December 1941

Eastern Front

The West Front launches a series of frontal attacks aimed at pinning the 4th Army and preventing the transfer of reinforcements from the center to the flanks. The 5th, 33rd, 43rd and 49th Armies attack, but the 33rd and 43rd Armies are soon bogged down along the Nara River and at Naro-Fominsk.

Zhukov orders the 50th Army to thrust toward Kaluga. The army forms Group Popov (1 rifle, 1 tank and 1 cavalry division) to punch through the gap between the XLIII Corps and the 2nd Panzer Army.

The Stavka reactivates the Bryansk Front commanded by Cherevichenko. The front incorporates the 61st, 3rd and 13th Armies and Group Kostenko, with a strength of 18 rifle and 7 cavalry divisions, 2 tank, 1 rifle and 1 motorized rifle brigade. The Stavka plans to use the Bryansk Front to penetrate the southern wing of the Moscow axis while also maintaining the line between the West and Southwest Fronts. Gen Malinovsky takes over command of the South Front following Cherevichenko's move to the center.