July 1941

Eastern Front

The 10th Panzer Division of the XLVI Panzer Corps reaches Elnya.

With the battle for Smolensk barely underway, Hitler issues Directive No. 33, instructing the infantry of Army Group Center to continue their advance toward Moscow, while the panzer groups, so vital to the success of the German offensive, are to transfer to the northern and southern sectors of the line to aid in the capture of Leningrad and of the eastern Ukraine. Hoth's 3rd Panzer Group is to be split apart, Kuntzen's LVII Panzer Corps moving up to the Leningrad area in order to aid the 18th Army and the 4th Panzer Group in their assault upon the city, while XXXIX Panzer Korps is to attack to the east from the Volkhov River in the general direction of the Svir River, where a junction with the Finnish Army of Karelia is planned.

The 2nd Panzer Group is to drive south, into the rear of Kirponos' Southwest Front, while the 1st Panzer Group advances north from the Kremenchug bridgehead on the Dniepr, bringing about the encirclement of Budenny's Glavkom Southwest in the Kiev region.