October 1941

Eastern Front

The heavy fighting in Karelian since August 23 has cost the Karelia Front nearly 30,000 killed and missing and 32,000 wounded.

Inside the Vyazma pocket, the Stavka gives control of the mixed forces to Lukin and orders him to break east toward Sychevka and Gzhatsk. On the road to Moscow, heavy fighting erupts at Maloyaroslavets.

To the south, the XXIV Panzer Corps finally reaches Mtsensk. Many tanks have been lost in the fighting with the I Guards Rifle Corps blunting Guderian's army. Meanwhile, the XIII Corps of the 2nd Army forges a crossing of the Ugra River west of Kaluga despite stubborn Soviet resistance. Around Bryansk, the 50th Army falls back to the northeast under heavy attack while the 3rd Army fights its way south near Dmitrov Lgovsky.

Following the collapse of their defenses around Vyazma, the Soviets disband the Reserve Front, its units being incorporated into the battered West Front. Zhukov takes personal control of the front with Koniev as deputy. With the Bryansk Front also in tatters, Zhukov deploys the reformed 26th Army along the line of the Zusha River to provide cover to the southern wing of his line. The 16th Army is deploying around Volokolamsk, the 5th at Mozhaisk, the 43rd at Maloyaroslavets, the 49th at Kaluga and the 33rd at Naro-Fominik, the latter being in front reserve.

The 6th Army captures Sumy as Army Group South struggles to maintain its link wit the 2nd Army. Hitler repeatedly calls for the 6th Army to move south together with the 17th Army, to lend support to the 1st Panzer Army. Halder insists this will open a vulnerable gap between the two German army groups.

Kleist's 1st Panzer Army has almost completed the destruction of the 18th and 9th Armies. Outside the pocket, the 1st SS Motorized Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler of the III Panzer Corps forces its way into Taganrog, becoming involved in fierce fighting with the remnants of the 18th Army.

The OKH alters its plan to expand the offensive in the center and destroy the Northwest Front. The 3rd Panzer Group is to push on to Kalinin. Torzok and Vishny Volochek, linking up with Army Group North after its advance throught the Valdai Hills. The 9th Army will support the 3rd Panzer's drive. The 4th Army and the 4th Panzer Group, are to push directly east toward Moscow as the 2nd Panzer Group and the 2nd Army envelop the city from the south.