Red Army forces marching through Moscow to the front, December, 1941 - RIA Novosti archive, image #429 / Oleg Ignatovich / CC-BY-SA 3.0
From December, 1986, a Soviet account of the Battle for Moscow in the fall of 1941 that, in December, finally saved the capital at great cost to the Red Army and Soviet people. It is written by distinguished Soviet commander Konstantin Rokossovsky (1896-1968) who commanded the 16th Army at the time.
Text:
On June 22. 1941, Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union. Despite the stubborn resistance of Soviet troops. the Hitlerite forces kept forging eastwards. The enemy attached primary importance to seizing Moscow, the capital of the USSR. The enemy attached primary importance to seizing Moscow, the capital of the USSR. Starting the war, Hitler boasted that Moscow would be captured in two to three weeks. The order on the city's seizure said that it should be encircled so that not a single Russian soldier or resident – man, woman or child –could leave it. Under fascist barbarous plans Moscow and its suburbs were to be inundated. The main forces of the Army Group Centre, with 77 divisions, including 23 panzer and motorized ones, were concentrated in the strategic direction of Moscow. Having stemmed the fascist troops' advance in October-November 1941, the Red Army gained time for mobilization, forming new units, gearing the economy to the war time needs and moving industrial enterprises to the east of the country.
What awaited the fascist troops around Moscow was not a victory but a crushing defeat: 11 armour, 4 motorized and 23 infantry divisions were destroyed. The enemy was hurled 100-250 km back from Moscow.
That was the first strategic defeat for nazi Germany’s armed forces in the Second World War (1939-1945). As a result, the myth of the Hitler Wehrmacht's invincibility, inflated by nazi propaganda. was dispelled. The historic victory of Soviet weaponry near Moscow marked a turning point in the war.
A contribution to this victory was made by the distinguished Soviet commander Konstantin Rokossovsky (1896-1968). He commanded the 16th Army that took part in battles for Smolensk, Volokolamsk and Moscow. For heroism and martial talent displayed during the Great Patriotic War, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal Rokossovsky was awarded the Order of Victory, the top Soviet decoration. In his book. “A Soldier's Duty“, Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky addressed the following words to his countrymen: "Glory to you, wonderful Soviet people! I am glad I was with you all these years. If indeed I was able to accomplish something–it became possible due to you.'' Excerpts from his book follow.
UNSHAKABLE STAUNCHNESS
The realization that we were entrusted with the task of defending the approaches to Moscow multiplied our strength.
Our troops were well aware of the selfless devotion with which the men and women of Moscow were toiling at the factories. Working without rest or respite, they had turned the capital into an arsenal supplying the front with weapons and ammunition. We saw for ourselves the enthusiasm with which Muscovites erected anti-tank obstacles, planted ’'dragon’s teeth”, etc. Even in those tense and trying days we kept up our contacts with Moscow factory collectives. The very word '’Moscow'’ meant a lot to all of us, from the highest commander to rank-and-file soldier; it meant all we had ever fought for, all we had achieved in building up our workers’ and peasants’ state.
The 16th Army was reinforced with two tank-destroyer regiments, two heavy gun regiments, two battalions of the Moscow Artillery School, and two regiments and three battalions of rocket launchers. By the standards of the time we had quite a lot of artillery–but remember our 100-kilometre frontage!
Hard defensive battles followed. The nazis committed to battle powerful groups of 30 to 50 tanks followed by dense skirmish lines of infantry and supported by artillery fire and air strikes. On encountering well-organized resistance the enemy withdrew, only to renew his attacks again. Suffering heavy losses, he was forced to commit fresh troops to action.
Our casualties were also substantial. Artillery, infantry, engineers and signallers had all displayed feats of mass heroism in repelling the enemy. Artillery crews had continued to fire from damaged guns. Infantry had fought tanks with hand grenades and incendiary bottles. Signallers had established and restored communication lines under fierce enemy fire.
The fighting at and for Volokolamsk has become textbook history. Every man, from the rank and- file in the trenches to the army commander, did all he could to prevent the enemy from penetrating the Army's defences. And he was prevented.
We were greatly cheered by the arrival of the 78th Infantry Division from Siberia. It was made up mainly of Siberians. and even among our gallant soldiers Siberians have always been distinguished for their valour. The division was fully manned and supplied according to the wartime tables of organization and equipment. The timeliness of their arrival can hardly be overestimated. Just as at Volokolamsk. General Panfilov's division had played a crucial part in the fighting, so, in November Colonel Beloborodov’s division contributed tremendously to the decisive battles for Moscow.
A FIGHTING CITY
I took advantage of the occasion (of the shifting of the headquarters) to drive to Moscow for a few hours. We found the city alerted, bristling with dragon's teeth and hedgehogs, with barricades on the outskirts and embrasures in the walls of houses. The capital was grim and calm.
On the approaches to Moscow tens of thousands of Muscovites, mostly women of all ages, were busy digging trenches, artillery positions and anti-tank ditches They worked with concentration, and one felt that they fully realized the importance of what they were doing. We noticed neither confusion nor despondency. Despite the bad weather – a cold drizzle and dank mist – the work was going with a swing.
I confess that the sight of this mass of toilers digging into the tough earth with such calm persistence moved me to the bottom of my heart, and made my hatred of and anger against the enemy even fiercer. We realized that the forthcoming battle would be decisive, a turning point in the whole campaign. We were fully justified in our confidence by the experience of the October fighting at Volokolamsk, when the enemy, despite his mechanical might, had been unable to break through our front. The fortitude of the troops in those battles had been unprecedented.
NOWHERE TO RETREAT
On November 16. the German Army Group Centre launched the offensive along the whole front from Kalinin in the north to Tula.
The attack began with the sup porting fire of heavy artillery and mortar fire and air attacks. Bombers circled overhead, diving in turn and dropping bombs on our infantry and artillery positions.
The tanks advanced stubbornly, heedless of losses, halting occasionally to blast away at our anti-tank batteries. Some of them churned about in one place with damaged tracks.
It was on that day that the twenty-eight heroes of Panfilov’s division headed by political instructor Vasily Klochkov performed their exploit. Klochkov’s words, “Russia is big, but there is nowhere to retreat, because Moscow is behind us,” were taken up by the whole army and nation.
The progress of the battle and the fighting spirit of our troops made me confident that the enemy would never reach Moscow.
On November 17, the enemy continued to attack, throwing in fresh units. Frost had hardened the marshes and now the enemy's main strike forces - his panzer and motorized units - enjoyed greater freedom of action. Tanks began to operate off the roads, skirting villages and moving through brush and new forest growth. Whenever the enemy was unable to bypass our defences he concentrated tanks en masse, accompanying his attacks with heavy artillery and mortar fire and air bombardment.
In three days of continuous fighting units of the Army retreated between five and eight kilometres at various points. However, nowhere did the enemy succeed in penetrating our defences.
THE PRICE OF VICTORY
Our troops had suffered heavily in men and materiel, to say nothing of the terrible strain that affected both officers and men, so that even we at the top were literally falling off our feet and were grateful for the opportunity to take a nap driving in a staff car from one sector to another.
The Front Commander rejected my request and ordered us to fight back to the end, without retreating a step.
In war there may be situations when a decision to stand to the last man is the only possible one. It is undoubtedly justified when it achieves an important goal such as saving the majority from imminent death, or creating conditions for rectifying a difficult situation and ensuring overall success, in the name of which men are called upon to carry out their soldier’s duty to the very end, at the cost of their lives. In the present case however, there were no troops behind the 16th Army, and if the defending units were smashed the road to Moscow would be open, which was just what the enemy had all the time been striving to achieve.
All of us felt that these were decisive days and we had to holy out at all costs. No one needed any prodding. The Army as, a whole, tried and tested in the crucible of battle, fully realized the measure of its responsibility.
The Army's defences were spread so thin that they threatened to burst. It took feats of troop juggling to prevent this from happening. The 16th Army, bled white and still bleeding from countless wounds, clung desperately to every inch of ground, resisting the enemy with dogged tenacity, retreating a step and coming back again and again, gradually sapping the enemy's strength. We could not halt him completely, but neither did he succeed in breaching our defences.
Both sides were strained to the utmost. According to intelligence data, all of the enemy reserves had been committed to action at Moscow. It was our duty to hold out at all costs.
In those decisive days the 16th Army took the shock of the enemy's main effort. It was here, on the flanking sector closest to Moscow. that the nazis strained to breach the front. committing all the panzer and motorized divisions they had to achieve their objective. But they were unable to advance. Successfully repulsing the enemy blows the Soviet troops mounted a counter-offensive in early December 1941 , and crushed the nazis in that sector.
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Forty-five years have passed since then, but even now many Western historians refuse to acknowledge the true reasons for the failure of operation '’Typhoon”. They see them only as Hitler's errors or blame the muddy roads near Moscow. The actual reason for the abortive offensive on Moscow was the unbending resolve of its defenders, the talent and skill of the Red Army commanders, and the heroism displayed by the entire Soviet people. The significance of that victory was tremendous. Hitler’s Wehrmacht suffered its first crushing defeat and the deadly threat hanging over the Soviet Union's capital was removed.
From K. Rokossovsky’s book A Soldier's Duty, Voenizdat, 1968, (in Russian)
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