Òàíê-ïåðåâåðòûø "Panzer Army" íà áàòàðåéêàõ, àðò. 2051

HitlerÁ€™s plan for Moscow, code-named Operation Typhoon, had been outlined in a Fö¼hrer Directive of 6 September. Eight hundred thousand troops and three panzer armies, comprising over a thousand tanks, were to make two great pincer movements to the cityÁ€™s south and west, encircling the Soviet armies defending its approaches. Launched on the 30th, Typhoon met its first objectives extraordinarily quickly. The small city of Orel, about two-thirds of the way along the main road from Kiev, is said to have been abandoned so fast that the German tank crews found themselves overtaking peacefully trundling trams. (Á€˜Why didnÁ€™t you file anything about the heroic defence of Orel?Á€™ Vasili GrossmanÁ€™s editor angrily asked him on his return from a foray to the front. Á€˜Because there was no defenceÁ€™, Grossman replied.) Five days into the offensive a Soviet reconnaissance plane spotted a twelve-mile armoured column approaching the town of Yukhnov, 120 miles north of Orel and only 80 miles from the capital. The news was so incredible that the air officer who reported it was threatened with arrest for Á€˜provocationÁ€™, and only believed once two more planes had confirmed the sighting ...