At a meeting of STAVKA on 5 January, 1942, Stalin called for an “all-out offensive” against the Germans. The proposal consisted of attacks by all nine fronts against all three German army groups.

In the north the objective was the freeing of Leningrad from encirclement. In the center Stalin wanted liberty for the Donbas region. In the south an assault to retake the Crimea.

General Zhukov, honored as the savior of Moscow, and Voznesensky objected based on the weakened condition of the Soviet Army. With the support of Timoshenko, Beria, and Malenkov, Stalin overrode the objections.

The attacks started on 7 January. Northwest Front struck north from south of Lake Ilmen but failed to take Staraya Russa. On 13 January the Volkov Front on the Volkov River found itself unable to move against the Germans. Lack of ammunition, food, and fuel prevented the troops from passing into and through Lyuban.

On 9 January 3^rd and 4^th Shock Armies cut south behind Army Group Center. Short of food, the troops knew the only way to succeed was to take the German supply dump at Toropets.

Kalinin Front worked to surround the German IX Army near Sychevka while cavalry attacked to surround German forces in Rzhev. General Zhukov’s forces moved through the ‘Kaluga Gap’ and attacked north toward Vyazma to surround Sukinichi.

The Luftwaffe flew in supplies for seven German divisions surrounded in Demyansk.

Fifteen hundred Soviet paratroops were dropped on Zhelanye and operated behind German lines with the assistance of partisans.

The less than spectacular results of these operations prompted Stalin to take command. He transferred the 3^rd and 4^th Shock Armies to the Kalinin Front. First Shock Army was detached from Kalinin Front and assigned to Northwest Front. He then directed 16^th Army detached from Zhukov’s forces and sent to Bryansk Front to take Sukhinichi.

Govin’s spearheads were on the road to Minsk when Army Group Center, itself nearly surrounded, cut off those forces near Vyazma.

Casualties during this offensive were high. By late January Kalinin Front had 35 tanks remaining. High Command Reserve Artillery had only six guns. Rifle divisions had 3,000 to 3,700 soldiers each. 13^th Army, originally assigned 11,500 soldiers, had been reduced to the size of a division. Tank brigades possessed 15 to 20 tanks, and artillery regiments had 12 guns.

Air support for ground forces vanished as the front moved out of the range of fighters.

General Model surrounded the Soviet 39^th and 29^th Armies at Rzhev.

In Army Group South’s area General Timoshenko crossed the Donets River and drove a wedge 97 kilometers deep into the German positions near Izyum.

In the Crimea Soviet troops crossed from the Kerch Peninsula and moved as far west as Feodosiya before the Germans forced them to a stop.

Sources: “The Russian Recovery,” John Erickson, History of the Second World War Magazine, 1970s

“The Moscow Counterblow,” Marshal Zhukov, History of the Second World War Magazine, 1970s

The Soviet Air Force in World War II, Edited by Ray Wagner, Translated by Leland Fetzer, Doubleday & Co, Inc., Garden City, New York, 1973

The Germans entered the Moscow suburbs on 5 December, 1941, as the Soviets went on the offensive. But the Soviets had suffered greater losses in six months than any army in history. Stalin commanded an attack against a German Army unprepared for the Russian winter.

With the occupation of Minsk and Riga, with Moscow nearly surrounded and factories moving east, the Soviet Union saw a drop in the production of war materials. Electric generation stations shut down. Coal supplies were lost. Kharkov’s production of tanks stopped. Aircraft production was reduced from July’s output of 2,000 to 627 in November. Leningrad, though surrounded, continued production of guns and ammunition and sent the products to Moscow by air.

Losses among Soviet fighting units reduced their effectiveness. The population, fleeing German occupation, reduced available manpower for the military. The Army resorted to conscription of the available population. Barely trained recruits received a few lectures on warfare and were thrown into the front line against accomplished German adversaries. Experienced soldiers from the far eastern Kwantung Army traveled by train across Siberia into the west.

Stalin called General Zhukov to ask if he felt Moscow could be held.

Severe frost and deep snow enveloped central Russia, but the Soviet troops possessed high morale.

On 2 December the 65^th Ground Attack Air Regiment destroyed 100 vehicles near Solnechnogorsk. That night the air force of Moscow Military Air District destroyed 20 enemy aircraft on the ground near Klin.

Kalinin Front launched their attack 5 December and on 6 December penetrated the German defenses south of Kalinin. Solnechnogorsk was entered on the evening of 9 December and the Germans were driven out by the 12^th. Kryukovo was taken on 8 December. Klin was taken on the 15^th.

Guderian’s II Panzer Army retreated from Tula beginning on 3 December intending to stand at Venev. However, on 6 December II Panzer Army’s flank at Mikhailov was attacked and the Germans fell back from Venev and Mikhailov toward Uzlovaya, Bogoroditsk, and Sukhinichi.

On 9 December reconnaissance aircraft detected the German retreat. The Soviets advanced 130 kilometers. By 12 December the German flank forces had been defeated.

Soviet paratroops were dropped west of Teryayeva Sloboda on 15 December.

From 13 December to 24 December the Western Front moved their right wing to the Zubtsov—Gzkatsk line and the left wing to Polotnyany—Zavod-Kozelsk with the center on Mozhaysk—Maloyaroslavets.

All of this was accomplished with the assistance of the Air Defense Forces and the Long Range Air Force which attacked artillery positions, tank units, and command posts.

In the north the Kalinin front reached the area of Staritsa on 17 December.

By 1 January, 1942, the only front still moving was Western Front. The right wing met German resistance on the Lama and Ruza Rivers. The center, on the Ruza, Nara, and Oka Rivers struck toward Mozhaysk, Borovsk, and Maloyaroslavets, while the left wing pursued the enemy in the direction of Yukhnov, Mosalsk, and Kirov. A request for fresh forces to continue the pursuit of the Germans was refused.

Sources: “Battle for Moscow: The Russian View,” Colonel D. Proektor, History of the Second World War Magazine, 1970s

“The Russian Recovery,” John Erickson. History of the Second World War Magazine, 1970s

“The Moscow Counterblow: The Russian View,” Marshal G. K. Zhukov, History of the Second World War Magazine, 1970s

The Soviet Air Force in World War II, Edited by Ray Wagner, Translated by Leland Fetzer, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1973