Last time we spoke about the beginning of winter. In October 1941, two vast armies stood toe-to-toe on a winter-thin road toward Moscow. On one side, the Wehrmacht, hungry for a swift triumph, reshaped its backbone: Panzer Groups now Panzer Armies, roaring across Ukrainian and Russian plains with tanks as headlines. On the other, the Red army, led by Zhukov who refused to yield, braided defense lines from Leningrad to Moscow and rebuilt the Mozhaisk line with stubborn grit. The air smelled of fuel and fear as Operation Typhoon began. The Germans punched across the Desna and Dnieper, their armor moving like clockwork, yet every bridge they crossed whispered a new limit, fuel shortages, stretched supply lines, and stubborn Soviet countermeasures. In the north, Hitler’s orders clashed with battlefield reality; in the south, stalwart cities like Orel and Vyazma flickered with hard-fought breakthroughs and costly retreats. As October wore on, the myth of easy victory dissolved. Hitler boasted that the end was near, while soldiers on both sides kept their heads above the smoke, counting casualties and praying for more favorable weather. The siege of Moscow loomed, a hinge that could tilt the war’s fate. This episode is Mud and Sieges Well hello there, welcome to the Eastern Front week by week podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about world war two? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on world war two and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel you can find a few videos all the way from the Opium Wars of the 1800’s until the end of the Pacific War in 1945.    Rain begins to fall across the Eastern Front as the dreaded Rasputitsa settles in. Autumn arrives just as Operation Typhoon climbs to its zenith. German generals speak of an inexorable victory, their voices carrying over mud-slicked roads and rain-soaked fields. Supply columns bog down in the quagmires, while infantry fight with dwindling ammunition, threadbare equipment, and the iron will to grind the enemy into submission. In Moscow, Stalin, unsettled and wary, recalls Zhukov to the capital to organize the defense as one fortress after another buckles under the German onslaught.   So what do I mean when I say “Rasputitsa”. It  is a term used to describe the annual mud season in parts of Eastern Europe, particularly Russia and Ukraine, when unpaved roads and the countryside become nearly impassable due to heavy rains in spring or the thaw of frozen ground in autumn. The word itself comes from Russian roots meaning “to trample” or “the laying waste,” but in practice it captures the practical impossibility of moving troops, vehicles, and supplies through the soft, waterlogged terrain. In spring, frost rules the ground: the soil switches from solid to glue-like as the thaw sets in, drainage is overwhelmed, and mud swallows wheels and tracks. In autumn, rains saturate the already soft earth after harvest, turning fields and ridges into a churned, sticky mire. Rasputitsa has had significant strategic implications in warfare by delaying or diverting movements, stranding logistics, and forcing commanders to rely on alternative routes, slower tempos, or temporary retreats. Its impact is not only military; it disrupts transportation, agriculture, and daily life, complicating aid delivery and civilian movement for extended periods. Rasputitsa repeatedly hinders warfare by turning military vehicles and artillery into mud-bound impediments. Coupled with winter conditions, this phenomenon is credited with slowing the