November 1941

Eastern Front

Meretskov creates a small reserve and counterattacks at Tikhvin. The 3 Soviet groups around the town close in, struggling for each house. The Soviets are attacking with 2 rifle divisions, a single tank division and 2 rifle regiments.

Klykov's 52nd Army begins its counterattack at Malaya Vyshera but the attacks are weak and uncoordinated.

The temperature drops to minus 12 degrees Centigrade. German army and group commanders, meeting in conference at Orsha, decide upon the next phase of operations toward Moscow. Halder proposes that the advance be resumed as quickly as possible, the majority of army and corps commander agreeing with this proposal. The reports of the field commanders convince Halder that Army Groups North and Center are even weaker than he had suspected.

The conference decides that Army Group North should go over to the defensive, while Groups Center and South continue the drive east. Army Group Center is to complete the envelopment of Moscow, the northern wing attacking with the 9th Army and the 3rd Panzer Group, while 4th Army and the 4th Panzer Group secure the center and the 2nd Panzer and 2nd Armies push from the south. The northern pincer is to attack on November 15 through Klin and across the Moscow-Volga Canal, and the southern pincer on November 17, pushing northeast through Tula and Kashira. Army Group South is to continue its attacks toward Rostov and following the capture of the city extend its offensive into the Caucasus.

The 3rd Panzer Group has 3 panzer, 2 motorized and 3 infantry divisions, 9th Army 10 infantry divisions, 4th Panzer Group 4 panzer, 1 motorized and 7 infantry divisions, 4th Army 2 panzer, 1 motorized and 12 infantry divisions and 2nd Panzer Army 4 panzer, 3 motorized and 6 infantry divisions. Of 460 tanks available to 2nd Panzer at the end of September, only 50 remained in action. The other panzer groups have suffered similar losses, as had the infantry armies. With only 50 operational tanks, 2nd Panzer Army is expected to encircle Moscow from the south and contain the forces inside the pocket while also protecting the eastern perimeter from counterattack.

Predicting that the renewed German offensive is imminent, Zhukov alerts the West Front, ordering it to prepare to meet the next wave of German attacks. The West Front, having lost nearly three quarters of a million men in October, numbers barely a quarter of a million now. The Soviet high command, however, has put in motion a series of moves that will create a significant strategic reserve around Moscow.

On the eve of the German attack, the West Front deploys the 30th Army with 2 rifle divisions and a single tank brigade, the 16th Army with 4 rifle divisions and 5 tank brigades, the 33rd Army with 4 rifle divisions and 1 tank brigade, the 49th Army with 7 rifle divisions and the 50th Army with 7 rifle divisions, 2 cavalry divisions and 2 tank brigades. Protecting the northern flank of the West Front is Koniev's Kalinin Front, which deploys the 22nd Army with 6 rifle divisions and 1 cavalry division, the 29th Army with 5 rifle divisions and 1 cavalry division and the 31st Army with 5 rifle divisions. In reserve, the Kalinin Front has a rifle division and a tank brigade.

Left of the 50th Army are the 3rd and 13th Armies of the Southwest Front, which become involved with the 2nd Army as the Germans strike toward the Don. The 3rd Army has 5 rifle divisions and 2 cavalry divisions, while the 13th has 9 rifle and 2 cavalry division.