2nd Panzer Army The 2nd Panzer Army ( ) was a German armoured formation during World War II , formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5 , 1941 . 2nd Panzer Group was originally designated as Panzer Group Guderian . Panzer Group Guderian . Panzer Group Guderian ( ) was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander , general Heinz Guderian , creator of the German Panzerwaffe . In early June 1940 , after reaching the English Channel following the breakthrough in the Ardennes , the " Panzergruppe Guderian " was formed from the XIX " Armeekorps " , and thrust deep into France , cutting off the Maginot Line . From then on , every unit that served in the " Panzergruppe Guderian " wore a large ' G ' on every tank , truck or motorcycle . It was reformed later the same month . In November 1940 , it was upgraded into " Panzergruppe 2 " . Order of battle . Organization of Panzer Group Guderian on 28 May 1940 2nd Panzer Group . The 2nd Panzer Group ( ) was formed in November 1940 from Panzer Group Guderian . In October 1941 it was renamed the 2nd Panzer Army . Panzer Group 2 played a significant role in the early stages of the German invasion of the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa in 1941 when it was a constituent part of Army Group Centre . Orders of battle . ( Nov 30 , 1943 ) . 1941 : The Germans had 4 panzer armies as their spearheads spread across 3 army groups at the start of Operation Barbarossa . Army Group North was given control of 4th Panzer Army , Army Group Center was given control of 3rd Panzer Army and 2nd Panzer Army while Army Group South was given control of 1st Panzer Army . Army Group Center had been assigned to capture Moscow . Capture of Bialystok and Minsk : As the Germans invaded deep into Russia , Guderian ' s 2nd Panzer Army formed the southern pincer while Hoth ' s 3rd Panzer Army formed the Northern pincer engulfing several Russian divisions during the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa . Of particular significance are the battles of Bialystok and Minsk , where substantial amount of Russian prisoners were captured and several Russian weapons captured . Progress slows down and the capture of Smolensk : In spite of beginning to suffer heavy rates of attrition , the Panzer Armies marched along . The Rasputitza Season ( season of no movement in Russian - due to heavy rains and sluggish muddy roads ) was terrible and took its toll on German equipment . Progress was often slowed down to a few kilometres a day . Nonetheless , the Germans marched on . At this point in time , a momentous decision was taken , which some say could have changed the course of the war . The Germans were already behind the timetable of capturing Moscow , before the Winter of 1941 had set in , but were progressing slowly towards its target . After Minsk , the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Armies had succeeded in capturing Smolensk in yet another successful pincer operation that yielded around 300 , 000 prisoners . Southward Dash to Kiev : As Army Group Center inched towards Moscow , Hitler ordered Guderian to turn Southward towards Kiev . Guderian in his memoirs argues that he was against this operation , because by turning South - West ward towards Kiev , he was moving in a direction towards Germany and not eastward , which was a severe wastage of time and effort . However , he or the high command of the OKW were not able to convince Hitler . In hindsight , it must be said , that probably there was some logic in Hitler ordering this move . Off the 3 Army Groups - North , Center and South , it was Army Group South that was facing the most stiff resistance . They were making the slowest progress compared to the other two Army Groups . This could be due to several factors , which are beyond the scope of this article . German reconnaissance had seen huge Russian armies gathering in the vicinity of Kiev , which 1st Panzer Army would have found difficult to capture on its own . It is probably for this reason , that Hitler ordered Guderian ' s 2nd Panzer army to immediately swing south - west and now form the northern pincer at Kiev . At Kiev , Guderian ' s 2nd Panzer Army and Von Kleist ' s 1st Panzer Army locked in a pincer around Kiev to trap - 665 , 000 Russian prisoners , the greatest capture of a single battle in the war . Considering this fact , Hitler ' s decision to divert 2nd Panzer army southward may not have been totally incorrect . Another important aspect that had to be considered was Napoleon ' s disaster adventure of Russia . Napoleon had captured Moscow , but had not destroyed the Red Army . If Army Group Center had marched onwards directly to Moscow , and considering that Army Group South was made up of Romanian , Hungarian , Italian and Croatian Forces , which were not as well equipped and trained as the German Wehrmacht , it would be debatable if Army Group South on its own had enough forces to defeat the Red Army forces in the south . Under such a scenario , if Army Group South did not keep up with Army Group Center , then there was also a potential danger of a breach in the flanks between both Army Groups , and the potential possibility of a threat to Army Group Center ' s communication and logistics by the Red Army . Attack Moscow from the Rear : Now , Hitler felt that the time to attack Moscow was right . The Panzer divisions had suffered severe attrition of almost 20 - 25 % in the nonstop action of these several months , and the Panzer divisions were reinforced by what little the German armament industry could make during the months since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa . The OKW now envisioned 3 Panzer armies attacking Moscow from different directions . 4th Panzer Army in the North around Leningrad would attack southward . Hoth ' s 3rd Panzer Army would attack east ward towards Moscow , while 2nd Panzer Army would turn North west ward and attack Moscow from her rear - flanks . But unfortunately for the Germans , this did not proceed as expected . Winter had already set in and the tired and hard pressed front line Panzer divisions had reached their limit . The Russians on the other hand had reinforced Moscow with fresh 49th and 50th Siberian armies with better clothing and equipment , and the Panzer divisions working at their endurable limit , could not reach beyond the flanks of Moscow . They were driven back and had to retreat . 1942 : 2nd Panzer Army took part in war crimes in September 1942 while conducting anti - guerrilla operations in Russia . These operations killed at least a thousand people , razed entire villages , and deported over 18 , 500 . During these operations , Jews and suspected members of guerrilla bands were murdered by being forced to drag earth - turning implements through minefields . In August 1943 , the army ' s headquarters was subordinated to Army Group F and transferred to the Balkans for anti - partisan operations . From September to December 1943 . III ( Germanic ) SS Panzer Corps was subordinated to the army . Subsequently the army became primarily an infantry formation at this point and would not command another panzer division until February 1945 . The army headquarters with some units was subsequently transferred to Hungary as part of Army Group South in January 1945 . 2nd Panzer Army took part in the Battle of the Transdanubian Hills in March 1945 prior to surrendering in Austria at the end of the war .