World War II was fought in the Euro-Atlantic, Asia-Pacific and African-Mediterranean theaters of war. Each of them had its own meaning, characteristics and at the same time was connected with other theaters and was part of the war as a whole.
With the defeat of the Anglo-French coalition, the epicenter of hostilities moved to the Soviet-German front. Until the end of the war, the main forces of Germany and most of its allies in Europe were concentrated here.
Residents of Moscow during the announcement of the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union. June 1941
Heavy defeats and retreat of Soviet troops in the summer-autumn campaign of 1941 gradually gave way to growing resistance. It prevented the achievement of the most important strategic goals of the Barbarossa plan at this stage - the destruction of the main forces of the Red Army to the Western Dvina - Dnieper line and the capture of Leningrad.
Moscow Battle
On September 30, 1941, German troops launched Operation Typhoon, the main objective of which was to capture Moscow. Army Group Center, advancing in the Moscow direction (commanded by Field Marshal F. Bock, from December 18 - Field Marshal H. G. Kluge), was maximally strengthened and on October 1 numbered 1.8 million people, 1,700 tanks, over 14 thousand guns and mortars, 1390 aircraft. The troops of the Soviet fronts opposing it had 1 million 259 thousand people, 990 tanks, 7.6 thousand guns and mortars, 677 aircraft. The gigantic Battle of Moscow began - the first decisive battle of the Second World War.
Muscovites are digging an anti-tank ditch near Moscow. Autumn 1941
During defensive battles (September 30 - December 5, 1941), the Red Army retreated 250-300 km. The enemy reached the nearest approaches to Moscow - less than 30 km remained (in the area of the village of Kryukovo). The losses of the Red Army during this period of the battle exceeded 650 thousand people. Hundreds of thousands of them were captured. In the areas of Bryansk and Vyazma, 64 divisions were surrounded, and only 34 were able to break out of the encirclement. The second half of October and November were critical for the Red Army and the defense of Moscow, when the German command threw all its forces into battle to capture the capital before the onset of winter cold.
The evacuation of the main government institutions, the diplomatic corps and a significant part of the population began. The highest political leadership of the country and the armed forces remained in Moscow. In mid-October, panic began in the city. Many Muscovites, having collected things that could be taken with them, stormed the trains departing to the east. The situation was stabilized only with the introduction of a state of siege on October 20. Lieutenant General of the NKVD troops P. Artemyev was appointed commander of the troops of the Moscow Military District and the Moscow Defense Zone.
From the parade on Red Square in Moscow on November 7, 1941, troops went straight to the front
The traditional parade on November 7 and Stalin’s speech at it, who expressed confidence in victory over the enemy, were of great importance for strengthening the morale of the troops and the population. The city was reliably protected by Moscow's air defense. Only a small part of the German planes flying to bomb the Soviet capital managed to break through to it.
In fierce defensive battles, Soviet troops survived and bled the enemy dry. On December 5-6, the Red Army launched a strategic counteroffensive near Moscow, which lasted until January 7, 1942. It was facilitated by successful offensive actions near Rostov and Tikhvin.
The counter-offensive near Moscow was carried out by the forces of the Western (commanded by Army General G. Zhukov), Kalinin (commanded by Colonel General I. Konev), partly the South-Western and Bryansk fronts, as well as the Moscow defense zone. In terms of its strength, the number of tanks and guns, the Red Army was still inferior to the enemy, but exceeded its power in aviation by 1.6 times. The armies and divisions arriving from the eastern regions of the country had an advantage over the Nazis, bloodless in battle, who were not prepared to wage war in winter conditions. The Wehrmacht's Army Group Center suffered a crushing defeat.
A. Lebedev's machine-gun formation in a firing position on the outskirts of Moscow. Autumn 1941
By mid-January, the Germans were driven back 100-250 km from Moscow. The German command was confused for some time. Moscow decided to launch a general offensive by the Red Army, which continued on some fronts until April 20. In the western direction, the tasks were set to encircle and defeat Army Group Center. There was not enough strength to solve such problems, so they were only partially completed. But the enemy was ultimately driven back 150-400 km from Moscow.
Soviet losses in killed, wounded and prisoners during the entire period of the Battle of Moscow were very high - they exceeded 1.8 million people. German losses amounted to 500 thousand people. But the Nazis’ plans for a “lightning war” failed. Their moral damage was no less. 62 thousand German soldiers were convicted of desertion, disobedience and retreat without orders, 35 senior Wehrmacht officials, including Field Marshals V. Brauchitsch and F. Bock, General X. V. Guderian and others, were removed from office. The international authority of the Red Army and the USSR grew sharply, which contributed to the strengthening of the anti-Hitler coalition.
German soldiers surrender. September 1941
Battle of Smolensk
Dates:
July 10 - September 10, 1941
Total duration:
62 days
Soviet losses:
759.9 thousand people
Losses of German troops and allies:
250 thousand people
At the first stage (until July 20), the Germans were able to significantly advance across the territory of the USSR. At the second stage (July 21 - August 22), Soviet troops carried out a counteroffensive, as a result of which the Germans suffered heavy losses and went on the defensive. In the final stage of the battle (from August 22), Soviet troops attempted to carry out a large offensive, but they managed to advance only a few kilometers, after which they went on the defensive and were forced to retreat. In the Battle of Smolensk, the Red Army used rocket launchers for the first time. During the battle, Soviet troops thwarted the German command's plan for a non-stop attack on Moscow - a blitzkrieg. Following the results of the Battle of Smolensk, several divisions were awarded the title of Guards for the first time by order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR.
Photo archive of Ogonyok magazine
Battle of Stalingrad
Another outstanding event of the Second World War was the Battle of Stalingrad. It includes two operations - defensive (July 17 - November 18, 1942) and offensive (November 19, 1942 - February 2, 1943).
Since July 1942, Colonel General Wolfram von Richthofen commanded the 4th Air Fleet of the Wehrmacht, which supported the German offensive on Stalingrad and the Caucasus
In an effort to take revenge for the defeat in the battle of Moscow, the German command decided to crush the southern wing of the Soviet-German front in the summer of 1942, break through to the Caucasus to the oil fields of Maikop, Grozny and Baku and at the same time cut the Volga in the Stalingrad area as the most important transport artery of the country. And also to capture Stalingrad, which was also one of the largest industrial centers of the USSR.
The offensive of the German troops (Operation Blau) began on June 28, 1942 and unfolded in two directions: Army Group A - towards the Caucasus and Army Group B, the basis of which was the 6th Army of F. Paulus - in the direction Stalingrad. The success of the offensive was ensured by superiority in forces, especially in the Caucasian direction, and the unsuccessful actions of Soviet troops near Kerch and Kharkov. In the battle of Kharkov alone, according to German data, 240 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were killed or captured, 2 thousand guns and 1230 tanks were destroyed and captured.
Junior political instructor Alexey Eremenko leads the soldiers into the attack. July 1942
In the Caucasian direction, Wehrmacht troops, having captured Rostov-on-Don on July 24, reached Maykop and the foothills of the Main Caucasus Range. The Red Army was retreating. On July 28, 1942, Stalin signed order No. 227 (known as “Not a step back!”). The order introduced harsh measures for violating order in the troops and obliged commanders and soldiers accused of violations of discipline, cowardice and instability to be sent to penal battalions (companies), and troops who retreated without permission were to be shot on the spot by special detachments.
The defense of Stalingrad was held by the 62nd Army of General V. Chuikov and the 64th Army of General M. Shumilov. In early September, the enemy offensive reached its limit. The German armies delivered the main blow to the 62nd Soviet Army. They managed to break into the city center and capture the most important center of its defense - Mamayev Kurgan, on which the command post of the 62nd Army was located. German units reached the Volga. The 13th Guards Rifle Division, which had arrived from the Headquarters reserve under the command of Hero of the Soviet Union, General A. Rodimtsev, was transferred to Chuikov’s disposal. On the night of September 15, she crossed the Volga, prevented further enemy breakthrough and recaptured Mamayev Kurgan. The city was destroyed by barbaric German air raids. In October the battle reached extreme ferocity on both sides.
In Stalingrad there were battles for every house
The configuration of the front line, the weakened flanks of the German group, on which the Romanian divisions were located, created the preconditions for a successful counter-offensive. The General Staff began developing it back in September. But first of all, it was necessary to hold Stalingrad and concentrate forces for a counteroffensive. The counteroffensive plan, codenamed “Uranus,” was approved by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on November 13.
November 19, 1942 The Red Army launched a counteroffensive. It was attended by troops of the Southwestern (commander Lieutenant General N. Vatutin), Don (commander Colonel General K. Rokossovsky), Stalingrad (commander Colonel General
A. Eremenko) and the left wing of the Voronezh Front (commander Colonel General F. Golikov), as well as the Volga military flotilla. The enemy aircraft were opposed by the 18th Air Army of the Soviet Air Force. The ratio of ground forces and aviation was approximately equal. In artillery, superiority was on the side of the Soviet troops.
A salvo of Soviet rocket-propelled mortars (Katyushas) initially threw the Germans into panic
Prepared in the strictest secrecy, the gigantic counteroffensive of the Red Army achieved major success in the first days as a result of attacks on the enemy’s flanks. During the counteroffensive, troops of the Stalingrad and Southwestern fronts on November 23 surrounded 22 divisions and other enemy units numbering more than 300 thousand people.
On November 25, the troops of the Western and Kalinin fronts under the command of G. Zhukov went on the offensive on the central section of the Soviet-German front in order to prevent the transfer of additional forces of the German army to the Stalingrad direction. This major diversionary operation, called "Mars", basically completed its task.
It was not immediately possible to dissect and destroy the German troops of the Red Army surrounded in Stalingrad.
One of the reasons was the underestimation by Soviet intelligence of the size of the army of Field Marshal Paulus.
It was assumed that it consisted of 80-90 thousand people, while in fact 300 thousand German soldiers and officers were surrounded.
Monument to children playing in Stalingrad. August 1942
The German command attempted to release the grouping encircled in Stalingrad by the Army Group Don created for this purpose (commanded by Field Marshal General E. Manstein). On December 12, this group went on the offensive. The finale of the operation, codenamed “Winter Thunderstorm,” was decided by a counter battle that took place on December 20–22; in it, Army Group Don was defeated. The defeat of the Italian army in the Middle Don in these same days was also of no small importance.
The German command tried to supply the troops surrounded in Stalingrad by air. However, these attempts were stopped by Soviet aviation. On January 10, 1943, Operation Ring began, the goal of which was the final destruction of the Paulus group, which continued to offer fierce resistance.
Units of the Red Army break into Stalingrad to dismember the encircled group of German troops of Field Marshal Paulus
But the position of the German troops here became more and more dramatic. Soviet troops rained down a barrage of bombs, mines and shells on them, and the encirclement was irreversibly shrinking. Paulus reported to his high command: “Further defense is pointless. Defeat is inevitable. In order to save those still alive, the army asks for immediate permission to surrender.” There was a refusal. On February 2, 1943, Paulus (the day before he was awarded the rank of field marshal) and two dozen more generals with the remnants of their troops (91 thousand people) surrendered. 140 thousand enemy soldiers and officers were buried by Soviet troops on the battlefield. The irretrievable losses of the Red Army in the Stalingrad operation amounted to 155 thousand people.
The world appreciated the feat of Stalingrad. W. Churchill presented Stalin at the Tehran Conference of the Heads of the Allied Powers (1943) with a dedicatory sword, on the blade of which the inscription was engraved in Russian and English: “To the citizens of Stalingrad, strong as steel, from King George VI as a sign of the deep admiration of the British people.” . F. Roosevelt sent Stalin a letter that said: “The glorious victory stopped the tide of invasion and became the turning point in the war of the allied nations against the forces of aggression.” The word “Stalingrad” was passed from mouth to mouth as the password of resistance, the password of victory.
Battles in the Middle Ages
The main branch of the military in the Middle Ages was cavalry. In Europe, the main military force was knights - heavily armed horsemen, clad, like their horses, in metal armor.
- European martial arts
- Features of the Eastern strategy
- Famous generals of the Middle Ages
- Naval battles of the Middle Ages
- Sieges of medieval castles
- Byzantine conquest of Italy (534-555)
- Conquest of Britain by the Anglo-Saxons
- Wars of Charles Martell
- Battle of Poitiers
- Russian campaigns against Byzantium
- Campaigns of Svyatoslav
- Wars of Frederick I Barbarossa with the Lombard League
- Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)
- Warriors of the Great Lithuanian and Russian principalities with the Golden Horde in the 14th century
- Warriors of the Teutonic and Livonian orders in Prussia, the Baltic states and Rus' (XIII-XV centuries)
- Battle of Kulikovo September 8, 1380
- Weapons of the Battle of Kulikovo
- Battle of the Kondurcha River
- Battle of Crecy
Kursk Bulge
The main event of the summer of 1943 on the Soviet-German front was the Battle of Kursk - its defensive (from July 5) and offensive (July 12 - August 23) operations. They were carried out by the Red Army in the area of Kursk and Orel, where a bulge of the front line of the Soviet troops formed. The strategic grouping of the German army here numbered about 900 thousand people, 2.7 thousand tanks, including the new Tiger and Panther types, and assault guns, up to 10 thousand guns and mortars. The German command set as its goal to defeat the Red Army group opposing in this area (Operation Citadel) and thereby change the course of the war in its favor. The strike forces of Field Marshal Manstein's Army Group South operated on the southern wing of the salient, and the troops of Field Marshal von Kluge's Army Group Center operated on the northern wing.
T-34s attack German positions in the Battle of Kursk
The headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army decided not to go on the offensive first, but to take a tough defense. The idea was to first bleed the enemy, knock out his new tanks, and only then, bringing in fresh reserves, go on the attack.
In total, by the beginning of the Battle of Kursk, Soviet troops significantly outnumbered the enemy both in men and equipment. The Central and Voronezh Fronts consisted of about 1.3 million people, and the Steppe Front standing behind them had another 500 thousand people. The three fronts had at their disposal up to 5 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 28 thousand guns and mortars. In aviation, the advantage was also on the Soviet side - 2.6 thousand Soviet aircraft operated against approximately 2 thousand German aircraft.
In the first days of the offensive, German tank wedges managed to advance on the northern wing of the Kursk bulge to a distance of 15 km, and on the southern wing - up to 25 km. The most violent attack was in the direction of Prokhorovka, where the largest tank battle of World War II took place on July 10-15: up to 1,200 tanks and self-propelled guns took part in it on both sides.
A tank crosses a trench with soldiers during a training exercise. November 1942
In this battle, Soviet troops lost 500 tanks out of 800 (60%), and the Germans lost 300 out of 400 (75%). One of the reasons for our losses was the superiority of the new heavy German Tigers over the medium Soviet T-34s in armor resistance and armament (the 88-mm gun of the German tanks versus the 76-mm gun of the Soviet tanks).
However, despite the fact that the Soviet troops lost significantly more heavy equipment in this battle and in the Battle of Kursk as a whole, such a scale of losses for the Germans at that time was virtually irreplaceable. This is stated in the memoirs of H. Guderian, in 1943, the inspector general of the Wehrmacht tank forces: “The armored forces, replenished with such great difficulty, due to large losses in people and equipment, were out of action for a long time... and already more There were no quiet days on the Eastern Front."
On July 12, Soviet troops near Kursk launched an offensive in the general direction of Orel (Operation Kutuzov), Belgorod and Kharkov (Operation Rumyantsev), the German defense could not stand it. On August 5, Oryol and Belgorod were liberated. On that day, for the first time since the beginning of the war, an artillery salute was fired in Moscow in honor of the successes achieved - 12 salvoes from 124 guns. Kharkov was liberated on August 23. The partisans provided enormous assistance. They carried out Operation Rail War behind German lines, blowing up tens of thousands of kilometers of railroad tracks. In total, about 100 thousand partisans took part in the operation. Their actions were coordinated by the Central Headquarters of the partisan movement (chief P. Ponomarenko).
Air strikes were of great importance in the Battle of Kursk. Summer 1943
The Wehrmacht lost 30 selected divisions in the Battle of Kursk, including 7 tank divisions, about 500 thousand soldiers killed, wounded and missing, 1.5 thousand tanks, more than 3 thousand aircraft, 3 thousand guns. The losses of the Soviet troops were even more significant: 850 thousand people, over 6 thousand tanks and self-propelled guns, 5 thousand guns and mortars, 1.5 thousand aircraft. Nevertheless, the balance of forces at the front changed in favor of the Red Army. It had at its disposal significantly more fresh reserves than the Wehrmacht.
“The great Soviet offensive, which began in the summer of 1943 at Kursk and Orel,” says the “Brief History of the Second World War,” published by the US War Department in 1945, “continued uninterrupted until the following spring, when the German invaders were completely driven out of Southern Russia".
Victories at Stalingrad and Kursk, and then in the Battle of the Dnieper completed a radical turning point in the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet people and the Red Army perked up, which could not but affect the mood and general well-being of the people. According to recent studies by Russian doctors, in 1943, the civilian mortality rate in the USSR was halved.
German tanks destroyed near Prokhorovka. Summer 1943
The expulsion of Italo-German troops from North Africa (May 1943), the stabilization of the situation in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, in Southeast Asia, where Japanese troops were stopped by British and Indian formations at the borders of India, indicated that a radical change was taking place and in World War II in general.
Great battles of the Great Patriotic War 1941 1945 – victory point
- Berlin operation (from April 16 to May 8, 1945.)
What major battle ended the Great Patriotic War? Of course, the great battle for Berlin was the “den of the enemy.” Despite the fact that the war was already hopelessly lost by the Third Reich, Hitler and other Nazi fanatics drove into battle everyone who could hold a weapon - even minor children and people of retirement age. Of course, this didn't help.
Three fronts under the command of Marshals Zhukov, Rokossovsky and Konev broke through the defensive lines of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS on April 16-19; April 19-25 – the defending groups were dismembered and surrounded; April 26 - May 2 - they took and cleared the city of Berlin.
Marshal Zhukov at the signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany
The last main battle of the Great Patriotic War was extremely violent and bloody. The Germans, fooled by Nazi propaganda broadcasting about the “hellish revenge” that the Russians would take, fought to the death. Despite this, the main objectives of the operation were achieved in just 17 days.
Only the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War are listed here. There were also a great many smaller battles - defensive and offensive. All of them forged our common Victory, and not just the largest battles of the Great Patriotic War.
Defense of Leningrad
A special place in the history of World War II is occupied by the defense of Leningrad, the largest (after Moscow) city in Russia and the entire USSR, the second, unofficial capital of the country. The longest in the war, it lasted 900 days - from July 10, 1941 to January 27, 1944. During this time, more than 800 thousand city residents died from hunger, artillery shelling and air raids. According to the Barbarossa plan, the capture of Leningrad was supposed to precede the capture of Moscow. Army Group North (commanded by Field Marshal General V. Leeb) launched an attack on Leningrad from the southwest through the Baltic states. From the north, together with German troops, the Finnish army (commander Marshal K. Mannerheim) advanced.
The Germans are shelling the center of Leningrad. A shell exploded on Nevsky Prospekt
A Spanish division and Norwegian and Swedish “volunteers” acted on the enemy’s side. On September 8, 1941, the city was surrounded. The entire civilian population (over 2.5 million people), the troops of the Leningrad Front (in the most critical period of September - October 1941, they were commanded by Army General G. Zhukov, and from June 1942 - by General, later Marshal L.) were surrounded by the blockade. Govorov). The enemy failed to take the city on the move. During the assault on the defense of Leningrad, some German divisions lost up to two-thirds of their personnel. On October 2, Finnish troops captured Petrozavodsk, which they renamed Eenislinna. However, they failed to connect with the Wehrmacht units advancing on Leningrad. But the Soviet troops were also drained of blood.
The most difficult test for the townspeople was hunger. From November 20, 1941, the lowest standards for the distribution of bread on ration cards were established: workers and technical workers were given 250 g per day, employees, dependents and children - 125 g each. In units of the first line of defense and on warships, for Air Force flight technical personnel - 500 g each, in all other military units - 300 g each.
Mass death of the population began. In December, 53 thousand people died (more than in the entire 1940), in January 1942 - over 100 thousand, in February - more than 100 thousand, in March - over 95 thousand. People died at home in cold apartments , at work, on the streets, in lines for bread. The event was the Road of Life - a route laid on the ice of Lake Ladoga, along which, from November 21, food and ammunition were delivered to the city and, on the way back, the civilian population, mainly women and children, was evacuated. During the period of operation of the Road of Life - until March 1943 - 1,615 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to the city along it and by water, 1 million 37 thousand Leningraders and many thousands of wounded soldiers were evacuated. In total, during the blockade, 1 million 750 thousand people were taken away from Leningrad - the only case in history of the evacuation of such a huge number of residents from a besieged city. To transport petroleum products along the bottom of Lake Ladoga, a pipeline was laid.
In besieged Leningrad there was not only no bread, but also no water.
Despite all the mistakes, miscalculations, and voluntary decisions (one of them was the unjustified cancellation by Marshal K. Voroshilov at the end of July 1941 of the order of the front commander, General M. Popov, to retreat in the Sortavala area, which led to the encirclement of three Soviet divisions), maximum measures were taken to delivering food to the city and intensifying military efforts to break the blockade. Four such attempts were made. The first - in September 1941, on the third day after Nazi troops cut off land communications with the city; the second - in October 1941, despite the critical situation that had developed on the approaches to Moscow; the third - in January 1942; fourth - in August - September 1942
The main reason for the failures was the lack of forces and resources allocated to break the blockade. And only in January 1943, when the main forces of the Wehrmacht were pulled towards Stalingrad, the blockade was partially broken through (Operation Iskra), and on a narrow strip of the southern shore of Lake Ladoga a corridor 8-11 km wide was created, along which they were laid in 17 days. railway and highway. The situation in Leningrad improved significantly. In January 1944, as a result of the Leningrad-Novgorod operation, the ring around the city was completely eliminated. At the cost of stubborn defense and huge losses, the Leningraders blocked the path to the center of Russia for German troops.
The blockade has been broken! Meeting of soldiers of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts. January 1943
Defense of Sevastopol. October 30, 1941 - July 4, 1942
The Germans tightly surrounded the city. Fighting took place throughout the territory. The Soviet army fought back as best it could. German troops, in turn, actively used air raids and artillery. The city turned into ruins. The enemies were unable to advance and were repulsed. But only for a while. Soon our troops were left without ammunition and decided to evacuate. Hiding in bomb shelters and casemates, the soldiers fought until their last breath. The forces were not equal. A few days later, all the remaining people defending the city were killed or captured. The Germans captured Crimea and Sevastopol.
Operation Bagration
The largest campaign of 1944 on the Soviet-German front was the Belarusian Operation Bagration (June 23 - August 29). Its goal was the defeat of the German Army Group Center and the liberation of Belarus. Soviet troops in this sector of the front numbered 1.2 million people, 4 thousand tanks, 2.4 thousand guns, 54 thousand aircraft and outnumbered the enemy, who had 850 thousand people here with less military equipment. The offensive was carried out by the forces of five fronts: 1st Baltic, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Belorussian and 1st Ukrainian, commanded respectively by generals I. Bagramyan, K. Rokossovsky, G. Zakharov, I. Chernyakhovsky and I. Konev. The actions were coordinated by Marshals G. Zhukov and A. Vasilevsky. The timing of the start of the operation was agreed upon with the beginning of the Allied landings in Normandy.
"Volley of guards mortars." April 1944
Soviet tank crews on a damaged German tank after the battle. April 1944
The operation developed rapidly and successfully. On July 3, Soviet troops approached Minsk. Soon they reached the cities of Baranovichi and Molodechno. In Vilnius, the German garrison managed to escape from encirclement. The Red Army reached the approaches to Riga. To the south, troops of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts advanced towards Grodno and Brest. On July 13, unexpectedly for the enemy, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front went on the offensive. Having liberated Lvov, they reached the suburbs of Warsaw in stubborn battles at the end of August.
The advance of the Red Army, whose forces had been exhausted by this time, was stopped by counterattacks of fresh German troops aimed at strengthening Army Group Center. The results of Operation Bagration were outstanding. During it, the most powerful group of German armies was thrown back 550-600 km from the previous front line. 17 enemy divisions and 3 brigades were completely destroyed. And the total German losses over two months of fighting, including as a result of the active actions of Belarusian partisans, amounted to 550 thousand people.
Three years after the start of the war, Soviet soldiers restore the sign of the USSR state border. Summer 1944
In the context of the successful offensive of the Soviet fronts and the Allied offensive in France, an assassination attempt was made on July 20 on Hitler.
The Red Army also suffered significant losses in the Belarusian operation. Only irretrievable losses amounted to 175 thousand people, 580 thousand military personnel were wounded. The Soviet fronts lost 2,900 tanks and 2,400 guns during the offensive. Nevertheless, in the summer-autumn campaign of 1944, the balance of forces changed even more in favor of the Red Army. By the end of 1944, 6.5 million Soviet soldiers were opposed to 2 million German soldiers (plus 190 thousand military personnel allied with the Wehrmacht).
"Soldier's Labor" Private of the 928th Artillery Regiment, part of the 367th Infantry Division. October 1944
In 1944, Soviet troops advanced into Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Finland and completed their liberation mission on the lands of Czechoslovakia, Norway and the Danish island of Bornholm.
Battles of the Renaissance and Modern Times
The end of the Middle Ages was marked by an increase in population and economy. The struggle between states intensified, and this accelerated the development of military affairs. The invention of firearms contributed to the emergence of a new type of infantry, which regained a major role on the battlefield.
- Wars of the New Age
- Armies of the Renaissance
- Arab conquests
- Conquests of the Mongols
- Ottoman conquests
- Warlords of the New Age
- Gradual attack of fortresses
- Battles at sea
- Livonian War
- Russian-Crimean War (1571-1572)
- War between Spain and England (1587-1604)
- Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)
- Weapons of the Thirty Years' War
- Battle of Breitenfeld
- Battle of Solebey
- Northern War (1700-1721)
- War of the Spanish Succession (1700-1714)
- Seven Years' War (1756-1763)
- Russian-Turkish War (1768-1774)
- Russian army and navy in the second half of the 18th century
- Russian-Turkish War (1787-1791)
The Living and the Dead of Colonel Kutepov
On July 12, the German 3rd Panzer Division under the command of the future field marshal and Hitler’s favorite Walter Model tried to break through to the city from the south. In this direction, near the village of Buynichi, the defense was held by the infantrymen of Colonel Semyon Kutepov from the 172nd Infantry Division with the support of the artillery regiment of Colonel Ivan Mazalov. During the difficult 14-hour battle, 39 German tanks and armored personnel carriers were knocked out. The enemy retreated.
The feat was immortalized by war correspondent and writer Konstantin Simonov, who the next day, together with photographer Pavel Troshkin, came to the Buinichi field. They saw with their own eyes damaged tanks, well-equipped deep trenches, strong observation posts and dugouts, and uninterrupted communications.
The commander of the 388th regiment, Semyon Kutepov, told what happened:
They say: tanks, tanks. And we beat them. Yes! And we will beat. If the infantry decided not to leave and dug in, then no tanks can do anything with it, you can believe me. Tomorrow, they will probably repeat the same thing. And we will repeat the same thing
Many years later, Simonov put these words into the mouth of one of the main characters of his trilogy about the war, “The Living and the Dead,” General Serpilin. Whom he copied from Kutepov: a tall, thin man with a tired face, gentle blue or gray eyes and a kind smile. In the 1964 film adaptation of the same name by Alexey Stolper, Serpilin was played by Anatoly Papanov. For the front-line actor, this role became one of the best in his career.
Semyon Kutepov before the war
Photo:
Later, Simonov realized that Kutepov knew that the Germans were crossing the Dnieper to the right and left of Mogilev and that he would have to fight surrounded. But he, an old soldier who had fought as an officer in World War I, had no intention of leaving his position and was ready to die rather than retreat. And so it happened. The regiment fought to the end.
The fighting for the city continued until July 26. By decree of the Supreme Council of the USSR of August 10, 1941, Kutepov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. And in September 1979, according to Simonov’s will, his ashes were scattered on the Buinichi field - at the place where he first saw how the formidable enemy was stopped.
WAR. BORDER BATTLES (06/22/1941 – 06/29/1941)
Border battles of 1941
- defensive battles of Soviet troops in the first days of the Great Patriotic War. They took place on the territory of the Lithuanian, Latvian, Belorussian SSR and in the southwestern regions of Ukraine and Moldova. The most famous battles are:
1. Defense of the Brest Fortress
2. Minsk-Bialystok defensive operation 3. Tank battle in the Dubno-Lutsk-Brody area 4. Baltic defensive operation.
1.
DEFENSE OF THE BREST FORTRESS
In February 1942, on one of the front sectors in the Orel region, Soviet troops defeated the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division, which stormed the Brest Fortress in the first days of the war. At the same time, the archives of the headquarters of this division fell into the hands of our soldiers. While sorting through the papers, Soviet officers drew attention to a document called: “Combat report on the occupation of Brest-Litovsk.” The document was a step-by-step description of the battles for Brest. German staff officers reported:
“A stunning attack on a fortress in which a brave defender sits costs a lot of blood. This simple truth was once again proven during the capture of the Brest Fortress. The Russians in Brest-Litovsk fought exceptionally persistently and tenaciously, they showed excellent infantry training and proved a remarkable will to resist.”
This “Combat Report on the Occupation of Brest-Litovsk” was translated into Russian, and excerpts from it were published in 1942 in the newspaper “Red Star”. Thus, the Soviet people first learned about the feat of the heroes of the Brest Fortress.
Brest became the first Soviet border garrison, which covered the central highway leading to Minsk and further to Moscow, therefore, in the first days of the war, the Brest Fortress took a powerful blow from the fascist army.
By the morning of June 22, 1941, there were several military units of the Red Army in Brest with a total number of more than 7,000 people. Together with the military personnel, their 300 families lived here: wives, children, old people. During the first bombing and shelling, several thousand Soviet soldiers were able to escape beyond the city limits and decided to move east to join the main forces of the Red Army. A small garrison (3.5 thousand people) remained in the Brest Fortress under the command of Major P.M. Gavrilov, captain I.N. Zubachev and regimental commissar E.M. Fomina.
The assault on the Brest Fortress was carried out by the 45th German Infantry Division under the command of Major General Fr. Schlipper. This was a special division of the Wehrmacht. She was the first to triumphantly enter Paris, the first to cross Belgium and Holland, and distinguished herself in battles during the capture of Poland. The 45th Division was formed in Hitler's homeland, Austria, and was considered an elite unit of the German army. Hitler himself closely followed her successes. For the quick occupation of Brest, Schlipper's 45th division was given auxiliary troops, so the total number of fascist troops advancing on Brest was more than 20,000 people. The German General Staff hoped that the surprise of the attack and powerful artillery preparation would break the resistance of the Soviet garrison and allow the assault on the Brest Fortress to be completed by 12:00 noon. However, the reality turned out to be different.
The assault on the Brest Fortress began with a powerful artillery bombardment, during which the Germans used one of the most powerful weapons of that time - the Karl self-propelled artillery mortar (600 mm caliber). As a result of the shelling in the fortress, many officers and soldiers of the Red Army were immediately killed, warehouses with food and weapons were blown up and the water supply was destroyed. In the first minutes, the fortress garrison was demoralized. However, subsequent events came as a surprise to the Germans. This is what Regimental Pastor R. Gschöpf, a participant in the assault, wrote later:
“The Russians were raised by our fire right from their beds: this was evident from the fact that the first prisoners were in their underwear. However, the Russians recovered surprisingly quickly, formed into battle groups behind our broken companies and began to organize a desperate and stubborn defense.”
In the central part of the fortress, and then in other parts of it, the Nazis unexpectedly met stiff resistance from the Red Army. Only by 9 o'clock in the morning on June 22 did the Wehrmacht manage to close the blockade ring around the Brest Fortress. After this, the methodical destruction of its defenders began. Against them, the Germans, in addition to artillery and aviation, used incendiary cartridges and chemical weapons.
After the Nazis managed to break into the fortress, a large group of its defenders, led by Lieutenant A.A. Vinogradov tried to escape from the encirclement, but this attempt was unsuccessful: almost all the soldiers and officers died or were captured. By the evening of June 24, the enemy managed to capture most of the territory of the fortress, but in various parts of it the resistance of the Soviet garrison continued. Thus, a detachment of 400 Russian soldiers under the command of Major P. Gavrilov stubbornly defended on the Eastern Wall. Only by the end of June did the Germans manage to partially break the resistance of this detachment. The seriously wounded Major Gavrilov was captured. But the surviving soldiers of the Red Army continued to resist.
On June 29-30, in the basements of the Brest Fortress, a group of its defenders led by Lieutenant Potapov and border guards A.M. who joined his detachment. Kizhevatogo continued to fight. On June 29, they all tried to break through to the east, but died under the fire of fascist guns and mortars. At the same time, the Nazis dropped an aerial bomb weighing 1800 kg on the fortress, after which the Eastern Wall finally fell. Thus ended the period of organized Soviet resistance to the advancing German units.
However, until the end of July 1941, scattered groups of its defenders remained in the fortress, who resisted the enemy using guerrilla warfare methods. Thus, according to the commander of the Brest occupation forces, it became known that back on July 23, 1941, German soldiers on the territory of the Brest Fortress were repeatedly shelled from the casemates of the citadel. The continuation of resistance is also evidenced by inscriptions on the walls of the fortress made by Soviet soldiers in the last days of July.
“There were three of us Muscovites - Ivanov, Stepanchikov, Zhuntyaev, who defended this fortress, and we took an oath: we will die, but we will not leave here. July. 1941". This was followed by a note: “I was left alone, Stepanchikov and Zhuntyaev died. The Germans are in the fortress itself. There's only one grenade left, but I won't go down alive. Comrades, avenge us!”
“I'm dying, but I'm not giving up. Farewell, Motherland! “There was no signature under these words, but at the bottom there was a very clearly visible date - “July 20, 1941.”
These inscriptions indicate that the fortress continued resistance until the end of July 1941, and according to local residents, the defenders of the citadel held out until the beginning of August (people heard shots and sounds of battle on the territory of the fortress).
The defense of the Brest Fortress became the first and very eloquent lesson that showed the Germans what awaited them in the future. It is no coincidence that Wehrmacht General Gunther Blumentritt, summing up the results of the border battles, wrote in his diary:
“The opening battle in June 1941 showed us the Red Army for the first time. Our losses reached 50 percent. The OGPU and the “women’s battalion” defended the old fortress in Brest for more than a week, fighting to the last, despite the heaviest bombing and shelling from large-caliber guns. There we learned for the first time what it meant to fight according to the Russian model.”
2.
MINSK-BELOSTOK
DEFENSIVE OPERATION
(June 22 - July 8, 1941)
The Bialystok-Minsk defensive battle lasted only 18 days, from June 22 to July 9, 1941, but it was one of the most difficult battles that our people had to endure during the Great Patriotic War.
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Bialystok "cauldron" 1941
On June 22, 1941, simultaneously from the territory of Lithuania and from the territory of Poland in the direction of Bialystok - Minsk, unexpectedly for the Red Army, an offensive of selected German tank, infantry and motorized divisions began (Wehrmacht generals G. Hoth, A. Strauss, G. von Kluge, G. Guderian ). As a result of this, our Western Front (commanded by General Pavlov) was cut into several parts. Soviet troops retreated with defensive battles. The lack of reliable communications and the death of the commanders of the infantry and tank units of the Red Army led to the fact that the overall command of the Western Front was disrupted. The Soviet General Staff (General G.K. Zhukov) did not have accurate information about the position of our troops in the area of the Wehrmacht offensive, and therefore could not coordinate the actions of the front.
Several hastily organized counterattacks by the Red Army (June 23–24, 1941) failed to stop the enemy, and Soviet troops gradually rolled back to the former Polish city of Bialystok. In 1939, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, this city was transferred to the USSR and became the center of the Bialystok region of Soviet Belarus. In June 1941, it was here that the Red Army troops retreated under the attacks of fascist tanks. By June 25, the so-called “Bialystok ledge” had formed here, which had the shape of a bottle with its neck facing east. The exit from this “protrusion” was one single road Volkovysk - Slonim, which among Russian soldiers then received the name “road of death.”
The German command set as its goal to block the “neck” of the ledge and encircle a large group of Soviet troops near Bialystok. On June 25, 1941, our troops received an order to immediately leave Bialystok and leave the encirclement. However, time was lost. In the Bialystok area, the Nazis dropped several airborne assault forces and sabotage groups by plane, which supported the Wehrmacht offensive. On June 29, German tanks managed to close the ring, and units of the 10th Army of the Red Army were surrounded. On June 29–30, 1941, fighting in this area reached particular intensity. According to the chief of the German general staff, F. Halder, Soviet divisions pinned down the entire center and part of the right wing of the advancing Wehrmacht forces here. In his war diary, Halder wrote:
“In general, it has now become clear that the Russians are not thinking about retreating, but, on the contrary, are throwing everything they have at their disposal towards the invading German troops...”
Soviet prisoners of war. Summer 1941.
The fate of the Soviet 10th Army is tragic. In heavy defensive battles, its main forces were defeated and destroyed. Tens of thousands of soldiers and officers of the Red Army were captured. Only a few managed to escape from the encirclement, and they continued the fight against the enemy as part of the partisan formations of Belarus.
Minsk "cauldron" 1941
Having defeated the main forces of the Western Front near Bialystok, the 2nd and 3rd German tank groups continued their attack on Minsk. In the Slonim area, the Nazis unexpectedly encountered three Soviet tank divisions, which, in fierce battles, delayed the Wehrmacht offensive for a day. However, on June 27, units of Guderian’s 3rd Panzer Army broke through to Minsk and cut the Minsk-Moscow highway. The battle for the capital of Soviet Belarus began.
Minsk was defended by 4 rifle divisions of the Red Army under the command of division commander V.A. Yushkevich, Major General A.N. Ermakov and Lieutenant General P.M. Filatova. Having broken the resistance of our units, Guderian's tanks burst into Minsk on June 28, 1941.
The remaining units of the 2nd and 3rd tank groups of the Wehrmacht were able to surround four Soviet armies in Nalibokskaya Pushcha, which formed the “Minsk Cauldron” here. Until July 8, Soviet soldiers fought bravely when surrounded, but the forces were unequal. On July 8, 1941, the Minsk “cauldron” was destroyed by the Nazis.
During the general offensive of the German Army Center, the Germans achieved serious operational successes:
- inflicted a heavy defeat on the Soviet Western Front;
- captured part of Belarus;
- advanced deeper into the Soviet Union by 300 kilometers or more.
Only the forces of the Second Strategic Echelon of the Red Army, which took positions along the Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers, were able to stop the further advance of the Wehrmacht towards Moscow.
Total losses of the Red Army in the Bialystok and Minsk “cauldrons”:
- 11 rifle divisions;
- 2 cavalry divisions;
- 6 tank divisions;
- 4 corps commanders and 4 division commanders were killed and missing;
- 324 thousand Soviet officers and soldiers were captured; among them - 2 corps commanders and 6 division commanders
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Dmitry Mikhailovich Karbyshev
(1880 – 1945)
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One of the highest Soviet officers who was captured by the Nazis on the Western Front in June 1941 was Dmitry Mikhailovich Karbyshev
, Lieutenant General of the Engineering Troops, Professor of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army.
On the eve of the war, he arrived in Grodno (Western Military District), where he inspected the construction of fortifications. At the time of the Nazi attack, General Karbyshev was at the headquarters of the 10th Army, with which he was trying to get out of the encirclement.
While trying to cross the front line in the Smolensk area, Dmitry Mikhailovich was seriously shell-shocked and captured in an unconscious state. From 1941 to 1945 he was kept in the Nazi concentration camps Hammelburg, Majdanek, Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen, Mauthausen. Abwehr officers were assigned to him and tried to persuade him to betray. One of them asked General Karbyshev a question why he, a hereditary nobleman, served the Bolsheviks. The general replied: “I do not serve the Tsar or the Bolsheviks, I serve Russia.”
Until 1945, the Germans hoped to force a Russian officer into their service. He was called to this by the former Soviet general Vlasov, who in 1942 near Leningrad voluntarily surrendered to the Germans and created the so-called “Russian Liberation Army” (ROA) from traitors and criminals, which fought against the Soviet Union on the side of the fascists. However, General Karbyshev remained faithful to the oath. The Abwehr verdict was clear:
“...This largest Soviet fortifier, a career officer of the old Russian army, a man who was over sixty, turned out to be fanatically devoted to the idea of serving military duty and patriotism. General Karbyshev can be considered hopeless in the sense of using us as a specialist in military engineering.”
After this, the Nazis sent Dmitry Mikhailovich to Mauthausen for hard labor. Despite his age, the general became one of the activists of the camp resistance movement here. The traitors handed over the resistance members to the Germans, after which D.M. Karbyshev, together with five hundred of his comrades, having survived brutal torture, was put on the camp parade ground. In a frost of 12 degrees, Soviet officers were doused with ice water from hoses and left to freeze. After his death, the body of General Karbyshev was burned in the ovens of Mauthausen.
At the end of the war, surviving members of the Mauthausen anti-fascist resistance reported to the Soviet government how Russian general Dmitry Mikhailovich Karbyshev died. On August 16, 1946, he was posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Let the feat of this courageous officer remain forever in the memory of the Russian people. Let his life become for all of us a bright ideal of serving the Motherland!
Consequences
Minsk-Bialystok defensive operation
The defeat of the Red Army at Bialystok and Minsk had a strong psychological impact on Soviet soldiers, on the country's leadership and on our entire people. But no one gave up, no one stopped fighting the enemy.
Europe considered that the USSR was completely defeated and would not be able to resist the advancing fascism in the future. However, subsequent developments cooled Hitler's ardor and forced Europe to change its idea of the Soviet people and their Red Army.
The fate of the command of the Western Front:
- On June 30, 1941, the commander of the Western Front, Army General D.G., was arrested. Pavlov;
- Following him, the Chief of Staff of the Western Front, Major General V.E., was arrested. Klimovskikh, front communications chief, Major General A.T. Grigoriev, chief of front artillery, Lieutenant General N.A. Klich, commander of the 14th mechanized corps, Major General S.I. Oborin, commander of the 4th Army of the Red Army, Major General A.A. Korobkov;
- then lower-ranking commanders were arrested;
- On July 22, 1941, they were all shot; in 1957 these officers were posthumously rehabilitated.
3.
TANK BATTLE
in the Dubno-Lutsk-Brody area
(Ukraine,
June 23 - 29, 1941)
The defensive tank battle of the Red Army in the Dubno-Lutsk-Brody triangle is one of the largest tank battles in human history. In scale, it is second only to the Battle of Kursk in 1943. At the cost of huge losses, Soviet troops managed to delay the advance of the fascist armies to Kyiv and further to Moscow for a week.
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Having defeated Poland and France, crossed all of Europe, occupied the Balkans and Scandinavia, the Germans gained extensive experience in conducting tank battles using the Blitzkrieg scheme. At the beginning of the war, the Soviet command was not sufficiently familiar with this scheme, but in the very first battles, Soviet commanders learned to break the system of combat learned by the Wehrmacht.
Tank "blitzkrieg" of the Wehrmacht during the lightning occupation of Poland.
The general tactics of the German combat strategy in the early 1940s was “blitzkrieg,” which was characterized primarily by powerful attacks by tank and motorized forces surrounding the enemy army.
Leaving the enemy “cauldrons” for the German infantry to follow the tanks, the Wehrmacht tank groups continued their lightning-fast offensive, cutting the enemy armies into pieces and destroying entire fronts of the defending enemy forces, which is what happened in the Western Military District of the USSR.
At the same time, the “blitzkrieg” provided for the advancement of tank wedges along specially marked highways into enemy territory. Such highways were called “Panzerstrasse” (tank roads). The Wehrmacht regulations prohibited tanks and the infantry accompanying them from leaving the specified roads and even walking along the side of the road.
In Europe, where roads were developed long ago, this tactic showed excellent results. However, in Russia, the Wehrmacht was immediately faced with the lack of Panzerstrasse, which slowed down the advance of tank wedges in a given direction. In addition, Russian combat tactics, when even isolated isolated groups of the Red Army offered stubborn resistance to the enemy, regardless of losses, became an obstacle that neither Hitler’s strategists nor the active Wehrmacht units could cross.
On the eve of the tank battle Dubno - Lutsk - Brody, Wehrmacht tanks moved towards Kiev in three directions: along the northern road to Lutsk (Army Group North), along the central road to Dubno (Army Group Center) and along the southern road to Brody (Army Group armies "South").
Initially, the central direction was considered the main direction. However, on the northern road, German tanks unexpectedly came across powerful resistance from the 22nd Soviet Mechanized Corps, whose defenses the Nazis were unable to break through. Thus, the “blitzkrieg” tactics were immediately violated. The tanks of the German Army Group Center were forced to suspend the offensive in their direction and move to the aid of the northern group.
On June 23, 1941, between the northern and central roads of the Wehrmacht, Soviet tankers, unexpectedly for the enemy, launched a powerful counter-offensive, stopping the advance of the central group of the Wehrmacht, which was rushing to the aid of its northern partners. Both sides suffered heavy losses. It became clear to the Soviet military command that our tanks were inferior in combat qualities to the German “Panzers” (the Soviet corps was armed with T-26 tanks, the corps did not have a single new T-34 tank). On June 24, the Soviet counteroffensive fizzled out. However, the Germans suffered heavy losses here and temporarily lost contact with the northern and southern groups.
On the same day, the corps of Colonel K.A. Semenchenko (100 T-26 tanks) advanced towards the central tank group of the Wehrmacht. However, at the beginning of the battle, Semyonchenko’s tank was hit, and the commander himself, severely shell-shocked, was captured. His entire crew died in a battle with fascist tankers, but delayed their advance for several hours. After this, there were no serious obstacles left on the enemy’s path, and by the end of June 25, the Germans captured Lutsk, and even earlier, Lvov.
On June 27, the Soviet command scheduled another counterattack against the enemy, the purpose of which was the liberation of Lutsk and the Soviet Lviv, which was occupied by that time. Having gathered the remaining reserves into a single fist, the Soviet tankers began an offensive in all directions. They managed to break through to the outskirts of Nazi-occupied Dubno and capture the rear reserves of the 11th Wehrmacht Division there, including several dozen intact “Panzers”. However, during the night the Germans transferred fresh forces to the battle area and went on the offensive in the morning. It was supported by aviation and artillery. Another counterattack by Soviet tanks failed again. On June 29, our tankers received an order to retreat.
The result of the tank battle Dubno - Lutsk - Brody
was the defeat of the Red Army, accompanied by large losses of people and armored vehicles. But the Soviet tank crews completed their task: already in this battle, the German “blitzkrieg” tactics were thwarted, and the Wehrmacht’s advance towards Kyiv was stopped for a week.
4.
BALTIC
defensive operation
(June 22 – July 9, 1941)
The Baltic strategic defensive operation is the name adopted in Soviet historiography for defensive battles in Lithuania, Latvia, the northwestern regions of the RSFSR and the Baltic Sea from June 22 to July 9, 1941.
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The German offensive in the Baltic states was part of Plan Barbarossa and was carried out by German Army Group North and the left wing of Army Group Center. They were opposed by Soviet troops of the Northwestern Front, supported by aviation and the Baltic Fleet. The goal of the Nazis was the destruction of Soviet ground armies in the Baltic states, the capture of Leningrad and the liquidation of the Soviet Baltic Fleet.
Combat operations at sea began on June 18, 1941, when German boats began laying minefields in front of the mouth of the Gulf of Finland. On June 22 at 3:40 in the morning, German aircraft bombed Soviet airfields and concentrations of our ground forces here. At 4:00 am the Germans carried out a short artillery preparation and began an offensive along the entire front. They crossed the Neman and were able to cut the North-Western Front of the Red Army into separate groups. The main blow, in accordance with Hitler’s “blitzkrieg” doctrine, was delivered by Wehrmacht tank formations. They broke through the Soviet defenses and, without stopping to fight with the dismembered formations of the Red Army, continued to quickly move east.
On June 23, Kaunas was captured by the Germans, and Vilnius fell on June 24. On June 26, Soviet troops began a stubborn struggle to destroy fascist bridgeheads on the Western Dvina. Headquarters charged them with wearing down the enemy with active defense. However, the defensive battles of the Red Army were not successful: the Soviet divisions were thrown back to the east. But for the Wehrmacht these battles became very difficult. Thus, the German mechanized division “Totenkopf” lost up to two-thirds of its personnel here.
On July 3, 1941, after a short regrouping of forces, Wehrmacht units launched a new offensive. On July 9, Pskov fell and the Soviet defenses were broken through along its entire length. The Baltic defensive operation is over. The remnants of the forces of the North-Western Front emerged from the semi-encirclement and were transferred to the Pskov region. Some of the Red Army's combat formations remained behind enemy lines. The Chief of the German General Staff Halder wrote about this:
“In the rear of Army Group North, serious concern is caused by the numerous remnants of defeated enemy units, some of which even have tanks. They roam the forests behind our troops. Due to the vastness of the territory and the limited number of our troops in the rear, it is extremely difficult to fight these groups.”
results
Baltic defensive
operation
Despite the defeat of the Red Army, the German General Staff during the Baltic defensive operation never completed the task set by Hitler to encircle and destroy the Red Army troops in the Baltics, capture Leningrad and at least block the Soviet Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Finland. Therefore, the consequences of this battle for the Soviet Union were both positive and negative.
Negative consequences:
- loss of a significant part of the territory (Lithuania, Latvia, part of Estonia and some northwestern regions of the RSFSR);
- large losses of personnel and weapons;
- loss of part of the Baltic coast and naval bases in Riga and Libau;
- encirclement by the enemy of parts of the Western Front from the north;
- the creation by the Germans of a bridgehead for the attack on Leningrad.
Positive consequences
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- preservation of a large part of Estonia, the Moonsund Islands and the naval base in Tallinn;
- preservation of the Baltic Fleet;
- Wehrmacht stop on the outskirts of Leningrad.
Raseiniai battle
A special page of the Baltic defensive operation of 1941 was the unique battle of Soviet tank crews in the area of the Lithuanian city of Raseiniai. Our country learned about him after the war from reports in the European press.
After the end of World War II, a group of senior Wehrmacht officers was captured by the Americans. At the request of the Pentagon, they wrote several reports on Soviet-German tank battles. These reports were planned to be used as teaching aids for the training of American tank crews. One of the reports contained a description of the battle, during which a lone Soviet KV tank held back the advance of the German tank group "Rauth" for two days.
On June 23, 1941, during the Baltic defensive operation, German aviation intelligence reported that Soviet tanks were approaching the positions of the Seckendorf group. These were combat vehicles of the 2nd Tank Division of the Red Army. Heavy Soviet tanks instantly passed through the battle formations of the German infantry and burst into artillery positions. German 37mm anti-tank guns could not penetrate their armor. The situation was saved by German anti-aircraft gunners, who placed their 88-mm cannons on direct fire. Having lost several tanks, the Soviet tank battalion retreated.
While the Seckendorf group was fighting Soviet tankers, in the sector of the neighboring mechanized group Raus they were preparing to send Soviet prisoners of war to the nearest concentration camp. On June 24, vehicles with prisoners left the Rous positions and half an hour later they came across a lone Soviet KV tank. According to local residents, this tank appeared here a day ago, stopped at a crossroads and stood motionless all night.
When the German vehicles entered the tank's visibility range, the Soviet KV opened fire on them. Having turned the trucks around, the Germans quickly returned. Routh headquarters was alarmed. The Nazis were warned about the impending tank counterattack of the Red Army and decided that it had begun. Communication with the headquarters of the 6th Wehrmacht division was disrupted. While the German signalmen were restoring it, a Nazi convoy with fuel, heading to the Rous location, came under attack from a Soviet tank. KV shot her at point-blank range, resulting in a traffic jam. Later, Routh staff officers mentioned 12 fuel tanks that were burned.
The Soviet KV remained motionless, probably running out of fuel, so it could not move. However, from time to time the tank fired at the Nazis who were trying to provide assistance to their defeated column. Most likely, the crew of the Soviet tank understood that this battle would be their last, but did not leave their position. The Nazis tried several times to destroy the car. Finally, they brought a battery of four 55mm anti-tank guns to the KV. Eight shells were fired at the HF, and the Germans decided that it was all over. But suddenly the KV turret turned towards the enemy battery and the tank began to fire. With a well-aimed hit, he immediately destroyed two German guns along with their crews.
Not risking continuing to fire at the KV from the remaining anti-tank guns, Rous requested from the command an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun that could penetrate the armor of a Soviet heavy tank. The arriving anti-aircraft gun approached the tank at 700 meters and began preparing to fire.
At that moment, the KV turned the turret and destroyed this gun with the first shot. The Germans were literally dumbfounded. At night they tried to mine and blow up a Soviet tank. When the miners crawled up to the tank in the dark, they discovered that the crew of the vehicle was alive: someone was walking around the vehicle, and the clanging of the hatch was heard. The Germans decided that it was local residents who were handing over food to the Soviet tank crews. When the footsteps died down, the miners set the charges. An explosion occurred, but it did not destroy the KV, but only tore its caterpillar tracks.
The next morning, while new anti-aircraft guns were being delivered to the Routh position, the group commander ordered his tankers to attack the KV and divert the attention of its crew so that the arriving anti-aircraft gunners could install the guns. Light German tanks began to circle around the Soviet KV, trying not to get hit by its shot. Finally, the German anti-aircraft guns prepared for direct fire and the first salvo was fired. The second shot was fatal. The turret of the Soviet tank froze. But the frightened fascists fired four more times at the burned-out KV.
Having destroyed the KV, the Nazis spent several hours clearing the road littered with wrecked cars and corpses of German soldiers. The KV was thrown into a ditch, and only at night the Nazis dared to approach the Soviet tank. One of them tapped on the armor, and suddenly the tank turret moved again. The Germans scattered. Then one of them crawled up in the car and threw a grenade into the tank through a hole in the armor. There was an explosion. When the smoke cleared, the Germans looked into the car through the hatch and found six dead crew members there. Their courage amazed the enemy so much that the Nazis took out the dead and buried them themselves.
In 1965, the remains of the heroes were transferred to the military cemetery in Raseiniai. The memorial plaque installed on their grave contains only three names: Ershov P.E., Smirnov V.A. and a soldier with the initials Sh.N.A. The names of the others remained unknown.
Eternal memory to them!
The parties did not achieve their goals
Along with the personnel leapfrog, there was a real strengthening of the Western Front. Six fresh combined arms armies were deployed in its rear. The front of the Mozhaisk defense line took up positions on the distant approaches to the capital. A little later, he transferred his units to the Reserve Front, led by General Georgy Zhukov. On July 24, the Central Front was formed, headed by Fyodor Kuznetsov.
The Red Army intensified its resistance. On July 19, the Germans occupied Velikiye Luki, and two days later they were unexpectedly driven out of them. Hermann Hoth noted in his memoirs that in connection with this, the mood of the Commander-in-Chief of the German Ground Forces, Field Marshal Walter von Brauchitsch, was depressed.
Marshal Semyon Timoshenko at pre-war exercises
Photo: Peter Bernstein / RIA Novosti
On the one hand, Smolensk had to be abandoned on July 28. Almost no reinforcements approached the besieged. While the infantry of the 8th and 20th corps came to the aid of the motorized divisions of the Wehrmacht. On the other hand, the Nazis failed to defeat the troops of the 16th and 20th armies, which crossed the Dnieper and entrenched themselves on the other bank.
Neither side achieved their goals, and balance was maintained in the central sector of the front. On July 30, Hitler ordered the exhausted troops of Army Group Center to go on the defensive. This decision was influenced by a complex of reasons.
Bad dream of brigade commander Gorbatov
Along with heroic episodes, there were phenomena of the opposite order. Another literary prototype of Serpilin, deputy commander of the 25th Rifle Corps Alexander Gorbatov, was sentenced to 15 years in the camps on false charges before the war. Despite the severe beatings, he did not admit guilt and served his sentence in Kolyma. In March 1941 he was released and, as an experienced military leader, was sent to the active army. In the pre-war rank of brigade commander.
Alexander Vasilyevich was repeatedly forced to stop units feverishly retreating to the east, reassign them to himself and forced them to take up defensive positions at the lines he indicated. He harshly suppressed panic, sometimes at gunpoint.
It all seemed like a bad dream to Gorbatov. “I tried to drive away the obsessive thought: “Did 1937-1938 really undermine the soldiers’ faith in their commanders so much that they still wonder if they are being commanded by “enemies of the people”? - the general later recalled. He concluded that the reason lay in the inexperience of untrained commanders who clumsily took on their responsibilities.
The future commandant of Berlin himself acted competently and decisively. Cut off from the encircled corps headquarters, Gorbatov organized the defense of Yartsevo and held it for four days.
The success of Leonid Petrovsky's corps
But the counterattacks continued. It couldn't have been any other way. According to the pre-war Charter, in the event of an attack, the Red Army was supposed to become the most attacking army in the world. Under no circumstances should you give the initiative to the enemy.
The 19th Army of General Ivan Konev and the 22nd Army of General Philip Ershakov attacked on the northern flank of the Western Front. The goal is the liberation of Vitebsk and access to the Western Dvina River. The 16th Army of General Mikhail Lukin, together with the 20th, was supposed to stabilize the situation in the center, between Shklov and Orsha. At the same time, Mikhail Fedorovich was appointed responsible for the defense of Smolensk. The 13th Army of General Fyodor Remezov and the 21st Army of General Fyodor Kuznetsov were ordered to push the Germans back from the bridgeheads east of Rogachev and Mogilev and advance on Bobruisk.
Success was achieved only in the south, where the Wehrmacht infantry was far behind its motorized divisions. The 63rd Rifle Corps of Corps Commander Leonid Petrovsky from the 21st Army quickly crossed the Dnieper and cleared the cities of Rogachev and Zhlobin from the Germans.
Commander of the 63rd Rifle Corps Leonid Petrovsky
Photo: from the personal archive of Olga Petrovskaya
The strange title of “comor commander” for 1941 was explained by the fact that before the war, Leonid Grigorievich was dismissed from the Red Army on absurd charges. And he was reinstated in the ranks of the Red Army on the initiative of Tymoshenko, not having managed to receive the rank of general by June 22 (he was awarded this later).
Along with counterattacks, the troops of the Western Front selflessly defended themselves in various sections of the Smolensk Bulge. Since July 10, there were fierce battles for Mogilev, which was defended by units from the 61st Rifle Corps of General Fyodor Bakunin and the 20th Mechanized Corps of General Andrei Nikitin.
