Over 300,000 Soviet troops were now trapped and they resorted to desperate methods to escape. Thousands were killed when they tried to charge past the German units that were tightening the ring around the Smolensk Pocket. Tens of thousands escaped when a small corridor was opened on 4 August for several days. In the end, most of the Russian soldiers were doomed. The Germans declared they had captured 310,000 prisoners, 3000 tanks and 3000 artillery pieces. Those captured shared a desperate fate: denied food, medical care and shelter for months. Tens of thousands died in German prison camps.

Guderian was now ordered to swing his panzers southwards to trap an even bigger Soviet army east of Kiev. Das Reich did not immediately follow him, but was pulled out of the line near Smolensk in the middle of August to rest for two weeks.

Fighting around Kiev

At the end of August, Das Reich was called forward by Guderian to help his thrust southwards and relieve exhausted units. The SS men got into action on 3 September around Avdeievka, dealing with Soviet troops threatening the right flank of Guderian's panzers. Hausser was preparing his division for a major assault on the trapped Soviet troops east of Kiev when the battlefield was drenched in torrential rain. The whole of the German pincer movement ground to a halt in the mud, and the SS division was stuck fast well short of its jump-off points. When the rains lifted on 6 September, Hausser committed his troops to action even though a large part of his division was still struggling to get up to the front. Guderian channelled Luftwaffe air support to help Das Reich capture a key railway bridge. For the next two weeks the division continued to push southwards to squeeze the northern flank of the Soviet pocket east of Kiev, rounding up thousands of prisoners as resistance began to crumble. It was then switched east to reinforce the outer ring of the encirclement around Rommy for a pre-emptive strike against Soviet troops gathering for an offensive. By the time the Russians surrendered at the end of the month, more than 600,000 had been captured by the Germans.

The drive on Moscow

Hitler was now turning his attention to Moscow, and he ordered a major concentration of panzer and motorized forces ready to strike at the Soviet capital by early October. Operation Typhoon was scheduled to begin on 30 September. Das Reich was assigned to follow the offensive by General Hoepner's Fourth Panzer Group, which was concentrating around Roslavl. The first objective was to surround six Soviet armies positioned between Smolensk and Vyazma. Soon, panzer spearheads were closing around their prey. In their wake came the Das Reich Division, which was given the job of forming a bulwark on the eastern edge of the encirclement and preventing Soviet relief columns interfering with the German operation. It was committed to action on 6 October to seize and hold the Smolensk-Moscow highway at Gzhatsk, soon reaching the outskirts of the town in the face of heavy resistance from strafing attacks by Soviet fighter-bombers.

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