Guderian before Tula, October 1941

In late October 1941, your armor has devoured the distances from Oryol, advancing up the great highway that leads to Moscow from the south. Before you rises Tula, an old city of gunsmiths, an industrial bastion and a road junction that commands the entire southern approach to the Soviet capital. To take it is to open the last gate before Moscow and to threaten Zhukov's rear. To leave it behind is to expose a long flank.

But the momentum of Operation Typhoon is faltering. The rasputitsa, those autumn mudslides, has bogged down the columns; the worn-out tanks lack fuel and parts, the infantry trails far behind, and the nights already herald the deadly frost. Before you, the city is not empty: armed workers' militias, anti-aircraft batteries leveled at ground height, NKVD units and the remnants of the Red Army are entrenched there with fierce resolve.

Every day lost is a day handed to the enemy to recover, but every hasty assault wears down an armored capital already eroded. The calculus of tempo against that of caution weighs upon your shoulders with all its force. The order you give now will seal the fate of your southern wing.