further MiG-1 fighters shot down on 26 and 27 September. On 2 October, German forces launched Operation Typhoon, the failed strategic offensive to capture Moscow. In support of this offensive, II. Gruppe was moved to Stabna, located just north of Smolensk. Operating from Stabna, Resch shot down a Mig-1 fighter on 3 October and a Polikarpov I-16 fighter south of Rzhev on 8 October. On 12 October, II. Gruppe was ordered to Novodugino where it stayed for four days. The Gruppe then moved to an airfield west of Kalinin, present-day Tver, on 16 October. The following day, Resch claimed two MiG-1 fighters and two DB-3 bombers on 18 October. These were his last claims in 1941. He was awarded the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe () on 20 December 1941. Eastern Front In late January 1942, II. Gruppe was withdrawn from the Eastern Front and sent to Jesau near Königsberg for a period of recuperation and replenishment, arriving on 24 January 1942. In Jesau, the Gruppe received many factory new Bf 109 F-4 aircraft. On 14 April, II. Gruppe received orders to move to Pilsen, present-day Plzeň in the Czech Republic, for relocation to the Eastern Front. The Gruppe had also received a new commander, Woitke had been transferred and was replaced by Hauptmann Johannes Steinhoff who thus became Resch's commanding officer. Following a series of relocations, including a short deployment on the Crimea where Resch claimed an Ilyushin Il-2 ground attack aircraft on 8 May. The Gruppe was then ordered to the airfield named Kharkov-Waitschenko on 14 May and participated in the Second Battle of Kharkov. The next day, Resch was credited with shooting down a Polikarpov I-153 fighter. On 16 May, the Gruppe moved to Artyomovsk, present-day Bakhmut, where they stayed until 23 May supporting German forces fighting in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Operating from Artyomovsk, Resch shot down a MiG-1 fighter on 20 May, and one on 21 and 22 May each. On 23 May, the Gruppe was ordered to relocate to Barvinkove. There, Resch claimed a Vultee V-11 attack aircraft and a Petlyakov Pe-2 bomber on 26 May. On 1 June, II. Gruppe moved to an airfield at Grakowo, located approximately halfway between Kharkov and Kupiansk. The main German objectives in that combat area were, breakthrough to the upper Don and capture of Voronezh. Resch claimed the destruction of an Il-2 ground attack aircraft that