Dnepr-Carpathian operation

Dnepr-Carpathian operation

Part of: Second World War

Soviet offensives on the Eastern Front from December 1943 to April 1944

date	December 24, 1943 to April 17, 1944
place	Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , Soviet Union
output	soviet victory

Parties to the conflict
Soviet Union	German Empire Romania Hungary

The Dnepr-Carpathian Operation was a major Red Army offensive during World War II that lasted from December 24, 1943 to April 17, 1944.

prehistory

Situation development on the Eastern Front from July to December 1943

In the southern part of the Eastern Front, since the failure of the German citadel in July 1943 , the Red Army had been constantly on the offensive against the Wehrmacht , which tried in vain with its decimated and disorganized troops to form stable lines of defense. Within a few months the Red Army had advanced from the Donets and Mius to the Dnieper and Molochna and liberated the Donets Basin . The Panther position under construction on these rivers was breached in several places during the Battle of the Dnepr . A gap more than 150 kilometers wide (the “ Wehrmachtsloch ”) had formed between the Central and South Army Groups in the area of ​​the Pripjet Marshes , in which Soviet partisans could operate almost unhindered. At the end of October / beginning of November the 4th Ukrainian Front in the south succeeded in breaking through the lines of the German 6th Army and reaching the mouth of the Dnieper near Cherson , thus cutting off the Crimea . In November the 2nd Ukrainian Front crossed the Dnieper between Cherkassy and Dnepropetrovsk on a broad front and threatened the German troops standing in a tapering front in the great loop of the Dnepr with being cut off. The 1st Ukrainian Front struck at this time the battle of Kiev against the German 4th Panzer Army , which ended with the liberation of the Ukrainian capital. Their further advance westwards towards Zhitomir and Korosten could only be stopped with difficulty in December.

The situation on the Eastern Front was further complicated by the fact that the Army Group was also exposed to constant Soviet attacks in the middle of 1943 and that Hitler, in his "Directive No. 51" of November 3, 1943, further weakened the defense against an Allied landing in the west had excluded the troops held ready. As a result, the army groups on the eastern front had to get by with the existing, heavily worn divisions and gaps in the front could hardly be closed. In addition, Hitler repeatedly insisted on defending hopeless positions to the last, keeping bridgeheads on the rivers and not giving up Crimea under any circumstances. Necessary withdrawals were usually approved too late, which led to irreparable losses of people and equipment.

course

Overall situation of Army Group South

After the loss of Kiev to the 1st Ukrainian Front under Army General Watutin , the German 4th Panzer Army was still on the Dnieper with its right wing at the end of December. Cherkassy was only liberated on December 14th by the 73rd Rifle Corps (Major General Batitsky ) of the 52nd Army. At Kanew , the XXIV Panzer Corps maintained contact with the XXXXII. Army Corps , the left wing of the 8th Army . From Kiev about 45 km down the Dnieper, the front turned sharply to the west on Fastov , where the front of the VII. And XIII. Army corps was held up in the area north of Zhitomir. Separated to the north, facing east, was the LIX. Army corps concentrated in the Korosten area. The 1st Panzer Army and the 6th Army were still in front of the 3rd Ukrainian Front , far to the east, on the lower arch of the Dnieper and held bridgeheads at Krivoy Rog and Nikopol . After losing the Nogay steppe and the troops were 4th Ukrainian Front minded broad font to the lower Dnepr, the commanding there Army Group A was thus the land connection with the still on the peninsula Crimea holding 17th Army lost.

Zhitomir-Berdichev operation (December 24, 1943 - January 14, 1944)

Army General Watutin

Soviet tank column advancing on Zhitomir

The major Soviet offensive was initiated on December 24, 1943 by the 1st Ukrainian Front in the west and south-west of Kiev from the great bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnieper between Radomyshl and Brusiłów . Watutin's front numbered about 800,000 men, 11,400 artillery pieces and grenade launchers, 1,125 tanks and self-propelled guns. Specifically, the attack to the northwest on Korosten was carried out by the 13th and 60th Armies, the 1st Guard Army and the 18th Army encountered Zhitomir in a westerly direction, the 27th, 38th and 40th Armies operated southwards, The Panzer Army and the 3rd Armored Guard Army were not introduced in the main thrust until the second day of the offensive.

On December 25, the Soviets achieved an operational breakthrough, the 1st Guard Army ( Grechko ) and the 1st Panzer Army ( Katukow ) broke with 14 rifle divisions, four armored and one mechanical corps below the Zhitomir-Kiev road in a south-westerly direction towards Berdichev and Kasatin through. The strategic threat to the left wing of Army Group South was stronger than ever. If the Soviet plan of attack was successful, all German troops between the Dnieper and the Dniester could be cut off . After an impending failure of the allied Romanians, supplying Army Group A would have been impossible. The railway lines Lublin-Kovel-Shepetovka-Berditschew-Kasatin and some fifty miles further south, the roughly parallel line Lemberg-Tarnopol-Proskurow-Shmerinka, were threatened. Watutin also extended the attack in the north to the area north of Zhitomir.

Until 26 December, the commander of believed Army Group South , Field Marshal von Manstein still working through counterattacks of XLVIII. Panzer Corps to be able to stop the Soviet breakthrough in the direction of Berditschew and Kasatin. General der Panzertruppen Raus , the commander-in-chief of the 4th Panzer Army, advocated ignoring the Soviet thrust in the north towards the Pripet for the time being and first of all to stop the Soviet peaks in attack on Fastov. On December 27th, Manstein wanted to withdraw his troops; this was rejected by Hitler. The 60th Army under General Tschernjachowski broke through at Radomyshl and was held north of Korostyshev by German counter-attacks. Three German tank divisions - the 8th , 19th Panzer Division and the 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" tried in vain on December 28th to prevent the breakthrough on Zhitomir. In the meantime, the Soviet 1st Guard Army, in cooperation with the 18th Army (General Leselidze ) , tore a 30-kilometer-wide gap in the section to the XIII. Army Corps . The Soviets liberated Kasatin on December 28th , Korosten fell to the 13th Army on December 29th and Zhitomir on December 31st. By December 30, the Soviets extended the breakthrough to 300 km wide and 100 km deep and were able to reach the new line Rowno- Shepetovka-Shmerinka- Vinnitsa- Hristinowka- Uman . A second gap between the VII. And XXXXII. Army corps was torn up. The Soviets liberated Novograd-Volynsky on January 3, 1944 , Belaya Tserkov on January 4, and Berdichev on January 5 .

At the beginning of January 1944 there was the weak LIX at the gaping gap to Army Group Center on the northern section . Army corps was pushed back to the former Polish border on both sides of Nowograd-Wolynski. From Schepetowka north to the Pripjet there was another gap in the XIII deployed there. Army corps, which had melted down to the strength of a weak division in the defensive defense. Manstein flew to Hitler's headquarters in Berchtesgaden for a direct discussion , but could not implement his proposals for a thorough change in the conduct of the war. The regrouping of the 1st Panzer Army with three armored divisions from the southern section of Army Group South to Zhitomir was granted. The crisis in Army Group South became even more catastrophic when the Soviets attacked on the lower Dnieper bend ( Nikopol and Krivoy Rog ).

Kirovograd Operation (January 5-16, 1944)

Panzer IV and infantry in January 1944

The 2nd Ukrainian Front under Ivan Konev was supposed to attack the German 8th Army in the Kirovograd area . In total, the Soviet front had 59 rifle and 3 cavalry divisions with 550,000. Man, 265 tanks and 127 self-propelled guns, 7,136 guns and 777 anti-aircraft guns, as well as 500 combat aircraft. It was supported by a cavalry and three mechanical corps and two armored corps.

On January 5, 1944, the offensive against the German III. and XXXXVII. Panzer Corps . On the right wing, the Soviet 52nd Army (Lieutenant General K. A Korotejew) and the 4th Guards Army (General Ryschow) supported the operation. The 5th Guards Cavalry Corps was deployed against the northern apron of the city in the section of the 53rd Army (Lieutenant General IV Galanin). From the northwest, the 7th mechanical corps (Major General Fyodor G. Katkow ) in the association of the 5th Guard Army under Lieutenant General Schadow pushed head-on against the city. In the south, the main thrust was also carried out by the 5th Guards Panzer Army, which was introduced in the section of the 7th Guards Army (General Schumilow ). The 53rd and 5th Guards Army, which attacked from the area south-west of Znamenka, were able to penetrate between 4 and 24 km deep into the German lines on the evening of the first day. The front of the 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division and the 10th Panzer Grenadier Division was breached and their remnants with the 14th Panzer Division and the 376th Infantry Division north of Kirovograd were pushed away and enclosed. In the south the attack of the 7th Guard Army developed more slowly, only after the introduction of the 18th and 29th Panzer Corps did the breakthrough with the German LII. Army Corps forced. The intervention reserves of the German 11th and 13th Panzer Divisions stopped the Soviet tank spiers by counter-attacks.

By January 7, Kirovograd was bypassed from the north, south and west and the routes of retreat for German troops were cut off. On the morning of the next day, the city was captured by three Soviet armies in cooperation with the 29th Panzer Corps (Major General IF Kirichenko ) after bitter fighting. The 18th Panzer Corps meanwhile pushed through Fedorowka further west to Novo-Pavlovka. Parts of the 297th Rifle Division (Colonel AI Kovtun-Stankewitsch) and the 50th Rifle Division (Major General NF Lebedenko) entered the city with the tanks. In the days that followed, the German troops had to retreat further. German counter-attacks by the Panzer Grenadier Division Greater Germany and the 3rd and 11th Panzer Divisions were finally able to stop the advance of the Red Army on January 10 and were able to stabilize the front west of the city. At the end of the operation on January 16, the front was on the line east of Smela , west of Kirovograd and north of Novgorodka. The Red Army had advanced around 40–50 km and created the conditions for the Cherkassy pocket.

Korsun-Shevchenkovsk operation: (January 24 to February 17, 1944)

→ Main article : Battle of Cherkasy

German Airfield near Korsun (January 1944)

The left wing of the 1st Ukrainian Front under Army General Nikolai Fyodorowitsch Watutin and the bulk of the 2nd Ukrainian Front under Colonel General Ivan Stepanowitsch Konev provided a total of around 336,000 soldiers (in the first phase of the attack, according to Soviet sources, there were around 255,000 men in combat) a mechanized corps and four tank corps with around 600 tanks and self-propelled guns, 5,300 guns and grenade launchers, and 772nd aircraft support the double attack. Opposite them stood the German 8th Army under Infantry General Otto Wöhler . It consisted of 14 divisions (including three tank divisions and one motorized brigade) with around 170,000 soldiers, 2,600 guns and 310 tanks, including the 5th SS Panzer Division "Wiking" and the 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade " Wallonia ” .

Attack on the Soviet fronts

German relief attack and the breakout to the southwest

On January 24, 1944, the 2nd Ukrainian Front attacked with the 4th Guards Army and the 5th Guards Armored Army from the east in the direction of Shpola , the attack of the 1st Ukrainian Front from the west took place on January 26th with the 6th Armored Army (General Kravchenko ) in a south-westerly direction towards Zvenigorodka . Before the attack by the 6th Panzer Army, the 27th and 40th Armies had to break through the front. The 4th Guards and 53rd Armies were given the same task in the east, and then the 5th Guards Panzer Army was introduced. The Soviet 52nd Army secured the northern flank of the Soviet attack wedge, after the breakthrough of General Koroteev's troops , the 5th Guards Cavalry Corps (General Seliwanow ) was used to push. The German 389th Infantry Division was largely smashed in the attack, the remains of the most Tiasmyn River in section Smela holding 72nd Infantry Division was added. In the west, too, the Soviet troops made their breakthrough at Boyarka, the German 198th Infantry Division deployed on both sides of the Gniloi Tikisch was defeated and the German VII Army Corps was pushed to the south-west. The German 88th Infantry Division was thrown back to the east on Boguslaw, Medwin and Bojarka fell into Soviet hands on January 26th. From January 27th began from the south, the first insufficiently planned counter-attacks of the III. (General Breith ) and XXXXVII. Panzer Corps (General Vormann ) against the flank of the Red Army to stop the breakthrough. Before the start of the Soviet offensive, the 11th and 14th Panzer Divisions had been withdrawn from the combat area and relocated further south to the Novomirgorod area.

On the morning of January 28, the Soviet attack wedges were united: the vanguard of the 6th Panzer Army, the 233rd Panzer Brigade of the 5th Mechanized Corps (Lieutenant General MW Volkov) met units of the 20th Panzer Corps (Lieutenant General Laszarew ) of the 5th Mechanized Corps north of Zvenigorodka Guards Panzer Army. About six German divisions (XI. And XXXXII. AK ) were able to be enclosed in a pocket west of Cherkassy in the area around Korsun and Boguslaw . According to Soviet information there were 80,000 soldiers in the boiler, according to German information there were 56,000 men.

Destroyed German vehicles after the attempted breakout from the Korsun pocket

At the beginning of February, the new front of the 1st Panzer Army and 8th Army with ten divisions was established in the south of the Kessel , including the 3rd , 17th , 11th and 13th Panzer Divisions , the 34th , 198th, 167th , 320th. and 376th Infantry Division and 4 assault gun brigades. Between February 4th and 10th, the 1st and 16th Panzer Divisions , the 1st SS Panzer Division , the 106th Infantry Division as well as 4 tank battalions and 3 assault gun brigades arrived. From the Nikopol bridgehead the armed 24th Panzer Division arrived in Novo Ukrainka on January 29th . General of the Artillery Wilhelm Stemmermann , Commanding General of the XI. Army Corps was given command of the troops crowded between Schenderowka and Korsun at the beginning of February .

In the days that followed, the Soviet troops were able to repel all German attacks and, for their part, continue to compress the pocket. From February 6, the 2nd Panzer Army joined the Kravchenko Panzer Army in the battle. Nevertheless, on February 8, Stemmermann rejected the Soviet call to surrender . This was preceded by intensive appeals from the National Committee for Free Germany and the Federation of German Officers to the trapped troops and their leaders, but these were largely ineffective.

On February 11, the German relief attack began with up to eight divisions (including the 1st , 16th and 17th Panzer Divisions) on Lysjanka; On Hitler's orders, however, only a connection to the boiler was to be established while the boiler itself had to be fully maintained. When it became apparent that the German attack would stall a few kilometers from the boiler, Manstein ordered the outbreak on February 15 without prior agreement with Hitler. The enclosed divisions were regrouped to the southwest in order to break out at Lysjanka over the Gniloi Tikisch . To the southeast of Chilki and north of the village of Komarowka, Corps Division B , 72nd Infantry Division and SS Wiking were destined for attack. The rearguard formed the 88th Infantry Division , 57th Infantry Division and the 5th SS Volunteer Assault Brigade "Wallonia" east of Schenderowka .

According to German data, 40,000 soldiers succeeded in breaking out, 19,000 soldiers died or were left in the boiler, where they were taken prisoner. According to Soviet information, however, 55,000 German soldiers were killed in the boiler and 18,000 were taken prisoner; According to Soviet figures, 82,000 dead and 20,000 prisoners were recorded during the entire operation. Overall, the six enclosed German divisions suffered great losses and when they broke out they left behind all of their heavy military equipment.

Ivan Konev was named Marshal of the Soviet Union for his services in this battle .

Rovno-Lutsk operation (January 27 to February 11, 1944)

Self-propelled howitzer Hummel in a field in Russia

After the Zhitomir-Berdychev operation , the right flank of the 1st Ukrainian Front under Nikolai Watutin was supposed to advance against six infantry and four tank divisions of the 4th Panzer Army under General Raus. The German defense against the Soviet 13th and 60th Armies was weak because an offensive in this area with numerous forests and swamps and in bad weather conditions (muddy weather and floods) seemed impossible. The German LIX. Army Corps ( 291st and 96th Infantry Divisions) had to evacuate the Nowograd Volynski junction after their withdrawal from the Korosten area on January 3 , so that two main roads were now open to the Soviets, one to the west on Rovno , the other to the southwest Shepetovka . The German defense on the Goryn section and in the Rowno area was the XIII. Army Corps was transferred, which was formed from the 208th and 340th Infantry Divisions , the Corps Department C (Combat Groups 183rd, 217th and 339th Inf. Div.) And the 454th Security Division . In the area from Lyubar to Starokonstantinow it was XXXXVIII. Panzer Corps with the 2nd SS Division , the 371st Infantry and the 8th and 19th Panzer Divisions . The 7th Panzer Division acted as the reserve of the 4th Panzer Army in the Dubno area .

The main role of the Soviet attack was assigned to the 13th Army under Lieutenant General Puchow , a total of 8 rifle and 6 cavalry divisions. The main strike was to be carried out by the 76th Rifle Corps from the Sarny area to the west, the 1st and 6th Guards Cavalry Corps had to carry out extensive encirclement and to conquer the cities of Lutsk and Rovno from the northwest. On the right flank of the 13th Army, the 77th Rifle Corps had the task of advancing with the 397th Rifle Division on Stolin , while the 143rd Rifle Division was to cross the Goryn section together with the 76th Rifle Corps. The 60th Army (General Tschernjachowski ) attacking south of it had a total of 9 rifle divisions, plus the 4th Guards and 25th Panzer Corps (under Major General FG Anikuschkin ). The 23rd Rifle Corps deployed on the right wing was supposed to take Ostrog . The left wing of the 60th Army (15th and 30th Rifle Corps, 4th Guards and 25th Panzer Corps) had to tie up the German troops in the Ljubar area, including the strong armored forces identified there.

The offensive began on January 27th. Soviet cavalry quickly penetrated the enemy defense 40–50 km and advanced almost unobtrusively into the German hinterland. With the help of partisans, the riders passed the almost inaccessible forest paths and swamps and reached the Styr section in the Rawalowka area . The 1st Guards Cavalry Corps under Lieutenant General Baranov was vacated in the Rafalowka and Czartorijsk districts by the 143rd Rifle Division that had followed suit . A little later, the 181st Rifle Division was subordinated to the 77th Infantry Corps, which had followed suit, in order to secure the Styr line between Czartorijsk and Kolki .

The 6th Guards Cavalry Corps under Lieutenant General Sokolow had the task of breaking through to the southwest in the direction of Klewan and attacking Rovno from the northwest. On the left flank of the 13th Army near Tutschin , the 24th Rifle Corps (Lieutenant General Kirjuchin ) successfully crossed the Goryn sector, penetrated 4 to 6 kilometers deep in order to penetrate from the southeast into Rovno. The 287th Rifle Division (Major General Josif N. Pankratow) managed to liberate Ostrog on the first day of the offensive. Parts of the 226th Rifle Division (Colonel WJ Petrenko) liberated Slavuta .

On February 2, the German XIII. Evacuate Army Corps Rowno in front of the 6th Guards Cavalry Corps, the 6th Guards Rifle Division had also penetrated the city from the east and the 112th Rifle Division from the south. On the same day, the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps, together with units from the 76th Rifle Corps, liberated the city of Lutsk . On February 3, the 13th Army captured the important Sdolbunow railway junction , and on February 11, Shepetovka was liberated by troops of the 60th Army. Heavy fighting began around Dubno on February 9 , the Soviet leadership had brought in the 25th Panzer Corps, but the city was still held by the German troops until March 17. The Soviet troops inflicted a heavy defeat on the Wehrmacht and created the conditions for the attack into the rear of Army Group South and the attack on Kovel .

On February 25, Army General Watutin was seriously wounded in an attack by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), after which Zhukov took over the leadership of the 1st Ukrainian Front.

Nikopol-Krivoy Roger Operation (January 30 to February 29, 1944)

Tiger tanks and infantry

The 6th Army of Army Group South ( Army Group A since February 2 ) had 540,000 men, 2,416 artillery pieces and mortars, 327 tanks and 700 aircraft. Two Soviet fronts (the 3rd Ukrainian under Rodion Malinovsky and the 4th Ukrainian under Fyodor Tolbuchin ) had 705,000 men, 7,796 artillery pieces and mortars, 238 tanks and 1,333 planes. The German IV. , XVII. and XXIX. Army Corps was still in an eastern promontory on the Dnieper line.

In order to divert the Wehrmacht from the direction of a main attack from the area 40 kilometers northwest of Zaporozhye , a new offensive against the Nikopol bridgehead began on January 30th from the south by the 5th Shock Army . To stop this thrust, two German tank divisions were transferred there, a circumstance that soon benefited the main Soviet attack. After the mistake was recognized, the 9th Panzer Division was moved back, but the Soviet main thrust meanwhile had the connection to the XXX standing at Krivoy Rog . Army Corps cut off. On February 5, the Soviet 46th Army (General Glagolew ) liberated the small town of Apostolowo , to the right of it the 8th Guards Army (General Tschuikow ) split the 6th Army in two. General Hollidt thereupon ordered his severed armies to withdraw. The 4th Ukrainian Front, which began an offensive on January 31st, captured the Nicopolian bridgehead with the 3rd Guard Army (General Lelyuschenko ) and on February 8th, together with parts of the 6th Army of the 3rd Ukrainian Front, liberated the one on the northern Dnieper - The city of Nikopol on the shore . On February 11, the XXXX began a counterstrike. Panzer Corps in the direction of Apostolowo in order to hold the still open corridor along the right Dneprufer for the retreating German troops. The Soviet troops were slowed down, but the declining units of the Wehrmacht suffered heavy losses. On February 17th the 3rd Ukrainian Front continued its offensive, the Soviet 37th and 46th Armies liberated Krivoy Rog on February 22nd and reached the Ingulez River on February 29th .

The Red Army smashed twelve German divisions (including three tank divisions and one motorized) and captured the manganese and iron ore deposits .

Proskurov-Chernivtsi Operation (March 4 to April 17, 1944)

→ Main article : Proskurov-Czernowitz operation

Group of German soldiers in a village in March 1944

After Marshal Watutin was fatally wounded in the fighting at the end of February, Marshal Zhukov took command of the 1st Ukrainian Front on instructions from the Stawka , which had 56 rifle divisions, 6 cavalry divisions, 7 armored and 3 mechanized corps and approximately 800,000 men, 11,900 guns, 1,400 tanks and 477 aircraft existed. On March 4, the 1st Ukrainian Front began a new offensive against the German Army Group South (renamed Army Group Northern Ukraine from April 1 ) under Erich von Manstein (from March 31 under Walter Model ). On the 7th – 10th March the Red Army reached the Ternopol - Proskurov line and interrupted the main supply line in the south of the German Eastern Front - the Lemberg - Odessa railway line . The Wehrmacht carried out a number of counter-strikes here, deploying nine tank and six infantry divisions. The STAWKA stopped their troops to fend off the counterattacks. On March 21, Soviet troops liberated Proskurov, Vinnitsa and Shmerinka and threw the German troops back to Kamenets-Podolski . The 13th Army reached the approaches to Brody .

On March 21, the offensive continued in the main direction, using three Soviet tank armies for the first time during the war. On March 23rd, Czortków was liberated, on March 24th the Soviet troops crossed the Dnestr and entered foreign territory (Romania) for the first time, on March 29th they crossed the Prut and occupied Chernivtsi on the same day . On March 26th, the Soviet 4th Panzer Army liberated Kamenets-Podolski. The German 1st Panzer Army was enclosed north of this city ( Kamenez-Podolski pocket ). Against all odds, the army turned westwards as a "wandering cauldron". The pocket near Buczacz in Galicia was broken open from the outside on April 7th and the army was reintegrated into the defensive front. It was German formations that carried out a counter-attack southeast of Lemberg . The OKW relocated troops from France ( II. SS Panzer Corps ), the Reich, Yugoslavia and Hungary (the 1st Hungarian Army). On April 17th, after the German counterattacks came to a halt, the Soviet troops completed the operation. During the outbreak of the German 1st Panzer Army, 399 Soviet tanks and assault guns and 280 guns were destroyed. The losses of the German troops amounted to 2311 dead, 3567 missing and 8364 wounded.

During this operation, the Red Army advanced 80–350 km to the west and south, reached the Carpathian Mountains and thus cut the German eastern front in two. The Army Group South, now Army Group Northern Ukraine, suffered a heavy defeat despite the successful liberation of the 1st Panzer Army (20 divisions lost more than half of their numbers).

Uman-Botoșaner Operation (March 5 to April 17, 1944)

The 2nd Ukrainian Front under Marshal Ivan Konew began an attack against the German 8th Army under General of the Infantry Otto Wöhler at the same time as the Proskurov-Czernowitz operation was ongoing to the west . Konev's troops numbered 691,000 men, 8,890 guns and grenade launchers (including 836 flak), 670 tanks and self-propelled guns, and 551 aircraft. Marshal Konev's intention was to break through the new offensive with four armies (27th, 40th, 52nd and 4th Guards Army) and three tank armies (5th Guards, 2nd and 6th Panzer Army) in the Uman area on Gaissin . The 5th Guards Cavalry Corps, 7th and 8th Mechanized Corps were also available. The South Bug should be overcome and the Dniester reached. As a side attack it was planned to let the left wing of the front with the 53rd Army, as well as the 5th and 7th Guard Army advance through Novo-Ukrainka from the north and south.

The offensive began on March 5th. On the evening of the second day of the attack, the German defense was breached to a width of 60 km and the preceding formations penetrated to a depth of 25 km. On March 7th, Soviet troops crossed the Gorni Tikitsch River . It was not until March 8 that troops of the 5th and 7th Guard Army (General Schumilow ) began their offensive from the area southwest of Kirovograd and were able to fight the German LII. Army corps initially penetrated to a depth of 12 km to a depth of 7 km.

On the evening of March 10th, the 29th Panzer Corps of the 5th Guards Panzer Army (General Rotmistrow ) broke the resistance of the German VII Army Corps and penetrated the southeastern outskirts of Uman . On the same day, the troops of the 2nd Panzer Army (General Bogdanow ) in cooperation with the 5th Guards Panzer Army and the 52nd Army (Lieutenant General Korotejew ) completely conquered the city ​​of Uman, with almost 350 guns being destroyed or captured.

The 38th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front, attached to the right wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front , managed to cross the Southern Bug at Vinnitsa on March 15 and to build a bridgehead south of it. This success made it easier for the 40th Army, advancing south, to advance across the river, which they were striving for in parallel. As a result, Soviet troops crossed the Southern Bug on a broad front. On the night of March 19, the vanguard of the 6th Panzer Army (General Kravchenko ) crossed the Dnestr in the Serebrja area , where the 4th Army of the Guard (General Ryschow) succeeded on March 17 in building a bridgehead at Jampol . Mogilow-Podolski was liberated on March 19 by units of the 35th Rifle Corps (Major General Viktor G. Sholudew) of the 27th Army in cooperation with the 5th Panzer Corps (Lieutenant General Volkov ) of the 6th Panzer Army .

On March 17th, parts of the 5th Guards Army and the 16th Mechanized Brigade of the 7th Mechanized Corps liberated Novo-Ukrainka . After three days of heavy fighting, parts of the 32nd Guards Rifle Corps (Lieutenant General AI Rodimtzev ) invaded Pervomaisk and built a bridgehead on the western bank of the Bug. The offensive of the 53rd Army (Lieutenant General IM Managarow ) developed successfully to the north of it , parts of the 25th and 94th Guards Rifle Divisions crossed the Kodyma sector and liberated the city of Balta on March 29 . On the same day, the armies of the left wing of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (53rd, 5th and 7th Guards Army) had received orders to occupy the Dniester crossings at Rybnitsa and Dubăsari and to advance directly to Bender . Attack troops of the 6th Panzer Army penetrated in the meantime via Mogilow-Podolski on the southern bank of the Dniester further west to Chotyn and successfully blocked the German Corps Group Gollnick of the 1st Panzer Army from retreating south across the Dniester.

As a result of this offensive, which was carried out at the same time as the Proskurov-Chernivtsi operation of the 1st Ukrainian Front , the German 8th Army was successfully separated from the 1st Panzer Army . On the night of March 28, parts of the 2nd Ukrainian Front (40th and 27th Army, 7th Guard Army) crossed the Prut on a broad front. By April 17, Soviet troops had reached the Eastern Carpathians after the Sereth crossing , the 40th Army captured Botosani and the 52nd Army gained access to Jassy and Kishinew on the Prut . The Red Army advanced 200–250 km, smashed the 8th Army and parts of the 1st Panzer Army (10 divisions lost 50–75% of their men and almost all of their heavy military equipment). According to Soviet sources, 62,000 Axis forces fell and another 18,763 were captured. The Soviet troops lost 266,000 men (66,000 of them dead, missing and prisoners).

Bereznegovatoye-Snigiriov operation (March 6-18, 1944)

→ Main article : Bereznegovatoye-Snigiriov operation

German armored personnel carriers in motion in the spring of 1944

The 3rd Ukrainian Front under Rodion Malinowski had to take action against the 6th Army and the Romanian 3rd Army of Army Group A under Ewald von Kleist .

On March 6, the offensive against the section of the German XXX began. Army Corps . In the association of the Soviet 8th Guards Army (General Tschuikow) the mechanical cavalry group of Lieutenant General Pliyev with the 4th Guards mechanical corps (100 tanks and 23 self-propelled guns) and the 4th Guards Cavalry Corps was introduced, which the main thrust over Novy Bug in put forward the backs of the German defense. To the north of it operated in the association of the Soviet 46th Army (Lieutenant General Glagolew) the 23rd Panzer Corps (102 tanks and 16 self-propelled guns) under General Pushkin . The German LVII. Panzer Corps and the XXIX. Army Corps could not withstand the Soviet pressure on the Ingulez River for long. For six days the 3rd Mountain Division was able to repel enemy attacks in the Gorodowatka area. A thrust by the Soviet 46th Army broke into the front of the 16th Panzer Grenadier Division . The 24th Panzer Division , hurrying to the rescue , was also pushed to the west. During these heavy fighting the remnants of the 23rd Panzer Division and 15th Infantry Division were smashed.

By March 12, Soviet troops had reached the area south of Snigirjowka and thereby cut off the retreat routes of the German 6th Army to the west. At the same time the German troops were violently attacked from the east and south-east. About 13 divisions of the German XXIX., XVII. , LII., IV. And XXXXIV. Army corps found themselves cut off in the area west of Bereznegowatoe – Snigirjowka between Ingulez and Ingul. While the Soviet pressure from the 8th Guard Army, the 6th Army and the 5th Shock Army remained upright from the east, the Pliyev cavalry group in the west was unable to fully strengthen its lines. Colonel-General Hollidt ordered the bulk of his 6th Army to break out to the west in good time. The crowd escaped behind the Southern Bug River in the direction of Nikolayev , most of the artillery and important war material was lost.

The right wing of the 3rd Ukrainian Front had also operated successfully. On March 12, the Dolinskaya rail junction and on March 16, Bobrinez, were occupied. On 16-18 On March 1st, Soviet troops reached the approaches to Nikolayev, crossed the Southern Bug and formed bridgeheads. The 31st Guards Rifle Corps crossed the river west of Novaya Odessa , while the 27th Rifle Corps that followed did not cross the western bank until March 26 at Belousovka. The Red Army advanced up to 140 km on the 200 km wide front, smashed eight German divisions (these lost 50% of their personnel and almost all of their technology) and achieved favorable positions for the subsequent Odessa operation.

Polesier Operation (March 15 to April 5, 1944)

→ Main article : Polesier operation

Odessa Operation (March 26 to April 14, 1944)

Panzer IV crossing a stream in the Ukraine

The 3rd Ukrainian Front under Malinowski decreed the end of March 57 rifle and three cavalry divisions, plus several armored and mechanized corps - together about 470,000 people, 12,678 guns and mortars, 435 tanks and self-propelled guns and 436 combat aircraft. The front, together with the Black Sea Fleet, was supposed to smash two German armies of Army Group A (6th Army and Romanian 3rd Army) and recapture the city of Odessa . The Army Group A was from April 1, 1944 Army Group South Ukraine renamed, new commander was Colonel General Schörner .

The 3rd Ukrainian Front began widening the bridgeheads on the Southern Bug River on the night of March 27, 1944 . The mechanical cavalry group of General Issa Pliyev (4th Guards Cavalry Corps and 4th Guards Mechanical Corps) initially advanced in the formation of the 46th Army together with the 23rd Panzer Corps in the area northeast of Odessa. From March 20 to 23, the German 15th Infantry Division defended an eastern Bug bridgehead near Voznesensk . The troops of the 57th and 37th Armies were able to quickly overcome the enemy resistance on the right bank of the southern bow and expand their own 45 km wide bridgehead to a depth of 4 to 25 km by March 28. It was then decided to concentrate the Pliyev group immediately with the 57th and 37th Armies near Alexsandrovka and to cross the river at Voznesensk.

At the same time the troops of the 6th Army (General Schljomin ), the 5th Shock Army and the 28th Army (Lieutenant General AA Grechkin ) fought their way to Nikolaev . On the evening of March 28, the 61st Guards Rifle Division (Major General LN Losanovich ) and the 243rd Rifle Division (Colonel MI Togolew) were able to cross the Ingul under heavy enemy fire and penetrate Nikolayev from the north. At the same time the 5th Shock Army (General Tsvetaev ) crossed the Ingul River with the 130th Rifle Division (Colonel KV Sychew) and, together with other divisions of the army, penetrated the city from the east and parts of the south 28th Army ahead. In addition, a 67-strong naval command under Lieutenant KF Olshansky was previously deployed in the port of the city to assist with the liberation. The German 5th Air Force Field Division , the 302nd and 304th Infantry Divisions were thrown back on the west bank of the Bug with heavy losses. On March 28, Nikolayev was completely liberated from Soviet troops.

The German 6th Army and the Romanian 3rd Army withdrew to the Dniester so as not to be cut off. In these retreat fights, the German XXIX. Army corps in the area between Ponyatovka and Bakalowo briefly encircled by the breakthrough of the Soviet 37th Army on Rasdelnaya . Led by the Wittmann group (3rd mountain division), the German 258th , 294th , 17th and 302nd infantry divisions (General Bleyer, von Eichstädt, Brückner and von Bogen) managed to break out over the Kutschurgan section to the Dniester.

On March 30th, Ochakov was liberated by landing forces of the Black Sea Fleet and parts of the 5th Shock Army and the Soviet attack on Odessa began. The Dniester Liman was reached and the Odessa crew began to flee to avoid the encirclement and were attacked by the Black Sea Fleet . The 8th Guard Army under Colonel General Chuikov bypassed Odessa from the northwest. On April 9, the 6th Army and 5th Shock Army penetrated Odessa from the north and liberated the city together with partisans. By the morning of April 10, 1944, the 86th Guards, 248, 320 and 416th Rifle Divisions invaded Odessa. The Romanian 14th and 21st Divisions and the German 370th Infantry Division withdrew to Akkermann and on to Prut.

The 57th Rifle Corps (Major General Ostashenko ) of the 37th Army and the 82nd Rifle Corps (Major General Pawel G. Kuznetsov ) liberated in battle with the XXXXIV. Army Corps on April 12th Tiraspol and captured a bridgehead on the western bank of the Dniester on the 14th.

The Red Army smashed the German 6th Army and the Romanian 3rd Army and liberated the Nikolajew Oblast , the Odessa Oblast and occupied large parts of Moldova .

Consequences and losses

The Army Group South was due to new locations on April 1 in Army Group North Ukraine renamed, Field Marshal von Manstein had already from 31 March under the direction of Hitler by Colonel General Walter Model been replaced. The Red Army advanced about 250 to 450 km to the west on the 1300 to 1400 km wide front, entered foreign soil for the first time after crossing the Dnestr with Romania and had around 1,110,000 soldiers (270,000 dead), 7,500 artillery pieces , 4,700 tanks and 700 airplanes almost as high human losses as in the Battle of the Dnieper . 34 divisions and 4 brigades of the Wehrmacht were relocated from west to east. Ten divisions and one brigade of the Wehrmacht were completely destroyed, another sixty, including 12 armored and 3 motorized divisions, lost 50% of their manpower, another ten divisions lost 70% and five were disbanded due to heavy losses. The German losses totaled 500,000 men.

literature

• John Erickson: The Road To Berlin. (Stalin's war with Germany, Vol. 2.) Cassel, London 2003. ISBN 978-0-304-36540-1 .
• Earl F. Ziemke: Stalingrad to Berlin: The German Defeat in the East. (Army Historical Series). Office of the Chief of Military History, US Army, Washington DC 1987. ( Online )
• Илья Борисович Мощанский : "1944-й От Корсуни до Белграда" Вече, Moscow 2008.

Web links

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

• Operations of the Red Army in 1944 on militarymaps.narod.ru (Russian)
• Korsun-Shevchenkivskyjer Operation ( Memento from May 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on victory.mil.ru (Russian)
• Odessa Operation ( Memento of May 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on victory.mil.ru (Russian)
• Article Dnepr-Carpathian Operation in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)http: //vorlage_gse.test/1%3D110972~2a%3D~2b%3DDnepr-Karpaten-Operation
• Илья Борисович Мощанский: "Освобождение Правобережной Украины" Вече, Moscow 2010

Individual evidence

1. ↑ bundesarchiv.de
2. ↑ Korsun-Shevchenkovskier Operation in Russian Civilization , on rustrana.ru ( Memento from August 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (Russian)
3. ↑ Spiegel 1965
4. ↑ Anatoli Nikolajewitsch Grylew (AH Грылев): Днепр-Карпаты-Крым , Nauka-Verlag, Moscow 1970, see also tables in the appendix
5. ^ Karl-Heinz Frieser : The German Reich and the Second World War Volume 8 - Stuttgart 2007, p. 432 f
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . 
7. ↑ http://velikvoy.narod.ru/bitvy/1944/umansko-botoshan.htm ( Memento from May 1, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
8. ^ Paul Klatt: 3rd Mountain Division, Podzun Verlag 1958, p. 267 f
9. ↑ ^{a b} http://victory.mil.ru/war/oper/105.html ( Memento from May 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
10. ↑ ^{a b} Dnepr-Carpathian Operation in Soldat.ru ( Memento from March 30, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (Russian)
11. ↑ Dnepr-Carpathian Operation in Soldaty 20 weka (Russian)
12. ↑ http://wwii-soldat.narod.ru/OPER/ARTICLES/023-ukraine-003.htm .
13. ↑ http://militera.lib.ru/h/grylev_an/05.html .
14. ↑ http://militarymaps.narod.ru/oper_1943.html#43