I do not see the sense in your comment. Well, for example, on July 30, 1941, Hitler gave the order to Army Group Center on the transition to defense. The battle of Smolensk from that day is German defense, without the desire to advance forward. Earlier, von Bock protested against spraying 3 tank group to strike at Great Luki. Collect tanks into a fist to strike at Moscow.Duncan_M wrote: ↑18 Sep 2019, 21:52First, its funny you keep pulling out Halder's diary. Why not mention the week before when he declared that the war was already won?
Second, what had not even happened by July 13? The Battle of Smolensk wasn't even close to being over, it had barely even begun. A bit early to start planning an even deeper drive when Army Group Center was on the verge of being smashed east of the Dnieper, right?
As for July 13, again I ask, so what?
What was the point of taking Moscow? Was it the center of gravity? Could it even be taken? Was nobody defending it? Even if it was taken, could it be held? Would Stalin had surrendered if it was taken? Did no other possibilities exist? Did Stalin not already evacuate Moscow in light of it possibly be taken? What about all those hundreds of Red Army divisions that weren't destroyed west of the Dnieper? Were they all going to surrender because Moscow fell?
Halder had a hard on for Moscow during the entire planning and execution stage of Barbarossa. But Halder did not dictate strategy. Nor was Halder's strategic understanding even correct. As it became grossly apparent that all intel and political/strategic assumptions that Barbarossa was based on were utter nonsense, why is it that Halder refused to adjust and face reality? Because he, like you, was obsessed with a city that actually held little importance at the time.
Halder's criticism is meaningless. The Germans could easily win the war.