Counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow. The beginning of the counteroffensive in the battle of Moscow

In history there are moments that no historian can rewrite or modify. In the fall of 1941, when the question of preserving the integrity of the Soviet Union was threatened, as it seemed to the whole world, many forces were thrown on Moscow's defense. And despite the dramatic situation, the forces of the three fronts on December 5, 1941 began a counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow. From that day, slowly, but confidently, the fascist invaders crowded into the western borders of our state. But the operation to capture the USSR by the Nazis was not so thoughtful.

Plan Barbarossa

The summer of 1941 was tragic for the Soviet Union. On June 22, the German fascist troops violated the state border and went on to active offensive operations. At the heart of Germany's offensive lay the famous Barbarossa plan, developed by Field Marshal Paulus. It provided for the rapid advance of German troops in the European part of the USSR, the seizure of all major cities, including the capital and Leningrad (could he suppose that the battle near Moscow would be one of the turning points in this terrible war). The highlight of the operation Paulus considered the capture in the shortest possible time of the resource resources of the Caucasus. After all, the European reserves of fuel for a longer campaign Wehrmacht could not be enough.

Here it should be clarified that the main strategy of this plan was the very rapid advancement of powerful tank groups that were supposed to hack the defense of the Red Army and cut its transport arteries of supply. It was assumed that the motorized German infantry, moving a little slower, would destroy the remnants of the Red Army military units that were hit by tank attacks.

Infantry was required to create so-called boilers, as well as to provide unimpeded access to supply to the attacking tank units. This task was assigned to Army Group "Center" under the command of Field Marshal Fedor von Bock. It consisted of the 4th and 9th armies, which carried out the infantry cover of the tank grouping, which was formed from the 2nd and 3rd tank groups. The total number of efficient tank divisions in these groups exceeded 60. From the air, the von Bock grouping was covered by the 2nd Luftwaffe air fleet, numbering about 1,680 combat aircraft.

The heroism of the border guards

Despite the relative surprise of the strike, literally from the very first hours the Germans encountered fierce resistance from Soviet border guards, who, of course, could not contain the attacking tank wedges of the invaders. However, the hours that they steadfastly held the defenses (and the facts are known that in some places the hotbeds of fire have been smoldering for months) have allowed to alleviate the current catastrophic situation of the Soviet regular units in the western direction.

In other words, the "time-loss" ratio began to work against the Germans from the very first minutes of the war. These thoughts are expressed in the memoirs of some German generals of the General Staff. Although in general this did not change the state of things. The Germans struggled, but advancing, destroying the forces and equipment of the Red Army. True, they themselves suffered heavy losses.

Promotion deep into the country

The war near Moscow, where the units of Army Group Center were located, was fiercely waged. The German shock tank wedges took ever more and more lines, but increasingly often the far-gone columns themselves fell into firebags and ambush. There are cases when skillfully trained artillery ambushes destroyed up to 20 German tanks in one battle.

The Hitlerite command did not pay attention to such alarming reports from its field commanders. It seemed that they had a victory in their pocket. The tragedy of the desperately defending Red Army was still the complete air superiority of the fascists. The Junkers' armadas leveled peaceful cities, and the fighters did not hesitate even for small groups of refugees.

The Soviet aviation, closely flanked to the borders, was almost destroyed. Therefore, for several weeks the enemy felt quite comfortable in the sky. But, despite this, some fighters still flew. As in the case of the ground operation, on June 22 the Germans suffered the first air losses. And on August 7 Soviet long - range aviation delivered the first bombing strike against Berlin.

The tasks of this article do not include the enumeration of the names of the glorious warriors and military units, who, fiercely defending themselves, exhausted the German military vehicle on the way to the capital, thus giving the possibility of preparing a counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow. Of course, no one will ever forget the names of these heroes.

Operation Typhoon

And I want to note exactly the moment when the Wehrmacht got the first terrible, and according to some experts, its main wound. It's about the day when the Soviet counter-offensive began near Moscow. It was with the seizure of the capital of the USSR that Adolf Hitler linked the main success of his lightning war.

At the very beginning of the General Staff of the German troops, a special operation was launched to seize Moscow, which was code-named "Typhoon." According to the plan, it was planned to use all the same tank "wedges". The three shock tank groups planned to divide the defense of the Soviet troops and cover Moscow from several directions at once, in order to allow the infantry to enter the city without hindrance.

Prolonged defensive battles

The day of the counterattack near Moscow was still far off, but the fascist operation began on September 30. Surrounding Soviet troops west of Vyazma, the Nazis planned their complete destruction. However, defenders of the city had fiercely resisted, pulling the infantry of the Germans, which was supposed to support the advancing tank groups.

And most importantly, the protracted fighting near Vyazma allowed the Soviet command to significantly strengthen the Mozhaisk direction through fresh reserves. It should be noted here that it was one of the most important elements of the entire defense complex, which provided the beginning of a counter-offensive near Moscow.

Siege position

Since October 13, fierce battles have erupted in all directions leading to the capital. The State Defense Committee decides on the partial evacuation of some enterprises and the diplomatic corps from Moscow. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Stalin himself, refuses to leave Moscow.

On October 19, a state of siege was imposed in the city. Thousands of Muscovites joined the militia, dug defensive ditches, installed special anti-tank obstacles. The grouping of Soviet troops near Vyazma at the cost of incredible efforts managed to break out of the encirclement, essentially patrolling the stretched German rear and significantly strengthening its own personnel units that defended the capital.

Military parade

In the second half of October, the Germans still maintained an offensive pace, continuing to rush to Moscow. They occupied the Eagle, Kalinin and reached the approaches to Tula. However, the general idea of Operation Typhoon was clearly frustrated. Fascists could not master Moscow until the onset of severe cold.

In early November, when the battle near Moscow was relatively "subsiding," the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin had an idea to hold a military parade in Moscow. This was a very important and wise political move by the Soviet leadership. On November 7, the parade took place. To the entire population of the desperately resisting USSR this event produced a tremendous impression.

The soldiers who marched in the parade saw Stalin on the platform of the Mausoleum. It became clear to everyone that the most important and decisive battle lies ahead, even the top leadership of the country is not going to evade. The moral spirit of the Red Army units serving on the front was unprecedentedly high. It can be safely asserted that the battle near Moscow, the Soviet counter-offensive and the liberation of the state from the fascists began here, on Red Square.

The transfer of troops from the Far East

In addition, an unpleasant surprise for the German General Staff was an emergency transfer from the Far East of divisions that were there to avoid an attack by the allied fascists of Japan. The Soviet special services conducted a unique operation to disinform the Japanese command, thanks to which fresh and beautifully armed troops arrived in order to support the counteroffensive of Soviet troops near Moscow.

However, the German command did not know about this and continued to develop operational success. On some sectors of the front, the fascists managed to approach Moscow 11 km. But, despite the powerful onslaught, the Red Army held out. The German units exhausted by the fighting could not advance any more.

Crucial moment

From 5 to 6 December, a counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow began unexpectedly, and the defeated German units were dropped 150-200 km from the capital. The losses suffered by the previously invincible Wehrmacht were monstrous. More than 500 thousand people have been destroyed by manpower alone. Ahead were fierce battles and long four years of war. But the first machine cracking machine of Nazi Germany was in the battle near Moscow.