulge, to help Konev trap the Third Panzer Army. The Germans pulled their forces out in time. Although the encirclement failed, it unhinged the German defenses. A second attempt was made against the Second Panzer Army near Tula, but met strong opposition near Rzhev and was forced to halt, forming a salient that would last until March 1943. In the south, the offensive went equally well, with Southwestern Front forces relieving Tula on 16 December 1941. A major achievement was the encirclement and destruction of the German XXXIX Corps, protecting Guderian's Second Panzer Army's southern flank.[17]
The Luftwaffe was paralysed in the second half of December. The weather, recorded as −42 °C (–44 °F), was a meteorological record.[18] Logistical difficulties and freezing temperatures created technical difficulties until January 1942. In the meantime, the Luftwaffe had virtually vanished from the skies over Moscow, while the Red Air Force, operating from better prepared bases and benefiting from interior lines, grew stronger.[18] On 4 January, the skies cleared. The Luftwaffe was quickly reinforced, as Hitler hoped it would save the situation. The Kampfgruppen (Bomber Groups) II./KG 4 and II./KG 30 arrived from refitting in Germany, whilst four Transportgruppen (Transport Groups) with a strength of 102 Junkers Ju 52 transports were deployed from Luftflotte 4 (Air Fleet 4) to evacuate surrounded army units and improve the supply line to the front-line forces. It was a last minute effort and it worked. The German air arm was to help prevent a total collapse of Army Group Centre. Despite the Soviets' best efforts, the Luftwaffe had contributed enormously to the survival of Army Group Center. Between 17 and 22 December the Luftwaffe destroyed 299 motor vehicles and 23 tanks around Tula, hampering the Red Army's pursuit of the German Army.[19][20]
In the center, Soviet progress was much slower. Soviet troops liberated Naro-Fominsk only on 26 December, Kaluga on 28 December, and Maloyaroslavets on 2 January, after 10 days of violent action. Soviet reserves ran low, and the offensive halted on 7 January 1942, after having pushed the exhausted and freezing German armies back 100–250 km (62–160 mi) from Moscow. Stalin continued to order more offensives in order to trap and destroy Army Group Center in front of Moscow, but the Red Army was exhausted and overstretched and they failed.[21]
Notas de rodapé editar
- ↑ a b c Iskander Kuzeev, "Moscow flood in autumn of 1941", Echo of Moscow, 30 June 2008
- ↑ Iskander Kuzeev, "Moscow flood in autumn of 1941", Sovershenno Sekrento, №7/230, July 2008
- ↑ Mikhail Arkhipov, "Flooding north of Moscow Oblast in 1941", Private blog, 2 October 2007
- ↑ Igor Kuvyrkov, "Moscow flood in 1941: new data", Moscow Volga channel, 23 February 2015
- ↑ Operational overview of military activities on Western Front in year 1941, Central Archive of the Soviet Ministry of Defence, Stock 208 inventory 2511 case 1039, p. 112
- ↑ Goldman p. 177
- ↑ a b Erro de citação: Etiqueta
<ref>inválida; não foi fornecido texto para as refs de nomeJukes32 - ↑ Zhukov, tome 2, p. 37.
- ↑ Erro de citação: Etiqueta
<ref>inválida; não foi fornecido texto para as refs de nomeGlantzDecCounter - ↑ a b Erro de citação: Etiqueta
<ref>inválida; não foi fornecido texto para as refs de nomeGeorgyZhukov - ↑ Guderian, pp. 353–5.
- ↑ Guderian, p. 354.
- ↑ Guderian, pp. 360–1.
- ↑ Guderian, pp. 363–4.
- ↑ Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1973–78, entry "Battle of Moscow 1941–42"
- ↑ Guderian, p. 359.
- ↑ Glantz and House 1995, pp. 88–90.
- ↑ a b Bergstrom 2003, p. 297.
- ↑ Bergström 2007, pp. 112–113.
- ↑ Bergström 2003, p. 299.
- ↑ Glantz and House 1995, pp. 91–97.
[[Categoria:1941 na União Soviética]] [[Categoria:1942 na União Soviética]] [[Categoria:Batalhas e operações da Guerra Soviética-Alemã]] [[Categoria:Batalhas da Segunda Guerra Mundial envolvendo a Alemanha]] [[Categoria:Conflitos em 1941]] [[Categoria:Conflitos em 1942]]