5th Army (Red Army)

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5th Army

Lineup 1918-1924, 1939-1945
Armed forces Red Army
Armed forces Land Forces
Type army
Butcher Russian civil war
Kazan Operation (1918)

Second World War

Polish campaign (1939)
Kiev boiler battle
Operation Bagration (1944)
East Prussian Operation (1945)
Operation August Storm

The 5th Army ( Russian 5-я армия ) was a large unit of the Red Army . It was first erected on August 11, 1918 in the course of the Russian Civil War and dissolved again in June 1924. In August 1939 the association was formed again. The 5th Army fell into German captivity in the Kessel Battle of Kiev in September 1941 and was then reorganized again. It advanced to East Prussia in 1944 and ended the war in Manchuria in August 1945 .

1. Formation

The 5th Red Army was formed for the first time on August 11, 1918 on the orders of Leon Trotsky from two groups of the Red Guards located on the left and right banks of the Volga, which were to recapture the city ​​of Kazan, which was vital for the Bolsheviks, from the Komuch Army. The Latvian officer Pēteris Slavens was forcibly appointed as the commander. The city was recaptured on September 10, 1918. (→ Kazan Operation ) As a result, the 5th Army was deployed on the fronts of the Russian Civil War and disbanded in June 1924 after the end of the war.

2. Formation

The second formation of the 5th Army was set up in August 1939 in the special military district of Kiev, based on the Zhitomir Group (later Shepetovka Group). In mid-September 1939, she participated in the Ukrainian Front ( Army General Tymoshenko ) in the Soviet invasion of western Ukraine and western Belarus.

Outline on September 17, 1939

  • 15th Rifle Corps with 45th, 52nd and 87th Rifle Divisions
  • 8th rifle corps with 44th and 81st rifle divisions, in reserve: 60th rifle division
  • 4th Mechanized Corps with 8th and 10th Panzer Divisions, 81st Motorized Rifle Division
  • 36th and 38th light tank brigades

The 5th Army took part in June – July 1940 with new units (36th and 49th Rifle Corps) as part of the southern front in the annexation of northern Bukovina . At the beginning of the German Operation Barbarossa , the 5th Army was part of the Southwest Front (Army General Kirponos ) concentrated on the approximately 170 kilometers wide Bug Front between von Wlodawa and Krystynopol and covered the approaches to Lutsk .

Army organization on June 22, 1941

  • 15th Rifle Corps (Colonel II Fedjuninsky ) with 45th and 62nd rifle divisions
  • 27th Rifle Corps ( Major General PD Artemenko) with 87th, 125th, 135th Rifle Divisions
  • 22nd Mechanized Corps (Major General SM Kondruszew) with 19th and 41st Armored Divisions, 215th Mechanized Division
  • 2. fortified space to seven artillery regiments, 2 NKVD - border regiments and one engineer regiment.

The German tank advance of Panzer Group 1 ( Colonel General von Kleist ) took place on June 22, 1941 between Sokal and Vladimir-Volynsk and broke through between the Soviet 15th and 27th Rifle Corps. The German troops advanced between 15 and 25 kilometers deep into Volhynia . On the border west of Vladimir-Volynsk stood the German III. Army corps (motorized) initially only opposite the 87th and 135th rifle divisions. The bulk of the 22nd Mechanized Corps was still 140 km from the border. After the loss of Lutsk, Major General Potapov ordered the counterattack of the 9th Mechanized Corps (General Rokossowski), which had come from the Klewan-Olyka line as reinforcement, to the south on Dubno . During the tank battle of Dubno and Rovno , the counterattack by the 22nd Mechanized Corps (now under Major General WS Tamruch) failed. The remnants of the Soviet 19th and 41st armored divisions were pushed into the area north of Lutsk along with Moskalenko's anti-tank brigade. In the north between Lyuboml and the Pripyat swamps , the 15th Rifle Corps successfully defended itself against the German XVII advancing on Kovel until the beginning of July . Army Corps . From July 3 to 6, the 5th Army organized the defense operation between Stanislav and Proskurov, from July 11, 1941 to August 20, the defense in the Korosten area . The army was pushed back over the Dnieper to Chernigov after its northern flank was threatened . The 15th Rifle Corps (62nd, 45th and 135th Rifle Divisions) fronted the German 2nd Army to the northeast. The bulk of the 5th Army was taken prisoner in the first half of September in the Kiev pocket.

3. Formation

The third formation of the 5th Army was established on October 11, 1941 according to the Stawka Directive of October 9, 1941 on the basis of the fortified area of Moshaisk .

  • It consisted of the 32nd and 133rd Rifle Divisions as well as the 18th, 19th, 20th Panzer Brigade and other units.

From October 12, 1941, the 5th Army was subordinated to the Western Front and conducted defensive battles on the Moshaisk - Dorochow - Zvenigorod front line until December 4 . For five days the 32nd Rifle Division (Colonel VI Polosuchin ) withstood the attacks of the SS division "Reich" (motorized) on the field of Borodino . On November 15, the second phase of the German attack on Moscow began , while the flanks of the 5th Army were badly shaken until November 28, the rest of the army together with two other formations ( 33rd and 43rd Army ) held in the center the western front. At the end of November 1941, the 5th Army managed to stop the German offensive in front of Zwenigorod and Akulowa. At the beginning of December, the German XX. Army Corps made the last attempt between the 5th and 33rd Army to break through the Moscow-Minsk tarmac. Despite a break-in at the front of the 33rd Army near Naro-Fominsk , the situation was restored on December 4th by bringing in reserves. In conjunction with the 16th and 33rd Armies, the 5th Army launched counter-attacks on Istra and Zvenigorod. The 19th, 329th and 336th Rifle Divisions, the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, two infantry battalions and five rocket launcher regiments were used. This was followed by the reconquest of Moshaisk on January 20, 1942 and the advance to Gschatsk . The 5th Army now held the line of defense in the central sector of the Western Front opposite Sychovka and took part in the Rzhever-Vyazma operation . On March 20, a Stawka directive issued new orders to the Western and Kalinin Fronts, according to which Gshatzk is to be taken together with the 43rd, 49th and 50th Armies by April 1st and Vyazma is also to be reached. On March 6th Gschatsk was liberated and on March 12th new positions were taken in the Vyazma area . In April 1942, General Govorov was sent to the Leningrad Front , then General Ivan Fedyuninsky briefly took over command, before he was replaced a little later by Colonel General JT Tscherevichenko. In the failed Operation Mars from November 25 to December 21, 1942, the 5th Army was assigned to the attack in the planned 2nd phase together with the 33rd Army. It was planned with the deployment of the 9th and 10th Panzer Corps from the east, to break through to the west from the Gshatsk area on Vyazma and to cut off the German 9th Army (Operation Jupiter). After the break-in, the 3rd Armored Guard Army (12th and 15th Panzer Corps) was to be introduced to force a connection with the Kalininer Front .

Together with the 10th Guards and the 33rd Army, the 5th Army fought in the Battle of Smolensk , while Dorogobush was liberated on September 1, 1943 and Smolensk on September 25 . At this point the army was commanded by General VS Polenow. After a short stay in the reserve of the Western Front, the 5th Army was assigned to the offensive operation in the direction of Lyubawitschi and reached the river line of the Tschernitza Verhita in the southwest of Rudnja by October 11th, where the defensive went again. From November 14, 1943, the 5th Army conducted offensive operations in the direction of Orsha and reached the Rosasenka area at the end of December.

War years 1944 and 1945

At the beginning of January 1944, the 5th Army was concentrated in the area southeast of Vitebsk to strengthen the defense of the 33rd Army. On April 24th, the army was transferred to the 3rd Belarusian Front. In Operation Bagration, which led to the reconquest of Belarus from June 22, 1944 , the 5th Army was part of the 3rd Belarusian Front . The 5th Army, now under General Krylov was next to the 39th Army assigned and a cavalry group consisting of the 3rd Cavalry and 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps, the northern group of the Front and participated in the Vitebsk-Orsha operation part . The formations of the 5th Army crossed the river Wilija north of Smorgon on July 5th and 6th and advanced further 55 kilometers to the west. The advance led through Vilnius , which was evacuated by German troops on July 13th after the uprising of a Polish underground army in the city center. After participating in the Kaunas operation, the 5th Army reached the East Prussian border on August 17, 1944 with the 184th Rifle Division .

  • On August 1, 1944, the army consisted of the 45th Rifle Corps (159th, 184th, 338th Rifle Division), the 65th Rifle Corps (97th, 144th, 371st Rifle Divisions), the 72nd Rifle Corps (63rd, 215th Rifle Division) ., 277th Rifle Division) and other units.

The other armies of the 3rd Belarusian Front took part in the Gumbinnen operation (October 1944), during which the Soviets were able to break into the German-East Prussian defense. In the course of the second East Prussian offensive, the 5th Army fought from January 13, 1945 in the Tilsit-Insterburg operation and occupied Insterburg on January 23 . In the final stages of the war in Europe, the 5th Army took part in eliminating enemy forces on the Samland peninsula .

Division of War of January 12, 1945

72nd Rifle Corps, Major General Alexander Ignatievich Kazartsew

  • 277th Rifle Division, Major General Stepan Trophimowitsch Gladishev
  • 63rd Rifle Division, Major General NM Laskin
  • 215th Rifle Division, Major General AA Kazarjan

65th Rifle Corps, Major General Grigory Nikiforovich Perekrestov

  • 97th Guards Rifle Division, Colonel Samuel Ilyich Tsukarew
  • 371st Rifle Division, Major General AA Boljachin
  • 144th Rifle Division, Colonel Alexander Alexejewitsch Donets

45th Rifle Corps, Major General Nikolai Ivanovich Ivanov

  • 184th Rifle Division, Major General Bazan Badminovich Gorodovikov
  • 159th Rifle Division, Colonel Ivan Gavrilovich Kalinin
  • 157th Rifle Division, Colonel NF Kursakin

On April 20, the 5th Army was transferred to the Far East on the instructions of the Stawka and placed under the 1st Far Eastern Front on August 5, 1945 . At the beginning of Operation Auguststurm , the 5th Army was assigned the 17th, 45th, 65th and 72nd Rifle Corps as well as the 105th fortified area and took part in the advance to Harbin . The troops that were deployed at the center of gravity of the 1st Far Eastern Front broke the resistance of the Japanese troops and advanced to the eastern foothills of the Jeschken Tajpinlin Mountains. Under the difficult conditions in the taiga, the cities of Mulin, Mudanjiang and Jilin were reached and the Muleng Mudanjiang River was crossed. After the rear connections of the Kwantung Army were severed , the 5th Army was disbanded at the end of September 1945.

guide

Commanders

Chiefs of Staff

  • Major General SG Trofimenko (September 1939)
  • Major General DS Pisarewski (March - September 1941)
  • Colonel ZI Chotimsk (October 1941)
  • Major-General AA Filatov (October 1941 - January 1942)
  • Maj.BA Pigarevich (January 1942 - June 1943)
  • Lieutenant General AV Suchomlin (July - August 1943)
  • Colonel FE Pochem (August - October 1943)
  • Major General / Lieutenant General NJ Prichidko (October 1943 - August 1945)

Members of the Council of War

  • Brigade Commissar ZT Serdyuk (June - August 1941);
  • Brigade Commissioner MS Nikischew (August 1941 - September 1941)
  • Major General PF Ivanov (October 1941 - November 1943)
  • Lieutenant General IM Ponomarew (November 1943 - August 1945)

literature

  • David M. Glantz: Zhukov's Greatest Defeat. The Red Army's Epic Disaster in Operation Mars, Kansas City 1999.
  • Алексей Валерьевич Исаев: Дубно 1941. Величайшее танковое сражение Второй мировой, Яуза; Эксмо, Moskva 2009

Web links