January 1942

Eastern Front

The 4th Shock army throws screening forces around Velizh, isolating the garrison and increasing the threat to the northern wing of Army Group Center. The XI Cavalry Corps reaches the Moscow highway northwest of Vyazma but can not take the town and is forced onto the defensive.

Bock regroups his forces to hold the line of the Donets and prevent a Soviet penetration to the Dniepr. Command of the 17th Army is subordinated to the 1st Panzer Army, henceforth referred to as Group Kleist. Kleist is made responsible for the defense of the line from the Izyum salient to the Azov coast. Group Mackensen is formed around the III Panzer Corps to provide the 17th Army with its own armored component and protect its left flank. As the fightint continues the Soviet 6th Army and the VI Cavalry Corps cut the Kharkov-Lozovaya road.