Recaps

Marshal Voroshilov and General Kilponos ordered their forces to break out toward Moscow despite the danger of weakening their fronts. Russian troops launched a costly assault on German defenses, but the chapter left them stalled under devastating German firepower.

• Marshal Voroshilov ordered the Western Front Army to withdraw troops and attempt a breakout after Moscow refused to send support.
• General Kilponos likewise ordered the Northwestern Front Army to prepare a breakout, despite the risk of its frontline collapsing.
• A political officer urged Russian soldiers to fight their way to Moscow and return to Joseph in the Kremlin.
• Russian forces attacked the German 17th Army Corps and 18th Army Corps, but German ground troops and aircraft inflicted heavy casualties and held the defensive line.

The Russian Western Front Army and Northwestern Front Army launched desperate attacks against German lines as Army Group B and Army Group A pressed their encirclement. That night, just over two hundred thousand Western Front Army soldiers escaped to Moscow, fewer than one-tenth of its strength.

• Marshal Guderian ordered Army Group B to intensify its offensive, and German forces routed or encircled Russian troops across the front.
• Marshal Voroshilov rejected Lieutenant General Ponomarenko’s suggestion to wait until night and ordered the Western Front Army to keep attacking.
• General Kilponos’s Northwestern Front Army tried to break through Army Group A’s lines but could not pull out many troops.
• Joseph kept the Moscow troops from attacking the Germans, leaving the encircled armies to break out alone.
• That night, a little over two hundred thousand Western Front Army soldiers bypassed the German lines and escaped to Moscow.

German forces encircled Moscow from the north, west, and south after destroying most of Russia’s Western and Northwestern Front Armies. Joseph rejected Zhukov and Shaposhnikov’s advice to evacuate, leaving Moscow’s defense and his own safety uncertain.

• German Army Groups A, B, and C surrounded Moscow after the Northwestern Front Army was destroyed and Marshal Voroshilov escaped with part of the Western Front Army.
• Marshal Voroshilov apologized to Joseph, who declined to blame him and avoided provoking conflict within the leadership.
• Joseph asked General Zhukov and Marshal Shaposhnikov how to respond to the German forces massing around Moscow.
• General Zhukov advised Joseph and the state institutions to withdraw east of the Ural Mountains so they could continue directing resistance.
• Joseph refused to leave Moscow, and Shaposhnikov warned that once the city was fully surrounded, escape might no longer be possible.

Joseph ordered Moscow strengthened and refused to evacuate as the German army completed its encirclement and prepared to attack. Oscar chose to leave Moscow’s eastern side open so Russian reinforcements would enter the city and be worn down in battle.

• Joseph rejected Marshal Shaposhnikov and General Zhukov’s efforts to persuade him to leave Moscow and ordered more troops and supplies sent there.
• Marshal Voroshilov proposed recruiting Moscow’s residents, and Joseph assigned him to mobilize them for military service.
• Joseph warned his commanders that they had to resist the German attack to save their country and themselves.
• Field Marshal Manstein reported that the Right Hook Plan had encircled Moscow and that the German troops needed two days to rest, reorganize, and replenish supplies.
• Oscar ordered the German army to leave Moscow’s eastern side unblocked so Russian reinforcements would keep entering the city and be ground down in battle.

German Army Group D broke through the Russian Southern Front Army’s defenses and advanced toward Volgograd, while Army Group E pushed the Russian Caucasian Front Army north of the Caucasus. The Southern Front commanders faced an order from Joseph to defend Volgograd at all costs despite their weakened forces.

• German Army Group D attacked the Russian Southern Front Army, while German Army Group E breached the Caucasian defensive line and fought the Russian Caucasian Front Army north of the mountains.
• German Army Group D advanced east from Rostov-on-Don, breaking through Russian defenses and bringing its advance units within fifty kilometers of Volgograd.
• General Tyulenev told Lieutenant General Zaporozhets and Major General Xishenin that the Germans could reach Volgograd within two days.
• Lieutenant General Zaporozhets said three Russian armies had been mauled and few troops remained to defend Volgograd.
• Major General Xishenin proposed withdrawing to Yuzefgrad, but Lieutenant General Zaporozhets revealed that Joseph had ordered them to hold Volgograd at all costs.

Marshal Brauchitsch launched a German and Ukrainian offensive toward Volgograd, while General Tyulenev sent the Russian 5th Tank Army Corps to stop them. The Russian tanks were routed by German armor and aircraft, and the German forces pursued them toward Volgograd.

• Marshal Brauchitsch ordered German and Ukrainian corps to attack Volgograd, with Yugoslav and Italian armies assigned logistical support.
• General Tyulenev ordered the 5th Tank Army Corps to the front after the German offensive began.
• On April 25, the German 2nd Army Corps broke through Russian defenses at Bestre and trapped parts of the Russian 12th Army Corps.
• The Russian 5th Tank Army Corps arrived with more than six hundred outdated T-26 and BT-5 tanks.
• German Tiger and Panther tanks destroyed more than half the Russian tanks in half an hour, and the survivors fled.
• The German Air Force’s 4th Air Group bombed the retreating Russians, destroying more than a hundred tanks as German armor pursued them toward Volgograd.

General Rundstedt ordered Army Group E to destroy the Russian Caucasian Front Army and then cut off the Russian Southern Front Army’s retreat to Yuzefgrad. Army Group E wiped out the Caucasian Front Army and helped destroy the Southern Front Army by early May.

• General Rundstedt planned to send a strike group north after defeating the Russian Caucasian Front Army, cutting the route between Volgograd and Yuzefgrad.
• The 21st and 22nd Armored Divisions and four mechanized infantry divisions attacked the retreating Russian Caucasian Front Army near Pyatigorsk and broke through its defenses.
• After German infantry and allied Turkish and Persian troops encircled the Russians, the Russian Caucasian Front Army was completely wiped out.
• Army Group E’s strike group reached the Don River in three days and cut off the Russian Southern Front Army’s retreat.
• General Tyulenev sent heavy forces to reopen the route, but German armored forces repelled the attack.
• At the beginning of May, the Russian Southern Front Army was destroyed, with only a very small number escaping to Yuzefgrad.

After destroying the Russian Caucasian and Southern Front Armies, German forces advanced to Yuzefgrad and encircled the city. The Germans prepared to attack while the Russian commanders vowed to defend it to the bitter end.

• Manstein reported the destruction of the Russian Caucasian and Southern Front Armies to Oscar, who praised the German army groups and said he would consider awarding Rundstedt a marshal’s baton after Yuzefgrad fell.
• The German D Army Group and Army Group advanced east along the Don River without meeting Russian resistance as the Yuzefgrad Front Army pulled its forces inward.
• German armored divisions reached Yuzefgrad, and German and puppet-state troops surrounded the city on three sides while the Volga remained open to Russian transport.
• General Staff Headquarters rejected Rundstedt’s proposal to seize Volzhsky and cut the Volga supply route, as Oscar wanted Russian forces drawn into a costly battle for the city.
• Yeryomenko, Khrushchev, and Bodin held meetings about the defense, and Khrushchev urged the Russian troops to fight the Germans to the bitter end.

President Roosevelt convened a military conference to consider whether the United States should declare war on Germany before completing its preparations. General Marshall described Russia’s catastrophic losses and the Island Nation’s failures in the Pacific, leaving the American generals facing the prospect that their allies might soon be defeated.

• Roosevelt told the generals that Germany’s victories might force the United States to change its strategy.
• Marshall reported that Germany had committed more than ten million troops to the Russian front and had destroyed over seven million Russian troops.
• Marshall said German forces had wiped out several Russian fronts and were encircling Moscow and Yuzefgrad.
• Marshall reported that Germany’s Pacific fleets had nearly destroyed the Island Nation Navy’s carriers and capital ships.
• Marshall said the Island Nation Army had lost more than seven hundred thousand troops in Borneo and was unlikely to seize the South Seas and Australia.

President Roosevelt forced the US military leaders to accept that war with Germany was unavoidable and ordered them to prepare for victory. The Army had mobilized five million troops and was upgrading its tanks and fighters, while its leaders remained concerned that German forces were still superior.

• President Roosevelt told the generals that the United States had to enter the war to escape its debt crisis and survive.
• Admiral James Richardson and Secretary of War Henry Stilson warned that Germany's military was formidable and victory was uncertain.
• President Roosevelt ordered the generals to use every possible means to win and asked General Marshall about the Army's preparations.
• General Marshall reported that the Army was eighty percent ready, had mobilized five million troops, and was forming armored divisions with upgraded tanks.
• General Marshall said the Army Air Corps was shifting production from P-40 fighters to P-47 and P-51 fighters to challenge German aircraft.
• President Roosevelt accepted that the Army would not enter combat until the Navy won, or would defend the homeland if the Navy lost.

President Roosevelt questioned Navy leaders about whether the U.S. fleet could defeat Germany in the Atlantic. The chapter ended with the United States fielding more carriers but facing German ships that were somewhat more advanced, while its newest capital ships were still under construction.

• President Roosevelt asked Admiral Harold Stark how the Navy's preparations were progressing, and Stark said they were largely complete but more strength was needed to defeat Germany.
• Admiral Harold Stark listed fifteen U.S. capital ships in service and described additional, larger ships under construction; Admiral James Richardson and Admiral Nimitz argued that the existing fleet's superior performance could offset Germany's numerical advantage.
• President Roosevelt learned that Germany could bring twenty-three capital ships against the U.S. fleet's fifteen, and Admiral Harold Stark said the Americans might still win by relying on their ships' performance.
• Admiral Harold Stark reported that the United States had twenty-four aircraft carriers available for the Atlantic, while Germany had sixteen, including eight Sovereign-class carriers that surpassed the Essex class in capacity and performance.

President Roosevelt and American naval commanders assessed the United States’ disadvantages against Germany in carriers and carrier aircraft. With war looming, Admiral Nimitz proposed a surprise attack on the German Atlantic Fleet to improve America’s chances.

• President Roosevelt asked Admiral Stark about the Independence-class carriers, and Stark said each could carry twenty-four fighters and nine Avenger Torpedo Bombers.
• President Roosevelt noted that Germany had twenty carriers across the Atlantic and Mediterranean, while Admiral Stark said German carrier fighters outperformed America’s current F4Fs.
• Admiral Nimitz argued that naval battles could turn on luck, but General Marshall said America should wait for more time to prepare if Russia could hold on.
• President Roosevelt said Germany would not give the United States much time, and Admiral Nimitz suggested declaring war soon or launching a surprise attack without a declaration.
• Admiral Nimitz proposed striking the German Atlantic Fleet before the Mediterranean Fleet could arrive, which could give America parity or an advantage in the Atlantic.

President Roosevelt decided that the United States would enter the war against Germany early, despite the military’s incomplete preparations, to help keep Russia from collapsing and prevent Germany from growing stronger. He gave the military one month to prepare and ordered the government to shift secretly to a wartime footing.

• President Roosevelt told US Army and American Navy generals that war with Germany was unavoidable and ordered them to prepare to attack within one month.
• President Roosevelt instructed Secretary of State Hull to tell Russia to hold on without revealing the United States’ exact timetable.
• President Roosevelt ordered the generals to prepare for war and promised government support.
• President Roosevelt announced to Cabinet Ministers that the United States would enter the war early to tie down German forces and help Russia hold out.
• President Roosevelt declared that the United States would secretly shift to a wartime footing and convert its industrial strength to military use.

On May 2, 1940, the American Navy began planning for war with Germany and settled on a surprise attack against the German Atlantic Fleet’s base in the Azores. Admiral Harold Stark weighed the risks of German land-based aircraft as commanders proposed using carrier fighters to protect the attacking fleet.

• Secretary Frank Knox told the American Navy commanders that the United States would attack Germany in one month and promised accelerated shipbuilding and full support.
• Admiral Harold Stark ordered the commanders to produce a feasible battle plan within one week using the forces already available.
• The American Navy organized its capital ships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, and destroyers into formations for combat in the Atlantic.
• Admiral Nimitz proposed concentrating the fleet against the Azores to cripple or destroy the German Atlantic Fleet.
• Admiral Harold Stark warned that more than five hundred German aircraft on the Azores could threaten the attacking ships, while Admiral Ernest King and Lieutenant General Halsey argued that naval guns and carrier fighters could counter them.
• The American Navy drafted a plan to launch a surprise attack on the Azores within one week.

President Roosevelt approved the Navy’s plan for a surprise attack on the German Atlantic Fleet and the Azores despite its estimated sixty percent chance of success. He ordered funding for accelerated warship construction, while recognizing that Germany’s industrial power could make a prolonged naval war difficult to win.

• Admiral Harold Stark told President Roosevelt that the Navy had roughly a sixty percent chance of victory if it prepared adequately.
• President Roosevelt approved the plan, but warned Frank Knox that German spies and the German Home Fleet could turn the attack into a fierce battle.
• Frank Knox said he had ordered major shipyards to build warships around the clock in three shifts and requested financial support.
• President Roosevelt promised a special decree allocating funds to the Navy and said the war would ultimately depend on industrial strength.
• President Roosevelt noted that Germany’s shipbuilding capacity and access to resources could make it harder for the United States to win through replacement production alone.

With German forces surrounding Moscow but delaying their attack, Joseph and his commanders debated Germany’s intentions and prepared for the coming battle. Joseph took comfort in news that the United States would soon declare war on Germany, while Zhukov warned that American intervention depended on defeating the German Navy.

• Joseph asked Marshal Shaposhnikov, Marshal Voroshilov, and General Zhukov why Germany had surrounded Moscow without attacking or sealing off the east.
• Marshal Shaposhnikov suggested the Germans were replenishing supplies, and Zhukov predicted an attack within a week.
• Zhukov proposed that Germany had left the eastern route open to weaken Russian morale, while Shaposhnikov praised the route as a way to bring in troops and supplies.
• Joseph vowed that Russian forces would defend Moscow and accepted the commanders’ reassurances, though they privately understood Germany’s real intention.
• Joseph announced that the United States would soon declare war on Germany, and Zhukov cautioned that American forces would need to defeat the German Navy before they could intervene in Europe.

Germany prepared a massive bombing campaign against Moscow to weaken Russian defenses before the army’s offensive. Oscar authorized the Air Force to spend a week reducing the city to ruins, after which strategic bombing would resume elsewhere.

• Germany put Russian prisoners of war to work building roads, railways, and airfields to improve supplies for the advancing army.
• On May 6, Albert Kesselring and Edward Milch reported that the Air Force had assembled seven tactical air groups and four Strategic Air Force groups on the Eastern Front.
• Albert Kesselring said five tactical air groups and four Strategic Air Force groups would bomb Moscow before the army attacked.
• Oscar ordered Edward Milch and Albert Kesselring to spend one week bombing Moscow into ruins, then send the Strategic Air Force groups back to strategic bombing.
• Oscar said the destruction and casualties would make the army’s attack on Moscow easier, despite the cost and the likelihood that the Russians would keep fighting.

The German Air Force launched a massive bombing raid on Moscow, prompting air-raid alarms and Russian preparations for defense. Joseph ordered the city’s troops to resist, while Zhukov learned that Moscow’s air defenses were substantial but the depleted Russian Air Force would not join the battle.

• Before dawn on May 7, German crews loaded bombers and fighters with bombs and rockets for an assault on Moscow.
• At six in the morning, German air formations took off and gathered in the sky west of Moscow.
• Russian radar detected the formations, and air-raid sirens warned Moscow’s residents to seek shelter.
• Joseph ordered Zhukov to prepare Moscow’s troops for battle, then went to shelter in a basement.
• Zhukov learned that Moscow had two thousand anti-aircraft guns but that the battered Russian Air Force would not participate in the raid.

The German Air Force attacked Moscow to suppress and destroy Russian air defense positions before its bomber formation arrived. Russian defenses inflicted losses but suffered heavy damage, and the attack was still underway.

• German fighters reached Moscow and dropped bombs, drawing fierce fire from Russian air defense guns.
• Russian anti-aircraft fire destroyed an FW-190 and killed its pilot.
• An FW-190 attacked a Russian air defense position with rockets, destroying guns and killing troops.
• A German Dive Bomber dropped a five-hundred-kilogram bomb that obliterated an air defense position.
• A Russian machine gunner fired at an FW-190, but the fighter destroyed the gun and killed him.
• German fighters and Dive Bombers inflicted grievous losses on Moscow's air defenses as the bomber formation approached.

The German Air Force suppressed Moscow’s anti-aircraft positions and began a massive bombing raid on the city. The chapter ended with bombs leveling an entire section of Moscow.

• Joseph ordered Zhukov to resist the German air attacks and promised that Moscow’s defenses would shoot down German planes.
• Zhukov’s officers warned that German fighters and dive bombers were destroying anti-aircraft positions, so Zhukov ordered the guns to conserve their strength until the bombers arrived.
• German fighters and dive bombers destroyed Russian anti-aircraft positions, clearing the way for the bomber formations.
• Hundreds of H-11 medium bombers and more H-21 heavy bombers reached Moscow and came under fire from the remaining anti-aircraft guns.
• The German bombers dropped their bombs across the city, and the explosions leveled an entire section of Moscow.

The German Air Force bombed Moscow relentlessly for a week, destroying the city and inflicting severe losses on the Russian forces. After inspecting the ruins, General Zhukov vowed that the Russians would still defend Moscow.

• More than four hundred H-11 medium bombers bombed Moscow, followed by H-21 heavy bombers that devastated the city and its defenses.
• General Zhukov ordered Moscow's anti-aircraft forces to retaliate, but German fighters and dive bombers attacked their positions and caused heavy losses.
• Joseph received a report that the Germans had sent several thousand bombers and feared Moscow would be reduced to ruins.
• Field Marshal Albert Kesselring ordered the Air Force to continue bombing until Moscow was destroyed within a week.
• After a week of raids, German bombers left Moscow in ruins, and General Zhukov inspected the devastation as Russian officers reported heavy military and civilian losses.
• General Zhukov declared that the Russian army had to hold Moscow despite Germany's power.

German Army Group commanders planned an assault on Moscow that would preserve German lives and use puppet-state armies for street fighting. After a massive artillery bombardment crippled Russian defenses and artillery, German forces launched a full-scale attack on the city from three directions.

• Marshal Guderian, Marshal Blomberg, and Marshal Rommel agreed to begin the assault after the Air Force ended its bombing, using artillery and air support to limit German casualties.
• On May 14, more than 30,000 German artillery pieces began a half-day bombardment of Russian positions outside Moscow.
• The Russian artillery returned fire but was overwhelmed by German guns and tactical air attacks, and its surviving units withdrew into Moscow.
• The commanders of the three German Army Groups ordered their troops to attack Moscow from three directions.

German armored forces broke through the Russian defenses on the outskirts of Moscow in a single day, forcing the survivors to flee into the city. Marshal Guderian ordered the troops to begin urban warfare the next day, and fighting in Moscow commenced on May 15.

• Thirteen German army groups launched an offensive with fifteen Armored Divisions and thirty Mechanized Infantry Divisions, while Russian forces prepared to defend the suburbs.
• German aircraft and tanks destroyed Russian anti-tank guns and other defensive positions as the armored assault advanced.
• Russian soldiers attacked German vehicles with explosives, but German tanks and infantry continued to tear through the defense lines.
• German forces routed the Russian defenders, killing or capturing over three hundred thousand and driving the rest into Moscow.
• Lieutenant General Karl Hilpert reported the breakthrough to Marshal Guderian, who ordered troops to enter Moscow and called on the vassal states to prepare for urban warfare.
• On May 15, German forces entered Moscow and brutal urban warfare began.

After the Germans drove Russian forces from Moscow’s outskirts, Zhukov assured Joseph that the city’s ruins would restrict German armor and allow the Russians to resist. On May 15, the Germans began their assault into Moscow, where fierce street fighting continued as both sides suffered losses.

• Lyapin reported to Zhukov that German armor had overrun the suburban defenses and forced Russian units to retreat into Moscow.
• Zhukov met with Joseph, explained the defeat, and promised that urban fighting would limit the German armored advance.
• On May 15, German forces attacked Moscow from the south, west, and north with artillery support.
• A German infantry fighting vehicle suppressed a Russian barricade until an anti-tank gun destroyed it, allowing the Russians to counterattack.
• A German platoon leader ordered machine guns, mortars, grenade launchers, and snipers to suppress the Russian defenses.

German forces used heavy artillery to destroy a Russian street position and continued their costly advance through Moscow. At Army Group B headquarters, Marshal Guderian ordered puppet-state forces to enter the city beginning May 18.

• A German company commander halted an attack on a Russian position and requested artillery support.
• Twelve German 150mm howitzers bombarded the Russian position, killing nearly all its defenders and clearing the way for another German attack.
• German forces continued their daylight advance while Russian night raids inflicted losses and further depleted Russian troops.
• Marshal Guderian told Army Group B’s assembled commanders to commit troops to the fighting in Moscow.
• Lieutenant General Sakel and the other puppet-force commanders agreed to send troops, and Guderian ordered them to begin entering Moscow on May 18.