September 1941

Eastern Front

Gen Meretskov takes command of the 7th Army defending the line of the Svir.

Despite determined attacks, the 18th Army is unable to break through to Leningrad. The 54th Army continues its counterattack at Sinyavino but meets with a singular lack of success.

The Soviets begin to place pressure upon the Germans in the Valdai Hills area. Sporadic attacks fail to force the Germans back and a counterattack by the 3rd SS Motorized Division Totenkopf forces the Soviets back.

Inside the Kiev pocket, the 5th and 21st Armies surrender. Elements of the 5th Army fights on, joining with the remnants of the Southwest Front headquarters group in its attempt to break free.

Hansen's LIV Corps launches another ferocious attack Perekov with the 45th and 73rd Infantry Divisions. The narrow confines of the isthmus prevents the Germans from encircling the defending divisions, giving them no option other than costly frontal attacks.

The main part of Army Group South redeploys for the continuation of the advance east. Reichenau's 6th Army assembles for a thrust toward Kharkov, while Stuplnagel's 17th Army is to advance into the Donbas. The strike component of the army group, the 1st Panzer Group, moves up to the Dniepr bridgeheads at Zaporozhe and Dnepropetrovsk in preparation for the drive to the Azov Sea and the expectd encirclement of the South Front.