November 1941

Eastern Front

1The 4th Panzer Group, having penetrated the junction of the 5th and 33rd Armies, turn to hit the flank of the 33rd Army in an effort to cut the Naro Fominsk-Kubinka road and open up the rear of the 5th Army. The threat to the northern wing grows as the 3rd Panzer Group pounds the 16th and 30th Armies. Zhukov orders Rokossovsky to ensure that Klin and Solnechnogorsk are held, despite the fact that German attacks have already encircled Solnechnogorsk and penetrated into the outskirts of Klin. To the south, the 2nd Panzer Army advances steadily, capturing Uzlovaya with the LIII Corps after a bitter battle.

The 1st Panzer Army's control of Rostov is increasingly threatened by the attacks of the 9th and 37th Armies from the north. The 56th Independent Army keeps up the pressure on the III Panzer Corps, launching constant attacks from across the frozen Don. Fighting continues into and through the night. Just as Rundstedt stated before the offensive, while the 1st Panzer can conquer Rostov it can not hold the city, its own weakness and the growing strength of the Soviet forces arrayed against it are proving too much.