Siberian Troops
Above are Soviet troops from Siberia in combat. The Siberian troops specialized in cold climate combat and were well equipped to deal with subzero temperatures. Joseph Stalin had stationed 30 divisions (about half a million men) in Siberia to defend from a Japanese attack. However, in November, Stalin had received word from a spy in Japan that the Japanese had no intention of fighting in Siberia, allowing him to redirect an additional 500,000 men to Moscow via the Trans-Siberian Railway to participate in its defense. When winter had set in and had drastically slowed the unprepared Army Group Centre, the Russians had prepared a counterattack. On December 5th, 1941, Soviet T-34 tanks had crashed through the German defenses and forced Army Group Centre to retreat further from Moscow. This counterattack caught Germany off guard due to their great success in the previous months and had prompted Hitler to fire his Commander in Chief, Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch on December 19th and assume control of the German Army himself (Martin).
Link: http://www.haciendapub.com/randomnotes/world-war-ii-part-ii-%E2%80%94-deception-espionage-and-total-war
