[Music] in [Music] April 1941 in a field in western Ukraine a satisfied Soviet pilot counted bullet holes in the aircraft he'd just shot down the twin-engine German aircraft had civilian markings but the military bearing of the pilots was obvious the smell of burning plastic was further cause for suspicion it came from a smoldering pile of photographic film which the Germans had hurriedly tried to destroy in the spring of 1941 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were allies but everyone knew it could not last German reconnaissance aircraft flying 33,000 feet above the Soviet Union usually passed unnoticed but on the 15th of April 1941 engine trouble force 1 Yonkers 86 to lose altitude it was quickly intercepted and chopped out [Music] under interrogation the Yonkers pilot said they'd lost their way flying to Krakov in german-occupied Poland it wasn't very convincing they'd been shot down near Rogner more than 200 miles from Krakov deep inside the Soviet Union the pilots were from the elite Ravel's high-altitude reconnaissance squadron they had been secretly photographing Soviet territory for months in preparation for the German invasion of the Soviet Union ten days later a top-secret report arrived in Moscow from Major General to kick off the Soviet military attache in Berlin his report made two conclusions number one the Germans are planning war with the Soviet Union number two they plan to attack soon definitely before the end of the year in the spring of 1941 neither typical nor other Soviet agents could say exactly when the German invasion would come Stalin's best spy Ricard Sagi a had claimed that the invasion would begin around March after the harvest was sown then he said the end of May when that passed he said the second half of June the reports from Soviet agents were confused and contradictory in short no one in Moscow were certain if or when the Germans would invade in later years it was rumoured that the German invasion plans were on Stalin's desk almost as soon as they were signed but in reality no such plans were stolen masses of information was received from the Soviet intelligence network but only a few reports received proper analysis many valuable ones got lost in the Soviet bureaucracy five months earlier in December 1940 Hitler had issued fury directive 21 it ordered German forces to prepare for the invasion of the Soviet Union codenamed Operation Barbarossa now German troops were streaming eastwards taking up position along the Soviet frontier Hitler would later claim that the Red Army had been massed along the border poised to invade Germany thus he claimed Operation Barbarossa was a preemptive strike a legitimate act of self-defense but this was classic Nazi propaganda Hitler wanted others particularly in the neutral countries to believe his invasion was justified but few were fooled in private Hitler was more candid about his reasons for invading the USSR it is only the possibility of Russia entering the war he said that now gives the English hope if that hope is ruined the English would have to make peace Operation Barbarossa was an ambitious invasion plan relying on the blitzkrieg tactics that had proved so effective against the French and British the previous year the attack was to be spearheaded by four Panzer groups their tank and motorized infantry division's would seek to make rapid advances deep into enemy territory leading to the encirclement and destruction of enemy armies on the frontier the four Panzer groups were commanded by General von Kleist herb nur Guderian and Hoth the ultimate goal was the capture of Moscow and the whole of European Russia German strategists believe that their military superiority would lead to victory in three to four months [Music] for the invasion German forces were divided into three formations Army Group North was to advance towards Leningrad Army Group center towards Moscow and Army Group south towards Kiev and the donÃts Basin Army Group north and south each had one Panzer group Army Group center had two including third Panzer group commanded by hot Colonel general Hermann Hoth had distinguished himself in the campaigns against Poland and France he was 56 years old and referred to affectionately by his soldiers as Papa Hoth unlike Russia where many senior officers had been killed in political purges Germany could call on a wealth of experience commanders most Soviet generals were in their 40s in contrast Guderian was 53 hurt nur 55 and von Kleist 16 Panzer group command staffs arrived at the Soviet frontier during the winter of 1940 at first only staff officers and signal troops were sent the tanks were not to arrive until the very eve of the attack by keeping his tanks in the West Hitler wanted it to look like he still planned to invade Britain and prepared only defensive operations in the east and so an invasion army quietly assembled on Russia's doorstep in 1941 the verm act was at the height of its power its divisions had been brought to full strength morale was high after victory in the West the last few months had been spent in intensive training for blitzkrieg operations in contrast the Red Army was dispersed across the Soviet Union with many of its units still at peacetime strength the forces at the border spend much of their time listening to political lectures it would take two or three weeks of redeployment to properly reinforce them and there was little preparation for defense after all the Red Army always expected to attack furthermore Stalin was in no rush to fight a war against Nazi Germany he knew the Soviet Union was not ready in 1939 Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union had signed an alliance but Stalin harbored no illusions intensive military construction was underway in the USSR the Red Army had grown from a strength of one-and-a-half million troops to 5 million in the summer of 1941 Soviet armed forces were still in the midst of reorganization and expansion fortifications were still being built airfields overhauled and new units formed until these preparations were complete Stalin was desperate to stave off any conflict with Hitler's Germany but the reports from Soviet intelligence were becoming more ominous in early June 1941 the Germans started moving armored and motorized divisions towards the frontier this no longer looked like preparations for a defensive operation eight days before the invasion the Soviet state news agency Tass printed a report in one of its newspapers it read in the British and foreign press in general there are rumors circulating about an imminent war between the Soviet Union and Germany Soviet official circles believe that these rumors are absolutely groundless it was an invitation from Stalin to Hitler to settle their differences through negotiations but in reply there came only deathly silence Stalin finally ordered reinforcements sent to the frontier [Music] even now three days after the TAS message Soviet spy ricard Sergei reported the invasion has been delayed until the end of June Stalin hope once more that war could be put off but it was too late the invasion was now less than one week away [Music] on the 22nd of June the Red Army was formed in three echelons stretching from Poland to the Dnieper River most Soviet troops were only just beginning to move west to face the Nazi threat in contrast German forces were massed on the frontier ready to strike at the start of the invasion in the Baltic republics 21 Soviet divisions would face 34 German divisions in Biella Russia 26 red army divisions faced 36 German divisions in Ukraine 45 Soviet divisions would meet 57 ver mark divisions the Red Army was outnumbered and although it had more tanks and aircraft they would prove to be of little value on the 21st of June German High Command transmitted the signal Dortmund a confirmed Operation Barbarossa for the next morning tanks armored vehicles and trucks moved to jumping-off positions that evening German officers summoned their men to read them a proclamation from Adolf Hitler to his troops it declared the fate of the German Reich is now in your hands in the days to come German soldiers were to be guided by directives such as those from General herb nur your struggle must pursue the objective of turning today's Russia into ruins and must be carried out with extreme severity outside and I want to help but not all soldiers wanted to be part of this so-called crusade for civilization sapper Alfred Liskov a secret communist made for the border he crossed the bug River and surrendered to Soviet border guards stammering with excitement he told them at dawn the next day the Nazis would attack before the satto was dry his words were on their way to start similar information came from a Soviet agent in the German embassy Gerhard Kegel on the morning of the 21st of June he reported that the war would begin within 48 hours in the Kremlin general Zhukov marshal Timoshenko and general Vatutin managed to persuade Stalin that action was needed a [Music] directive placed all troops in a state of readiness but with a warning that the Germans may be trying to provoke them the orders reached front line units just after 1 o'clock in the morning in Minsk general Pavlov commander of the PLO russian military district arrived at his headquarters in the middle of the night waiting for him was a report from the town of Grodno near the frontier it read ammunition has been distributed we're taking up defensive positions commander of the 3rd army Vasiliy Kuznetsov Vasily Ivanovich Kuznetsov had been conscripted to fight in the First World War he later rose to command a rifle regiment in the Russian Civil War when the Second World War began he was 47 years old and would endure its hardships from the first day to the very last the warnings about an invasion didn't surprise Kuznetsov his troops had been listening to the roar of engines from across the border for many hours it could mean only one thing the first Germans to cross the border were from the brandenburg regiment an elite german special forces unit with a mixture of trickery stealth and surprise the German commandos secured key bridges across the bug River the Luftwaffe was already airborne they were heading for major Soviet cities in the West and airfields identified by German air reconnaissance the Soviet air force its aircraft parked in neat rows had no idea of what was about to hit it as German pilots made their final approach they were the first to see the sunrise on that fateful day at 4:00 a.m. their bomb doors opened and destruction rain from the sky Russia's Great Patriotic War had begun [Music] dawn on the 22nd of June 1941 Soviet airfields were under attack one squadron commander captain Buerkle was quick to act ringing the alarm and getting his men into the air as fast as possible where Soviet fighters did manage to get airborne they found the unbelievable German dive bombers were easy prey [Music] milonov airfield in Ukraine became a graveyard for German bombers here the German Edelweiss squadron lost seven aircraft but these were token victories in a disastrous day for the Red Army Air Force some airfields survived the first German strikes but then the Luftwaffe hit them again and again [Music] in the course of five or six German air raids most Soviet air bases in the West had been put out of action [Music] in the air although the Soviets had many good combat aircraft their pilots lacked the combat experience of the Messerschmitt fighter pilots Major General carpets air commander of the Western Front made an aerial inspection of the damage to his airfields after landing he shot himself [Music] at the end of the first day the Soviet Air Force had lost 700 aircraft in Byelorussia half its strength in Ukraine 300 planes were lost one sixth and in the Baltic about a hundred plays or 1/10 [Music] the first German onslaught was overwhelming the Red Army Air Force had been decimated it would be many months before it was able to play its part effectively in the war [Music] German ground troops began their advance at 4:15 a.m. past tanks advanced between 50 and 70 kilometers on the Baltic front capturing t Bridges Italia to Sur and makinia hast wrote all three bridges across the Niemen River were captured intact this was completely unexpected German generals quickly began to dream of the great prize haas recalled everyone longed to get on the road to Moscow as soon as possible for the moment Hoth's Panzer group attacked in the direction of Vilnius the aim was to enveloped Soviet armies in ble Russia from the north but not everything went according to plan for the Germans on the first day at one point on the frontier in Byelorussia events took an unexpected turn for both sides at the 19th century Russian fortress of Brest the fortress was supposed to have a garrison of just one battalion but units from two Soviet divisions totalling about 7,000 soldiers were stationed here when the invasion began [Music] on the morning of the 22nd of June the fortress came under sustained air and artillery attack many soldiers took shelter within its walls where they became trapped by the bombardment the Germans had expected the fort to be taken in just a few hours but instead a bloody siege began which was to last several days the fortress garrison defended every inch of ground fighting on in small isolated groups some of them refusing to surrender after four days the Germans had captured the outlying fortifications the Red Army Garrison retreated to the Citadel 400 survivors led by major Gavrilov fought off seven or eight attacks a day on the 29th of June the Germans began a two-day assault on the fortress and finally captured the Citadel [Music] I know the defenders were running out of food and water but still they fought on it was a full month after the invasion when the Germans finally captured major Gavrilov the doctor who treated him recalled that he was almost unconscious with exhaustion without even the strength left to swallow but an hour before Gavrilov had been fighting furiously throwing grenades that killed and wounded several Germans [Music] despite the heroic resistance of major Gavrilov and his men it was simple enough for Guderian's Panzer group to bypass the Brest fortress and cross the bug River one advantage held by the Red Army seemed to line their huge number of Tanks they had about 10,000 tanks in the Western military district but for Red Army light tanks like the t26 and bt7 it was to be a very short and very bloody war the t-26s front armor was just 15 millimeters thick the BT sevens was not much better at just 22 millimeters both were extremely vulnerable to German guns what's more they're 45 millimeter guns weren't powerful enough to pierce the armor of modern German tanks except at point-blank range the poor design of Soviet shells meant that many simply shattered on contact with German armor [Music] for the Red Army the first tank battles were a terrible shock on the second day of the war red army tanks bettered German Panzer Division near crush on you the battle turned into a massacre more than a hundred t26 tanks were destroyed in just a few hours of combat on the third day of the war in a battle near Voynich sir about 150 t26 tanks were destroyed the next day Soviet t26 tanks counter-attacked near the town of Porsche lay in the Baltic at the start of the day the Soviet 28th tank division had a hundred and thirty tanks by its end just 50 remained the pride of the Red Army lay rechtin smoking across the German invasion route the German army had 4,000 tanks and self-propelled guns for the invasion of Russia half of them with a virtually obsolete Panzer 1 and two light tanks only 1400 of them with a new Panzer 3 and Panzer 4 tanks each German Panzer Division had 200 tanks and more than 2,000 command and support vehicles a Soviet tank division had almost twice as many tanks but fewer support vehicles events would prove that the Germans had got it right without enough support vehicles to keep them supplied with fuel ammunition and spare parts hundreds of Soviet tanks would be abandoned on route to the battlefield German tank crews went into combat convinced of their own superiority but a nasty surprise lay in store German tanker gustav ro deck at the 11th Panzer Division was in action near Radek off he recalled we sent the first shell incident it struck the turret the second shot was another hit so the lead enemy tank kept advancing what was going on we had always joked that all we had to do was spit at a Russian tank and it would blow up other reports began to arrive of a new model of Soviet tank that seemed to be immune to German guns near rozina these new Soviet heavy tank shrugged off multiple hits before bursting into the German position and crushing guns trucks and vehicles [Music] the only effective way to stop these monsters was with the powerful 88 millimeter anti-aircraft guns the new Soviet tanks were called t-34 and kv-1 they were names german soldiers would come to dread you as fighting raged along the frontier Kuznetsov's 3rd army near Grodno was the only one that managed to bring artillery to bear on the advancing german troops because netsoft troops fought the german 9th army to a standstill german general art wrote stubborn resistance by the Russians has forced to staff I'd by the rulebook once more we could afford to take certain chances in Poland and in the West but not now Kuznetsov was also the first Soviet commander to launch an armored counter-attack the Soviet 6th mechanized Corps had almost a thousand tanks including 350 of the new t-34 and kv-1 the decision on where to counter attack had to be made very quickly when a concentration of German tanks was reported near Grodno where Kuznetsov 3rd army was fighting general Pavlov decided that that was the place to strike it was a catastrophe the 6th mechanized Corps was virtually wiped out most tanks ran out of fuel or broke down because supply depots had been destroyed by air attack when the remaining tanks were encircled by the Germans the crews blew up their vehicles and retreated it also became clear that there was only German infantry near Grodno so while the 6th mechanized Corps made its doomed counter-attack hots Panzers advanced unhindered on Vilnius German control of the air when Soviet commanders in Byelorussia had no access to air reconnaissance so largely working in the dark Pavlov estimated that he faced only one or two German tank divisions but on the third day of the war a German reconnaissance unit was ambushed near Sonic after the battle a German staff officers map was found and sent to Pavlov's headquarters after one glance at the map have loved realized his terrible mistake instead of one or two tank divisions the whole of Guderian's 2nd Panzer group 5 Panzer divisions and 2 motorized infantry divisions was advancing on Minsk on ba brusque all of Pavlov's forces were about to be encircled [Music] have love immediately ordered all his troops to retreat eastwards but it was too late Guderian's Panzers burst into solanum blocking the only good road from Bialystok back to Minsk in biella Russia's landscape of marshland and dense forests controlling a single road like this could be decisive other lines of retreat simply didn't exist [Music] German Panzer groups seem to be advancing at with their commanders tried to find weak points in the enemy line and burst through them moving fast and threatening the enemy with encirclement to maintain momentum they simply bypassed areas of stubborn resistance these were dealt with by infantry divisions that followed in their wake armored cars and motorized infantry in trucks and motorcycles accompanied the Panzer column reconnaissance units led their way and were the first to engage the enemy finally close cooperation with look rough a ground attack aircraft made this in 1941 an unparalleled offensive force Guderian and half commanding 2nd and 3rd Panzer groups were advancing on Moscow but now they receive new orders Minsk was the new priority both generals were outraged they saw Moscow as the grand prize but both reluctantly diverted their tanks towards Minsk to help complete the encirclement of Pavlov's doomed army minsk had been bombed since the first day of the war from its ruins huge columns of black smoke rose obscuring the Sun now Hoth tanks were approaching to seal its fate first they would have to fight their way through a line of Soviet fortifications but when one of Hoth divisions broke through the line it was immediately counter attacked and its forward units cut off Haas Panzer group as he later described had to break through Soviet fortified positions situated on the highway amidst heavy fighting but the tried and tested tactics of the fair marked now proved their work a German tank platoon normally deployed in a V formation with its two prongs facing the enemy this allowed German tanks to attack on a narrow front 50 or 60 tanks across a thousand metres in 1941 the Soviet divisions orders stated that anti-tank guns should be spread evenly along the front this meant fifty German tanks would only face between five and ten anti-tank guns the German tanks overwhelmed these guns by weight of numbers then turned right and left to attack the rest of the line from the side and reader what made the situation even worse for Soviet troops was there inadequate weaponry their staple 45 millimeter anti-tank gun could only penetrate the front armor of German tanks at very close range using superior tactics and weaponry the Germans broke through the Red Army defences around Minsk after two days of fighting as German troops entered the city Dmitry Pavlov commander of the Soviet Western Front could only watch helplessly as the trap closed like British and French generals before him Pavlov had been overwhelmed by the speed and fury of the German blitzkrieg but he did get one important decision right as soon as he saw the German plans for encirclement he ordered a retreat to the east as fast as possible it gave many soldiers a fighting chance of escape it was with that hope that his men now fell back towards Minsk but for most there was to be no salvation one week after the German invasion of the Soviet Union more than 300,000 Soviet soldiers were encircled around Bialystok and Minsk some Red Army units were able to fight their way out of the pocket to likely held German positions to the southeast others including the remnants of Kuznetsov's 3rd army tried to make their way back to Soviet lines through the swamps and forests the rapid German advance men Red Army lines were now far to the east most would spend weeks walking through the forests before they reached their own lines around Bialystok and minced the many thousands who did not make it out faced death or captivity they fought on launching desperate counter-attacks in a bid to escape the encirclement they inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy but finally two weeks after the invasion resistance in the pocket came to an end two hundred ninety thousand Soviet soldiers entered captivity a fate from which few would return general Pavlov commander of the Western Front his chief of staff Major General claim of skier and commander of the 4th army general quorum cough and several other officers were all arrested on charges of cowardice and criminal incompetence under NKVD interrogation Pavlov denied his guilt citing the enormous difficulties he had faced but Stalin needed scapegoats the trials outcome was never in doubt they were all sentenced to death Pavlov was shot that same day by the secret police to the south in Ukraine the Red Army's southwestern front managed to evade mass encirclements in the first week of the war the Germans advanced between 150 and 170 kilometers before the disaster at Minsk forced the Red Army to pull back to the Dnieper River German High Command was in high spirits following these early victories surely was thought the Russians can't survive the loss of so many men tanks and aircrafts Soviet collapse had to be just around the corner Franz Halder head of the German General Staff wrote it would be no exaggeration to say that the war against Russia has been won in the first fourteen days the Germans next objective was Smolensk but this would not be so straightforward for a start German forces had been concentrated for the early battles on the frontier now their forces were spread out from the Baltic to southern Ukraine secondly Soviet reserve armies had begun to reach the battlefield they played no part in the early fighting but now stood ready on the banks of the Dnieper and a Davina Guderian and Hoth's Panzer group started rolling East once more their mission was to advance far ahead of the main force and join up east of smullins but soon Guderian's 2nd Panzer group came under attack from fresh Soviet armies arriving from the east after ferocious fighting Guderian was forced onto the defensive soon Hoth also had to switch to defense a Soviet counter-attack forced his men to give up Vella key Luke II it was the first Russian city to be recaptured from the Germans the speed of their advance had left the German Panzer groups isolated not until the main force of the German army caught up could their advance resumed army group North had also run into trouble the assault on Novgorod had ground to a halt moreover the German 8th Panzer Division became encircled near the city of salty and had to fight its way out a German officer recorded in his diary we have no sensation of entering a defeated country as we had in France instead we have resistance permanent resistance no matter how hopeless it is by August the Red Army had somehow managed to stabilize the situation a frontline was reestablished allowing thousands of stragglers to catch up with the retreating army after struggling through forests and marshes for a month the remnants of Kuznetsov's army finally reached their own lines there were many such stragglers trekking East in the summer of 1941 in groups of a dozen to a thousand or more meanwhile Guderian was preparing a fresh assault on Moscow on the 21st of August his units were at their start positions near the city of starid up but the same day Hitler issued a directive that shocked his Army Group commanders General Holder would describe it as the decisive moment of the entire campaign Army Group center was refused permission to advance on Moscow instead Hoth was ordered north to reinforce the assault on Leningrad Guderian was ordered south to assist the encirclement of Soviet troops in Ukraine Guderian immediately flew to Berlin to demand an audience with Hitler in person he forcefully made his case that now was the moment to strike at Moscow in his memoirs Guderian wrote I pointed out the serious consequences that would surely arise if operations in the south dragged on too long if that happened then it will be too late to assault Moscow that year Hitler and the army High Command remained adamant summer was already drawing to a close as Guderian's Panzer group struck south against the flank of the Soviet southwestern front if he could reach the german-held bridge heads across the Dnieper River the Red Army forces defending Kiev would all be trapped after his escape from the Minsk encirclement general Kuznetsov had been put in command of the 21st army his troops were right in the path of Guderian's 2nd panzer group the Soviet High Command had to make a choice to fight it out along the Dnieper River and risk further massive encirclements if the line was breached or retreat further east to buy their troop some breathing space in the end it was decided the Dnieper was too strong a position to abandon without a fight a close watch was kept on the German Panzer divisions but in August they seemed bound for Moscow the main threat to the southwestern and southern front seemed to be from von Kleist's 1st panzer group far to the south on the lower reaches of the Donita [Music] by August 1941 the Red Army was chronically short of Tanks it's mechanized units had been annihilated in the opening battles of the campaign Kuznetsov 21st Army for example had just 16 tanks remaining Kuznetsov weakened 21st army was brushed aside by Guderian's troops as they smashed their way towards log pizza 125 miles east of Kyiv Guderian was about to cut off all the Soviet troops defending the Ukrainian capital it seemed high time to order the troops of the Soviet southwestern front into retreat but the Soviet High Command hesitating waiting for the latest information from the front the Germans meanwhile strengthened their bridgehead over the Dnieper River near the city of Kremenchuk there they built an enormous floating bridge half a mile long on Kleist's 1st panzer group raced to Kremenchuk at full speed the tanks crossed the dnieper under the cover of darkness and rain and joined up with Guderian's forces at loch pizza the Soviet High Command had hesitated to long all troops of the southwestern front in the kiev area were now trapped for the Red Army the unfolding disaster at Kiev set a bleak record it was the largest encirclement in the history of warfare an estimated 500 and 32,000 troops were encircled at Kiev only 15 to 20,000 would escape the fighting in the Kyiv pocket dragged on until the end of September the Red Army's chronic shortage of tanks was revealed by how many were captured a Kiev just 50 meanwhile German Army Group center having been stripped of Guderian's and hot tanks fought off large-scale Soviet counter-attacks near Smolensk in these desperate battles the Red Army guards units were born for the bravery shown amidst heavy fighting around yell near the 100th Rifle Division was awarded the title of first guards rifle division general Hart later rose we sustained heavy casualties especially amongst the junior officers the losses were higher than during previous attacks and were only partially recovered through replacements according to the German General Staff timetable the Soviet Union was supposed to collapse in just one more month of fighting but two exhausted German units on the front line their final objectives seen more and more remote the Red Army was also desperate with the encirclement of so many troops at Kiev the Soviet High Command was forced to throw every available unit into the frontline and now with the final crushing of the Kiev pocket Guderian purpler and Hoth's Panzer groups once more turned towards Moscow of these Panzer generals Guderian would be removed from commanding just a few months herb nur would be dismissed by Hitler for cowardice and disobeying orders only Papa Hoth would keep his job meanwhile offensives near Moscow battles around Stalingrad and a return to be la Russia all lay in store for general Kuznetsov in 1945 his men would leave the attack on Berlin and on the Reichstag itself and on the 1st of May 1945 soldiers of the hundred and fiftieth division of general Kuznetsov's 3rd assault army aleksey berest Mikhail Egorov and militant kantaria would hoist the hammer and sickle over the Reichstag but for now the war was just three months old and in a few days the battle for Moscow would begin [Music] [Music] 25 [Music] a German motorcycle unit raced through Western Ukraine suddenly it came under a hail of machine gun fire the survivors scrambled into cover the Germans thought they'd run into the rearguard of the retreating Red Army but it was soon clear this was no rearguard [Music] the machine gun fire came from a concrete bunker disguised as a farmhouse the German motorcyclists had run into the Stalin line the other company one team by the 1930s fortress walls had given way to fortified lines which featured concrete gun emplacements heavy guns in turrets and anti-tank obstacles the French built the Maginot Line the Finns built the mannerheim line and the Germans the Siegfried line the Soviet Union built its own defensive line on its western frontier foreign newspapers dubbed it the Stalin line in reality it wasn't a continuous line but a series of fortified zones the sheer length of the border meant in some places the defense's consisted of just a few machine-gun positions old tanks were recycled to provide gun turrets the line was 13 years old when the Germans invaded and in most places lacked modern anti-tank defenses after the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 the Stalin line was stripped of men and weapons they were moved to new defenses being built far to the west along the new frontier when the Germans attacked the Stalin line was hurriedly reoccupied remove the president was accordingly a very waste in the first weeks of the war the German blitzkrieg seemed unstoppable Soviet generals hoped desperately that at the Stalin line the invaders could be stopped and then thrown back [Music] yes we're sort of you see the y0r would you like a normal sample dollar store anymore [Music] the first German formation to engage the Stalin line was the first Panzer group it was led by one of the Vermont's most experienced commanders eval von Kleist in 1941 von Kleist was 60 years old he had commanded a Cavalry Regiment in the First World War now he was Germany's senior Panzer General in 1940 his Panzer group had played a crucial role in the fall of France breaking through French positions at sedan and encircling the Allies at Dunkirk at the end of the war von Kleist was arrested by the Americans and extradited to the USSR he was found guilty of war crimes and died in prison in 1954 the Stalin line did not overly concern von Kleist his men were well trained in storming enemy fortifications German assault teams were made up of infantry platoons reinforced with combat engineers and light artillery in an assault German infantry would try to add flank enemy strongpoints in order to isolate them the bunker could then be attacked from the rear using explosives to blow away in another tactic was to fire a flamethrower in through the observation slits killing everyone inside von Kleist's tanks reached the Stalin line at several points simultaneously on the approach to Kiev the fighting raged for three days 14th Panzer Division was in the thick of it as it prepared to assault Soviet positions it came under air attack [Music] then the infantry began their assault on the stunning bit by bit the Germans fought their way through the Soviet defenses on the 8th of July they broke through to the shuttle-mir highway they broke through again to the south at ostracod the road to Kiev capital of Ukraine lay open but now the advance ran into well camouflaged Soviet gun positions from the leave boys if it physically each bunker had to be taken up by heavy artillery [Music] next stop was the ukrainian city of Berdichev red army survivors were once more in retreat the Stalin line had held up von kleist's panzer group for just four days when news of the breakthrough reached General Michalka upon us commander of the southwestern front his only comment was we are going to pay dearly for this Mikhail Petrovich Chicanos had been declared a hero of the Soviet Union the state's highest award for his leadership during the Soviet Finnish war in 1940 in 1941 he was put in charge of the Kiev special Military District Kia Panos was a resourceful brave and energetic commander but many envied his rapid promotion on the morning of the 9th of July von Kleist's tanks reached it on here the chief of staff of Army Group South signal Berlin it is imperative that we go on and try to take Kiev by surprise using the Third Army call but Hitler had other priorities he ordered von Kleist to swing south to help encircle Soviet forces around una von Kleist was given just a few days to take Kiev [Music] the Ukrainian capital was in grave danger the chief of staff of the southwestern front received a visitor a major who brought news of the German advance warning me of anything you dump you to forget [Music] the Soviet command rushed all available reserves to Kiev paratroopers tank crews without tanks NKVD police units naval infantry all arrived to help defend the city the Soviets knew the first German thrust would come along the she Tamiya highway and where it crossed the Earvin River they were ready to meet it accorded then what settle - 100 by yes no I [Music] [Applause] the Germans had reached the Kyiv fortified region the last section of the Stalin line and it was ready to welcome the invaders my should be unusual ever von Kleist had reached Kiev but his Panzers needed infantry to break through the city's defenses and the infantry had been left far behind von Kleist was out of time he had orders to move south away from tf2 encircled Soviet forces around human meanwhile German infantry were fighting their way through the Stalin line to the southwest here their advance were supported by the new assault guns they had been deployed to help get Army Group south through the stunnin line where it protected the Ukrainian city of vignettes yeeah the German assault guns were the brainchild of Erich von Manstein in 1935 he had written to the Army General Staff the assault gun should act in conjunction with the infantry they shouldn't charge like tanks or attempt breakthroughs they should support the infantry by destroying enemy strongpoints they shouldn't operate on mass like tanks have been deployed in individual platoons they must be able to rapidly neutralize enemy gun emplacements in 1940 the German army received its first assault gun the stronger shots or stug 3 it was built on a tank chassis and armed with a short 75 millimeter gun it had a low silhouette and thicker armor than most tanks head-on it was almost impervious to the standard Soviet anti-tank gun during an assault the Snuggs role was to get in close to enemy gun positions and not the left by firing directly through the observation slits the stug 3 became Germany's most produced armored vehicle of the war with in 1941 only a few were in service on the Eastern Front savvy ready ready ready porno Red Army defenses around letter Jeff were pounded by German artillery and assault guns our food the German fourth Mountain Division war diary described the attack after three hours of artillery softening up a mountain troop assault teams and engineer squads went forward bamboo by 9:30 p.m. all objectives have been taken [Applause] the Stalin line had been broken once more other Red Army units would soon be outflanked unless they withdrew the breaching of the Stalin line atleta jeff was regarded as a disaster by the soviet front command marshal semyon budyonny was commander of the southwestern direction in ukraine this put him in charge of two fronts the soviet equivalent of an army group he now sent a surprisingly frank report to the Stavka the Soviet High Command in Moscow number one restoring the situation to its state before the enemy breakthrough with current forces is not possible number two further resistance by 6th and 12th armies in their current position may result in them being surrounded and destroyed within one to two days semyon mikhailovich budyonny marshal of the soviet union was a Bolshevik legend and a close ally of yours of Stalin the son of poor peasant farmers he had risen to command the first Red Army cavalry corps in the Russian Civil War but yoni was a dedicated cavalry man firmly convinced that tanks could never replace horses as such he was distinctly out of touch with the realities of modern warfare but Yanni asked the Stavka for permission to withdraw sixth and twelve armies towards the Danitra River permission was given at first everything seemed to go smoothly [Music] general Hoover commanding your 16th Panzer Division looked on not able to do anything we can only watch the brown convoys lose us and go east Franz Halder chief of the German General Staff shared his frustration digging under the enemy has again found a way to withdraw his forces from under our nose but using fierce counter-attacks and great skill they're able to escape English tag to the planet of miles and authorities but this time there would be no escape [Music] in accordance with the Fury's orders one kleist's panzer group now turned south to cut off the retreating Soviet armies on the 3rd of August the trap closed at ooman the encircled troops fought on for nearly two weeks but they had no chance the two army commanders was a chenko and vana delhi were among 103 thousand Soviet prisoners most would die of starvation or disease in the so-called Oommen ditch or other rudimentary german prisoner of war camps where the men received no shelter and little food Major General von adilyn however survived German captivity at the war's end he was freed by Soviet troops but then he and his subordinate general kirilov were arrested by smash the Soviet counter espionage service after a five-year investigation into their conduct Paula Galen and kirilov were found guilty of cowardice and treason and shot leftenant general Massey genka commanding 6th army also survived the German camps he too was arrested by smash at the end of the war but Massey chenko was cleared of any wrongdoing because he'd been badly wounded when captured he was reinstated and allowed to resume his military career after the victory at ooman von kleist's panzer group dispersed in a general advance eastwards in the port of Nikolai F they captured great prizes an unfinished battleship a cruiser and two submarines German tank crews described a forest of cranes and submarines lying on their sides like giant fish thrown onto the shore but their commander von Kleist was uneasy to his mind they were miles from where they should be his tanks had advanced hundreds of miles that progress marked by the graves of comrades and their burnt out tanks but they were further than ever from what von Kleist believed would prove the decisive target Moscow after a 300 mile march the infantry of the German 6th army had finally arrived outside Kiev in support flamethrowers heavy artillery and stug 3 assault guns on the 30th of July 6th army began a concerted attack on the city's southern defenses from this direction they would not have to fight across the earthen river the Red Army was slowly forced back many units became cut off in their bunkers but they fought on bunker 131 near creme initial repelled attack after attack its commander 19-year old lieutenant yakunin had been an officer for just six weeks finally the Germans blew their way in no prisoners were taken the neighboring bunker number one to seven held out for three days it's machine guns only fell silent when they ran out of ammunition [Music] when the Germans blew their way in they found two men dead and three badly wounded the wounded men were carried into captivity [Music] [Applause] [Music] on the 4th of August the Germans intensified the assault on Kiev on the left flank near Vitter post over the Germans captured a series of bunkers the next day they fought their way through to Kiev second defensive line but every step forward came at a heavy price France fell de chief of the German General Staff was alarmed Army Group south are taking heavy losses in Kiev 6th army losses up to 1600 men for days Red Army losses were also severe militia battalions were formed and sent forward to plug gaps in the line [Music] these men had received only a few weeks training most hadn't received their army papers yet when they were killed they had to be identified by party papers or the names on student exercise books on the 6th of August through a thick morning mist the Germans began their attack on Kiev second defensive line one Yanzhi will not be reassured if every time the light the lighter weight the light until Eric Eruzione you know for so what's wrong the fight ends back and forth but finally how does diary entries could record real progress the fortified line around Kiev has been breached German infantry had entered the suburbs of Kiev pirogova mission augur goddess Eva Park and the city's two technical colleges darlings is officially on it happens early on Egon and so an invitation for them tomorrow hahahahaha sciences is a very racist ed so going from their bones of Booker the Germans were just a few miles from the Danube rivers to the west they nearly reached the Giuliani Airport held by General Road insets v Airborne Brigade with their leather flying helmets Soviet paratroopers looked a lot like pilots in 1941 they were being used as elite infantry they were well-trained and their morale was high [Music] topical allusion Pokemon de volver Ross the Guam yet analysis is William Lee quieter dynamic pavilion patron [Music] appropriate the brigade commander Lieutenant General Alexander allege rodimtsev was an experienced soldier who'd already been awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his service in the Spanish Civil War he was personally brave and popular with his man eighteen months later his role in the defense of Stalingrad would make him a household name in the Soviet Union in 1943 he was given command of the 32nd guards Rifle Corps which he led all the way to Prague as the Sun set on the 9th of August 1941 Soviet artillery opened fire near the airport ten minutes later rodent says paratroopers attacked at first the Germans thought they were being attacked by pilots from the airport a last desperate move by the Soviets but they soon realized their mistake [Applause] by Sunrise the paratroopers had thrown the Germans back almost two miles more importantly they had bought Kiev time every day more reinforcements arrived in the city that's varied a Red Army reports recorded the arrival in the city by train of the 280 4th Rifle Division the bitter fighting on the Stalin line and around Omen had at least slowed the German advance and each week the red army raised fresh divisions in the East [Music] the city's reinforced garrison was reorganized as the 37th army it launched a large-scale counter-attack by the 14th of August they'd liberated many of the city's southern suburbs bunkers 205 206 and 207 were relieved after being cut off for several days Kiev's to inner defensive lines had been reestablished then in late August Soviet intelligence reported a decrease in enemy activity around Kiev during the battles outside the city life in Kiev continued much as normal there was electricity and running water trams and buses still ran information about the course of the war was tightly controlled few realized just how precarious the situation was meanwhile a yonkers transport aircraft arrived at a secret airfield in east prussia onboard general Guderian commander of the 2nd panzer group made final preparations for his meeting with adolf hitler Guderian had come to the Wolf's Lair to persuade the Fuehrer that he was making a strategic blunder Hitler was concerned at the slow progress of Army Group south which was supposed to capture the rich fun land of Ukraine stubborn Soviet resistance in the south had created a dangerous bulge in the German front line which exposed the southern flank of Army Group center Hitler was also alarmed by air raids on his Romanian oil fields launched from bases in the Crimea so Guderian's 2nd Panzer group was being sent south to encircle Soviet forces defending Kiev Guderian opposed the plan Moscow he insisted was the key objective this diversion to Kiev wasted valuable time and resources and soon the Russian winter would be upon them Hitler listened patiently to Guderian but he was not going to change his mind my generals know nothing about the economic aspects of war he declared the discussion was over Guderian was going south to Ukraine meanwhile 150 miles southeast of Kiev the Germans were about to cross the Donita [Music] they encountered only light resistance this toehold across the Mighty River became known as the kremenchug salient the Soviet High Command did not regard for salient as a priority there were no bridges so only German infantry had got across it was the tanks that worried them now those tanks were on the move again general yeremenko x' pre-amps front was ordered to strike at Guderian's flank as he moved south [Music] but yeremenko had only a few obsolete tacks they stood no chance against second Panzer group on the 10th of September Guderian reached Romney a hundred and thirty miles east of Kiev [Music] as the threat of encirclement grew the Soviet southwestern front requested permission to retreat but the Stavka High Command hesitated they still hope to stop Guderian and save Kiev a hundred and eighty kilometers still separated the two prongs of the German advance and the southern pincer at kremenchug held only infantry it could be contained [Music] von Kleist's Panthers were still far to the south Red Army forces retreating from Kiev would be highly vulnerable as they pulled back this was what had happened at hooman they would not make the same mistake again the strategic arguments ran back and forth but the fact was Stalin was not prepared to abandon Kiev to the enemy the 37th army 100,000 strong would hold the city on the 11th of September General Capone's commanding the southwestern front spoke to marshal shaposhnikov chief of the General Staff he wanted permission to withdraw the 37th army from Kyiv and use it against the German forces threatening his rear shaposhnikov told him this could not be permitted he must find other troops a few hours later Capano superior marshal budyonny contacted Moscow with the same request the enemy's plan to surround the southwestern front from the direction of Novgorod Seversky and kremenchug is obvious to everyone but Yanni requested they either withdraw all forces to the east or evacuate Kiev freeing up troops to defend a reduced front but the Stavka was inflexible Kiev must be held their orders read you are not to evacuate Kiev or destroy any bridges without Stavka Authority marshal budyonny was removed from command his place was taken by marshal Timoshenko [Music] instead of pulling back more troops were being sent into the Kiev salient one by one German tanks drove onto a 2,000 meter long bridge that floated over the Dnieper River with the help of German combat engineers von kleist's panzer group crossed into the kremenchug salient and Soviet intelligence had no idea as the Sun rose von Kleist made his move the Soviet command expected a strike from the north but now the fatal blow came suddenly from the south von kleist and Guderian were about to encircle the entire Soviet southwestern front on the 13th of September key policies chief of staff general to pick off painted a bleak picture we have nothing to counter the enemy who has already reached Romney and La Veta their advance cannot be resisted it is a matter of a couple of days before the catastrophe occurs once again kepanis recommended retreating from kiev before his forces were cut off but marshal shaposhnikov replied i think it's in settlement is a delusion which exists chiefly in the minds of commanders of the southwestern front and 37th army [Music] yes but on the ground encirclement had become a reality on the 14th of September German 1st and 2nd Panzer groups linked up near LOC pizza they had surrounded 532,000 Soviet soldiers two days later a colonel from Stavka flew to kiev to give cap on us his new orders now that it was too late and the trap had closed he finally had permission to withdraw [Music] but the new orders contradicted Stalin's directive about Kiev tip on us knew other generals had been executed for making mistakes in similar situations he demanded written confirmation he would not leave the city without it Stavka confirmation came just before midnight on the 17th of September kip on us immediately gave the order to evacuate Kiev 48 hours later the Red Army left the city and crossed to the east back of the Dimitra nkvd Colonel measurin was with them it was a surprisingly warm day but about 11:00 in the morning the Nazis started firing furiously into the city's suburbs then they advanced on the bridges on a signal that darnisha bridge was blown out the Nevada Natsuki bridge had been covered in tar and was now set on fire having destroyed the bridges the 37th army retreated towards ya Gorton but there was no escape in five days of fighting the southwestern front was chopped up into smaller and smaller pockets of resistance [Music] some Red Army units held out for ten days but they were under attack from all sites and without supplies [Music] some bands of soldiers tried to escape east through the German lives they were hunted through the ravines and woods by German motorized Commons supported by tanks [Music] more than half a million Red Army soldiers became prisoners in what had become the largest and settlement in military history fewer than 20,000 escaped even front commander General coupons did not get away he was killed by shell fragments while leading a breakout attempt his chief of staff Vasily Chuikov from commissar Burma stenka and most of his headquarters were also killed [Music] Guderian described the Battle of Kiev as a great tactical success but what he wondered was its strategic significance the Germans were still looking for the knockout blow Guderian and many German generals firmly believed it could only come at Moscow and before winter but was there still time the Germans entered Kiev on the 19th of September five days later NKVD agents dynamited the building's chosen by the Nazis as their administrative headquarters acts of arson and sabotage continued for several days they destroyed department stores the circus on calm mug Street and the Continental Hotel which housed the German Army Headquarters [Music] great fires raged across the city Khreshchatyk the city's Main Street was almost entirely destroyed no one tried to put the fires out they raged for four days the Nazis used these events as their pretext to round up the Jews of Kiev Dyan on the 28th of september a proclamation went up around the city [Music] it ordered all Jews to come to the junction of melnikov and debtor obscure street at 8 a.m. the next day Jews it said were to be relocated the next morning more than 30,000 Jews arrived from across the city supervised by German SS troops and Ukrainian collaborators they were marched down Melnikov street to the babby Yar ravine on the outskirts of town near the ravine men women and children were told to undress and put clothes and valuable belongings into separate piles then they were led to the ravine in groups of 10 - machine guns waited on the far side of the ravine over two days the Nazis murder 30 3771 Jews here the bodies were buried in the ravine [Music] for 103 weeks every Tuesday and Friday the Nancy's brought people here for extermination Jews Ukrainians Russians gypsies Babi Yar was used for executions for exactly two years the 29th of September 1941 to the 29th of September 1943 by summer 1943 the Nazis had begun to cover their tracks prisoners from the neighboring Surratt's concentration camp were made to dig up the bodies and burn them historians estimate that between 100 and 200 thousand people were murdered at body [Music] these massacres were the first indication of the kind of new order that the Nazis planned to bring to the Soviet youth the war in the East had become a war like no other this was now a struggle for existence for the Soviet Union there could only be victory or annihilation [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the 13th of July 1941 Soviet DB shrinks dropped their bombs over the Romanian city of playas and turn for home the target was hidden by low cloud but the high-explosive had found its mark Romania was Hitler's main source of oil now just three weeks into the German invasion of the Soviet Union this crucial supply line was under attack the only real oil refinery burned for several days the flames could be seen for many miles Romanian oil facilities were hit again and again by Bombers of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet Based in the Crimea [Music] West Lobby leadership Imelda removalist he was the English the Crimean Peninsula had barely been mentioned in German plans for the invasion but now it was giving Hitler growing cause for concern on the 23rd of July 1941 Hitler issued directive 33 which gave increased priority to the operations of Army Group south in Ukraine on the 12th of August he gave orders to occupy the Crimea which because of its air bases he declared posed a great threat to the Romanian oil-producing regions the Soviet bomber crews had caught the attention of the Fuehrer German forces were now heading south to deal with them the first weeks of the war were disastrous for the Red Army but in one arena they had reason to feel more confident the Soviet Black Sea Fleet was a force to be reckoned with it included one battleship five cruisers sixteen destroyers and 44 submarines there was no fleet to rival it in the Black Sea it was commanded by the 42 year old vice admiral Philip Oakey Brisky ogia Brisky joined the Russian Navy in 1917 an ardent communist he'd gone as far as to change his name from even off to Aceh Brisky meaning October the month of the revolution he commanded the Black Sea Fleet since 1939 in the summer of 1941 Stalin issued many orders forbidding units to surrender and demanding they hold their positions to the last man most had little effect but at the Black Sea port of Odessa it was a different story the defense was led by the independent coastal army which would soon be under the command of general even if them of each Petrov Petrov began his military career as a private in the Red Army by 1941 he was a major general commanding the 25th Chafee of skya rifle division named after its legendary civil war commander Vasily Chavez within weeks Petrov would be promoted to command of the independent coastal army at Odessa the first battles for the city were fought on the 5th of August against the advancing 4th Romanian army the Romanian generals thought that a desert would fall quickly but Soviet soldiers and civilians had been put to work building new defenses they had done more than 100 miles of trenches and anti-tank ditches Odessa would mount a stubborn defense holding out for many weeks while it was kept supplied by the Black Sea Fleet in September Romanian troops broke into the city suburbs and began shelling the harbor Soviet Marines launched a fierce counter-attack supported by amphibious landings behind the Romanian lines they routed to enemy divisions the siege lines were driven back more than 5,000 yards [Music] as the coastal army prepared to carry the siege on into the winter it received dramatic new orders soldiers and their commanders who have fought for the city bravely and heroically shall be evacuated with all speed to the Crimea von Manstein's 11th army had crossed the Dnieper and was about to cut off the entire Crimean Peninsula Erich von Manstein came from a Prussian family with a long history of military service he was seriously wounded in the opening stages of the First World War but went on to become a highly experienced staff officer in 1940 he devised the plan which led to the fall of France he came to be regarded as one of the best generals of the war von Manstein was poised to break through soviet defences at Paracon the Gateway to the peninsula the cities of the Crimea would be exposed including the main Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol to try to save Sevastopol Odessa would be sacrificed [Music] leaving behind a small rearguard approximately 90,000 soldiers were evacuated over the course of 17 days they left leaflets addressed to the civilian population we're leaving our beloved Odessa but not for good and not for long those miserable killers those fascist brats will be thrown out of our city we will be back soon comrades [Music] at door on the 16th of October the last ship left of essa' that evening the Romanians entered the city [Music] German troops advanced through the Crimea heading for Sebastopol escort as they rested shell suddenly started falling amongst them dozens of vehicles caught fire [Music] they were under fire from the massive guns of battery number 30 dubbed by the Germans fort maxim gorky one [Music] battery's number 30 and 35 were the fulcrum of semester falls defences each battery had two turrets each with two 12-inch guns they had originally been built for battleships and had a range of 26 miles construction of the batteries began in 1912 but because of the turmoil in Russia they weren't completed until 1936 electric engines were used to load and aim the guns a light railway carried the half-ton shells from the magazine to the guns only the towers protected by 400 millimetres of steel plate were visible above ground the rest of the battery was housed in an underground complex a hundred and thirty meters by 50 it included storage rooms for ammunition electric generators sleeping quarters even kitchens and infirmaries the battery was commanded by Maj Grigory Alexander as the Germans continued their advance Soviet troops retreat itself through the mountains along the yata highway and to Sevastopol [Music] Marines supported by the heavy coastal guns held up the German advance [Music] they bought crucial time for reinforcements to reach the rest of all they included the coastal army under general Petrov and fleet commander Vice Admiral orchha Brisky Sevastopol defences were divided into four zones the first covered the harbor at balaclava the second the highway to Yalta the third the central and eastern approaches and the fourth the road from back to suraÃh wounded soldiers and civilians were hurriedly evacuated by sea on the 6th of November the steamer Armenia left bound for the Caucasus in the chaos of the evacuation many passengers were not entered on the ships register the next day at noon she was attacked by a German torpedo bomber [Music] the Armenia sank in just four minutes from an estimated 7,000 passengers an escort vessel picked up just eight survivors [Music] Franz Halder chief of the German General Staff recorded in his diary that the assault on Sevastopol would begin on the 8th of December and lasts no more than five days but summer rains intervene to delay the assault [Music] von Manstein had decided to make his main attack against Sevastopol Northshore at first sight the Yalta highway seemed more obvious the open country on either side of the road was better suited to German tanks that was why the Soviets were hastily fortifying the area but von Manstein knew that if he took the North Shore his artillery would dominate the harbour with no more supplies arriving by sea the city would be doomed [Music] realizing that Sevastopol could not hold out on its own the Soviets planned to land troops at Kerch on the eastern tip of the Crimea and at feodosia the landings would be led by the elite 79th naval infantry brigade they would seize the ports and clear the way for the infantry that followed [Music] two days before the landings four Germans began a brutal assault on Sevastopol they made rapid advances the Stavka High Command received an urgent message should further attacks be at the same pace the Sevastopol garrison can hold out for no more than three days desperate measures were required the 79th brigade immediately boarded warships and set sail for Sevastopol at Sevastopol warships worked in 20 hour shifts bombarding German positions from within the harbour the Germans were finally halted at Fort Stanton this was the name the Germans had given to a hilltop position held by the 365th anti-aircraft battery it was not a real fort although the position had some concrete emplacements for its 476 millimeter anti-aircraft guns the Germans had nicknames for all the Sevastopol defences they included the GPU the checkered Siberia or Molotov some of these defences dated back to the Crimean War of the 1850s Gregory's a makovski was at Ford's darling a detachment of sailors respond to defend the battery and I volunteered we fought the German infantry right by the battery hunter hand combat inside the barbed wire it was cruel most of our detachment was killed [Music] such sacrifices broad sevastopol time but the situation remained critical the Germans could break through to the North Shore at any hour it was where all reinforcements and ammunition were landed to break the stranglehold the Kerch landings would go ahead advanced detachments landed at Kerch on the 26th of December but they were able to secure only a few small Bridgett's for days later a risky nighttime landing was attempted at feodosia a Soviet submarine laid navigational boys along the route then it turned on its searchlights to guide in the attacking force a small raiding party led the way they captured the lighthouse and switched it on now the rest of the landing force steamed in but one last obstacle remained the boon that blocked the harbor entrance Theodosius boo was a floating barrier made of rafts a Soviet submarine had made a nighttime reconnaissance of it just a few days before it had been tightly shot a boat was supposed to blow up the barrier but its commander had suffered a failure of nerve he was two hours late and then withdrew without orders it was a dereliction of duty for which he would later be arrested and shot the entire operation was in jeopardy only then was it discovered that the Boone had somehow been left open the first Soviet craft searched into the bay the signal went up the landing party stormed ashore [Music] [Music] the German commander Count von sponeck believed his forces were about to be cut off he ordered a retreat [Music] the Germans abandoned the Kerch Peninsula for his decision von sponeck a holder of the Knight's Cross would be court-martialed and shot the landings had exactly the effect the Soviets had hoped for von Manstein was forced to suspend his assault on Sevastopol he even had to give up ground he described the moment in his memoirs it was perfectly clear that it was necessary to move troops from Sevastopol to the endangered areas any delay would be fatal von Manstein's 11th army recaptured feodosia on the 18th of january the soviets withdrew to a new defensive line across the ACMA a isthmus the loss of feodosia prompted the stavka high command to send its own representative to the Crimea the man they chose was Army Commissioner Lev necklace usually the Stavka sent a senior general but necklace was a pure party man a fanatical Bolshevik with no military expertise his presence undermined the front commander general Kozlov and threatened chaos in the crucial days ahead over the Black Sea nine German torpedo bombers began their attack run [Music] the transport ships vanetti was returning from Sevastopol she carried wounded soldiers and refugees / skipper successfully dodged five torpedoes but she couldn't escape them all [Music] [Music] in 1941 in the Black Sea the Germans sunk 23 Soviet ships and damaged 26 more Luftwaffe air attacks were proving lethal [Music] [Applause] most dangerous of all was venom Bombeck commander of kg 30 this was an elite bomber squadron that specialized in attacking ships and had recently transferred to the Black Sea from the Atlantic coast without adequate fighter protection Soviet shipping was highly vulnerable in just two months German aircraft destroyed one-third of the transport tonnage available to the Crimean front for the new year 1942 Hitler's main strategic objective was to capture the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus but first he would have to eliminate Soviet resistance in the Crimea otherwise his southern flank was exposed orders from the General Staff stated denieth valve garbagey the main task of Army Group south is to recapture the Kerch Peninsula and take Sevastopol to free up forces for further advances in devided often you have a right to achieve this von Manstein was reinforced with the newly formed 22nd Panzer Division he would also be supported by the 8th Air Corps commanded by wolfram von Richthofen this unit was considered the best in the Luftwaffe when it came to close air support the German offensive was codenamed Operation bastard hunt meanwhile in the Kerch Peninsula Soviet soldiers were digging a second and third line of trenches the commander of the 44th Army had given orders to construct defences in depth but under pressure from commissar neckless general Kozlov put an end to such preparations instead the men were told to prepare for the big advance neither Kozlov nor meknes were discouraged by earlier Red Army disasters their offensive was set for the 20th of May meanwhile a Croatian Luftwaffe pilot had defected he warned of an imminent German attack general Kozlov expected the attack to come along the main highway where he'd positioned the 51st army half his tanks were also dug in along this route an advance along the Black Sea Shah was considered unlikely so only the weak 63rd Rifle Division countered this route the German assault boats approached through an early morning mist [Music] for a while the landings were held up by Soviet engineers with flame throwers but only until they ran out of fuel then the barrage began German artillery targeted the minefields in front of the Red Army positions they blew lanes through them through which infantry and assault guns could advance meanwhile the 8th Air Corps pounded Soviet defences from above [Music] once the Germans broke through the front line they met almost no resistance Kozlov had spared his men the trouble of digging now they had no protection on the open steppe chaos and panic soon took hold [Music] on the second morning of the battle von Manstein sent in the 22nd Panzer Division he was on a smaller scale re-enacting the plan of envelopment which had led to the fall of France after breaking through to the Soviet rear German tanks turned north trapping the Soviet 47th army it seemed that the battle would be over in mere hours but on the 9th of May Soviet Armour fought back led by the heavy kV tanks you late at night Kozlov and Mentalist called Stalin they proposed to withdraw to a new defensive line known as the Turkish back but stunning was not optimistic if you manage to reach the Turkish Bank in time we'll consider that quite an achievement Soviet units withdrew along the shore of the Sea of Azov covered by their tanks but the Germans were the first to reach the Turkish bank they followed on the heels of a retreating Soviet corn hidden in the clouds of dust ugh um [Music] the Germans launched an immediate assault and smashed through the line now the Crimean front was ordered to retreat to the last positions around Church itself [Music] in the open terrain the Red Army was exposed to air attack the losses were terrible [Music] at the outskirts of church the Germans were briefly held up as t26 light tanks make desperate counter-attacks the guns of the Black Sea Fleet joined in but unlike Sevastopol Kerch had no powerful coastal batteries the Germans entered the city driving Soviet survivors to the eastern tip of the peninsula their only hope now lay in evacuation by sea across the six mile wide gulf of taman every available boat or barge was pressed into service dunkers fleet the soldiers called it [Music] but here there was to be no miracle of Dunkirk what you mean in the face of a merciless German air onslaught 120 thousand troops got away many more did not there weren't enough boats most of those who tried to swim for it were carried away by the current as the Crimean front collapsed Soviet casualties reached 160,000 the 6th of May 1942 the German bombardment of Sevastopol was in its fifth day a heavy shell had smashed through the roof of one of the turrets of battery number 30 it was soon repaired but one gun remained out of action enormous shells were raining down from the German lines 2 metres in length and weighing more than 2 tons they came from two giant mortars Thor and Odin the 600 millimeter guns had been built to take on Frances Maginot Line now they had come to Sevastopol their shells could smash through three and a half meters of concrete or 450 millimetres of steel plate the mortars took 10 minutes to reload but the Germans had brought even bigger guns to Sevastopol the railway gun Dora had a caliber of 800 millimeters and remains the largest gun ever to be used in action it was men by an artillery battalion of 500 men which included transport units Gunners a camouflage unit and a field kitchen its firing position was prepared by 1,000 miners and 1,500 laborers [Music] assembly and preparation for firing took six weeks [Music] Dora fired 48 shells during the siege only one hit was recorded it destroyed an ammunition store 27 metres underground Dora was in action for 13 days before being disassembled and sent to Leningrad at that moment 11th army contained nearly 1000 guns of all calibers von Manstein believed it was a record in general during the Second World War Germany never used as much artillery as it did during the siege of Sevastopol you always do great [Music] but as the siege went on ammunition would become an increasing concern for both sides [Music] for the defenders of sevastopol there was no place left to run there weren't enough ships to evacuate the garrison the orders were to hold out at all costs there were few illusions about what this meant an immense German bombardment began on the morning of the 7th of June 1942 Thor and Odin fired 54 shells at battery number 30 but they fail to destroy the turrets the Luftwaffe flew 1,400 sorties the firepower seemed overwhelming but the German infantry advancing along the belbek River were only able to advance a few hundred meters it cost them dearly more than two thousand casualties witnesses described the whole horizon being a life with fire and smoke [Music] the German onslaught was unsustainable von richthofen's bombers were running low on bombs his pilots had strict orders to make every one count the artillery magazines were almost empty tell us hegemony over a steam demonic young Bourbons me Karl gamma surrender on the night of the ninth of June general Petrov committed his reserve for three hundred and forty fifth rifle division supported by fire from batteries 30 and 35 they were able to spend the German advance but four days later disaster struck as the transport ship Georgia arrived in the harbor bringing reinforcements and ammunition she was hit by two bombs massive explosions quickly sent her to the bottom the loss of men and 500 tons of ammunition was a devastating blow Vice Admiral Otto Brisky signaled for Stavka the shortage of men and ammunition puts us on the verge of catastrophe [Music] on the 13th of June Manstein was able to report the capture of Ford Stalin which had held up the German assault the previous winter it had not fallen until three of its four guns had been put out of action von Manstein convinced Hitler this was the crucial breakthrough he persuaded Hitler to give him three more infantry regiments and not to redeploy the 8th Air Corps to Kharkov the main German summer offensive towards Stalingrad and the Caucasus could not start until Sevastopol fell its garrisons bitter resistance was holding everything up but step by step the Germans were closing in on the 17th of June the Germans attempted to storm battery number 30 the minefields were destroyed by artillery and the infantry were able to reach the turrets the Gunners withdrew underground they held out for four more days before battery commander major Alexander gave orders to blow up the turrets and the generators the next day the Germans broke in and captured the survivors Alexander and a few others escaped through a storm drain but while dressed as a civilian he was pointed out by a local collaborator major Alexander was taken to a prison in Simferopol tortured and shot [Music] the Germans had reached the north shore it meant no more supplies or reinforcements could be landed at the harbour the cruiser commenter enroute to Sevastopol had to turn back but in Kazakh kami Shova and Stroh let's go Bey submarines and small craft could still land [Music] Douglas dc-3s of the Moscow special aviation group we used to ferry out the wounded Krieger is a makovski witness foresee thousands of wounded lay at the airfield one aircraft could take just 25 people a pilot would point to those that were to be taken how many eyes looked at them with hope and pain at most the aircraft could bring in a few dozen tons of ammunition per day but Sebastopol needed hundreds of tons per day [Music] on the 26th of June the submarine s32 was enroute to Sebastopol carrying fuel and mortar shells south-west of Yalta it was attacked by German aircraft the explosion was seen 20 miles away Soviet defenses in the north had collapsed but the city was not about to surrender in the south the German 30th Corps was held up by Soviet defences on the SAP hoon Heights in his memoirs Manstein indicated his main concern the obvious way out of that situation was to redirect the main blow to the southern side but redeploying an infantry division from the northern sector to the south would have taken many days giving the enemy time to rest and reorganize once more Manstein had lost von Richthofen air core which had finally been redeployed north perhaps worst of all would make it after all the sailors were building a jetty for large ships as fast as they could it would be complete in just a few days reinforcements and ammunition could start to pour in once more at 2:00 a.m. on the 29th of June the Germans launched 130 assault boats from Sevastopol North Shore under cover of smoke and heavy artillery fire they crossed the bay and landed on the southern shore suddenly the Germans were behind Sevastopol two remaining lines of Defense von Manstein had caught the Soviets off guard crossing the bay had been considered too high-risk the same night von Manstein launched an attack along the Yalta highway over the sapone Heights these twin blokes led to the total collapse of Soviet defences small units fought on but were increasingly isolated and short of ammunition Stalin ordered key personnel to leave by plane that evening vice-admiral or job risky left for the caucuses with 232 others [Music] others senior officers made their escape by submarine as they boarded in full view of hundreds of soldiers and sailors a riot looked likely shots were fired injuring a Marine officer walking behind general Petrov [Music] that night the submarine left for the safety of Navarra Sisk on the eastern shore of the Black Sea some commanders chose to stay with their men chief of staff cabal yoke of the Coast Guard declared that he would die with his unit Colonel McAuliffe gave up his seat on the last plane and was killed yes sir master poor general rubs off commander of an NKVD border detachment also remained and shot himself rather than be taken prisoner general Petrov tried to shoot himself onboard the submarine but was prevented by those around him those left behind felt doomed and betray as many as 80,000 men many of them wounded now faced death for the horrors of a German prisoner of war camp but some refused to give up they took two the last remaining boats or build rafts from whatever was at hand one group of sailors built a raft from a truck and twelve inner tubes [Music] he surely the very most of my Jeep [Music] many ruffs were sunk by German fire but this one made it to the open sea [Music] after a few hours it was met by Soviet patrol boats heading for Sevastopol after taking the survivors on board the ships approached the coast but heavy German fire and they couldn't even get close at dawn the patrol boats picked up another boat carrying 12 more survivors then they turn back to Navarro ceased two years later these soldiers would return to Sevastopol as victors in May 1944 it would be German soldiers desperately building rods hoping to sail them to Romania the Red Army would come to settle the score and exact a bloody revenge for the defeat of 1942 [Music] [Music] [Music] September 1941 ten weeks after the German invasion of the Soviet Union now Moscow itself was braced for the German onslaught [Music] barricades and anti-tank obstacles blocked the streets windows were taped up to reduce the danger from flying glass caused by explosions and at night the city was immersed in total darkness lit windows helped the enemy warned the posters Stalingrad for the moment was safe in the Russian heartland banded soldiers on the city streets were the only visible sign of battles that raged many miles to the west in the workshops of the Stalingrad tractor factory tank production was round-the-clock the enormous losses suffered by the Red Army that summer had to be made good that summer hundreds of tanks had been abandoned because their crews couldn't fix simple mechanical failures now tank crews began their training inside the factories they were taught every mechanical detail of their new tank and how to fix them if they broke down one of the commanders of these newly formed tank brigades was the 40-year old colonel mikhail katukov catacomb began the war as the commander of the 20th tank division but it's obsolete tanks had proved cannon fodder for the Germans in the summer of 1941 catacomb and the remnants of his division had been lucky to escape encirclement in late September his brigades new t-34 tanks were loaded onto trains mikhail katukov and the fourth tank brigade were going to Moscow Moscoe had already had its first taste of war the first German air raid came exactly one month after the war began on the 22nd of July 1941 [Music] German pilots were told you bombed England this will be much easier if the Russians even have anti-aircraft guns there won't be many of them they don't have searchlights balloons or night fighters [Music] but these illusions were soon shattered the skies over Moscow were defended by thousands of anti-aircraft guns of all calibers Soviet night fighters attacked German bombers caught in the searchlights barrage balloons rose to 2500 meters and in pairs as high as 4,500 meters much higher than over London the risk of flying into their steel cables forced German bombers to fly at much higher altitudes from where they were much less accurate but inevitably some bombers got through the Belarus key rail terminal the telephone exchange and army supply depots were all hit the Kremlin itself was hit by six incendiaries and one 250 kilogram high-explosive bomb it pierced the roof of the Grand Kremlin Palace and the ceiling of the gyoji ASCII Hall but it failed to explode [Music] on the night of the 12th of August a thousand kilogram bomb landed in its Kiev or Oh tsk we're making a crater 12 meters deep and 32 meters across but German bomber crews were made to pay a heavy price for these successes [Music] a total of 134 air raids were made on Moscow more than one and a half thousand bombs and 45,000 incendiaries were dropped on the city during the war the biggest raid was on the 29th of October 1941 more than 300 bombers took part bombs hit the Bolshoi Theatre the Moscow State University and the Central Committee of the Communist Party 47 German planes were brought down that day Hitler's invasion plan called for the capture of Moscow in the first three to four months of the war but fighting around Smolensk and Kiev had held the Germans up for two months the assault on Moscow was not ready to begin until the 30th of September the Soviet High Command the Stavka expected the Germans to attack along the highway from Smolensk to Vyazma [Music] Red Army units under general rokossovsky began to dig in along this route [Music] but the Germans were planning a surprise general hurtness 4th Panzer group had been secretly redeployed from the Leningrad front to join the attack on Moscow to conceal this maneuver the panzer group left its headquarters radio operator near leningrad each radio operator working in Morse code as a distinct style of transmitting based on their rhythm just as each pianist has their own unique style of playing experts can pick out individual radio operators just by listening into their transmissions when the Soviets intercepted radio messages near Leningrad which they knew came from the radio operator of four panzer group they assumed hopeless forces were still in the area but all they were listening to was one lone radio operator commander of the 4th panzer group Erich Hoepner was an old fashioned general known as the old cavalry man nevertheless he'd been one of the first generals to understand and embrace the principles of armored warfare three German Panzer groups now targeted Moscow led by Herpa Guderian and Hoth who was replaced in October by General Reinhardt the German plan was to force a final decisive battle for Moscow in which they would encircle and annihilate the remnants of the Red Army the operation was codenamed typhoon the offensive began near Bryansk Red Army troops were ready to defend the town itself which lay at the center of the local road network but on the 30th of September 1941 Guderian's Panzers attacked much further south Heinz Guderian had a reputation as the father of German blitzkrieg based on his early writings on the theory of offensive mechanized warfare he was also a bold and energetic field commander he wasn't corraled with his superior officers in three days Guderian's tanks had encircled the bulk of the enemy forces opposing him in two more days his troops had reached aural and were advancing on Tula [Music] in a desperate attempt to hold Guderian's advance the Soviet High Command took a bold decision to reinforce Orel by air giant tupolev tb-3 and listen of Li twos landed at the deserted airfield the Germans recovering from their surprise opened a withering fire on the second wave nevertheless six thousand men plus equipment and ammunition was landed the troops immediately went into action against the advancing Germans soon t-34s from Colonel categor fourth tank brigade also began to arrive after that 500-mile train journey from Stalingrad tank brigades replaced the Soviet mechanized Corps that had been destroyed that summer a mechanized Corps had contained 36,000 men 1,000 tanks plus guns and other vehicles it was a huge and unwieldy formation the new more mobile tank brigades had just 3,000 soldiers and 91 tanks catechol now had a chance to test the tank ambush tactics that so far he'd only been able to practice on the training ground first the tanks had to be concealed using buildings bushes or uneven ground several alternative positions were needed for each tank dummy positions were also built to confuse the enemy a t-34s gun could destroy any german tank from a range of 1 kilometer but the key to success was patience and discipline catechol told his men the crew in ambush may open fire only at point-blank range when a hit is guaranteed this means a range of 200 to 300 metres when taking on a German Panzer column Soviet Gunners would target the lead tank first and then the rear tank with the road blocked in both directions the rest of the column became sitting ducks one member of catacombs brigade was the Soviet tank ace Dmitri Lavery nangka in 28 engagements he destroyed 52 German tanks believed to be the most by any Soviet tank commander in the whole war the tank ambushes proved to be highly effective or all fell to the germans the catechist tanks bought time to reinforce tula as red army paratroopers reinforced the southern flank the Germans launched their main thrust in the center German Army Group center rapidly outmaneuvered and defeated the Soviet reserve and Western fronts securing the highway from Smolensk to Vyazma Operation typhoon was in full swing the fate of Russia hung in the balance [Music] the Germans had broken through on the road to Moscow on the 4th of October 1941 general Konya told the Soviet High Command that his forces were about to be cut off but he received no order to retreat the Stavka seemed unable to accept that another major disaster was unfolding in front of them [Music] Hitler meanwhile was convinced a final victory he addressed the crowds at the sportpalast in Berlin huge events are now unfolding on the Eastern Front we have launched a large-scale operations that will lead to the final elimination of the enemy in these [Music] once again the Stavka is ordered to retreat came too late more than half a million Red Army soldiers had become in circled around V asthma and Bryansk [Music] the divisions and regiments that did escape the encirclement began a headlong retreat with bitter humour they referred to this manoeuvre as the Scarpa March it was becoming all too familiar to the Red Army soldiers who survived the summer enemy air superiority had a particular impact on Soviet morale the 43rd army reported German bombers attack without mercy they make raids in groups of 20 to 25 aircraft survivors are left senseless one aircraft was especially feared by the soldiers the Yonkers Ju 87 Stuka dive-bomber was the airborne artillery of the German blitzkrieg machine by attacking targets in a steep dive it was able to deliver its bombs with pinpoint accuracy the aircraft would then circle and attack other targets with light bombs and machine guns these sustained attacks showed chaos and destruction ahead of advancing ground troops [Music] the bulk of German army group centre was needed to encircle the Soviet armies of generals Kanye and bood yoni but several divisions led by SS Panzer Division Das Reich began moving east these troops had been given the honour of being the first to enter the Russian capital the Germans were just 205 kilometers from Moscow and the road ahead was almost clear the Red Army rushed a battalion of paratroopers to the area armed only with machine guns rifles and mortar cocktails they fought ferociously to hold the bridge over the Agra River by the end of the day from 430 men just 29 were left by the time a tank brigade arrived to help them the signpost read a hundred and eighty kilometers to Moscow the Germans had advanced just 25 kilometers despite such fierce resistance the Red Army faced a catastrophe it had suffered huge losses over the course of the summer the enemy was at the doorstep of their capital reinforcements were on their way from the east but Stalin desperately needed more time in this the darkest hour he sent for general Zhukov after arriving at General Headquarters in Moscow and quickly appraising the situation Zhukov drew a simple stark conclusion the defensive front in the West has been destroyed a huge gap has appeared in our front line and there is nothing to fill it as the Renault reserves the roads leading to Moscow are open [Music] Hitler's confidence seemed well placed but there was a small window of time for general Zhukov Soviet troops encircled near Vyazma while fighting on meaning for a short time only a few German divisions could be spared for the advance on Moscow Jew coughs immediate task was to halt this German advance and restore Moscow's defenses before the full weight of German Army Group center fell upon them the Majesco defensive line 120 kilometers from Moscow was the last obstacle between the Germans and the capital in early October everyone not fighting who could lift a shovel was helping to build the Majesco line Zhukov planned to fill it with troops but the only spare ones he could find were officer cadets from Moscow's military schools it was a sign of how desperate the situation had become [Music] the Majesco line was more than 200 kilometers long it could not all be held by teenage cadets 7 rifle divisions were being formed near Moscow but realistically these raw recruits could only fend off the Germans for a few hours the Stavka had to take one of the wars many hard decisions in besieged Leningrad there were already serious food shortages the Stavka had gathered reserves to launch a counter-attack that would lift the siege and end the city's suffering but just hours after the disaster at v-- asthma this operation was canceled the reserves were ordered to reboard the trains they were now bound for Moscow and the Majesco line the elite SS dust right Division was spearheading the German advance on Moscow its troops were well-trained experienced and had the best equipment near the battlefield of Borodino where the Russians had fought Napoleon in 1812 they met the Soviet 32nd division these were fresh troops hurriedly redeployed from the Far East their headquarters had been symbolically sited where general Kutuzov's headquarters had stood in 1812 the first German tanks appeared on the moscow minsk highway near the village of Yale near the road descended into a deep hollow as it crossed the river Soviet pillboxes housing anti-tank guns overlooked the crossing from the opposite bank when the German tanks reached the bottom the Soviet guns opened fire there was no space for the tanks to turn around or get off the road the German Panzers were knocked out one by one [Music] the SS troops included fascist volunteers from France Field Marshal von Kluge addressed them before the battle reminding them how under Napoleon Germans and French had fought side by side against the Russians on this very field the next day the French Legion plunged into battle but in the face of Soviet armoured counter-attacks it suffered devastating losses the unit had to be withdrawn from the front line Zucco's orders were clear holdfast at the Majesco line every day they held out allowed more time for reinforcements to reach Moscow the German advance was now measured in hundreds of meters not miles the dust Reich Division suffered massive casualties that included most of its officers the Germans tried to blast the defenders out of their positions even Machuca a cadet from the podolsk artillery school recalled the experience direct hits on our pillbox caused blast waves that knocked us off our feet and left us bleeding from our eyes and ears to reinforce Germans renewed the assault Kaluga fell on the 13th of october for asked three days later the 32nd division was forced to retreat from Borodino in ferocious fighting the enemy's advance was halted once more at the proffer and Nara rivers a staff officer of the German 52nd Panzer Corps reported the recent fighting to take Russian positions was the fiercest of the entire campaign our tank losses have risen dramatically since the start of this operation by geography October while the Germans the honor of being the first troops into Moscow had turned into a nightmare of blood and smoke [Music] all possible measures were being taken for the defense of Moscow all the major roads into Moscow were mined including those leading to Kiev old Kiev majeski vina gurad leningrad and Dimitrov the bridges were also mined obstacles were placed across the rail tracks in total more than 150 minefields surrounded the city meanwhile Soviet troops encircled near Vyazma and Bryansk continued to resist much to the surprise and frustration of the German planners [Applause] [Music] twenty-four German divisions earmarked the attack on Moscow had to be held back to fight the encircled Red Army units von funck commander of the 7th Panzer Division reported that combat following then Circle Minh to the Russians was some of the heaviest the division ever experienced some of our Panzer Grenadier platoons were wiped out to a man it took a full week for the Germans to crush the resistance inside the pocket of 580 thousand men encircled near Vyazma and Bryansk 130,000 were killed or missing in action and 370 thousand were taken prisoner only 85,000 men broke out of the encirclement front commander yuri Menka was seriously wounded and evacuated by air major general Petrov commander of the 50th army and major-general Rakuten commander of the 24th army were amongst the dead amongst those captured were lesterland general Yakov who died in a German prisoner of war camp major-general Vishnevsky liberated by the Red Army in 1945 and the wounded commander of the 19th army leftenant general Lucan [Music] Lucan survived the German camps and was liberated in 1945 when Stalin heard the news he said tell Luke in my words of gratitude for Moscow Stalin wrote on Lukens file loyal man to be restored in rank he was not always so generous to those who'd surrendered to the Germans it was mid-october as the bulk of Army Group center completed the destruction of the encircled Soviet armies the autumn rains began to fall the road soon turned to rivers of mud the German troops complained that it was impossible to conduct offensive operations in these conditions but muddy roads were a handicap to both sides [Music] colonel cat akov recalled even t-34s could foul their tracks and become stranded in the mud staff cars had to be towed by tanks or carried on trucks otherwise they would never get through [Music] many German officers later blamed their failure to take Moscow entirely on the weather but in private many admitted that the German High Command had badly underestimated Soviet determination and the scale of their reserves for now the German offensive was literally bogged down in Moscow news of the German advance threatened to cause panic on the streets on the fifteenth of October the Central Committee of the Communist Party was evacuated as well as most of the ministries and foreign embassies the next day many shops and factories stayed closed workers were left on the streets with nothing to do rumors began to spread on the orders of commissar Lazar Kaganovich the Metro stopped running it was rigged with explosives so that he could be blown up if the Germans entered the city trams stayed in their depots the roads leading east to safety were blocked with cars the Luftwaffe stepped up its air raids the streets were awash with rumours of spies and saboteurs the situation demanded urgent measures Alexander scherbakov first secretary of the Moscow City Committee went on the air he assured citizens that Moscow would not be abandoned the NKVD secret police would patrol the streets and restore order checkpoints were set up everywhere people trying to leave the city with valuables were closely scrutinized looters and scare mongers were sentenced by military tribunals and shot by firing squad and posters went up across the city announcing a concert by the film star liubov Oliver the posters had their desired effect if Russia's biggest celebrity was in town the situation couldn't be that bad in fact at the beginning of November the Moscow front was relatively stable but there was no room for complacency the cry was not a step back and it was rigorously enforced on the 4th of November an order was read out to the officers of the 130 third Rifle Division its commanders gerasimov and commissar shavelev were to be executed by firing squad for disobeying orders to hold the town of Ruza they had retreated without authorization Stalin knew his own movements would be crucial he chose to remain in Moscow and inspect the parade held every year to mark the anniversary of the revolution all preparations for the parade were made in complete secrecy even the unit taking part weren't told in advance and at the last moment the start time was brought forward by two hours [Music] at ten past eight on the morning of the seventh of November every radio station in the Soviet Union broadcast Stalin's speech from Red Square it was a supreme act of state theater no other parades were held in Moscow until the end of the war to hold one in 1941 the hour of greatest danger showed the world Stalin and the Soviet Union's determination to fight to the bitter end the concern the troop seen here parading through Red Square would go straight on to the front line there they would take part in some of the bloodiest and most decisive fighting of the entire war [Music] you [Music] Muscovites had been fully mobilized for the defense of their city they built fortifications and made weapons the dynamo and Cullinan factories produced mortars automobile factories now made submachine guns [Music] by the 5th of November Muscovites had made donations to the Defense Fund worth more than 18 million rubles they had given 8 kilos of gold 377 kilos of silver and 1.4 kilos of platinum [Music] but now with the ground frozen hard German Army Group center received orders to renew its offensive Moscow was not just the spiritual heart of Russia it was also the transport hub for the entire Soviet Union all the major road and rail networks converged here if Moscow fell the Soviet Union would be almost defenseless [Music] by the time Army Group center renewed its assault the city's defenses had been considerably strengthened reinforcements continued to arrive from the Far East catacombs tank brigade was one of the units sent to guard the approaches to Moscow like an increasing number of Red Army officers catacomb could now consider himself a combat veteran understanding the role of air reconnaissance in German success Khattak off-road tank tracks and footsteps in deep snow can clearly be seen from the air this isn't taken into consideration by our soldiers who walk around their positions creating a network of paths that can be seen from above catacomb recommended changes to standing orders to reduce visibility from the air the Red Army was slowly learning its craft Guderian's 2nd Panzer Army resumed its advance through the city of Tula towards columnar 3rd and 4th Panzer groups had been redeployed to the north their objectives were the crossings over the avantco reservoir with the aim of encircling Moscow from the north the simultaneous assault of two Panzer groups cause Soviet defenses to buckle but the line did not break the Red Army retreated and dug in again around the town of Clin category called we retreated with heavy hearts every single kilometer yielded to the enemy brought the fighting closer to Moscow we pass road signs reading 60 kilometers to Moscow then 55 then 53 south of Moscow Guderian bypass tula but ran into determined resistance from general bellows dismounted cavalry units by the 30th of November German observers could see the spires of the Kremlin motorcyclist from hopeless 4th Panzer group reached Tinky a Moscow suburb less than 15 miles from the Kremlin [Music] according to one account the intruders were all killed in another they were forced to beat a hurried retreat it would prove to be the high-water mark of the German invasion in his memoirs Guderian wrote the offensive on Moscow failed all the sacrifices and efforts of our valiant troops had been in vain as a result the Army's strength and morale was greatly undermined just as German reserves were stretched to the limit the Stanko was gathering fresh divisions to unleash a devastating counter-attack one army prepared to hit Reinhardt's panzer group from the flank near Seoul National asked another was aimed at the flank of Guderian's Panzer army near stalino Gorsky another army would roll back the Germans from the immediate vicinity of Moscow on the 29th of November you shook off phone Starling to request that he give the order to begin the counter-offensive Stalin issued the orders that evening as German soldiers struggled to cope with the plummeting temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees centigrade by night they could at least take comfort in the latest intelligence reports the enemy's combat capabilities in this area they claimed are not sufficient to conduct any large-scale counter-offensive but sunrise on the 5th of December brought a terrible shock fresh Soviet tank brigades and infantry divisions launched a full-scale assault along the whole front they tore across the frozen landscape forcing the vert mast into retreat and fighting fierce battles against a desperate rearguard hundreds of German vehicles having run out of fuel or antifreeze lay abandoned at the roadside many German soldiers now thought of nothing but survival general Showell recalled more and more soldiers abandoned their weapons but could be seen leading livestock or perhaps dragging a sleigh loaded with sacks of potatoes soldiers killed in air attacks were left unburied in the south Guderian was also in full retreat with a heavy heart he wrote on the 6th of December I ordered our troops to cease all attacks and begin a retreat to our original lines the pursuers had become the pursued the Corps not a step back became the battle cry forward there was to be no mercy for the invader meanwhile Field Marshal von Bach was echoing Soviet orders at just a few weeks before a commander may only order a withdraw with the permission of his army commander a division will not retreat without my personal authorization to add to the suffering the troops were experiencing the coldest Russian winter in a hundred and forty years a German doctors diary recorded a Russian can live in this wilderness today he can make a stove out of a pair of empty jerry cans our men only know how to warm themselves by burning precious petrol the ver markt faced the same fate as napoleon's army total ruin they had been forced back more than a hundred kilometers from the gates of Moscow it was the first large-scale repulse of German forces in world war ii footage of thousands of german prisoners and their wrecked vehicles were seen around the world Hitler blamed defeat on a failure of will amongst his top generals Field Marshal von Brauchitsch was sacked as commander-in-chief of the German army his successor was Adolf Hitler von Bach was replaced as commander of army group centre by Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge Guderian clashed with the High Command once more and was relieved of command for ordering a retreat herb nur was sacked and stripped to these decorations in 1944 he was hanged for plotting against Hitler however Hitler's demands that the army stand fast and offer fanatical resistance had effect the frontline was eventually stabilized as the Germans dug in and fought the Red Army to a standstill [Music] meanwhile the soviet supreme command launched an offensive along the entire front from besieged Leningrad in the north to the Black Sea in the south outside Moscow the Red Army tried to break through to the Asthma and cut off Army Group Center's main supply route Stalin hoped for a grand encirclement [Music] the German High Command fed in fresh divisions from Western Europe as they reinforced the front line the lead elements of the soviet encirclement themselves became cut off to soviet armies general bellowes cavalry corps and thousands of paratroopers were trapped around v asthma their attempt to fight their way out ended in failure as 33rd army was surrounded and crushed its commander General de frame-off committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner maslennikov 39th army and the paratroopers dispersed to fight on as guerrillas only part of bellows cavalry Corps managed to escape galloping through the forests to rejoin the Soviet frontline the Red Army still had much to learn Hugh Goff told his officers if you want to keep your commands I insist that you stop ordering criminal frontal attacks on well defended enemy positions you should attack along ravines through forests or whether it's some cover from enemy fire by April 1942 the disruption to Soviet industry meant the Red Army was running out of Tanks and ammunition its losses accessor baited by its own tactical blunders had been enormous as the spring thaw began the Soviet counter-offensive was called off Germany had entered a war of attrition against the Soviet Union it's spirits raised by the successful defense of the capital in the Battle of Moscow and in the Soviet counter-offensive the Germans suffered 400,000 casualties they had lost 1,300 tanks and 2,500 guns by comparison in the conquest of Poland they have suffered just 44,000 casualties and in the defeat of France a hundred and fifty four thousand at the Nuremberg trials Field Marshal Keitel chief of the German High Command was asked when he knew that the invasion of the Soviet Union had failed he replied with one word Moscow [Music] [Music]
