117 - Surprise Attack On Rommel! - Operation Crusader Begins - WW2 - November 21, 1941

by Panzer
November 21, 1941 Phone call: just send some boats...
I mean, capital ships.
They won’t attack then, since they’re already at war with China.
Why would they want more enemies?
Doesn’t make sense.
It’s been half a year since the Allies last made an offensive in North Africa.
That’s a long time to wait, especially in the sand and the heat.
But that wait is now over, for this week, Operation Crusader begins!
I’m Indy Neidell; this is World War Two.
Last week saw the Allies win in the Mediterranean yet again, and they are by now destroying
a large part of all supplies sent to the Axis forces in North Africa.
Who are going to likely need whatever they can get, though, as the Allies are just about
to launch an offensive there.
And the Soviets have been making spoiler attacks on the Germans on the Moscow Front, knowing
that they are soon to renew their drive on the city.
A drive that begins on the 15th as this week does.
Heinz Guderian’s 2nd Panzer Army attacks from the south, and the 3rd and 4th panzers
from north of the city towards the Moscow-Volga Canal.
Gunther von Kluge’s 4th army infantry is on the flanks and between the panzer thrusts
to support and hold.
The Soviets do just enough to hold off the attacks, allowing the panzers to gain ground
over a few days while their reserves build up on the flanks.
The German units, though, are under strength, with panzer divisions often down to battalion
strength.
And it is COLD.
Lubricating oil freezes solid, rifle bolts become brittle and break, (Gilbert,) “On
the Eastern Front, the German position, so impressive on the maps, was worsening daily
on the ground.
By mid-November 1941 it had become so cold that sentries who accidentally fell asleep
at their post were found frozen to death in the morning.
The Russians were better trained to survive in extreme cold.
They were also defending their heartland and their capital.”
Still, by the 19th, Red Army Commander Georgy Zhukov’s right wing- the 30th and 16th armies-
is fighting to prevent an encirclement, but that day and the next, the Germans drive against
the right flank of his 5th army just to the south toward Zvenigorod . This to prevent
any movement between the 5th and 16th armies.
Even further south, on the 18th, the Germans attacking at Venyov are themselves attacked
by a fresh Siberian division and an armored brigade loaded with T-34’s.
The Germans aren’t helped any in this offensive by the fact that it is so cold their automatic