Moscow 1941 by Robert Forczyk

The Wehrmacht was running dangerously low on fuel and ammunition after three months of sustained combat in the USSR. About 40 per cent of Germany´s fuel stocks were consumed during operation Barbarossa. Ammunition was also in short supply, by the start of Typhoon, demand for artillery ammunition was exceeding production by a ratio of more than 11:1. During Typhoon, German industry produced 774,000 rounds of large-caliber artillery ammunition but the artillery expended over 5 million rounds.By the end of 1941, Germany´s stock of artillery ammunition had fallen to its lowest point of the war.

When Germany needed every soldier for the decisive moment in Russia, some 34 divisions with almost 900,000 troops were left sitting idly in Western Europe guarding against a non-existent British threat. While the Soviet STAVKA was able to direct 62 division equivalents to rebuild the shattered Western Front in October-November 1941 the only new units received by Army Group Center during Typhoon were the Légion des volontaires Francais (LVF) and a few paratroop battalions.

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