Hello and thank you for listening to the history of World War II podcast episode 481

victory in itself to death. With the war as big as the one on the Eastern Front

it will come as no surprise that the decisions made were

replete with irony. One of them being, as Kyiv fell to the invaders and it was now time

to press on to Moscow before Winter Proper set in, Army Group Center, having

loaned out Pansers to the other two groups, would now receive help from them in order to take Moscow, the hopefully last part of forcing

Soviet Russia out of the war. Specifically, Hopner's Panzer Group 4 would leave

Army Group North and

Panzer Group 2 currently helping put an end to Kyiv's resistance would come

north. These two combined with Hoth's Panzer Group 3 would give Von Bach what he needed to encircle Moscow in a ring of steel.

But first the road to Moscow had to be opened and the taking of the city Viasma just over 100 miles or 160

kilometers west of Moscow went a long way to making that happen. The city of about 60,000 people was captured on October 7,

1941 in which the Soviet 16th, 19th, 20th, and 24th armies were also surrounded.

Most of these Soviet forces would never fight for Russia again, but the civilians suffered

as well.

By the time the Nazis were forced out of the city in March of

1943 the city's population went from 60,000 to 716 souls. The rest, Jews, political prisoners political officers and POWs were exterminated by the two concentration camps set up nearby.

And all about 80,000 people would disappear into mass graves in this area.

Point is, the Battle of the Asma not only lost the Russians for armies, but the invaders were now about 160 kilometers or 100 miles from Moscow.

This war seemed destined to end by winter. However, the numbers at this time of the two combatants were thus, 1.2 million for the Germans and 800,000 Russian defenders.

Now, this went against Vermark doctrine that said you needed a ratio of 3-1

to give the attackers a realistic chance of success.

...