Deleted member 1487
Arguably if they invade two weeks earlier the 32nd would start it's journey 2 weeks earlier as well. The bigger factor is the weather in October, earlier invasion means they have extra days without the rains. Of course they'd likely not have 2 weeks, because it is unlikely they predict the weather so accurately that they'd be able to jump off on the 1st good day of good weather. They'd probably only get a week early just to confirm that the weather had cleared enough and to get fully ready for the invasion.I'd argue the two weeks could be decisive, given that 32nd Rifle only managed to beat the 2nd SS Panzer Division to Borodino by a single day; this allowed them to fix up defenses enough to delay the Germans, preventing them from using the all weather road there to directly advance upon Moscow at the same time Stalin was contemplating an abandonment of the city with no real troops in the city. Likewise, there is some debate about the issue of the 12th Army and Army Group South:
Operation Barbarossa 1941: Army Group South
The cancellation of the 12th Army's invasion plans had more to do with the feeling the operation would be a failure rather than the Balkans campaign being the primary factor in diverting the army to another direction:
On 18 March Hitler decided that Sixth Army was to carry out the main thrust of Army Group South. The plan for a Twelfth Army advance from Moldavia toward the northeast was abandoned. The German and Romanian units assembling along the Pruth were to tie down the opposing forces and pursue them only in the event that they should withdraw. This change in plan had to be made because Hitler contended that the Dnestr was a formidable obstacle that could not be surmounted by a frontal attack without considerable delay
This was before the plan to use 12th army in the Balkans.
The Yugoslav coup d'etat on 26 March induced Hitler to expand the operations in the Balkans by attacking Yugoslavia in addition to Greece. The greater scope of the campaign in the Balkans necessitated that an army headquarters assume control of the occupied territories after the end of hostilities. Twelfth Army, which was in charge of the operations against Greece, was selected for this role, and Eleventh Army was designated as substitute headquarters for the forces assembled in Moldavia. On 30 March 1941 the army group and army commanders reported to Hitler. During this conference the mission of Eleventh Army was discussed, and Hitler ordered the army forces divided into three separate groups, capable of backing up the Romanian divisions in case of need. Since Eleventh Army had thus been given a defensive mission, the motorized forces originally earmarked for that area were transferred to First Panzer Group. The encirclement of the Russian forces in the western Ukraine was to be effected by a single envelopment from the north, during which the armored forces were to thrust to the Dnepr at and south of Kiev, bear southeastward, and follow the bend of the river to its mouth, thus preventing the Russian forces in the western Ukraine from withdrawing across the river.
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