The German failure to take the city with the momentum of the October advance doomed the chances to take Sevastopol before the end of the year. The winter 1941/42 came early, and brought with it heavy rain and snowfall, as well as cold temperatures. Furthermore, the strategic situation changed for the worse, with German defeats at the Battle of Rostov by 2 December, the first major German defeat during "Operation Barbarossa", as well as the Battle of Moscow by the end of the year. Kleist responded to the setback at Rostov by retreating his Panzer Group thirty-five miles to the west and entrenching behind the Mius river. This move was approved by Rundstedt, but irritated Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler, and Rundstedt was subsequently sacked. The heavily bolstered Soviet forces in the Rostov sector reduced the priority of attacking Sevastopol, and the 73rd Infantry Division, previously with LIV Army Corps, was taken away from XXXXII Army Corps and sent to aid Kleist.