Failure of Operation Typhoon

The map of the Eastern Front in Adolf Hitler’s bunker, the Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), in Rastenburg, East Prussia, revealed the breathtaking extent of Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union launched in June 1941. In the north, Leningrad was isolated and under siege. In the south, German troops were in the Crimea and in defensive positions outside of Rostov. In the center, German troop advances were still advancing. The troops in Operation Typhoon, the campaign to capture Moscow, were now so close to the outskirts of the Soviet capital that at night lead elements of the German army could see the gun flashes from Moscow’s anti-aircraft artillery defenses. So close, and yet. . . .