I think you know what I'm driving at Monty. The 'liberation' of the Ukraine could have been handled much better by the Germans had their idelogical policy allowed it.
It's all very well saying that time wasn't on the side of Germany and it wasn't. Under ideal circumstance the Germans would have continued regardless. But the Germans were not campaigning under ideal circumstances, far from it. They had 3 giant army groups marching in different directions. They had a wholly inadequate logistical chain to feed these army groups. By August there was really only enough supplies to feed one army group for any substantial operations. By the time the Germans launched Operation Typhoon on October 2nd, their armies were severely battered from combat attrition and severely lacking in supplies, most notably fuel. The infantry divisions were force marching up to 40 miles a day, under almost constant attack, and they had been doing this since June. And you have the coldest winter for 140 years, especially in the area south of Moscow, with troops that had very little winter supplies or clothing. Attacking under these circumstances was a recipe for disaster and Army Group Centre was eventually pushed back 200 miles and very nearly routed. For what? It is not appreciated how close the strongest combat formation in the German Army was to collapsing in that winter.
Time wasn't on their side, indeed. However, there was still enough time for the Germans to wait until 1942 to start Operation Typhoon and/or Case Blau. The Red Army was still reeling from the losses at Smolensk, Minsk and Kiev and had not yet taken on board the very harsh lessons they 'learned' in 1941. The Germans would have been able to regain the initiative relatively easily. Remember, it was only after Kursk in 1943 that the Soviets were able to gain the initiative in Spring/Summer. Had the Germans halted on the line of the Dnieper river they would have found themselves rested, resupplied and refitted, deep in European Russia ready for a Spring 1942 offence that would again have rolled over the Red Army. Even so, there would still be no guarantee of victory but they'd have a much better shot than they did historically.
I've read an awful lot about the Eastern Front Monty, more than most, and nothing I've read has convinced me that a 2 season campaign in 1941/42 was nothing other than the best chance of German victory in Russia.