Mosquito of precious offensive reserves, but was overruled in his call for a tighter attack against the main enemy concentrations in front of Moscow, the Schwerpunkt of the whole German line Army Group Center’s combat power was badly eroded by many months of fighting and its troops exhausted The two-phased Soviet winter offensive launched on December had succeeded in driving the Germans back from Moscow, but now floundered because of Stalin’s overreaching ambition Zhukov knew the VKG demanded too much of exhausted men and machines, but the general could only watch as Stalin turned a successful counterattack into a failed counteroffensive See also hokushin; nanshin MOSLEY, OSWALD (1896–1980) See British Union of Fascists MOSQUITO British two-engined fighter-bomber See Berlin bomber offensive (1943–1944); bombers; fighters; Light Night Striking Force (LNSF); Pathfinders; Serrate MOTOR GUN BOAT (MGB) A type of small British attack craft armed principally with torpedoes, akin to an American PT Boat MGBs were used to defend coastal convoys from German fast attack craft They were about half the size of German E-boats, which they sometimes engaged in swirling dog fights in the North Sea and Channel The Kriegsmarine had a larger version called a “Schnellboot” or S-boot See also blockade runners MOTORIZED DIVISION (MD) The British Army deployed prewar “motorized divisions,” later redesignated as “mobile divisions.” These were essentially infantry divisions with motorized transport and a limited number of machine gun carriers, but no tanks The term was also used for a short-lived U.S Army infantry division intended to join with two armored divisions to form an armored corps It was soon discovered that six infantry divisions designated for conversion to “motorized divisions” in 1942 would consume too much organic transport While each would require as much shipping as a heavy armored division, they did not offer equivalent combat power In reforms undertaken during 1943, all armored divisions were given more infantry while infantry divisions were given more armor Truck transport was pooled at army level, and all designated “motorized divisions” were converted to regular rifle divisions See also motorized rifle division; Panzergrenadiers MOTORIZED INFANTRY See Blitzkrieg; motorized division; motorized rifle division; Panzergrenadiers; Regio Esercito 746