Originally Posted by
Dawg61
Germany actually split their army in the Eastern front into three divisions fighting Russia in the North (Leningrad), Center (Moscow) and South (Kiev) and had Moscow all but captured (which they still eventually did capture) and Hitler pulled a major portion of the Center force and put them in the South to take on Stalin's biggest force head on. Germany's ultimate fail in the battle vs Russian was that it simply took too long. Their strategy was the Blitzkrieg or break down the doors of Russia quickly and the country would fall but it just took too long and then Germany was totally fu@ked when Russia brought in 18 divisions from Siberia that were experts at fighting in the bitter cold and the Germans were not equipped for it. Hitler refused to retreat even at the urging of his Generals and the rest is history.
"A scenario involving Moscow's fall also ignores the arrival of 18 divisions of troops from Siberia—fresh, well-trained, and equipped for winter fighting. They had been guarding against a possible Japanese invasion, but a Soviet spy reliably informed Stalin that Japan would turn southward, toward the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines, thereby freeing them to come to the Moscow front. Historically, the arrival of these troops took the Germans by surprise, and an unexpected Soviet counteroffensive in early December 1941 produced a major military crisis. Surprised and disturbed, Hitler's field commanders urged a temporary retreat in order to consolidate the German defenses. But Hitler refused, instead ordering that German troops continue to hold their ground. Historically they managed to do so. However, with German forces extended as far as Moscow and pinned to the city's defense, this probably would not have been possible. Ironically, for the Germans, the seeming triumph of Moscow's capture might well have brought early disaster."