The First Battle of Kharkov, so named by Wilhelm Keitel, was the 1941 battle for the city of Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR, during the final phase of Operation Barbarossa between the German 6th Army of Army Group South and the Soviet Southwestern Front. The Soviet 38th Army was ordered to defend the city while its factories were dismantled for relocation farther east. The German 6th Army needed to take the city in order to close the widening gap to the German 17th Army. By 20 October the Germans had reached the western edge of the city, it was taken by the 57th Infantry Division by 24 October. At that time, however, most of Kharkov's industrial equipment had been evacuated or rendered useless by the Soviet authorities. Importance of Kharkov Kharkov's railroad system In the autumn of 1941, Kharkov was considered one of the Soviets' most important strategic bases for railroad and airline connections. It not only connected the east-west and north-south parts of Ukraine, but also several central regions of the USSR including the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Dnieper region, and Donbas. Military importance Kharkov was one of the largest industrial centers of the Soviet Union. One of its greatest contributions was the Soviet T-34 tank that was both designed and developed at the Kharkov Tractor Factory, considered the most productive tank plant in the country. Other factories in the city included the Kharkov Aircraft Plant, Kharkov Plant of the NKVD (FED), and the Kharkov Turbine Plant. The city's military industries also produced Su-2 aircraft, artillery tractors, 82 mm mortars, sub-machine guns, ammunition, and other materiel. The main German objective was the railroads and military factories, so they desperately tried to keep the industrial area of Kharkov intact. Adolf Hitler himself stressed the importance of those military plants stating: "… The second in importance is south of Russia, particularly the Donets Basin, ranging from the Kharkov region. There is the whole basis of [the] Russian economy; if the area is mastered then it would inevitably lead to the collapse of the entire Russian[sic] economy…" Population of Kharkov Kharkov was one of the most populous Soviet cities, rated at 901,000 people on 1 May 1941. In September 1941 the population skyrocketed to 1.5 million people, swollen by evacuees from other cities. After years of deadly warfare, the population of Kharkov decreased to 180-190 thousand by the time of its recapture in August