Germans Still Rely Heavily on Horse Drawn Transport
The Germans still relied heavily on horse drawn transport for transporting supplies but their horses suffered badly in the Russian winter, less well adapted than the Russian ponies.
The German lines in Russia were being disrupted by counter attacks. Many units were receiving only intermittent supplies and food for men and horses was scarce. In this weakened state they were forced to withdraw. In the last week of January they were hit by snow storms that made the sub zero conditions even more difficult.