The Italian Army in Russia ( Italian : Armata Italiana in Russia ; ARMIR ) was a combined force the size of a field army unit of the Regio Esercito (Royal Italian Army) which fought on the Eastern Front during World War II between July 1942 and April 1943. The ARMIR was also known as the 8th Italian Army and initially had 235,000 soldiers. The bulk of this force was destroyed by the Soviet Red Army at the Battle of Stalingrad , after which Mussolini withdrew the remnants from Russia to the West.
136-451: Initially: 1,570,287-1.805.000 (incl. Italian Eighth Army from early August) Case Blue (German: Fall Blau ) was the Wehrmacht 's plan for the 1942 strategic summer offensive in southern Russia between 28 June and 24 November 1942, during World War II . The objective was to capture the oil fields of Baku ( Azerbaijan SSR ), Grozny and Maikop for two purposes: to enable
272-518: A Croatian volunteer Legion and three Legions of Camicie Nere (Blackshirt fascist volunteers). It was equipped with 2,657 light and 1,742 heavy machine guns, 250 light and 600 heavy artillery pieces, 52 anti-aircraft guns , 874 light mortars (45mm) and 423 heavy mortars (81mm), 278 Italian 47/32 and 54 German 7.5 cm Pak 97/38 anti-tank guns, 25,000 pack animals , 16,700 vehicles and 4,770 motorcycles . Because of its heavy commitments in North Africa,
408-555: A German ruse, remaining convinced that the primary German strategic goal in 1942 would be Moscow, in part due to Operation Kremlin ( Fall Kreml ), a German deception plan aimed at the city. As a result, the majority of Red Army troops were deployed there, although the direction from which the Case Blue offensive would come was still defended by the Bryansk , Southwestern , Southern and North Caucasian Fronts . With about 1 million soldiers at
544-685: A Soviet breakthrough but Army Group A was ordered to withdraw from the Caucasus on 28 December. The Soviets launched several follow-up offensives, later called the Voronezh-Kharkov Strategic Offensive . The Ostrogozhsk–Rossosh Offensive began on 12 January and destroyed large parts of the Second Hungarian Army and the remnants of Eighth Italian Army at the Don south-east of Voronezh. With the southern flank in danger, Second German Army
680-629: A constant danger. On 23 August, Sixth Army crossed the Don and Army Group B established a defensive line on one of its bends. Sixth Army reached the northern suburbs of Stalingrad later that day, beginning the Battle of Stalingrad . The Hungarian, Italian and Romanian armies were 60 km (37 mi) from Stalingrad, which was in range of forward air bases. Luftflotte 4 attacked the city, turning much of it to rubble. The Soviets reported that civilian casualties from 23–26 August were 955 dead and 1,181 wounded (a preliminary total; later reports of casualties in
816-579: A counteroffensive against advancing Soviet armies around the city of Kharkov , resulting in the Second Battle of Kharkov ; this would ultimately be expanded on 28 June into Case Blue , which aimed to capture of the Caucasus oil fields. By 6 July, General Hermann Hoth 's Fourth Panzer Army had taken the city of Voronezh, threatening to collapse the Red Army 's resistance. By early August, General Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist 's First Panzer Army had reached
952-622: A part of the Novorossiysk naval base were captured. The Germans continued towards Tuapse on the Black Sea coast and in the east Elista was taken on 13 August. In the south, the German advance was stopped north of Grozny, after taking Mozdok on 25 August. German paratroopers assisted an insurgency in Chechnya , operating behind Soviet lines. German mountain troops failed to secure the Black Sea ports and
1088-749: A planned German offensive in the area. The ensuing Second Battle of Kharkov ended in disaster for the Soviets, severely weakening their mobile forces. At the same time, the Axis clearing of the Kerch Peninsula together with the Battle of Sevastopol , which lasted until July, weakened the Soviets further and allowed the Germans to supply Army Group A across the Kerch Peninsula through the Kuban. The Red Army order of battle at
1224-546: A single Soviet division in the path of the spearhead during this phase. General Kazakov, the Bryansk Front's chief of staff, noted the strength and effectiveness of the Axis aviation. Within 26 days, the Soviets lost 783 aircraft from the 2nd , 4th , 5th and 8th Air Armies, compared to a German total of 175. By 5 July, forward elements of Fourth Panzer Army had reached the Don River near Voronezh and became embroiled in
1360-507: A slow advance but the First Panzer Army had freedom of action. On 29 July the Germans cut the last direct railway between central Russia and the Caucasus, causing considerable panic to Stalin and Stavka, which led to the passing of Order No. 227 "Not a step back!". Salsk was captured on 31 July and Stavropol on 5 August. Although the army group made a quick advance, by 3 August the vanguard comprised only light mobile forces and most of
1496-474: A slump in morale among the Soviet troops, who retreated in chaos, abandoning the outer defences of the city. After defeating the last Soviet counterattacks, Sixth Army resumed its offensive on 2 September, linking up with Fourth Panzer Army the following day. On 12 September, the Germans entered Stalingrad. The advance into Stalingrad against the 62nd Army was carried out by Sixth Army, while Fourth Panzer Army secured
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#17328545722941632-447: A strategic mistake not to have made greater efforts to hit the oil refineries at Grozny and Baku sooner, as their destruction would have been a greater blow to the Soviets than the loss of Stalingrad, where most of the air fleet was deployed. On 19 November, the Soviet counter-offensive at Stalingrad compelled Richthofen to once more withdraw his units north to the Volga and bring an end to
1768-585: A successful breakout could only occur if it was launched as early as possible, Manstein decided to plan and launch a dedicated relief effort. After the defeat of the Romanian Army around Stalingrad and the successful encirclement of the German Sixth Army, Stalin started planning a counter-offensive operation nicknamed "Saturn" in order to enlarge the area controlled by the Soviet Army, with Rostov-on-Don as
1904-400: A total of 480. He was now down to 232, of which only 129 were combat ready. Nevertheless, the force could still deliver damaging blows. Attacks on the refineries reminded Richthofen of the attacks on Sevastopol several months earlier. Thick black smoke rose from the refineries to a height of 5,500 m (18,000 ft). On 12 October, further raids caused even more destruction. It had been
2040-465: A total of ten divisions. Four infantry divisions were sent: the 2nd Infantry Division "Sforzesca" , the 3rd Infantry Division "Ravenna" , the 5th Infantry Division "Cosseria" , and the 156th Infantry Division "Vicenza" . In addition to the infantry divisions, three alpine divisions made up of Alpini were sent: the 2nd Alpine Division "Tridentina" , the 3rd Alpine Division "Julia" , and the 4th Alpine Division "Cuneense" . These divisions were added to
2176-501: The 3rd Cavalry Division "Principe Amedeo Duca d'Aosta" , 9th Infantry Division "Pasubio" , and 52nd Infantry Division "Torino" , which were already in Russia as part of the CSIR. The 8th Italian Army was organized into three corps: In addition to the ten divisions, the 8th Italian Army included By November 1942, the 8th Italian Army had a total of 235,000 men in twelve divisions, including
2312-464: The 48th Panzer Corps , consisted of about 180 tanks, half being obsolete Panzer 35(t)s . The two Romanian armies were routed and Sixth Army with parts of Fourth Panzer Army were encircled in Stalingrad. Hitler ordered Sixth Army to remain on the defensive, rather than try to break out. It was intended the army would be supplied by air, but the quantity of supplies necessary was far beyond the ability of
2448-435: The 62nd and 64th Soviet Armies. On 26 July, XIV Panzer Corps broke through and reached the Don, where the new First and Fourth Tank Armies conducted several futile counter-attacks by inexperienced troops. In the south, Fourth Panzer Army made better progress against 51st Army . After crossing the Don, the Germans advanced on Kotelnikovo , reaching the town by 2 August. Soviet resistance convinced Paulus that Sixth Army
2584-549: The Blackshirt legions, some tank crews or Carabinieri military police. Italian paratroopers in North Africa were equipped exclusively with this weapon and gave outstanding combat results. There was a total absence of any portable anti-tank weapon, thus making hand grenades , machine guns and mortars the last resort against Soviet armour. Italian hand grenades ( OTO , Breda and SRCM ) were light, weighing 200–300 g, but were not very effective. The light 45 mm Brixia Model 35 mortar
2720-469: The Caspian Sea coast. Heavy Soviet resistance and the long distances from Axis sources of supply reduced the Axis offensive to local advances only and prevented the Germans from completing their strategic objective of capturing the main Caucasus oilfield at Baku. Luftwaffe bombers destroyed the oilfields at Grozny but attacks on Baku were prevented by the insufficient range of the German fighters. However,
2856-523: The Caucasus as its principal objective. On 5 April 1942, Hitler laid out the elements of the plan now known as "Case Blue" ( Fall Blau ) in Führer Directive No. 41 . The directive outlined the main goals of the 1942 summer campaign on Germany's Eastern Front : holding attacks for Army Group (AG) Centre , the capture of Leningrad and the link-up with Finland for AG North , and the capture of
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#17328545722942992-702: The Luftwaffe supporting the southern front, only reconnaissance aircraft being left behind. The Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS) brought in about 800 bombers, a third of which were operational. With the transfer of air cover and flak units, Soviet bombers were free to harass the German advance. The quality of the Soviet resistance increased, with many of the forces used coming from local levies, who Kleist thought were willing to fight harder for their homeland. German units were especially bogged down by fighting Georgian alpine and mountain troops, who greatly contributed to stalling their advance. The quantity of replacements and supplies
3128-524: The Luftwaffe to carry. Sixth Army's strength diminished and the Soviets gained the upper hand inside the city. To stabilize the situation on the Eastern Front, Army Group Don ( Heeresgruppe Don ) under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was created to fill the gap between Army Groups A and B. On 12 December, a relief operation called Operation Winter Storm was launched from the South by fresh reinforcements of
3264-662: The Soviet Union 's oil—about 24 million tons in 1942 alone. The Caucasus also possessed plentiful coal and peat , as well as nonferrous and rare metals. Manganese deposits at Chiatura , in Transcaucasia, formed the richest single source in the world, yielding 1.5 million tons of manganese ore annually, half of the Soviet Union's total production. The Kuban region of the Caucasus also produced large amounts of wheat , corn , sunflower seeds , and sugar beets, all essential in
3400-455: The Volga by fulfilling Operation Fischreiher. Supported by 2,035 Luftwaffe aircraft and 1,934 tanks and assault guns , the 1,570,287-man Army Group South began the offensive on 28 June, advancing 48 kilometers on the first day and easily brushing aside the 1,715,000 Red Army troops opposite, who wrongly expected a German offensive on Moscow even after Blau commenced. The Soviet collapse in
3536-536: The battle to capture the city . Stalin and the Soviet command still expected the main German thrust in the north against Moscow, and believed the Germans would turn north after Voronezh to threaten the capital. As a result, the Soviets rushed reinforcements into the town to hold it at all costs and counterattacked the Germans' northern flank in an effort to cut off the German spearheads. 5th Tank Army, commanded by Major General A.I. Liziukov , managed to achieve some minor successes when it began its attack on 6 July, but
3672-474: The "gate to the Caucasus", on 23 July 1942 relatively easily. The Luftwaffe had air superiority in the early phase of the operation, which was of great help to the ground forces. With the Don crossing secured and Sixth Army's advance flagging on the Volga front, Hitler transferred the Fourth Panzer Army to Army Group B and sent it back to the Volga. The redeployment used enormous amounts of fuel to transfer
3808-629: The 250,000 soldiers encircled 90,000 survived to be taken prisoner. Only 5,000 lived to return to Germany. The limited scope of the Soviet offensive also gave Kleist time to withdraw his Army Group A in the direction of the Kuban , with the exception of 1st Panzer Army, which joined Army Group Don via Rostov-on-Don. In January 1943 the Soviet armies began the Voronezh–Kharkov offensive which resulted in an advance of Soviet troops between 360 and 520 km, crashing against Axis troops. The 8th Italian Army and
3944-574: The 47/32 type ( Cannone da 47/32 M35 ). Both the L6/40 light tanks and the 47 mm anti-tank guns were out of date compared to what the Soviets had available to them in late 1942 and early 1943. As far as heavy artillery was concerned, however, the ARMIR received preferential treatment over Italian forces in North Africa. It boasted, for instance, the only existing battery of 210/22 howitzers ( Obice da 210/22 ), 36 of
4080-484: The 4th Panzer Army. The offensive surprised the Soviets and the Germans were able to penetrate the Soviet line for 50 km (31 mi) towards Stalingrad. Despite these gains, the Sixth Army was not allowed to attempt to break out and link up, so this led to nothing. The failure was followed by a siege that lasted for almost two months, during which the Sixth Army was destroyed. Following the success of Operation Uranus,
4216-404: The 51 available 149/40 guns ( Cannone da 149/40 modello 35 ), and all 36 modern 75/32 field guns in existence at the time. The 75/18 and 75/32 howitzers balanced the limited suitability of the 47/32 guns to some degree. The 36 75/32 howitzers of the 201st Motorised Artillery Regiment ( Celere ), proved particularly effective in the anti-tank role. As was the complaint of General Messe with
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4352-597: The ARMIR faced Operation Little Saturn in December 1942. The aim of this Soviet operation was the complete annihilation of the Italian 8th Army, as a result of the operations related to the Battle of Stalingrad . On 11 December 1942 the Soviet 63rd Army , backed by T-34 tanks and fighter-bombers, first attacked the weakest Italian sector. This sector was held on the right by the Ravenna and Cosseria infantry divisions. Indeed, from
4488-571: The ARMIR was made up of mountain troops ( Alpini ), which were ill-suited to the vast, flat expanses of southern Russia. Like the CSIR, the ARMIR included an Aviation Command ( Comando Aereo ) with a limited number of fighters, bombers, and transport aircraft. This command was part of the Regia Aeronautica ( lit. "Royal Air Force") and was also known as the Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia ("Air Expeditionary Corps in Russia"), under
4624-618: The Axis also failed to break the defences on the coastal plain from Novorossiysk to Tuapse, having only the strength to stabilize the line. Romanian Army losses were particularly high and the Romanian 3rd Mountain Division was nearly wiped out by a Soviet counter-attack from 25–26 September. Further east, the Axis enjoyed greater success and on 1 September, the Germans took Khulkhuta [ ru ] (Хулхута́), halfway between Elista and Astrakhan . During August and September, German patrols raided
4760-514: The Black Sea, and Grozny , about halfway between the Black and the Caspian Seas, produced about 10 percent of all Soviet oil. South of the mountains lay Transcaucasia , comprising Georgia , Azerbaijan and Armenia . This heavily industrialized and densely populated area contained some of the largest oilfields in the world. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was one of the richest, producing 80 percent of
4896-629: The CSIR was expanded without his further input. Just prior to commanding the ARMIR, Gariboldi was the Governor-General of Italian Libya . He was criticized after the war for being too submissive to the Germans in North Africa . Messe remained commander of the 3 initial divisions of the CSIR, which was renamed XXXV Army Corps , but was subordinate to Gariboldi. He was replaced by Francesco Zingales in November 1942. Air Brigade General Enrico Pezzi
5032-478: The CSIR, the ARMIR was short of adequate winter equipment. Infantry small arms were also often inadequate. The Carcano M91 , the standard Italian rifle in both world wars, was a fairly good weapon, although less effective than its British and German counterparts. The 6.5 mm Breda 30 light machine gun was innovative for its time, roughly comparable to the American Browning Automatic Rifle , but
5168-473: The Caucasus region for Army Group South. The main focus was to be the capture of the Caucasus region. The Caucasus, a large, culturally diverse region traversed by its eponymous mountains, is bounded by the Black Sea to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. The region north of the mountains was a production center for grain , cotton and heavy farm machinery, while its two main oilfields, at Maykop , near
5304-444: The Caucasus, had required that the reserve units be sent elsewhere, as well as the armoured division, so that ARMIR was disposed with all the divisions in the first line and but a few small supporting units in the divisional sectors. Moreover, there were no anti-tank weapons or anti-aircraft weapons needed for resisting any enemy action. Gariboldi had objected to this situation but was commanded from Rome to bow to all dispositions made by
5440-527: The Caucasus. The Red Army took advantage of the fact that German forces in the southern Soviet Union were overstretched around Stalingrad , using weaker Romanian armies to guard their flanks; the offensive's starting points were established along the section of the front directly opposite Romanian forces. These Axis armies were deployed in open positions on the steppe and lacked heavy equipment to deal with Soviet armor. Operation Winter Storm ( Unternehmen Wintergewitter ), undertaken between 12 and 23 December 1942,
5576-471: The Don River west of Stalingrad, and Fourth Romanian Army, south-east of Stalingrad, had been under constant Soviet attack since September. Third Romanian Army had been transferred from Caucasus on 10 September to take over Italian positions on the Don, opposite the Soviet bridgeheads. The Romanians were understrength and had only around six modern anti-tank guns per division. The bulk of the German tank reserve,
Case Blue - Misplaced Pages Continue
5712-582: The Don prevented further German advances to the relief of the entrapped forces at Stalingrad. With subsequent operations, in January and February 1943, the Soviet armies eventually reached and took Rostov as originally planned in "Saturn". Despite these victories, the Soviets themselves became over-extended, setting up the stages for the German offensives of the Third Battle of Kharkov and the Battle of Kursk . On 17 May 1942, German Army Groups A and B launched
5848-621: The Eastern Front. Germany was forced to withdraw some 800 kilometers back to a new battle about 100 kilometers west of the city of Kursk. This withdrawal set the pace for Operation Citadel in the summer of 1943, which was unsuccessful, and resulted in a permanent swing of fortunes in the Soviets' favor for the remainder of the war. Italian Army in Russia The three divisions of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia ( Corpo di spedizione italiano in Russia , or CSIR), sent to
5984-484: The German Sixth Army , Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German 4th Panzer Army. The operation formed part of the ongoing Battle of Stalingrad , and was aimed at destroying German forces in and around Stalingrad. Planning for Operation Uranus had commenced as early as September 1942, and was developed simultaneously with plans to envelop and destroy German Army Group Center and German forces in
6120-560: The German command, this course having been agreed on by the two allies. Giovanni Messe, the commander of the XXXV Army Corps, wrote that it was necessary for him to refuse to accept a mission which endangered the very existence of the entire Italian 8th Army and the prestige of Italian arms. Personally, for various reasons, on 23 September 1943, he asked to be replaced in the command of the XXXV Army Corps, and obtained authorization to return to Italy where he arrived on 1 November. Finally,
6256-402: The Germans captured most of the Black Sea naval bases but were held up at Novorossiysk, where the Soviet 47th Army had prepared for a long siege. The port fell on 10 September, after a four-day battle, the final German victory in the Caucasus. It left the heights south of the port and several coast roads in the hands of 47th Soviet Army. Attempts to push out of Novorossiysk were costly failures and
6392-452: The Germans to re-supply their low fuel stock and also to deny their use to the Soviet Union , thereby bringing about the complete collapse of the Soviet war effort. After Operation Barbarossa failed to destroy the Soviet Union as a political and military threat the previous year, Adolf Hitler , the Führer of Nazi Germany, recognized that Germany was now locked in a war of attrition , and he
6528-547: The Iron Cross Second Class. On 12 July, two weeks after Case Blue began, the XXXV Army Corps (ex CSIR), along with two German corps, began an offensive designed to take the important coal-mining basin of Krasnyi Luch (southeast of Kharkiv ) with a rapid enveloping manoeuvre. After a week of heavy fighting in which all three Italian divisions took part the Krasnyi Luch basin, one of the richest coal deposits in
6664-436: The Italian 2nd Army Corps which, with the "Cosseria" and "Ravenna" Divisions, occupied a 60 km front, was also attacked. The divisions counterattacked and pursued the enemy across the Don. In October and November of 1942, there occurred a pause in the operations on the front occupied by Italian forces. The ARMIR laboured intensively at the task of fortifying the broad front of nearly 300 km that had been assigned to it. It got back
6800-520: The Italian 8th Army reached its assigned sector on the Don on the left flank of the 6th Army 's XVII Corps. The Italians had to defend a 270-kilometre front along the right bank of the Don. On 20 August 1942, the first battle in defence of the Don began. The Russians succeeded in making progress on the front of the XVII German Army Corps drawn up on the right of the Italian XXXV, which also
6936-517: The Italian armoured force in Russia. On 14 January 1943, after a short pause, the 6th Soviet Army attacked the divisions of the Alpine Corps. These units had been placed on the left flank of the Italian army and, to date, were still relatively unaffected by the battle. However, the Alpini's position had turned critical after the collapse of the Italian centre, the collapse of the Italian right flank, and
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#17328545722947072-503: The Italians forced the Russians to halt operations, but when they had received reinforcements, the Soviets resumed the offensive, continuing it until 26 September. On that day the weather conditions permitted intervention by Italian and German Air Forces which dropped large caliber bombs in the midst of Russian concentrations, forcing the Soviets to halt their operations. On 11 and 12 September,
7208-493: The Italians' aid: of the 130,000 encircled troops, only 45,000 survived after bloody fighting to join the Panzers at Chertkovo. To the south the advance of General Gerasimenko's 28th Army threatened to encircle the 1st Panzer Army and General Trufanov's 51st Army attacked the relief column directly. On 24 December, tanks of the 24th Tank Corps reached and raided Tatsinskaya Airfield , destroying German transport planes and completing
7344-544: The Luftwaffe also played an important role in this early success. It contained the Red Air Force , through air superiority operations, and provided interdiction through attacks on airfields and Soviet defence lines. At times, the German air arm acted as a spearhead rather than a support force, ranging on ahead of the tanks and infantry to disrupt and destroy defensive positions. As many as 100 German aircraft were concentrated on
7480-535: The Mediterranean in early November to support the Axis operations in Tunisia . Sixth Army had captured about 90 percent of the city. On 19 November, the Soviets launched Operation Uranus , a two-pronged counter-offensive against the flanks of Sixth Army. With the battle for the city and the exhaustion of Fourth Panzer Army, the flanks were mainly guarded by Romanian, Hungarian and Italian soldiers. Third Romanian Army, on
7616-502: The Red Army began Operation Saturn to cut off Army Group A and all troops east of Rostov. During the German relief operation at Stalingrad, Soviet forces had been redeployed, lesser objectives substituted, and the operation renamed "Little Saturn". The attack fell on Eighth Italian Army and the remnants of Third Romanian Army, and led to the destruction of most of Eighth Army. On the verge of collapse, Army Groups B and Don were able to prevent
7752-478: The Red Army continued to build strength, in an effort to allocate as many resources as possible to the eventual launch of the planned Operation Saturn, which aimed to isolate Army Group A from the rest of the German Army , the Luftwaffe had begun an attempt to supply German forces in Stalingrad through an air bridge. However, as the Luftwaffe proved incapable of carrying out its mission and it became more obvious that
7888-484: The Red Army defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, following Operations Uranus and Little Saturn . This defeat forced the Axis to retreat from the Caucasus in order to avoid getting cut off by the Red Army, which was now advancing from Stalingrad towards Rostov in order to achieve the cut-off. Only the Kuban region remained tentatively occupied by Axis troops. On 22 June 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa with
8024-437: The Red Army. In the new scaled-down version of the operation, codenamed "Little Saturn", the Soviet offensive had still to attack the Axis troops on the Don and Chir rivers; after the destruction of the enemy forces, the mechanized forces would have to proceed quickly in two directions: west, to the communications center of Millerovo and south, to attack Tatsinskaya Airfield , from which the Luftwaffe planes departed to supply
8160-414: The Romanian oilfields, with the latter supplying 75% of Germany's oil imports in 1941. Aware of his declining oil resources, and fearful of enemy air attacks on Romania (Germany's main source of crude oil), Hitler's strategy was increasingly driven by the need to protect Romania and acquire new resources, essential if he wanted to continue waging a prolonged war against a growing list of enemies. In late 1941,
8296-515: The Romanians warned Hitler that their stocks were exhausted and they were unable to meet German demands. For these reasons, the Soviet oilfields were extremely important to Germany's industry and armed forces as the war became global, the power of the Allies grew, and shortages started to occur in Axis resources. The German plan involved a three-staged attack: The strategic objectives of the operation were
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#17328545722948432-566: The Sea of Azov, to cut off the German forces east of Donetsk. The operations began simultaneously at the end of January. The Soviets broke through quickly and in the north, Kursk fell on 18 February and Kharkov on 16 February after a German withdrawal, while in the south the Germans were pushed back to a line west of Voroshilovgrad. Army Groups Don, B and parts of Army Group A were renamed Army Group South, commanded by Manstein, on 12 February. The Kharkov and Donbas operations were started on 25 February by
8568-539: The Soviet 21st Army and the Soviet 5th Tank Army attacked and defeated what remained of the Romanians to the right of the Italians. At about the same time, the Soviet 3rd Tank Army and parts of the Soviet 40th Army hit the Hungarians to the left of the Italians. This resulted in a collapse of the Axis front, north of Stalingrad: the ARMIR was encircled, but for some days the Italian troops were able—with huge casualties—to stop
8704-474: The Soviet bridgehead at Mamon, 15 divisions—supported by at least 100 tanks—attacked the Italian Cosseria and Ravenna Divisions, and although outnumbered 9 to 1, the Italians resisted until 19 December, when ARMIR headquarters finally ordered the battered divisions to withdraw. Only before Christmas both divisions were driven back and defeated, after heavy and bloody fighting. Meanwhile, on 17 December 1942,
8840-457: The Soviet general staff planned an ambitious offensive with Rostov-on-Don as the ultimate objective, codenamed "Saturn". Later, Joseph Stalin reduced his ambitious plans to a relatively smaller operation codenamed "Little Saturn". The offensive succeeded in smashing the Axis troops and applied pressure on the over-stretched German forces in Eastern Ukraine. Another counter-offensive south of
8976-569: The Soviets committed increased, and faced with these difficulties, the Axis advance slowed after 28 August. In the south-east, the Wehrmacht headed in the direction of Grozny and Baku , the other important petroleum centers. More installations and industrial centers fell into German hands, many intact or only slightly damaged during the Russian retreat. From August–September, the Taman Peninsula and
9112-549: The Stalingrad pocket. Also, the South-Western Front was assigned a mission in which the 1st and 3rd Guard armies and the 5th Tank Army were to strike out in the general direction of Morozovsk , near Tatsinskaya, and destroy the enemy grouping in that sector. They would be supported by the 6th Army of the Voronezh Front . Any further offensive plan directed towards Rostov was therefore abandoned. Operation Little Saturn
9248-405: The U.S.S.R., was in Axis hands. As the Italians moved forward to the Don river pursuing the withdrawing Soviet 63rd Army , the highly-mobile riflemen ( Bersaglieri ) of the motorized 3rd Cavalry Division were diverted to help the Germans eliminate the Soviet bridgehead at Serafimovič on the Don river. From 30 July to 13 August, the Italians fought off a heavy Soviet attack, took the town, swept
9384-444: The advance and spearhead units began to run low on fuel and manpower; for example, some panzer divisions were down to 54 tanks. Eventually, the German focus shifted towards Stalingrad in an attempt to cut off supply shippings on the Volga river. The fall of Stalin's namesake city would also mean a psychological boost for the Germans and, vice versa, a blow to the Soviets. However, after months of brutal fighting in which more than 90% of
9520-440: The advance fell short of Grozny as supply difficulties arose once more. The Soviets dug in the 9th and 44th armies of the North Transcaucasian Front along the rocky Terek River bank in front (north) of the city. The Luftwaffe was unable to support the German army that far forward and Soviet aviation attacked bridges and supply routes virtually unopposed. The Germans crossed the river on 2 September but made only slow progress. At
9656-486: The aerial offensive. Much damage was done at Grozny, but the remaining oilfields were beyond the logistical reach of the German Army as well as of the fighter aircraft of the Luftwaffe. Grozny was within range of German bombers from 4th Air Corps, based near the Terek River. But Grozny and the captured oilfields at Maikop produced only ten per cent of Soviet oil. The main fields at Baku were out of German fighter range. German bombers could have reached them, but it meant flying
9792-429: The air offensive to be carried out no later than 14 October, as he required air assets for a major effort at Stalingrad. As a result, on 10 October 1942, Fliegerkorps IV of Luftflotte 4 (4th Air Corps of Fourth Air Fleet) was ordered to send every available bomber against the oilfields at Grozny. Fourth Air Fleet was in poor shape by this time – Richthofen had begun Case Blue with 323 serviceable bombers out of
9928-693: The ambitious objectives of Case Blue, Hitler made a series of changes to the plan in Führer Directive No. 45 on July 23, 1942: There is no evidence Hitler was opposed by, or received complaints from Franz Halder , Chief of the General Staff, or anyone else, about the directive until August 1942. The new directive created enormous logistical difficulties, with Hitler expecting both Army Groups to advance along different routes. Logistics lines were already at breaking point with ammunition and fuel shortages most apparent and it would be impossible to advance using
10064-413: The armoured component of the ARMIR was tiny. The LXVII Armored Bersaglieri Battalion included two companies of L6/40 light tanks (armed with a turret-mounted 20 mm Breda Model 35 gun), numbering about 60 tanks. The XIII Self-propelled Anti-tank Group "Cavalleggeri di Alessandria" had two squadrons of 19 Semovente da 47/32 assault guns. For anti-tank defence, the ARMIR had been allocated 278 guns of
10200-582: The army by air and road. After crossing the Don on 25 July, Army Group A fanned out on a 200 km (120 mi) front from the Sea of Azov to Zymlianskaya (today Zymlyansk). The German Seventeenth Army, along with elements of the Eleventh Army and the Romanian Third Army, manoeuvred west towards the east coast of the Black Sea, while the First Panzer Army attacked to the south-east. The Seventeenth Army made
10336-633: The attacking Soviet troops. The Soviet 1st Guards Army then attacked the Italian centre which was held by the 298th German, the Pasubio, the Torino, the Prince Amedeo Duke of Aosta, and the Sforzesca divisions. After eleven days of bloody fighting against overwhelming Soviet forces, these divisions were surrounded and defeated and Russian air support resulted in the death of General Paolo Tarnassi , commander of
10472-472: The beginning of September, Hitler had a major argument with the High Command and specifically List, as he perceived the advance of the German forces as too slow. As a result, Hitler dismissed List on 9 September and took direct command of Army Group A himself. Axis ships transported 30,605 men, 13,254 horses and 6,265 motor vehicles across the Black Sea from Romania, from 1–2 September. With the reinforcements,
10608-441: The city had been conquered by the Germans, the city would eventually deplete the German forces (the 6th Army and units from 4th Panzer Army) in their unsuccessful and exhausting attempt to expel the remainder of the Soviet defences. Both sides suffered enormous casualties during this battle, but, most importantly for the outcome, the Germans severely depleted their forces, made them strip their flanks ever increasingly, leaving these in
10744-474: The city itself in late August. Nonstop Luftwaffe airstrikes , artillery fire and street-to-street combat completely destroyed the city and inflicted heavy casualties on the opposing forces. After three months of battle, the Germans controlled 90% of Stalingrad on 19 November. In the south, Army Group A captured Rostov on 23 July and swept south from the Don to the Caucasus, capturing the demolished oilfields at Maikop on 9 August and Elista on 13 August near
10880-564: The command of Brigadier General Ioan Dumitrache took Nalchik , the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria and also the farthest point of Axis advance into the Caucasus. This victory earned the Romanian General the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross . Up to 10,000 prisoners were captured in two days, before the advance toward Grozny was stopped again west of the city at Vladikavkaz . On 5 November, Alagir
11016-426: The command of General Enrico Pezzi . The ARMIR was subordinated to German Army Group B ( Heeresgruppe B ) commanded by General Maximilian von Weichs . In February 1943, after its near destruction during the Battle of Stalingrad , Mussolini disbanded what was left of the Italian 8th Army and the surviving Italian troops were unceremoniously brought home from Russia. Mussolini sent seven fresh divisions to Russia for
11152-684: The conservative supply rates he demanded. The divergence of the Army Groups would also open a dangerous gap between the Armies, which could be exploited by the Soviets. The Italian Alpine Corps , of the Italian Army in the Soviet Union , did not arrive in the Caucasus Mountains with Army Group A, instead remaining with Sixth Army. Army Group A was expected to operate in mountain terrain with only three mountain divisions and two infantry divisions unsuited to
11288-571: The direction of the main German strategic offensive anticipated in 1942, even though they were in possession of the German plans. On 19 June, the chief of operations of the 23rd Panzer Division , Major Joachim Reichel, was shot down over Soviet-held territory while flying an observation aircraft over the front near Kharkov. The Soviets recovered maps from his aircraft detailing the exact German plans for Case Blue. The plans were handed over to Stavka , in Moscow. Joseph Stalin , however, believed it to be
11424-478: The east bank of the Volga and caused many casualties during Soviet attempts to reinforce the defenders on the west bank. From mid-September until early November the Germans made three big attacks on the city and ground forward in mutually-costly fighting. By mid-November, the Soviets were penned into four shallow bridgeheads, with the front line only 180 m (200 yd) from the river. Anticipating victory, substantial numbers of Luftwaffe aircraft were withdrawn to
11560-473: The eastern front in July 1941, were very successful, taking a number of towns and cities and creating a favourable impression on their German allies. In July 1942, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini decided to scale up the Italian effort in the Soviet Union , the existing CSIR was expanded to become the ARMIR. Unlike the "mobile" CSIR which it replaced, the ARMIR was primarily an infantry army. A good portion of
11696-661: The encirclement and reached new defensive positions set up to the west by the German Army . Many of the troops who managed to escape were frostbitten, critically ill, and deeply demoralized: for practical purposes, the Italian Army in Russia did not exist anymore by February 1943. "The Italian participation in operations in Russia proved extremely costly. Losses of the 8th Army from 20 August 1942-20 February 1943 totalled 87,795 killed and missing (3,168 officers and 84,627 NCOs and soldiers) and 34,474 wounded and frostbitten (1,527 officers and 32,947 NCOs and soldiers). In March–April 1943,
11832-486: The front line and another 1.7 million in reserve armies, their forces accounted for about one quarter of all Soviet troops. Following the disastrous start of Case Blue for the Soviets, they reorganized their frontlines several times. Over the course of the campaign, the Soviets also fielded the Voronezh Front , Don Front , Stalingrad Front , Transcaucasian Front , and the Caucasian Front , though not all existed at
11968-450: The front. The disaster at Stalingrad was the end of Case Blue and the territorial gains had been reversed by the end of 1943, except for the Kuban bridgehead on the Taman peninsula, retained for a possible second offensive to the Caucasus, which was held until 19 October 1943. The failure of the operation, mainly due to the disastrous defeat at Stalingrad, marked the turning point in the war on
12104-457: The hands of overstretched and poorly equipped Italian and Romanian allies. The dangerous situation that evolved, while addressed several times by worried German generals, were ignored and, thus, had set the circumstances for the ultimate disaster for the Germans and their allies. Operation Uranus was the codename of the Soviet strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of
12240-400: The intention of defeating the Soviet Union in a quick offensive which was expected to last only 3 months. The Axis offensive had met with initial success and the Red Army had suffered some major defeats before halting the Axis units just short of Moscow (November/December 1941). Although the Germans had captured vast areas of land and important industrial centers, the Soviet Union remained in
12376-552: The left flank to protect the first attack, moving in the direction of Stalingrad along the Don River , known as Operation Fischreiher . Army Group South ( Heeresgruppe Süd ) of the German Army was divided into Army Groups A and B ( Heeresgruppe A and B ). Army Group A was tasked with fulfilling Operation Edelweiss by crossing the Caucasus Mountains to reach the Baku oil fields, while Army Group B protected its flanks along
12512-407: The most direct, thus most predictable route without protection. In August it may have been possible to carry out these operations owing to the weakness of Soviet air power in the region, but by October it had been considerably strengthened. On 23 July, the main body of Army Group B started its advance toward the Don. The Germans met with increasing Soviet resistance from the new Stalingrad Front, with
12648-477: The mountain corps ("Tridentina", "Cuneense", and "Julia" Divisions) in the beginning destined for the Caucasus but, because of the lack of success of the German operations in that direction, they were sent back to the ARMIR. The Italians ought to have had in reserve three divisions and, further back, a German armoured division. But the Russian counteroffensive against the German forces which were aiming at Stalingrad and
12784-418: The new Central Front led by Rokossovsky, with the forces freed after the surrender of the Germans in Stalingrad on 2 February. The operations were aimed at Army Group Center in the north and timed to coincide with the expected successes of the Soviet operations in the south. Army Group South escaped encirclement and prepared a counter-offensive, which led to the Third Battle of Kharkov and the stabilization of
12920-401: The newly formed ARMIR, instead of General Giovanni Messe . As commander of the CSIR, Messe had opposed an enlargement of the Italian contingent in Russia until it could be properly equipped. Rather than a numerical reinforcement of Italian troops in Russia, Messe asked for a rise in heavy artillery supply, motor vehicles, tanks and antitank weapons. As a result, he was overruled by Mussolini and
13056-527: The northern flank of Army Group B, between Stalingrad and Voronezh. From 20–28 August, the 63rd Army and the 21st Army counter-attacked near Serafimovich , forcing the Italian Eighth Army to fall back. The 1st Guards Army attacked near Novo-Grigoryevskaja , extending its bridgehead. These and several other bridgeheads across the Don, opposed by the Eighth Italian and Second Hungarian armies, were
13192-488: The offensive if Stalingrad could be taken. In the first week of October 1942, Hitler came to recognize that the capture of the Caucasus oil fields was unlikely before winter, which forced the Germans to take up defensive positions. Unable to capture them, he was determined to deny them to the enemy and ordered the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe (OKL) to inflict as much damage as possible. On 8 October, Hitler called for
13328-541: The oil center of Maykop , 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the city of Rostov , which had been taken by the Fourth Panzer Army on 23 July. The rapid German advance threatened to cut the Soviet Union off from its southern territories, while also threatening to cut the Lend-Lease supply through the Persian Corridor . However, the offensive began to peter out, as the offensive's supply train struggled to keep up with
13464-449: The oil fields had been sufficiently destroyed by the Red Army to take about a year to be repaired. Shortly afterwards Pyatigorsk was taken. On 12 August, Krasnodar was captured and German mountain troops hoisted the Nazi flag on the highest mountain of the Caucasus, Mount Elbrus . The length of the German advance created chronic supply difficulties, particularly of petrol; the Black Sea
13600-462: The oilfields at Maykop, Grozny and Baku. As in Barbarossa, these movements were expected to result in a series of grand encirclements of Soviet troops. The offensive was to be conducted across the southern Russian (Kuban) steppe utilizing the following Army Group units: Northern Sector (Volga campaign) Southern Sector (Caucasus campaign) The Soviet army command ( Stavka ) failed to discern
13736-548: The opening phase. Once again, as it had done during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, and Barbarossa in 1941, the Luftwaffe's Junkers Ju 52 transport fleet flew in supplies to keep the army going. The situation remained difficult with German troops forced to recover fuel from damaged or abandoned vehicles, and in some cases, leave behind tanks and vehicles with heavy fuel consumption to continue their advance. This undermined
13872-540: The poor state of Soviet roads. The Luftwaffe sent an ad-hoc force of 300 Ju 52 transport aircraft, enabling the Germans to advance; some bombers were diverted from operations to supply flights under the Stalingrad Transport Region force . The Soviet defence at the Don forced the Germans to commit more and more troops to an increasingly vulnerable front, leaving few reserves to back up the Axis divisions on either flank. The Soviets made several counter-attacks on
14008-706: The production of food. These resources were of immense importance to the German war effort. Of the three million tons of oil Germany consumed per year, 85 percent was imported, mainly from the United States , Venezuela , and Iran . When war broke out in September 1939, the British naval blockade cut Germany off from the Americas and the Middle East, leaving the country reliant on oil-rich European countries such as Romania to supply
14144-405: The raid in a matter of few days. Operation Little Saturn was accompanied by another counter-offensive south of the Don which prevented further German advances to the relief of the entrapped forces at Stalingrad. With the relief column under threat of encirclement, Manstein had no choice but to retreat back to Kotelnikovo on 29 December, leaving the encircled Germans at Stalingrad to their fate. Of
14280-500: The railway around Kizlyar , north-east of Grozny, marking the farthest advance of the German forces towards the Caspian Sea. In the south, the First Panzer Army advance on Grozny was stopped by the Red Army and the 14th Air Army . By late September, supply failures and the resistance of the Red Army slowed the Axis advance. The Germans took Nakchik on 26 October. On 2 November 1942, Romanian mountain troops ( Vânători de munte ) under
14416-449: The remnant (a little more than 400 men) of the German 129th Infantry Regiment. The reinforcement of the entire broad front with the few available units meant their attenuation, robbing them of their efficiency. Messe decided to counterattack, choosing his directions of attack and concentrating in those places all the forces available to him. The counterattack began favourably and important positions were retaken. The counterattack executed by
14552-490: The remnants of the Army returned to Italy for rest and reorganization. Upon the surrender of Italy in September 1943, the Army was disbanded." Officially, ARMIR losses were 114,520 of the original 235,000 soldiers Armies with the Italian 8th Army and Army Group B at Stalingrad : Operation Little Saturn Operation Little Saturn ( Russian : операция «Малый Сатурн» , romanized : operatsiya "Malyy Saturn" )
14688-406: The resource. An indication of German reliance on Romania is evident from its oil consumption; in 1938, just one-third of the 7,500,000 tons consumed by Germany came from domestic stocks. Oil had always been Germany's Achilles heel , and by the end of 1941, Hitler had nearly exhausted Germany's reserves, which left him with only two significant sources of oil, the country's own synthetic production and
14824-527: The same time. With the German thrust expected in the north, Stavka planned several local offensives in the south to weaken the Germans. The most important of these was aimed at the city of Kharkov and would be conducted mainly by the Southwestern Front under Semyon Timoshenko , supported by the Southern Front commanded by Rodion Malinovsky . The operation was scheduled for 12 May, just prior to
14960-643: The second phase of the operation, on 9 July, Army Group South was split into Army Group A and Army Group B, with Wilhelm List appointed as commander of Army Group A and Army Group B commanded by Maximillian von Weichs. Only two weeks into the operation, on 11 July, the Germans began to suffer logistical difficulties, which slowed the advance. The German Sixth Army was continually delayed by fuel shortages. Eight days later, on 20 July, shortages of fuel were still undermining operations, leaving many units unable to execute their orders. The 23rd Panzer Division and 24th Panzer Division both became stranded during
15096-524: The simultaneous collapse of the Hungarian troops to the left of the Alpini. The Julia Division and Cuneense Division were destroyed. Members of the 1 Alpini Regiment , part of Cuneese Division, burned the regimental flags to keep them from being captured. Part of the Tridentina Division and other withdrawing troops managed to escape the encirclement. On 26 January 1943, the Alpini remnants breached
15232-421: The south allowed the Germans to capture the western part of Voronezh on 6 July and reach and cross the Don River near Stalingrad on 26 July. Army Group B's approach toward Stalingrad slowed in late July and early August owing to constant counterattacks by newly deployed Red Army reserves and overstretched German supply lines. The Germans defeated the Soviets in the Battle of Kalach and the combat shifted to
15368-434: The southern flank. The city was a 24 km (15 mi) ribbon along the west bank of the Volga, which forced the Germans to conduct a frontal assault, and the ruins of the city gave the defenders an advantage. To counter Luftwaffe air superiority, the commander of the 62nd Army, General Vasily Chuikov , ordered his troops to "hug" the Germans, negating German tactical mobility. The Luftwaffe suppressed Soviet artillery on
15504-399: The start of the campaign was as follows: Northern Sector (Volga campaign) Armies deployed north to south: The German offensive commenced on 28 June 1942, with Fourth Panzer Army starting its drive towards Voronezh. Due to a chaotic Soviet retreat, the Germans were able to advance rapidly, restoring Wehrmacht confidence for the upcoming major offensive. Close air support from
15640-414: The strength of the units, which were forced to leave fighting vehicles behind. Nevertheless, the Luftwaffe flew in 200 tons of fuel per day to keep the army supplied. Despite this impressive performance in keeping the army mobile, Löhr was replaced by the more impetuous and offensive-minded Richthofen. Believing that the main Soviet threat had been eliminated, desperately short of oil and needing to meet all
15776-414: The tanks lagged behind, due to lack of fuel and supply breakdowns, despite the efforts of 4th Air Corps, which flew in supplies around the clock. On 9 August, the First Panzer Army reached Maikop in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains, having advanced more than 480 kilometers (300 mi) in fewer than two weeks. The western oil fields near Maikop were seized in a commando operation from 8–9 August, but
15912-415: The task. The splitting of Army Group South enabled the launching of Operation Edelweiss and Operation Fischreiher, the two main thrusts of the Army Groups. Both groups had to achieve their objectives simultaneously, instead of consecutively. The success of the initial advance was such that Hitler ordered the Fourth Panzer Army south to assist the First Panzer Army to cross the lower Don river. This assistance
16048-469: The tens of thousands were probably exaggerations). Sixth Army advanced from the north via Kalach and Fourth Panzer Army came up from the south through Kotelnikovo. In the first few days, the XIV Panzer Corps opened a corridor between the main body of Sixth Army and the northern Stalingrad suburbs at the Volga. In the south, Soviet resistance repulsed the Fourth Panzer Army. On 29 August another attempt
16184-422: The ultimate objective. The Axis troops encircled in the Stalingrad pocket should have been completely destroyed in a few days, however the plan, based on an incorrect calculation by the Soviet intelligence service about the number of enemy troops actually encircled (estimated at only 80,000 men instead of the real number of over 250,000), proved impracticable and unrealistic, due to lack of logistics and vehicles of
16320-488: The war. In the winter of 1941–42, the Soviets struck back in a series of successful counteroffensives, pushing back the German threat to Moscow. Despite these setbacks, Hitler wanted complete destruction of Russia, for which he required the oil resources of the Caucasus. By February 1942 the German Army High Command ( OKH ) had begun to develop plans for a follow-up campaign to the aborted Barbarossa offensive – with
16456-401: The woods and swamps around it, and fought off infiltrations and counter-attacks, destroying an enemy armoured brigade, knocking out 35 Soviet tanks and taking 1,600 prisoners. The 75/32 battery proved very effective at short range and destroyed twelve tanks. The battle cost the division 2,989 dead and wounded and the division was withdrawn from the front line to rest and regroup. On 13 August,
16592-594: Was a Red Army offensive on the Eastern Front of World War II that led to battles in Don and Chir rivers region in German-occupied Soviet Union territory in 16–30 December 1942. The success of Operation Uranus , launched on 19 November 1942, had trapped 250,000 troops of General Friedrich Paulus ' German 6th Army and parts of General Hoth's 4th Panzer Army in Stalingrad . To exploit this victory,
16728-442: Was also aware that Germany was running low on fuel supply and would not be able to continue attacking deeper into enemy territory without more stock. With this in mind, Hitler ordered for the preparation of offensive plans for summer 1942 to secure the Soviet oil fields in the Caucasus. The operation involved a two-pronged attack: one from the Axis right flank against the oil fields of Baku , known as Operation Edelweiss , and one from
16864-616: Was an over-complicated weapon firing a very light bomb - only 480 g - with just 70 g of burster charge, at 500 m, while the 81 mm 81/14 Model 35 mortar was quite an effective weapon that could fire a 3.3 kg–6.6 kg grenade up to 1,100 m. The Aviation Command of the ARMIR had a total of roughly 100 aircraft. The ARMIR had the following aircraft available to it: Macchi C.200 “Arrow" ( Saetta ) fighter , Macchi C.202 “Lightning" ( Folgore ) fighter , Caproni Ca.311 light reconnaissance-bomber , and Fiat Br.20 “Stork" ( Cicogna ) twin-engined bomber . Italian General Italo Gariboldi took command of
17000-740: Was appointed commander of the air force component of the Italian Army in Russia, distinguishing himself in operations on the Eastern Front, for which he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Military Order of Savoy and his fifth and last Silver Medal for Military Valor by the Italian authorities, as well as the Cross of Merit of the Order of the German Eagle 1st Class with Swords, the Iron Cross First Class and
17136-604: Was attacked in force and threatened on its flank and in its rear by the partial yielding of the German Forces. Italian forces were fighting on a wide front (30 km for the XXXV Army Corps), but succeeded in holding the enemy who was superior, both numerically and in combat means. On 22 August, Giovanni Messe's XXXV Army Corps received as reinforcements the 3rd Cavalry Division , the Cervino Mountain Battalion and
17272-435: Was forced back to its starting positions by 15 July, losing about half of its tanks in the process. Although the battle was a success, Hitler and Fedor von Bock , commander of Army Group South, argued over the next steps in the operation. The heated debate, and continuing Soviet counterattacks, which tied down Fourth Panzer Army until 13 July, caused Hitler to lose his temper and dismiss Bock on 17 July. As part of
17408-529: Was forced to withdraw from Voronezh and the Don. The operations continued until January and led Stavka to believe that they could deal a fatal blow to the Germans and decide the war in southern Russia. Operation Star , conducted by the Voronezh Front, was aimed at Kharkov, Kursk and Belgorod . Operation Gallop was conducted by the South-western Front against Voroshilovgrad , Donetsk and then towards
17544-500: Was judged too dangerous and fuel was brought by rail through Rostov or delivered by air, but panzer divisions were sometimes at a standstill for weeks. Even petrol trucks ran out of fuel and oil had to be brought up on camels. With the Soviets often retreating instead of fighting, the number of prisoners fell short of expectations and only 83,000 were taken. As Hitler and OKH began to concentrate on Stalingrad, some of Kleist's mobile forces were diverted. Kleist lost his flak corps and most of
17680-514: Was launched on 16 December. General Fyodor Isidorovich Kuznetsov 's 1st Guards Army and General Dmitri Danilovich Lelyushenko 's 3rd Guards Army attacked from the north, encircling 130,000 soldiers of the Italian 8th Army on the Don and advancing to Millerovo. The Italians resisted the Soviet attack, although outnumbered 9 to 1 in some sectors, but with huge losses. Manstein sent the 6th Panzer Division to
17816-434: Was made with Hoth turning his forces west directly through the center of 64th Army. The attack was unexpectedly successful and Fourth Panzer Army got behind 62nd and 64th Armies with the chance to encircle and cut off 62nd Army. Weichs ordered Sixth Army to complete the encirclement; a Soviet counter-attack held up the advance for three days and the Soviets escaped and retreated towards Stalingrad. The rapid German advance caused
17952-448: Was not needed and Kleist later complained that Fourth Panzer Army clogged the roads and that if they had carried on toward Stalingrad, they could have taken it in July. When it turned north again two weeks later, the Soviets had gathered enough forces together at Stalingrad to check its advance. With air support from the Ju 87s of Sturzkampfgeschwader 77 , List's Army Group A recaptured Rostov,
18088-434: Was not strong enough to cross the Don by itself, so he waited for Fourth Panzer Army to fight its way north. On 4 August, the Germans were still 97 km (60 mi) from Stalingrad. By 10 August, the Red Army had been cleared from most of the west bank of the Don, but Soviet resistance continued in some areas, further delaying Army Group B. The Wehrmacht advance on Stalingrad was also impeded by supply shortages caused by
18224-489: Was prone to jamming and had to be kept for a long time on a source of heat to work properly in extreme climatic conditions. Much better was the standard heavy machine gun, the 8mm Breda M37 , which proved to be a simple (only four moving parts) and fairly reliable weapon. The old belt-fed Fiat 14 was also seen in small numbers, but was obsolete. The praised high-quality Beretta 38A submachine guns were extremely rare, and given only in small numbers to specialized units, such as
18360-621: Was seized and the Alagir – Beslan – Malgobek line reached became the farthest German advance in the south. By this time, the gap between Army Groups A and B had left them vulnerable to a counter-offensive. Only the German 16th Motorized Infantry Division remained inside the gap, guarding the left flank of the First Panzer Army by securing the road towards Astrakhan. On 22 November, after several Soviet counter-attacks, Hitler appointed Kleist as Group commander with orders to hold his position and prepare to resume
18496-534: Was the German 4th Panzer Army's attempt to relieve encircled Axis forces during the Battle of Stalingrad. In late November, the Red Army completed Operation Uranus , which resulted in the encirclement of Axis personnel in and around the city of Stalingrad . German forces within the Stalingrad Pocket and directly outside were reorganized under Army Group Don , under the command of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein . As
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