Mius River
With the majority of Ukraine already in German hands by October 1941, Kleist's Panzers advanced across the Mius River to Russia's Rostov Oblast and had occupied the city of Taganrog by November 4, preparing to move further for an attack on Rostov. Cherevichenko and the Army's commander for the Southwestern Direction, Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, prepared to attempt a counterattack. Timoshenko later shifted two rifle divisions and a tank brigade from the Southwestern Front to prepare a Southern Front reserve and settled on a plan worked out with his chief of staff, Major-General Alexey Antonov, and "Stavka" also provided the 37th Army to reinforce the operation on Timoshenko's request.