What would have happened had Stalin not had the Siberian forces help? [closed]

Question

During World War II, part of the reason that Germany was stopped cold(pun intended) on the Russian front was due to the fact that Stalin was able to move all the Siberian troops that had been defending the coast against a potential Japanese invasion. In fact, 28 divisions had been moved from Eastern Russia to defend Russia at the Battle of Moscow since Stalin knew that Japan could not afford to invade Russia due to their complete involvement with the USA alone.

My question: Could Germany have defeated the Russians and still held off the Western Front had Japan kept its original plan to invade Russia from the East and hold all of their Siberian troops at bay?

Would they have been able to conquer Moscow and defeat Russia if Japan had not become so involved in fight the United States in the Pacific?

Answer 1

Axis forces predominantly stopped short of Moscow due to freezing temperatures. Russian reinforcements were used to counterattack and push them back (which, after amazing gains, collapsed in spectacular defeat).

The Japanese Empire was not a significant threat the the Soviet Union (despite Stalin's fears). Vladivostok could have been taken, and this would have been of some significance, but not game changing.

What was significant was that the Russian industry had been pulled back behind the Urals, making the prospect of enemy forces reaching it in 41/42 impossible.

Without the Siberian forces the Moscow siege would likely have continued in the following year. Whether the Germans could entirely envelop the city (much less capture) is another thing however. Even with the capital captured, it does not necessarily mean that the USSR would have fallen (though it makes it that more likely)