Guderian Turned South for Kiev. Model's Worn-Out 3rd Panzer Closed the Ring on 450,000 Men

Guderian Turned South for Kiev. Model's Worn-Out 3rd Panzer Closed the Ring on 450,000 Men On the morning of the fifteenth of September, nineteen forty-one, south of a Ukrainian town called Lokhvitsa, Lieutenant Colonel Munzel told Heinz Guderian what was left in his panzer regiment. One Panzer four. Three Panzer threes. Six light Panzer twos. Ten tanks in all, by Guderian's own count. The case laid out: Guderian was ordered south from the Moscow road on 21 August 1941. He argued against the turn in person on 23 August and lost. Walter Model's 3rd Panzer Division started the war with 215 tanks. By 15 September its panzer regiment had 10 running. Small night detachments took the bridges ahead of the division: the Desna at Novgorod-Seversky intact, then the Sula at Mlyny after a 28-mile drive in the dark. Kirponos would not pull his front back on an oral order. On 17 September he demanded it in writing. The jaws first touched near Lubny on 14 September and were firmly joined on 16 September. The Soviet count of men inside the ring was 452,700. The verdict sheet on Kiev 1941 is pinned in the top comment. Subscribe for more armor history, and give your verdict in the comments. #ww2 #kiev1941 #easternfront #panzer #guderian #waltermodel #operationbarbarossa #tankhistory