East Carpathian Operation

The East Carpathian Operation ( Russian Восточно-Карпатская операция , Vostochno-Karpatskaya operazija ) was an offensive operation by the Red Army during the Second World War , which was carried out from September 8 to October 28, 1944. The operation consisted of two sub-operations, the Carpathian-Duklin operation and the Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation .

prehistory

During the Lviv-Sandomierz operation in July and August 1944, the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front under Marshal Konev reached the foothills of the Galician Carpathians , close to the northeastern border of Slovakia, with their left wing . The defeated Hungarian 1st Army and the German 1st Panzer Army withdrew behind the San and the upper Dniester, roughly on the line Rzeszów - Sanok - Turka - Stryj - Kolomea .

Anti-German forces in Slovakia began to form numerous underground partisan detachments in the Beskids even before the front approached . The Slovak army prepared the uprising against the pro-German puppet regime and planned to liberate Slovakia with its own forces before the invasion of the Red Army . As of August 23, German units began to advance into Slovakia as a precaution, the insurgent troops in eastern Slovakia in the Prešov area managed to push south and secure the passes through the Beskids. On August 29, the Slovak National Uprising began , which called on the Soviet government for support through the Czechoslovak Military Commission and the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia . The leader of the uprising, which was concentrated in the Banská Bystrica area (Neusohl) to Käsmark , Brigadier General Ján Golian hoped that the Soviet troops would attack from the east as a result of severe distress from German counter-attacks. On September 6th, SS-General Berger, as "German Commander in Slovakia", received orders to put down the Slovak uprising. Newly formed units, such as the " Tatra Panzer Division ", the Dirlewanger SS special command composed of criminals and collaborating Slovak groups were deployed.

Involved troops

The left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front, destined for the attack in the first week of September, and the armies of the 4th Ukrainian Front under Ivan Efimovich Petrov had a strength of 378,000 soldiers, 5,140 artillery pieces, 322 tanks and 1,165 aircraft.

38th Army (Colonel General KS Moskalenko )

• 52nd, 67th and 101st Rifle Corps (9 rifle divisions)
• 31st Panzer Corps (Major General WJ Grigoryev )
• 1st Guards Cavalry Corps (Major General Viktor Baranov)
• 25th Panzer Corps (Major General Anikushkin )
• Reserve: 1st Czechoslovak Corps (General Kratochvíl )
• 4th Guards Mechanized Corps (Major General VI Zhdanov )

1st Guard Army (Colonel General AA Gretschko )

• 30th and 107th Rifle Corps (Lieutenant General DW Gordejew )
• Reserve: 11th Rifle Corps and 3rd Guards Rifle Corps

18th Army (Lieutenant General JP Tschurawljew )

• 95th Rifle Corps and 18th Guards Rifle Corps
• 17th Guards Rifle Corps (Lieutenant General Gastilowitsch )

Opposite them stood the German Army Group Heinrici (1st Panzer Army and Hungarian 1st Army) under General of the Heinrici Infantry , which together had a strength of around 300,000 soldiers, 3,250 guns, 100 tanks and 450 aircraft.

• XI. SS Army Corps (left wing of the 17th Army ) with 544th and 545th Grenadier Divisions
• XI. Army corps with 68th , 96th , 168th and 208th infantry divisions
• XXIV Panzer Corps with 1st and 8th Panzer Divisions
• Reserve: 75th and 357th Infantry Divisions
• Hungarian 6th and 13th divisions
• XXXXIX. Mountain Corps with 100th and 101st Jäger Divisions

course

Carpathian Dukliner Operation

The Soviet preparations for the Carpathian-Duklin operation were made at short notice in order to be able to support the Slovak uprising more quickly. The 38th Army under General Moskalenko Colonel sat in the room Krosno to 9 kilometers in the first meeting three rifle corps with nine rifle divisions (the 70th Guards, 305th, 304th, 140th, 183rd, 241st, 211th, 340th and 121st Rifle Division) to break through on Jaslo . On September 8th at 8:45 am, after a 125-minute artillery preparation, the major offensive of the reinforced 38th Army against the positions of the German XI. Army Corps (General of the Infantry Rudolf von Bünau ). In total, the 38th Army deployed 1,724 guns, the artillery concentration in the main attack area reached 200 guns per front kilometer. Immediately opposite were the positions of the German 68th, 208th and 545th Infantry Divisions. Air support was provided by the 1st Guard Bomber Corps under Lieutenant General WG Ryazanov. The 67th Rifle Corps on the left flank could not take Krosno, about 6 km away, General Anikushkin's 25th Panzer Corps waited idly for the push to push.

On September 9th, on the right wing of the 38th Army, the 107th Rifle Corps (Lieutenant General D. W Gordejew) of the Soviet 1st Guard Army intervened in the fighting and was supposed to break through towards Komańcza to establish contact with the 38th Army. The 101st Rifle Corps (General AL Bondarjew) deployed in the middle of the 38th Army and the 70th Guards Rifle Division were able to break into the German lines to a depth of 9 km, but remained in front of the heights south of Gemina Chorkowka and Mahnowki stuck. The inactivity of the commander of the Soviet 25th Panzer Corps, Generasl Anikushkin, led Konev to replace him with Colonel WG Petrovsky on orders. Concentrated in the area on both sides of Sanok , the 1st Guard Army (General Gretschko) opened the attack over the San against the positions of the German 96th Infantry Division . There were also 3 infantry corps (18th Guards, 30th and 107th Rifle Corps) with 8 rifle divisions (155th, 167th, 30th, 141st, 276th, 151st, 161st and 129th Guards Divisions) ) in the attack, the 237th Rifle Division formed the reserve. On the left wing of the 4th Ukrainian Front, the 18th Army also provided support with the 11th and 95th Rifle Corps. As part of the infantry corps of Major General IT Samerzew and I. Melnikow, 6 rifle divisions (66th and 128th Guards, 24th, 351st and 242nd Rifle and 318th Mountain Rifle Divisions) were against the positions of the German XXXXIX. Mountain Corps (General de Le Suire) appointed. The 17th Guards Rifle Corps (2nd Guards Airborne, 8th, 138th and 317th Rifle Divisions) was deployed on the far left wing on the Jablunka Pass as an independent large formation and remained directly subordinate to Army General Petrov.

On the morning of September 10th, the front thrust group of the 38th Army resumed its offensive towards Dukla after 30 minutes of artillery preparation . The counter-attack of the XXIV Panzer Corps (representing under General von Edelsheim ) from the Zmigrod area, which had arrived from the area of ​​the German 17th Army , was able to stop the Soviet successes for the time being with the 1st and 8th Panzer Divisions . The Czechoslovak Corps was beaten off at the village line Bóbrka, Wrocanka and Machnówka with heavy losses, General Kratochwil was replaced by General Svoboda at Marshal Konev's instigation .

Because 4 German divisions (96th, 168th and 254th infantry and 101st Jäger divisions) and 2 Hungarian divisions (6th and 13th divisions) were now concentrated opposite the 1st Guard Army, the Soviet 18th Army began strong flank attacks. The 17th Guards Rifle Corps (General Gastilowitsch), which was on the extreme left flank of the front, began the offensive on September 11th. The 17th Guards Rifle Corps comprised four divisions (the 2nd Guards Airborne, 8th, 138th and 317th Rifle Divisions), the 11th Rifle Corps (226th, 271st and 237th Rifle Divisions) served as a reserve ).

Fight for Uschok and Dukla passes

The contested hill 534 on the Duklapass

The Hungarian troops between Uzhgorod and Körösmezö (Jasina) were to protect the Uschok Pass with parts of the German 100th Jäger Division strengthened. To protect the roads from Sanok to Mezőlaborc , from Lisko to Lupkow and from Cisna to Humenné , the Hungarians had fortified the villages of Javornik, Baligrod, Radoszyce, Solinka, Rusca, Gorbok Chabin and a number of other bases. On September 19, when the 1st Guard Army attacked Baligród , the 3rd Mountain Corps under Major General AJ Wedenin was brought into battle. On September 26, the 95th Rifle Corps (Major General Melnikow ) and the 24th Rifle Division (Major General Fedor A. Prokhorov) stormed Turka , bypassed the Hungarian positions at Bereszna and penetrated into the Hommona district by September 29 .

On October 1st, the 101st Rifle Corps of the 38th Army (211th and 241st Rifle Divisions) crossed the Polish border in the area 5 km northwest of the Dukla Pass and invaded Slovakia. The fought for the breakthrough on the Duklapass , which was finally enforced on October 6th by troops of the Soviet 38th Army, was particularly hard for weeks . When storming the pass, in addition to the 67th Rifle Corps and the 31st Panzer Corps, the 1st Czechoslovakian Corps (General Swoboda) was also deployed. Despite this tactical success, after one month of fighting the 1st Ukrainian Front had only managed to break into the German-Hungarian front 30–35 km deep and the front on this section froze again by the end of October.

Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation

The Carpathian-Uzhgorod operation , which was carried out by the left wing of the 4th Ukrainian Front, began the second phase of the offensive from October 1st to 5th, at the same time as the Debrecen operation of the 2nd Ukrainian Front .

The Soviet troops made slow progress until the 2nd Ukrainian Front broke through at Debrecen . On October 18, Maramarossziget (Sighetu Marmației) was occupied by the 50th Rifle Corps (Major General Serafim P. Merkulow) of the Soviet 40th Army . This threatened the back of the Hungarian 1st Army and the border positions between the high altitude Polonia Runa and the Czeremosz section opposite the Soviet 18th Army had to be abandoned. On October 24th the 17th Rifle Corps (Major General Gastilowitsch) occupied Hust , on October 25th Sevlyush fell and the following day the line between Beregszász and Munkacz Mukatschewo was reached. On October 27, the 18th Army took Uzhgorod (Ungvár) and on October 29th reached the Tisza sector near Chop , thus uniting the 4th Ukrainian Front with the 40th Army (General Schmachenko ) of the 2nd Ukrainian Front.

Losses and consequences

Monument on the European route 371 , one kilometer north of Svidník , at the junction to Kapišová .

The Soviet offensive helped the Slovak National Uprising and the Soviet troops in Hungary because it enabled German and Hungarian troops to be tied down. The desired connection with the Slovak troops could not be achieved, however, the uprising was suppressed by the German troops until the end of October. General Rudolf Viest, who had been in charge since October 7, and his predecessor General Golian were captured on November 3 in Pohronský Bukovec and in Okres Banská Bystrica (Neusohl district) and later executed.

The Red Army was able to decimate six divisions of the Axis Powers , took 31,600 prisoners, conquered almost the entire Carpathian Ukraine and entered Czechoslovakia for the first time .

According to their own statements, the Soviet troops captured 912 artillery pieces and 40 tanks and officially lost 126,211 soldiers (including 26,843 dead), as well as 478 tanks and assault guns, 962 artillery pieces and 192 aircraft. The losses of the 1st Czechoslovakian Corps amounted to 5,699 men (1,630 dead).

literature

• И. С. Конев : Записки командующего фронтом - Наука, Moscow 1972.
• А. А. Гречко : Через Карпаты - Воениздат, Moscow 1970.

Web links

Commons : Eastern Carpathian Operation  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• East Carpathian Operation in Hrono (Russian)
• East Carpathian Operation in Enenberg (Russian)
• Eastern Carpathian Operation in Soldaty 20 weka (Russian)
• Carpathian Dukliner Operation in Konev's Memoirs (Russian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ JN Lubchenkow "The 100 greatest battles of the Second World War" Verlag "Wetsche" 2005 p. 309.
2. ↑ ВОЕННАЯ ЛИТЕРАТУРА - [Мемуары] - Конев И.С. Записки командующего фронтом. Retrieved June 19, 2018 (Russian). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} ВОСТОЧНО-КАРПАТСКАЯ СТРАТЕГИЧЕСКАЯ НАСТУПАТЕЛЬНАЯ ОПЕРАЦИЯ ( Memento from March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ GF Krivosheev: Soviet Casualties and Combat Losses in the Twentieth Century. London 1997, p. 263.