Battle of Bryansk (1941)

Battle of Bryansk
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Encirclement of Soviet armies near Bryansk
Date 30 September–21 October 1941 Location Bryansk, Soviet Union Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	Soviet Union
Commanders and leaders
Fedor von Bock Heinz Guderian Maximilian von Weichs	Andrey Yeryomenko Semyon Timoshenko Georgy Zhukov
Units involved
2nd Army 2nd Panzer Army	50th Army 13th Army 3rd Army
Strength
unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
48,000 killed or wounded	100,000 killed or missing 600,000 captured

The Battle of Bryansk (2–21 October 1941) was a twenty-day battle during World War II conducted in the Bryansk Oblast as a part of the overall Moscow campaign. Returning from the Kiev operation, Heinz Guderian attacked in an unexpected direction capturing Bryansk and Oryol with few casualties thereby encircling two Soviet formations, the 13th Army and 3rd Army. A third Soviet formation, the 50th Army was encircled by infantry of the German 2nd Army north of Bryansk. However the encircled Red Army units continued fighting, delaying the drive on Moscow for two weeks. This delay, as well as the casualties taken by the Wehrmacht liquidating the pockets contributed to the German collapse at the gates of Moscow. See also: Vyazma and Bryansk pockets. As a result of this battle, the Germans occupied Bryansk until they were expelled by the Red Army on 17 September 1943 as a part of the Smolensk campaign.