1941 continued

The Germans continued their slaughter and killed without pity, evoking terrible bitterness from the Soviets, who would also kill Germans without mercy. Field Marshal von Leeb began the assault on Leningrad, and on 1 September, 2 years after WWII began, Leningrad was cut off and encircled by German forces. Leningrad was bombed and shelled violently to bring the city into submission. On September 8 Hitler ordered Leningrad destroyed and its population removed by any means. He even wanted to give it to Finland, but they wanted no part in any Nazi-conquered lands. The Soviets began constructing weak defense systems and had little artillery, although their mortars and camoflaging techniques were excellent. The Germans found this frustrating because they had become accustomed to having the advantage in the plains of eastern Europe and came upon their first stumbling block in the USSR. Soon the fight for Leningrad was in full motion and the Germans began to take serious casualties for the first time since Barbarossa began. The irony was that even though Hitler was at his peak mentally, he had the worst cooperation from his commanders, and even though the plan was to encircle Leningrad, talks were being made of a head on assault.

The US lost 2 ships in the next few days: the destroyer USS Greer was sunk by a U-Boat sub and the ship Steel Seafarer was sunk by the Luftwaffe. The carnage continued and 9 September Soviet Marshal Semën Budënny asked Stalin to abandon the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, but Stalin refused. 2 days later Budënny asked again and was dismissed to a reserve front--Stalin told his leaders to stop looking for ways to retreat and start looking for ways to resist. At this point it that was asking the impossible, and that same day the Soviet 48th army collapsed at Kremenchug. In the Atlantic, German subs, dubbed “The Wolf Pack” wreaked havoc on Allied convoys. The German war machine seemed invincible, but the first omen of their defeat came on 12 September, the first snowfall in Russia. To make things worse, Brauchitsch resigned because of disagreements with Hitler and his commanders, which may have been triggered by Guderian receiving unecessary reinforcements for the weak opposition he faced.

Because of the heavy casualties inflicted on the Soviets, much of the their strength had to come from the partisans, who would strike at the Germans day and night. These ordinary citizens would hide in the same villages that the Germans occupied, then open fire on the uninvited German soldiers. This put the Germans on edge every time they neared a village, and often killed civillians and burned down houses if they were suspected of being a threat. Each time a German soldier was killed, the Germans would go to extremes in their revenge, often killing 50-100 Soviets for each dead German. Interestingly, Hitler liked the idea of partisans because they could be turned against the Soviets, who themselves occupied other peoples' land like the Baltics and the Ukraine. If they would not serve Germany, they would be exterminated with the other Slavs. Stalin, on the other hand, disliked the partisans because he could not always rely on their loyalty to Communist Russia and was always very suspicious of their actions.

Stalin was repeatedly asked by his commanders to withdraw Soviet forces, but he held out until 18 September, 2 days after Kleist and Model had southern forces surrounded. The truth of the matter was that the Soviets had no choice and could not have broken free even if they tried. With such little ammo, fuel and organization, they had fought themselves ragged and were incapable of an offensive thrust. The Germans were riding high, going to great lengths to record their triumphs by taking inventory of every captured weapon and photographing every remnant of combat they saw. For the Soviet POWs, it was an indescribable time of misery: they were beaten, starved, experimented on and even sent to concentration camps. The Red Army was at a low point in history, with losses of 2.5 million men, 22,000 guns, 18,000 tanks, and 14,000 aircraft in just a couple months. Although they had lost a third of their army, their intrepid spirit kept them far from defeat and would soon exact their revenge with as little mercy as the Germans had shown them. Although no one knew it yet, the winds of change were beginning to blow against Germany.

CRIMEA
The Crimea is a diamond shaped peninsula in the southern Ukraine, jutting out into the Black Sea. It is historically and culturally significant because of its role in the mid-19th century Crimean war, especially the legendary Sevastopol fortress on the western coast. Also a strategically vital area, the Crimea protected the Ukrainian coast and could be used to attack (or defend) the oil-rich Caucasus to the east. After the attempt to sack Moscow failed, Hitler's primary focus became these tempting oil fields. If the Crimea were taken, Army Group South could use it as a stepping stone into south Russia and bypass the heavily defended Rostov region. Hitler was intent on its capture and made it a prominent target during Operation Barbarosa, but his goals for the land were not exclusively military. He also had a bizarre dream to remove all Slavs from the peninsula and colonize it entirely with Germans. General Manstein, Germany's foremost offensive genius, began the offensive on 20 October by sending the 11th Army across the barricaded Perekop Isthmus. The Soviets held off the German and Romanian invaders for 10 days but by the end of the month the defensive line had been breeched. The Axis forces split into 2 main groups; one pushing east and one west, and managed to secure most of the region by December. However, the Germans needed one more city before they could claim victory--Sevastopol. Manstein hit the garrison on 17 December, but the Soviet defenses held. Stalin was not going to surrender Sevastopol or any of the Crimea, and made numerous attempts to regain it, starting on 26 December by recapturing the eastern Crimean cities of Kerch and Feodosiya. The battle for the peninsula had only begun.

LENINGRAD
Leningrad is a prominent northwestern Russian city near Finland. Also known as St. Petersburg or Petrograd, it was the birthplace of the Communist Revolution of 1917, so it had tremendous cultural and political value to the USSR. Hitler believed if Leningrad could be destroyed, it would break the back of the Soviet Union and hasten its surrender. Knowing this, the Soviets began constructing weak defense systems with little artillery, though their mortars and camouflaging techniques were excellent. The citizens of Leningrad were soon forced into defending the city, regardless of age or social status as they fortified the city with bunkers, ditches and barricades for 12 hours a day. Fear swept the city as the Red Army captured nearby German munitions which included gas shells, leading the defenders to think a gas attack was imminent. Soon every conceivable asset which could be captured by the Germans was wired to explosives, ready to detonate at a moment's notice. As many people as possible were evacuated, mostly women & children, but Moscow discouraged anyone leaving the city.

The battle began on 19 August 1941, when Soviet artillery launched a pre-emptive strike, but the following day the Red Army had to evacuate Vyborg, a coastal city northwest of Leningrad. The Axis-sided Finns had attacked it and were eager to reclaim their former territory. The Germans stepped up their offensive and severed the railway to Moscow on 28 August as the Luftwaffe hammered the city. By the time the Soviets realized they would have to free the railways, the Germans had fortified their positions there. The Red Navy tried to add some defensive fire from the port, but able bodied soldiers were needed on land, so many sailors were converted into ground troops. The city was in poor shape, with little food and little outside assistance, so Marshal Georgi Zhukov was sent on 9 September to force the city commanders into a state of readiness. Three days later he was made supreme commander of Leningrad's defense, but the city's fragile condition was kept a secret. On 4 September, Stalin notified Winston Churchill that the city was under siege, but not that it was surrounded or that he even contemplated surrender. By mid-September, German shelling had become the norm and their tanks were just 10 miles out. The Luftwaffe also dropped pamphlets on the citizens, guaranteeing their safety if they killed their commanders and surrendered. This was pointless because the punishment for picking these up could be death, and Zhukov's official order was that any surrender or retreat would mean execution.

However, just when it seemed the Germans would strike the death blow, Hitler pulled back the 4th Panzer group from Leningrad to put pressure on the Moscow front. Zhukov thought it was a ruse, but Hitler did not see the need to attack Leningrad full on. If it was surrounded then it could be starved into submission, without having to feed captured inhabitants. This would not only save German lives, but deal a crushing blow to Soviet morale if their prized city was starved into a ghost town. Once it was determined that the German tanks were in fact destined for Moscow, Zhukov flew back to the capital city to advise Stalin on which city was more important to defend. Ultimately Moscow was deemed more vulnerable to capture and Zhukov was then made supreme commander of its defense. On 26 September the Soviets found out the Germans were setting up for battle to the south because the Finns would push no further from the north. Hitler offered the city to them as a reward for its capture, but Finland wanted no part in it. For now, they had halted their offensive in the northern front.

By the time October arrived, the Soviets' most feared enemy had become hunger. That fall, about 25,000 tons of food was transported over Lake Ladoga, but the city needed twice that to survive. The city quickly transformed from the jewel of Russia into a bleak nightmare of despair. Black markets and ration fraud became rampant, so all ration cards were required to be stamped by a Communist official, provided the citizen had proper identification. The Russians remained relatively orderly because riots, protests or ration card abuse was punishable by death. Despite their exterior calm, the fear of unimaginable horror hung above them--the Germans could overrun the city at any moment, raping, pillaging and killing everyone. In the present, people would eat anything they could find, no matter how disgusting or how few calories it had. This included livestock feed, birds, rodents, pets, and moldy or rotten food, all of which could be stretched further with sawdust or glue. There was even strong evidence that some people resorted to cannibalism, although official Soviet records deny it happened. Tens of thousands were dying every month, but nobody had the strength to bury the bodies. The freezing cold temperatures made it impossible to dig a proper grave, so explosives would create a large hole that dozens of frozen corpses could be dumped in. Fortunately the icy weather could be used as an advantage, if Lake Ladoga froze over early enough, but the starving Russians would have to patiently wait.

For the time being, the Germans had to capitalize on their starvation strategy, so Field Marshal von Leeb suggested attacking the Soviet supply line. Hitler had a similar idea of his own, a plan to link up with the static Finns by capturing Tikhvin, a major Soviet supply point to the east of Leningrad. This would interrupt the flow of supplies and yield Soviet bauxite. Bauxite is the primary ore for making aluminum, which was essential in producing aircraft. The attack was successful and the city was captured on 9 November. Sensing this could mean the end of Leningrad, there was a great Soviet mobilization to clear an alternate path for supply trucks and recapture Tikhvin. They also found the lake to be just frozen enough to risk the long and treacherous route across the surface, and by mid to late November their sleds and trucks were moving precious food supplies. Things began to look up for the beleaguered Russians and the turning point came on 9 December, when Tikhvin was recaptured. The Germans had blown the railway bridges, but they were repaired in a month's time. Gradually the flow of supplies increased while it became easier for the citizens to flee. For the survivors of Leningrad the worst had passed, but the city had suffered untold horror. At the hands of the German attacks and starvation, at least 1 million Russians perished in that cold fortress during the winter of 1941.

MOSCOW
Finally Hitler decided to put the unsuccessful Leningrad siege on hold and devote as many forces as possible to his new target: Moscow. Under the name "Operation Typhoon," Hitler would storm the Soviet capital and starve it into surrender. On 3 October he issued a statement boasting "I can say this enemy is broken and will never rise again" only to have it flung back in his face weeks later. General Erich Höpner led the operation and on 7 October, his 3 armies and 3 armored groups took the city of Vyazma (125 miles from Moscow), capturing an astounding 663,000 prisoners, 1242 tanks and 5412 guns. The next day Bryansk fell and in panic, Stalin moved the government 500 miles away to Kuibyshev on 12 October. 2 days later General Hermann Hoth’s tanks took Kalinin, sending Moscow into terror and the Soviets changed up their military commanders. Marshal Timoshenko replaced Budënny, and Marshal Georgi Zhukov was given the arduous task of defending Moscow. The city was in good hands; Zhukov was the Soviets’ finest commander and a brilliant tactician, who thwarted the Japanese invasion 2 years earlier. The Soviets also brought in 25 "Far Eastern" reserve divisions and 9 armored brigades under General Apanasenko, which were originally intended to combat a Japanese invasion.

The new wet weather began slowing the Germans down, and the Soviets further fortified their positions, unbeknownst to the Germans. Each day brought the Germans closer to Moscow, but further into the Russian winter. On 3 November, heavy frosts set in and the Germans realized they were in over their heads. Because Hitler assumed he would have all of eastern Russia by fall, the Germans were still clothed in summer uniforms and were not equipped with white camouflage. Their supply lines were over extended and nothing made it to the front line on time. Weapons were frozen and unusable, their tanks would not start, and their invaluable Luftwaffe was grounded due to the snowy weather. The last drive for Moscow came on 16 November, and they tried to take the Soviets head-on. The coldest Russian winter in 140 years began to take its toll on the Germans, as their morale dropped as fast as the temperature. Anything left out in the open was frozen solid, men who tried to relieve themselves died from exposure and the Germans who did survive the Soviet counterattacks wished for release from their constant misery. The Soviets, on the other hand, had several advantages, in spite of losing 35,000 officers to Stalin’s military purges years earlier. They knew the terrain, they were accustomed to the weather, had short supply lines, guns that were designed for winter use and their T-34 tanks did not sink in the snow. Most importantly, they possessed a seemingly limitless supply of soldiers determined to repel the attack at any cost.

Still, the Panzers made good progress, even reaching the suburbs of Moscow on 2 December, but that was as far as they ever got. Finally, after swallowing 500,000 square miles of Russian land, the Germans were stopped just within arm's reach of their goal. The Soviets, determined to remove the German threat, used the winter as their ally and put up strong resistance to the Germans, who were literally freezing to death. The Germans tried to push their Panzers under Reinhardt, Guderian and von Kluge from the north and south to encircle Moscow, but it never happened. They never broke through and during the night of 5 December, the Soviets counterattacked, putting the Germans on the defensive. Had the Germans strategically retreated, they might have later regrouped, but Hitler’s staunch orders to hold every inch of ground doomed them. Perhaps it was a moot point since their weapons were useless and soldiers were committing suicide to escape the frostbite, dysentery, and Soviet fury. The ones who survived were met by new Siberian reserves who could lie undetected in the snow all day and attack at night, and were equipped with the best winter clothes. Stalin had the Germans on the ropes, but wanted to attack all along the lines, which was more than the Red Army could do. He "saved" the Germans by attacking too much, which frustrated Soviet generals, who wanted a sure victory.

On 11 December, Hitler declared war on the United States--one of his greatest mistakes as head of state. For years Hitler had tried to avoid war with the Americans, even if he did not see them as a military threat, because he knew their industrial capacity could indefinitely supply the western front. However, it had become clear the Soviet Union would not fall by the end of 1941 and Hitler needed Japan's help in the far east now more than ever. The possibility of a Japanese attack had tied up the Siberian units in the east, but now Stalin brought them west to reinforce Russian defenses. Hitler had to act soon or he would lose all his momentum he had gained in the last 6 months. Baited by the false hopes of a Japanese attack on the USSR, Hitler agreed to openly declare war on the US in a trademark speech of fire and brimstone. At the time he did not know Japan had no intention of involving themselves in another front, as they already had their hands full in China, Korea, southeast Asia, and now the Pacific Islands. In fact, Japanese and Soviet diplomats had already agreed upon a non-aggression pact, and the Japanese were determined to stick to it. Still, Hitler saw the Japanese navy as a potential asset to challenge American ships, although the Japanese fear of the USSR allowed ships flying the red banner to reach Soviet ports. Ironically, this was one way the Soviets received enormous amounts of their supplies from the Americans.

On 18 December Hitler took over von Brauchitsch’s position as commander in the east, because von Brauchitsch suggested retreating to a defensive position near Smolensk. Hitler would not tolerate any retreating commanders and dismissed 2 of his best generals, including Guderian and Höpner, who withdrew from certain destruction only to be fired by Hitler. He eventually sensed the destruction of his army and allowed a small withdrawal, but it was too late. The Soviets now had 165 divisions to meet von Kluge’s paltry 68 divisions, and the Soviets continued their attacks in spite of -73º F weather and feet of snow on the ground. This continued for the next 2 months, when the spring thaw created a muddy soup intraversable by armor or soldiers, so both sides took a much needed break. The Germans could only imagine a future attack to the south because their northern forces were decimated, taking over 1 million casualties. Amazingly, the Soviets lost twice that but fought on. The Germans were hurt but managed to hold their positions during the winter and thwarted all Soviet attempts to cut them off. All the world was astounded that the weaker, less-experienced Red Army fought off the indestructible Wehrmacht. Perhaps most surprised was Hitler, who was sure his soldiers were more than enough to conquer Russia. It was finally evident that Hitler had pushed his luck too far and now had an enemy that could not only take whatever he dealt them, but dish it out as well.

Germany's failure was that their formula for success, the blitzkrieg, did not work in the Russian lands. The blitzkrieg was previously successful because Germany's enemies clustered their forces on their borders and were soon overrun and outflanked by the speed and power of German weapons. Once the initial line of defense was broken, the Germans could fully exploit the breakthrough by surrounding and destroying the pockets of the former front line defenses. It worked in Poland, Holland, Belgium, France, Yugoslavia, Greece, and initially worked against the USSR, but the Soviets had something that Germany's other conquests lacked: a vast supply of men, machines and space. By setting up several defensive lines across the vast expanses of the USSR, the Germans would punch through the first line, surround and destroy the defenders, only to find another defensive line existed further on. By having a collapsable front line, the further the Germans got, the stronger the Soviet defenses got.

The Soviets also exploited their cities' defensive advantages by forcing the Germans to advance in precarious formations down well-guarded streets. The Germans tried bombing and shelling Soviet cities, trying to burn them to the ground, but this only made it harder to advance in the rubble. Rostov, Kharkov, Kiev, Kursk, Odessa, Sevastopol and Smolensk put up tremendous resistance, and it became a national priority to hold each and every city. The Soviets knew they could not save their cities from destruction, so their fierce resistance was not an attempt to save the cities, but an effort to erradicate the Fascist invaders. After personally witnessing the brutal carnage inflicted upon nearly every Russian family, revenge was first on the minds of Soviet soldiers. Stalin's statement "this war is not an ordinary war; it is the war of the entire Russian people" was not Communist propaganda. The defeat of the Red Army meant the extinction of the Russian peoples and they knew it. The Russians gave everything they had--their time, resources and lives. Scorched earth became their mantra, for it was better to destroy their land and resources than let it fall into the enemy hands. No one wanted to die, but most believed it was better to die in battle than let themselves and their families suffer at the hands of a merciless invader.

THE SINKING OF H.M.S. ARK ROYAL
On 14 November the British navy took a devastating loss when their prized aircraft carrier Ark Royal was sunk. Built in 1938 at Birkenhead, the 22,600 ton carrier was Britain's only "modern" carrier at the onset of war with sixteen 4.5 inch guns and space for 72 aircraft. The ship led a short-lived, but very distinguished career. After attempting to thwart German operations in Norway, the Ark Royal was transferred to the Mediterranean Sea where she prevented the French Navy from falling into German hands at Mers-El-Kébir and Dakar. From there she defended Gibraltar and led strikes against Italian forces at Genoa before moving north again to hunt the German battleship Bismarck. It was a plane from her decks that disabled the infamous warship, which sparked a heavy German propaganda campaign against the Ark Royal. Thus when she was spotted in the Mediterranean that November, the U-boat U-81 positioned herself for an ambush near Gibraltar. The carrier's last mission was to supply the island garrison of Malta with aircraft in a task force called "Force K." With her was another aircraft carrier, Argus, the battleship Malaya, light cruiser Hermione, and 7 destroyers. U-81's bold captain, Fritz Guggenberger, intercepted them returning to Gibraltar and decided to engage the fleet. Hiding at periscope depth, U-81 took aim and fired 4 torpedoes 150m apart at a range of 4000m. Six minutes later an explosion rocked the Ark Royal: a direct hit to starboard that flooded her boiler room. For many hours, every attempt was made to rescue her but the fires and flooding became uncontrollable. Sadly, she rolled over on her side and slipped beneath the waves, just a few miles short of Gibraltar. Bent on revenge, Allied ships desperately hunted for U-81, but Guggenberger skillfully dodged about 160 depth charges and managed to escape. While it was a tragic loss for the British, the Royal Navy took comfort in the fact that only one sailor was killed; a miracle to say the least.

STALEMATE IN THE DESERT
To snap the German stronghold, in November 1941 the Allies reinforced their positions, including 118,000 troops and 700 tanks. The Axis had the same amount of troops but no incoming reinforcements, who were tied up in Russia. Rommel planned an assault, but the British showed their hand first with “Operation Crusader” on 18 November. In response, Rommel sent his armor up and over British forces, inflicting thousands of casualties and hundreds of tanks lost. Rommel, beaming with success, led his Afrika Korps through enemy lines to attack the British rear and force surrender. The British were so caught off guard they fled, causing pure confusion--both sides ran around in a daze, confused about their location and who was the enemy. Even though he penetrated 15 miles into Egypt, Rommel had to turn back and refuel.

The Allies regrouped and relieved the 8th Army’s General Alan Cunningham because his nervous breakdown had allowed the British to be defeated. He was replaced by 44 year old General Neil Ritchie, Britain’s youngest General, hoping to turn the tide. It was a good decision, because the 8th Army then repelled the Afrika Korps. Rommel’s push on Tobruk again on 30 November was ineffective because he was outnumbered 4 to 1 and he was out of supplies. On 16 December Ritchie forced him back and the Germans just barely escaped before the Allies could surround them. Two days later Rommel’s retreat hurt British tanks, but his army was in bad shape. By the end of 1941 the British took 33,000 Axis prisoners and Rommel had been pushed back to where he started from.