Prelude to Kiev

After the fall of France, Hitler mounted a peace-offer to England, but Churchill did not accept it. Now Hitler had to defeat England by force to end the war. However, he did not defeat England because he lost the Battle of Britain, thereby rendering the planned invasion of England, the infamous Operation Sea-Lion, useless. Because all of the British army's equipment was left at Dunkirk, Hitler was confident that the British would not be able to mount an invasion on his Third Reich. He looked for satisfaction in the east and invaded Russia. If he overcomes Russia, then England may come to its senses and accept his peace offer. Hitler had no time to wait for the English, for even though he had a non-aggression pact with Russia, Russia may attack Germany, establishing a two-front war that caused Germany’s defeat in the First World War. To defeat Russia, a country with a numerical superiority in manpower over the Axis powers, Hitler had to capture Moscow and topple the communist regime, all before the winter sets in. Winter would paralyze all military activities thereby giving the enemy, ample time to strengthen its defense of the capital and Moscow was 800 miles from East Prussia and German-occupied Poland. He had 3 months to do it before the first snowfall comes. His stop-over at Kiev delayed the operation’s schedule by a month.

Operation Barbarossa: "To Moscow!"

When Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941(the invasion of Russia), the whole world knew that Russia would be conquered before winter. Nazi Germany, fresh from its stunning victories in Poland, Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, France, and the Balkans went to war in Russia with a tremendous feeling of confidence and victory. Their army with a three-year record of brilliant victories, prophesied that the war would be over in six weeks, way before the cold Russian winter. As the spearheads of the magnificent Wehrmacht advanced 600 miles in three weeks, driving deeper into Russia, the Red Air Force was wiped out, 2.5 million Russian prisoners were taken as well as 2 million killed, and 18,000 tanks destroyed. The war was as good as won, but they haven’t captured Moscow yet only occupying the city of Smolensk (200 miles west of Moscow). Moscow was the capital and its fall would mean the end of Stalin’s regime-this was the primary objective. Guderian's men were expecting a speedy continuance of the advance to Moscow. They had already painted signs on their tanks, "To Moscow!" and had made the necessary preparations for the advance with the greatest enthusiasm. Expressing their confidence that the last 220-mile advance to the Russian capital will be nothing but child's play. Smolensk, August 22, 1941- the incredible happened: the "little corporal," Hitler, had his eyes fixed on the food belt of the Ukraine and the oil fields of the Caucasus, "Moscow can wait, after all we have the finest military machine the world has ever seen!" Orders came from Hitler that the attack on Moscow was postponed, and a quick detour was to be made towards the South.

Operation Barbarossa: "To Kiev!"

Guderian, Bock and Hoth, the foremost German Panzer commanders, appealed to Hitler to continue the advance towards the capital and put an end to this war. They said that the capital, once taken will paralyze all Russian movements in the field, for Moscow was the great Russian railroad and communications center. It was the seat of the Communist government and an important industrial area. Its capture would not only have an enormous psychological effect on the Russian people but on the whole of the rest of the world. Hitler let them speak without once interrupting them. he then began to state a number of reasons for making the Ukraine and the Crimea peninsula the prime objective. An advance towards the Ukraine, the Donets Basin and the Crimean Peninsula will give Germany all the food and coal it needs. Further it will secure the Romanian oilfields from air attacks. With the Crimean peninsula in his hands, the Nazis can control the whole of the Black Sea. The final reason was oil. The Caucasus will be open to invasion and a straight blitz to the Maikop, Baku and Grozny oilfields will give the Wehrmacht all the oil it needs. Ironically, Hitler ended the conference with the remark: "My Generals no nothing about the economic aspects of war!"

The Battle of Kiev

The Russian force defending the Ukraine was a huge one. The force was composed of 5 Russian Armies: the 5th, 13th, 21st and the 40th. Marshall Budennyy and his unwieldy mass of 1,000,000 men had orders from Stalin to defend Kiev and the Ukraine. Army Group Center (see factsheet for details concerning military groupings) under von Bock formed the Northern Pincer during the battle. Its main striking force was Panzer Group Guderian, under Col.Gen. Heinz Guderian: composed of two Panzer Corps: a) XXIV Panzer Corps - 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions, Infantry Regiment Gross-Deutschland, 10th Motorized Infantry Division and the 1st Cavalry Division (the only cavalry division in the German Army) b) XLVII Panzer Corps - 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions, Infantry Regiment SS Das-Reich and the 29th Motorized Division. Army Group South (von Rundstedt) formed the Southern Pincer. Its main striking arm was Panzer Group Kleist, under Field Marshall von Kleist, composed of the 16th, 9th and 14th Panzer Division supported by the 125th, 239th, 267th Inf. Div.

Kiev has two natural obstacles. The Dnieper River, which passes through Kiev, runs from the city of Orsha (about 10 miles northeast of Minsk) in the North and ends straight down to the Black Sea in the South. About 30 miles due east of Kiev, the Desna river runs a convex curve and stretches about 70 miles until it joins the Dnieper, 50 miles south of Kiev. In a map, the river Desna protects the rear entrance to Kiev while the Dnieper is the main line of defence. Furious, almost to the point of resignation, General Guderian returned to his HQ and issued out orders. He set aside his frustration and poured all his energy on this new campaign. With solemn eyes, he had to break the news to his soldiers that the advance on the Russian capital is to be postponed, and instead a quick detour towards the Ukraine will be spearheaded his veterans. From Smolensk, Guderian wheeled his Panzer Group 90 degrees to the south and surprised the Russians there. Expecting that the German Army Group Center to continue its advance to Moscow, Stalin ordered Marshall Yeremenko and his two armies out of the Ukraine and cover the vital sectors of Briansk and Tula, South-west of Moscow. This left the Ukraine with 5 armies. The Russian 38th Army defending the northern bank of the Dnieper south of Kiev. The Russian 5th Army on the opposite bank of the river Desna and the 13th, 21st and the 40th Russian army stationed between the two rivers as mobile reserves against the German Army Group South approaching Kiev from the west and south. August 26, 1941, HQ 17th Panzer, 3 miles north of Pochep. The first problem for Guderian was to find a weak spot and force a crossing on the river Desna under enemy artillery bombardment and machine-gun fire. By brilliant employment of his tanks, Lieutenant Buchterkirck, of the 6th Panzer Regiment of the 3rd Panzer Division, had managed to capture the 750-yard bridge over the Desna to the east of Novgorod Severskie intact. Guderian decorated the brave Lt. right on the spot. By Aug. 31, the bridgehead was widened and the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions rolled forward. The 10th (Mot) Infantry Division, protecting the right flank of the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions succeeded in crossing the Desna, to the North of Korop, but was thrown back again to the west bank by heavy Russain counter-attacks.

10th Motorized Division succeeded in crossing the Desna despite heavy Russian counter-attacks. Being attacked and hemmed in on two sides, the front and the right flank, the commander of the 10th Mot. Div. ordered the very last men of his division, even the cooks, bakers and mess-squad of the Field Bakery Company, to stand fast and beat off every Russian attack on the right flank. The bridgehead was saved and the annhilation of the division was prevented. Col.Gen. Guderian did not take any chances. He requested Army Group Center to give him the whole of XLVI Pz. Corps (which was defending his flanks) and pour them through the gap to achieve a breakthrough across the river. Hitler also released two Pz. Div, the 7th and the 11th and the 14th Motorized Infantry Division as support. On September 3rd, heavy Russian counter-attacks were beaten off by the SS-Das Reich Division under General Hausser (The Arnhem hero) in Avdeievka 100 miles NE of Kiev. The Russians retreated south towards the Dnieper river and the city of Kiev. Once the Russian defenses were breached, the Panzers simply rolled down on the wide open plain. For 10 days, Guderian's massed Panzers thundered down the Ukrainian plain, sweeping all resistance and took Budenny's huge Russian Army around Kiev in the rear. They had advanced 30 miles in 3 days and a further 120 miles by the tenth day. Field Marshall von Rundstedt then ordered Kleist's Panzers to cross the Dnieper, south of Kiev and swing north to meet Guderian's Panzers driving down towards them. On September 14th, Kleist and his 600 Panzers established communication with the 3rd Panzer Division (Model) of Guderian's command 20 miles South of Glinsk, 130 miles east of Kiev. A total of five Russian armies were trapped inside a ring of steel and guns. Budennyy's immense army was encircled. Finally, Stalin ordered Budennyy to break out of the trap and retreat to the east. Without fuel and ammunition, whole battalions made mass bayonet charges against the German tanks and machine guns deeply entrenched in the forests and marshes of the Ukraine. The Japanese made similar, maniacal and suicidal "banzai" charges in the Pacific. The result was mass slaughter. Tens of thousands of Russians died with Stalin's voice ringing in their ears. Shouts of "Urra, urra!" were to no avail and the Germans simply pressed their triggers at a wonderful sight, a gunner's dream: due to the fuel shortage, the Russians launched wave after wave of infantry unsupported by tanks. The Russians fought ferociously, resolving to fists and boots when in close quarters. After five days of tremendous slaughter, it was all over. The Germans claimed to have captured a total of 650,000 Russians as POW's. The Russians yielded a tally of 527,000. Whichever the true claim is, the figures are still staggerring.

The battle of Kiev (capital of Ukraine) was one of the most decisive and controversial battles of World War II and involved a textbook example of the classic maneuver of double envelopment, (a tactic first used by the great Carthaginian general, Hannibal at Cannae where he annihilated a large Roman Army.) Army Group Center formed the Northern pincer while Army Group South formed the southern pincer. These two pincers met 200 miles west of Kiev, trapping 665,000 Russian soldiers. By the time they set the march again to Moscow, it was already too late. The autumn rains turned the roads into quagmires of mud, halting the blitzkrieg,allowing Stalin to mass 2,000,000 soldiers and stubborn defensive lines to defend the capital. When the Germans were barely 50 miles from Moscow, the snow arrived and the Germans, without winter clothing, froze to death before the glittering prize.

With the fuerher’s decision to first take Kiev rather than Moscow, Germany lost a war that was almost won. His troops suffered terribly due to frostbite and devoid of anti-freezing equipment that immobilized their tanks and jammed their rifles. The German High Command did not prepare to fight a winter campaign for they were confident that Russia would be defeated by then. As a result, Moscow was saved and the war went on for another four years. With the entry of the United States, Germany’s enemies increased ten-fold and lost the war.

All research and text provided by Brian Kelly Cortes