Eastern Front #7 the Fall of Smolensk

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...