Last time we spoke about the beginning of the battle for Smolensk. The Wehrmacht, having swiftly advanced through the Soviet Union, prepared to engage the Red Army in fierce combat. The Luftwaffe had dominated the skies, severely diminishing Soviet air power. However, unbeknownst to the Germans, the Soviets, under General Timoshenko, were regrouping and mobilizing hidden reserves, readying themselves for a counteroffensive. Amidst logistical chaos and heavy losses, the Soviets utilized their cadre system, rapidly generating new field armies. While the Germans celebrated captures, they failed to recognize the Soviets' latent strength. As the Germans advanced toward Smolensk, the Red Army struggled but exhibited resilience, relocating factories eastward to maintain wartime production. This industrial mobilization became vital, allowing the Soviets to outproduce the Germans in tanks and aircraft by late 1941. The intense fighting around Smolensk evidenced the brutal realities of warfare, with both sides suffering greatly. 

This episode is the Fall of Smolensk

Well hello there, welcome to the Eastern Front week by week podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945. 

A heavy smoke of battle clings to the air above the city of Smolensk, a crucial location in western Russia. It’s July 15, 1941, and the gates to Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union are creaking ominously under the relentless pressure of the German advance. Army Group Center, under the command of General Fedor von Bock, is launching a fierce attack against the newly fortified defenses of the Western Front, commanded by Marshal Semyon Timoshenko. He is desperately fighting to hold Smolensk, a strategically vital city that stands as a key to unlocking the road to Moscow. We witnessed the Wehrmacht commencing their assault on Smolensk. Meanwhile, in the north, their drive toward Leningrad continued relentlessly, and in the south, Army Group South had pivoted to encircle Uman after being thwarted in their advance on Kyiv.

In the early days of July, while army commanders were focused on the day-to-day challenges of the campaign, Adolf Hitler began to look further ahead. His well-known hesitance about continuing the operation beyond the great rivers towards Moscow was a source of concern for both General Franz Halder and General Walther von Brauchitsch. However, they believed that the ongoing successes of the campaign offered the best assurance for maintaining a forward advance across all fronts. As early as July 3 and 4, Hitler voiced his interest in halting the panzer groups under General Heinz Guderian and using them to support flanking advances instead. On July 5, General Alfred Jodl contacted Brauchitsch by telephone, urging him to meet with Hitler and present his views on the strategic choices for the northern and southern fronts. Jodl posed several crucial questions regarding both the necessity and feasibility of these operations, highlighting the growing tension between the OKW and OKH over the future direction of the campaign. He stressed the urgency of the army's involvement in the discussion, stating, “Given that the Führer’s thoughts, and those of others, are shifting towards an early turning of the panzer groups toward the northeast or south, General Jodl considers it essential that the Commander-in-Chief of the Army promptly meets with the Führer for a discussion.”

The meeting took place at Hitler’s headquarters on July 8, with Halder accompanying Brauchitsch. Both men presented before Hitler and his staff. Brauchitsch began by summarizing the latest tactical reports, after which Halder outlined the army’s assessment of the enemy situation and progress within the three army groups. The tone of Halder’s presentation was characteristically optimistic, aimed at instilling confidence in the army's management of the war and reaffirming its strategic direction. Halder firmly believed that the German forces were now in a commanding position to secure victory. He cited the most recent intelligence report from Colonel Kinzel, which indicated that of the 164 identified Soviet rifle divisions, 89 had been either completely or largely eliminated. From the remaining 75 divisions, 46 were actively opposing the German front, while 18 were engaged on other fronts, 14 in Finland and four in the Caucasus. The last 11 divisions were likely held in reserve deep within Soviet territory. Kinzel’s report also stated, “The enemy is no longer able to organize a continuous front, not even behind strong terrain features.” He emphasized that Army Group Centre, already stronger than its opponents, now enjoyed a crushing superiority that could be maintained even if the Soviets brought up fresh units.

The environment created by Halder’s buoyant report fostered a sense of confidence about the war's progress and minimized the urgency to make a decisive operational decision regarding Bock’s panzer groups. This optimistic atmosphere briefly inspired a sense of reconciliation between Hitler and Halder, opening up avenues for compromise that had previously seemed impossible, particularly concerning the direction towards Moscow. Hitler articulated his ‘ideal solution’ for continuing the campaign: Army Group North was to accomplish its assigned tasks in the Baltic states and Leningrad using its own resources. Meanwhile, Army Group Centre was tasked with eliminating the last remnants of organized Soviet resistance along the overstretched front north of the Pripet Marshes, which, he suggested, would thereby open the road to Moscow. Upon reaching their designated positions east of Smolensk, Hoth’s forces could halt and either assist Leeb, if necessary, or press on eastward with the goal of encircling Moscow. Guderian’s forces could then strike in a southern or southeastern direction in coordination with Army Group South.

Meanwhile the Soviet Air Force, commonly known by its acronym, the VVS, was still grappling with the repercussions of the disastrous events of June. The early campaigns of Operation Barbarossa had decimated their fleet, resulting in the loss of more than half of their available aircraft. By mid-July, however, the VVS began to regain some footing, managing to contest the Luftwaffe’s previously assumed air superiority. Despite the Luftwaffe's dominance during the initial stages of the operation, they faced their own limitations: there were simply not enough planes, infrastructure, or trained pilots to sustain their aggressive tactics. This shortage meant that some of the Red Army's counter-attacks went unnoticed in the early stages of their planning, but it also allowed the VVS to harass and distract Wehrmacht columns as they advanced. By mid-July 1941, the Luftwaffe’s capabilities were being pushed to the breaking point. The VVS was actively strafing and bombing German troops on the southern approaches to Smolensk, a city critical for both sides. Though these attacks often amounted to little more than a nuisance, they had a significant psychological impact on the German soldiers. Many in the Wehrmacht had been led to believe that the Soviet Union was all but defeated, that its military might lay in ruins, and that their only task now was to mop up the remnants of resistance. Yet, they found themselves facing a determined adversary, launching air attacks that the Luftwaffe seemed unable to stop or prevent. This unexpected persistence from the VVS not only challenged the German advance but also forced the Wehrmacht to reconsider their assumptions about a swift victory.

The relentless drive towards Leningrad was taking a significant toll on Army Group North. After the explosive initial success of Operation Barbarossa, the campaign was now encountering a series of stumbling blocks in the north. On the northern flank of Army Group Centre, Field Marshal Wilhelm von Leeb’s Army Group North was making more favorable progress. However, as the esteemed General Erich von Manstein, commander of the 56th Panzer Corps, would later note, “the enemy, though pushed back to the east, was still not destroyed, something that would soon become evident.” After successfully capturing Riga, the capital of Latvia, Leeb was compelled to continue his eastward push to support the left flank of General Fedor von Bock’s Army Group Centre. Simultaneously, he needed to mount a significant offensive northward into Estonia to protect his own left flank. This strategic situation was stretching Army Group North's front width rapidly. As the smallest of the three German army groups, this expansion would soon prove to heavily tax its offensive momentum. On July 16, Colonel-General Erich Hoepner, the commander of Army Group North’s Panzer Group 4, expressed his dissatisfaction with the stalled advance towards Leningrad in a letter to his wife. He wrote, "The deciding cause remains our weakness. The number of divisions is as inadequate as their equipment. The men are tired, the losses are increasing, and the rate of vehicle breakdowns is on the rise." His candid assessment highlighted the growing strains on the German forces as they faced not only the challenges of combat but also the detrimental effects of fatigue and equipment shortages.

While the Red Army had