After time entered December 1939, Moscow's weather became exceptionally cold. Of course, almost all of Russia had the same weather at this time. The Russians living on this land might already have grown accustomed to it. But for people from other countries, it was undoubtedly an ordeal.
The German military and its allies had all stopped their offensive, and the entire front had shifted into defensive operations. Moreover, apart from leaving a small number of troops on the front line, each German Army Group had withdrawn the rest of its forces to relatively safe second-line positions to rest and reorganize. The main forces defending the front-line positions now were Germany's Protectorates and allied armies.
Furthermore, so that the German military and its allies could safely endure the bitter winter, Germany had desperately transported all kinds of winter supplies to the front before the cold set in: cotton-padded clothing, down jackets, cloaks, military boots, fuel, and so on.
The German Emperor Oscar believed that even in the frigid winter, as long as cold-weather equipment and supplies were sufficient, the German military and its allies could still weather the winter safely. At the very least, they would not suffer too many non-combat casualties due to the cold. Oscar did not want the German military attacking Buru to suffer massive non-combat casualties from the cold. If that happened, German military casualties would likely rise even further.
The Russian army had suffered grievous losses in the previous battles. Once the German military stopped its offensive, they too breathed a sigh of relief. This meant they had enough time to reorganize and train their forces, ensuring that they could withstand the German military's attacks in next spring's battles, or even defeat Germany further.
However, the Russian army's senior commanders had originally believed that there would