alternatehistory.com

Everyone in Germany is looking at Moscow, but there's one event that nobody there could ignore - whatever people might think about it.

Having found out about Hitler's dirty slave deals, the US congress has voted for a declaration of war. Even the Republicans joined FDR. Even anti-Communists have to admit that Stalin being replaced by Hitler wouldn't really be a gain for the world. Nobody wants to think about what'd be possible then.

Hitler stays surprisingly calm when he hears about it. The Nazi propaganda machine is started again, to tell everybody that the Atlantikwall will stop every possible American invasion. The Atlantikwall is no Maginot line (and we know that this doesn't mean that much), but FDR knows too that this war can't be won that fast. For the moment, Stalin needs urgent help, or Moscow may be lost.

And the time is running. The US send Stalin some Sherman tanks for the battle for Moscow, this time guarded by destroyers to prevent the German wolfpacks attacking them. Those tanks have to be brought to Moscow. Because meanwhile, the Wehrmacht is close to cut off the rail to Yaroslavl, Moscow's last link to Russia. The Russians still fight, being motivated by the news that the nazis have already begun to sell people as slaves - although they don't love Stalin, they see there are fates even worse. And the people in Moscow have heard the one or other tale about what the Germans have done in the areas they conquered back in the winter. So they continue to fight a desperate fight.

August has already passed, September's come... the Sherman tanks have been loaded off in Archangelsk and now are transported to Moscow. Time has almost run up: The Germans had severe losses too, but they've almost reached the railway line. If they succeed, Moscow can get support only by truck, and failing that, only by air. Simply impossible for a city where still several millions of people are (you can't call it living).

On the morning of 9th September, German artillery shells hit the railway line, damaging it. It's only a minor damage per se, that could be easily repaired, but if the Germans can't be stopped, they will own the line.
The Sherman tanks are in Yaroslavl now, but they can't be sent to Moscow. So, all available Red Army men man the tanks and start going to the battle.

The Wehrmacht officers who can already see their objective are surprised when suddenly redarmists in Sherman tanks appear, getting at them from behind. Battle ensues, being fought fiercely on both sides. It takes as long until the night has fallen, and only in the morning the survivors can see who has won now.

Only a handful of the tanks used aren't scrap metal now, but they were successful. The line Yaroslavl-Moscow can be repaired now, the German ring around Moscow wasn't closed, and in fact the Red Army now has the resources to break it up again, albeit slowly.

Later, the historians will write that only hours may have decided Moscow's fate. But the nazis didn't win. Hitler declares that the fight has to be won before the Americans can disturb the Germans (like last time), but the Wehrmacht has used up all resources. Now that Soviet war machine is running at 100%, and doesn't stop anymore. The next weeks are filled by several bitter battles around Moscow, but at the end, when the rain makes fighting impossible again, the German armies there are broken, have to retreat behind the Moskva and Oka. When the ground becomes frozen, they can't successfully attack either, let alone encircle Moscow. And when the real winter comes, the advantage is again at the Red Army.

Hitler didn't want to see it the last months, but now he can't win anymore.