West Carpathian Operation

The Western Carpathian Operation ( Russian Западно-Карпатская наступательная операция , Sapadno-Karpatskaja nastupatelnaja operazija ) was an offensive of the Red Army during the Second World War , which lasted from January 12 to February 18, 1945.

Troop strength

The 4th Ukrainian Front (with the 1st Czechoslovakian Corps ) under Ivan Petrow together with the 2nd Ukrainian Front (with the 1st and 4th Romanian Armies) under Rodion Malinowski were supposed to push back the German troops gathered in the Western Carpathians the 1st Panzer Army , the 8th Army , parts of the 17th Army and the Hungarian 1st Army . In addition to the mountainous terrain, the depth of the German defense also included several lakes and rivers.

Structure of the opposing forces

course

The offensive began at the same time as the much larger Vistula-Oder operation , while the East Prussian operation (1945) opened a day later .

4th Ukrainian Front offensive

On January 12th at 8:15 am the 38th Army (Colonel General Moskalenko) of the 4th Ukrainian Front attacked after strong artillery preparation with two rifle corps (101st and 67th) - behind the left flank, the 52nd Rifle Corps stood as the second squadron Ready to push - on. The breakthrough at the German XI was achieved by January 15. SS Army Corps (General Kleinheisterkamp ) and could be carried forward up to 18 km in the next few days. On January 16, Jasło was captured by the 70th Guards and 140th Rifle Divisions of the 101st Rifle Corps.

On January 18, the south adjoining 1st Guard Army (General Gretschko) opened their offensive against the German XI. Army Corps (General von Bünau ) over the Ondava sector. Around 215 tanks and self-propelled guns were used on the 4th Ukrainian Front, 134 of them with the 38th Army and, because of the mountainous terrain, only 42nd tanks with the 1st Guard Army. The front of the 253rd Infantry Division (Lieutenant General Becker ) deployed in the area 25 km south of Jasło between Polany and south of Stropkov was torn up by the Soviet 11th and 107th Rifle Corps. The German troops were pushed back up to 22 km and the next day Prešov (Eperjes) was taken by Soviet troops. To the south of it the Soviet 18th Army (Lieutenant General Gastilowitsch ) attacked the positions of the German XXXXIX. Mountain Corps (General de Le Suire), in the section of the Hungarian V Corps, Košice (Hungarian Kassa) was lost on January 19 .

Offensive of the 2nd Ukrainian Front

At the same time, the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front opened its offensive from northern Hungary and invaded the Slovak Ore Mountains . The Soviet 40th Army (Lieutenant General Schmatschenko ) pushed the Hungarian 1st Army back through the Rosenauer Kessel to Rožňava , crossed the Slaná River and took the town of Briesen (Brezno). To the left of this the Soviet 27th Army (Colonel General Trofimenko ) accompanied the advance on Altsohl .

Final phase

At the end of January, the troops of the 4th Ukrainian Front reached the German defense lines on the Soła River east of Saybusch (Żywiec) - Jablonka - Neuhäusel in the Liptov (Liptovský Hrádok) - St. Nicholas in the Liptov (Liptovský Mikuláš). The advance of the 4th Ukrainian Front was stopped west of Schwarzwasser on the Vistula (Strumień), Saybusch (Żywiec) and Jablonka , east of Neuhäusel in the Liptov (Liptovský Hrádok) and Sankt Nikolaus in the Liptov (Liptovský Mikuláš). The heavily defended city of Bielsko (Bielsko-Biała) was occupied by the 1st Guards Army and the 38th Army. The 2nd Ukrainian Front continued fighting until mid-March and reached the Gran River .

Losses and consequences

The Red Army smashed 17 divisions and 1 brigade of the Axis Powers and took 137,000 prisoners according to its own, objectively not always verifiable information. In addition, they also reportedly destroyed or captured 2,300 guns, 320 tanks and 65 aircraft. Large parts of Slovakia and the southern areas of Poland were liberated from the German occupiers. The Red Army put its own losses at 78,988 men (16,337 dead and 62,651 wounded). The Romanian 1st and 4th Armies lost 12,000 soldiers (2,500 dead) and the 1st Czechoslovakian Corps 970 men (260 dead). In addition, 359 tanks, 753 guns and 94 aircraft are said to have been lost on the Soviet side. The German Empire lost an important industrial area with the Slovak Ore Mountains.

Web links

• Western Carpathian Operation in Soldaty 20 weka (Russian)
• West Carpathian Operation (Russian)
• Western Carpathian Operation in Soldat.ru ( memento of March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Russian)

Evidence

1. ↑ http://vistory.mil.ru/war/oper/46.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  
2. ↑ http://wwii-soldat.narod.ru/OPER/ARTICLES/035-zap-karp.htm .
3. ↑ WI Festjkow / KA Kalashnikov: Красная Армия в победах и поражениях 1941-1945, Moskwa 2003, pp. 150-160
4. ↑ OKW War Diary Volume IV, p. 1886
5. ↑ wwii-soldat.narod.ru (Russian)
6. ↑ victory.mil.ru (Russian)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ David M. Glantz , Jonathan House: When Titans Clashed. University of Kansas Press, Lawrence 1995, p. 300