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Briansk–Vyazma encirclements
Briansk–Vyazma encirclements. After having been stopped for a month east of Smolensk by Hitler's order, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock's Army Group Centre resumed its advance eastwards on 2 October 1941. Bock's next objective was now Moscow, 350 km. (217 mi.) away; and he had more armour than in the earlier operations, Third and Fourth Panzer Groups and the Second Panzer Army (formerly also a group). On the Soviet side, three army groups, Konev's West front (seven armies) in the north, Eremenko's Briansk front (three armies in the south and Budenny's Reserve front (five armies) at the rear, covered the approaches to the Soviet capital.
The Fourth Panzer Group drove deep along the West front–Briansk front boundary, diverting columns to the left and right to meet Third Panzer Group and Second Panzer Army spearheads coming from the north and south. An encirclement closed in the north at Vyazma on 10 October, and another closed in the south around Briansk three days later. Konev's and Eremenko's main forces were engulfed in the pockets, which yielded 663,000 prisoners. Zhukov took over the remains and Reserve front on 10 October, but the panzer formations pressed ahead without a pause, aiming towards and around Moscow. Hitler, like the American and British military attachés in Moscow, believed the war's end was near. On 18 October, panic and looting broke out in the capital. However, rain that had intermittently slowed movement since 10 October was turning the whole landscape into a quagmire impassable to both tanks and infantry. See also BARBAROSSA and German–Soviet war. Earl Ziemke |
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Cite this article
I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Briansk–Vyazma encirclements." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Briansk–Vyazma encirclements." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-BrianskVyazmaencirclemnts.html I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Briansk–Vyazma encirclements." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-BrianskVyazmaencirclemnts.html |
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Vyazma
Vyazma , city (1989 pop. 59,000), N central European Russia, on the Vyazma River, a tributary of the Dnieper. Founded in the 9th cent., Vyazma became an important trade and military center that was an object of contention among Russia, Lithuania, and Poland. During World War II it was held by the Germans, who destroyed it prior to withdrawal. |
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Cite this article
"Vyazma." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Vyazma." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Vyazma.html "Vyazma." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Vyazma.html |
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