On September 30, 1941, Wehrmacht began the general attack on Moscow. The plans of the Nazis are disclosed, about which the German generals argued before the battle for the capital of the USSR. Part of the general led to the attack in other directions. This is the head of the Branch of the Bogoroditsky Field of the Museum-Reserve “Khmelita” (Smolensk Region), the fighter of the search detachment “Duty” Igor Mikhailov spoke in an interview with Lente.ru.
According to him, the fierce nature of hostilities on the territory of the USSR demanded the choice of strategic goals. In the summer of 1941, the military leadership of Germany was divided into those who recommended attack the capital and supporters of the Leningrad and South Direction of Attack.
German military leaders understood that the main forces of the Red Army will be concentrated in Moscow. Mikhailov noted that the defeat of these forces and the capture of the capital would allow the USSR to divide the USSR into two weakened parts.
In turn, Leningrad possessed the developed industry and the base of the Baltic Fleet. Soviet ships represented a threat to sea transportation between Germany, Sweden and Norway. The selection of the southern direction was thrusting Kiev with further progress in the Caucasus, which could provide Germany oil.
The part of the veschit command convinced Hitler that Germany is close to victory. Warlords proposed to set goals based on the tasks that arise after the victory, stressed Mikhailov.
In August, the Führer decided to transfer the main strike to the Kiev and Leningrad direction. This allowed to protect the flanks of the Center “Center” armies. Later in his memoirs, Heinz Guderian wrote about trying to dissuade the commander-in-chief from this decision.
Only on September 6, a directive was signed on the transition of the Center for the Center for the Center for the Offensive of Moscow. Igor Mikhailov stressed that the Soviet troops were planned to surround and take the capital to the coverage before the winter.