December 1941

Eastern Front

Elements of the 30th Army break through 3rd Panzer Army lines northeast of Klin and attack the headquarters of the LVI Panzer Corps. Leading units of the 30th Army are just 5 miles from Klin. The 1st Shock and 20th Armies press west from Yakhroma and north for Krasnaya Polyana, making slow but steady progress amid ferocious German resistance. The 16th Army joins the offensive, 3 divisions attacking the 35th Infantry Division on the right wing of the 3rd Panzer Group. Both the 20th and 16th Armies aim to destroy the Germans at Krasnaya Polyana from where they will thrust forward to Solnechnogorsk.

To the south, the 2nd Panzer Army is forced back by the 50th and 10th Armies, and Michailov falls to the 10th Army as the 10th Motorized fights a bloody delaying action. Group Kostenko also joins the attacks on the southern wing, striking the 2nd Army on the Kastornoye-Livny axis. The 50th Army begins attacks around Tula aimed at cutting the 2nd Panzer Army's escape route.

Field Marshal Brauchitsch, Chief of the Army General Staff, tenders his resignation to Hitler, who does not formally accept. Hitler and Brauchitsch have had a shaky relationship since the early days of Barbarossa, Brauchitsch taking a back seat as the Führer dictates the direction of the campaign.