Bereznegovatoye-Snigiriov operation
The Bereznegovatoe-Snigiriov Operation (Russian: Березнеговато-Снигирёвская операция) was an offensive operation of the Red Army during World War II carried out by the 3rd Ukrainian Front . It lasted from March 6 to March 18, 1944. This operation was one of ten operations that together made up the Dnepr-Carpathian strategic operation .
prehistory
After the German 6th Army had given up the last eastern Dnepr bridgehead at Nikopol and was defeated at Krivoy Rog , the retreat took place over the river Ingulez . The Wehrmacht High Command decided to use this river as a line of defense. On the night of March 3, the 8th Guards Army suddenly attacked successfully in the deployment area on the opposite bank, west of Shirokoye . Based on this success, the commander of the 3rd Ukrainian Front , Army General Malinovsky , decided to break through the front through Novy Bug with the 8th Guard Army and the 46th Army . The mechanical cavalry group of Lieutenant General Pliew was supposed to advance through Novy Bug in the rear of the German front and cut off all opposing formations in the area east of Nikolayev .
Troop strength
| Attendees | Troop strength | artillery | tank | plane |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union | about 500,000 men
(57 rifle and 3 cavalry divisions, 2 mechanized corps and 1 tank corps) |
7184 | 573 | 593 |
| German Empire , Romania | about 500,000 men:
6th Army (9th, 15th, 17th, 62nd, 76th, 79th, 123rd, 125th, 257th, 258th, 294th, 302nd, 304th, 306th, 335th, 370 Infantry Division; 5th Air Force Field Division, 153rd Division, 97th Jäger Division; 3rd, 9th, 23rd and 24th Panzer Divisions; 16th Panzer Grenadier Division ; 14th, 15th and 21st Romanian Division; 93rd and 560th Panzer Battalion, 209th, 232nd, 236th, 243rd, 259th, 277th, 278th, 286th Assault Gun Brigade and other units); and 3rd Romanian Army . (A total of 34 divisions, including 29 infantry, 4 tank and 1 tank grenadier division). |
2386 | 359 | 550 |
course
The Soviet attack began on the morning of March 6, 1944. While the 23rd Panzer Corps (102 tanks and 16 self-propelled guns) under General Pushkin was to achieve the breakthrough in the Soviet 46th Army (Lieutenant General Glagolew ) , the 8th Guard Army was in the association (General Tschuikow ) the Mechanical Cavalry Group Pliyev with the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps (under Lieutenant General Tanaschishin with 100 tanks and 23 self-propelled guns) and the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps used as support. It was not until the evening of the first day of the attack that the Pliyev cavalry group was introduced to the operation.
Despite bad weather conditions, Pliyev's troops penetrated Novy Bug from several directions on the morning of March 8 : parts of the 9th Guards Cavalry Division (Major General Tutarinov ) from the east, the 4th Guards Mechanized Corps (General Tanaschishin) from the northeast and the 30th Cavalry Division (Major General Golovskoy ) from the south and south-west. The Dolinskaya – Nikolajew railway line was interrupted and the front of the German 6th Army was split.
Troops of the Soviet 6th Army (Lieutenant General Schljomin ), the 5th Shock Army (General Tsvetaev ) and the 28th Army deployed on the south wing carried out simultaneous attacks against the right wing (LXXII. And XXXXIV. Army Corps ) of the 6th Army.
On March 11th and 12th, the 49th Guards Rifle Division (Colonel WF Margelow ) and the 295th Rifle Division (Colonel AP Dorofejew) of the 28th Army (Lieutenant General Grechkin ) were able to cross the Dnieper at Kachowka and create bridgeheads on the other bank . On March 11th Beryslav fell into Soviet hands and on March 13th the city of Kherson was liberated.
At the northern section erupted Cavalry Group Plijew had planned on the evening of March 9 south screwed in fierce fighting Bashtanka freed and had advanced farther south. On March 13th, Soviet troops approached Snigirjowka , the intelligence service of the 6th Army was interrupted, at the same time around 13 divisions ( XVII. , XXXXIV., LII. And IV. Army Corps ) were briefly surrounded. The Pliyev cavalry group was not itself strong enough to form a dense front in the west. The bulk of the 8th Guard Army fought in the meantime in the Bashtanka and Vladimirovka area against the German XXIX. Army Corps . The 37th Rifle Corps (Major General Sergei F. Gorokhov) of the 5th Shock Army , which advanced from the east on Snigirjowka, was not available for this task because of the deployment .
On March 13th, Colonel General Karl-Adolf Hollidt ordered the trapped troops to break out immediately to the west. Almost all of the artillery and equipment had to be abandoned. The 370th , 304th , 335th and 9th Infantry Divisions suffered particularly heavy losses . On March 15, Bereznegovatoje and Snigirjowka were liberated by Soviet troops.
The German troops withdrew behind the southern bow . Meanwhile, the 57th and 37th Armies had also operated successfully on the right wing of the 3rd Ukrainian Front . During the pursuit of the retreating enemy, the Dolinskaya rail junction was occupied on March 12 and the Bobrinez road junction on March 16 .
On the night of March 18-19, 1944, the 394th Rifle Division of the 46th Army crossed the Southern Bug and was able to form a bridgehead on the western bank. To the left of it, the 8th Guards Army reached the west bank of the river south of Novaya Odessa and prepared to attack Odessa .
It was not until March 24 that the 37th Army was able to liberate the city of Voznesensk and build another bridgehead on the western bank of the Bug.
consequences
Within 13 days the 3rd Ukrainian Front managed to decisively defeat the 6th Army. Extensive Soviet territory (more than 20,000 km²) between Ingulez and Southern Bug was liberated. The 125th Infantry Division was broken up and disbanded by the Wehrmacht High Command. The 16th Panzer Grenadier Division lost two thirds of its strength, the 9th Panzer Division , the 15th , 294th , 302nd , 304th and 335th Infantry Divisions lost 50% strength and almost all technology; 13,700 German soldiers and officers were taken prisoner. Colonel-General Hollidt was recalled as Commander-in-Chief of the 6th Army at the end of March 1944. For the Soviet Union favorable conditions arose for the liberation of Crimea .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Великая Отечественная война. 1941-1945 гг. Справочное пособие / Автор-составитель И. И. Максимов. - М .: Издательство «ДИК», 2005. ISBN 5-8213-0232-3
- ↑ Source -Rapport Wehrmacht General Staff card for March 5, 1944
- ↑ Березнеговато-Снигиревская операция 6–18 марта 1944 г.
- ↑ Великая Отечественная война. 1941-1945 гг. Справочное пособие / Автор-составитель И. И. Максимов. - М .: Издательство «ДИК», 2005. ISBN 5-8213-0232-3
